Dortmund have to score in advance
After having played the very last game of last week´s matchday Dortmund have to gain points in order to keep Bayern in distance in this matchday´s very first match on Friday night. Bayern will have to face Nuremberg on Saturday while HSV (place 16) and Kaiserslautern (18) encounter each other.
BVB coach Juergen Klopp could bring eight points between his team and FCB - at least for 24 hours.
Dortmund´s lead had shrunk to two points for the duration of 24 hours last week as Bayern had defeated Hanover with 2-0. On late Sunday BVB set the score as it was before. This weekend the current German champion has to gain points in advance as they face VFB Stuttgart on Friday night.
Dortmund is still unbeaten (21 games) but Stuttgart has the second best run in that department as VFB are unbeaten in five. The statistics over the last couple of years is balanced but Dortmund have won ten out of the last eleven league games and are on a roll. With a win against Stuttgart BVB could increase the lead towards Bayern to eight points – at least for almost 24 hours.
FC Bayern will face Nuremberg on Saturday afternoon on their home turf. Bayern are highly motivated and showed themselves in excellent condition over the last couple of weeks. They beat Marseille on Wednesday in Champions League in France with 2-0 which basically means they have semi-finals close to locked up.
Another match to watch will be the encounter of 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Hamburger SV. HSV is on free fall towards relegation currently sitting on position 16 and the pressure is building up in the northern German city. Kaiserslautern on the other hand are with their backs on the wall as well as it might be the last chance to keep the hope of staying in league one alive. A true relegation fight on the “Betzenberg” – as the stadium is called – should be expected.
Borussia Moenchengladbach and Schalke 04 which are both fighting for place 3 in chart have to play on Sunday. Gladbach will guest in Hanover and Schalke in Hoffenheim. S04 is all but out of Europa-League as they lost their home game against Atletic Bilbao (Quarterfinals) on Thursday with 2-4.
1. FC Augsburg and 1. FC Cologne will encounter on Saturday afternoon – another relegation fight to watch. Augsburg is unbeaten in five and highly motivated to put some distance between themselves and the lower three ranks of the chart.
SV Werder Bremen will have to play against Mainz 05, Bayer 04 Leverkusen receives SC Freiburg and VFL Wolfsburg will have to visit Germany´s capital on Saturday night to play Hertha BSC Berlin.
