Bundesliga focus turns to battle for European places, relegation

Berlin — Four Bundesliga teams are locked in a battle for two spots in next season’s Champions League, with Bayern Munich already crowned domestic title winners ahead of this weekend’s penultimate match day.

The Bavarians will enjoy their final home game against Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday, with the trophy handover and the traditional beer showers in front of their own fans.

It will also be a special occasion for 35-year-old club talisman Thomas Mueller, who will leave at the end of the season after 25 years, having not being offered a new contract.

A product of the Bayern youth teams, the attacking midfielder has made more than 500 Bundesliga appearances for the club since his debut in 2008, winning every major trophy, including a record 13 league titles, two Champions League crowns and two Club World Cups.

With Bayer Leverkusen, on 68 points, already assured of second spot, third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt (56), Freiburg (52), Borussia Dortmund (51) and RB Leipzig (50) go into the last two match days bidding for a top-four finish.

The top four teams advance to next season’s lucrative Champions League phase and Frankfurt can seal their spot with a win over St Pauli on Sunday that would protect their four-point advantage over Freiburg going into the final match of the season.

Freiburg travel to relegation-threatened Holstein Kiel on Saturday, but things are trickier for Dortmund, last season’s Champions League finalists.

The Ruhr Valley club, who have won five of their past six league games, travel to Leverkusen on Sunday, with the hosts seeking to end the season on a high in what could be the last home game for coach Xabi Alonso and talented midfielder Florian Wirtz.

Speculation regarding their departure at the end of the season has swirled for months, with Real Madrid among those clubs reportedly interested in Alonso. Wirtz has been linked with a move to Bayern.

Leipzig, who visit Werder Bremen on Saturday, have the worst cards of all four, with a three-game winless run in the league dropping them further down the pecking order late in the season.

The Saxony club have managed just three league wins in their last 11 matches.

At the other end of the table an equally bitter battle is raging with bottom club VfL Bochum, on 22 points, having not yet given up.

Kiel are 17th with 25 while Heidenheim, on 26, are in the relegation playoff spot in 16th.

Bochum need a home win against European hopefuls Mainz 05 on Saturday to have any chance of staying up after the final match day. Heidenheim travel to 13th-placed Union Berlin.

Reuters