Sixth starting position is possible
Only BVB can get Augsburg into the Champions League
April 17, 2024, 12:13 p.m
Borussia Dortmund is in the semi-finals of the Champions League – and could trigger big dreams for FC Augsburg. The Bavarian Swabians are suddenly closer to the Champions League than ever before.
The Bundesliga can hope for a sixth Champions League starting place in the coming season. If semi-finalists Borussia Dortmund win the premier class, “only” finish fifth in the league and the Bundesliga receives a fifth starting place through the UEFA ranking, the sixth-place team would also qualify for the Champions League. UEFA confirmed this on Wednesday in response to a SID request.
Eintracht Frankfurt would currently benefit from this constellation – but teams like FC Augsburg or SC Freiburg, who are each three points behind the Hessians, could still dream of the premier class. Fifth place, which BVB currently holds, is no longer achievable for Freiburg and Augsburg, 17 points apart.
Bayer also has to help
A possible sixth starting place is directly related to BVB. If the Westphalians finish fourth or better in the league and win the pot, the qualifying place goes back to UEFA – and the national champion of the eleventh-placed association in the UEFA ranking would benefit. That would currently be Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine, which would bypass qualification.
At the end of the season, the top two nations in the rankings will receive an additional starting place for the coming season in the Champions League, which will be increased from 32 to 36 teams as a result of a comprehensive reform. Germany currently occupies second place in this ranking, ahead of England. Every win for a team earns two points for the ranking, a draw gets one point and another point for advancing to the next round.
Kaiserslautern has to go to Europe on its own
Bayer Leverkusen can score important points for the Bundesliga in their Europa League quarter-finals in a direct duel: The new German champions will play the second leg against Premier League club West Ham on Thursday (9 p.m./Live on RTL, RTL+ and in the live ticker on ntv.de). Then FC Augsburg will also take a closer look.
A possible Europa League victory by Bayer Leverkusen would have no impact on the European starting places for the Bundesliga: the German champions already have the ticket for the Champions League, which is a bonus for triumphing in the Europa League. The ticket for the Europa League victory is not transferable.
1. FC Kaiserslautern also has to confirm its participation in the European Cup on its own: the second division team will play in the cup final against champions Bayer Leverkusen on May 25th. In the past, this constellation would have certainly meant a place in the UEFA Cup for the outsider from the Palatinate, even if they had lost in the final. But now Kaiserslautern would have to win the title in order to be able to start in the Europa League.