Whatever the terminology employed – temporarily embarrassed, on the slide, sleeping giants – the German second tier is absolutely jam-packed with big-name clubs trying to adjust to harder times, never quite knowing which way to face, either ruefully looking back on the glory days or plotting a path to a renaissance.
No fewer than 11 participants in the current 2. Bundesliga were once national champions: Schalke, Karlsruhe, Fortuna Dusseldorf, Greuther Furth, Hannover, Hertha Berlin, Holstein Kiel, Hamburg, Eintracht Braunschweig, Nuremberg and Kaiserslautern – the latter four of which have been crowned champions since the Bundesliga was founded in 1963. Indeed, of the nine clubs with the most German league titles, four compete in today’s second division: Nuremberg (with nine), Schalke (seven), Hamburg (six) and Kaiserslautern (four).
Nor is there a shortage of European pedigree. Hamburg won the European Cup in1983 and the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1977; Schalke lifted the
