Borussia Dortmund and Eintr Frankfurt punched their tickets to the Champions League on the decisive last day of the Bundesliga season, while Freiburg settled for a Europa League berth. On the exciting Saturday of May 17, 2025, the German league came to an end amid a flurry of exciting action.
Dortmund crushed already-relegated Holstein Kiel with a resounding 3-0 victory, dazzling their way to fourth place and the coveted final Champions League spot. Unfortunately, Kiel was reduced to ten men in the opening ten minutes of the match, which changed the course of the match. This triumph completes Dortmund’s genuinely remarkable comeback under coach Niko Kovač. Dortmund was down in 11th place back in February, but under Kovač’s leadership, they surged to five straight victories to finish the season strong.
In the meantime, a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Freiburg at Europa-Park Stadium kept Eintracht Frankfurt in third position. Their hopes of overtaking Frankfurt for a position in Europe’s top club competition were dashed when Freiburg lost and fell to fifth place, an agonizingly close two points behind Dortmund. The night simply wasn’t Freiburg’s, and they needed a win to overtake Frankfurt.
In other matches, Mainz ended the season in sixth position and secured a spot in the Conference League with a 2-2 tie with Bayer Leverkusen. Leipzig, on the other hand, was devastated and would not be able to play in Europe after losing to Stuttgart 3-2 at home and finishing only a hair below Mainz.
