By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen confirmed their first-ever German top-flight title in magnificent style with a 5-0 victory against SV Werder Bremen last weekend, but if you think the Werkself will be putting their feet up from now until the end of the campaign, think again.
The newly crowned Bundesliga winners remain unbeaten after 29 league games this season – the first team to achieve such a feat – and reaching the finish line with zero losses on the clock is a goal that will drive Leverkusen right up to the campaign’s conclusion. A major obstacle in Bayer’s pursuit of attempting to complete that challenge could well come in the form of Borussia Dortmund. The Black-andYellows will exchange congratulatory words with their decorated opponents prior to kickoff at the Signal Iduna Park on Sunday, but the niceties will end there for a BVB team that are in the thick of their own top-four chase.
Edin Terzic’s outfit are fifth, level on points with RB Leipzig, who edge the race on goal difference with five to play. Victors at Borussia Mönchengladbach last weekend, Dortmund will point to the fact that they have won seven of their last eight games at home to Leverkusen – with an aggregate score total of 26-8 – as reasons for optimism.
With the weekend’s visitors to Dortmund aiming to match Borussia’s 2010 Bundesliga record of eight successive away triumphs, we have all the ingredients for a blistering match-up.
For FC Bayern München and VfB Stuttgart, meanwhile, the race to seal second spot is now very much one worth winning. Thomas Tuchel’s outgoing champions and Sebastian Hoeneß’s surprise side are locked together on 63 points, and it will be a battle to the last for that runners-up place – and potentially the right to compete in August’s Supercup. Bayern visit 1. FC Union Berlin, who have been slipping towards the relegation zone of late and who have not beaten the Bavarian giants in any of the teams’ nine meetings. Bayern forward Harry Kane will be keen to extend his lead at the top of the goalscoring charts, with his 32 top-flight goals currently seven more than second-placed Serhou Guirassy of Stuttgart.
The VfB striker – who now boasts a club-record 25 Bundesliga goals in a single season – has Werder in his sights this weekend. With the Green-Whites winless in seven and far from out of the woods in terms of relegation possibilities, they will have plenty to fret over at the Weserstadion, where, incredibly, this fixture has never failed to produce a goal.
The teams in the thick of the picture in terms of survival all meet in what looks to be a seismic weekend in and around the drop zone. Basement side SV Darmstadt 98 could be the first to wave goodbye to the Bundesliga, with the Lillies playing 1. FC Köln, who are a place and eight points above them. On the same Saturday, 14th-placed VfL Wolfsburg host VfL Bochum 1848, the latter just one position lower than the out-of-form Wolves.
With Wolfsburg showing just one victory in their last 14 games and Bochum winless in seven, something’s got to give at the Volkswagen Arena.
In the midst of all of this is an 1. FSV Mainz 05 side with momentum on their side following the recent appointment of tactician Bo Henriksen. The Dane has the 16th-placed 05ers firing with three wins in their last four games, the latest an impressive 4-1 comefrom-behind win against TSG Hoffenheim. Mainz travel to play SC Freiburg, themselves in the shake-up for European qualification, much like the aforementioned Leipzig, who are at 1. FC Heidenheim 1846. Fellow hopefuls for the continental competition next term, Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Augsburg get the Matchday 30 show going under the Fridaynight lights.