By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Log leaders FC Bayern München will lock horns with old rivals Borussia Dortmund on Saturday in Der Klassiker, when the men from Munich go head-to-head with Niko Kovač’s BVB in one of the Bundesliga’s most anticipated clash.
Both rivals are smarting after chastening Champions League defeats and preoccupied by how they might continue in Europe’s premier competition.
Bayern, in particular, will be focused on its second leg quarterfinal at Inter Milan on Wednesday, when it will need to overturn a one-goal deficit after conceding late in the first leg. Munich hosts the Champions League final in May.
Dortmund was outclassed by Barcelona 4-0 in their quarterfinal first leg and bracing for another demonstration when the Spanish giant visits for the second leg on Tuesday.
In recent seasons, Der Klassiker has been key to deciding the league title. But Bayern’s main rival in the last couple of years has been Bayer Leverkusen – currently six points behind the Bavarian powerhouse with six games remaining.
After losing just two matches so far this season, Bayern are favourites to beat their rivals in Munich having taken a comfortable 3-1 win at in-form FC Augsburg last weekend, with top goalscorer Harry Kane hitting his 23rd goal of the season.
An injury crisis complicates the equation for Vincent Kompany ahead of Der Klassiker, however, with the loss of talismanic playmaker Jamal Musiala to a hamstring issue being just the latest blow. Dortmund are also picking up form, with an impressive 4-1 win at SC Freiburg taking the Black and Yellows up to eighth in the table and just five points outside of the top four.
Kovač has led BVB to four wins in their past six Bundesliga games, and only Bayern have scored more than their 15 goals in that period (16). With the tactically astute Kovač returning to the club he guided to a Bundesliga and DFB Cup double in 2018/19, everything is set for a dramatic showdown in Munich.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will hope to have increased the pressure on Bayern before kick-off in Der Klassiker with a win at home to FC Union Berlin on Saturday afternoon that would cut the Bavarian’s lead at the top to three points for the time being. The reigning champions had to dig deep to snatch a 1-0 win at 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 thanks to a winning goal from substitute Emiliano Buendía in stoppage time. Union, for their part, are unbeaten in four and have won three of those to open up a more comfortable 11-point gap over the bottom three.
Results last weekend have made the battle to finish in the top four even more fascinating, with third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt beaten 2-0 at SV Werder Bremen and fourth-placed FSV Mainz 05 held 1-1 at home by bottom-of-the-table Holstein Kiel.
The pair face sides in the lower reaches of the table on Matchday 29, with Mainz away at 14th-placed TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday and Frankfurt at home to Heidenheim, currently 16th, on Sunday.
Should Mainz fail to win, two teams could potentially dislodge them from the top four over the forthcoming matchday. RB Leipzig boosted their European qualification ambitions by taking a 3-1 win over Hoffenheim in the first Bundesliga match under the charge of interim coach Zsolt Lőw.
That win moved Leipzig within a point of Mainz, and they will move into the top four on Friday night, at least, if they can land a win at VfL Wolfsburg in the opening encounter of the matchday. Wolfsburg are hoping to lift themselves up from 12th spot in the remainder of the season under Ralph Hasenhüttl, who was once Lőw’s boss at Leipzig.
Sixth-placed Borussia Mönchengladbach have a potentially pivotal European battle ahead on Saturday against seventh-placed Freiburg. Gladbach were held to a 1-1 draw at FC St. Pauli but remain well placed, just two points behind Mainz.
Augsburg may be down in 11th but are not out of the European running yet with seven points to make up on fourth place. After seeing their club-record 11-game unbeaten run ended by Bayern, they will want to win at VfL Bochum 1848 on Saturday to maintain those hopes, however, with the hosts eager to get points on the board to lift them out of the bottom two.
A win for either ninth-placed VfB Stuttgart or Werder Bremen in 10th will also aid their European ambitions. Those two clash on Sunday in Stuttgart, with Ermedin Demirović set to go on the goal hunt again for the hosts after his hat-trick in the 4-0 win at Bochum last weekend.