Ecstasy in the stadium: Cologne returns to the Bundesliga – relegation for Elversberg

1. FC Köln is back in the Bundesliga. The team, coached by interim coach Friedhelm Funkel, defeated 1. FC Kaiserslautern 4-0 at their home stadium, thus securing direct promotion back to the top flight.

This made it clear: For all the other teams in the promotion battle, it was all about the relegation playoff spot. And in the end, SV Elversberg secured that spot. Coached by Horst Steffen, the surprise team won 2-1 at FC Schalke 04 and will now battle for the last remaining spot in the Bundesliga on May 22 and 26 (both at 8:30 p.m. live on Sky and Sat.1).

Happy about the return to the Bundesliga: the players of 1. FC Köln.

Source: IMAGO/Beautiful Sports

In the relegation battle, it became clear early on which direction the afternoon would take. Eintracht Braunschweig, who had been in 16th place before the start of Matchday 34, had a dismal first half and were already 4-0 down against 1. FC Nuremberg at halftime.

Braunschweig head coach Daniel Scherning was completely fed up and made three substitutions in the 38th minute, and the first spectators began to leave the stadium. In the end, the Nuremberg club won 4-1. Braunschweig will face third-division Saarbrücken on May 23 and 27 (also live on Sky and Sat.1) to fight for their place in the league.

Due to Braunschweig's resounding defeat, neither Preußen Münster nor Greuther Fürth had to seriously fear relegation. The cloverleaf defeated Hamburg 3-2, thus ensuring that the already promoted HSV lost the championship. Preußen Münster and the already relegated Ulm drew 2-2.

Fortuna Düsseldorf also had minimal hopes of promotion. However, last year's relegation contestant lost 4-2 to 1. FC Magdeburg and finished the season in sixth place, while Magdeburg finished fifth.

SC Paderborn, who also started the matchday with hopes of promotion, lost clearly 3-0 to Karlsruher SC in coach Kwasniok's last game and finished the season in the unpopular fourth place.

In the remaining matches, where nothing was at stake, Darmstadt 98 won 3-1 against Jahn Regensburg, while Hertha BSC and Hannover 96 drew 1-1.