2nd league - "That makes us proud": Holstein Kiel are winter champions
"Spitzenreiter, Spitzenreiter, hey, hey", sang the fans of Holstein Kiel and celebrated a perfect end to the first half of the season. With a commanding 3:0 win over Hannover 96 on Saturday evening, Kiel secured their fifth win in a row in the 2nd Bundesliga. "We're delighted with our position in the table, the points and the way we played. That makes us very proud," said coach Marcel Rapp.
What nobody could have expected before the season: A completely newly formed team are now winter champions and promotion candidates after FC St. Pauli's 1:1 against Wehen Wiesbaden. The big names in the league are chasing Holstein after the end of the first half of the season.
This is because Kiel made a major upheaval last summer. 15 players left the club, including long-standing key players such as former captain Hauke Wahl, veteran Fin Bartels and winger Fabian Reese. In return, eleven new players joined the team. Nevertheless, there were no adjustment problems. Four of the first five games of the season were won outright.
"I believe that a lot has been done right with the additions," said striker Benedikt Pichler on Saturday evening. "Every single player that was brought in is really extremely hungry. There are no players who see Kiel as the last step in their careers and want to let their careers slowly fade away. For the young players in particular, it's a great opportunity to develop."
Examples of this are 19-year-old full-back Tom Rothe, who is on loan from Borussia Dortmund. Or 20-year-old central defender Colin Kleine-Bekel, who trained in Dortmund but has been under contract in Kiel since the summer of 2022 and has already played four international matches for the German U21 national team.
Another strength is the breadth of the squad, especially up front. The fact that the two most successful goalscorers to date, Pichler (7 goals) and Steven Skrzybski (5 goals), missed the last two games of the first half of the season was easily compensated for thanks to Japanese international Shuto Machino and the up-and-coming Fiete Arp. Arp in particular is in strong form. The former HSV and FC Bayern Munich striker also scored twice against Hannover (27th/45th). Timo Becker (25) had scored the 1:0.
"For me, this is just a great finish because I worked hard for it," explained Arp. He said of his chances in the promotion race: "We're not putting ourselves under any great pressure. I think we simply have a positive momentum. We have the self-confidence that we've built up and we have this hunger to keep picking up points and stay up there."
The second half of the season starts for Holstein Kiel on January 19 - again with a northern clash. Relegation candidates Eintracht Braunschweig will then visit the Holstein Stadium.
Holstein Kiel website: Match report on the game against Hannover 96
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Source: www.stern.de
