BVB against RB: duel for ticket to Club World Cup

Two points are awarded for every win in the knockout phase, one point for a draw and one point for advancing to the next round. A maximum of 17 points are therefore still up for grabs before the final on June 1 in Wembley.

An example calculation illustrates BVB's good starting position: If Dortmund lose both of their round of 16 games against PSV Eindhoven and Leipzig win both games against Real Madrid and one of the subsequent quarter-finals, RB would have made up the six-point deficit to BVB and would be in the Club World Cup. A difficult undertaking. What's more, Leipzig coach Marco Rose is not a fan of the competition.

"I personally believe that anything that comes on top of that is unacceptable in terms of the players' health. And yet we keep turning the wheel, keep turning the screw. We know that our business is very much driven by money. Accordingly, you don't have to think such things are great, but you have to go along with them. That's part of it," he said.

The tournament will take place from June 15 to July 13, 2025 with a total of 63 games in the USA. Each team will play at least three group matches and a maximum of seven games, including the final. There had already been criticism of the competition before Rose's comments due to the heavy workload for the professionals and the much shorter summer break before the upcoming World Cup season. However, the top clubs had agreed to the introduction via their association ECA and participate in the marketing.