Freiburg eyes first Champions League spot

May 17, 2013 - 6:01 PM Freiburg, Germany (Sports Network) - Freiburg welcomes Schalke to the Dreisamstadion on Saturday with one goal in mind, and that is to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in club history.

To accomplish that goal, Freiburg must beat Schalke on Saturday, while the visitors will clinch fourth place with a draw as they hold a one-point advantage on the home side.

Freiburg boss Christian Streich knows his team is in for a tough battle against a more experienced Schalke side, but he also knows his men will give everything as the club pursues history.

"We want to give Schalke a really good battle and throw everything into the mixer to play another great game," Streich said.

"This team will get every last ounce of energy out of them for this game."

Schalke failed to lock up fourth place last weekend as the club stumbled to a 2-1 home defeat against Stuttgart, but director of sport Horst Heldt is feeling confident about his team's position.

"If somebody had told me weeks or months ago that we would have control over our own destiny on the final day of the season to finish fourth, then I would have signed for that immediately," Heldt said.

"We are not dependent on results elsewhere and that's good."

Champions Bayern Munich close out a record-breaking campaign with an away contest at Monchengladbach, while second-place Borussia Dortmund closes out its season at home against relegation-battling Hoffenheim, which must win to have a chance at escaping relegation.

Third-place Bayer Leverkusen travels to Hamburg with little to play for, Stuttgart hosts Mainz, Nurnberg entertains Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg travels to Eintracht, which needs three points to maintain its European hopes.

The relegation battle will also be decided on Saturday as three teams battle to avoid the final two relegation places.

Dusseldorf sits above the bottom three on goal difference and travels to Hannover, while Augsburg has a great opportunity to pick up three points at home against last-place Greuther Furth.