Schalke secures Champions League return in 2018-19
Another Bundesliga representative has secured a spot in Europe’s top club competition, as Schalke’s 2-1 win over Augsburg will see the Gelsenkirchen side compete in next season’s Champions League alongside runaway leader Bayern Munich.
Schalke has been absent from the tournament since the 2014-15 campaign, when it was eliminated by Real Madrid in the round of 16.
Schalke are back in the Champions League ??? pic.twitter.com/IC6xqL0NaA
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) May 5, 2018
The return to Champions League football caps an impressive bounce-back season in manager Domenico Tedesco’s first year in charge; Die Konigsblauen finished 10th in last season’s Bundesliga, 39 points adrift of Bayern at the top of the table.
Fans will need to wait until the final matchday next weekend to find out which clubs will join Schalke and Bayern in Europe. The league’s top four sides qualify directly to the Champions League, while the clubs in fifth and sixth will head to the Europa League, with the latter needing a qualification round. The seventh-placed side could clinch a Europa League qualifier, however, if Bayern Munich wins the DFB-Pokal final against Eintracht Frankfurt on May 19.
Bundesliga’s race for Europe:
| Ranking | Team | Points | GD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 84 | 67 |
| 2 | Schalke | 60 | 15 |
| 3 | Borussia Dortmund | 55 | 19 |
| 4 | Hoffenheim | 52 | 16 |
| 5 | Bayer Leverkusen | 52 | 13 |
| 6 | RB Leipzig | 50 | 0 |
| 7 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 49 | 1 |
| 8 | Stuttgart | 48 | -3 |
| 9 | Monchengladbach | 47 | -4 |
Borussia Dortmund and Hoffenheim both missed their chances Saturday to clinch a Champions League spot with losses to Mainz and Stuttgart, respectively.
