Angry Stuttgart fans stormed the pitch after Saturday's 3-1 home defeat to Mainz left the club on the verge of a first relegation from the Bundesliga for 40 years.

Hundreds of fans, many of whom were masked, stormed the pitch at the Mercedes Benz Arena after the final whistle to angrily jostle their team's players, who were quickly escorted off the pitch by security staff.

The defeat left Stuttgart second from bottom in the table and unable to secure safety in the regular season.

They are two points from the relegation play-off spot, before they play Wolfsburg away next Saturday in their final game of the campaign.

The two clubs immediately above them play each other next Saturday, when Werder Bremen host Eintracht Frankfurt.

Stuttgart need Frankfurt to beat Bremen and to get a win at Wolfsburg to go into the relegation play-off.

If that does not happen then Stuttgart, who won the Bundesliga title in 2007, will find themselves relegated to the second division for the first time since the 1974/75 season.

"I can understand it," said Stuttgart defender Kevin Grosskreutz, who was fighting back tears after the fans' pitch invasion.

"We are responsible for the defeat. I'm speechless and I'm so sorry."

Coach Jurgen Kramny admitted it was a "very, very bitter" defeat after his side threw away an early lead given to them by Christian Gentner with only six minutes gone, as Mainz roared back with goals by Yunus Malli, Jhon Cordoba and Karim Onisiwo.

"It's not over yet, but it's very difficult," added Kramny.

"We need a miracle and we have to fight until the last minute.

"Giving up is not an option."

Fifth-placed Mainz are on course for the Europa League next season.

"That wasn't much of a performance from us," fumed Stuttgart's Australian goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak, who played his first Bundesliga game of the season after a knee operation to remove a cyst last August.