<font size="2">In Focus: The Promoted Teams</font></p><div class="txt_fliesstext_bold">Three rounds have already been played in the new Bundesliga season. But where exactly do the three promoted teams stand? </div> <div class="txt_fliesstext">How did they start into their Bundesliga adventure? Bundesliga.de has taken a closer look at MSV Duisburg, Karlsruher SC and F.C. Hansa Rostock. Duisburg and Karlsruhe returned with a bang to the first division, winning at Dortmund (3-1) and Nürnberg (2-1) respectively. But since than, all three teams haven't gotten a point. Rostock has lost all three of their games. Finding the net was the obvious problem last week as none of the promoted teams was able to score. MSV Duisburg: 1 Win, 2 Losses – 4:5 Goals – 11th Place Coach Rudi Bommers team started the season with a surprise 3-1 victory at Dortmund. But the early euphoria has left the zebras recently. After giving up the season's home opener to Wolfsburg (1-3), Duisburg also lost to the reigning champion Stuttgart – this time in dramatic fashion. Standing in the middle of the pack the next three matches could decide which way the MSV will head to this season. Promoted teams need to rely on home victories even more than other clubs do and Duisburg hosts Bielefeld and Berlin the next two weeks, followed by a trip to current last place Rostock. Duisburg has to stay away from poor tackling. The team leads the Bundesliga in fouls committed (74). Returning for the match up against Bielefeld is Ivica Grlic. Duisburgs captain is the linchpin of his squads play. He had to leave last weeks game at Stuttgart after dislocating a toe. "I think hes going to be able to play against Bielefeld,” Bommer said. Grlic is supposed to pass the ball to Manasseh Ishiaku. Despite being 61 tall the striker wasnt a major factor the last two matches. The big question remains the status of Ailton. So far the Brasilian striker only played sparingly. It could be Ailtons goals that make the difference between first and second division for the zebras. Whoever is going to score for the MSV has to work on his sniper skills. Duisburg has the third worst scoring percentage of the league, netting only 36.4 percent of their shots. Karlsruher SC: 1 Win, 2 Losses – 3:5 Goals – 14th Place After starting with a surprise win at Nürnberg coach Edmund Beckers team missed a chance to steal some more points, this time from Hannover. In round three a 0-3 defeat at Leverkusen put things in perspective for Karlsruhe. The team painfully missed midfielder Tamas Hajnal, who had to sit out with a thigh injury. With three points he is Karlsruhes top scorer. Having him back in the line up for the upcoming match against reigning champion Stuttgart would be a major boost for the team. Duisburg almost stole a point from Stuttgart last week even though they had to play without their midfield ace Ivica Grlic. Who knows what Karlsruhe can achieve against the VfB with a healthy Hajnal. Without him Karlsruhe looked vulnerable against Leverkusen and had trouble keeping up with Bayers tempo. This led to several scoring opportunities. No other team in the league has allowed more shots on goal (26) and no other squad had fever scoring opportunities (23). The KSC has to righten its ship in order to survive the test versus Stuttgart. And dont forget about Bayern Munich which comes to town two weeks later. F.C. Hansa Rostock: 3 Losses – 1:6 Goals, 18th Place Rostock has had a rough start to its Bundesliga return. After three rounds of play Hansa is the only Bundesliga club without a single point, having scored only one goal in the process. Hansas players had only 24 shots on goal; the second fewest of all 18 clubs. Actually only two of those shots were fired at the goal. Besides the scoring problems Rostock is not tackling very well. The club committed only the third fewest fouls (46). They have get a little tougher and win the one-on-one match ups. This is supposed to change, thanks to the acquisition of Victor Agali. The Nigerian striker played for Rostock from 1998 to 2001 and just arrived from his former club, Turkish first division team MK Ankaragücü. "I am convinced that Victor can help us with his style of play. Hes very strong with his head and hes a playmaker. Add to it his physical play,” Pagelsdorf mentioned. So far there is no sign of panic in Rostock. There is no reason to. The numbers even give Rostock a ray of hope. In 2000/01 Rostock also was pointless after three games. Back then they havent even scored a goal. Still, at the end of the season Hansa stayed first class. Nothing is for granted… Rostock is the fourth promoted club since the new millennium to begin the season ranked in the bottom three spots. None of the other three teams had to go to the second division. The stats say that its very likely that every year at least one promoted team has to leave Bundesliga after just one season. Since 2000/01 only once all three promoted teams survived their rookie seasons as Nürnberg, Bielefeld, and Mainz all stayed in the first division in 2004/05. Good thing is after only three rounds of play no one knows if and who of the three newly promoted teams has to pack their suitcases at the end of this season.</div><div class="txt_fliesstext"></div><div class="txt_fliesstext"></div> </p>
