After the impressive 5-3 victory against Borussia Monchengladbach in the 29th round, Kerem Demirbay said: "It's because of days like this that I became a footballer. Such matches are impressive." The 23-year-old attacking midfielder scored two goals, which could have been one of the most memorable matches in his life, until the last match against Koln.
Last season, Demirbay finished in 14th place in Bundesliga 2, wearing Fortuna Dusseldorf's jersey, and his 10 goals per season were slightly less than a third of the whole team's goals. However, that was enough for Fortuna Dusseldorf to avoid relegation to the third division of Germany, escaping the red zone by three points. Just a year earlier, Demirbay was very close to moving up to the top German league with Kaiserslautern, although that season he had to flee to the Bundesliga lawn. In three matches, the midfielder helped the Hamburg team but was also sent to the reserve team, which played in the fourth division of Germany. Demirbay scored three goals in five matches.
Demirbay had to take a step back to move several steps forward, which seemed destined to play at the highest level when he joined the Borussia Dortmund academy in 2011. BVB did not want to keep the defender from happening, as then-coach Jurgen Klopp saw great potential in the Turkish player. Truth be told, Demirbay had his plan, and its fruits were seen in the match on Friday night, which rewrote history for the Hoffenheim club.
His goal in added time evened the score against Koln, ensuring Hoffenheim's spot in the Europa League next season. This will be the first time in the club's history that they will participate in an international league. Having lived international football for the past four years, since playing two friendly matches with the Turkish under-21 national team, Demirbay will have a chance to take an even bigger step in his career next season.
"I want to congratulate the whole team, we are extremely happy," said the author of the historic goal. The remaining four matches will determine which European tournament anthem Hoffenheim will hear at their stadium next season. With only one point separating them from third place, the Hoffenheim club does not intend to stop.
"We have already made history, but we can write an even better one," said Demirbay referring to the Champions League qualification, "we'll see where we end the season." Meanwhile, 29-year-old Hoffenheim coach is not satisfied with fourth place and has already started thinking about the top tournament in the old continent: "Every coach and player's dream is to play in the Champions League. We are no different from others and dream of hearing the Champions League anthem before the match. There is still a long way to go, and even if we don't finish third, the season will still be very good," said coach Julian Nagelsmann.
The coach also revealed that he expects sleepless nights due to such euphoria: "I have no doubt that I will wake up with a smile at 8 in the morning, after falling asleep around 5," Nagelsmann joked. There is no doubt that Demirbay, who traveled from the fourth division to the Europa League, will not hide his smile that night.
