Official: Spain beat Germany for extra Champions League spot

Official: Spain beat Germany for extra Champions League spot

SC Freiburg will be Bundesliga’s sole representative in the three European finals after beating Braga 4-3 on aggregate in the Europa League semi-final tie. However, Rayo Vallecano’s triumph over Strasbourg in the Conference League tie ended the race for an extra Champions League berth.

Since changing the formats of its competitions last season, UEFA allow two extra Champions League spots for the top two associations based on accumulated results. England have already taken the top spot, and Spain have now joined them after Rayo Vallecano winning both semi-final legs 1-0 against Strasbourg.

The Ligue 1 side missed an injury-time penalty-kick, which would have taken the race to the two finals. As a result, Germany will now have four Champions League spots (unless SC Freiburg win the Europa League) as four teams are in contention for two places to join champions FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund.

RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen are leading the race, while Stuttgart and Hoffenheim are both level on points with the latter. All four teams are already secured to at least qualify for the Europa League.