In a dramatic Bundesliga final, VfB Stuttgart managed to save the game, while Hertha BSC, on the other hand, is threatened with relegation to the second division. Stuttgart won on the last day of the game with a goal by Wataru Endo in injury time against 1. FC Köln 2-1 (1-0) and benefited from Berlin’s 1-2 (1-0) defeat at Borussia Dortmund. Coach Felix Magath’s team has two detentions against the third-placed team in the second division on May 19 and 23.
Arminia Bielefeld, who only had theoretical chances anyway, is after the 1-1 (0-0) against RB Leipzig as the second relegated team next to the Greuther Fürth game association. Leipzig also secured fourth place in the Champions League. For SC Freiburg, after the 1: 2 (0: 0) at Bayer Leverkusen, only the Europa League remains, as does Union Berlin, which even moved up to fifth place thanks to the 3: 2 (2: 0) against VfL Bochum . Cologne will play seventh in the Conference League next season.
After the match day, two coaches also announced their departure: Adi Hütter and Borussia Mönchengladbach mutually agreed to end their cooperation, as the coach did after the 5-1 (3-1) win over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on the Sky TV station announced. The same applies to Markus Weinzierl at FC Augsburg, which the coach said after the 2-1 (1-1) win against Fürth. Weinzierl’s contract would have expired anyway.
Champions FC Bayern ended the season 2-2 (2-1) at VfL Wolfsburg. Perhaps it was the last appearance of goalscorer Robert Lewandowski. The world footballer wants to leave the club by mid-2023 in the summer, despite the contract. “I spoke to Lewa. During the conversation, he informed me that he did not want to accept our offer to extend the contract and that he would like to leave the club,” Salihamidzic told Sky TV. FC Barcelona is under discussion, with whom the Pole, according to a report by Sport1, has verbally agreed on a change.
Haaland scores for BVB
Top scorer Lewandowski scored his 35th goal of the season (40th minute) in Wolfsburg, making it his 312th Bundesliga goal in total. Josip Stanisic (17th) also scored for Bayern. Jonas Wind (45th) and Max Kruse (58th) were successful for Wolfsburg. Eintracht Frankfurt meanwhile got in the mood for the Europa League final on Wednesday against Glasgow Rangers in Seville with a 2-2 (2-1) derby at FSV Mainz 05.
Berlin took the lead in Dortmund with a converted penalty kick from Ishak Belfodil (18th). However, BVB equalized through Erling Haaland with a hand penalty (68th). In the last game before his move to Manchester City, the top scorer made the BVB fans and the long-time sports director Michael Zorc, who was said goodbye, cheer again. And things got even better for Westphalia when Youssoufa Moukoko scored the winning goal (84′).
Farewell to Dortmund: Erling Haaland leaves Borussia.
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Image: Reuters
So the support for VfB was there – and Endo actually scored the VfB winning goal. The Swabians initially took the lead early on with a goal by Sasa Kalajdzic. The striker, who has been linked with Bayern Munich, scored with a head in the 12th minute after missing a penalty seconds earlier. Anthony Modeste equalized for Cologne (59th).
Hertha managing director Fredi Bobic is counting on a defiant reaction from Berliners in the relegation games. “One thing is clear: we have two games, we have to fix it in these two games,” the 50-year-old was quoted as saying on the club’s website. “The boys have to have faith that we can pull it off in these two games. It’s our job to rebuild them and get them to work passionately again and defeat the opponent – no matter who comes,” demanded Bobic.
Coach Felix Magath was initially optimistic. “If we repeat today’s performance, we have a good chance of staying in the Bundesliga,” said the 68-year-old. “Our team presented itself here as a Bundesliga club. That’s why I’m confident,” said Magath, who has never been relegated in his long coaching career in the Bundesliga.
In Leverkusen, which had already qualified for the Champions League, the focus was on managing director Rudi Völler. The 1990 World Champion retired after more than 23 years at the club and saw victory through goals from Lucas Alario (54′) and Exequiel Palacios (90’+7′) against a goal by Janik Haberer (88′). Freiburg still had a chance at the premier class, because Leipzig was temporarily behind in Bielefeld due to a goal by Janni Serra (70th). After Willi Orban’s goal (90 + 3), RB had the premier class for sure.
Goals from Grischa Prömel (5′) and Taiwo Awoniyi (25′) put Union Berlin on the road to victory before Simon Zoller (55′) and Eduard Löwen (79′) equalized for Bochum. But Awoniyi gave the hosts the victory (88th).
Tuta (26′) and Rafael Borré (35′) turned the game around for Eintracht at Mainz, who scored a point with two goals from Marcus Ingvartsen (10′ and 50′). Gladbach experienced a conciliatory end to the season with goals from Lars Stindl (26′), Alassane Plea from the penalty spot (44′), Jonas Hofmann twice (45′ and 68′) and Breel Embolo (54′). Hoffenheim took an early lead through Andrej Kramaric (3rd). In Augsburg Daniel Caligiuri scored from the penalty spot (11th) and Michael Gregoritsch (85th) for the hosts, Jessic Ngankam (24th) scored for Fürth.