2.Bundesliga
Monday 30th April 2018
Having travelled a vast amount around Europe in the few years previously, Nuremberg (and the Max-Morlock Stadion) was a place which I always wanted to visit at some point.
Steeped in history due to various events which occurred during the Second World War, the stadium is one of the most well-known in Germany and situated just a stone's throw from the former Nazi Party rally grounds - the remnants of which are still standing! In more recent times, it's also where England beat Trinidad & Tobago in the Group Stages of the 2006 World Cup.
A trip here can be as eye-opening as it can be educational and with cheap flights at favourable hours from Manchester Airport making it very viable, it was too good to turn down the opportunity to finally explore everything which Nuremberg had to offer.
It certainly didn't disappoint and, having spent the Saturday evening and Monday afternoon in the city centre, the few hours leading up to kick-off were spent wandering in the late afternoon sunshine across what remains of the former rally grounds - taking in sights such as the Congress Hall (creepy when you're on your own - even in sunset!) and the vast Zeppelinfeld.
Although Monday night football in Germany is vastly unpopular, there was a near-capacity crowd for this game - mainly because Nuremberg fans knew that a win would put them on the verge of securing promotion back to the Bundesliga after a four-year absence.
As a consequence of my pre-match explorations, I turned up later than I usually would at the turnstiles, having also stopped to sample a very good Bratwurst, and was met by a sight of what can only be described as a huge, disorganised scrum with everyone in a hurry to get past the security checks, through the turnstiles and into the stadium in time for kick-off.
It's fair to say social distancing wasn't a thing back in 2018 though, thankfully, the scrum was moving quickly enough to get into the stadium only a few minutes prior to the 8.30pm start.
Due to the strange shape of the stadium and the running track, spectators are located what seems to be miles away from the pitch and there's an almost claustrophobic feeling about the place with the sloping roof creating a 'boxed in' sensation (see photos). It wasn't quite straightforward to find my seat initially, though thankfully I was eventually pointed in the right direction!
On the pitch, it was all pretty comfortable for the hosts and a sign of the problems to come for Braunschweig (Brunswick in English) who were one of a number of teams caught up in a battle to avoid relegation to the third tier.
Ondřej Petrák opened the scoring just before half-time and with the tone firmly set, Kevin Mohwald settled any possible doubts about the outcome by making it 2-0 soon after the re-start - leading to euphoric celebrations amongst the jubilant home fans who sensed promotion back to the top flight was set to become a reality.
However, along with Fortuna Dusseldorf who won the league, it proved to be just a one-season stay in the Bundesliga as they were promptly relegated in 2018/19. Braunschweig fared no better in what remained of 2017/18 as they were unable to arrest a slide which saw them relegated along with one-time heavyweights Kaiserslautern!
Photos from the Zeppelinfeld and Congress Hall
Photos from the Max-Morlock Stadion
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