The title race heats up (again) - February in the 2.Bundesliga

Every month Louis Ostrowski runs through the most important talking points from Germany's second division. Here's everything you need to know about the 2.Bundesliga in February.

It doesn’t get much closer than this. After 24 matchdays in the 2. Bundesliga, just one point seperates the top five. Hamburg and Kaiserslautern are on 42 points, Magdeburg, Paderborn and Köln are on 41. The excitement of the close title race belies a lack of truly impressive teams at the top - 42 points would not be enough for first place in any other 2. Liga season since three points for a win was introduced.

And so, even though Hamburg lead the league in March for the first time ever, it’s hard to say they are definitely better than any previous HSV team. March is the big test - not only is it the month where HSV have often faltered, the fixture list is daunting. Up next are Düsseldorf, Magdeburg and Elversberg, three teams who are in the promotion battle. HSV missed the chance to extend their lead at the top on Sunday when they were comfortably beaten by Paderborn, who have pulled themselves back into the promotion conversation.

In second place are Markus Anfang’s Kaiserslautern - one of the success stories of the 2024/25 season so far, having already surpassed their points tally from last season.