Play-off spot still to play for | OneFootball

The 2024/25 relegation battle: who will face the play-off after Bochum and Holstein Kiel go down?

Bochum and Holstein Kiel were relegated from the Bundesliga on the penultimate weekend of the 2024/25 season. Attentions now turn to the play-off place lifeline currently occupied by Heidenheim...

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St. Pauli Position: 14th (outright safety)Points: 32 (33 games)Goals: 28-39 (-11)

Last 5 results

Remaining matches

St. Pauli's draw against Frankfurt on Matchday 33 all but secured their safety, with a three-point gap and 13-goal difference to Heidenheim in 16th. They have a winnable home meeting with relegated Bochum on the final day to officially get the job done but can probably lose confortably and still survive. Only a heavy defeat and a resounding Heidenheim victory over Werder Bremen has the power to suck them into the play-off position.

Hoffenheim Position: 15th (outright safety)Points: 32 (33 games)Goals: 46-64 (-18)

Last 5 results

Final match

Back-to-back draws mean Hoffenheim visit champions Bayern Munich on the final day with a three-point cushion on the play-off spot, but a superior goal difference to 16th-placed Heidenheim. They'll be safe no matter what, if they get a positive result in Munich. Only a defeat coupled with a Heidenheim win in a way that overturns the six goals between the clubs would send Christian Ilzer's team into the play-off.

>>> How does promotion/ relegation work in the Bundesliga?

Heidenheim Position: 16th (relegation play-off)Points: 29 (33 games)Goals: 33-60 (-27)

Last 5 results

Final game

Heidenheim were bottom after Matchday 25, but head into the final weekend guranteed to finish no lower than the play-off spot after taking seven points from their last three games. Only a win will do at home to Bremen if they're to have any chance of securing outright safety, but even then they need either Hoffenheim or Pauli to lose to have any chance.

Holstein Kiel - relegatedPosition: 17thPoints: 25 (33 games)Goals: 49-77 (-28)

Kiel teased a great escape with wins over Borussia Mönchengladbach and Augsburg, but it just wasn't to be for the Bundesliga rookies. Needing a minimum of four points from their final two games to be in with a shot at the play-off berth, a 2-1 loss at home to fourth-placed Freiburg confirmed their fate. Ultimately, those all-important moments of inspiration were just too few and far between (W6, D7, L20).

Bochum - relegatedPosition: 18thPoints: 22 (33 games)Goals: 31-67 (-36)

Having been granted a stay of exection in Heidenheim on Matchday 32, Bochum's luck finally ran out in defeat to Mainz on the penultmate weekend. The writing was already on the wall after a seven-match winless start to 2024/25 that cost Peter Zeidler his job. The experienced Dieter Hecking came in, but there was only a marginal improvement in results in the months that followed, with five wins - one of which was awarded by a DFB sports tribunal - six draws and another 13 defeats simply not enough to stem the tide.

>>> How is the race to be promoted to the Bundesliga unfolding?

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