It's like "The Great Escape," but with a much happier ending, unless you're a Vfl Bochum supporter.

Borussia Mönchengladbach clung on to their spot in Germany's Bundesliga, courtesy of the narrowest of two-leg victories over second division Bochum in the relegation playoff.

After a controversial 1-0 win in the first leg - with the decisive goal coming very late in the day – Gladbach drew 1-1 in Bochum on Wednesday night. This game was worth a place in Germany's top flight, and almost certainly 10 million euros ($14.1 million) or more in subsequent revenue, causing understandable tension on the pitch and off it.

"I think we have earned the cheers from our fans," Bochum coach Friedhelm Funkel - who was most displeased with the refereeing in the first leg - said after the match. "Over the two games, we were an equal opponent. I believe that at the end of the day the rather more fortunate side has remained in the Bundesliga. I don't mean that negatively, but we were neck and neck, either side could have won."

The tight score-line and the late goal speak in Funkel's favor, but the run of play over two legs, and the quality of football displayed, arguably spoke for Borussia Mönchengladbach. The decisive goal, scored by midfield hero Marco Reus on 72 minutes, demonstrated a gulf in class - if not desire and work-ethic - between the two sides.

The Bundesliga side strung over half a dozen first-time passes together down the right flank, building to a crescendo as Reus and Igor de Camargo played a lethal give-and-go that put the young German national player clean through. Reus slotted the ball calmly into the bottom corner with his weaker left foot. By contrast, Bochum's only goal in either fixture came after Gladbach's unfortunate Havard Nordtveit diverted a cross into his own net.

The Great Escape

"It was important to have players who were ready to work and who quickly understood exactly what I wanted," coach Lucien Favre said about Gladbach's footballing impersonation of Harry Houdini over the past three months. "We did lots of tactical exercises, always with the ball - and some fitness training too."

In their last 12 league matches, under Favre, Gladbach racked up 20 points, having scored just 16 points in their first 22 games of the season. Known for their porous defense earlier in the year, the team has not conceded more than one goal in any match since facing Wolfsburg late in February.

Asked about the coach's role, teenage goalkeeping prodigy Marc-Andre ter Stegen said in a post-match interview: "He came, he saw, he conquered."

Midfielder Marco Reus' antics, which earned the respect of German coach Joachim Löw, also played a major role throughout the Gladbach resurgence. The injury-plagued youngster looked certain to miss the decisive match against Bochum, but was declared fit at the eleventh hour, and scored with virtually his last touch of the game. Shortly before scoring, he even asked his coach to let him play on, rather than taking him off the pitch.

18 teams, one title

This match, the last to impact the German top flight this season, clarifies that Gladbach will be the eighteenth and final side competing for the Bundesliga trophy next year. Going on their overall performance, another tough scrap's in store, but if Favre can keep his Honeymoon period rolling for a full season, the side would sit comfortably in mid-table.

Favre's old team, Hertha Berlin, rejoin the top flight - with a squad and fan-base that should easily secure their survival. Hertha are bouncing back from shock relegation last season - the beginning of that slide cost Favre his job months after he had taken the club to Europe - unlike fellow new-boys Augsburg, who have reached the Bundesliga for the first time in their history. The Bavarian club has healthy finances and a seasoned squad, but must still be considered candidates for the drop-zone.

After an utterly unpredictable Bundesliga season, the 2011/12 vintage is already awash with story lines. To simplify, let's categorize the other 15 Bundesliga sides into two broad categories: those (there are far more than one might usually expect) seeking redemption after a disappointing season, and those hoping to build on surprise successes and again confound some of the league's traditional giants.

Redemption-seekers and nervous high-flyers

Top of the redemption-seeking list is a quartet of clubs that filled spots 12 through 15 in the standings. Stuttgart, Werder Bremen, Schalke and Wolfsburg simply have no business languishing in the bottom half of the table, and their fans won't tolerate a repeat performance. For most clubs, third in the table is a solid showing, for Bayern Munich it's reprehensible; new coach Jupp Heynckes will have to deliver silverware if he's to avoid Louis van Gaal's fate this year. For the second straight season after an explosive debut, Hoffenheim slid to mid-table mediocrity, while Hamburg half-heartedly flirted with European qualification without ever buying the girl a drink; both sides will want more next year.

Champions Borussia Dortmund must first try to keep their young squad largely intact - holding playmaker Nuri Sahin is already Madrid-bound to join Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira at Real - and then worry about the Bayern Munich hornet's nest they wantonly kicked around all season long. Bayer Leverkusen, chasing that ever-elusive title, will need a strong season to secure another second-place finish. Then there's the Bundesliga's two surprise European entrants, Hanover and Mainz - both of whom can hardly be considered likely to repeat their form this season. The final trio that may have flown too high this year are Nuremberg, Kaiserslautern and Freiburg; they all finished in the top ten though many thought they'd be fighting for their lives in the drop-zone.

As is so often the case, the one side that's impossible to categorize is Cologne. Does their 10th-placed finish after a late charge constitute a successful season, or was it proof that they were underperforming for much of the year? Place your bets now.

Author: Mark Hallam
Editor: Andy Valvur