The Bundesliga's best relegation finishes
In the German top flight, one goal often makes all the difference. That was the case again on matchday 34 between Bremen and Frankfurt. Here's our look at the tightest finales.
Bremen shock Frankfurt
Two minutes - that was all that was left in Bremen's final-day showdown with Frankfurt. A draw would also have secured the Eagles' safety, but Bremen's Papy Djilobodji had other ideas, scoring the lone goal in a 1-0 win. Frankfurt now have to play in the end-of-season playoff, while Bremen and coach Viktor Skipnik can enjoy a well-deserved beer.
The "fireman" Jörg Berger
Germans call a coach who specializes in saving clubs from the drop a "fireman." And the ultimate master of great rescues was Jörg Berger. In 1999, he made up a three-point, final-day deficit with Eintracht Frankfurt thanks to 5-1 win over Kaiserslautern. Afterward, one of his players said that Berger "had rescued the Titanic."
Four teams level on points
Berger had already saved Frankfurt once ten years previously. The key was a 1-1 draw against Hannover in the final match. Four teams were left level on points: Nuremberg, Bochum, Frankfurt and Stuttgart Kickers. Kickers went down, while Frankfurt saved their bacon in the end-of-season play-off, beating Saarbrücken.
A flood of emotions
In 2010, Hannover preserved their first-division status with a last-gasp 3-0 victory over Bochum. The game was particularly emotoional for goalkeeper Florian Fromlowitz (left). The 23-year-old had inherited the job in Hannover after Robert Enke commited suicide earlier in the season.
Big party after a close shave
As a rule, the nearer a team comes to going down, the harder it parties afterward. In 2006 Wolfsburg eked out 2-2 draw against Kaiserslautern on the final day. That put the Wolves a single point ahead of Lautern who were relegated. Striker Diego Klimowicz (left) scored the decisive goal to seal that all-important point.
A shoulder to cry on
Ten years earlier, Kaiserslautern were relegated from the Bundesliga for the first time. The Red Devils could have resued themselves with a last-gasp win over Leverkusen. The match pitted good friends Rudi Völler (left) and Andreas Brehme against one another. Lautern led right until the end, but the match ended in a draw, leaving Völler to console a tearful Brehme.
A goal that decided for destinies
On May 12, 1990, Hamburg buried their relegation fears with a 1-0 victory of Waldhof Mannheim, causing fans to rip down the goal. Aware of the course of that match, strugglers Mönchengladbach and Uerdingen agreed on a scoreless draw. Waldhof dropped out of the first division and plunged into obscurity.
The champs go down
Cologne are no stranger to relegation battles and were part of a unique last-day decision in Bundesliga history. In 1969, they needed a result against Nuremberg, which they duly got in the form of a 3-0 win. That gave Nuremberg the dubious dinstinction of being the only reigning Bundesliga champion to go down.