THE BLOG BY CPD FOOTBALL | The World of Indian football and beyond by Chris Punnakkattu Daniel

Entertaining German 3rd Divison Derby ends in a draw in front of 26,026 fans

DSC Arminia Bielefeld v Preußen Münster

The beautiful game of football has always its special matches and derbies are the icing on the cake. East Bengal v Mohun Bagan is the big one in India, while other derbies like the “Old Firm” derby in Glasgow fascinate the football world. A very special derby took place in Germany today, when DSC Arminia Bielefeld took on archrivals Preußen Münster in front of 26,026 spectators at the SchücoArena… in the German 3rd Division!

The match between these two sides from the Westphalia region is one of the biggest derbies in German football with a long-standing rivalry. Arminia Bielefeld is known to some Indian fans from their good times in the German Bundesliga, while Preußen Münster has been one of the founding members of the Bundesliga in 1963.

DSC Arminia Bielefeld v Preußen MünsterBoth teams are battling for promotion to the 2nd Division as the Bundesliga celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The derby at Bielefeld’s SchücoArena was the top game of Matchday 29 with the 3rd (Arminia Bielefeld) and 4th (Preußen Münster) placed teams having the chance to get things rolling to the right direction in a match which promised to be more than a football game.

And the match didn’t disappoint the expectations! The fans were able to witness an encounter full of pace and entertainment on a rainy Saturday. Sebastan Hille opened the score sheet in the 20th minute with a goal from a close range to the delight of the home fans.

Arminia had the advantage of leading the tie with a goal, but Preußen Münster didn’t surrender and they were partially on par with their arch-rivals. But Preußen Münster were lucky not to concede a second goal minutes before the half-time whistle when Bielefeld hit the crossbar and the post within a few seconds.

On the other side Preußen Münster were denied a goal by Arminia keeper Patrick Platins on a few occasions in the early stages of the second half. Arminia Bielefeld had all the confidence on their side and they kept the game under their control.

DSC Arminia Bielefeld v Preußen MünsterBut Preußen Münster found their way back to the game, when Johannes Rahn commited a foul inside Arminia’s box to concede a penalty kick. Amaury Bischoff coolly sloted home to level the score line in the 74th minute. The atmosphere erupted with the equaliser as both fans groups tried to push their team forward with fanatic chants, drums and more.

The match almost got a winner when Münster gave away a penalty in the dying seconds of the match. But Bielefeld’s substitute Christian Müller missed the golden opportunity to hand the home side a win, when his poor shot was saved by the keeper.

Both sides had to settle for a 1-1 draw, while the final results left the home fans disappointed after their team failed to convert the penalty kick in the injury time. Arminia coach Stefan Krämer agreed to the sentiments of the fans during the post-match press conference: “It feels like a defeat, if you miss a penalty in the 92nd minute. But the draw is okay, if you look at the course of the game.”

“I’m satisfied with my team and I’m also satisfied with the point we gained here” Preußen coach Pavel Dotchev told. “I would be happy to see both team gain promotion and to have a derby in the 2nd Division Bundesliga.”

DSC Arminia Bielefeld v Preußen MünsterArminia Bielefeld (56 points) and Preußen Münster (54 points) remain 3rd and 4th in the table, while Karlsruher SC (60 points) top the league ahead of VfL Osnabrück (57 points). The top two teams will gain direct promotion to the 2nd Division Bundesliga, whereas the 3rd placed team would face the antepenultimate team from the 2nd Divison in a relegation play-off.

The latest edition of the Westphalia derby has been another highly emotional one on and off the pitch, but it has been learnt from the authorities that no major incidents have occured around the game so far. 500 to 600 policemen and -women took care about the safety of the visitors, who enjoyed a wonderful football match at the SchücoArena.

Please scroll to the bottom of the page to WATCH a VIDEO CLIP from the match!

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German 3rd Division | Matchday 29
at the SchücoArena, Bielefeld

DSC ARMINIA BIELEFELD 1-1 PREUSSEN MÜNSTER

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GOALS
1-0 Sebastian Hille (20’)
1-1 Amaury Bischoff (74’)

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LINE-UPS

DSC Arminia Bielefeld
1 Patrick Platins; 4 Marcel Appiah, 14 Michael Hornig, 5 Thomas Hübener [C], 11 Stephan Salger; 8 Tim Jerat, 6 Tom Schütz (80’ 37 Christian Müller); 30 Sebastian Hille (72’ 21 Patrick Schönfeld), 16 Philipp Riese, 13 Johannes Rahn; 9 Fabian Klos (83’ 31 Sebastian Glasner)

Unused Subs
24 Stefan Ortega Moreno; 2 Jonas Strifler, 10 Pascal Testroet, 28 Eric Agyemang

Preußen Münster
25 Daniel Masuch; 6 Kevin Schöneberg, 5 Patrick Kirsch, 8 Stefan Kühne [C], 3 Fabian Hergesell; 21 Jens Truckenbrod; 30 Benjamin Siegert (67’ 11 Dimitrij Nazarov), 10 Amaury Bischoff, 27 Mehmet Kara, 20 Dennis Grote (20’ 7 Philip Heise); 9 Matthew Taylor (59’ 14 Marco Königs)

Unused Subs
35 Maximilian Schulze Niehues; 4 Robin Neupert, 26 Cüneyt Köz, 33 Addy Waku Menga

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MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee
Michael Weiner

Assistant Referees
Christoph Bornhorst, André Wenzel

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BOOKINGS

Yellow Cards
14’ Johannes Rahn (DSC Arminia Bielefeld)
30’ Fabian Hergesell (Preußen Münster)
60’ Michael Hornig (DSC Arminia Bielefeld)
90’ Patrick Kirsch (Preußen Münster)

Yellow-Red Cards
73’ Johannes Rahn (DSC Arminia Bielefeld)

Red Cards
none

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VIDEO CLIP
Arminia Bielefeld fans singing the club anthem ahead of the match…