Berlin (AFP)

Werder Bremen, in an uncomfortable position after conceding the home draw on the first leg (0-0), retains its place in the German football elite after the draw (2-2) obtained on the field of Heidenheim, Monday evening in dam return of maintenance / accession.

Werder Bremen will therefore not leave the 1st German division, of which he has been a resident without interruption since 1981.

"When you see the season we had, how difficult it was from the start, it's a very, very big relief now," Werder Bremen captain Dutch international Davy Klaassen told Amazon Prime Video which retransmitted the match in Germany.

The Brêmois opened the scoring in the 3rd minute by ... Heindenheim defender Norman Theuerkauf, who scored against his own camp. This one propelled, from the penalty spot, the ball in the left window of his goalkeeper Kevin Müller dumbfounded, by wanting to remove the ball from the feet of Josh Sargent, the American striker from Bremen lonely at the penalty spot.

After this happy goal, the men of Florian Kohfeldt had control of the ball during the main part of a first period during which, under the eyes of the referee of this meeting Felix Brych, best whistle in the world in 2017, Heidenheim did not take the slightest opportunity.

In a much more unrestrained second act where the opportunities were multiplied, the local team regained hope by equalizing in the 85th minute by Tim Kleindienst, who closely resumed a powerful left shot notched from the angle of the penalty area by Tobias Mohr.

But in additional time, Ludwig Augustinsson was going to give the death blow to Heidenheim, giving the advantage, lonely in the area on a block, in Bremen (94th).

And it was not a penalty at the last second (97th) transformed by Tim Kleindienst, author of a double, which would change the course of history.

Heidenheim, a club in a small town with less than 50,000 inhabitants, which had won the right to contest this jump-off by finishing 3rd in D2 in front of another historic club, Hamburger SV, will therefore not realize its dream of entering the first times in the elite of German football.

© 2020 AFP