Over the past 11 seasons, clubs from the 2. Bundesliga has managed only two wins in 22 playoff matches, both times away from home (Kiel defeated Cologne, Hamburg defeated Hertha in Berlin). However, none of these clubs succeeded in securing promotion to the Bundesliga, as top-tier clubs managed to overturn the situation in the return leg. This year, however, it would take a true miracle for Fortuna Düsseldorf not to play in the Bundesliga, as they celebrated a convincing 3-0 (1-0) victory over Bochum in the first playoff match.Fortuna last played in the top tier in the 2019/2020 season, so in four days at the Merkur Spiel-Arena, in Germany’s seventh-largest city, the guests will face a true cauldron. The atmosphere at this venue is well-known, highlighted by the fact that in the last round of the league season across all German leagues, Fortuna’s match against Magdeburg (50,028 spectators) was the fifth most attended in the country.Bochum was not helped even by Bayern Munich’s Leon Goretzka, a local boy who was born in Bochum and developed in the ranks of the current home team. Things went wrong for Heiko Butscher’s team as early as the 14th minute when Christos Tzolis aimed superbly directly from a corner, and the poorly positioned Philipp Hofmann sent the ball into his own net. That moment completely unsettled the hosts, who had to open up more as the match progressed, leaving plenty of space for Fortuna’s counterattacks. From one such situation, after a corner for the home team, Daniel Thioune’s team developed a lethal counterattack, which Felix Klaus converted into a goal with an assist from the lively Tzolis.The knockout punch for Bochum came in the 80th minute. Once again, Christos Tzolis was in the spotlight, aiming excellently at the near post, Andreas Lute reacted poorly, and Yannick Engelhardt pounced on the rebound to send it into the home team’s net. The hosts lacked a bit of luck at times. At a score of 0-1, Bernardo, Philipp Hofmann, and Kevin Stöger threatened, but in the end, they missed a great chance to at least give their team more hope for the return leg in four days. Fortuna’s victory matched the biggest win by a team in a playoff for Bundesliga promotion. Nürnberg defeated Energie Cottbus 3-0 away in 2009.##NAJAVA_MECA_8117803##
