PADERBORN, Germany (AP) – Christian Eriksen and Wolfsburg were relegated from the Bundesliga on Monday after losing 2-1 to Paderborn in the second leg of the end-of-season playoffs to decide a spot in Germany’s first division next season.
Wolfsburg played with 10 men for all but the first 13 minutes before Laurin Kurda scored the goal that sealed Paderborn’s promotion in the 10th minute of extra time.
After the draw, Paderborn, who finished third in the second division, won 2-1 on aggregate. 0-0 in the first leg Thursday’s playoff game at Wolfsburg.
“All I could do was cry, I couldn’t control my emotions at all,” Paderborn midfielder Ruben Müller said of the club’s third promotion to the Bundesliga.
“Words can’t describe it, I can’t believe what’s going on here,” said Paderborn goalkeeper Dennis Seimen, who made two late saves to preserve the victory.
It is Wolfsburg’s first relegation since the Volkswagen-backed club was promoted to the Bundesliga in 1997. Wolfsburg won the title in 2009, but have struggled in recent seasons. They survived the play-offs against Eintracht Braunschweig in 2017 and Holstein Kiel the following year, but again this season they finished third from the bottom and were forced into a rematch to stay in the league.
This marks the end of a very disappointing season for Danish star Eriksen, who has signed a two-year contract. Joined Wolfsburg in September. Eriksen captained his team at Paderborn and received words of praise from opposition players before jubilant home supporters stormed onto the field to celebrate.
Some Paderborn fans used plastic beer cups to dig clumps of grass from the ground and take them home, while beer-soaked players danced and sang.
Wolfsburg got off to a great start through Dženan Pejčinović in the opening three minutes, but Joachim Mahle was sent off in the 14th minute with a second yellow card for a foul on Mattes Hansen. Minutes later, he received his first yellow card for pushing Filip Birbier, who had deflected the ball away.
“He feels bad as well,” Wolfsburg winger Patrick Wimmer said of Mahle. “He knows that what happened probably shouldn’t have happened. But I don’t think the whole team should rally around Joachim. He’s had a great season and done a great job since coming back from his shoulder injury. Maybe we were a little unlucky today, but you can see the whole team lacks energy overall.”
This sending off undoubtedly changed the course of the match, leaving only Paderborn to advance. Birbier tied the score in the 39th inning with a diving header from Calvin Brackelman off a long throw-in.
Just after the hour mark, Sebastian Klaas hit the post, and Kurda, who was freed at the back post by Wolfsburg’s defense, finally measured Paderborn’s pressure by aiming at substitute Sven Michel’s cross.
Paderborn, a city east of Dortmund in the West German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, also achieved promotion in 2014 and 2019. They finished bottom of both seasons, and their appearances in the Bundesliga were short-lived.
Paderborn coach Ralf Kettemann said: “We’ve been promoted twice so far, but we haven’t been able to maintain our form yet. We have to make the right decisions this summer.”
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
