Teams like RB Leipzig, VfB Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund, Freiburg, Eintracht Frankfurt, Augsburg and Hoffenheim are all in the mix to qualify for European football next season. - © DFL
Teams like RB Leipzig, VfB Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund, Freiburg, Eintracht Frankfurt, Augsburg and Hoffenheim are all in the mix to qualify for European football next season. - © DFL
bundesliga

The 2023/24 race for European qualification in the Bundesliga

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League winners Leverkusen have secured their 2024/25 Champions League spot along with Bayern, but who else is in the mix to represent the Bundesliga in Europe next season?

Find out how many Bundesliga teams can qualify for Europe!

UEFA Champions League

Currently, the Bundesliga's top four go directly into the draw for the Champions League group stage. However, the team that finishes fifth could also make the grade for next term's expanded competition, depending on Germany's UEFA coefficient ranking at the end of 2023/24.

1st: Bayer Leverkusen (P31, 81pts, GD +55)
2nd: Bayern Munich (P31, 69pts, GD +51)
3rd: VfB Stuttgart (P31, 64pts, GD +32)
4th: RB Leipzig (P31, 62pts, GD +38)
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5th: Borussia Dortmund (P31, 57pts, GD +20)

Now champions, Leverkusen had already officially sealed a top-four spot and place in next season's Champions League with their 2-1 win against Hoffenheim on Matchday 27. Bayern are also guaranteed a place in the continent's premier club competition after their win over Eintracht Frankfurt, while Stuttgart conceded a last-minute goal against Bayer Leverkusen to draw 2-2 and missed out on closing the gap. 

Watch: The Champions League race

UEFA Europa League/ UEFA Europa Conference League

Germany is on course to be among the two countries with the best collective performance by their clubs in this season's European competitions, meaning the Bundesliga's fifth-in-the-table team is likely to qualify for the Champions League too. Should that ultimately not be the case, fifth will go into the Europa League group stage along with the winner of the DFB Cup.

Sixth will go into the Europa Conference League play-off, unless the DFB Cup winner has already finished in the top six in the Bundesliga - a result possible if Leverkusen go on to lift the trophy against second division Kaiserslautern. In that case, sixth would join fifth in the Europa League groups, with seventh going into the Conference League play-off.

Dortmund secured a Europa League spot at the very least despite losing to RB Leipzig in a top-four battle on Matchday 31 thanks to Frankfurt's Bayern loss.

5th: Borussia Dortmund (P31, 57pts, GD +20)
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6th: Eintracht Frankfurt (P31, 45pts, GD +5)
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7th: Freiburg (P31, 40pts, GD -10)
8th:
Augsburg (P31, 39pts, GD -4)
9th: Hoffenheim (P31, 39pts, GD -8)
10th: Heidenheim (P31, 37pts, GD -8)
11th: Werder Bremen (P31, 37pts, GD -9)

Frankfurt - Europa League winners in 2021/22 - complete the current top six, ahead of Freiburg, Augsburg, Hoffenheim, and Heidenheim. Surprisingly, fifth down to ninth all lost on Matchday 31, making Nikola Dovedan's late winner for Heidenheim one of huge importance. The Bundesliga newbies remain in the hunt for sixth, as do Werder Bremen who downed Augsburg 3-0. Those who fail to make ground on sixth will have to wait until after the league season is concluded to see the result of the DFB Cup final and also the final UEFA coefficients.

Watch: Heidenheim beat Bayern on Matchday 28 

Also in contention

The middle of the Bundesliga table has long been tightly packed and the following teams could still end up in Europe should the Bundesliga claim an extra Champions League spot and Conference League qualifying drop to seventh.

12th: Wolfsburg (P31, 34pts, GD -14)
13th: Borussia Mönchengladbach (P31, 32pts, GD -7)

Click here for the full Bundesliga standings!