Bundesliga: Champions League, Europa League & relegation battle explained

The final round of fixtures is around the corner but a lot depend on those nine games.

Bayern Munich may have wrapped up an eighth successive Bundesliga title with two games to spare, but the race for UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League qualification, as well as the battle to avoid relegation, are all going down to the final day of the 2019-20 campaign.

Bundesliga.com breaks down different scenarios as the last matchday will kick-off in the afternoon on Saturday.

UEFA Champions League

The stakes: Top four go directly into group stage

Teams in caps already assured of final placing.

1. BAYERN MUNICH (79 points, +64 goal difference)2. BORUSSIA DORTMUND (69, +47)3. RB Leipzig (63, +43)4. Borussia Mönchengladbach (62, +25)---------------------------------------------------5. Bayer Leverkusen (60, +16)

• Champions Bayern have had their place in the 2020/21 Champions League group stage wrapped up for a number of weeks now.
• Borussia Dortmund clinched runners-up spot with a 2-0 victory at third-placed RB Leipzig on the penultimate weekend.
• Julian Nagelsmann’s side can be caught on points by fifth-placed Bayer Leverkusen, but their vastly superior goal difference means it would take a rather unthinkable 27-goal swing on the final day when Leipzig head to Augsburg and Die Werkself host Mainz.
• Die Roten Bullen will finish third if they equal Borussia Mönchengladbach’s result at home to Hertha Berlin. Goal difference means the Foals will need to win to have a chance of leapfrogging the Bulls.
• Victory would also guarantee Gladbach’s return to the Champions League for the first time since 2016/17. A draw against Hertha, who beat Leverkusen 2-0 on Matchday 33, will likely also be enough, considering Bayer would need to beat Mainz by at least nine clear goals.
• Leverkusen's record Bundesliga win to date is by eight against Ulm in 2000 (9-1). That being said, they did leapfrog Gladbach on the final day last season to finish fourth.

UEFA Europa League

The stakes: 5th and 6th go into the group stage, 7th goes into the second qualifying round

4. Borussia Mönchengladbach (62, +25)---------------------------------------------------5. Bayer Leverkusen (60, +16)6. Wolfsburg (49, +6)7. Hoffenheim (49, -4)

• The fact Bayern and Leverkusen have reached the DFB Cup final and are already guaranteed their places in Europe next season means sixth place in the Bundesliga table is allocated the Cup winner’s Europa League group stage berth. Seventh place now earns a spot in the Europa League second qualifying round.
• Leverkusen need to beat Mainz and — in all probability — hope Gladbach lose at home to Hertha to sneak into the top four at the Foals' expense. Whoever comes up short between the two will take a place in the UEFA Europa League group stage, but who will join them?
• Matchday 33 wins for Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim, combined with Freiburg’s loss in Munich, means it’s a two-horse race on the final day to avoid the need to go through the qualifying rounds.
• The Wolves hold the advantage by virtue of their superior goal difference and, with 10 goals in it, likely only need to match Hoffenheim’s result. Conversely, TSG need to better that of Wolfsburg.
• Both teams will be very pleased to have at least seventh place in the bag already considering their Matchday 34 fixtures, as Wolfsburg host Bayern, while Hoffenheim go to Dortmund. Could goal difference actually come into it if the top two decide to see out the campaign in style?

Teams with only final league positions to play for on Matchday 34

8. Freiburg (45, -3)9. Eintracht Frankfurt (42, -2)10. Hertha Berlin (41, -10)11. Schalke (39, -16)12. Union Berlin (38, -20)13. Mainz (37, -20)14. Cologne (36, -13)15. Augsburg (36, -17)

Relegation

The stakes: 16th place provides the potential safety net of a home & away play-off with the team that comes third in Bundesliga 2, 17th place means automatic relegation. Paderborn are already relegated.

16. Fortuna Düsseldorf (30, -28)---------------------------------------------------17. Werder Bremen (28, -32)18. PADERBORN (20, -36)

• Paderborn's immediate return to Bundesliga 2 was confirmed with two games to spare, meaning it's two into one for the last automatic relegation spot on the final weekend after Union Berlin, Mainz, Cologne and Augsburg did enough to keep out of trouble.
• Bremen have played in more Bundesliga seasons than any other club, but they must win at home to Cologne to even have a chance of making it into the play-off against the team that finishes third in Bundesliga 2 – that could produce a mouth-watering derby with arch-rivals Hamburg.
• Victory over the Billy Goats will be enough if Düsseldorf lose away at Union Berlin.
• If Fortuna draw in the capital, Werder will need to beat Cologne by four clear goals.
• A Düsseldorf win would mean they go into the play-off, and Bremen would be relegated regardless of the result at the Weserstadion.

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