On the final match day of the Bundesliga European places were secured and some fans wept as relegation besmeared the last original Bundesliga club.
Hard to talk on the final league match day about anyone else but Wolfsburg in their relegation survival 4-1 win over Koln. This meant that the club was able to keep 16th and the relegation playoff to themselves. With an effort not seen in many weeks to Wolves showed a bit of steel as they put in a performance that had been missing for weeks. Next up the two matches vs Holstein Kiel in the relegation playoff.
HSV, the Dinos, has been relegated as results outside their control meant a first ever relegation. Despite their 2-1 win the club that had played in every Bundesliga season was relegated for the first time in club history. With a total of six domestic league titles, three domestic cups, two European titles this is about as big of a club to have gone down in the history of German fussball(soccer).
Stuttgart pulled off the shock result of the weekend as they faced off in Munich against the crowned champions Bayern. The Swabian’s spoiled the party celebrations in considerable fashion as Stuttgart moved to seventh with a 4-1 victory. Should Bayern prevail in the Pokal final against Frankfurt then Stuttgart who were in relegation trouble in January will be entered in the Europa League qualifiers.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga
RB Leipzig raced for the Champions League but pulled up short as results outside their control went against them. A 6-2 thrashing of Hertha Berlin was a nice end to the season but whether they go into the Europa League at the group phase or through qualifying is down to the result in the Pokal final next weekend.
Hoffenheim thoroughly beat Borussia Dortmund 3-1 to confirm their place in next seasons Champions League group phase. The credit is to Julian Naglesmann who lost his three best players from the season before and yet was able to whether the storm, European matches to finish in fourth for the second year running. Dortmund’s manager Peter Stoger announced in the post match press conference that this was his last match in charge of BVB.
Bayer Leverkusen was a chasing club on the final day in search of a return to the Champions League, their 3-2 win over Hannover was not enough as they failed in overcoming their weaker goal difference. Finishing in fifth will mean Europa League group phase for the next season under first year manager Heiko Herrlich.
Schalke 04 gained revenge on Eintracht Frankfurt in a 1-0 win. Already confirmed as second place Schalke went out with a mission to get revenge after losing in their home stadium to the Eagles in the semifinal of the Pokal in April.
Mainz fell at home to Werder Bremen 2-1. Bremen was in the relegation zone until the temporary appointment of Florian Kohfeldt before Halloween. 37 points later the club finds themselves having finished 11th and with momentum heading into next season.
SC Freiburg could’ve fallen to 16th and the relegation playoff but a comprehensive 2-0 win over FC Augsburg meant that despite selling their best in the off-season the club stayed up against all the experts predictions.
BONUS CONTENT
Being the final match day also in the second division former German champions Fortuna Dusseldorf defeated fellow former German champions FC Nurnberg as each had secured promotion back to the Bundesliga for next season. The return of both clubs will fill the void left by the loss of both FC Koln and HSV and gives hope that the promoted sides will do well as each has their own large fanbases and modern stadiums and infrastructure.
Against Wolfsburg in the relegation playoff is minow Holstein Kiel. A fellow northern team from the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein. Should promotion be won they would be the first team from their region to play in the top division. Also debate rages as their stadium has been declined a license should the make the top flight due to facilities not being up to scratch and under capacity with the stadium.
Player of the Week: Daniel Ginczek and his two goals started the route of Bayern and would be the most goals ever scored by Stuttgart against Munich
