2018–19 2. Bundesliga

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.^[3][4]

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.^[5]

Team changes

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and kits

More information Team, Manager ...

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[6]	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

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Managerial changes

More information Team, Outgoing manager ...

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
1. FC Köln	Stefan Ruthenbeck[7]	End of contract	30 June 2018	Preseason	Markus Anfang[7]	1 July 2018
Holstein Kiel	Markus Anfang[7]	Signed for 1. FC Köln			Tim Walter[8]
Union Berlin	André Hofschneider[9]	Sacked			Urs Fischer[10]
Erzgebirge Aue	Hannes Drews[11]	Resigned			Daniel Meyer[12]
Dynamo Dresden	Uwe Neuhaus[13]	Sacked	22 August 2018	9th	Cristian Fiél (interim)[14]	23 August 2018
	Cristian Fiél (interim)[15]	End of caretaker spell	11 September 2018	14th	Maik Walpurgis[15]	11 September 2018
FC Ingolstadt	Stefan Leitl[16]	Sacked	22 September 2018	13th	Alexander Nouri[17]	24 September 2018
MSV Duisburg	Iliya Gruev[18]		1 October 2018	18th	Torsten Lieberknecht[19]	1 October 2018
SV Sandhausen	Kenan Kocak[20]		8 October 2018	16th	Uwe Koschinat[21]	15 October 2018
Hamburger SV	Christian Titz[22]		23 October 2018	5th	Hannes Wolf[22]	23 October 2018
1. FC Magdeburg	Jens Härtel[23]		12 November 2018	17th	Michael Oenning[24]	14 November 2018
FC Ingolstadt	Alexander Nouri[25]		26 November 2018	18th	Roberto Pätzold (interim)[25]	26 November 2018
	Roberto Pätzold (interim)[26]	End of caretaker spell	2 December 2018		Jens Keller[26]	2 December 2018
Arminia Bielefeld	Jeff Saibene[27]	Sacked	10 December 2018	14th	Uwe Neuhaus[28]	10 December 2018
SpVgg Greuther Fürth	Damir Burić[29]		4 February 2019	12th	Stefan Leitl[30]	5 February 2019
Darmstadt 98	Dirk Schuster[31]		18 February 2019	14th	Dimitrios Grammozis[32]	24 February 2019
Dynamo Dresden	Maik Walpurgis[33]		24 February 2019	14th	Cristian Fiél[34]	24 February 2019
FC Ingolstadt	Jens Keller[35]		2 April 2019	18th	Tomas Oral[36]	3 April 2019
FC St. Pauli	Markus Kauczinski[37]		10 April 2019	6th	Jos Luhukay[38]	10 April 2019
1. FC Köln	Markus Anfang[39]		27 April 2019	1st	André Pawlak / Manfred Schmid (interim)[39]	27 April 2019

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First leg

Second leg

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.

First leg

24 May 2019 (2019-05-24)

18:15

More information Wehen Wiesbaden, 1–2 ...

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

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Brita-Arena, Wiesbaden

Attendance: 7,698

Referee: Guido Winkmann

Second leg

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.