Cologne retain their place in the Bundesliga for next season. They blew Bundesliga 2 side Kiel away, and run out deserved 5-1 winners - 5-2 on aggregate. Friedhelm Funkel is drenched in beer. The decision to bring him in on a short-term deal in place of Markus Gisdol paid off. The Billy Goats will party long into the night. As for Kiel, it's a second promotion play-off defeat in the space of three years.

Lee finds himself in an advanced position, on the edge of the Cologne area. He switches the ball to his left for Mees, who drifts a cross-shot wide of Horn's far post.

Mikkel Kirkeskov replaces Marco Momenda in the Kiel defence, while Max Meyer is on for potentially his final appearance as a Cologne player. The Crystal Palace loanee takes the place of Ondrej Duda.

Jorge Mere's on for Cologne defender Sebastiaan Bornauw, who was on a booking. Ismail Jakobs also joins the fray in place of left-back Jannes Horn. Kiel's Werner throws on an extra midfielder in Joshua Mees for left-back Simon Lorenz, while Benjamin Girth replaces Finn Porath in attack.

We had The Hives and Black Eyed Peas blaring out around the Holstein-Stadion at the break. Is it enough to rouse the Kiel troops, with a place in the Bundesliga on the line...?

An unbelievable first half draws to a close in Kiel. Cologne raced into a 3-1 lead, before adding a fourth to make it 4-2 on aggregate and leave hosts Kiel needing three unanswered second-half goals to reach the Bundesliga.

After four goals in the opening 13 minutes, we've gone 11 without one. The tempo has slowed, but this is still anyone's game.

There are roughly 2,350 Kiel fans in attendance today. They're making a right racket, living and breathing every kick. It feels good to hear the stadium drum beat again! Can the fabled 12th man spark a Kiel fight-back?

Cologne are steering a course for top-flight survival as things stand. Kiel need to score twice without reply, if they're to go up at Cologne's expense...

Cologne's two away goals mean the contest will be decided inside 90 minutes. A second-leg draw will suffice for Kiel, but the Billy Goats have to win, remember...

Warm applause greets a run and shot from Mühling, who fires comfortably wide from 20 yards. He had players around him, but didn't show any interest in releasing the ball.

What a start in Kiel! Jonas Hector sends a superb header into the far corner from Duda's cross to level the tie. Kiel go up the other end as Porath tests Horn, before Lee heads in the follow-up. Kiel lead 2-1 on aggregate!

Kiel were on course for automatic promotion, before back-to-back defeats to end the campaign bumped them down to third in Bundesliga 2. Cologne, meanwhile, ground out a final-day win over relegated Schalke to climb out of the bottom two and into the play-off spot, at the expense of Werder Bremen.

Champions of Germany in 1912, Kiel are yet to play in the Bundesliga, but featured in the 2017/18 play-off, when they lost 4-1 on aggregate to Wolfsburg. They are bidding to become the 57th different team of the Bundesliga era.

Kiel are the first Bundesliga 2 side to win a relegation play-off match in nine years, ending a winless run of 17 games for the lower-tier outfits. However, since the play-off was re-introduced to the Bundesliga in 2008/09, only three Bundesliga 2 sides have earned promotion, with the top-flight side prevailing on nine occasions.

The big news in the Kiel camp is the absence star striker Janni Serra. He's suffering with a muscular complaints, so the onus shifts to hometown boy Fabian Reese. First-choice central midfield pairing Jonas Meffert and Alexander Mühling return following suspension, but left-back Johannes van den Bergh misses out after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last time out. Super sub Simon Lorenz is his replacement.

Leading marksman Ondrej Duda was deployed as a false nine last time out, but reverts to his preferred attacking midfield role to accommodate out-and-out striker Sebastian Andersson. Kingsley Ehizibue and Jannes Horn are recalled in the full-back positions, while Florian Kainz comes into the midfield.

Gelios - Neumann, Wahl (c), Komenda, Lorenz - Meffert, Mühling - Bartels, Lee, Porath - Reese

Dähne, Reimann, Kirkesov, Dehm, Ignjovski, Mees, Sterner, Awuku, Girth

T. Horn - Ehizibue, Bornauw, Czichos, J. Horn - Skhiri, Hector (c) - Wolf, Duda, Kainz - Andersson

Zieler, Schmitz, Jakobs, Mere, Höger, Meyer Özcan, Drexler, Thielmann

It's win or bust for Bundesliga club Cologne in Kiel. After losing the home leg of the promotion/ relegation play-off 1-0, the Billy Goats have to win to have any chance of preserving their top-flight status. Anything else, and Kiel will be promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time in their history. Hold on tight, folks!