of
Hamburger SV against
Eljero Elia of
Werder Bremen in the
Nordderby The German football champion is decided strictly by play in the Bundesliga. Each club plays every other club once at home and once away, which makes a total of 34 matchdays per season. Originally, a victory was worth two points, with one point for a draw and none for a loss. Since the 1995–96 season, a victory has been worth three points, while a draw remains worth a single point, and zero points are given for a loss. The club with the most points at the end of the season becomes the German champion. Currently, the top four clubs in the table qualify automatically for the group phase of the
UEFA Champions League. The two teams at the bottom of the table are relegated into the 2. Bundesliga, while the top two teams in the 2. Bundesliga are promoted. The 16th-placed team (third-last) in the 1. Bundesliga and the third-placed team in the 2. Bundesliga play a two-leg play-off match. The winner of this match plays the next season in the 1. Bundesliga, and the losing side in the 2. Bundesliga. If teams are level on points, tie-breakers are applied in the following order: • Goal difference for the entire season • Total goals scored for the entire season • Head-to-head results (total points) • Head-to-head goals scored • Head-to-head away goals scored • Total away goals scored for the entire season If two clubs are still tied after all of these tie-breakers have been applied, a single match is held at a neutral site to determine the placement. However, this has never been necessary in the history of the Bundesliga. In terms of team selection, matchday squads must have no more than five non-EU representatives. Nine substitutes are permitted to be selected, from which five can be used in the duration of the game.
Changes in league structure • Number of teams: • 1963–64 to 1964–65: 16 • 1965–66 to 1990–91: 18 •
1991–92: 20, while the
East German league was being included after
German reunification • Since 1992–93: 18 • Number of teams relegated (automatic relegation except as noted): • 1963–64 to 1973–74: 2 • 1974–75 to 1980–81: 3 • 1981–82 to 1990–91: 2 automatic plus the 16th-place team in the First Bundesliga played a two-leg relegation match against the third-place team of the Second Bundesliga for the final spot in the First Bundesliga • 1991–92: 4 • 1992–93 to 2007–08: 3 • Since 2008–09: 2 automatic plus the 16th-place team in the First Bundesliga playing a two-leg relegation match against the third-place team of the Second Bundesliga for the final spot in the First Bundesliga
Qualification for European competitions • 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place: Group stage of
UEFA Champions League • 5th place: Group stage of
UEFA Europa League • 6th place: Play-off round of
UEFA Europa Conference League • Until the 2016–17 season, an additional place in the Europa League could also be granted via the
UEFA Fair Play mechanism. This rule was maintained from the UEFA Cup. The last Bundesliga team to gain entry to the UEFA Cup via the fair play rule was
Mainz 05 in
2005–06. •
DFB-Pokal (German Cup) winner: Qualifies for the group stage of Europa League regardless of league position. • Until 2015–16, if the Cup winner qualified for the Champions League or Europa League by more than one method, the cup winner's place in the Europa League went to the losing cup finalist if it had not already qualified for European competition, entering the competition a stage earlier than if it had won the Cup. This rule was retained from the Europa League's predecessor, the UEFA Cup. From 2015–16, the runners-up no longer qualified for the Europa League, and the Europa League berth reserved for the DFB-Pokal winners is transferred to the highest finisher below the european qualification places. • Prior to 2015–16, the team that benefited from that rule did not necessarily have to be a Bundesliga member. For example, although
2. Bundesliga sides
Alemannia Aachen lost to
Werder Bremen in the
2004 DFB-Pokal final, Alemannia secured an entry in the
2004–05 UEFA Cup, because Werder qualified for the Champions League as First Bundesliga champions. The number of German clubs which may participate in UEFA competitions is determined by
UEFA coefficients, which takes into account the results of a particular nation's clubs in UEFA competitions over the preceding five years. ;History of European qualification • European Cup/Champions League: • Up to and including 1996–97: German champion only. • 1997–99: Top two teams; champions automatically into group phase, runners-up entered the qualifying round. • 1999–2008: Top two teams automatically into first group phase (only one group phase starting in 2003–04). Depending on the DFB's
UEFA coefficients standing, either one or two other clubs (most recently one) entered at the third qualifying round; winners at this level entered the group phase. • 2008–11: Top two teams automatically into group phase. Third placed team had to play in the play-off round for the right to play in the group stage. • UEFA Cup/Europa League: • From 1971–72 to 1998–99, UEFA member nations could send between one and four teams to the UEFA Cup. Germany was always entitled to send at least three teams to the competition and often as many as four. From 1978–79, the number of participants was determined by the DFB's UEFA coefficient standing, prior to this the method for deciding the number of participants is unknown. The best performing teams in the league other than the champion would qualify, although if one of these teams was also winner of the
DFB-Pokal then they would enter the Cup Winners' Cup instead and their UEFA Cup place would be taken by the next highest-placed team in the league (5th or 6th place). Briefly in the mid-1970s the DFB decided to allocate the last UEFA Cup place to the DFB-Pokal runner-up instead of a third or fourth team qualified by performance in the league, meaning that at this point the DFB-Pokal qualified two teams for European competition (winners for the Cup Winners' Cup, runners-up for the UEFA Cup). This policy was unique amongst UEFA member associations and was dropped after only a few seasons. Starting with the 1999–2000 season and the abolition of the Cup Winners' Cup (which was then folded into the UEFA Cup), the DFB-Pokal winner now automatically qualified for the UEFA Cup alongside, depending on the DFB's UEFA coefficients standing, between one and three extra participants (if the DFB-Pokal winner also qualified for the Champions League, they were replaced by the DFB-Pokal runner-up; if they were also qualified for the Champions League, the UEFA Cup place went to the next best placed team in the league not otherwise qualified for European competition). Since 1999, the DFB has always been entitled to enter a minimum of three clubs in the UEFA Cup/Europa League, and at times as many as four (the maximum for any European federation). Teams that entered via UEFA's Fair Play mechanism, or those that entered through the now-defunct
Intertoto Cup, did not count against the national quota. From
2006 through the final Intertoto Cup in
2008, only one First Bundesliga side was eligible to enter the Intertoto Cup and possibly earn a UEFA Cup berth. For the 2005–06 season, the DFB earned an extra UEFA Cup place via the Fair Play draw; this place went to
Mainz 05 as the highest-ranked club in the Fair Play table of the First Bundesliga not already qualified for Europe. • Cup Winners' Cup (abolished after 1999): • The winner of the DFB-Pokal entered the Cup Winners' Cup, unless that team was also league champion and therefore competing in the European Cup/Champions League, in which case their place in the Cup Winners' Cup was taken by the DFB-Pokal runner-up. Today, the DFB-Pokal winner (if not otherwise qualified for the Champions League) enters the UEFA Europa League. ==Clubs==