Nuremberg celebrates clear victory against Schalke – and now looks to Hannover

1. FC Nuremberg heads into the final matchday of the 2. Bundesliga with momentum. The 3:0 against FC Schalke 04 on May 9 further underlined the recent stabilization – both in terms of sport and atmosphere. However, an away game at Hannover 96 now awaits, which is a significantly more demanding task. The key data of this situation was summarized by news.de on May 13.

After 33 season games in 2025/26, Nuremberg stands at 45 points and occupies eighth place. On Sunday, May 17 (3:30 p.m.), FCN travels to third-placed Hannover 96, who have 59 points after 33 matches.

Nuremberg’s form curve is pointing upwards

The 3:0 against Schalke was more than just a “good result”: It fit into a phase in which Nuremberg appeared less vulnerable in the season’s final sprint. In the last five league games, FCN collected two wins, two draws, and suffered only one defeat.

• 0:2 against Dynamo Dresden (11.04.)
• 1:1 at Arminia Bielefeld (18.04.)
• 1:0 against Magdeburg (26.04.)
• 1:1 at Greuther Fürth (03.05.)
• 3:0 against Schalke (09.05.)

This sequence of points explains why Nuremberg was able to consolidate its place in the secure midfield: Wins and draws reliably bring points in the German league system (three points for a win, one point for a draw). At the same time, it remains clear that this phase did not allow for a leap into the top group – the season had previously been too inconsistent overall for that.

Hannover awaits as a significantly tougher challenge

The final program is maximally ungrateful for Nuremberg: away at the third-placed team. Hannover 96, with 59 points, belongs to the league’s top group and has presented itself consistently enough over long stretches to remain in the promotion race until the end.

For Nuremberg, this means: The match is less of a “bonus game” and more of a realistic acid test of how resilient the recent stability is against a top team. Even the table situation increases the pressure – and it reduces the margin for error, because Hannover typically makes more consistent use of game phases than teams from the midfield.

The season record remains overall balanced

Nuremberg’s overall picture after 33 games is that of a team that rarely fell apart, but also too rarely managed longer winning streaks: 12 wins, 9 draws, 12 defeats. In addition, there are 44 goals scored, 42 goals conceded, and a goal difference of plus two.

It is precisely this narrow goal difference that helps to classify the table position: It points to many close games – and to the fact that Nuremberg was often operating in the range of small fluctuations. In a league where goal difference often counts as the next criterion in the event of a tie on points, “plus two” is a value that does not create large cushions.

However, there are some notable outliers upwards that show what level of performance was fundamentally possible. Nuremberg celebrated its biggest home win with a 5:1 against Karlsruher SC – also the highest-scoring game of the season. The biggest away wins were rather narrow: 3:2 at Holstein Kiel, 2:1 at Dynamo Dresden, and 3:2 at Fortuna Düsseldorf. This fits a season in which Nuremberg was able to win games, but often without clear dominance.

All in all, FCN remains stable in the midfield before the final match. The 3:0 against Schalke has noticeably boosted confidence – in Hannover, it will be decided on the last matchday whether Nuremberg can confirm the positive trend even against an opponent from the upper part of the table.