Stuttgart secured their Bundesliga status with a 3-1 victory at Hamburg (6-1 aggregate) in Monday's relegation playoff return leg, ensuring another season in the second division for the fallen giants.
Two second-half goals from French midfielder Enzo Millot and an injury time strike from DR Congo's Silas overturned a 1-0 halftime deficit, ensuring the 16th-placed Stuttgart remain in the top division next season.
The loss means Hamburg, who once celebrated the longest run in the top division with a clock marking every second the former Champions League winners had not been relegated, will now play a sixth season in the Bundesliga 2. Stuttgart manager Sebastian Hoeness, who has lost just one of 10 league matches since taking over in early April, lauded his team's "ability to handle pressure".
"Compliments to the team" Hoeness said of securing first division football next season "it sure didn't look like that eight or nine weeks ago."
His Hamburg counterpart Tim Walter, who coached Stuttgart for six months in 2019 before being sacked, lamented how close but how far his side was. "We played a great season, 20 wins, but we were missing just one point.
"We're building something unbelievable here, I'm incredibly proud of my team, unfortunately the first division side were a little bit better."