Borussia Dortmund seals Champions League qualification, Stuttgart’s hopes hit a bump

BERLIN (AP) — Borussia Dortmund sealed Champions League qualification on Sunday with an easy 4-0 win over a distracted Freiburg team in the Bundesliga.

Maximilian Beier, Serhou Guirassy and Ramy Bensebaini effectively decided the result in the first half hour, before substitute Fabio Silva completed the scoring late.

Dortmund ‘keeper Gregor Kobel denied Cyriaque Irié a consolation goal.

With three rounds remaining, Dortmund is assured of finishing among the top four to qualify for Europe’s premier club competition.

Freiburg coach Julian Schuster had made a host of changes to the team that suffered a bitter defeat against Stuttgart in the German Cup semifinals on Thursday.

Freiburg next faces Sporting Braga away for the first leg of their Europa League semifinal match.

Debut days

Dortmund coach Niko Kovač gave Samuele Inacio his first start and the 18-year-old Italian forward made the most of it, earning ovations when he went off in the 74th minute.

United States Under-17 forward Mathis Albert went on for the final minutes to make his Dortmund debut. The 16-year-old from Greenville, South Carolina, joined Dortmund’s academy in 2025 from LA Galaxy’s academy. and was part of the U.S. team at last year’s Under-17 World Cup.

Another youngster, the 18-year-old midfielder Rouven Tarnutzer, had already gone on late for his Freiburg debut.

Stuttgart stutters

Stuttgart’s hopes of Champions League qualification were tempered in a 1-1 draw with Werder Bremen.

Ermedin Demirović canceled Jens Stage’s early goal for the visitors and just kept Stuttgart in fourth place on goal difference from Hoffenheim before they face each other for a high-stakes clash next weekend.

Stuttgart and Hoffenheim were on 57 points, two ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, which still harbors its own hopes of Champions League qualification.

Bremen’s point from the draw in Stuttgart moved it six points above St. Pauli in the relegation zone.

Bayern Munich already sealed the title last weekend and will face Stuttgart in the German Cup final on May 23.

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