Borussia Dortmund snatch last Champions League spot with win over Holstein Kiel in season finale
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Borussia Dortmund's Felix Nmecha celebrates scoring their third goal with teammates on May 17.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DORTMUND – Borussia Dortmund will play Champions League football next season after a 3-0 home win over 10-man Holstein Kiel on May 17 completed an incredible late-season run.
Sitting in 11th place just seven weeks ago, Dortmund collected 22 of a possible 24 points in their last eight league matches, climbing to fourth, past Freiburg, who lost 3-1 at home to third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt on the final Saturday.
Dortmund coach Niko Kovac, who took over in January, said his side, Champions League finalists in 2024, should not get carried away by reaching the club’s “minimum goal”.
“We’re glad, I’m happy and what we’ve shown in the past few weeks has been sensational, but we shouldn’t be celebrating,” he told reporters.
“For a long time we were just passengers and on the final match day we were in the driving seat and did it just in time.”
Dortmund, who had not been in the top four since the end of match day three in September, got off to an excellent start against their already relegated opponents when Serhou Guirassy converted a third-minute penalty.
Knowing they needed a big win to guarantee a top-four finish, Dortmund’s hopes looked even rosier just six minutes later when Kiel’s Carl Johansson saw red for a last-man foul.
Marcel Sabitzer added a second with a deflected low shot in the 47th minute and Felix Nmecha made it three when he scored from close range in the 73rd minute.
Dortmund captain Emre Can was more upbeat, saying “we’ve had some great Champions League evenings, we want to experience that again”.
Dortmund will be joined in the Champions League by Frankfurt, who came from a goal down to win at Freiburg, qualifying for Europe’s top competition through league placing for the first time.
Freiburg, who started the weekend fourth and needed to win to guarantee a debut Champions League spot, led after 27 minutes when Ritsu Doan volleyed in.
Frankfurt’s Ansgar Knauff did his former club Dortmund a favour when he levelled things up just before half-time.
Frankfurt added two goals in three second-half minutes through Rasmus Kristensen and Ellyes Skhiri to grab hold of the match and their Champions League fate.
Freiburg fell to fifth and will play in the Europa League next season; they will be joined in the competition by the winner of the German Cup final between VfB Stuttgart and third-flight Arminia Bielefeld.
Elsewhere, champions Bayern Munich finished the season in style, giving departing veteran Thomas Muller a 4-0 farewell win at Hoffenheim.
Harry Kane scored his 26th league goal of the season, winning the top goalscorer gong for the second straight time, with Michael Olise, Joshua Kimmich and Serge Gnabry on the scoresheet.
Kane said winning the Bundesliga top-scorer trophy was “more special”, now he has tasted team success. He added: “I’ve won a few golden boots in my career, but to do it when we win the championship is more meaningful.”
Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Mainz in Xabi Alonso’s final match in the dugout.
“For sure I’m going to miss it, I’ve learnt a lot and I’ll take a lot from these three years for the future,” he told reporters. The Spanish coach is reportedly set to take over at Real Madrid in the summer.
RB Leipzig’s poor season continued, losing 3-2 at home to Stuttgart to miss out on European football completely for the first time since their debut promotion in 2016. AFP, REUTERS
