As things stand
Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen have already secured two of the Bundesliga’s four UEFA Champions League qualifying places, leaving Eintracht Frankfurt, SC Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund jostling for the two remaining spots on the final matchday of the season this Saturday.
The Eagles have richly earned the historic opportunity to secure a berth in the continent’s elite club competition via their league placing for the first time ever; they have been in the top four since Matchday 9 and in third since Matchday 27. If they can consolidate a place on the podium, it will be the team’s highest league finish in over 30 years, since they came third in 1993.
Victory on Saturday would ensure Eintracht qualify for the Champions League. The only previous time the club has featured in the competition was in 2022/23, due to their Europa League triumph in 2022.
With that in mind, Kevin Trapp demanded full “focus on Freiburg” during training this week. “It’s not like we’ve lost something,” said the goalkeeper. “We still have matters in our own hands. It’s very much a final in Freiburg. We’ve already achieved a lot this season, we’ve improved and I have the feeling that we’re still growing.”
“Play the way we normally do”
Markus Krösche was equally optimistic: “We’ve got a good team and we’ve won a lot of tight games this season. Now we have to perform in the same way we have done in recent weeks and win the match. We just have to play football the way we normally do.”
Freiburg on a roll
Hosts Freiburg are also full of confidence heading into the final fixture of 2024/25, having taken 13 of a possible 15 points from their last five assignments. Eintracht dominated the reverse fixture at Deutsche Bank Park earlier in the campaign, though, coming away with a 4-1 win.
Pressure on Freiburg
“All the pressure is on Freiburg because they have to win,” said Dino Toppmöller, who will not change his team’s usual approach despite the high-stakes nature of the game. “We’re going to stick to our guns. Obviously, we wanted to take the final step a lot sooner but now we have to take it in Freiburg.” All of which has set up a weekend showdown in the Black Forest.