After the final day dramas of Freiburg and Bremen, and Bochum and Leipzig, maybe you could have predicted it after all. The Union fans, still in the stadium an age after the final whistle had seen their side snatch a breathless, determined win at the WWK Arena, certainly could have. They gloried in Steffen Baumgart’s side’s never say die qualities. They delighted in another dramatic comeback on the final day, but though safety had been long since assured, this one was still something else. 

It was the perfect way to round off the league. The best of endings to a season full of them. The perfect illustration of this Union side’s refusal to know when they are down.

But first things first. The new look back three were just getting used to things as the game started, and Augsburg looked to test them, starting off with the first chance. After Danilho Doekhi’s skyward clearance and Leopold Querfeld’s backwards header, Philipp Tietz caught his volley hard and true, having taken it on his chest, but hit it over the bar with only  a minute played.

Union quickly broke through Tim Skarke, but it was Alexander Schwolow who caught the eye next, acrobatically tipping Tietz’s on-target header around the post. With the striker looming soon after, he chose to kick the ball out of touch - a most old-fashioned clearance - when the next attack came.

If the stopper was making his last ever start for Union, youngster David Preu was making his first and he was keen to be involved as soon as he could, pushing high up, coming inside from the left, rushing into the centre circle to tackle Kristijan Jakić. Union were all action at the back; Andras Schäfer tracking Alexis Claude-Maurice superbly, forcing him to scuff wide under pressure after ten minutes. 

The game had started at a pace, and Union were looking to break, with the lively front three of Preu, Hollerbach and Skarke always available.  Schwolow hit long for Preu but it was snuffed out by Jeffrey Gouweleeuw. Benedict Hollerbach tried to beat Chrislain Matsima but Augsburg’s centre-half stood up tall, watching the ball, refusing to fall for Union’s top scorer’s tricks. Preu was a whisker away from getting onto the end of a sharp ball in from the right soon after. 

Augsburg looked strong and solid at the back, and Hollerbach was brushed off the ball by Gouweleeuw, using his upper body strength to lean on the slighter man. Marius Wolf, trying a little too hard, tried a no-look flick behind him on the halfway line, but only gave the ball to a scurrying Schäfer who was snapping into challenges, always looking to get the ball moving forwards when he got it back. 

Augsburg won a couple of free kicks towards the left. The first was headed wide by Tietz under pressure from Querfeld before Gouweleeuw volleyed the next wide from shoulder height, after Rönnow had come for a dead ball that was swirling away from him all the while. 

Union were getting pegged back as the half went on and Steffen Baumgart showed his displeasure, gesturing and gesticulating with his hands exactly where he wanted the ball to go next time. When Rothe put a pass out of play, aiming for Juranović, Khedira clapped his together, an act of encouragement, a demand to focus on their game. With 38 minutes played, and Schäfer trying to take the quickest of free kicks, the captain was at it again, this time telling his team-mate to be patient.

Then, after 41 minutes, Union were a goal down. Tietz drifted into a pocket of space inside right, found by Matsima’s fine, opportunistic ball. He took a touch and fired past Schwolow at the near post. Suddenly Augsburg were flying and Claude-Maurice had two golden opportunities to double the score within the next three minutes. The first as he somehow found himself all alone in front of goal, but with the ball dropping just away from him, the second when his well-struck shot flew just wide of Schwolow’s left hand post.

The ending, as the whistle came, semmed impossible.

Baumgart sent his side out unchanged after the break; though they were out early, before the pitch had been properly cleared. But still it was the hosts who came out of the blocks quickest, Claude-Maurice scuffing his long range shot wide when he had time to make a better connection from 25 yards.

If Union needed a calm head, Doekhi was there to provide one when he robbed Tietz with ease, turning away from the striker, before laying it off with the minimum of fuss. He has played every minute of every game this season, indeed he hasn’t been subbed off in the league since he missed the Darmstadt game back in January 2024. It was also his hundredth appearance for Union. 

He tackled Cedric Zesiger later as if he wasn’t there at all, just moments after the Augsburg player had reached a high ball near the penalty spot, unable to get over it enough to trouble Schwolow. Union’s keeper did have to intervene a minute later, however, when Wolf whipped a low cross-shot in towards him from the right. 

Calude-Maurice, who scored against Union the last time the sides met, flashed another shot over from the edge of the box with ten minutes played. Baumgart reacted quickly to their renewed dominance, bringing Lucas Tousart, Andrej Ilić and Christopher Trimmel on for Schäfer, Preu and Juranović with barely ten minutes played of the half.

Trimmel made his presence felt immediately, first finding Khedira with a simple little ball inside, that set up a move involving Skarke and Ilić, before wafting a cross in from the right wing that Jakić was all too happy to get in the way of. 

With the sun now out, casting half of the stadium into shade, and the other basking in golden light, the game continued its slightly ponderous course until suddenly Baumgart’s plan came together. It would explode into life.

Querfeld, stepping up to the halfway line, set Hollerbach free with a perfect ball, placed right into his stride. Union’s striker took on his man, cutting inside, and drew a fine stop from Finn Dahmen, but he could only palm it as far as Iliić who wouldn’t need a second chance. He finished superbly, and it was an illustration of all that he had brought to Union since Christmas. 

His instincts, as well as his movement, are superb, as is his hold up play, as illustrated when he brought down the next ball from Trimmel with his back to goal, halfway into the Augsburg half, just a few minutes later.

Union now showed renewed confidence, but they still had to be watchful, and Rothe did well, learning his role on the job, when he got in front of Tietz, tackling him cleanly from behind. Schwolow slapped him on the back, before having to react smartly, when he blocked Gouweleeuw’s near post shot, at point blank range.  

Skarke left the stage shortly after that, replaced by Marin Ljubičić with just over ten minutes still on the clock. Doekhi, watchful as ever, stood up strong when Elvis Rexhbecaj drove his shot his way, before Ilić followed up Khedira’s pirouette in the middle, again taking the ball facing the Augsburg goal, but overhitting his ball into the channel  on the turn, to his own great disappointment.

Union weren’t going to settle for the point. Hollerbach again bustled down the left, but his cross was just behind Ljubičić. Then when Tousart tackled, and then beat Jakić; the Augsburg player almost had his shirt off from behind as he dragged him back. 

Baumgart made a final change – László Bénes on for Hollerbach – with four minutes of  time added on, but it would be the pairing of Khedira and Ilić who would provide the unimpeachable drama of the winner. The former found space on the left-hand side, the game already almost done, before crossing into the middle.

He just knew that the Serbian would be there waiting. Ilić finished violently, thrashing the ball home with almost the final kick of the game. Dahmen didn’t stand a chance. After the final whistle the players danced in front of the delirious away support.

It was almost as if by design, almost as if scripted. They’ll remember this one for a long time, too. For the ending? The ending was just perfect. 

‘We are very happy that we were able to score the winning goal just before the end and reward our fans. We had a season with some ups and downs, with really good phases but also some really bad ones. Of course, we want to work on being more consistent next season, but that's football. At the end of the day, we have 40 points and that feels good." 

‘It wasn't an easy game today. In the first half, we struggled to create dangerous attacking opportunities. In the end, we gave it everything we had and managed to turn the game around. It's all the more satisfying for everyone that we ended the season with a win and were able to celebrate once again in front of our amazing fans, who have supported us unconditionally throughout the entire season.’ 

"First of all, we're happy that the game went our way in the end. We turned the game around again, the lads kept at it, and that's what sets us apart. But when we look at the 90 minutes as a whole, we know what we need to work on over the summer."