Dortmund complete escape act, punch their ticket to UCL

Borussia Dortmund will play Champions League football next season after a 3-0 home win over a 10-man Holstein Kiel on Saturday completed an incredible late-season run.

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Sitting in 11th place just seven weeks ago, Dortmund collected 22 of a possible 24 points in their last eight league matches, climbing up to fourth, past Freiburg who lost 3-1 at home against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Dortmund, who had not been in the top four since the end of matchday three in September, got off to an excellent start against their already relegated opponents when Serhou Guirassy converted a third-minute penalty.

Knowing they needed a big win to guarantee a top-four finish, Dortmund’s hopes looked even rosier just six minutes later when Kiel’s Carl Johansson saw red for a last-man foul.

Marcel Sabitzer added a second with a deflected low shot two minutes after half-time and Felix Nmecha made it three when he scored from close range with 73 minutes gone.

Dortmund coach Niko Kovac, who took over in January, said his side, Champions League finalists a year ago, should not get carried away by reaching the club’s “minimum goal”.

“We're glad, I'm happy and what we've shown in the past few weeks has been sensational, but we shouldn't be celebrating,” Kovac told reporters.

Dortmund captain Emre Can was more upbeat, saying “we've had some great Champions League evenings, we want to experience that again.”