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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Hoffenheim Position: 14th (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.

St. Pauli Position: 15th (outright safety)Points: 31 (32 games)Goals: 26-37 (-11)

Last 5 results

Remaining matches

Heidenheim's mini upswing means Pauli still need a point to be absolutely sure of their top-flight status - which could happen in Frankfurt on Sunday. Failing that, they have a winnable home meeting with relegated Bochum on the final day to get the job done. Only two defeats and a Heidenheim victory over Werder Bremen has the power to suck them into the play-off position.

>>> 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 Hoffenheim - and possibly Pauli - to lose.

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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