How can the Bundesliga earn a fifth UEFA Champions League spot?
With Germany still having three teams in European action across the UEFA Champions League and Europa League, the Bundesliga is in with a chance of once again securing a fifth Champions League spot for 2025/26. Could there even be six teams? bundesliga.com explains how it works...
The battle for a spot in the top four - and with it the chance to play Champions League football - is usually one of the most thrilling storylines in the final weeks of a Bundesliga season, and this year will likely be no exception. Although Bayern Munich are top of the table, ahead of champions Bayer Leverkusen, just 11 points currently separate third-placed Mainz from Borussia Dortmund down in 10th. The competition for the European places is definitely hotting up.
However, it could well be the top five and not just the top four who make it into Europe's top club competition - as was the case last season - for the 2025/26 campaign.
Just how can the Bundesliga maintain its increased quota into next season?
Well, as part of its revamped format, Champions League organisers UEFA now award an extra qualification spot to the two best-performing leagues in the current season according to its own coefficient rankings. There is a complicated points system behind that, but the more wins and further a league's teams go in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, the higher that league climbs in the rankings.
The Bundesliga currently sits fourth in the standings as the season enters the knockout rounds.
Top 10 UEFA association club coefficients for 2024/25 (as of 14 March 2025)
- England - 24.250
- Spain - 21.678
- Italy - 19.937
- Germany - 17.921
- Portugal - 16.250
- France - 16.212
- Belgium - 15.650
- Netherlands - 15.250
- Greece - 12.687
- Norway - 11.062
Based on those numbers by the end of the round of 16, England is on the verge of guaranteeing a place in the top two and therefore an extra Champions League qualifier. The all-German tie between Bayern and Leverkusen hampered the Bundesliga's chances of catching up and leaves them with a maximum possible co-efficient of 21.733. Mathematically, there's still a chance, but it's incredibly slim.
It wouldn't be the first time the Bundesliga has sent five representatives into Europe's elite club competition. Dortmund's run to the 2023/24 Champions League final helped the Bundesliga clinch an extra spot for being in the top two places on the UEFA Coefficient ranking, while Eintracht Frankfurt's 2021/22 Europa League victory saw them earn Champions League qualification for 2022/23 in addition to the four sides that qualified via the league.
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It's worth noting, though, that the prospect of a German side lifting the Champions League could in fact throw up the potential for a sixth Bundesliga qualifier.
At this point, that would happen if the side in question finished fifth or lower in the league - a distinct possibility for Dortmund. They would qualify as holders, the top four as normal, and then the next best-placed German team as well.
However, if the side winning the Champions League finish in the top four in the league, their berth as Champions League holders will be passed to another country.
All will become clearer as we approach the finishing line for 2024/25...
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