UEFA Champions League: Bayern beats Slovan but miss out on automatic qualification; Dortmund qualifies

UEFA Champions League: Bayern beats Slovan but miss out on automatic qualification; Dortmund qualifies

Bayern Munich eased past Slovan Bratislava 3-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday but the Germans missed out on a top-eight finish and automatic qualification and will go into a playoff for a spot in the Round of 16.

The Bavarians, needing a win by a large margin to have any chance of finishing in the top eight, had close to 80 per cent possession at the start.

The pressure paid off after eight minutes when Joshua Kimmich floated a cross into the box and the unmarked Thomas Mueller nodded in for the lead.

Bayern kept going forward but it needed a sensational save from keeper Manuel Neuer to deny Tigran Barseghyan what would have been a surprise equaliser on the break in the 28th.

Harry Kane came close before the break but did better in the 63rd when he headed in their second goal.

Bayern, which set a Champions League record with a 34th home game unbeaten in the group/league phase of the competition, was desperate to add more goals and Leroy Sane hit the woodwork before Kingsley Coman made it 3-0.

But it gave its opponent too much space and Slovan struck in second-half stoppage time through Marko Tolic to leave Bayern in 12th place on 15 points from its eight matches. Slovan finished 35th.

The top eight qualify automatically while the next 16 clubs go into the playoff stage. The draw for the playoff matches will take place on Friday.

Borussia Dortmund cruised into the knockout phase play-offs of the Champions League with a 3-1 home win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday, with Guinean striker Serhou Guirassy scoring two first-half goals as the Ukrainian side was eliminated.

With the top eight teams going straight through to the last 16 and those placed from ninth to 24th headed to the two-legged playoffs for the remaining eight spots, beaten 2024 finalists Dortmund finished the league phase in 10th place with 15 points. Shakhtar was 27th on seven points.

A first victory of 2025 was just the tonic Dortmund needed following a poor run of form that saw coach Nuri Sahin fired a week ago, with his replacement Mike Tullberg plucked from the club’s U19 side to steer it through to the knockout stage.

Guirassy gave his side the lead in the 17th minute, charging into the box and steering Karim Adeyemi’s shot past the ‘keeper with his thigh, and the Guinean striker grabbed his second just before the break, latching on to Julian Brandt’s pass and taking a touch before firing past Dmytro Riznyk.

The 28-year-old almost completed his hat-trick in the first minute of the second half when he got a powerful downward header to a free kick, but Riznyk reacted superbly to steer the ball to safety.

The visitors were thrown a lifeline in the 50th minute when Dortmund ‘keeper Gregor Kobel took a bad touch that allowed Marlon Gomes to pounce and steer the ball into the net to make it 2-1.

Shakhtar’s Riznyk had to be at his best again in the 66th minute, getting a strong hand to Ramy Bensebaini’s header from another free kick to tip it over the bar, and Guirassy had another chance to net his third in the 72nd minute but his chipped effort drifted just wide of the near post.

Any hope the visitors had was extinguished when Dortmund’s Ramy Bensebaini scored with a cool chipped effort in the 79th minute to wrap up the three points for the hosts and end Shakhtar’s European adventure for this season.

With the draw for the knockout playoffs taking place on Friday, Dortmund will face either Club Brugge of Belgium or Portuguese side Sporting and victory there would set it up for a meeting with Olympique Lyonnais of France or English side Aston Villa.