As seasons across Europe approach the business end of the season, there’s much left to be decided in the remaining fixtures in German football’s Bundesliga. A door is ajar in the title race, while the remaining European places are still up for grabs with minimal points separating the various clubs with continental aspirations.
At the other end of the table, four teams battle it out for safety as relegation looms – a crushing end to their struggling seasons so far this term. As the end of the season continues to close in, Total Football Analysis takes a look at what’s left to play for across the table…
Title Race Aspirations
Bayern Munich entered the 2021-22 season looking to win the German first division Bundesliga for an incredible record tenth time in a row. Not since Borussia Dortmund in 2011-12 has there been a different league champion to Bayern Munich, and this hasn’t been close to changing in recent years.
With just four losses this season, the Bayern Munich train doesn’t look to be slowing down. They sit top of the Bundesliga with a six-point gap in front of ever-present contenders Borussia Dortmund, with both teams having almost identical form going into the final stages of the season.
With Bayern Munich’s recent record, it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest that a six-point gap at this stage of the season would call curtains on any Dortmund hopes of a title upset. It also wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest that – irrelevant to Dortmund’s end of season form – Bayern Munich have the firepower to go all the way to the win.
That said, on 23rd April both sides will face each other in a fixture that has the potential to blow the title race wide open. If Bayern Munich wins, the title is all but concluded; however, a Dortmund win would close the gap to three points should each team win their next three – leaving the final three games of the season pressure loaded for both sides.
The Fight for the Top 4
The race for Champions League qualification is really heating up as the end of the season approaches. Currently, beneath the ever-present Bayern Munich at the top of the table, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, and RB Leipzig hold the three remaining coveted places for a ticket for next season’s Champions League.
With three wins in their last five games, Dortmund are sitting comfortably with a 12 point cushion to fifth-placed Freiburg, and will be eyeing up the opportunity to improve on a poor campaign in 2021/22. Despite continental qualification all but secured, losses to those teams around them, such as Leipzig and Freiburg, severely hampered a title challenge.
Beneath Borussia Dortmund and well within a fight for the remaining two Champions League places are Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, Freiburg, and Hoffenheim. With just four points separating the four teams vying for just two remaining places, getting results in the final fixtures of the season is crucial.
Freiburg will be all too aware of their remaining fixtures as Bayern Munich come to visit, with no other team set to play the German giants until next season. Meanwhile, Leverkusen and Hoffenheim are still to play a side adrift at the bottom of the table in SpVgg Greuther Fürth.
Away from the top and bottom of the table, it’s RB Leipzig who’ll feel that their European destiny is in their own hands as they’re set to play both Leverkusen and Hoffenheim. With Leipzig boasting a slight edge in recent performances in Europe, they’ll be hoping that this gives them an edge in what will be crucial fixtures for each team.
Which team will make the big stage as the fight for top-4 hots up? Place a £10 bet on RB Leipzig to double up on their opponents and beat both Leverkusen and Hoffenheim, and receive £50 in Free Bets.
Relegation Worries Reviewed
SpVgg Greuther Fürth seem to be cut adrift at the bottom of the table with their fate of playing second division football all but sealed as they sit 11 points from safety. For the remaining automatic relegation place, just one point separates four teams as Arminia Bielefeld, Hertha Berlin, Augsburg, and Stuttgart battle for their Bundesliga future.
When fighting for your future, one place you don’t wish to visit is top of the table – and that’s exactly where Ausburg, Arminia, and Stuttgart will be heading with all three teams yet to play leaders Bayern Munich.
Stuttgart will certainly feel the walls closing in the most though, as not only are they to play Bayern Munich, but they’ll also host a flying Dortmund team who look comfortably set for European football next season. With their focus on European qualification, Borussia Dortmund will unknowingly play a significant role in determining who will be relegated to the second division as they end the season against battling visitors from the capital Hertha Berlin.
Hertha will be hoping that they’ll be able to rescue their season, as they’ve not been relegated from the first division since their second division championship win in 2013. After showing some promise in the last few seasons, including brief appearances in European football, relegation at this stage would be a travesty for the German Capital residents.
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Relegation Play-Off
As Arminia, Hertha Berlin, Augsburg, and Stuttgart battle to escape the drop, for one of the unfortunate teams who’ll fall into a relegation place there’s an opportunity for redemption.
In German football, relegation isn’t as straightforward as it may seem, with the highest placed team in the bottom three given the opportunity to ‘play-off’ for their place in the division in a one-off fixture. This fixture will see that team play against the third-placed side in the division below in a final-like occasion. This will finally determine which side plays in the Bundesliga in the following season.
In 2. Bundesliga, there are just five points to separate five teams at the top of the table who are fighting for promotion, as Nurnberg have charged their way into promotion contention in fifth place with four wins in their last five matches. With the automatic promotion places currently held by FC St. Pauli, and Werder Bremen, Nuremberg will need to leapfrog both Schalke and Darmstadt in order to set up a potential meeting with one of the first division strugglers.
Those down at the bottom of the Bundesliga will be looking over their shoulders with apprehension as Nurnberg, Schalke and Weder Bremen boast recent Bundesliga experience that could prove invaluable should they make the play-off.
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