Nuremberg wins 8:3 against Jahn: A historic evening

There is often an astonishing banality inherent in historical moments at the moment of occurrence. Their significance is usually only apparent in retrospect. It becomes particularly difficult to grasp the meaning of individual moments when one event follows the next. This is what happened on Friday evening in Nuremberg. The scene was the floodlit Max Morlock Stadium, on whose lawn things took place that many grandchildren in Middle Franconia will probably hear about.

1. FC Nürnberg shot SSV Jahn Regensburg 8-3 out of the octagonal arena on October 25, 2024 – the club has never scored so many goals in its own venue in the 2nd league. In fact, there have only been two games in the single-track 2nd league with a similar number of goals: in 1997, 1. FC Kaiserslautern won 7:6 against SV Meppen, and in 1989, Fortuna Köln lost against SG Wattenscheid 5:6.

And while Regensburg’s Kai Pröger spoke of a “scandal” in view of these historical dimensions and eight goals conceded, the more than 30,000 Nuremberg witnesses are faced with the question of where they should begin their story in 30, 40 or 50 years: quite banally at the beginning of the The goal scored by Stefanos Tzimas, who recently scored big against Fürth in the Frankenderby, with a skillful flick into the far corner? At the end, when Regensburg’s Louis Breunig deflected a long-range shot from Ondrej Karafiat into his own goal and thus ensured a result that has never been seen before in the second division?

Or should it be better to start in the 74th minute, when Julian Justvan took a penalty? The argument against this is that such a goal from a penalty is one of the easier exercises in the life of a professional footballer and that penalties are scored week after week in the Republic’s stadiums. This is supported by the fact that Justvan entered the top scorer’s list for the third time with his goal to make it 5:3 and thus created one of the many small and large stories that can be told from this crazy evening of football. “It was unbelievable,” said Justvan after securing the match ball as a souvenir of the Nuremberg spectacle. “You don’t have a day like that very often.” It should quickly become clear to the 26-year-old, who came from Hoffenheim in the summer, how he will introduce his story in the distant future.

Things may not be quite so clear for his coach Miroslav Klose. As the person responsible for the club’s sporting fortunes, the 2014 world champion must ultimately keep an eye on the big picture. And there was really a lot for Klose to observe: After his team had taken the lead thanks to the aforementioned artificial shot by Tzimas (17th minute) and the 2-0 by Mahir Emreli (23rd), the Nuremberg team suddenly gave up the game hand and caused another historic moment with their carelessness: Eric Hottmann’s goal (36th) ended Regensburg’s goal drought that lasted 721 minutes. Shortly afterwards, Jahn even stepped up and equalized with a penalty from Christian Viet (42nd). Klose saw a lot of things in this phase that he “didn’t agree with”: the defensive behavior after long balls, for example, where his players had to “sprint back much earlier”. “We will have to start there,” he explained. Justvan ensured reconciliation between coach and team before the break, scoring in stoppage time to make the score 3-2 at half-time.

Although Jahn, who was suddenly so accurate, actually equalized through Pröger (49th), there was no longer any reason for Klose to be dissatisfied: with a double strike from Justvan (59th/74th), the club finally dismantled Regensburg into its individual parts . Lukas Schmelzer (80th) and Jens Castrop (83rd) increased before Breunig’s own goal caused ecstasy in the Nuremberg corner and relaxation for the previously strict Klose. His Nuremberg team have scored twelve goals in the last two games, with which former striker Klose was “of course very happy”. And that’s not all: three wins in a row can certainly be seen as an indication that the coach and team are in the process of finding each other after initial difficulties.

Nuremberg’s coach was particularly happy with one thing: “I would like to single out Julian Justvan,” emphasized Klose, which should once again underline the historical significance of this evening for him. After all, his coach, like most of his colleagues, is not known for putting individual players in the spotlight. But Klose chatted happily in the catacombs of the Max Morlock Stadium. His number ten played a “fantastic game,” explained Klose. And not only that: “He’s been in really, really good shape for the last three or four weeks,” Klose continued. “I’m incredibly happy that he’s finally rewarded himself.”

Maybe Julian Justvan will start the report to his grandchildren with his coach’s cheers. Maybe it will take a while for Justvan to organize this fast-paced evening into narrative lines. But unlike in the Nuremberg stadium, where events overwhelmed you, he now has time.