Stuttgart, Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen to battle it out for UEFA Champions League qualification on final day
The day of reckoning is here for VfB Stuttgart, Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen. Only one can claim the remaining top-four spot and with it a place in next season’s instalment of the UEFA Champions League. The Swabians may have the advantage, but all three sides will be fighting tooth and nail over fourth place on a thrilling final day of the season.
In a league that so often delivers on its final day, the battle for the last Champions League place promises to continue that trend and provide all the drama as Germany’s top flight prepares to draw the curtain on the 2025/26 season.
After their 3-1 victory over Leverkusen last time out, Stuttgart begin the day in pole position, occupying fourth place on 61 points with a goal difference of +22. All that stands between the swashbuckling Swabians – who have registered the second-largest goal tally of 69 behind only champions Bayern Munich – and a return to the grandest stage in European football is one final performance away to Eintracht Frankfurt, which - needless to say - is easier said than done.
Watch: Stuttgart up to fourth after win over Leverkusen
Get all the Matchday 34 permutations here
In his post-match assessment of the game against Leverkusen, Sebastian Hoeneß elucidated his views on the upcoming clash at Deutsche Bank Park, saying: “Now, we have a final” - a sentiment also shared by his offensive talisman Deniz Undav, who added to his head coach’s rallying cry: “It’s now about leaving everything on the pitch for 90 minutes again in Frankfurt.”
Maintaining their focus heading into Saturday afternoon will be imperative for the Swabians, especially given that Hoffenheim will be breathing down their necks in fifth. Level on points with Stuttgart but with an inferior goal difference of +17, Christian Ilzer’s charges will have every reason to believe they can still leapfrog their regional neighbours and rivals on the final day.
After all, edging Werder Bremen 1-0 on the penultimate matchday of the campaign saw the Sinsheimers extend their unbeaten run to five games, leaving them the most in-form team of the three.
Watch: Hoffenheim stay in the race with narrow Bremen victory
Hoffenheim’s season will likewise conclude on the road, with Ilzer and Co. making the journey north to take on Borussia Mönchengladbach. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the Austrian coach views the battle at Borussia-Park much the same as Hoeneß does his trip to Germany's financial capital. At full-time against Bremen, Ilzer admitted: “We won our ‘semi-final’, and now the final awaits in Gladbach."
Striker Fisnik Asllani, who himself has enjoyed a stellar breakout campaign with 10 goals and seven assists contributed across 32 appearances shed light on the atmosphere inside the Hoffenheim dressing room, revealing it to be one of substantial belief when he declared after the win over Bremen: "The Champions League dream is still alive."
The Sinsheimers will also draw further confidence from the memory of their last meeting with the Foals back on Matchday 17, when an Andrej Kramarić hat-trick helped fire an on-song Hoffenheim to a 5-1 drubbing of Gladbach.
Watch: Kramarić's treble to thrash Gladbach in January
Another a free-scoring performance will be required of Hoffenheim, given that – if Stuttgart win – Ilzer’s men will need to make up at least six goals on the leading pack.
As such, Hoffenheim will no doubt be hoping for Eintracht to get a result, despite Asllani stressing: “We’ll be focusing on ourselves. If you keep watching what the others are doing, you often forget your own task. It will be a difficult away game in Gladbach. Then we’ll see what comes of it."
However, a team that definitely understands the mathematics of the situation better than most is sixth-placed Leverkusen. Die Werkself’s route likewise requires help from elsewhere, but the equation itself is simple enough for Kasper Hjulmand’s side: win, apply pressure and hope the pendulum swings their way. Such is the intoxicating beauty of Bundesliga final days.
Leverkusen may be trailing their rivals by three points heading into the final day, but their goal difference of +21 – just one behind Stuttgart – may provide some reason for optimism. Their meeting with Hamburg at the BayArena is unquestionably a must-win affair, but in the event of defeats on the road for both Stuttgart and Hoffenheim, at least no specific margin of victory will be needed to be achieved.
Of course, Leverkusen are the outside riders in this particular race, but they do boast a couple of aces up their sleeve. Playing in front of their home crowd at the BayArena for one will provide them a significant boost, especially coupled with the knowledge that six of Stuttgart’s eight league defeats this term have come on the road.
Furthermore, Leverkusen boast a Champions League pedigree unmatched by the other two. Since the turn of the millennium, Die Werkself have qualified for the competition 13 times, which – when compared to Stuttgart’s four and Hoffenheim’s one – reveals that they know what it takes to earn their spot at Europe’s top table.
Nevertheless, once the action commences on Saturday at 3:30pm CEST, history and statistics will be flung to the wayside as each side go hell for leather in pursuit of victory. Momentum on afternoons like these is rarely linear; it moves violently, unpredictably and sometimes cruelly.
Given that a spot in the Europa League is guaranteed for the two clubs that fall short in their pursuit of fourth-place on Saturday, perhaps comfort can be taken from the attitude put forth by Hoffenheim captain Oliver Baumann after his side’s final home game of the season. “We shouldn’t diminish the season if we don’t reach the Champions League. What we’ve achieved this season is extraordinary," emphasised the Germany international.
Be that as it may, with three clubs fighting over one remaining ticket for Europe’s hottest show in 90 minutes that could define an entire season, expect fireworks when the curtain is drawn on the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign!
