By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
With the Bundesliga racing towards a dramatic conclusion, all eyes are now fixed no this weekend matches that promises great drama at both ends of the table and for those teams battling for the European places.
For division leaders and record champions FC Bayern München, the prize of this season’s Meisterschale trophy awarded to the Bundesliga champions is now within touching distance. Vincent Kompany’s side boast an eight-point lead over nearest rivals Bayer 04 Leverkusen and should the Bavarians emerge victorious from Saturday’s encounter at RB Leipzig, it will be Bundesliga title number 33 for Bayern.
A 3-0 win against European hopefuls 1. FSV Mainz 05 last weekend that came thanks to goals from Leroy Sané, Michael Olise and Eric Dier was celebrated fondly at the Allianz Arena in Munich. However, one sour note arrived when Harry Kane picked up a fifth yellow card of the campaign, meaning the Bundesliga’s leading scorer with 24 goals will be suspended for his team’s potentially title-winning trip to Saxony.
Kane has yet to win a major team trophy in what has otherwise been a stellar career for England’s all-time top marksman, yet the 31-year-old was philosophical when asked about his upcoming absence in Leipzig. “It’s kind of my story that I’ll miss the Leipzig game. But no worries, I’ll celebrate more than anyone else [if we win],” the Bayern striker noted.
Leipzig’s incentive to stop Bayern is significant, with Zsolt Lőw’s men still very much in the running for a top-four Bundesliga nish and eager to end a run of two games without a victory. Should Die Roten Bullen manage to upset their prestigious opponents, Leverkusen would close the gap by taking maximum points from their trip to face SC Freiburg on Sunday. If Bayern fail to win the day before, only a win would do for Xabi Alonso’s team to stay in contention to retain their title, at least for one more week.
However, any victory for the Werkself will be hard to come by against a Freiburg side whose morale is high after winning their last three games and who are sitting pretty in fourth place as a result. A spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League is very much the goal for the high- ying out t from the Black Forest.
Speaking of lofty ambitions, Eintracht Frankfurt have their own aims of joining the European elite and with the Eagles looking more comfortable than ever in third place in the Bundesliga after an eye-catching 4-0 win against Leipzig last weekend, the men from Mainhatten are edging ever nearer to sealing their spot on this season’s podium. Mainz, Eintracht’s opponents on Sunday, once looked on course for just that fate up until recently, however, a run of six straight games without a victory has seen the 05ers slip outside the European spots.
Heading in the opposite direction, Borussia Dortmund’s rise up the table under coach Niko Kovač has been highly impressive and a last-gasp win against TSG Hoffenheim last time out made it four victories in their last ve unbeaten matches in the Bundesliga for the Black-and-Yellows. With the likes of Serhou Guirassy, Julian
Brandt and Karim Adeyemi – among others – purring right now, the BVB machine has motored up to sixth and is showing no signs of stopping. Out-of-form VfL Wolfsburg will have been duly warned ahead of their visit to the Signal Iduna Park this Saturday.
Matchday 32 kicks o with what is set to be a fascinating tussle between 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 and the Bundesliga’s basement side, VfL Bochum 1848. With a dramatic victory away against VfB Stuttgart last time out, this week’s hosts Heidenheim currently sit in 16th, which is the relegation/promotion play-o position; and with Frank Schmidt’s team just four points ahead of their weekend opponents, it’s all to play for at the Voith-Arena under the Friday-night lights. No doubt second-from-bottom Holstein Kiel – away to FC Augsburg this week –will be keen viewers.