By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit:@bayer04_en.
The European qualifying spots as well as the relegation battle look set to go down to the wire as the Bundesliga enters its penultimate round with some nail-biting weekend fixtures in prospect.
FC Bayern München removed suspense from the title race some time ago, but the teams are bunching up to fill the top four behind the 2025-26 German title-winners and join Harry Kane & Co. in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
Borussia Dortmund are already certain of a top-four finish, and will secure second place if they win Friday’s Matchday 33 curtain-raiser at home to Eintracht Frankfurt. Should third placed RB Leipzig maintain or even plump up their four-point cushion at home to relegation-threatened FC St. Pauli on Saturday, they too will be in European club football’s premier competition next season.
But behind the top three, a trio are virtually neck-and-neck for Germany’s final guaranteed qualifying spot.
Following VfB Stuttgart and TSG Hoffenheim’s 3-3 draw last time out, Bayer 04 Leverkusen took advantage as they defeated Leipzig 4-1 to surge into fourth place. With all three now locked on 58 points, and their respective goal differences within +/-7 of each other, the upcoming 90 minutes will not be immediately decisive but will surely help tip the balance one way or another.
Fifth-placed Stuttgart host Leverkusen on Saturday when both sides will hope to strike a major blow to the other’s ambitions. If they cancel each other out, Hoffenheim – who currently have the worst goal difference of the three – will be optimistic of defeating struggling SV Werder Bremen and ease up from sixth to claim fourth place for themselves.
The ambitions of teams at the top of the table may make for difficult Saturdays for second-from-bottom Pauli and 15th-placed Bremen, though the latter could still find top flight survival assured regardless of how they fare. Along with 1. FC Köln a place ahead of them, Bremen are six points clear of VfL Wolfsburg in the relegation play-off spot, and the Wolves host Bayern on Saturday evening.
Dieter Hecking’s side could draw inspiration from 1. FC Heidenheim 1846, however, following the bottom side’s surprise 3-3 draw with the champions on Matchday 32 that was very nearly a shock win. Frank Schmidt’s men will certainly have boosted their own confidence with that point in Munich that keeps their survival hopes alive.
Just three points behind St. Pauli and Wolfsburg, who play each other at the Millerntor on the final day of the season, Heidenheim know two wins – starting in Cologne on Sunday and then at home to 1. FSV Mainz 05 next week – could see them finish 16th for the second successive season and grab a Bundesliga lifeline.
FC Schalke 04 are already guaranteed promotion back to the big time after three years away. They will come up as Bundesliga 2 champions, meaning it’s a case of three into one final automatic promotion spot. SV Elversberg (59 points), Hannover 96 and SC Paderborn 07 (both 58) all know a slip in their respective fixtures against Fortuna Düsseldorf (Sunday), VfL Bochum 1848 (Saturday) and Karlsruher SC (Friday) could prove fatal to their push for a coveted place in the Bundesliga.