SV Elversberg has secured its place in the 1. Fußball-Bundesliga for the upcoming season. The Saarländer achieved this promotion by defeating Preußen Münster 3-0 on the last matchday of the 2. Bundesliga, thereby earning the second direct promotion spot after FC Schalke 04.
Meanwhile, SC Paderborn will participate in the relegation playoff against VfL Wolfsburg. Paderborn finished the second division season in third place after a 2-0 victory against Darmstadt. For Hannover 96, who had been tied with Elversberg and Paderborn in points before the final game, a 3-3 draw with 1. FC Nürnberg left them stranded in an uncomfortably high fourth place.
The battle against relegation was equally dramatic. Heading into the final day, SpVgg Greuther Fürth, Arminia Bielefeld, Fortuna Düsseldorf, and Eintracht Braunschweig were all mathematically poised for direct relegation, while Dynamo Dresden and 1. FC Magdeburg could still have slipped into the relegation zone. Ultimately, it was Düsseldorf that suffered relegation, and Fortuna Düsseldorf followed by a 0-3 loss to Fürth’s Preußen Münster into the 3. Liga. Fürth, meanwhile, face relegation against Rot-Weiss Essen. The deciding factor separating Fürth from Düsseldorf was merely a one-goal superior goal difference.
On the positive side, the Eastern clubs Dresden and Magdeburg managed to secure their positions. Dresden ended the season in eleventh place with 41 points following a 2-1 victory over Holstein Kiel. Magdeburg finished in fourteenth place with 39 points, managing to retain their status despite a 0-1 defeat to Kaiserslautern. Notably, while Dresden initially carried the “red lamp” [indicator for poor standing] with only 13 points after the first half of the season, they recovered dramatically in the second half of the campaign. Magdeburg managed to survive the season after a period of struggle, thanks to a highly successful final run.
Unfortunately for Braunschweig, they conceded a defeat (0-1 at Second Division leader Schalke), though the loss still allowed them to finish in 15th place. Bielefeld also managed to secure their status with a strong 6-1 victory over Hertha BSC. The only match where both teams were fighting for anything in particular was between Karlsruher SC and VfL Bochum, which ended 1-2.