Round 34, May 24
Last day drama, but very few surprises. All the promotion contenders were at home, and all the relegation candidates were on the road. Only FSV Frankfurt got the needed away result to change their destiny.
Darmstadt completed their sensational march to return to the Bundesliga. Two years ago, the 98ers were relegated into the Regionalliga. But they were saved at the last minute because Kickers Offenbach had incompetent accountants and were forcibly relegated. They got promoted, and now have amazingly made it into the Bundesliga. Since basically all the lower sides were losing as well, St.Pauli managed their own mini-miracle, staying up due to their strong endspurt of the season.
Karlsruhe claimed the promotion playoff spot with Hamburg as they easily beat 1860. The Lions needed a result to avoid the drop, but they were completely flat. They’ll have another chance as they face Kiel in a playoff.
Kaiserslautern is the odd man out, but they didn’t get the help they needed. They had their chances to win against champions Ingolstadt, but in reality, it wouldn’t have mattered. Darmstadt had a better goal difference, and it was unlikely that even a 98er loss would have changed that enough. And KSC got the early goal that pretty much left Lautern in the cold.
FSV Frankfurt was the only bottom side that seized the moment. The Bornheimers had been in free-fall into the drop zone, and in desperation had fired long standing coach Benno Mohlmann. The Mini-Hot Dogs came through with a hard fought win at Düsseldorf, who despite having nothing to play for tried hard to win outright. A late goal by Slovenian international Zlatko Dedic assured their survival, although as events happened, a draw would have just been enough.
Erzgebirge Aue needed a win at Heidenheim, but were in trouble. The hosts built up a lead, and the “Veilchen” desperation comeback was too late, and they only got a draw. It wasn’t enough and they go down.
Total attendance 233,507 (avg 25,945), 75.7% capacity, sellouts in K’lautern, Karlsruhe, Berlin, Heidenheim, Darmstadt
1. FC Nürnberg - VfR Aalen 2:1 (1:0) 30,433
1:0 Bulthuis (28., Schöpf)
1:1 J. Gjasula (50., Chessa)
2:1 G. Burgstaller (87., Kerk)
1. FC Kaiserslautern - FC Ingolstadt 04 1:1 (1:0) 49,780 *
1:0 Er. Thommy (41., Löwe)
1:1 Christiansen (82., P. Groß)
Karlsruher SC - 1860 München 2:0 (1:0) 27,750 *
1:0 Bülow (9., own goal, Torres)
2:0 Torres (69., Valentini)
Fortuna Düsseldorf - FSV Frankfurt 2:3 (2:2) 30,000
0:1 Kapllani (11., Grifo)
1:1 Schmitz (13., Hoffer)
2:1 Bebou (19.)
2:2 Kapllani (21.)
2:3 Dedic (83., Golley)
1. FC Union Berlin - Eintr. Braunschweig 2:0 (0:0) 21,717 *
1:0 Schönheim (48.)
2:0 Polter (59., M. Thiel)
VfL Bochum - SV Sandhausen 0:0 (0:0) 15,560
1. FC Heidenheim - Erzgebirge Aue 2:2 (0:0) 15,000 *
1:0 K. Kraus (55., Heise)
2:0 Leipertz (72., Morabit)
2:1 Schönfeld (80., penalty)
2:2 Männel (88., Alibaz)
RasenBall. Leipzig - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 2:0 (2:0) 27,117
1:0 Frahn (29., Poulsen)
2:0 D. Kaiser (45., direct freekick)
SV Darmstadt 98 - FC St. Pauli 1:0 (0:0) 16,150 *
1:0 Kempe (71., direct freekick)
1 FC Ingolstadt 04 34 17 13 4 53:32 +21 64
2 SV Darmstadt 98 (N) 34 15 14 5 44:26 +18 59
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3 Karlsruher SC 34 15 13 6 46:26 +20 58
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4 1. FC Kaiserslautern 34 14 14 6 45:31 +14 56
5 RasenBallsport Leipzig (N) 34 13 11 10 39:31 +8 50
6 Eintracht Braunschweig (A) 34 15 5 14 44:41 +3 50
7 1. FC Union Berlin 34 12 11 11 46:51 -5 47
8 1. FC Heidenheim (N) 34 12 10 12 49:44 +5 46
9 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 34 13 6 15 42:47 -5 45
10 Fortuna Düsseldorf 34 11 11 12 48:52 -4 44
11 VfL Bochum 34 9 15 10 53:55 -2 42
12 SV Sandhausen 34 10 12 12 32:37 -5 39
13 FSV Frankfurt 34 10 9 15 41:53 -12 39
14 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 34 8 13 13 34:42 -8 37
15 FC St. Pauli 34 10 7 17 40:51 -11 37
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16 1860 München 34 9 9 16 41:51 -10 36
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17 Erzgebirge Aue 34 9 9 16 32:47 -15 36
18 VfR Aalen 34 7 12 15 34:46 -12 31
Aalen deducted two points for being wankers, err, financial shenanigans.
Sandhausen deducted 3 points for same issue.
If Sandhausen survives in 2.Liga, they get subtracted 3 points next season as well
1st line: Promotion to Bundesliga
2nd line: Playoff with 16th Bundesliga
3rd line: Playoff with no.3 of 3.Liga
4th line: Relegation to 3.Liga
A = Absteiger just relegated
N = Neuling just promoted