Promotion and Relegation

Thanks to their poor goal difference, Mainz had hardly a chance of staying up when they went into their final match against Bayern Munich -- which they promptly lost 5-2. The game was Mainz's whole season in miniature. They dug themselves an early hole, fought back and came up short.

Mainz, usually offensively minded, failed to react quickly enough to the departure of key forwards before the start of the season. Unable to score goals, they were dead last in December -- with only 11 points.

Bringing in striker Mohamed Zidan, who scored 13 times for the club, restored Mainz to playing respectably. But the deficit they carried with them from 2006 was too great and this popular underdog's first run in the Bundesliga came to an end after three seasons.

Another tale of two seasons

Mainz's Rhineland neighbors Aachen punched above their weight for the first half -- thanks to young players like striker Jan Schlaudraff and defender Sascha Dum.

But problems lurked. Dum was out on loan from Leverkusen, and during the winter, Aachen sold the rights to Schlaudraff to Bayern next season. And players who have no future at a club usually aren't the ones you want in a dogfight.

Accused of not giving it their all, Schlaudraff and Dum were kicked off the squad in the middle of the relegation battle. Aachen slumped and headed down after only one season in the first division.

Mönchengladbach had already been relegated a few weeks previously.

Experience Crucial for Promoted Clubs

Karlsruhe had already wrapped up the second-division title, but there was plenty of excitement on the last day of play, as Rostock and Duisburg got clutch wins to edge out Freiburg for promotion.

Rostock, led by veteran midfielder Stefan Beinlich, needed every bit of their ten years experience in the first division to hang on to a top-three spot.

Despite a mediocre attack, the team conceded only 30 goals and will now become the second eastern German club, together with Cottbus, in the top flight. But they'll need to get more potent to survive.

Pair of Lethal Zebras

Duisburg bounced back to the Bundesliga after only one season in the second division thanks to two seasoned strikers: Mohamadou Idrissou and Youssef Mokhtari.

Drawing on previous experience for first-division sides Hanover and Cottbus, Idrissou and Mokhtari combined for twenty goals in the division's second-best offense. This was key as the Zebras only beat out Freiburg for third place because of their better goal difference

But Duisburg's last trip to the top flight only lasted one year, and it's questionable whether they can bolster the squad enough to be competitive.

And if all the newly promoted clubs want to stay up, they need to remember that the season is 34 games long -- and that for small teams slumps are often fatal.