FAN chaos engulfed Hamburg as they were relegated from the Bundesliga for the first time in 55 years – despite beating Monchengladbach 2-1.
Flares covered the pitch as two lines of riot police lined up to try to restore order, delaying the match from ending.
Wolfsburg – who started the day two points above Hamburg in the play-off relegation spot – beat Koln 4-1 to hold onto 16th place, leaving Hamburg in the automatic drop zone.
A huge clock in the Volksparkstadion denotes — to the second — how long they have been in the German top flight. But now it will need to be reset.
Aaron Hunt put Hamburg ahead 11 minutes in before Josip Drmic levelled in the 28th minute.
Lewis Holtby put Christian Titz’s side back in front in the 63rd minute before Bobby Wood was sent off eight minutes later.
It’s been a disastrous season for Hamburg, who looked dead and buried when Christian Titz replaced Bernd Hollerbach in March.
On April 16, they were eight points off a play-off spot — despite having recently claimed a heroic 3-2 victory over second-place Schalke a week earlier.
Their next two matches pitted them against two of the three sides above them in Freiburg and Wolfsburg, and they managed to clinch a priceless six points with former Tottenham man Lewis Holtby the hero in both games.
But any momentum was drained out of them last week when they fell to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt.
Although it did not work out, Hamburg are specialists in miraculous Great Escapes.
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Last season, they beat Wolfsburg on the final day of the season with an 88th minute winner to stay up and condemn their rivals to a play-off spot.
And, two years previous, they faced second tier Karlsruher in one of the most dramatic play-offs in memory.
Having salvaged a relatively late 1-1 home draw in the first leg, they were 1-0 down in stoppage time in the return until Marcelo Alfonso Diaz struck a 91st-minute free-kick to take the tie to extra-time.
Have Bayern Munich ever been relegated?
THE Bavarians’ only relegation was in 1955, but they were immediately promoted to the top tier.
However, the Bundesliga’s inception came about in 1963, following Germany’s quarter-final exit at the 1962 World Cup.
At the time, there were five Oberligen (Premier Leagues) which represented the various regions of the country, and Bayern were among the sides whose application was unsuccessful.
It meant, they had to wait until 1965-66 — the third official Bundesliga — to participate, but didn’t have to wait too long for success.
They would finish third and win the cup, which they retained the following season as well as claim the Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup.
Bayern won the first of their 27 titles in 1968-69
Nicolai Muller then tapped home a second for Hamburg with five minutes remaining. But the drama wasn’t over as Karlsruher were awarded a penalty in stoppage time.
However, Rene Adler saved and the three-time champions stayed up.
And, in 2013-14, they overcame Greunther Furth on away goals in a relegation play-off.
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