Damage in the Box!: FORTUNA DUSSELDORF (Esprit Arena)

Another day, another country. This time the train took us into Germany for the final round of games on the tour. Dusseldorf was the destination for tonight's action as Fortuna Dusseldorf hosted Dynamo Dresden in a Bundesliga 2 clash.

Goldener Kessel
Brau Haus

The match tickets (€12) were easily booked online and were waiting at the tourist information office opposite the main train station. This allowed plenty of time to explore Dusseldorf's main attraction ie Alt Beer and the various Brew Houses that serve it. Most of the major houses are located in the old town and were practically next to each other. The main street in the centre of the old town is dubbed "Europe's longest bar" by the locals as there are so many places to drink.

Schlüssel Brauhaus

Dusseldorfs's ground has it's own stop on the metro and luckily the nearest metro was right by the bars! The tram was free if you were in possession of a match ticket, another great thing the German's do so there is no reliance on the car.

The Esprit Arena was opened in 2004 and has a capacity of around 54,000. It was nowhere near that for this evenings game. The stadium hosted this years cheese-fest that is the Eurovision song contest. It is an impressive arena and the way the seats are mulit-coloured, it looks like it's full when in fact it's empty.

The Schlüssel Brau Haus
bar man hard at work!

The game was entertaining and could have gone either way. Fortuna, who were top of the table at the start of play, had most of the possession but mid-table Dresden were never out of contention.

Maximilian Beister gave Fortuna the lead after 20 minutes before Mickael Pote levelled for Dynamo right on half time. The second half was a very even contest, though arguably the homesters had the better chances but the Dresden back line was solid.

However with the last kick of the game Ranisav Jovanovic curled a beauty to grab the points and keep Dusseldorf in pole position. Dresden will probably feel a bit miffed as their defending deserved a share of the spoils.

As the match was a 6pm kick off, it meant it was back into town for 9pm and an opportunity to keep drinking that lovely Alt Bier long into the night....hic!