Bundesliga secures extra place in Champions League
The Bundesliga will have five teams in the Champions League next season after Borussia Dortmund's 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain ensured Germany second place in UEFA's coefficient table for this season.
Two leagues will be rewarded with an extra place through the European Performance Spots, given to the two leagues with the best average performance across the three European competitions each season and comes as part of the revamp to expand the Champions League to a 36-team competition.
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Serie A had already sealed the first place last month, and Dortmund's victory now means Germany cannot be overtaken by the final remaining contenders, England and France.
"We wanted to qualify for the Champions League through the Bundesliga and not this way," Dortmund manager Edin Terzic said after beating PSG. "But the fact that it will be enough to qualify as fifth is also partly down to our success, our contribution.
"Our minimum goal was to qualify for the Champions League. Now it [added spot] does not improve our Bundesliga season, but it does offer a softer landing."
The Premier League went into the quarterfinals as overwhelming favourites to take the second place behind Italy, but a tough quarterfinal draw saw Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and West Ham United all eliminated. Only Aston Villa remain active in the Europa Conference League.
Germany moved into a position of strength due to Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen both knocking out English clubs -- Arsenal and West Ham, respectively -- to reach the semifinals.
Coincidentally the extra place is set to go to Dortmund, who are likely to finish fifth in the Bundesliga as they sit five points behind RB Leipzig with only three fixtures remaining.
If Dortmund win the Champions League and finish fifth, then the Bundesliga will have six teams in the Champions League -- the top four, Dortmund as Champions League titleholders, plus the European Performance Spot. The Bundesliga would forfeit one of its place in the Europa League, which would have been taken up by Dortmund.
