By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Log Leaders FC Bayern München have the chance to take another important step towards regaining their Bundesliga crown when they open Matchday 24 at seventh-placed VfB Stuttgart this Friday evening.
Bayern travel to last season’s runners-up, VfB Stuttgart, in confident mood after a comprehensive 4-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. While top goalscorer Harry Kane began that encounter on the bench for the first time in his Bundesliga career after recovering from a slight injury, he is expected to start again in Stuttgart as he looks to add to his 21 strikes this season.
Masterful attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala put in another dazzling performance against Frankfurt, which included a fine individual goal after a slaloming run. After being held to a 1-1 draw at TSG Hoffenheim, seventh-placed Stuttgart face a daunting task in trying to stop Bayern and arrest a run of only one win in five.
Should Bayern win the matchday opener, they would pile pressure on second placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen by stretching their league lead to 11 points before the defending champions visit Frankfurt on Saturday evening. That could be a stern test of Xabi Alonso’s side’s unbeaten league run, which now stands at 21 matches after a 2-0 success at Holstein Kiel last weekend. That result also saw the Spaniard set a new Bundesliga record of 28 away games in a row without defeat on the touchline.
Frankfurt will be eager to take points off the team directly above them in order to retain their cushion – which currently stands at three points – over SC Freiburg in fourth. Freiburg have emerged as surprise contenders for the top four thanks to a run of four successive wins, culminating in an impressive 5-0 home triumph over SV Werder Bremen.
Julian Schuster’s side travel to another in-form outfit, FC Augsburg, on Sunday afternoon. Augsburg are unbeaten in their last seven league fixtures and have conceded only twice in that time, most recently winning 3-0 at Borussia Mönchengladbach thanks to an Alexis Claude-Maurice hat-trick.
Another big clash for the battle to make the top four takes place on Saturday afternoon between RB Leipzig, currently in sixth, and 1. FSV Mainz 05, who are just above them on goal difference in fifth. A 2-0 win over FC St. Pauli continued Mainz’s marvellous campaign so far as they prepare for Karneval season this weekend, while Leipzig were disappointed to be held 2-2 at home by 1. FC
Heidenheim 1846 last weekend.
Marco Rose’s side can gain confidence from the fact they are unbeaten in their last six league matches, but they have won just one of those. Mainz, on the other hand, have kept three consecutive clean sheets as defensive steel aids their push forEuropean qualification.
St. Pauli host a Borussia Dortmund team eager to make up ground on the European qualifying spots from 10th place. A 6-0 win over 1. FC Union Berlin last weekend suggests they are certainly capable of progressing up the table under new coach Niko Kovač, especially if striker Serhou Guriassy continues the kind of unstoppable form that saw him fire four goals against the Irons.
Conversely, a defeat on that scale might make the side from the capital a little more nervous about the nine-point cushion they have over the bottom three currently from 13th spot. Steffen Baumgart’s side have the chance to make amends when they host bottom-of-the-table Kiel.
VfL Bochum 1848 and Heidenheim are level on 15 points – two points ahead of Kiel and six shy of St. Pauli. The pair have home encounters this coming matchday that may offer a chance to reduce that gap, with Bochum hosting Hoffenheim and Heidenheim’s Voith-Arena welcoming Gladbach.
Bremen have won just one of their eight league ties in 2025 and will hope to reverse that form when they host eighth-placed VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday. European qualification is still a possibility for both, despite Ole Werner’s side being in 12th place.