18.05.2013 19:19
It was a wild final day of the 2012-13 Bundesliga season as the battle for the last European spots and the fight against relegation were both decided in the final minutes.
It was a wild final day of the 2012-13 Bundesliga season as the battle for the last European spots and the fight against relegation were both decided in the final minutes. The biggest winners on the day were Schalke.
The Royal Blues will have the chance to qualify for the Champions League next season after pulling out a 2-1 win in Freiburg. The young star Julian Draxler put the visitors ahead early with a fine curling shot from the edge of the box. Jonathan Schmid leveled after the restart, but only minutes later a Freiburg own goal handed the lead back to Schalke to stay.
Schalke finish the season in fourth place and will have a home-and-away qualification tie for the Champions League this summer.
Freiburg end up fifth and will be playing in the Europa League. They'll be joined in that competition by Eintracht Frankfurt, who finished sixth after a 2-2 draw with Wolfsburg.
Hamburg ended up in seventh and miss out on Europe after losing 1-0 at home to Leverkusen. The Bundesliga's top scorer, Stefan Kiessling scored the lone goal of the match, his 25th of the season.
Düsseldorf relegated
Augsburg, who were in the bottom three for most of the season, pulled off their second straight miracle survival act with a 3-1 win over last-place Fürth. That moved them up to 15th place and safety.
Hoffenheim finish 16th after a shocking 2-1 win in Dortmund. The goals came on two late penalties, both converted by midfielder Sejad Salihovic. Hoffenheim now go into a playoff against Kaiserslautern, the third-best team from the second division, with the right to play in the top flight at stake.
The big losers on the day were Fortuna Düsseldorf. In 15th place at the start of round 34, they were defeated 3-0 in Hanover and end up second-to-last. They go straight down to Division 2.