RB Leipzig celebrated the tenth anniversary of their promotion to the Bundesliga in style, securing a 2-1 victory over St. Pauli that propelled them back into a Champions League spot. Goals from Xaver Schlager and Willi Orbán ensured the “Bulls” finished third in the table, a significant improvement after missing out on European competition entirely last season with a seventh-place finish.
Regardless of their final-day trip to Freiburg, Leipzig (65 points) will end the campaign in third place. They are unreachable by Stuttgart (61) and Hoffenheim (61), while Bayern Munich (83) and Borussia Dortmund (70) are too far ahead to catch.
Schlager, a club mainstay, broke the deadlock in the 45th minute, just before halftime, by pouncing on a loose ball in the box following a shot from Christoph Baumgartner off a corner. The result was sealed in the 54th minute by another Leipzig veteran, Willi Orbán. The Hungarian center-back, who had been part of the club’s promotion from the second division in 2015, headed home a corner from David Raum.
St. Pauli managed to reduce the deficit in the 86th minute when Abdoulie Ceesay fired a low cross-shot after a ball was flicked on by Jackson Irvine, but it was too little, too late. With 26 points, St. Pauli sit second-to-last—level on points with Wolfsburg but in the direct relegation spots due to a worse goal difference.