Should The Promotion Format Change In The Bundesliga?

Since Wolfsburg managed to coast to victory against Eintracht Braunschweig in May. The playoff format has received a lot of scrutiny as it favours the higher division side and serves as a huge second chance for the top division side to save their season in a matter of two legs as we have seen with Wolfsburg this season and 7 out of 9 times in the last 9 years the top division side has stayed up since the system changed in 2008. Prior to this, the third placed side in the second division was promoted with the top 2 as well.

So is it time for a revamp in the flawed format? They could adopt a similar format to the English game where 3 teams get relegated and then there is a playoff in the second division between 3rd to 6th and then one of them teams is also promoted. This is something that could be experimented with in Germany as it then punishes the sides such as Hamburg and this season Wolfsburg who find themselves finishing in the relegation playoff to be given a huge let off for when they win.

The only issue that surrounds this is that the quality of football would decrease in the Bundesliga as there is a possibility that the 6th placed team in the division could get into the playoffs and technically be promoted taking, for example, Wolfsburgs place this season. So this is one instance where the relegation playoff is a good idea because it helps to keep the Bundesliga more competitive as we have seen with RB Leipzig and Freiburg as they entered the Bundesliga this season and then Ingolstadt and Darmstadt had a similar impact the year before.

So maybe the format will need to be altered in order to make it more fairer towards the teams in the second division who don’t have the same resources as the big money teams in the first division but big questions and plans need to be asked and drawn up in order to make sure that the best format is devised for the league in order to make it better for the fans who are starting to call for a change in the system.