Almost all decisions in the Bundesliga have been made. Only the relegation games on Wednesday and Saturday between Cologne and Kiel are missing. Who will secure the last place in the Bundesliga? What speaks for which team? Sky gives an overview.
Opinions are divided about the football relegation games. For some it is the extra portion of excitement, for others it is the last undeserved straw of the 16th in the Bundesliga, in order to save themselves into the next season in the elite league.
The duel between 1. FC Köln and Holstein Kiel is the next round of the promotion and relegation final, which has been reintroduced since the 2008/09 season. Sky gives an overview of which statistics the supporters of both teams can rely on and which they should rather “overlook”.
Click through: All relegation games since 2009
Cologne’s premiere – Kiel’s second attempt
1. FC Köln “celebrates” its debut in relegation and will want to prevent the seventh relegation since 1998. The Kielers, on the other hand, have had bad experiences with the short season extension. After the 2017/18 season, the Holsteiners failed at VfL Wolfsburg. The first leg went 3-1 to the Wolves. VfL won the second leg 1-0. Now the Kiel want to make it in the second attempt and become the first Bundesliga team from Schleswig-Holstein.
The competitive game balance between Cologne and Kiel
| Competitive games | Wins 1. FC Cologne | Delivered | Wins Holstein Kiel | Tore |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4:1 |
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But experience has shown that the probability that the second division club will swap places with the Bundesliga club is relatively low. Since the relegation was reintroduced, the second division team has only been promoted three times in twelve attempts. In 75 percent of the cases, the Bundesliga team managed to stay in the league. Union Berlin (2018/19) is the last second division team to climb through the season extension.
