Eintracht Braunschweig have been relegated from the Bundesliga following a 3-1 defeat at Hoffenheim.

Eintracht Braunschweig have been relegated from the Bundesliga following a 3-1 defeat at Hoffenheim on the final day of the season. The Lions return to the 2.Bundesliga after one season in the top-flight, finishing the campaign bottom of the table having suffered defeat in their last five league fixtures. Goals from Sebastian Rudy, Roberto Firmino and Kevin Volland, who has received a call-up to Germany's World Cup squad, finished the season on a high for Hoffenheim who end the campaign comfortably in ninth place. Jan Hochscheidt grabbed a consolation for Eintracht Braunschweig with a minute left, just the 29th goal of the campaign for the league's lowest scorers. With goals flying in at Mainz and Schalke, who were facing relegation-battlers Nurnberg and Hamburg, Braunschweig's efforts to remain in the league had a surprisingly slow start. Hoffenheim took the lead after 15 minutes when Andreas Beck picked out the on-running Rudy who headed cleverly into the corner of the net. The one-way traffic from the third highest-scorers in the Bundesliga continued well after the break, despite events elsewhere. Liverpool target Firmino smashed home a brilliant volley from the edge of the box in the 64th minute to make it 2-0. And the stuffing was well and truly knocked out of Braunschweig when Volland converted from close range after poor goalkeeping in the lead-up. Brauncschweig's last moment in the Bundesliga came with one minute left when Hochscheidt steamed through to score a consolation. The result means Brauncschweig finished the season on 25 points from 34 games, two points adrift of the relegation play-off.