Daily Times

BERLIN: Former European champions Hamburg SV were relegated from the Bundesliga for the first time on Saturday despite a 2-1 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach as Borussia Dortmund scraped into fourth place and a Champions League spot in the season finale. Hamburg, the only team with an uninterrupted Bundesliga run since the league’s creation in 1963, left their distraught fans in tears as their stadium clock showing 54 years and 260 days in the top division now needs to be reset. The northern club, whose game was interrupted for 15 minutes by fans throwing flares onto the pitch towards the end, finished second-bottom on 31 points, three behind VfL Wolfsburg, who beat Cologne 4-1 and now face a relegation playoff. Dortmund were made to sweat until the last seconds to secure the final Champions League spot after losing 3-1 at Hoffenheim, who grabbed third place ahead of them on goal difference. Dortmund’s marginally better goal difference – three goals – over Bayer Leverkusen, who conceded two goals against Hanover 96 after leading 3-0, meant they finished fourth and grabbed the lucrative European spot which takes them into the group stage. RB Leipzig’s Jean-Kevin Augustin scored twice in their 6-2 demolition of hosts Hertha Berlin as they joined Leverkusen in the Europa League. Champions Bayern Munich suffered a surprise 4-1 home loss to VfB Stuttgart as they prepare for the German Cup final against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Published in Daily Times, May 13^th 2018.