Dortmund secures Champions League qualification with a 4-0 win over Freiburg

Borussia Dortmund sealed Champions League qualification with an easy 4-0 win over a distracted Freiburg team in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Maximilian Beier, Serhou Guirassy and Ramy Bensebaini effectively determined the result in the first half hour, before substitute Fabio Silva completed the scoring late on.

Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel denied Cyriaque Irié a consolation goal.

With three rounds to go, Dortmund is assured of a place in the top four to qualify for Europe’s most important club competition.

Freiburg coach Julian Schuster had made a host of changes to the team that suffered a bitter defeat to Stuttgart in the German Cup semi-final on Thursday.

Freiburg next take on Sporting Braga for the first leg of their Europa League semi-final.

Dortmund coach Niko Kovac handed Samuele Inacio his first start and the 18-year-old Italian forward made the most of it, drawing ovations as he left the field in the 74th minute.

United States Under-17 forward Mathis Albert made the final minutes of his Dortmund debut. The 16-year-old from Greenville, South Carolina, joined Dortmund from the LA Galaxy academy in 2025. and was part of the U.S. team at the Under-17 World Cup last year.

Another youngster, 18-year-old midfielder Rouven Tarnutzer, had already left too late for his debut in Freiburg.

Stuttgart stutters

Stuttgart’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League were dampened by a 1-1 draw against Werder Bremen.

Ermedin Demirovic canceled out Jens Stage’s early goal for the visitors to just keep Stuttgart in fourth place on goal difference from Hoffenheim before they face each other for a high-stakes clash next weekend.

Stuttgart and Hoffenheim were on 57 points, two ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, which still has hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

Bremen’s point from the draw in Stuttgart took them six points above St. Pauli in the relegation zone.

Bayern Munich won the title last weekend and will face Stuttgart in the German Cup final on May 23.

Published on April 27, 2026