BERLIN (AP) — Five teams are fighting for Bundesliga survival with two rounds remaining while Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen are level before their high stakes Champions League qualification duel.
Hoffenheim also is making it a three-team race for fourth place and the last guaranteed qualification spot for the Champions League.
Germany may yet get five Champions League qualification spots depending on Freiburg’s international success. Freiburg faced a 2-1 deficit to Braga before the second leg of their Europa League semifinal on Thursday.
Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich was knocked out of the Champions League by defending champion Paris Saint-Germain in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Key matchups
Leverkusen visits Stuttgart on Saturday knowing a defeat or even a draw could allow Hoffenheim to take advantage with a win over relegation-threatened Werder Bremen at the same time.
Bremen is just above the relegation zone, one of the five teams still in danger.
Wolfsburg moved into the relegation playoff spot last weekend but next faces a visit from Bayern, which will hope to bounce back from its disappointment against PSG. Last-placed Heidenheim held Bayern to 3-3 between its two meetings with PSG, meaning the Bavarian powerhouse is on a three-game winless streak.
Second-from-bottom St. Pauli, which is winless in eight games, faces a daunting trip to third-placed Leipzig on Saturday. Leipzig can clinch Champions League qualification with a win.
Heidenheim will be hoping Wolfsburg and St. Pauli lose – preferably heavily – so it could potentially move into the relegation playoff spot with a win in Cologne on Sunday. But Cologne is not safe yet either.
Union Berlin fought back for its first point under new coach Marie-Louise Eta against Cologne last weekend. Union has a reunion with Mainz coach Urs Fischer on Sunday as Eta goes for her first win. Both teams are safe from relegation.
Players to watch
Bayern’s Lennart Karl made his return from a hamstring injury in the final minutes against PSG on Wednesday. The 18-year-old Karl should get more playing time in Wolfsburg to prove his fitness for Germany at the World Cup.
Patrik Schick is hitting form at just the right time for Leverkusen with his hat trick against Leipzig last weekend taking his tally to six goals in three games.
Harry Kane has 55 across all competitions including the German Supercup.
Heidenheim’s Budu Zivzivadze and Eren Dinkci scored at Bayern last weekend. If Frank Schmidt’s side does somehow pull off a great escape, it will be down in large part to his two forwards.
Who is out?
St. Pauli’s survival hopes have been dealt a blow by injuries to defenders Jannik Robatsch, Karol Mets und Manolis Saliakas likely ruling them out for the rest of the season.
Borussia Dortmund defender Ramy Bensebaini is out of the last two rounds against Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday and Bremen the following week with a foot injury. Coach Niko Kovač says his World Cup participation with Algeria is not in doubt.
Off the field
Bayern captain Manuel Neuer’s future remains uncertain as the club awaits the 40-year-old goalkeeper’s decision on whether he’ll play another year. He may well wait till the German Cup final — Bayern plays Stuttgart in Berlin’s Olympiastadion on May 23 — before deciding.
Defender Konrad Laimer’s contract with the club runs for another year. Talks over a new deal are ongoing and the player will likely have to rein in his expectations after comments from Bayern powerbroker Uli Hoeneß.
“He works incredibly hard for the team. But he’s not Maradona. And players like that have to accept there are limits,” Hoeneß said.
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