2018–19 2. Bundesliga

The 2018–19 2. Bundesliga was the 45th season of the 2. Bundesliga. It began on 3 August 2018 and concluded on 19 May 2019.^[1]

2. Bundesliga

Season	2018–19
Dates	3 August 2018 – 19 May 2019
Champions	1. FC Köln
Promoted	1. FC Köln SC Paderborn Union Berlin
Relegated	FC Ingolstadt (via play-off) 1. FC Magdeburg MSV Duisburg
Matches played	306
Goals scored	904 (2.95 per match)
Top goalscorer	Simon Terodde (29 goals)
Biggest home win	Köln 8–1 Dresden
Biggest away win	Hamburg 0–5 Regensburg Fürth 0–5 Aue
Highest scoring	Köln 8–1 Dresden
Longest winning run	4 games Hamburger SV 1. FC Köln
Longest unbeaten run	17 games Union Berlin
Longest winless run	12 games FC Ingolstadt
Longest losing run	6 games FC Ingolstadt
Highest attendance	57,000 Hamburg v St. Pauli Hamburg v Kiel
Lowest attendance	4,778 Sandhausen v Heidenheim
Attendance	5,853,246 (19,128 per match)
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

1. FC Köln and SC Paderborn were automatically promoted to the Bundesliga; Union Berlin were promoted after winning the Bundesliga relegation play-offs. 1. FC Magdeburg and MSV Duisburg were automatically relegated to the 3. Liga, while FC Ingolstadt 04 were also relegated to the 3. Liga after losing a playoff against SV Wehen Wiesbaden of that league.

Season

Promotion Battle

Before the start of the season, Bundesliga relegations 1. FC Köln and Hamburger SV were considered the biggest favourites for promotion. In the first round, both fulfilled this role: Hamburger SV was able to get just ahead of Herbstmeister, 1. FC Union Berlin followed after a round without defeat, including 10 draws, in third place. While FC St. Pauli, 1. FC Heidenheim and Holstein Kiel were gradually eliminated from the field of the chasers, the newly promoted SC Paderborn 07 advanced to the promotion places thanks to a strong back-series (1st place with 32 points in the back-round table). After 32 days of play, Köln was crowned 2. Bundesliga champion for the fourth time and celebrated the re-entry into the Bundesliga; in the end, Köln recorded the most victories and scored the most goals. Hamburger SV, on the other hand, played a disastrous return round (15th place with 19 points in the back-round table), which finally resulted in the missed re-emergence one match day before the end; the fight for second place became a long-distance duel between Paderborn and Union Berlin on the last day of the match. In the end, Paderborn managed to make it to the Bundesliga on the last day of the season despite a 1-3 defeat in Dresden, Union Berlin finished third in the standings and competed in the promotion delegation against VfB Stuttgart. After a 2-2 draw in Stuttgart and a 0-0 draw at home, Union Berlin moved up to the Bundesliga for the first time thanks to the away goals rule.^[2][3]

Relegation battle

After the first promotion to the 2. Bundesliga, 1. FC Magdeburg had a first appearance with the direct relegation, which was fixed on the 33rd match day. In addition to Magdeburg, MSV Duisburg was also relegated after only two seasons in the second-class. On the last day of the match, SV Sandhausen secured direct class position with a 2-2 draw at SSV Jahn Regensburg, FC Ingolstadt 04 closed the season on the 16th place in the table after a 2-4 defeat in Heidenheim and competed in the relegation delegation against SV Wehen Wiesbaden. After a 2-1 in Wiesbaden, Ingolstadt lost in the home game with 2:3 and was relegated to the 3rd league due to the away goals rule.^[4]

Teams

Aue

Berlin

Bielefeld

Bochum

Darmstadt

Dresden

Duisburg

Fürth

Hamburg

Heidenheim

Ingolstadt

Kiel

Köln

Magdeburg

Paderborn

Regensburg

Sandhausen

St. Pauli

Locations of the 2018–19 2. Bundesliga teams

Team changes

Promoted from 2017–18 3. Liga	Relegated from 2017–18 Bundesliga	Promoted to 2018–19 Bundesliga	Relegated to 2018–19 3. Liga
1. FC Magdeburg SC Paderborn	Hamburger SV 1. FC Köln	Fortuna Düsseldorf 1. FC Nürnberg	Eintracht Braunschweig 1. FC Kaiserslautern

Stadiums and locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Erzgebirge Aue	Aue	Erzgebirgsstadion	15,711
Union Berlin	Berlin	Alte Försterei	22,012
Arminia Bielefeld	Bielefeld	Schüco-Arena	27,300
VfL Bochum	Bochum	Ruhrstadion	29,299
Darmstadt 98	Darmstadt	Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor	17,000
Dynamo Dresden	Dresden	Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion	32,066
MSV Duisburg	Duisburg	MSV-Arena	31,500
SpVgg Greuther Fürth	Fürth	Sportpark Ronhof Thomas Sommer	18,500
Hamburger SV	Hamburg	Volksparkstadion	57,000
1. FC Heidenheim	Heidenheim	Voith-Arena	15,000
FC Ingolstadt	Ingolstadt	Audi Sportpark	15,000
Holstein Kiel	Kiel	Holstein-Stadion	11,386
1. FC Köln	Cologne	RheinEnergieStadion	49,698
1. FC Magdeburg	Magdeburg	MDCC-Arena	27,500
SC Paderborn	Paderborn	Benteler-Arena	15,000
Jahn Regensburg	Regensburg	Continental Arena	15,224
SV Sandhausen	Sandhausen	BWT-Stadion am Hardtwald	15,414
FC St. Pauli	Hamburg	Millerntor-Stadion	29,546

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Sponsors
				Main	Sleeve
Erzgebirge Aue	Daniel Meyer	Martin Männel	Nike	WätaS Wärmetauscher Sachsen	Leonhardt Group
Union Berlin	Urs Fischer	Christopher Trimmel	Macron	Layenberger	Koch Automobile
Arminia Bielefeld	Uwe Neuhaus	Julian Börner	Joma[5]	Schüco	JAB Anstoetz Textilien
VfL Bochum	Robin Dutt	Stefano Celozzi	Nike	Tricorp Workwear	Viactiv Betriebskrankenkasse
Darmstadt 98	Dimitrios Grammozis	Fabian Holland	Craft	Software AG	ROWE Mineralölwerk
Dynamo Dresden	Cristian Fiel	Marco Hartmann	Craft	ALL-INKL.com	AOK Plus
MSV Duisburg	Torsten Lieberknecht	Gerrit Nauber	Capelli	XTiP	Rhein Power
SpVgg Greuther Fürth	Stefan Leitl	Marco Caligiuri	Hummel	Hofmann Personal	BVUK
Hamburger SV	Hannes Wolf	Aaron Hunt	Adidas	Emirates	Popp Feinkost
1. FC Heidenheim	Frank Schmidt	Marc Schnatterer	Nike	Hartmann Gruppe	Voith
FC Ingolstadt	Tomas Oral	Marvin Matip	Adidas	MediaMarkt	Audi Schanzer Fußballschule
Holstein Kiel	Tim Walter	Dominik Schmidt	Puma	Famila	Lotto Schleswig-Holstein
1. FC Köln	André Pawlak / Manfred Schmid	Jonas Hector	Uhlsport	REWE	DEVK
1. FC Magdeburg	Michael Oenning	Nils Butzen	Uhlsport	Sunmaker	SWM Magdeburg
SC Paderborn	Steffen Baumgart	Christian Strohdiek	Saller	Sunmaker	effect energy
Jahn Regensburg	Achim Beierlorzer	Marco Grüttner	Saller	Netto	Dallmeier Electronic
SV Sandhausen	Uwe Koschinat	Denis Linsmayer	Puma	Verivox	BWT
FC St. Pauli	Jos Luhukay	Bernd Nehrig	Under Armour	Congstar	Astra Brauerei

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
1. FC Köln	Stefan Ruthenbeck[6]	End of contract	30 June 2018	Preseason	Markus Anfang[6]	1 July 2018
Holstein Kiel	Markus Anfang[6]	Signed for 1. FC Köln			Tim Walter[7]
Union Berlin	André Hofschneider[8]	Sacked			Urs Fischer[9]
Erzgebirge Aue	Hannes Drews[10]	Resigned			Daniel Meyer[11]
Dynamo Dresden	Uwe Neuhaus[12]	Sacked	22 August 2018	9th	Cristian Fiél (interim)[13]	23 August 2018
	Cristian Fiél (interim)[14]	End of caretaker spell	11 September 2018	14th	Maik Walpurgis[14]	11 September 2018
FC Ingolstadt	Stefan Leitl[15]	Sacked	22 September 2018	13th	Alexander Nouri[16]	24 September 2018
MSV Duisburg	Iliya Gruev[17]		1 October 2018	18th	Torsten Lieberknecht[18]	1 October 2018
SV Sandhausen	Kenan Kocak[19]		8 October 2018	16th	Uwe Koschinat[20]	15 October 2018
Hamburger SV	Christian Titz[21]		23 October 2018	5th	Hannes Wolf[21]	23 October 2018
1. FC Magdeburg	Jens Härtel[22]		12 November 2018	17th	Michael Oenning[23]	14 November 2018
FC Ingolstadt	Alexander Nouri[24]		26 November 2018	18th	Roberto Pätzold (interim)[24]	26 November 2018
	Roberto Pätzold (interim)[25]	End of caretaker spell	2 December 2018		Jens Keller[25]	2 December 2018
Arminia Bielefeld	Jeff Saibene[26]	Sacked	10 December 2018	14th	Uwe Neuhaus[27]	10 December 2018
SpVgg Greuther Fürth	Damir Burić[28]		4 February 2019	12th	Stefan Leitl[29]	5 February 2019
Darmstadt 98	Dirk Schuster[30]		18 February 2019	14th	Dimitrios Grammozis[31]	24 February 2019
Dynamo Dresden	Maik Walpurgis[32]		24 February 2019	14th	Cristian Fiél[33]	24 February 2019
FC Ingolstadt	Jens Keller[34]		2 April 2019	18th	Tomas Oral[35]	3 April 2019
FC St. Pauli	Markus Kauczinski[36]		10 April 2019	6th	Jos Luhukay[37]	10 April 2019
1. FC Köln	Markus Anfang[38]		27 April 2019	1st	André Pawlak / Manfred Schmid (interim)[38]	27 April 2019

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	1. FC Köln (C, P)	34	19	6	9	84	47	+37	63	Promotion to Bundesliga
2	SC Paderborn (P)	34	16	9	9	76	50	+26	57
3	Union Berlin (O, P)	34	14	15	5	54	33	+21	57	Qualification to promotion play-offs
4	Hamburger SV	34	16	8	10	45	42	+3	56
5	1. FC Heidenheim	34	15	10	9	55	45	+10	55
6	Holstein Kiel	34	13	10	11	60	51	+9	49
7	Arminia Bielefeld	34	13	10	11	52	50	+2	49
8	Jahn Regensburg	34	12	13	9	55	54	+1	49
9	FC St. Pauli	34	14	7	13	46	53	−7	49
10	Darmstadt 98	34	13	7	14	45	53	−8	46
11	VfL Bochum	34	11	11	12	49	50	−1	44
12	Dynamo Dresden	34	11	9	14	41	48	−7	42
13	Greuther Fürth	34	10	12	12	37	56	−19	42
14	Erzgebirge Aue	34	11	7	16	43	47	−4	40
15	SV Sandhausen	34	9	11	14	45	52	−7	38
16	FC Ingolstadt (R)	34	9	8	17	43	55	−12	35	Qualification to relegation play-offs
17	1. FC Magdeburg (R)	34	6	13	15	35	53	−18	31	Relegation to 3. Liga
18	MSV Duisburg (R)	34	6	10	18	39	65	−26	28

Source: DFB
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goals scored; 7) Head-to-head away goals scored; 8) Away goals scored; 9) Play-off.^[39]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	AUE	BER	BIE	BOC	DAR	DRE	DUI	FÜR	HAM	HEI	ING	KIE	KÖL	MAG	PAD	REG	SAN	STP
Erzgebirge Aue	—	3–0	1–0	3–2	2–2	1–3	0–0	1–1	1–3	0–1	0–3	2–1	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	0–2	3–1
Union Berlin	1–0	—	1–1	2–0	3–1	0–0	2–2	4–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–0	1–3	2–2	2–0	4–1
Arminia Bielefeld	2–1	1–1	—	3–1	1–0	2–1	0–1	2–3	2–0	1–2	1–3	1–0	1–3	1–3	2–0	5–3	1–1	1–2
VfL Bochum	2–1	2–2	1–0	—	1–0	0–1	2–1	3–2	0–0	1–0	6–0	1–3	0–2	4–2	1–2	3–3	1–0	1–3
Darmstadt 98	1–0	2–1	1–2	0–0	—	2–0	3–0	2–0	1–2	1–2	1–1	3–2	0–3	3–1	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–1
Dynamo Dresden	1–1	0–0	3–4	2–2	4–1	—	1–0	0–1	0–1	1–3	2–0	0–2	3–0	1–1	3–1	0–0	3–1	2–1
MSV Duisburg	1–2	2–3	2–2	0–2	1–0	1–3	—	0–1	1–2	3–4	2–4	0–4	4–4	1–0	2–0	1–3	2–2	0–1
Greuther Fürth	0–5	1–1	2–2	2–2	2–1	0–0	1–0	—	0–0	0–0	0–1	4–1	0–4	3–2	2–2	1–1	3–1	2–1
Hamburger SV	1–1	2–2	3–0	0–0	2–3	1–0	3–0	1–0	—	3–2	0–3	0–3	1–0	1–2	1–0	0–5	2–1	0–0
1. FC Heidenheim	1–0	2–1	1–1	3–2	0–1	1–0	4–1	2–0	2–2	—	4–2	2–2	0–2	3–0	1–5	1–2	2–3	3–0
FC Ingolstadt	3–2	1–2	1–1	2–1	3–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	—	1–1	1–2	0–1	1–2	1–2	1–2	0–1
Holstein Kiel	5–1	0–2	1–2	2–2	4–2	3–0	0–2	2–2	3–1	1–1	2–2	—	1–1	2–1	1–2	2–0	2–1	2–1
1. FC Köln	3–1	1–1	5–1	2–3	1–2	8–1	1–2	4–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	4–0	—	3–0	3–5	3–5	3–1	4–1
1. FC Magdeburg	1–0	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	2–2	3–3	2–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	—	1–1	2–3	0–1	1–2
SC Paderborn	1–0	0–0	2–2	2–2	6–2	3–0	4–0	6–0	4–1	3–1	3–1	4–4	3–2	4–4	—	2–0	3–3	0–1
Jahn Regensburg	1–3	1–1	0–3	2–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	2–1	2–1	2–1	0–0	1–3	1–0	2–0	—	2–2	1–1
SV Sandhausen	0–3	0–0	0–3	3–0	1–1	3–1	0–0	0–0	0–3	1–2	4–0	3–2	0–2	0–1	1–1	2–2	—	4–0
FC St. Pauli	1–2	3–2	1–1	0–0	2–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	0–4	1–1	1–0	0–1	3–5	4–1	2–1	4–3	3–1	—

Source: DFB
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion play-offs

All times are CEST (UTC+2).

First leg

23 May 2019 (2019-05-23)

20:30

VfB Stuttgart	2–2	Union Berlin
Gentner 41' Gómez 51'	Report	Abdullahi 43' Friedrich 68'

Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart

Attendance: 58,619

Referee: Bastian Dankert

Second leg

27 May 2019 (2019-05-27)

20:30

Union Berlin	0–0	VfB Stuttgart
	Report

Stadion An der Alten Försterei, Berlin

Attendance: 22,012

Referee: Christian Dingert

2–2 on aggregate. Union Berlin won on away goals and were promoted to the Bundesliga, while VfB Stuttgart were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga.

Relegation play-offs

All times are CEST (UTC+2).

First leg

24 May 2019 (2019-05-24)

18:15

Wehen Wiesbaden	1–2	FC Ingolstadt
Kyereh 90+6'	Report	Lezcano 1', 47' (pen.)

Brita-Arena, Wiesbaden

Attendance: 7,698

Referee: Guido Winkmann

Second leg

28 May 2019 (2019-05-28)

18:15

FC Ingolstadt	2–3	Wehen Wiesbaden
Kerschbaumer 13' Paulsen 68'	Report	Kyereh 11' Dittgen 30' Paulsen 43' (o.g.)

Audi Sportpark, Ingolstadt

Attendance: 12,420

Referee: Frank Willenborg

4–4 on aggregate. Wehen Wiesbaden won on away goals and are promoted to the 2. Bundesliga, while FC Ingolstadt are relegated to the 3. Liga.

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[40]
1	Simon Terodde	1. FC Köln	29
2	Jhon Córdoba	1. FC Köln	20
3	Lukas Hinterseer	VfL Bochum	18
4	Fabian Klos	Arminia Bielefeld	17
	Andrew Wooten	SV Sandhausen
6	Philipp Klement	SC Paderborn	16
7	Sargis Adamyan	Jahn Regensburg	15
	Pascal Testroet	Erzgebirge Aue
9	Robert Glatzel	1. FC Heidenheim	13
	Pierre-Michel Lasogga	Hamburger SV
	Andreas Voglsammer	Arminia Bielefeld

Number of teams by state

Position	State	Number of teams	Teams
1	North Rhine-Westphalia	5	Arminia Bielefeld, VfL Bochum, MSV Duisburg, 1. FC Köln and SC Paderborn
2	Bavaria	3	Greuther Fürth, FC Ingolstadt and Jahn Regensburg
3	Baden-Württemberg	2	1. FC Heidenheim and SV Sandhausen
	Hamburg	2	Hamburger SV and FC St. Pauli
	Saxony	2	Erzgebirge Aue and Dynamo Dresden
6	Berlin	1	Union Berlin
	Hesse	1	Darmstadt 98
	Saxony-Anhalt	1	1. FC Magdeburg
	Schleswig-Holstein	1	Holstein Kiel

Highs of the season

• The highest victory with seven goals difference was the 8:1 of the 1. FC Köln against Dynamo Dresden on the 13th matchday, which with nine goals was also the most goal-rich game.^[41]
• The most goal-scoring draws were with eight goals:
  • the 4:4 of SC Paderborn 07 against 1. FC Magdeburg on the 6th matchday^[42]
  • the 4:4 of SC Paderborn 07 against Holstein Kiel on the 13th matchday^[43]
  • the 4:4 of MSV Duisburg against 1. FC Köln on the 26th matchday^[44]
• The most goal-scoring matchday was the 26th matchday from 15 to 18 March and 10 April 2019 with 38 goals.
• 1. FC Union Berlin remained the only team in German professional football in the 2018–19 season undefeated in 17 consecutive games.

Useful Information

• With the first relegations of Hamburger SV from the Bundesliga in the pre-season, two Hamburg city derbies between Hamburger SV and FC St. Pauli took place for the first time this season in the 2. Bundesliga and again since the 2010–11 Bundesliga two Hamburg city derbies. In the first local derby, the Hamburger SV had the home right, the game ended 0-0.^[45] The return match at FC St. Pauli on 10 March 2019 was won 4-0 by Hamburger SV.^[46]
• In June 2018, the 2. Bundesliga relegations Eintracht Braunschweig and 1. FC Kaiserslautern received a commitment of a supporting donation of €600,000. Each club of the 2017–18 2. Bundesliga season had paid €66,666 into a pot independently of the DFL in order to make it easier for the two former 2. Bundesliga teams to make a fresh start in the 3. Liga. This was already decided in April, as the majority of the clubs were still involved in the relegation fight until shortly before the end of the season.^[47][48]
• On the 11th matchday, two former European Cup winners met for the first time in the 2. Bundesliga with 1. FC Magdeburg and Hamburger SV (0:1),^[49] for both of them it was also the first season in the 2. Bundesliga.
• For the 2018–19 season, "Derbystar" "Brillant APS" replaced Adidas "Torfabrik" as the official match ball of the 1st and 2. Bundesliga.^[50]

Attendances

Rank	Team	Home games	Average attendance[51]
1	1. FC Köln	17	49,547
2	Hamburger SV	17	48,864
3	FC St. Pauli	17	29,503
4	Dynamo Dresden	17	28,434
5	1. FC Union	17	21,200
6	1. FC Magdeburg	17	20,224
7	Arminia Bielefeld	17	19,127
8	VfL Bochum	17	17,662
9	MSV Duisburg	17	15,385
10	Darmstadt 98	17	13,367
11	Jahn Regensburg	17	11,773
12	SC Paderborn	17	11,508
13	1. FC Heidenheim	17	11,332
14	Erzgebirge Aue	17	10,228
15	Greuther Fürth	17	9,977
16	KSV Holstein	17	9,878
17	FC Ingolstadt	17	9,003
18	SV Sandhausen	17	6,994