Another Look at Dortmund's Fight for Europe Next Season | OneFootball

Since the last time we looked at how it could still be possible for BVB to qualify for Europe this season, many things have happened. Dortmund lost a crucial away match to RB Leipzig, and another loss against Augsburg put the club in a bad spot.

Also, surprisingly, the following two matches against Mainz and Freiburg provided dominant wins. These recent “6 pointers” were crucial in Dortmund's ability not just to climb the table but to potentially pass the clubs mentioned above in the coming weeks.

However, the most significant development in qualifying for a European spot has not come from any of BVB’s results. While fans loved the DFB Pokal upsets in the semi-finals, Die Schwarz Gelben now has a smaller margin for error. Let me explain.

The winner of the Pokal gains one of the two places in the Europa League that German teams are given. As the winner of the Pokal is typically a team that has already qualified for the Champions League, this spot is then automatically given to the 6th-place team in the league, and the Conference League spot goes to the team in 7th.

Notably, in this year's Pokal final, neither team is going to qualify for the Champions League, as things currently stand. Arminia Bielefeld is in the third tier of German football, while VFB Stuttgart is below BVB in the table. This scenario means that in order to qualify for any European competition next year, a top-six finish is likely required. With this taken into account, what is the outlook for Dortmund’s final six matches?