DFB Cup makes it possible! Next season, seven Bundesliga teams will play internationally

Football Germany is looking forward to the games of the DFB Cup these days. But did you know that the outcome of the competition can also benefit the seventh-placed player in the Bundesliga? SPOX clarifies.

While only six tickets are awarded for the international competitions in the first Bundesliga, the outcome of the DFB Cup can pave the way for a seventh team. But how exactly is this possible and which teams could theoretically benefit from it? SPOX gives you all the answers.

DFB Cup makes it possible! Next season, seven Bundesliga teams will play internationally

What applied in previous years also applies again this season: the winner of the DFB Cup will be guaranteed a place in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League in the 2022/23 season. But what happens when that team has already qualified for the competition based on their Bundesliga placement?

In this case, another team, namely the Bundesliga seventh, receives an international ticket. Suppose SC Freiburg ends the Bundesliga season in fifth place and wins the DFB Cup at the same time. This would mean that in addition to the Breisgauers, sixth place in the table would also move into the Europa League. Rank number seven is then awarded the contract for the Conference League.

Incidentally, the same applies in the event that the cup winner ends the Bundesliga in sixth place or even within the top 4, i.e. in one of the Champions League places. To illustrate the facts, you can see below which Bundesliga placement will result in which international place.

Places 1-4: Champions League
Places 5 & 6: Europe League
7th place: conference league

Schlotterbeck next? Freiburg’s big export hits

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SC Freiburg is considered one of the best training clubs in Germany. Current examples anyone? With Matthias Ginter and Nico Schlotterbeck, two SC-trained players will be on the market next summer.

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Schlotterbeck has been through the Academy in Breisgau since the U19s and switched to Union Berlin on loan in 2020. In Freiburg he finally matured into a national player. Its market value is estimated at around 30 million euros.

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Apparently he has already decided to switch to BVB. It is quite possible that he will then become the most expensive departure in the club’s history. We’re letting some of the SC’s best export hits come to life for you since 2000.

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JONATHAN SCHMID: 2015/16 – 3.5 million euros (TSG Hoffenheim)

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Schmid was brought to Freiburg by Offenburg’s U19s in 2009. He made his professional debut there in 2011. In 2015 he switched to TSG Hoffenheim before the Frenchman returned from Augsburg in 2019 for four million euros.

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LUCA WALDSCHMIDT: 2020/21 – 15 million euros (Benfica)

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No Freiburger Jung’, but one who brought in a lot of money. In 2018, SC paid five million euros for him to HSV. In 2021 Waldschmidt returned to the Bundesliga. He currently plays for VfL Wolfsburg.

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PAPISS DEMBA CISSE: 2011/12 – €12m (Newcastle United)

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Freiburg only paid 1.5 million euros for the attacker in 2010, two years later he went to the island for a multiple. Cisse scored 39 times in 67 appearances for the Breisgauer. After that it went downhill for him. Sold at peak?

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ROBIN KOCH: 2020/21 – 13 million euros (Leeds United)

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Another player that Freiburg bought for little money and sold for a lot of money. In 2017, Koch came from Kaiserslautern for 3.5 million euros. When he moved to England, he flushed almost ten million euros more into the coffers.

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DANIEL CALIGIURI: 2013/14 – 4.5 million euros (VfL Wolfsburg)

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The midfielder went through all the SC youth teams from the U19s. He played for the pros for three and a half years, then went to Wolfsburg, later to Schalke and now he’s playing for FC Augsburg.

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ÖMER TOPRAK: 2011/12 – 3 million euros (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)

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Toprak joined the SC Freiburg U17s in 2005, made his professional debut in 2008 and then moved to Leverkusen in 2011 for very little money. BVB later bought him for 12 million euros. Today the 32-year-old plays in Bremen.

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ALEXANDER SCHWOLOW: 2020/21 – 7 million euros (Hertha BSC)

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One of the many Freiburgers who played for a long time in the youth field and later changed for a lot of money. After all: The goalkeeper played for the professionals for almost five years before he went to the capital.

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MAXIMILIAN PHILIPP: 2017/18 – 20 million euros (Borussia Dortmund)

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Philipp isn’t the club’s record signing, but it’s close. He is also a great success of the scouting department. In 2017, at the peak of his career so far, he switched to BVB and brought the SC a decent sum.

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CAGLAR SÖYÜNCÜ: 2018/19 – €21.1m (Leicester City)

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At that time he advanced directly to the record transfer. However, with a big but: Freiburg signed the Turk in 2016 for 2.5 million euros from Altinordu, who received 25% of the transfer fee in the Leicester transfer.

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ROMAN BÜRKI: 2015/16 – 3.5 million euros (Borussia Dortmund)

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Bürki only played one season at SC Freiburg. However, they were able to almost double the 1.8 million euros that the people of Breisgau paid for him when he sold it. Still a bargain for BVB. The Swiss was a regular goalkeeper for a long time.

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MAX KRUSE: 2013/14 – 2.5 million euros (Borussia Mönchengladbach)

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The Wandervogel came from FC St. Pauli for around 500,000 euros in 2012, played for Freiburg for one season and then went to Gladbach for 2.5 million euros. A bit annoying: In 2015 he brought in 12 million euros for the foals.

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OLIVER BAUMANN: 2014/15 – 5.5 million euros (TSG Hoffenheim)

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But now again to someone who came from their own youth. Baumann moved to Freiburg at the age of ten, so he has been playing there since 2000. He made his professional debut in 2009 and then moved to Hoffenheim in 2014.

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SEBASTIAN KEHL: 2001/2002 – 3.2 million euros (Borussia Dortmund)

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There is so much modernity in our list that we could call it the cross-off list. So let’s take a look further back: Kehl was one of the most sought-after players at the time, then switched to Dortmund for “only” 3.2 million euros.

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MATTHIAS GINTER: 2014/15 – 10 million euros (Borussia Dortmund)

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Ginter brought in more, who also moved to Dortmund in 2014 – and still played with Kehl. The Rio world champion will change again this summer. Not back to Freiburg.

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In an interview with Sport1, however, Ginter said about a return towards the end of his career: “Freiburg is our home and these thoughts are always in the back of our minds.” The center of his life after his career is definitely in Breisgau.

By the way: If Frankfurt Eintracht should win the Europa League this year, we would even see eight German teams in Europe next year.

Bundesliga: The table before the 31st matchday

Place	team	Sp.	Gates	differential	pt.
1.	Bayern Munich	30	89:29	60	72
2.	Borussia Dortmund	30	76:43	33	63
3.	RB Leipzig	30	65:31	34	54
4.	Bayer Leverkusen	30	68:43	25	52
5.	Freiburg	30	49:34	15	51
6.	Union Berlin	30	40:39	1	47
7.	Cologne	30	44:44	0	46
8th.	Hoffenheim	30	50:45	5	45
9.	Mainz 05	30	43:36	7	39
10	Eintracht Frankfurt	30	40:42	-2	39
11.	Borussia M’gladbach	30	42:55	-13	37
12.	Bochum	30	30:43	-13	36
13.	Wolfsburg	30	34:51	-17	34
14	augsburg	30	34:47	-13	32
15	Hertha BSC	30	32:66	-34	29
16	Stuttgart	30	36:53	-17	28
17	Arminia Bielefeld	30	23:46	-23	26
18	Greuther Fuerth	30	24:72	-48	17

Bundesliga: These teams can still imagine chances for a Europe ticket

It is already a fact that we will see seven German teams in international business next season. However, the question of the participants is still unresolved. In the fight for the last European tickets, several teams are currently facing each other, all of which can probably still imagine chances.

So it’s high time to take a look at the rest of the program for Europe’s hottest contenders.

Gameday	Union Berlin	1. FC Cologne	TSG Hoffenheim
31	@Leipzig (Sat, 3.30 p.m.)	vs. Bielefeld (Sat, 3.30 p.m.)	@ Frankfurt (Sat, 3.30 p.m.)
32	vs Fuerth (29.04. at 8.30 p.m.)	@ Augsburg (30.04. at 3.30 p.m.)	vs. Fribourg (30.04. at 6.30 p.m.)
33	@ Fribourg (07.05. at 3.30 p.m.)	vs Wolfsburg (07.05. at 3.30 p.m.)	vs Leverkusen (07.05. at 3.30 p.m.)
34	vs Bochum (14.05. at 3.30 p.m.)	@Stuttgart (14.05. at 3.30 p.m.)	@M’Gladbach (14.05. at 3.30 p.m.)