Six-time German champions Hamburg SV earned a triumphant promotion back to the Bundesliga after a seven-year absence, with Saturday’s 6-1 demolition of Ulm guaranteeing them a top-two finish in the second division with a game left to play.
The 1983 European Cup winners, once nicknamed the Bundesliga’s ‘dinosaurs’ for having been in the top division for the longest uninterrupted spell since the league’s creation in 1963, had a shock first-ever relegation in 2018.
They then repeatedly missed chances to go back up, losing key matches in the final stretches of previous seasons, but they would not be denied promotion this time.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Ulm stunned the hosts with a seventh-minute lead through Tom Gaal, but Hamburg bounced back just three minutes later to level with Ludovit Reis.
Ulm then saw Semir Telalovic’s 36th-minute penalty saved by Hamburg keeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes before the hosts struck twice late in the first half through Ransford-Yeboah Koenigsdoerffer’s superb chip and Davie Selke’s 22nd league goal to earn a commanding lead.
They picked up where they left off and made it 4-1 thanks to Philipp Strompf’s own goal in the 49th before Koenigsdoerffer bagged his second with a solo effort and low drive from the edge of the box.
Daniel Efadli made it half a dozen in the 86th as fans gathered around the pitch to storm it on the final whistle.
With one game remaining, Hamburg are top on 59 points, with Cologne second on 58 and Elversberg third on 55.
The third-placed team goes into a promotion/relegation playoff with the 16th team of the Bundesliga. Ulm are relegated to the third division.
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