VfB Stuttgart has at least kept its small chance of staying directly in the Bundesliga.
The Swabians parted ways 1-1 (0-1) from VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday, which also made the last step to staying in the class.
Defender John Anthony Brooks put the visitors ahead in the 13th minute in front of 52,230 spectators.
Substitute Chris Führich made it 1-1 in the 89th minute, ensuring that VfB could still save the game directly and prevent relegation.
Since Hertha BSC also drew 1-1 at Arminia Bielefeld, VfB remain four points behind the Berliners and can still reach non-relegation place 15 in the remaining two games.
The advantage of the sixteenth place over Arminia in relegation rank 17 is two points.
Wolfsburg is finally saved with 38 points.
Not only VfB coach Pellegrino Matarazzo wanted to see a reaction from his team after the disappointing 0:2 at Hertha last weekend - the fans too.
"Actions, not empty words - Show battle and commitment!" read a large banner that hung in the curve during the warm-up of the players.
The return of Atakan Karazor in midfield and Omar Marmoush in attack, who was loaned out from Wolfsburg, were encouraging for Stuttgart.
And their efforts could not be denied to the hosts this time either.
But as in Berlin, they suffered an early setback.
After a corner by Maximilian Arnold from the right, Brooks headed in to give Wolfsburg the lead.
VfB did not remain without a goal in their 20th Bundesliga home game in a row.
A big problem for Stuttgart is also their offensive.
No matter how they tried, the hosts didn't create any danger for 40 minutes - apart from a shot by Erik Thommy (20th).
In the final stages of the first half, they increased the pressure.
The VfL defense around Brooks and Maxence Lacroix, who had returned to the starting XI for Sebastian Bornauw (back problems), came under real pressure, but even then rarely.
This is how Wolfsburg managed their narrow lead into the break.
In the second half, too, the guests, who had suffered heavy defeats (0:3 in Augsburg and 1:6 in Dortmund) in the past few weeks with clear victories (4:0 against Bielefeld and 5:0 against Mainz), did not do anything much more than they had to.
VfB ran up and fought for the equaliser, but continued to lack penetrating power in the last third.
Center forward Sasa Kalajdzic was not a factor, Joker Führich aimed too imprecisely with a shot like his colleagues (70th).
He did better just before the end, equalizing from a cross from Enzo Millot, who was also a substitute, and thus restored hope of direct rescue.