Hannover 96: Stefan Leitl suffers: “A lot broke there”

After the 0-1 draw in Braunschweig, Hannover 96 is only five points ahead of Braunschweig (16th place) and Rostock (17th place). Welcome to the relegation battle!

Captain Ron-Robert Zieler (34): “We have to orient ourselves downwards, we are in a critical situation. We are not saved yet, we urgently need points.”

96 is still without a win this year and has been waiting for a three-pointer for nine (!) games. The Derby bankruptcy hurts – Stefan Leitl (45) suffers particularly.

The coach was completely frustrated: “I have the feeling that after five and a half months, in which we invested a lot and played a decent preliminary round, a lot broke with this defeat today.”

What he might have meant: The cohesion with the fans, who have supported 96 so far, is in danger. And the spirit of optimism that Leitl, sports director Marcus Mann (39) and the team created in the regular first half of the season is finally gone.

There hasn’t been a trainer discussion yet. But the pressure on Leitl is growing. Especially since the negative series came out of nowhere after 28 points in the first half of the season and proper preparation.

Leitl: “We got out of a situation where you actually have all the cards on your side. You can play freely, you can enjoy it, with a bit of luck even annoy the upper class a bit. And then you put down a series of negatives with everything that goes with it.”

The absolute low point is now the 0:1 in Braunschweig. Leitl: “You mustn’t lose the derby, especially in our situation. That’s why I feel the way I said it. A lot of credit has gone bad. That means hard work again to earn new trust. That doesn’t feel good.”