By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
League leaders FC Bayern München are on the brink of breaking the all-time Bundesliga goalscoring record as they head into Matchday 29 over the weekend.
Bayern’s 100th goal of the season so far was netted in sensational style last Saturday as 18-year-old starlet Lennart Karl scored deep into added time to seal a 3-2 comeback win at SC Freiburg. Should Vincent Kompany’s charges score two goals or more at FC St. Pauli on Saturday evening, they would break the previous record of 101 goals in a season set by Bayern back in 1971-72 – and with five games to spare.
A win would also take Bayern an important step closer to retaining the title, given their nine-point advantage over second-placed Borussia Dortmund. St. Pauli are eager for points, though, to climb away from 16th and the play-off spot, with 1. FC Köln two points ahead.
Dortmund are showing no signs of giving up on their faint title chances, having taken an impressive 2-0 win in equally late fashion at in-form VfB Stuttgart last Saturday. They now host top-four contenders Bayer 04 Leverkusen in an appealing Saturday afternoon encounter.
Stuttgart’s defeat allowed RB Leipzig to move up to third with a 2-1 win at SV Werder Bremen. They could further boost their hopes of claiming a top-four finish with another good result at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday afternoon.
TSG Hoffenheim are three points behind Stuttgart and Leipzig in fifth but have a chance to put pressure on the other top-four contenders if they can win the Matchday 29 opener at FC Augsburg on Friday evening.
Stuttgart, for their part, are at home to Hamburger SV in one of three clashes on Sunday.
The first match on Sunday afternoon is a big encounter at the bottom of the table, as Köln in 15th host Werder, who are a single point and position ahead of them. The hosts have renewed optimism after battling to a 2-2 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt in their first outing under interim coach René Wagner.
The weekend’s action concludes at the MEWA Arena as 1. FSV Mainz 05, who have raced up the table in recent weeks to now sit ninth, host Freiburg just a place and four points ahead.
Both teams are in continental action either side of this fixture as the pair compete in their first-ever European quarter-finals in the UEFA Conference League and UEFA Europa League respectively.