Highlights

All matches

FINAL

Vonovia Ruhrstadion

Fortuna Düsseldorf

72'

EngelhardtYannik Engelhardt

64'

KlausFelix Klaus

13'

HofmannPhilipp Hofmann

R. Schröder

Vonovia Ruhrstadion

Full time: Bochum 0-3 Fortuna Düsseldorf

They say you can't win a tie in the first leg but you can lose it, and there's no escaping the feeling that that's what's happened here. Bochum were good in spells, particularly at the start of the second half, but never looked like scoring from open play and only went close through Kevin Stöger's set-piece deliveries. Fortuna, on the other hand, were far more clinical, with the lively Christos Tzolis having a hand in each of his side's goals, leaving Düsseldorf with one foot in the Bundesliga.

End of second half

Full-time

90'

+ 3

Yellow card

Anthony Losilla

90'

Speed check: The fastest player in the game after 90 minutes

Through high-end camera technology and machine learning, the speed of each player is evaluated in real time. Top speed then means, the fastest measured single frame of a player/game.

Moritz Broschinski33.11km/h

Maximilian Wittek33.09km/h

Bernardo33.03km/h

87'

Substitution

Shinta Appelkamp

Christos Tzolis

87'

Substitution

Takashi Uchino

Yannik Engelhardt

87'

Substitution

Jona Niemiec

Felix Klaus

85'

Substitution

Christoph Daferner

Vincent Vermeij

82'

Woodwork!

Klaus turns inside the box and gets a shot away, but holds his head in despair as he sees it strike the top of the post and bounce away!

Famous fan

Bayern Munich star Leon Goretzka, a Bochum native, is in the stands here to cheer on his boyhood club. The midfielder made his breakthrough in the game as a teenager with Bochum, scoring four goals in 32 Bundesliga 2 appearances in 2012/13 before switching to Schalke at the end of that season.

80'

Substitution

Lukas Daschner

Matúš Bero

80'

Substitution

Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson

Marcel Sobottka

76'

Stick or twist?

It's a tricky situation for Bochum now. Do they go into damage limitation mode and hope to turn things around in the second leg? Or do they try and get at least one goal back now, which would run the risk of leaving themselves exposed and potentially conceding another?

72'

It's three!

Is that game, set and match for Fortuna? It's certainly a major setback for Bochum's hopes of staying up. This time it's Engelhardt to put his name in lights, prodding in the rebound after Luthe was unable to hold Tzolis' thundering free-kick from distance.

72'

Yannik Engelhardt

GOAL!

0:3

Goal probability

Goal probability determines the likelihood that the ball will land in the goal from every position on the pitch. The value is based on large amounts of data from previous years; factors such as shot angle, distance to goal and opponent pressure - as well as mathematical models.

83 %

Shot speed

Shot speed describes the maximum speed in km/h that a ball reaches in a shot on goal. The distance is measured from the location of the shot to the centre of the goal.

71.67 km/h

Distance to Goal

The distance to goal is measured at the time of the shot - from the position of the ball to the center of the goal.

8.27 m

71'

Substitution

Gonçalo Paciência

Philipp Hofmann

71'

Substitution

Christopher Antwi-Adjei

Maximilian Wittek

71'

Yellow card

Bernardo

Deadly duo

Klaus (front) gets his seventh goal of the season, and his first away from home since Matchday 4. Tzolis (back) meanwhile, has had a hand in both of his team's goals so far.

64'

Klaus makes it two!!

Bochum have been on top pretty much the entire second half so far, so this will be a major blow to their confidence. An attack peters out in the Fortuna penalty area and the visitors immediately launch a counter. Tzolis does much of the legwork down the left before sliding a brilliant pass through to Klaus, darting into the box, to slot into the net!

64'

Felix Klaus

GOAL!

0:2

Goal probability

46 %

Distance to Goal

The distance to goal is measured at the time of the shot - from the position of the ball to the center of the goal.

9 m

63'

First changes

Bochum coach Heiko Butscher has seen enough and brings on some fresh legs in a bid to change the course of the game.

63'

Substitution

Anthony Losilla

Patrick Osterhage

62'

Substitution

Moritz Broschinski

Takuma Asano

60'

Bochum on top

The action has been concentrated in Fortuna's half for the last few minutes as Bochum try to force the issue. Düsseldorf are defending compactly though, and the home side are just lacking that bit of guile or ingenuity to unlock the defence.

56'

Noisy

The home supporters are doing everything they can to cheers their side on and are making a deafening racket as they will their players to equalise.

53'

Putting in the hard yards

Bochum can't be accused of lacking effort; they're outsprinting their opponents by a considerable margin.

Sprints

134

109

50'

Luthe to the rescue!

What a save by the Bochum goalkeeper! Klaus finds space just outside the home penalty area and curls a shot towards the top corner. It appears destined to go in - until Luthe dives full stretch and claws it wide of the post for a corner. Sensational stuff!

46'

Peeeeep!

Bochum get the ball rolling again. No changes from either side at the interval.

Kick-off!

Half-time: Bochum 0-1 Düsseldorf

The visitors hold the upper hand at the break after Hofmann’s early own goal. Bochum improved as the half wore on and look dangerous from Stöger’s set pieces, but Fortuna have also impressed, with Tzolis’ mischief down the left their main threat so far.

Half-time

44'

In behind

Tzolis gets behind the Bochum defence after collecting a long ball forward from his goalkeeper. He gets to the byline on the left but his attempted cut-back is blocked for a corner.

43'

Shooting practice needed

We've had a decent number of goal attempts, but only one on target so far.

Goal attempts

8off target

0on target

6off target

1on target

40'

Over from Tzolis

Fortuna win a free-kick in a dangerous position, just outside the left-hand corner of the penalty box. Tzolis lines it up, aiming for the far corner, but ends up ballooning his effort well over.

38'

No dice

Stöger whips in the set piece from the left and although Fortuna half clear the danger, Bochum recycle the ball and pump it back into the box. The move culminates with Asano's overhead kick from close range that bobbles just wide.

36'

Break in play

Wittek and Zimmermann clash mid-air as they challenge to win a punt forward by Bernardo, giving Bochum a free-kick...

33'

Feisty

There hasn't been much goalmouth action in the last few minutes, but that is not to say the intensity has dropped off. Both sets of players are pressing high and quick, and are thundering into the tackles in midfield.

30'

Speed check: The fastest player in the game after 30 minutes

Through high-end camera technology and machine learning, the speed of each player is evaluated in real time. Top speed then means, the fastest measured single frame of a player/game.

Bernardo33.03km/h

Takuma Asano32.77km/h

Felix Klaus31.38km/h

25'

Punching above

xGoals

The xGoals value of a club is calculated from the sum of all goal probabilities (goals and shots on goal) of that team. During a match, it’s easy to see whether the club is performing better than expected (goals > xGoals) - or maybe even higher (xGoals > goals).

Techincally speaking, Fortuna shouldn't be on the scoresheet yet, abut that audacious moment of magic from Tzolis has defied the stat nerds.

xGoals

0.6

0.17

Goals

21'

Stöger a whisker away

A lovely free-kick from the Bochum playmaker as his swerving, dipping direct free-kick from around 25 yards narrowly sails wide of the target.

First time for everything

Tzolis (l.) had taken 34 corners for Fortuna previously, but none had ever led to a goal. He couldn't have picked a better time to get off the mark! Bochum, meanwhile, conceded more own goals (four) than any other top flight side in 2023/24. It was also Hofmann's first own goal in his professional career.

17'

Goal disallowed

Wittek thinks he's equalised as he peels behind the Fortuna defence and slots the ball into the net after going one-on-one with the keeper, but it's chalked off for offside.

15'

Off the post!

Almost the perfect reply by Bochum as Stöger whips in a corner from the right. He finds Bernardo, whose header hits the far post before being gathered by goalkeeper Kastenmeier!

13'

Düsseldorf lead!

Tzolis catches Luthe by surprise as he curls an in-swinging corner from the left towards goal. It's almost an Olimpico, going straight in, but crashes off the near post, hits Bochum's Hofmann and bobbles over the line!

13'

Philipp Hofmann

OWN GOAL!

0:1

Fierce contest

It's been a full-blooded affair so far!

Hosts growing into it

While Fortuna looked the better side for the first couple of minutes, Bochum are starting to wrestle control now. They've completed 81 percent of their passes, compared to just 65 percent for their guests.

Passes

First sight of Bochum

Kevin Stöger whips in a corner from the right that the away side struggle to deal with. Bochum get two or three shots away in quick succession - they're all blocked before they get to goal, but it's a positive sign from the hosts and receives a roar of approval from the home crowd.

Confident start

Fortuna, unbeaten in 14 games, immediately look comfortable on the ball. They're playing it out from the back, linking up with one-touch passing and are very much on the front foot.

Here we go!

The visitors get the action under way in Bochum!

Kick-off!

Team news - Düsseldorf

Fortuna boss Daniel Thioune has made wholesale changes after resting a number of players at the weekend, with third place in Bundesliga 2 already guaranteed. Christos Tzolis, Jordy de Wijs, Marcel Sobottka and Ao Tanaka are the only four players to keep their places.

Team news - Bochum

Heiko Butscher has sprung a surprise with his team selection here, with veteran holding midfielder and team captain Anthony Losilla only on the bench as Matus Bero takes his spot in the side. Elsewhere, Andreas Luthe comes in for Manuel Riemann in goal, Felix Passlack replaces Tim Oermann at right-back, and Takuma Asano is preferred in attack to Moritz Broschinski.

The stakes

Just in case the players need any pitch-side reminders of what's on the line today...

Bochum starting XI

Luthe - Passlack, Ordets, Schlotterbeck, Bernardo - Bero, Osterhage - Asano, Stöger (c), Wittek - Hofmann

Bochum subs

Thiede, Gamboa, Oermann, Loosli, Losilla, Daschner, Paciência, Antwi-Adjei, Broschinski

Düsseldorf starting XI

Kastenmeier (c) - Zimmermann, Oberdorf, De Wijs, Iyoha - Engelhardt, Tanaka - Klaus, Sobottka, Tzolis - Vermeij

Düsseldorf subs

Niemczycki, Uchino, Hoffmann, Quarshie, Gavory, Bergmann Jóhannesson, Appelkamp, Niemiec, Daferner

Thioune ahead of first leg

"It’s not like any old Bundesliga 2 game. I got to experience it as a player, from both sides. I lost a play-off as a player, I won a play-off as a player. I think it can also be very unfair. Maybe your opponent has had a good season but dropped into the play-off spot on the last day, then maybe you don’t deserve to be relegated. But bring it back to us: our team has had an incredible journey, a wonderful season with a highlight of 63 points, with an incredible goal difference. This team deserves to go up. We were among the best three teams in the season just gone. So, it can’t be fair on Thursday and next Monday when one team will end up playing in the second division. It’s a bit of a shame. That’s what the play-off is about. It can be moments, form on the day."

Butscher ahead of first leg

"I don’t like the word ‘lose’. It’s obviously disappointing how things have gone, that we ended up in the play-off spot, but it’s a fact. But we can win something here. We want to remain in the Bundesliga. That was our goal from the start. And if we achieve it via the two play-off games, then it’s still achieved. I don’t like it, I don’t want to hear that we have something to lose. We have something to win, remaining in the Bundesliga. That’s the goal and we’ve continuously tried to demonstrate that to the team. It won’t be easy, no question about that. We’re the Bundesliga club, no question about that. But we have quality, no question about that. We have something to offer. Thursday is the first showdown."

1:41

Watch: EA Sports FC 24 predicts Bochum vs. Düsseldorf

Ahead of the crucial playoff, find out who EA Sports FC 24 have got as the winner over two-legs...

Fortuna need to buck trend

Over the past 11 seasons, second division teams have managed only two wins from 22 fixtures in the play-offs. Both of those came away from home - Kiel won 1-0 in Cologne in 2021 and Hamburg won 1-0 at Hertha in 2022 - but on neither occasion did the Bundesliga 2 club hold out in the second leg to secure promotion. Kiel lost 5-1 at home; HSV were beaten 2-0. The remaining 20 fixtures have seen 12 wins for the Bundesliga sides and eight draws.

Advantage Bochum?

This is the 26th time a play-off will determine the last spot in the Bundesliga for the next season. Of the 25 previous ties, the Bundesliga club has retained their top-flight place on 19 occasions. The Bundesliga 2 club has only come up six times, and none since Union Berlin on away goals in 2019.

2:36

Watch: The best of Bochum in 2023/24

See the best of Bochum in the Bundesliga in 2023/24 as they fight to stay in the Bundesliga with this two-legged play-off.

2:01

Watch: The best of Düsseldorf in 2023/24

See the best of Fortuna Düsseldorf during the 2023/24 Bundesliga 2 campaign, where they finished third, before they take on Bochum in the play-off.

Bochum just ahead

It's around a 40-minute train ride between Bochum and Düsseldorf, who have faced each other 83 times before going back to the pre-Bundesliga Oberliga West in the 1950s. VfL have won the last three meetings, all in Bundesliga 2 and most recently in 2020/21, to inch ahead in the head-to-head with 29 wins to 26, plus 28 draws. It's a seriously tight fixture.

2:03

Watch: Bremen 4-1 Bochum - highlights

Bochum dropped to 16th and will have to fight to stay up via the play-off after a heavy final-day defeat away at Werder Bremen.

2:01

Watch: Düsseldorf 3-2 Magdeburg - highlights

Already assured of third place and a shot at play-off, a much-changed Fortuna side beat Magdeburg 3-2 on the final day of the Bundesliga 2 season thanks to a Christos Tzolis hat-trick.

0:30

Hello and welcome!

Thanks for joining us for build-up and live coverage of the first leg of the 2023/24 play-off between Bochum and Fortuna Düsseldorf.