"If we play like that, we won't get any points in this league"

It had lasted 26 minutes before the whole promotion euphoria was gone. Rot-Weiss Essen had already conceded four goals at this point, it was 1:4 against co-promoted Elversberg. The traditional club from the Ruhr area had certainly imagined returning after 14 years without professional football. It was 1:5 (1:4) at the end.

The 16,347 spectators on Hafenstrasse did everything they could to make the opening game a party. “Never again 4th league”, it sounded before kick-off. The West Stand was enveloped in red and white smoke. As strong as the performance in the stands was, the performance on the pitch was just as naïve.

Even at 0:1, RWE defender Sandro Plechaty didn’t attack his opponent energetically enough. Kevin Koffi was able to turn and take advantage of the visitors’ first chance to take the lead (7′). It was the Ivory Coast striker who then added three minutes later. Previously, Cedric Harenbrock had missed the great opportunity to equalize, he missed a penalty kick (10th).

Although Ron Berlinski (13th) brought hope to RWE, Luca Schnellbacher made the preliminary decision with a quick brace (23rd/26th). “It felt like every shot was a goal at Elversberg at the beginning,” said RWE coach Christoph Dabrowski, but at the same time mocked “very, very easy” goals. The best example was Semih Sahin’s final point, who was able to score the ball free-standing to make it 5-1 (82′).

The frustration in Essen was deep after the final whistle. “That was just really bad of us. If we play like that, we don’t get any points in this league, complained veteran Felix Bastians on “Magenta Sport”. But he didn’t want to attribute the poor performance to the attitude and commitment. After all: great There were no signs of dissatisfaction from the stands.In two weeks, RWE travels to the derby in Duisburg.Bastians promised “a better performance than today.”

Markus Beginning also experienced an unfortunate third division premiere. With Dynamo Dresden he lost against the self-declared promotion favorite 1860 Munich 3:4 (0:2). In front of 24,046 spectators in Dresden’s Rudolf Harbig Stadium, Dynamos Kevin Ehlers put the Löwen ahead with an own goal (8th) before Tim Rieder (36th) increased. After Marcel Bär’s goal (68′), Dynamo was practically able to shorten the lead through Dennis Borkowski (69′), but Bär (71′) scored again for the sixties. After that, Dynamo managed only cosmetic results with Manuel Schäffler (74th) and again Borkowski (82nd).

Beginning, who resigned as coach of the then second division team Werder Bremen last November after the public prosecutor’s office opened investigations against him for using a fake vaccination card, was the focus of the first league game in Dresden. “This isn’t about me, it’s about Dynamo Dresden. No one who is employed here is bigger than the club,” said Beginning on ARD.

His team started furiously after the minute’s silence for HSV legend Uwe Seeler. Returnee Stefan Kutschke (3rd) had the lead on the foot, but found his master in Löwen keeper Marco Hiller. Then Dynamo was unlucky: after a cross from Stefan Lex, Ehlers (8th) wanted to clear the ball, but managed to get the ball into his own box.

Hiller again prevented the equalizer when Kutschke (21./26.) shot free on the left and then headed the ball. But the lions were more efficient: Rieder (36th) rounded the Dynamo defense and pushed into the far corner. After the change, Dresden put more pressure on. But the guests were smarter and won in the end.