Cologne had their German league relegation confirmed on Saturday while Borussia Dortmund broke the Bundesliga record for the most German league points in a season with a 4-0 thrashing of Freiburg.
On the last day of the league season, Köln's 4-1 defeat at home to Bayern Munich saw them drop to 17th in the league, synonymous with automatic relegation, after Hertha Berlin's 3-1 home win over 10-man Hoffenheim lifted them to 16th.
Hertha must now win a two-leg play-off to stay in the top tier. The capital side discover who their opponents are on Sunday and play the first leg on Thursday.
Hertha took the lead at Berlin's Olympic Stadium when Tunisia midfielder Anis Ben-Hatira slammed home a direct free-kick just 14 minutes into the game.
Hoffenheim were reduced to 10 men when ex-Liverpool striker Ryan Babbel was shown two yellow cards in quick succession after theatrics from Georgia's Levan Kobiashvili convinced the referee he had been struck in the face.
Hertha made it 2-0 when Ben-Hatira tapped home again on 78 minutes to secure Berlin's play-off lifeline. Ex-Germany defender Marvin Compper netted a late consolation for Hoffenheim before Brazil striker Raffael made it 3-1 to the hosts in the 92nd minute.
Arsenal-bound Lukas Podolski marked his Cologne farewell, but could not prevent his team suffering a home defeat to Bayern. German international Thomas Mueller put Bayern ahead with a well-timed strike as the Cologne defence swarmed around Munich hot-shot Mario Gomez, leaving Mueller to fire home on 34 minutes.
Cologne captain Pedro Geromel then turned the ball into his own net on 52 minutes and Bayern's Dutch star Arjen Robben curled in a shot on 54 minutes. The hosts pulled a goal back, but Mueller netted Bayern's fourth to compound Cologne's misery and send them down..
The matches on Saturday (3.30 pm cet):
Hertha BSC Berlin - 1899 Hoffenheim 3-1 (1-0)
1. FC Köln - Bayern München 1-4 (0-1)
VfB Stuttgart - VfL Wolfsburg 3-2 (0-1)
1. FC Nürnberg - Bayer Leverkusen 1-4 (0-2)
Borussia Dortmund - SC Freiburg 4-0 (4-0)
Werder Bremen - Schalke 04 2-3 (1-1)
Hannover 96 - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2-1 (1-1)
FSV Mainz 05 - Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-3 (0-1)
FC Augsburg - Hamburger SV 1-0 (1-0)
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Cologne had their German league relegation confirmed on Saturday while Borussia Dortmund broke the Bundesliga record for the most German league points in a season with a 4-0 thrashing of Freiburg.
On the last day of the league season, Köln's 4-1 defeat at home to Bayern Munich saw them drop to 17th in the league, synonymous with automatic relegation, after Hertha Berlin's 3-1 home win over 10-man Hoffenheim lifted them to 16th.
Hertha must now win a two-leg play-off to stay in the top tier. The capital side discover who their opponents are on Sunday and play the first leg on Thursday.
Hertha took the lead at Berlin's Olympic Stadium when Tunisia midfielder Anis Ben-Hatira slammed home a direct free-kick just 14 minutes into the game.
Hoffenheim were reduced to 10 men when ex-Liverpool striker Ryan Babbel was shown two yellow cards in quick succession after theatrics from Georgia's Levan Kobiashvili convinced the referee he had been struck in the face.
Hertha made it 2-0 when Ben-Hatira tapped home again on 78 minutes to secure Berlin's play-off lifeline. Ex-Germany defender Marvin Compper netted a late consolation for Hoffenheim before Brazil striker Raffael made it 3-1 to the hosts in the 92nd minute.
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Arsenal-bound Lukas Podolski marked his Cologne farewell, but could not prevent his team suffering a home defeat to Bayern. German international Thomas Mueller put Bayern ahead with a well-timed strike as the Cologne defence swarmed around Munich hot-shot Mario Gomez, leaving Mueller to fire home on 34 minutes.
Cologne captain Pedro Geromel then turned the ball into his own net on 52 minutes and Bayern's Dutch star Arjen Robben curled in a shot on 54 minutes. The hosts pulled a goal back, but Mueller netted Bayern's fourth to compound Cologne's misery and send them down..
The matches on Saturday (3.30 pm cet):
Hertha BSC Berlin - 1899 Hoffenheim 3-1 (1-0)
1. FC Köln - Bayern München 1-4 (0-1)
VfB Stuttgart - VfL Wolfsburg 3-2 (0-1)
1. FC Nürnberg - Bayer Leverkusen 1-4 (0-2)
Borussia Dortmund - SC Freiburg 4-0 (4-0)
Werder Bremen - Schalke 04 2-3 (1-1)
Hannover 96 - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2-1 (1-1)
FSV Mainz 05 - Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-3 (0-1)
FC Augsburg - Hamburger SV 1-0 (1-0)
