Bundesliga: Next stop: Champions League - BVB also wins against Kiel

Borussia Dortmund crowned its strong final spurt in the Bundesliga with a 3-0 (1-0) home win on matchday 34 against Holstein Kiel and qualification for the Champions League.

Serhou Guirassy (3rd minute, penalty), Marcel Sabitzer (47th minute), and Felix Nmecha (72nd minute) ensured BVB's joy on Saturday against already relegated Kiel, who were down to ten men after Carl Johansson was sent off early in the game. With this, Borussia secured a last-gasp fourth-place finish and can now count on the generous prize pool of the Champions League in the 2025/26 season.

It didn't look like that in mid-March, when Dortmund were only in eleventh place after a 2-0 defeat in Leipzig. With ten points behind fourth place, the Champions League seemed almost light years away.

But BVB, which had already been eliminated in the second round of the DFB Cup by VfL Wolfsburg and had at least made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, pulled itself together. Coach Niko Kovac, succeeding the hapless Nuri Sahin, who was sacked at the end of January, found the right mix, direction, and approach for the team. With 22 points from their last eight games, Dortmund managed to turn things around. While the players and their families on the pitch and the fans in front of the south stand celebrated with relief but by no means exuberance, the stadium director played the Champions League anthem. Borussia has turned a below-average season into a decent one. And perhaps something special will happen at the Club World Cup this summer.

" The bottom line is that we are happy, we are glad, but there is certainly no reason to celebrate ," was the rather sober conclusion of BVB coach Kovac.

The joyful vibration in the black and yellow of the decisive match erupted into the first storm of celebration just seconds after kickoff. Nmecha cut into the penalty area from the left. Kiel captain Lewis Holtby clumsily ran into the Dortmund player's legs. Penalty. Guirassy didn't miss a beat, firing into the left corner to make it 1-0. 3:33 p.m. Absolute bliss for all Borussia fans – at this point, Niko Kovac's team was in the Champions League.

And shortly afterward, things looked even better: Karim Adeyemi flicked a pass past Holstein's Johansson and almost made it through to the goal. The Kiel player could only make a one-armed tackle, and for that, he received a red card. " That was a particularly bitter outcome ," Kiel goalkeeper Thomas Dähne told Sportschau . " We had already set ourselves some goals. " After that, BVB dominated the game, even having some good shots from distance from Sabitzer (21') and Julian Ryerson (25').

An early lead, a numerical advantage, superiority – what could possibly go wrong now? Dortmund seemed to be thinking the same thing. Suddenly, the Black and Yellows were acting strangely passively in attack. Numerous cross and back passes against a deep-lying Kiel side drove Kovac to the touchline. Loudly and with clear gestures, the BVB coach urged his team forward. But a strange paralysis had gripped the team. " We played far too slowly, and didn't use the width enough ," Kovac later stated.

Fittingly, SC Freiburg's 1-0 victory against Frankfurt came at 4 p.m. Borussia Dortmund had slipped back to fifth place. And shortly afterward, things could have gotten even more difficult when Kiel played their way to the byline and Shuto Machino (39') fired a back pass on goal from seven meters. But BVB goalkeeper Gregor Kobel reacted strongly with a foot save.

Unrest spread through the stands of the packed Westfalenstadion. There were occasional whistles, even as the team went into the break with a narrow lead. When Kovac then prepared his team for the second half in the locker room, BVB were suddenly back in fourth place. Frankfurt had equalized in Freiburg. 4:22 p.m. Dortmund was once again a Champions League participant.

Whether Borussia Dortmund knew it or not, they also got off to an excellent start in the second half. Machino clumsily played a blocked ball back to Julian Brandt in his own penalty area. Brandt then passed it back to Sabitzer. The Austrian slipped as he attempted a shot from 18 meters, but two Kiel players deflected the ball, and the ball ended up in the net to make it 2-0.

"Olé, here comes BVB!" – suddenly the South Stand was packed, and the team's doubts seemed to be dispelled. After all, with a two-goal victory, it didn't matter what Freiburg and Frankfurt were up to almost 500 kilometers away. This seemed to give Borussia the last bit of confidence they needed to finish the game well.

Dortmund didn't allow anything else to happen – and added another. Nmecha had too much space on the left side of the penalty area and turned the ball into the net to make it 3-0. Shortly before, Frankfurt's clear lead in Freiburg had been flashed, and the big party in black and yellow had begun in the stands. Even CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke and sporting director Lars Ricken broke into relaxed smiles from their seats in the box.

In the second half of the season, Kovac's team even pushed Bayer 04 Leverkusen out of second place. That should be the minimum goal for the coming season. "BVB is back," was the fitting chant of the black and yellow community.

• football
• Bundesliga
• Borussia Dortmund
• Holstein Kiel