A point separates FC Bayern from BVB, there hasn’t been more excitement in the title race for a long time. The relegation battle is also exciting. Everything you need to know about the 33rd match day of the Bundesliga.
A point separates FC Bayern from Borussia Dortmund, so much excitement in the title race has not been for a long time. The relegation battle is also exciting. There is now the time of the great trembling. Everything you need to know about the 33rd match day of the Bundesliga.
SC Freiburg – VfL Wolfsburg (Friday, 8.30 p.m.)
In Freiburg they are playing their best season since the three-point rule was introduced in 1995, according to the statistics. The SC already has 56 points, Freiburg has never been worse than sixth place since the third matchday. At the end of the season they will be at least fifth place in the Bundesliga, so they will start in the Europa League next season. In theory, qualifying for the Champions League is also possible, but everything really has to fit for that.
Freiburg would have to win both games, and at the same time RB Leipzig (3rd place, 60 points) or 1. FC Union Berlin (4th place, 59 points) would have to make a mistake. It’s not out of the question, but it’s also not very likely – especially since SC Freiburg’s next opponent is VfL Wolfsburg (from 8:20 p.m. live in the audio stream on sportschau.de). In the first half of the season, Freiburg lost 0:6, it was the heaviest defeat in the era of coach Christian Streich, who has been in office since January 2012.
In Wolfsburg, on the other hand, they will fondly remember the end of the first half of the season. It was the Wolfsburg public holidays: Lower Saxony won their last two games against Freiburg and Hertha BSC, scoring eleven goals and conceding none. If Niko Kovac’s team can build on that, if they win both games again, then VfL will most likely play in Europe next season.
Hertha BSC – VfL Bochum (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
Hertha is afraid. The club is bottom of the table (25 points), five points behind Schalke 04 in relegation place 16. now only wins help. Anything other than a win against Bochum would be tantamount to direct relegation. And the relegation would have consequences, even the licensing for the 2nd division seems to be in danger.
“You have to make something positive out of the negative”, says Hertha’s coach Pal Dardai. If there is anything that could still give Hertha hope, it might be the home games. Hertha has lost five of the last six league games, the only win came in the last home game against Stuttgart. Home games suit the Berliners, so they got five of their only six wins this season, 20 out of 25 points. And they won against the competition from Schalke, Augsburg and Stuttgart.
Bochum, that is the hope at Hertha, should become the next club in this series (from 3.20 p.m. live in the audio stream at sportschau.de). But of course they have other plans at VfL. Bochum is 15th in the table. into matchday 33 (31 points) and they could even stay up there if Schalke lose and Hoffenheim or Stuttgart don’t win at the same time.
FC Schalke 04 – Eintracht Frankfurt (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
The mood before a football game could hardly be more different. Frankfurt has just ended a negative series and can therefore dream of Europe before the game against Schalke 04 (from 3.20 p.m. live in the audio stream on sportschau.de). Because Eintracht meets RB Leipzig in the cup final, which has already qualified for Europe via the Bundesliga, seventh place in Frankfurt would be enough for the playoffs in the Europa Conference League. And with a victory in the cup final, they would even have qualified for the Europa League.
They are spheres that they can only dream of at Schalke: 16th place, 30 points. Fear of relegation is rife in Gelsenkirchen. Schalke are certainly not encouraged by the 6-0 loss in Munich last weekend or Marius Bülter’s yellow card suspension, but perhaps the home record is encouraging. In the second half of the season, Schalke only lost one of seven home games, most recently they won twice in a row at their own stadium.
TSG Hoffenheim – 1. FC Union Berlin (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
At Union they are playing a record season: 59 points and 17 wins of the season – these are club records in the Bundesliga. There are still two games to play. 1. FC Union, fourth in the table with a three-point lead over SC Freiburg in fifth place, has a good chance of qualifying for the Champions League. But the trainer Urs Fischer says: “Let’s talk about it when the time comes. I’m not interested in the subjunctive.”
It would be a premiere for Union – and for German football too. A club from the Bundesliga has never before managed to qualify for all three current European competitions, the Europa Conference League, the Europa League and the “premier class”. In Sinsheim, the home of TSG Hoffenheim, they have completely different worries before the game against Union (from 3.20 p.m. live in the audio stream on sportschau.de).
Hoffenheim has lost three of the last four league games and is 14th in the table. Only two points separate the club from relegation rank 16 and three from a direct relegation zone. And now comes the 1. FC Union Berlin. TSG has rarely looked good against the Berliners recently: the club has not won any of the past five duels.
Werder Bremen – 1. FC Köln (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
Of course they have problems at 1. FC Köln, the end of Jonas Hector’s career is one thing, the impending transfer ban is another. But at least they know at FC that they can offer Bundesliga football again in the 2022/23 season. Cologne is a good tenth in the table (41 points) and has nothing to do with the relegation battle. And they have that advantage over their next opponent.
Werder Bremen is twelfth in the table (35 points), five points ahead of Schalke in relegation rank 16, and the club also has the better goal difference. But also bad memories of Cologne: Bremen lost 7-1 in the first leg, and the club only conceded more goals once in the Bundesliga. When they meet again (from 3.20 p.m. live in the audio stream on sportschau.de), Bremen may also be able to make amends.
Bremen would be saved with a win in the second leg, with a draw relegation would still be theoretically possible. But can you imagine Werder losing the goal difference that is 22 goals better than Schalke on two matchdays? And if the rivals Schalke or Bochum don’t win at the same time or even lose, Bremen could even celebrate relegation in the event of their own defeat.
Bayern Munich – RB Leipzig (Saturday, 6.30 p.m.)
So while Saturday afternoon is all about the relegation battle, the focus in the evening is on the championship. Before the home game against Leipzig (from 6:20 p.m. live in the audio stream on sportschau.de), FC Bayern is one point ahead of pursuer Borussia Dortmund. So Bayern could celebrate the title this weekend, they would have to win against Leipzig and BVB would have to lose against Augsburg the day after.
But Leipzig is an unpleasant opponent, RB recently won five out of six competitive games. Since the coach in Leipzig has been called Marco Rose since September, the club has only scored two points fewer than Bayern in the Bundesliga. So it’s a duel at eye level, says the statistics. And somehow not.
Because Bayern haven’t lost against Leipzig for a long time, most recently almost five years ago, when the coach at RB wasn’t named Rose for a long time, but Ralph Hasenhüttl. Since then, FC Bayern have remained unbeaten in eleven matches against Leipzig (six wins, five draws). And at home, Bayern Munich has never lost to RB Leipzig at all.
1. FSV Mainz 05 – VfB Stuttgart (Sunday, 3.30 p.m.)
Back to the relegation battle, VfB Stuttgart is also in it. Before the game against 1. FSV Mainz 05 (from 3:20 p.m. live in the audio stream on sportschau.de), Stuttgart is in direct relegation place 17 (29 points), one point missing to Schalke 04 in the relegation rank, two to VfL Bochum in rank 15 Against Mainz (9th place, 45 points), who are still hoping for a place in Europe, VfB can only win if they win.
The Stuttgarters could be encouraged by the so-called Hoeneß table: since the club’s coach was named Sebastian Hoeneß, VfB has only lost one of six Bundesliga games. During that period, only seven teams were more successful. Only a season does not have six games, but 34. And away games are also part of it. This is not good news for VfB Stuttgart.
Stuttgart has only won one away game this season. That was the case last season when Stuttgart managed to stay up. Not in the 2018/19 season (also only one win in foreign stadiums). And now? If things go really badly, VfB will be relegated on the 33rd match day: defeat in Mainz with victories for Bochum and Schalke and a point for Hoffenheim – then it would be certain, VfB Stuttgart’s fourth relegation.
FC Augsburg – Borussia Dortmund (Sunday, 5.30 p.m.)
Perhaps they will remember the days of May long past in Dortmund these days. Before the 33rd matchday of the Bundesliga, BVB is in second place, one point behind leaders Bayern. In Dortmund they would like to swap places with Bayern.
It’s a constellation with which they have already had good experiences in Dortmund: In the 1994/95 season, BVB only took first place on the last day of the game, in the 2001/02 season on the penultimate day – and in the end the champions came from Dortmund .
Now BVB is going to Augsburg to FCA, who are 13th in the table. four points ahead of the relegation place, but still needs points to ensure relegation. It’s a Dortmund away game and that’s not really good news for anyone who supports BVB. Most recently, coach Edin Terzic’s team has not won any of their four away games.
Bayer Leverkusen – Borussia Moenchengladbach (Sunday, 7.30 p.m.)
In the Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen has finished in the top four six times in the past ten seasons, but that won’t happen this season. But the chances of taking part in a European competition are still not bad: If Leverkusen win the Europa League, they will even start in the Champions League next season. And Bayer can also qualify for the Europa League or the Europa Conference League via the league.
But for that Leverkusen would have to score, if possible three times against Gladbach (from 7.20 p.m. live in the audio stream at sportschau.de). But they recently had difficulties with winning at Bayer. The club did not leave the field as winners three times in a row after a Bundesliga game. As a result, Leverkusen have slipped to seventh place in the table behind VfL Wolfsburg.