Freiburg coach Christian Streich was full of praise for his side's weekend opponents Augsburg.
And Streich says they would be more worthy of a place in Europe than his next season.
A 2-0 victory gave Freiburg a three-point advantage over Hamburg in seventh place with two games of the season remaining.
Given their superior goal difference, one win from their final two games should be enough to secure a place in the Europa League, but Streich claims Augsburg would be equally worthy of a place in Europe rather than a place in the bottom three at present.
"At the moment, they belong to the six best teams in the Bundesliga," he said.
"Augsburg played a great pressing game for half an hour and if they had scored one or two goals, then we would have been beaten.
"They played how we expected they would, only we were the more effective."
You do not get any points for performance, though, much to Augsburg's director of sport Stefan Reuter's chagrin.
"It is really bitter," he said. "You have got to take the lead when you get chances like we did.
"We are very disappointed."
