Nurnberg & Hannover relegated from Bundesliga, Stuttgart set for play-off
Hannover's relegation from the Bundesliga has been confirmed despite a 3-0 win over Freiburg and they will be joined in the second tier by Nurnberg.
Both sides knew their only hope of escaping the drop was upsetting the odds and securing the relegation play-off spot, but Stuttgart defeated Wolfsburg 3-0 to make 16th place theirs.
Nurnberg have looked doomed for most of the season after winning just three of their 33 league matches following promotion as runners-up in 2.Bundesliga last term.
Saturday's 4-0 hammering at home by Champions League hopefuls Borussia Monchengladbach showed the gulf in class. Josip Drmic, Thorgan Hazard and Denis Zakaria added to a Lukas Muhl own goal as Gladbach scored all four goals in the second half.
They gave it their all but FC Nürnberg and Hannover 96 have been relegated from the Bundesliga. pic.twitter.com/1CBjZu4Hua
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) May 11, 2019
Hannover drop a tier after successive campaigns in the top-flight, with their 3-0 win too little, too late.
Sorry it had to happen this way, @1_fc_nuernberg. We're looking forward to coming back here in two years! #DieFohlen #FCNBMG pic.twitter.com/4e9T95NT41
— Gladbach (@borussia_en) May 11, 2019
Although Stuttgart will finish in the bottom three regardless of their 3-0 victory, they have another opportunity to save themselves in the two-legged play-off against whichever side ends the season third in the second tier.
With two games to go in the 2.Bundesliga, that could be any one of Paderborn, Union Berlin, Hamburg, Heidenheim or St. Pauli.
The #VfB victory confirms before the final #Bundesliga matchday of the season: VfB will play two games against the 3rd ranked team of the second Bundesliga! pic.twitter.com/2bt3F4BmTe
— VfB Stuttgart_int (@VfB_int) May 11, 2019