By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Borussia Dortmund travel to VfB Stuttgart looking to keep their title hopes alive on Friday, before leaders FC Bayern München respond against FC Augsburg and a mouth-watering Berlin derby on Saturday, while the European race hots up as RB Leipzig host TSG Hoffenheim in Sunday’s final game of an action-packed Matchday 29.
Second-place Dortmund start the weekend nine points off Bayern but can reduce that deficit to six – for the time being, at least – if they overcome Stuttgart.
Marco Rose’s side will be hoping that this is the weekend that Erling Haaland ends his four-game wait for a goal since returning from injury, while USA star Gio Reyna will be pushing for a place in the starting XI after being a second half substitute in the humbling 4-1 defeat to Leipzig last Saturday.
As for VfB, their American boss Pellegrino Matarazzo is hoping that his relegationthreatened team can continue their four-game unbeaten run, knowing that a loss could see them drop as low as second bottom.
Both Bayern and Augsburg will be watching Friday night’s game with interest.
For the hosts, they could end the weekend with a 12-point lead as they go in search of a record 10th successive Meisterschale, while Augsburg are looking to open more daylight to the bottom three, buoyed by victory over fellow strugglers VfL Wolfsburg last time out.
Having returned to training recently, Alphonso Davies is nearing a return to the Bayern squad for the first time since Matchday 17, while Ricardo Pepi in the opposition ranks is out to chalk up what would be a statement first Bundesliga goal.
The Bavarians are provisionally nine points clear of Borussia Dortmund with six matches remaining but last week’s 4-1 victory over Freiburg still hangs in the balance following an appeal over a substitution mix-up.
Should the German FA sports court award the game to Freiburg, as the rules stipulate, then Bayern’s lead would shrink to six points with a clash against Dortmund to come later this month.
Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann has rejected suggestions the mix-up, which saw Bayern play with 12 players for several seconds, and the subsequent Freiburg appeal have dampened the atmosphere in the dressing room.
But they looked far from their best when they lost 1-0 at Villarreal on Wednesday in the Champions League quarterfinal first leg.
Villarreal, who also hit the post, outclassed the Germans and were unlucky not to score more than one, putting the pressure firmly on Bayern for the return leg in Munich.
“We did not play the way we would have liked,” Bayern’s Thomas Mueller said. “No power in attack, very few chances.”
Mueller knows they need to switch gears even before next week’s return leg if they are not to risk their main goal of the season — winning the German championship.
Victory over Augsburg would also be Mueller’s 300th in the Bundesliga, a record for an outfield player.
“We will pull ourselves back and on Saturday we want to win in the Bundesliga and take it from there,” he said.
There is plenty more to play for on Saturday, with Wolfsburg taking on Arminia Bielefeld in a six-pointer at the bottom of the table and 1. FC Köln hosting 1. FSV Mainz 05 in a game with significant consequences on the fight for Europe. Bottom side SpVgg Greuther Fürth also face Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final of the 3.30pm CEST kick-offs, before the day’s action ends with a mouth-watering Berlin derby between second bottom Hertha Berlin and European hopefuls 1. FC Union Berlin.
On Sunday, the European race gains even more traction, with third-place Bayer Leverkusen starting things off with their trip to VfL Bochum 1848, before Eintracht Frankfurt take on SC Freiburg, with Die Adler able to move within three points of their fifth-placed visitors with victory.
Finally, a resurgent Leipzig have their eyes on catching Leverkusen when they go head-to-head with a Hoffenheim outfit that would move to within just one point of their hosts should they win.
Meanwhile, the stakes are also rising in Bundesliga 2 where table toppers SV Werder Bremen take their one-point lead to third-place FC St. Pauli. The promotion pack picks up again with FC Schalke 04 – fourth going into the weekend and two points back from Werder – hosting 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 and second-place SV Darmstadt 98 travelling to 1. FC Nürnberg.
Saturday’s fourth match turns its attentions to the other end of the table when FC Erzgebirge Aue play Hannover 96, while Matchday 29 starts with a Friday night double header: Fortuna Düsseldorf vs. F.C. Hansa Rostock, and SSV Jahn Regensburg vs. FC Ingolstadt 04.
Finally, Sunday’s three games look like this: Holstein Kiel vs. Hamburger SV, SC Paderborn 07 vs. Karlsruher SC and SV Sandhausen vs. SG Dynamo Dresden.