Looking Stronger: St. Pauli Reign Supreme in the Bundesliga 2…

Lets take a look at the big stories from the 2. Bundesliga 2023/24 season.

The 2. Bundesliga is now the home of probably more of Germany’s traditional “heavyweights” than the Bundesliga. A combination of bad luck, bad management, and bad football has seen the second tier become stacked with big clubs that have fallen on hard times. The 2023/24 season served as yet another cautionary tale about how quickly things can go wrong for almost any club, and just how hard it is to fix the mess you’ve made once you find yourself dropping down a division. It’s important to put BVB’s struggles in the league this season into perspective, and not forget how fortunate we are to watch a team that wins more often than not and regularly competes for trophies. With that in mind, let’s take a moment this sunny Saturday to peruse the 2. Bundesliga and see how the graveyard of former greats finished this season.

2. Bundesliga Standings

St. Pauli & Holstein Kiel Are Bundesliga-Bound

Starting at the top of the table, Germany’s second tier was dominated by two teams that have been in and around the top half of the table in recent seasons. However, I don’t think the bookies were backing St. Pauli or Holsten Kiel to break away from the pack and finish first and second with five points between them and third-placed Düsseldorf.

St. Pauli came from behind on the final day of the season to beat Wehen Wiesbaden 2-1 and win the league title, with Daniel Sinani scoring the winner in the last ten minutes, putting them just one point ahead of Holsten Kiel.

While St. Pauli are returning to the Bundesliga for the first time since the 2010/11 season (where they finished rock bottom and returned from whence they came), Holsten Kiel’s promotion will see them in the Bundesliga for the first time in the club’s history.

Interestingly, the underlying numbers suggest that both sides overperformed a little, with St. Pauli trailing Düsseldorf and Hannover (who finished all the way back in sixth) according to xGD, and Holsten Kiel ranking sixth behind Hamburg and Hertha Berlin. Nothing like a hot run of form that makes a little history!

Düsseldorf might have been left ruing their failure to turn expected goals into goals after finishing third despite the underlying numbers suggesting they were the clear best team in the league. However, they’ve made the most of their playoff lifeline, at least so far, and just have to hold onto their lead when they return home for the second leg. Their underlying numbers might help explain the 3-0 hiding they gave Bochum…

VfL Osnabrück Head Straight Back Down

At the other end of the table, VfL Osnabrück were left propping up the rest of the league, finishing in 18th and being relegated back to the 3. Liga after just one season in the second tier. Hansa Rostock joined them, finishing just three points above Osnabrück with 31 points.

Osnabrück were condemned to the third tier with two games left, after Schalke hit them for four at the Hamburg side’s Millerntor-Stadion.

Hansa Rostock were in the mix right up until the final day of the season, but they were clearly keen to nip this 2. BuLi nonsense in the bud and finished the season by going on a six-game losing streak that was exactly what they needed to send them into the 3. Liga.

Wehen Wiesbaden made up the last of the three relegation or relegation-adjacent spots. Wiesbaden finished six points off Eintracht Braunschweig in 15th, so in reality the remaining jeopardy at the bottom of the table on matchday 34 was which of Wiesbaden or Rostock would get a shot in the playoff. While Wiesbaden did lose to St. Pauli on the final day of the season, Rostock’s losing streak was enough to give Wiesbaden a lifeline. The first leg of the playoff between Wehen Wiesbaden and the 3. Liga’s representative, Jahn Regensburg, ended 2-2 at the ridiculously named Jahnstadion Regensburg, so Wiesbaden have the opportunity to stay their execution in the return leg.

The Heavyweights Stuck in the Second Tier

Of course, we’ve spent all this time figuring out how to spell the names of these teams we’re only barely familiar with, but aren’t there lots of big names currently stuck in the 2. Bundesliga? That’s right. And they’ll be stuck there a little bit longer, the scrubs.

Hamburg spent yet another year threatening to fix the mess they made and return to the Bundesliga, only to fail to deliver when it really matters. The rest of the giants in the second tier had the good grace to put their fans out of their misery much earlier, with Hertha Berlin and Schalke finishing in 9th and 10th, and Nürnberg and Kaiserslautern just below them in 12th and 13th. To be fair to Kaiserslautern, though, they’ve scrapped through the DFB-Pokal and all the way to the final against Leverkusen later today, so I’m sure their fans are pretty happy.

I’m sure these big clubs will feel a little bit better knowing that FC Köln will be joining them next season. Everyone will be laughing at them instead. See you this time next year 2. Bundesliga, when I want to know who has been promoted.