Race for the premier class
Freiburg-Aus hurts BVB and RB Leipzig
March 15, 2024, 10:10 a.m
Next season there will be more starting places in the Champions League. There is a great opportunity for the Bundesliga to have another participant, and BVB and RB Leipzig in particular are watching this closely. However, the exit of SC Freiburg is a setback.
SC Freiburg’s exit from the Europa League also means a bitter setback for the Bundesliga’s prospects of getting an additional starting place in the Champions League for the 2024/25 season. From next year there will be 36 instead of 32 participants in the premier class, two of the four new places will be awarded to the nations with the best performance in international competitions this season.
In the ranking of countries with the best UEFA annual club coefficient for the 2023/24 season, Germany (16,357 points) is still in second place, which would bring a fifth starting place in the Champions League. However, pursuers England (16,250) have moved very close as the toughest competitor and still have a total of five clubs in the European competitions. Italy is in the lead with a clear lead (17.741).
Only three of the seven clubs that started in the Bundesliga are still represented. In the Champions League, Borussia Dortmund (2-0 against PSV Eindhoven) prevailed in the second leg of the round of 16 on Wednesday, and FC Bayern (3-0 against Lazio Rome) also made it into the round of the top eight the previous week. Freiburg was eliminated from the Europa League on Thursday with a clear 5-0 defeat against West Ham United, while Bayer Leverkusen (3-2 against Karabakh Agdam) managed to advance with a show of strength.
Should Germany miss out on the additional Champions League place, it could be particularly painful for either Borussia Dortmund or RB Leipzig. Both clubs are competing in the Bundesliga for participation in the premier class. BVB is currently in the lead – Leipzig is behind in fifth place in the table. If this additional space is lost, it could be expensive for one of the clubs. Participation in the Champions League usually entails large sums in the millions.
With the additional place in the Champions League, the number of German European Cup starters would rise to a total of eight next season. A fifth Champions League participant would not be a novelty for Germany; this already happened in the 2022/23 season. At that time, Eintracht Frankfurt had secured an additional premier class ticket with the Europa League title.