By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The fates of several clubs hang in the balance as the Bundesliga gears up for a blockbuster final matchday of the 2025-26 season.
The biggest tension is at the foot of the table, where the bottom three all go into the final day level on points for the first time in the league’s history. It’s also the first time since 2014-15 that we go into Matchday 34 with no team already relegated.
Two out of VfL Wolfsburg, 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 and FC St. Pauli will go down, while the other gets a lifeline via the play-off against the team that finishes third in Bundesliga 2. And just to add to the drama, St. Pauli host Wolfsburg at the Millerntor.
The Wolves are currently in the slightly better position of 16th, while goal difference sees the Kiezkicker needing a win to have a chance of climbing out of the bottom two. Nestled between them, Heidenheim have hit form at the right time and host 1. FSV Mainz 05 knowing a seventh victory of the season could complete their great escape and put them in the play-off for the second year in a row.
Up at the other end, RB Leipzig became the third side to secure a spot in the UEFA Champions League next season with a 2-1 win over St. Pauli, but there are three teams still jostling for the fourth and final berth.
VfB Stuttgart are in pole position after a brilliant 3-1 win over fellow top-four hope fuls Bayer 04 Leverkusen. However, Sebastian Hoeneß’s side face a difficult away trip to eighth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, who also need a result to keep their hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Conference League alive.
Should Stuttgart drop points, TSG Hoffenheim would be the delighted recipients of fourth place if they can get a suitable result at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Leverkusen need to win at home to Hamburger SV and hope both Stuttgart and Hoffenheim lose to sneak into the top four.
Sport-Club Freiburg have the Conference League spot (for finishing seventh) in their own hands, should they beat Leipzig at home. They would then have the chance to upgrade that to the Champions League if they win the UEFA Europa League final against Aston Villa the following Wednesday.
FC Augsburg have made a late push for Europe and can still hope to claim seventh but will need to win at 1. FC Union Berlin, while both Freiburg and Frankfurt drop points.
All nine fixtures on Matchday 34 kick off at 3.30pm CEST this Saturday, ensuring for plenty of drama as results elsewhere shape teams’ destinies on the decisive final day of the season.
Bundesliga 2 concludes at the same time on Sunday, with SV Elversberg, Hannover 96 and SC Paderborn 07 all locked on 59 points and only one automatic promotion place available behind champions FC Schalke 04, while SpVgg Greuther Fürth, DSC Arminia Bielefeld, Fortuna Düsseldorf and Eintracht Braunschweig are the four teams all at risk of going the other way and joining SC Preußen Münster in relega tion to the 3. Liga.