BVB, FCB on track before showdown
Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich both won their games on matchday 29 and the gap between them is three points heading into Wednesdays showdown in Signal-Iduna-Park. Kaiserslautern´s last hope not to relegate has been vanished and Stuttgart took a stand in the race for Europa League.
Dortmund´s players celebrating in Wolfsburg.
Borussia Dortmund is still leading FC Bayern Munich by three points heading into matchday 30 of German Bundesliga. BVB defeated VFL Wolfsburg on their home grounds with 3-1. BVB is unbeaten in 23 games straight in Bundesliga.
Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gündogan have scored the first two goals but Mario Mandzukic made things interesting again as he shortened the lead in minute 61. The tension was rising as VFL started to scare BVB over the last half an hour but again Lewandowski came for the knockout in the last minute.
FC Bayern won their home game against Augsburg with 2-1 having their problems with the promoted team. Mario Gomez however scored twice to secure his team the win. The gap between Germany´s best two teams at the moment is only three points and the big showdown is right ahead. #
On Wednesday in Signal-Iduna-Park the two will clash for a preliminary decision of the title. Dortmund would have a six-point-lead in case of a victory. But FCB would take over first place due to a better goal difference if they could win in Dortmund. At 8 pm the encounter of the year in Germany will take place.
FC Schalke 04 defeated Hanover with 3-0 on Sunday and they have a five-point-lead towards Gladbach as Lucien Favre´s team only draw against Hertha BSC Berlin. The direct Champions League qualification is all but safe for S04.
On Wednesday they will encounter 1. FC Nuremberg. “The club” was leading 2-0 in the game against Freiburg on Saturday but managed to give away the game ending up chopping the points with their direct rival. Nuremberg and Freiburg both have 32 points and their relegation struggle is all but over.
Gladbach plays Werder Bremen on Tuesday. The fourth place should be secured as their lead is nine points towards fifth place. Bremen on the other hands desperately need points as they were unable to win against Cologne this weekend, ending in a 1-1.
The fight for Europa-League-places in chart is a close one as Stuttgart have 43 points, Leverkusen 41, Hanover 41, Bremen 41 and Wolfsburg have 40. Stuttgart crushed Mainz 05 with 4-1 this weekend enabling themselves to have the best shot at position five in chart at the moment.
On Tuesday Stuttgart will have to face Augsburg. FCA are only one point away from position 16 in chart, desperately needing the points against Stuttgart. Hanover 96 is going to play against a direct rival as VFL Wolfsburg is coming to the AWD-Arena.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen and new head coach Sami Hyypiä only chopped the points in Hamburg (1-1) but will face 1. FC Kaiserslautern on Wednesday. FCK is all but relegated being ten points behind position 15 in chart. They might be just what Leverkusen ordered to get back on track.
Hamburg will face Hoffenheim on their home grounds on Wednesday. Hoffenheim have not won at home in nine games and HSV´s best performances this season all were on foreign grounds. HSV is still in a lot of trouble with 31 points and position 14 in chart.
16th placed 1. FC Cologne are only two points behind Thorsten Fink´s team and with a victory over Mainz on Tuesday they could leave the lower three ranks of the chart. A true relegation fight is expected in Cologne as both teams need to score.
