| Season | 2017–18 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 28 July 2017 – 13 May 2018 |
| Champions | Fortuna Düsseldorf |
| Promoted | Fortuna Düsseldorf 1. FC Nürnberg |
| Relegated | Eintracht Braunschweig 1. FC Kaiserslautern |
| Matches | 306 |
| Goals | 843 (2.75 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Marvin Ducksch (18 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Union Berlin 5–0 Kaiserslautern Arminia Bielefeld 5–0 FC St. Pauli Holstein Kiel 5–0 MSV Duisburg [1] |
| Biggest away win | MSV Duisburg 1–6 1. FC Nürnberg [1] |
| Highest scoring | 1. FC Heidenheim 3–5 Holstein Kiel Holstein Kiel 6–2 Eintracht Braunschweig [1] |
| Longest winning run | 5 games [1] Fortuna Düsseldorf |
| Longest unbeaten run | 11 games [1] 1. FC Nürnberg Darmstadt 98 |
| Longest winless run | 12 games [1] Darmstadt 98 |
| Longest losing run | 4 games [1] VfL Bochum Darmstadt 98 MSV Duisburg Greuther Fürth 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. FC Heidenheim |
| Highest attendance | 50,000 [1] Fortuna Düsseldorf v Holstein Kiel |
| Lowest attendance | 4,354 [1] SV Sandhausen v Arminia Bielefeld |
| Attendance | 5,383,923 (17,595 per match) |
← 2016–17 2018–19 → | |
The 2017–18 2. Bundesliga was the 44th season of the 2. Bundesliga, the second highest German football league. It began on 28 July 2017 and concluded on 13 May 2018 [2] [3] with the match between VfL Bochum and FC St. Pauli (0:1) and ended with the 34th match day on 13 May 2018. From 19 December 2017 to 23 January 2018, the season was interrupted by a winter break. [4]
The fixtures were announced on 29 June 2017. [5]
Fortuna Düsseldorf secured the direct promotion to the Bundesliga after 32 days of play, [6] [7] 1. FC Nürnberg secured promotion one match day later; 1. FC Nürnberg set a new record with its eighth Bundesliga promotion. The championship was decided on the last match day in a direct duel between the two upstarts, which Fortuna Düsseldorf won. Holstein Kiel was able to reach the autumn championship as a starter and placed third one match day before the end, but lost in the relegation games to VfL Wolfsburg. In the relegation battle, after 32 days of play, the first decision was made relatively late with the relegation of 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Until the end, six clubs were at risk of relegation, in the end Eintracht Braunschweig, who was still a participant in the promotion delegation last year, had to be relegated to the 3rd division. FC Erzgebirge Aue had to go into the relegation playoff against Karlsruher SC and were able to secure their stay in the 2. Bundesliga. [8]
| Promoted from 2016–17 3. Liga | Relegated from 2016–17 Bundesliga | Promoted to 2017–18 Bundesliga | Relegated to 2017–18 3. Liga | Relegated to Regionalliga Bayern |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSV Duisburg Holstein Kiel Jahn Regensburg | FC Ingolstadt Darmstadt 98 | VfB Stuttgart Hannover 96 | Würzburger Kickers Karlsruher SC | 1860 Munich |
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erzgebirge Aue | Aue | Erzgebirgsstadion | 15,711 |
| Arminia Bielefeld | Bielefeld | Schüco-Arena | 27,300 |
| VfL Bochum | Bochum | Vonovia-Ruhrstadion | 29,299 |
| Eintracht Braunschweig | Braunschweig | Eintracht-Stadion | 23,325 |
| Darmstadt 98 | Darmstadt | Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor | 17,000 |
| Dynamo Dresden | Dresden | DDV-Stadion | 32,066 |
| MSV Duisburg | Duisburg | MSV-Arena | 31,500 |
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | Düsseldorf | Esprit Arena | 54,600 |
| SpVgg Greuther Fürth | Fürth | Sportpark Ronhof | 18,500 |
| 1. FC Heidenheim | Heidenheim | Voith-Arena | 15,000 |
| FC Ingolstadt | Ingolstadt | Audi Sportpark | 15,000 |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | Kaiserslautern | Fritz-Walter-Stadion | 49,780 |
| Holstein Kiel | Kiel | Holstein-Stadion | 11,386 |
| 1. FC Nürnberg | Nuremberg | Max-Morlock-Stadion | 50,000 |
| Jahn Regensburg | Regensburg | Continental Arena | 15,224 |
| SV Sandhausen | Sandhausen | BWT-Stadion am Hardtwald | 12,100 |
| FC St. Pauli | Hamburg | Millerntor-Stadion | 29,546 |
| Union Berlin | Berlin | Alte Försterei | 22,012 |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC St. Pauli | | Moved to technical director | 30 June 2017 | Preseason | | 1 July 2017 |
| Jahn Regensburg | | Signed by Bayer Leverkusen | | |||
| Erzgebirge Aue | | Signed by Schalke 04 | | |||
| VfL Bochum | | Sacked | 11 July 2017 | | 11 July 2017 | |
| Erzgebirge Aue | | 14 August 2017 | 18th | | 14 August 2017 | |
| FC Ingolstadt | | 22 August 2017 | | 22 August 2017 | ||
| SpVgg Greuther Fürth | | 28 August 2017 | | 28 August 2017 | ||
| | End of caretaker | 9 September 2017 | | 9 September 2017 | ||
| Erzgebirge Aue | | 8 September 2017 | 10th | | 8 September 2017 | |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | | Sacked | 20 September 2017 | 18th | | 20 September 2017 |
| | End of caretaker | 27 September 2017 | | 27 September 2017 | ||
| VfL Bochum | | Sacked | 9 October 2017 | 13th | | 9 October 2017 |
| Union Berlin | | 4 December 2017 | 4th | | 4 December 2017 | |
| FC St. Pauli | | 7 December 2017 | 14th | | 7 December 2017 | |
| Darmstadt 98 | | 9 December 2017 | 16th | | 11 December 2017 | |
| 1. FC Kaiserslautern | | Resigned | 1 February 2018 | 18th | | 1 February 2018 |
| VfL Bochum | | Sacked | 7 February 2018 | 14th | | 7 February 2018 |
| | End of caretaker | 11 February 2018 | | 11 February 2018 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fortuna Düsseldorf (C, P) | 34 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 57 | 44 | +13 | 63 | Promotion to Bundesliga |
| 2 | 1. FC Nürnberg (P) | 34 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 61 | 39 | +22 | 60 | |
| 3 | Holstein Kiel | 34 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 71 | 44 | +27 | 56 | Qualification for promotion play-offs |
| 4 | Arminia Bielefeld | 34 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 51 | 47 | +4 | 48 | |
| 5 | Jahn Regensburg | 34 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 53 | 53 | 0 | 48 | |
| 6 | VfL Bochum | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 37 | 40 | −3 | 48 | |
| 7 | MSV Duisburg | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 52 | 56 | −4 | 48 | |
| 8 | Union Berlin | 34 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 54 | 46 | +8 | 47 | |
| 9 | FC Ingolstadt | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 47 | 45 | +2 | 45 | |
| 10 | Darmstadt 98 | 34 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 47 | 45 | +2 | 43 | |
| 11 | SV Sandhausen | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 35 | 33 | +2 | 43 | |
| 12 | FC St. Pauli | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 35 | 48 | −13 | 43 | |
| 13 | 1. FC Heidenheim | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 50 | 56 | −6 | 42 | |
| 14 | Dynamo Dresden | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 42 | 52 | −10 | 41 | |
| 15 | Greuther Fürth | 34 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 37 | 48 | −11 | 40 | |
| 16 | Erzgebirge Aue (O) | 34 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 35 | 49 | −14 | 40 | Qualification for relegation play-offs |
| 17 | Eintracht Braunschweig (R) | 34 | 8 | 15 | 11 | 37 | 43 | −6 | 39 | Relegation to 3. Liga |
| 18 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern (R) | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 42 | 55 | −13 | 35 |
All times are UTC+2 .
| VfL Wolfsburg | 3–1 | Holstein Kiel |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Schindler |
| Holstein Kiel | 0–1 | VfL Wolfsburg |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Knoche |
VfL Wolfsburg won 4–1 on aggregate and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.
All times are UTC+2 .
| Erzgebirge Aue | 3–1 | Karlsruher SC |
|---|---|---|
| Bertram | Report | Schleusener |
Erzgebirge Aue won 3–1 on aggregate and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets [38] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | SV Sandhausen | 12 |
| 2 | | Arminia Bielefeld | 11 |
| 3 | | FC St. Pauli | 10 |
| | FC Ingolstadt | ||
| 5 | | Eintracht Braunschweig | 9 |
| | MSV Duisburg | ||
| 7 | | Darmstadt 98 | 8 |
| | Holstein Kiel | ||
| 9 | Seven players | 7 | |
| Position | State | Number of teams | Teams |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | FC Ingolstadt, Greuther Fürth, 1. FC Nürnberg and Jahn Regensburg | |
| 4 | Arminia Bielefeld, VfL Bochum, Fortuna Düsseldorf and MSV Duisburg | ||
| 3 | 2 | 1. FC Heidenheim and SV Sandhausen | |
| 2 | Dynamo Dresden and Erzgebirge Aue | ||
| 5 | 1 | Union Berlin | |
| 1 | FC St. Pauli | ||
| 1 | Darmstadt 98 | ||
| 1 | Eintracht Braunschweig | ||
| 1 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | ||
| 1 | Holstein Kiel |