3. Liga: VfL Osnabrück win promotion to 2. Bundesliga, Ulm face successive relegations
| Michael Titgemeyer/Getty Images for DFB |
VfL Osnabrück became the first team to win promotion to the 2. Bundesliga before their game against Wehen Wiesbaden on matchday 36. Rot-Weiss Essen’s 6-1 defeat to VfB Stuttgart II confirmed Timo Schulz’s side will certainly finish in the automatic promotion places. It’s the third similar promotion by the club since 2019.
Ecuadorian international Jeremy Arévalo became only the second non-German player to score a hat-trick in 3. Liga this season. The second teams of Stuttgart and Hoffenheim survived relegation to the Regionalliga.
Meanwhile, SSV Ulm have been dropped to the fourth-tier after back-to-back relegations. TSV Havelse, Erzgebirge Aue and 1. FC Schweinfurt will also play in the multi-tier Regionalliga next season after finishing in the bottom three.
Including Energie Cottbus and Essen, there are six teams in contention for one automatic spot and a playoff place in the remaining two matchdays of the season. Former Freiburg midfielder Lars Gindorf leads the scoring chart with 23 goals for Alemannia Aachen.
