So the Bundesliga reaches the final weekend with Bayern Munich preparing for their title winning party at the Allianz Arena. However elsewhere, there is still lots to play for with four teams in the hunt for the two Uefa Cup places.
Down at the bottom either Arminia Bielefeld or Nürnberg will be relegated on the final day of the season to join Hansa Rostock and Duisburg, who are already down.
This season’s Bundesliga has provided plenty of drama, excitement and fantastic football even though it has at times been a bit of a one-horse race. Bayern Munich will duly celebrate their title win with a party at the Allianz Arena, but Schalke and Werder behind them are still battling it out for the runners up spot.
Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburg, Wolfsburg, and Stuttgart are all on 51 points and will all believe they can grab one of the two available Uefa Cup places. Then at the bottom of the table Bielefeld and Nürnberg know that one of them will be relegated by the time their respective matches finishes. Bielefeld holds a slight two point advantage but anything could happen.
The final weekend looks set reproduce the drama and excitement of the rest of the season.
Nürnberg – Schalke
This really is the last-chance saloon for Nürnberg as they look to stage the great escape and keep their place in the Bundesliga. This season has been an unmitigated disaster for last season’s Cup winners and few would have predicted this kind of fall from grace.
The bringing in of new trainer Thomas von Heesen did not have the desired effect as the new man at the helm has struggled to stop the downward spiral of ‘der Club’. They now face a last-day make-or-break match with Schalke, who themselves still have a lot to play for.
Last weekend’s defeat to Hertha Berlin did the Franken no favours so they have to win on Saturday to have any chance of overhauling Bielefeld and saving themselves.
Schalke sit third and trail second place Werder Bremen by two points, so the Königsblauen are going to have to win and rely on Bayer Leverkusen beating Werder at the Bay-Arena. Another year has past without Schalke winning that elusive title, but finishing second, combined with their Champions League quarter final appearance, would put a more positive light on their season.
Bayer Leverkusen – Werder Bremen
Even though it is the last game of a very long season for both these sides, the three points are still extremely important. For a long while, Michael Skibbe’s up-and-coming young side were being touted as potential title contenders, but a slump after Christmas has seen them have to settle for a Uefa Cup battle. A few weeks ago they slipped out of the top five altogether, but now have one game to secure one of the two spots in Europe next season.
Four teams sit on 51 points at the moment but it could be argued that both Stuttgart and Hamburg have slightly easier matches and maybe hold the advantage. To miss out on Europe would be a huge disappointment to Bayer, and no doubt the calls for trainer Michael Skibbe’s head that were recently heard would resurface.
Werder will also be wondering what could have been after finishing neck and neck with Bayern Munich at the half way stage. A poor run of form directly after the winter break allowed the Bavarians to open up a lead which they have only extended since then.
Finishing second will still be a positive achievement for Werder and will spare them the qualification rounds in next season’s Champions League, which considering the trouble they had against Dinamo Zagreb earlier this season maybe just as well.
Bayern Munich – Hertha Berlin
So the 2007/08 Bundesliga season comes to an end on Saturday and the biggest party will be at the Allianz Arena where champions Bayern Munich will receive the league trophy. Receiving the “salad dish” at the end of the season is not a new experience for the Bavarians (this is the 20th time since 1964), but the feeling of joy will not be diminished because of that.
Alongside the celebrations, tributes will no doubt be paid to retiring legends Oliver Kahn and Ottmar Hitzfeld. ‘Titan’ Oliver Kahn is hanging up his gloves after a glittering career, while ‘the General’ Ottmar Hitzfeld is calling it a day as Bayern trainer to take on the Swiss national team job.
Both men have given an immense amount to the club and will no doubt be honoured in the suitable way.
Hertha play a rather second fiddle role really this weekend. The points are an irrelevance to them as they are safely ensconced in mid-table, and don’t expect too many crunching tackles to be flying around from the Berlin players.
Germany has been awarded an extra Uefa Cup place courtesy of the Uefa ‘Fair Play’ rankings, and as it stands Hertha would be the beneficiaries of that place so will want to avoid any unwanted yellow cards.
Stuttgart – Arminia Bielefeld
Another game of immense importance takes place at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion where both VfB and Bielefeld need the points for wholly differing reasons.
The Swabians are still in with a chance of rescuing a largely disappointing season for them by finishing in one of the Uefa Cup spots. At one stage it looked like they would be more likely to be fighting to avoid the bottom three than breaking into the top five, but a return to form aided by the goals of Mario Gomez has seem them within 90 minutes of qualifying for Europe.
It is still quite a climb down from last season’s title win though. On paper they face one of the easier opponents, but Bielefeld will be fighting for their lives as they look to maintain their two point lead over Nürnberg, that would secure their Bundesliga survival.
However the worst defence in the league will have to tighten up considerably if they are to stop Super Mario Gomez from adding to his 18 league goals this season and troubling Luca Toni for the leading scorer’s crown. What odds on a Gomez hat-trick?
Hannover – Energie Cottbus
With Hannover definitely out of the European race and Energie Cottbus definitely safe from the drop, both sides can relax a little at the AWD Arena in their final league outing of the campaign.
A win for the home side could see them finish as high as but Dieter Hecking and the Hannover fans are already looking to next season, where they will once again try to break into the top five and bring European football to Niedersachsen.
It will be a case of huge relief amongst the Cottbus players and fans after they secured their top flight survival last weekend. The celebrations afterwards were akin to actually winning something, and any hangover from that would be understandable.
Borussia Dortmund – Wolfsburg
Could this be Thomas Doll’s last game in charge at Dortmund? His reaction after the final whistle could be very revealing with the pressure still hanging over his head despite BVB being safe and knowing they have achieved Uefa Cup football next season.
However, finishing way down the table and only having a losing Cup final appearance to shout about is not considered good enough by a demanding home crowd. Granted the financial clout is not the same as the “big boys” but it seems Doll is the one who is going to take the rap, even though the board are insisting they retain faith in him.
Felix Magath has no such worries as he has taken Wolfsburg to the verge of snatching one of the two available Uefa Cup places. Last weeks 4-0 demolition of Stuttgart was a tremendous to watch as shows that the project that Magath started at the beginning of the season is already bearing fruit and next season could be a huge one for the ‘Wölfe’.
Rumours abound of the players coming in next season with the highest profile of them being Italians Barzagli and Zaccardo. That however will have to wait as Saturday is all about getting the three points and qualifying for Europe.
Hamburg – Karlsruhe
In spite of their recent poor form, Hamburg still find themselves in the race for a Uefa Cup spot and will have a great chance to secure it when the face Karlsruhe at the HSH Nordbank Arena on Saturday. KSC themselves are not the side they were earlier in the season with the fairy tale dying out but they will still look to make things difficult for the home side.
Taking HSV into Europe will be a wonderful parting gift from out-going trainer Huub Stevens, who is leaving at the season’s end to take over at PSV Eindhoven back in his homeland, where he can be closer to his wife.
Saturday’s game could also be the last time we see Rafael van der Vaart in a Hamburg shirt with a transfer to Italy or Spain still very much on the cards. If the rumours are true, then Vincent Kompany could also be saying farewell at the HSH Nordbank Arena this weekend.
Karlsruhe would dearly like to finish the season on a high after enjoying a very successful season back in the top flight, in which they have won numerous admirers for the effort and style.
Bochum – Hansa Rostock
Bochum are safe and Hansa are already down so the two sides can just go out and play without the pressure that is on the teams still with something to play for.
Bochum have achieved their main aim of staying in the Bundesliga and have shown signs this season that last year’s 8th place finish was no fluke and they are likely to be around in the top division for a while yet.
For their part Hansa have only a return to the second division to look forward to, but they will want to say farewell with a win, especially for their long suffering, but ever loyal fans.
Eintracht Frankfurt – Duisburg
The final match of the final round sees Eintracht Frankfurt looking to end their own awful run of results against already-relegated Duisburg.
Friedhelm Funkel’s side have lost six of their last seven matches and drawn the other, so are long overdue a win. Facing an already relegated club may well provide that win to give the fans at the Commerzbank Arena a positive result to take into the summer.
The Zebras however will return to second division after just one season in the Bundesliga.
Goal.com - Germany - Bundesliga Weekend Preview: Round 34