Forget Premier League relegation battles. Welcome to the Bundesliga’s perilous play-off
“On Thursday night, the Bundesliga’s relegation play-off began. It likely ended, too. Contested between the team finishing 16th in the first division and third in the second, it is a two-legged tie packed into four days of the early summer. This season, it has brought together the 2 Bundesliga’s Hamburger SV, from Germany’s north, and the Bundesliga’s Stuttgart, from its south west. And, as has become semi-tradition, the side from the higher division looks almost certain to retain their place. Stuttgart scored their first goal within a minute of the game beginning. By full time, they had missed a penalty, spurned a whole buffet of good chances, and yet still comfortably won 3-0. …”
The Athletic (Video)