European qualification and relegation battle: Who needs what on Bundesliga Matchday 34?
Bayern Munich have already secured the 2025/26 Bundesliga title, but there's a three-way tussle for the final UEFA Champions League spot and the last European place. At the other end, Heidenheim, Wolfsburg and St. Pauli are all locked on points, with two set to be relegated on the final day of the season.
See all the Matchday 34 fixtures here
The title
Bayern Munich hold a 16-point lead over Borussia Dortmund, having successfully retained their Bundesliga crown on Matchday 30.
Watch: Bayern's title celebrations
UEFA Champions League
It has now been confirmed that only the top-four finishers in the Bundesliga will qualify for the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League.
Bayern booked their place on Matchday 28. Dortmund followed suit on Matchday 31 and the runners-up berth on the penultimate weekend. RB Leipzig will finish third and return to the Champions League as well.
That leaves VfB Stuttgart (61 points, +22 goal difference), Hoffenheim (61, +17) and Bayer Leverkusen (58, +21) to battle it out for the final Champions League berth.
Watch: Stuttgart took pole position with victory over Leverkusen
Relevant Matchday 34 fixtures (all 3.30pm CEST on Saturday):
- Eintracht Frankfurt vs. VfB Stuttgart
- Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Hoffenheim
- Bayer Leverkusen vs. Hamburg
Stuttgart will take fourth place if:
- They win and Hoffenheim fail to win by six goals more than their own victory margin
- They draw and Hoffenheim fail to win
- They lose by no more than five goals more than a Hoffenheim margin of defeat and Leverkusen fail to win
Hoffenheim will take fourth place if:
- They better Stuttgart's result
- They and Stuttgart both win, but Hoffenheim do so by making up six goals on Stuttgart (five could also be enough depending on the amount of goals scored)
- They both lose, but Stuttgart's defeat is six goals heavier to overturn the goal difference, and Leverkusen fail to win
Leverkusen will take fourth place if:
- They win and both Stuttgart and Hoffenheim lose
How could a fifth German team still get into the Champions League?
UEFA Europa League
Following Stuttgart's progress to the DFB Cup final to face Bayern, fifth and now sixth place in the 2025/26 Bundesliga will play in the Europa League next season. That is because both finalists are already assured of a top-six finish, and the berth for the cup winner is therefore redistributed to the league.
The two teams out of Stuttgart, Hoffenheim and Leverkusen who fail to take fourth place will enter the Europa League's league phase for next season.
Watch: Hoffenheim beat Bremen to stay in the top-four chase
UEFA Conference League
After Stuttgart progressed to the cup final, seventh place in the 2025/26 Bundesliga will now earn a Conference League play-off spot next season.
Freiburg (44 pts, -9 GD), Eintracht Frankfurt (43, -4) and Augsburg (43, -12) are the three teams in the running.
Relevant Matchday 34 fixtures (all 3.30pm CEST on Saturday):
Freiburg will take seventh place if:
- They equal or better both Frankfurt and Augsburg's results
- They lose by a two-goal margin, Frankfurt lose and Augsburg draw
- They lose by a three-goal margin, Frankfurt lose and Augsburg draw and score only one goal more than Freiburg
Frankfurt will take seventh place if:
- They win and Freiburg fail to win
- They draw, Freiburg lose and Augsburg fail to win
Augsburg will take seventh place if:
- They win and both Freiburg and Frankfurt fail to win
- They draw, Frankfurt lose and Freiburg lose by four goals or more
- They draw, Frankfurt lose and Freiburg lose by a three-goal margin but Augsburg score two goals more than Freiburg (in the event of the same points and goal difference, it comes down to head-to-head, which would put Augsburg ahead)
Also note that the outcome of Freiburg's Europa League final against Aston Villa on 20 May - after Matchday 34 - could also impact qualification.
If they lose in Istanbul, nothing changes to the allocation for league positions.
But if Freiburg win the Europa League, then they will qualify for the Champions League. If they finish seventh, then there will be no Bundesliga team in the Conference League. If they finish lower, there is again no change to allocation for league positions.
Learn more about how qualification works and how many teams can play in Europe
Safety
Mainz (10th, 37 pts), Hamburg (11th, 37 pts), Union Berlin (12th, 36 pts), Borussia Mönchengladbach (13th, 35 pts), Cologne (14th, 32 pts) and Werder Bremen (15th, 32 pts) have all secured their Bundesliga status and will compete for final positions on the last day.
Relegation
For the first time in 63 seasons of the Bundesliga, the bottom three teams - Wolfsburg (16th, 26 pts, -26 goal difference), Heidenheim (17th, 26 pts, -29 GD) and St. Pauli (18th, 26 pts, -29 GD) - are all level on points. Even more remarkably, St. Pauli host Wolfsburg on the final day in the ultimate relegation decider.
None of the three can ensure automatic survival. It is a matter of who can snatch 16th place and a chance at staying up via the play-off.
Relevant Matchday 34 fixtures (all 3.30pm CEST on Saturday):
Wolfsburg will be into the play-off if:
- They better Heidenheim's result
- They and Heidenheim both win, but Heidenheim fail to make up the three-goal difference
- In the event both finish with the same goal difference and goals scored, Wolfsburg have the better head-to-head record
Heidenheim will be into the play-off if:
- They win and St. Pauli-Wolfsburg ends in a draw
- They win by a scoreline that is equal to or better than St. Pauli's margin of victory
- They win by scoring three goals more than Wolfsburg's margin of victory
St. Pauli will be into the play-off if:
- They win and Heidenheim fail to win
- They win by a greater margin of victory than Heidenheim
Watch: The relegation battle will go down to the wire this season
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