What does Freiburg’s UEFA Europa League final mean for European qualification in the Bundesliga?

Freiburg have finished seventh in the Bundesliga to earn a place in the qualification play-offs for the 2026/27 UEFA Conference League, but could things change for them or other teams after their UEFA Europa League final?

With Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart contesting the DFB Cup final and both now qualified for the UEFA Champions League, it saw the Bundesliga gain an additional Europa League berth and the Conference League spot drop to seventh, which Freiburg claimed on the final day by comfortably beating RB Leipzig 4-1.

Watch: Freiburg brushed aside Leipzig to secure European football

The Bundesliga campaign may now be over, but those European qualifiers are not all confirmed as yet. That is because the winner of the Europa League automatically gains a place in the Champions League.

Freiburg face Aston Villa in the competition’s showpiece in Istanbul on Wednesday, 20 May, raising the prospect of changes to the Bundesliga’s allocation, depending on the outcome.

Freiburg have reached a first European final in their history and will face Aston Villa in Istanbul. – SILAS STEIN

Should Freiburg lose the final, then there will be no change to what happens for German clubs. The top four go into the Champions League, fifth and sixth into the Europa League and Julian Schuster’s men in seventh have to qualify for the Conference League. Aston Villa will enter the Champions League, regardless of their position in the English Premier League.

Should Freiburg win their first-ever major trophy, though, things change, but not to the benefit of any other Bundesliga team. The Black Forest club will get to play in the Champions League for the first time in their history, joining the Bundesliga’s top four in the competition.

The key thing to note, however, is that their Conference League berth does not then pass to eighth place in the Bundesliga. Instead, it is redistributed by UEFA to another league. As a result, there would be no German club in the Conference League but five in the Champions League and two in the Europa League.