Bundesliga Column - Round 34: Cologne relegated, Hertha Berlin get relegation spot

As is usual in the last couple of German Bundesliga rounds all nine matches of Round 34, the final match day of the 2011/12 season were played simultaneously at 15.30 CET on Saturday. This is to ensure same chances for everyone fighting for the title, places in Europe and against relegation.

And what a match day it turned out to be though key decisions on champions, first team to be relegated and who gains places for Europe next season had already been taken. Champions Borussia Dortmund trashed an inform SC Freiburg 4-0 to finish with 81 points, a new record in the history of the Bundesliga.

The eyes were all on the relegation battle between 1.FC Köln and Hertha BSC Berlin, who would get relegated directly and who would get a second chance in the relegation playoff against the third-placed side in the 2.Bundesliga. FC Cologne that the difficult task of facing record champions FC Bayern Munich at home, while Hertha BSC Berlin faced 1899 Hoffenheim who had nothing to really play except that their coach Markus Babbel had been Hertha coach earlier on in the season.

As one would have expected Cologne suffered a 1-4 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich, but Hertha Berlin won 3-1 against Hoffenheim to push Cologne into Division 2 while they face Fortuna Düsseldorf in the relegation playoff in the coming days to decide to play Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga next season.

The last Europa League spot was grabbed by Hannover 96 who beat relegated 1.FC Kaiserslautern 2-1 while VfL Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen and 1.FC Nürnberg all lost in their quest for European football next season.


Round 34 Results

Borussia Dortmund 4-0 SC Freiburg
Hertha BSC Berlin 3-1 1899 Hoffenheim
FC Augsburg 1-0 Hamburger SV
1.FC Nürnberg 1-4 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
SV Werder Bremen 2-3 FC Schalke 04
VfB Stuttgart 3-2 VfL Wolfsburg
Hannover 96 2-1 1.FC Kaiserslautern
1.FC Köln 1-4 FC Bayern München
1.FSV Mainz 05 0-3 Borussia Mönchengladbach