Hamburg face relegation playoff, Paderborn, Freiburg go down

By Karolos Grohmann BERLIN (Reuters) - Former European champions Hamburg SV beat Schalke 04 2-0 on Saturday to avoid direct relegation from the Bundesliga and snatch a playoff spot for the second consecutive year as Paderborn and Freiburg went down. Surprise package Augsburg secured fifth place and will play in the Europa League after coming from a goal down to crush 10-man Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1. Last season's runners-up Borussia Dortmund also secured a Europa League spot after a 3-2 home win over rivals Werder Bremen in coach Juergen Klopp's last home match. Dortmund are seventh and are guaranteed a place in Europe's second tier competition, either as German Cup winners, if they beat VfL Wolfsburg in next week's final, or as seventh-place finishers, as second-placed Wolfsburg will play in the Champions League. Third place Gladbach will also play in Europe's premier club competition while Bayer Leverkusen finished fourth and will start their Champions League campaign in the last qualifying round after a 2-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt. "The way we dealt with the enormous pressure was very good," said Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia, whose club will now face either Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe or Darmstadt, all teams for which the coach played during his career. Hamburg, who are the only club to have featured in every Bundesliga season since the league's creation in 1963, will play their relegation playoff matches on May 28 and June 1. "We had planned two friendly games and instead we will have two relegation games. Everything can happen now and we will take it as it comes. But today I got goosebumps in the stadium. It was fantastic. You see what happens if you are united," Labbadia said. Hamburg, who also needed a relegation playoff to stay up last season, scored twice in the second half through Ivica Olic and Slobodan Rajkovic to move up to 35 points in 16th place. Paderborn, who were promoted last season, lost 2-1 to VfB Stuttgart, who moved up to 36 points and safety in a dramatic Bundesliga finale. Stuttgart coach Huub Stevens has now saved the club twice from relegation after last season's late rescue. Freiburg scored a late consolation goal in their 2-1 loss to Hanover 96, who also pulled clear of danger on the final day. Champions Bayern Munich, who clinched a 25th German league title with four games to play, ended the campaign with a 2-0 victory over Mainz 05. Bastian Schweinsteiger was on target in his 500th competitive game for the club. Robert Lewandowski had put the hosts ahead in the first half with a penalty. Injured Eintracht Frankfurt forward Alex Meier finished as the Bundesliga's top scorer with 19 goals. (Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Toby Davis)