Third place in the Bundesliga means entry to the Champions League play-off round, the final stage before the group phase. -Reuters Photo

BERLIN: Bayern Munich secured Champions League qualification after an 8-1 goal-fest at St Pauli ensured they will finish at least third and relegated their Hamburg-based hosts on Saturday.

Bayern's rout closes the gap on second-placed Bayer Leverkusen, who drew 1-1 at Hamburg, and means Bayern could now finish second when the season finishes next Saturday.

Bayern will need Leverkusen to lose at Freiburg next Saturday and pick up a win at home to VfB Stuttgart themselves to claim second, with only the top two teams qualifying for the Champions League automatically.

Third place in the Bundesliga means entry to the Champions League play-off round, the final stage before the group phase.

“We concentrated from the start, we got an early goal and took our chances to make it 2-0,” said Bayern's caretaker coach, Andries Jonker.

“You could see how quick our players were when they had the necessary space. We can now enjoy third place and maybe we can still finish a bit higher.”