Tag: Bayern Munich

Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich can secure a 34^th  German league crown tomorrow  at RB Leipzig, having opened up an eight-point advantage with three games left, while Borussia Dortmund are desperate for a top-four finish to rescue their season.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany is on the brink of reclaiming the Bundesliga title for the German record champions in his first season in charge, a year after Bayer Leverkusen won a surprise league and Cup double.

The Bavarians are on 75 points, with Leverkusen in second with 67 before travelling to fourth-placed Champions League hopefuls Freiburg on Sunday.

Bayern’s top scorer Harry Kane, looking to land the first title of his career, is suspended for the game.

His team will win the title if they beat fifth-placed Leipzig or at least match Leverkusen’s result against Freiburg, who have 51 points. Even if Bayern and Leverkusen both lose, the Bavarians will win the title.

With the top two spots wrapped up, at least five teams are in with a fighting chance for a top-four finish that leads to automatic Champions League qualification next season.

Eintracht Frankfurt, who face European hopefuls Mainz 05 on Sunday, are third on 55 points, with a four-point gap to Freiburg, and almost certain of a Champions League spot.

Dortmund, sixth with 48 points and three behind Freiburg, have endured a rollercoaster domestic season and from early title contenders are battling to secure a Champions League place to rescue something from an otherwise disappointing campaign.

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The Ruhr Valley club host VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday.

Dortmund have won four of their last five Bundesliga matches, with coach Niko Kovac and his players confident they can still finish in the top four.

“What has characterised us in the past weeks is that everyone wants the success of the team,” said Dortmund defender Waldemar Anton. “That is how we got our belief back.

“We just kept at it and that is why I am happy that we are still in with a realistic chance.”

At the other end of the table it could be curtains for bottom club VfL Bochum if they lose Friday’s relegation battle at Heidenheim, who are four points above them in 16th place and sit in the relegation playoff spot.

Bayern Munich will secure the Bundesliga title tomorrow with a win over top four hopefuls Mainz 05 if rivals and reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen fail to beat Augsburg.

The Bavarians, who last year saw Leverkusen clinch a league and Cup double undefeated, are eager to seal their 34^th  German league crown and re-establish their domestic dominance.

It would also help put last week’s bitter Champions League quarter-final exit to Inter Milan behind them.

For 31-year-old forward Harry Kane, who has scored 60 goals in his 60 Bundesliga matches for Bayern so far, it would be the first major club trophy of his career, having failed to lift any silverware with Tottenham Hotspur or England.

With 24 league goals so far, Kane is also on track to become the first player to win the top scorer title in both of his first two Bundesliga seasons.

Bayern are on 72 points with four matches left to play, and with Leverkusen second on 64.

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For 35-year-old Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, who will be leaving at the end of the season after 25 years at the club, it could be his 500^th  league game for Bayern.

Only three other players in Bundesliga history have ever reached that mark playing for just one club: Charly Koerbel (602 games for Eintracht Frankfurt), Manfred Kaltz (581 matches for Hamburg SV) and Michael Lameck (518 for VfL Bochum).

While Bayern’s title win looks all but certain and Leverkusen are sure of Champions League football next season being 12 points ahead of third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, there is a battle raging for the last two spots in the top continental club competition.

The top four finishers qualify automatically for the Champions League.

Eintracht, third on 52 points, host fourth-placed RB Leipzig, on 49, on Saturday. Freiburg, on 48, are fifth.

Mainz, sixth on 47 points, and seventh-placed Borussia Dortmund on 45, are still in with a chance, albeit slim, of finishing in the top four.

Dortmund, who travel to Hoffenheim on Saturday, have had a disappointing domestic campaign, dropping outside of the European spots.

Failure to qualify for the Champions League, a competition in which they reached the final last year, would be a major financial and sporting blow to the publicly-traded Ruhr valley club.

But club bosses know that the horror scenario would be missing out on European football completely next season.

Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich will look to continue their prolific scoring run away from home when they visit St Pauli on Saturday, with the Bavarians having netted more than four times on average on their travels in the league this season.

Coach Vincent Kompany said on Friday he did not know why his team was so effective on the road but he hoped it would continue on Saturday.

“Good question. Honestly I don’t know why that is,” Kompany told a press conference. “I don’t think we differentiate too much between away games and home games. Obviously it is extra motivation to play in our Allianz Arena.”

“But we have also played a lot of matches on the road. Our plan does not change whether we play against St Pauli away or at home,” he said.

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“Maybe that is the reason we have scored so much. Maybe it is the opponents changing their plans. We have prepared for what we have seen and we hope it will work on the day.”

Undefeated Bayern, in top spot on 23 points and three ahead of RB Leipzig in second place, have scored 22 of their total 32 goals in their five away matches in the league this season.

They beat Benfica 1-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday but Kompany said his players would be ready to go again on Saturday despite their busy match schedule.

“My players will be fresh on Saturday. I have the feeling the team is fresh mentally and physically even though we did not have a lot of time to recover,” Kompany said.

Bayern Munich travel to bogey side Eintracht Frankfurt tomorrow looking to rebound having dropped points twice in the space of a week.

The Bavarians opened the season under Vincent Kompany with six straight wins, but were held to a 1-1 draw at home by champions Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday and then lost 1-0 at Aston Villa in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Frankfurt’s excellent start to the season means they sit just one point behind Bayern, who sit atop the Bundesliga table.

Bayern’s recent history with Frankfurt is remarkably even. In their past seven games each side have won three, with one draw.

In the corresponding fixture last season, Frankfurt dealt the previously unbeaten Bayern a telling blow, winning 5-1 to expose the vulnerabilities in a side which finished the season trophy-less.

The duels have been as unpredictable as they have been entertaining, often with off-field consequences.

Frankfurt upset Munich 3-1 to lift the German Cup in 2018 – after which Bayern poached Eagles’ coach Niko Kovac.

Kovac’s time at Bayern was an unhappy one however and eventually came to an end in November 2019, after Frankfurt unleashed a 5-1 thrashing on the German giants.

In the 14 clashes since that cup final, one side has scored five or more goals seven times.

While Bayern’s status as Germany’s big cheese is unquestioned, Frankfurt have quietly improved on and off the park in recent decades.

Bayern and Frankfurt are the only two German sides to have won a European trophy this century.

Frankfurt have played in three of the past eight German Cup finals, the same as Bayern and one more than powerhouses Borussia Dortmund.

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The sides’ two top goalscorers are also neck and neck. Frankfurt’s Omar Marmoush leads the league with six goals, followed by Harry Kane who has five.

Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmoeller said Wednesday “we know it’s a top game on paper, but we’re also aware of the kind of task that awaits us.”

 “We’ve now earned the right to have an absolute top game ahead of us in the Bundesliga.”

Elsewhere, Dortmund face Union Berlin in the German capital today.

After a tumultuous year where they faced Real Madrid and Napoli in the Champions League but only avoided relegation on the final day, new manager Bo Svensson has made Union stable again.

Bayern Munich could end the weekend 10 points off the top of the Bundesliga after dropping points against Freiburg.

Christian Gunter fired the mid-table hosts into a lead with a fine 20-yard strike.

Bayern thought they had turned it around through Mathys Tel’s excellent curling effort and Jamal Musiala’s placed shot after a solo run.

But Lucas Holer struck an 87th-minute volley to snatch a point for the hosts.

Bayern are now seven points behind unbeaten leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who visit Cologne in their game in hand on Sunday.

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It could spell the end of the Munich outfit’s decade of total dominance in German football. They have won a record 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles.

Their poor season has already led to the news Thomas Tuchel will leave his role as head coach at the end of the season.

If Bayern fail to beat Lazio on Tuesday in the Champions League last-16 second leg – they lost the first tie 1-0 in Rome – they are likely to end the season without any silverware.