2. Bundesliga
High drama in Bundesliga 2
Bundesliga 2 is up to its old tricks again in 2024/25, with potentially 12 teams in the promotion hunt separated by just nine points at the halfway stage and goals galore lighting up one of Europe's most intriguing leagues.
To understand what has made the 2024/25 Bundesliga 2 season so interesting until now, let’s first have a look at the table. Cologne lead the way, with two points keeping them above Karlsruhe, and Hamburg sitting below the two in third with 28 points.
Elversberg in fourth place were league leaders as recently as Matchday 16 and the Saarland outfit's rise to the summit to the summit is remarkable, especially considering they are in just their second ever season in Bundesliga 2, having won promotion at the end of the 2022/23 season.
The top end of the table being tight is normal, right? Well, how about the top 10? There are just seven points between Cologne and Darmstadt in 10th. To put that in perspective, the same league positions are separated by 13 points in the Bundesliga.
On the topic of fine margins, 30 percent (46 out of 153) of this season's Bundesliga 2 results have been draws, highlighting just how fiercely competitive this division is. These hard-fought battles for points have still seen plenty of goals though, with 484 goals scored already this season.
The last game week, SEVEN of those goals were scored in Magdeburg's 5-2 defeat of Fortuna Düsseldorf, a result which threw further chaos into the top 10 mix.
Watch: Fortuna Düsseldorf 2-5 Magdeburg - highlights
If that result doesn’t grab your attention, then let’s take a look at Matchday 10, which witnessed 11 goals scored in the game between Nuremberg and Jahn Regensburg. With the game tied at 3-3, it looked like struggling Regensburg would possibly secure some much-needed points in a thrilling encounter, only for the hosts to score five goals in the last half-hour of the game. Naturally, the contest went into the history books, taking its place as the joint second-highest scoring game ever in Germany’s second tier.
Kaiserslautern won 4-3 away to Düsseldorf on the same day. At that point, Düsseldorf had lost just once after nine games and were sat at the top of the table, eight points ahead of the 11th-placed Red Devils - they are now neck-and-neck. That game was the second in a seven-game unbeaten run for Kaiserslautern before their loss to Darmstadt and then Cologne, which has seen them fall to ninth place though only five points adrift of top - a downturn which shows that even the slightest of slips could see teams fall down the ladder.
As well as Kaiserslautern have done until now in the season, their position is far from comfortable. More than half of the sides in Bundesliga 2 have found themselves in the top three at some point this season, creating an enthralling race for promotion. Cologne - relegated from the Bundesliga at the end of 2023/24 - are one of the sides aiming to return to the big time and have moved into pole position after their 1-0 win over Kaiserslautern.
Watch: Kaiserslautern 0-1 Cologne - highlights
Goals being scored is one thing, but how they’re scored is a completely different story. The Matchday 8 meeting between Magdeburg and Greuther Fürth saw two of the most comical penalties you’re likely to see awarded. Magdeburg took the lead after Fürth’s Gideon Jung picked up a pass from his goalkeeper, not realising play had been restarted; he thought his blushes had been spared when Mo El Hankouri‘s effort was saved, only for him to tap it home when the rebound was crossed back in.
At the other end, Daniel Heber made a similar mistake not long before half-time. Eager to protest what he thought would be called as a foul when Roberto Massimo was tackled just outside the area, Heber picked up the ball and headed toward referee Bastian Dankert – before a whistle had been blown. A penalty was award to Fürth, which was slotted home by Julian Green, before Fürth went on to equalise through Noel Futkeu in the second half.
Watch: Bizarre penalty scenes in Bundesliga 2
Halfway through the 2024/25 campaign and there has been already been a season worth of entertainment in Bundesliga 2, with surely more to come as we gear up for the second half of the campaign.
With so much still to play for and so little separating the top half of the table, it looks like being yet another incredible season in Germany's brilliantly unpredictable second division.