Berlin (dpa) – The next European Cup festivals are coming up. In the Champions League, the semi-finals start without champions FC Bayern, but there are still two Bundesliga teams in the Europa League.
Do Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig lay the foundation for a German final in their first legs? At the end of the week, the next preliminary decisions in the fight for promotion and relegation could be made.
Premier class semi-finals
In the semi-finals of the Champions League, English champions and leaders Manchester City will host Real Madrid on Tuesday (9 p.m. / Amazon Prime Video). For star coach Pep Guardiola and his Cityzens, the premier class should be even more important after the lost final last year than the tight championship race in the Premier League against Liverpool. Jürgen Klopp’s team, just one point behind City in the league, will play their semi-final first leg in Anfield on Wednesday (9 p.m. / DAZN) against the surprise team of the season: the Europa League winner and Bayern conqueror FC Villarreal.
Europe League
After the 3-2 coup at FC Barcelona, Eintracht Frankfurt is looking forward to the next Europa League evening. On Thursday (9 p.m. / RTL +) the semi-final first leg against West Ham United is in London. “Now there is no tiredness! Now there is joy, now there is enthusiasm, now it’s time for the finals,” said coach Oliver Glasner, whose team is weak in the Bundesliga. RB Leipzig received more than one reminder from Union before the semi-final first leg this Thursday (9 p.m.) against Glasgow Rangers. Tedesco wants to work through the 2-1 home defeat intensively via video “to clear our heads”. Then he gives his team a day off. Against the Scots he has to get his defense, which has to do without Willi Orban and Mohamed Simakan, tight.
Second division promotion race
FC Schalke 04 wants to forget the 4-1 humiliation against Werder Bremen on Friday evening (6:30 p.m. / Sky) with an away win at SV Sandhausen. “In Sandhausen we have the opportunity to do better,” announced offensive player Darko Churlinow. Around 7,000 fans want to accompany the Revierclub to Sandhausen, and the club officials are also looking forward to it. “As far as I’m concerned, we can start now,” said sporting director Rouven Schröder. League leaders Bremen (against Holstein Kiel) and SV Darmstadt 98 (against Erzgebirge Aue) also have supposedly easier opponents, while FC St. Pauli again has to compete in a top game this time with 1. FC Nürnberg.
Bundesliga relegation battle
Felix Magath with Hertha BSC can almost make it clear after two wins in a row against another direct rival. On Saturday (3.30 p.m. / Sky) the Berliners will be guests at the penultimate Arminia Bielefeld, on whom the team from the capital is already six points ahead. At the same time, VfB Stuttgart absolutely has to score points in the home game against VfL Wolfsburg in order to maintain a chance of staying up in the league and at least securing the relegation place.
Women’s premier class
After the 5-1 swatter at FC Barcelona, VfL Wolfsburg went into the semi-final second leg of the Champions League with virtually no chance of reaching the final. “Winning 5-1 or 6-1 against this Barça might not be entirely realistic,” admitted manager Tommy Stroot. The defending champion around world footballer Alexia Putellas is in a class of its own and wants to show this on Saturday (6 p.m. / DAZN). Nevertheless, the Bundesliga leaders and DFB Cup finalists are hoping for around 20,000 spectators after there was a world record crowd of 91,648 fans at the Camp Nou.