FC Ingolstadt overcame its relegation trauma with a lot of trembling and managed to return to the second Bundesliga after two years.

In 2019 and 2020 the Upper Bavarians failed in the two play-offs between the second division sixteenth and the third division third in some dramatic ways.

On Sunday, after a clear 3-0 win in the first leg, they were only satisfied with a 1: 3 (1: 2) defeat at VfL Osnabrück, which was relegated to the third division for the seventh time.

In front of the 2000 spectators at the Bremer Brücke, who were allowed to cheer VfL on at short notice, the Ingolstadt-based team had to suffer a lot this time as well.

After just 20 minutes, the Lower Saxony had caught up with Marc Heider (6/20) two out of three goals conceded from the first leg.

At this point in time they were only missing one goal for overtime and two for relegation.

The loud fans and Ingolstadt's nerves only calmed down when Filip Bilbija surprisingly scored 1: 2 (31st).

Now Osnabrück needed three goals again, of which Etienne Amenyido (78th) only managed one.

Osnabrück fails again

VfL had left no stone unturned to make up for the high defeat on Thursday.

Before the kick-off, the Katja Ebstein hit "Miracles are always there" was played over the stadium speakers.

And then the 2,000 spectators, who had been admitted at short notice by the Lower Saxony state government as part of a model project to open leisure and cultural events, also made a noise as if 20,000 of them were standing in the grandstands of the Bremer Brücke.

This atmosphere noticeably intimidated the FCI.

His antidote had nothing to do with playful finesse or particularly strong nerves, but it turned out to be effective: Because the guests brought more and more nicknames and small fouls into this game and thereby broke the Osnabrück wave a little.

VfL tried to keep applying pressure after the break and hit the post twice with a header from Heider (48th) and a free kick by Sebastian Kerk (78th).

However, the game was no longer so one-sided because the purple-whites lost their strength and Ingolstadt got several counter-chances as a result.

As bitter as last year's experiences against 1. FC Nürnberg (conceded goal in stoppage time) and SV Wehen Wiesbaden (home defeat after away success) were, the bottom line was that the “Schanzer” now have a better relegation record than VfL.

Because the Osnabrück failed after 2009, 2011 and 2013 for the fourth time in these two nerve-wracking games.