Stuttgart to play the Champions League, St. Pauli relegated

There is singing and celebration in Stuttgart and Wolfsburg, while the fans of TSG Hoffenheim, FC St. Pauli, and 1. FC Heidenheim are left devastated. VfB Stuttgart defended fourth place thanks to a 2–2 draw in Frankfurt and will return to the UEFA Champions League. Meanwhile, VfL Wolfsburg survived relegation with a 3–1 victory at the Millerntor against direct rival St. Pauli and will now play in the relegation playoff — against either SV Elversberg, Hannover 96, or SC Paderborn 07. That also means Heidenheim are relegated to the 2. Bundesliga. Hoffenheim had an excellent season behind them, but in the final 90 minutes they failed to crown it with promotion to Europe’s elite competition. Christian Ilzer’s side suffered a heavy 4–0 defeat in Monchengladbach, although it should be noted that the result from Frankfurt certainly did not help them either. Only once everything had already been decided at Borussia Park did Eintracht Frankfurt manage to equalize.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Frankfurt also had something to hope for today. Leverkusen could have reached the Champions League with a victory over Hamburger SV and defeats for Stuttgart and Hoffenheim. Only the latter condition was fulfilled. As for Eintracht, considering the way they have played under Albert Riera, they arguably did not deserve European qualification at all — SC Freiburg will go instead. Andrej Ilić, meanwhile, has rediscovered his goalscoring form since Marie-Louise Eta took over as coach. In a victory without major competitive significance for 1. FC Union Berlin, the Serbian striker scored twice in a 4–0 win over FC Augsburg. The Bavarians had hoped to reach the UEFA Europa Conference League and needed defeats for Freiburg and Eintracht to climb to seventh place. However, since Freiburg defended Europa-Park Stadium against RB Leipzig, this defeat in Berlin did not hurt Manuel Baum’s team too much.

So, as things currently stand — though changes remain possible if Freiburg win the UEFA Europa League on Wednesday — Germany’s representatives in the Champions League next season will be FC Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, and Stuttgart. Leverkusen and Hoffenheim would qualify for the Europa League, while Freiburg would enter the Conference League. If, however, Julian Schuster’s side somehow defeat Aston Villa F.C. on Wednesday, Freiburg would become Germany’s fifth Champions League representative. In that scenario, according to UEFA regulations, the Bundesliga would not have a team in the Conference League next season.

Since Heidenheim were already relegated early on, it was left to St. Pauli and Wolfsburg to decide directly who would go into the playoff. In the end, the undeniable individual quality of the Wolves came to the surface. Wolfsburg won 3–1 away from home and deservedly stayed 16th. At 2–1, Wolfsburg even missed a penalty — Christian Eriksen blasted the ball high and hit the crossbar, briefly giving the home fans hope of a comeback, but nothing came of it. Nine minutes from the end, Dženan Pejčinović sealed the result and sent St. Pauli down to the second division.

BUNDESLIGA - MATCHDAY 34

Saturday

Bayern - Koln 5-1 (3-1)

/Bischof 22, Kane 10, 13, 69, Jackson 83 - El Mala 18/

Eintr.Frankfurt - Stuttgart 2-2 (0-2)

/Burkardt 72(p), 90' +2(p) - Andres 10, Nartrey 45+4/

Freiburg - RB Leipzig 4-1 (2-1)

/Scherhant 75, Ginter 47, Matanović 26, Beste 24 - Ouédraogo 33/

Heidenheim - Mainz 0-2 (0-2)

/Tietz 7' Amiri 43/

Leverkusen - Hamburger 1-1 (0-0)

/Quansah 78' - Vieira 63/

M' gladbach - Hoffenheim 4-0 (2-0)

/Bolin 14, Tabakovic 23, Diks 81, Hack 90+1/

St.Pauli - Wolfsburg 1-3 (0-1)

/Ceesay 57 - Koulierakis 37, Vasilj 64(og), Pejcinovic 80/

Union Berlin - Augsburg 4-0 (2-0)

/Ilic 10, 42, Shafer 42, Jeong 89/

Werder - Dortmund 0-2 (0-0)

/Guirassy 59, Couto 90+5)