The Bundesliga relegation battle will go right down to the wire, with Heidenheim, Wolfsburg and St. Pauli all level on points and fighting for the relegation play-off spot going into Matchday 34.
St. Pauli currently sit bottom, but Alexander Blessin’s side are level on points with the two sides above them as we enter the final matchday of the 2025/26 campaign.
How does relegation work in Germany?
Club: St. Pauli
Position: 18th (automatic relegation)
Points: 26
Goal difference: -29 (28-57)
Next fixture: Wolfsburg (h)
The 2025/26 campaign started positively for Pauli, who picked up seven points from their first three Bundesliga games, including a win in the first top-flight Hamburg derby in 14 years. However, things quickly turned sour, with the Kiezkicker losing each of their subsequent nine fixtures.
Alexander Blessin’s side had been on a bit of a minor revival, losing just two of their six games prior to their Matchday 29 thumping by Bayern Munich to leave them facing a scramble for safety in the final few weeks. However, a confidence-zapping defeats to at home to Mainz on Matchday 32 and against RB Leipzig the following week mean they have now dropped into the automatic relegation zone ahead of the final day.
Alexander Blessin will need to find the right word to get his St. Pauli players out of the bottom two on the final day. – DFL/Getty Images/Christian Kaspar-Bartke
Club: Heidenheim
Position: 17th (automatic relegation)
Points: 26
Goal difference: -29 (41-70)
Next fixture: Mainz (h)
After narrowly avoiding relegation by defeating Elversberg in the play-off last term, Heidenheim are on the brink of a return to Bundesliga 2.
Having suffered eight defeats and registered only one victory in their opening 11 matches, back-to-back wins over Union Berlin and Freiburg offered hope of a revival, but they then proceeded to go 15 games without a win.
That finally came to an end on Matchday 29 via another excellent 3-1 victory over Union, which they built on by defeating St. Pauli 2-0 on Matchday 31 to boost their remote hopes of survival. Remarkably, Heidenheim were a last-second goal away from beating champions Bayern Munich on Matchday 32 and beat Cologne in convincing fashion on Matchday 33.
Watch: Cologne 1-3 Heidenheim
Club: Wolfsburg
Position: 16th (play-off)
Points: 26
Goal difference: -26 (42-68)
Next fixture: St. Pauli (a)
Having finished 12th and 11th in 2023/24 and 2024/25 respectively, the Wolves are in real difficulty this year. While their tally of 42 goals is respectable, only Heidenheim have conceded more in the league this season.
Daniel Bauer became the second Wolfsburg coach to be dismissed this term following his side’s 2-1 defeat to Hamburg on Matchday 25. His replacement Dieter Hecking started his tenure by gaining a valuable point against Hoffenheim before defeats against Werder Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt.
However, a battling draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Matchday 31, which came off the back of a victory over Union the previous week – the Wolves’ first win in 13 Bundesliga games – renewed hopes of a turnaround at the critical point of the season.
Watch: Wolfsburg draw with Freiburg on Matchday 32
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