By Rich

​Philipp Förster is a 28-year-old midfielder for VfL Bochum 1848. Förster was born on February 4, 1995 in Bretten, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for Karlsruher SC and VfB Stuttgart until 2014. He began his senior career in the Regionalliga Südwest with Waldhof Mannheim in 2014, where he made 76 appearances between 2014 and 2017. He then played with 1. FC Nürnberg, SV Sandhausen, and VfB Stuttgart between 2017 and 2022. On July 1, 2022, he joined his current club on a 2-year contract, where he has since made 16 appearances and scored 2 goals.

By Rich M

The last matchday  has arrived, and much is still up for grabs on Saturday, so let’s start with the league title. Dortmund are at the top of the table going into Saturday’s matches, and Dortmund can win the title if they win at home against Mainz and Bayern fail to win at Köln. Bayern, in second place and 2 points behind Dortmund, can only become league champions if they win and Dortmund fail to win against Mainz. In the UEFA Champions League, Bayern, Dortmund, and Leipzig are already guaranteed places in next season’s Champions League group stage, which leaves a contest between Union Berlin and Freiburg to qualify in each case for their first-ever Champions League. Union can qualify if they better Freiburg’s away result at Frankfurt, or if they equal Freiburg’s result while maintaining a superior goal differential. Conversely, Freiburg will qualify if they better Union’s result at home to Bremen, or if they equal Union’s result in a way that results in a 4-goal swing in their favor. One spot remains open in the Europa League group stage, and that can be claimed by either Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, or Frankfurt. The spot goes to Leverkusen if they win at Bochum, or if they draw and Wolfsburg fail to beat Hertha, or if Wolfsburg lose to Hertha and Frankfurt fail to beat Freiburg. The spot goes to Wolfsburg if they win and Leverkusen fail to beat Bochum, if they draw and Leverkusen lose to Bochum by at least 2 goals, or if they draw by scoring 1 more goal than Leverkusen and Leverkusen lose by a 1-goal margin. The spot goes to Frankfurt if they win and Leverkusen lose at Bochum resulting in a 6-goal swing and Wolfsburg lose to Hertha, or if they win and Leverkusen lose at Bochum and Wolfsburg draw against Hertha with Frankfurt turning the goal differential in their favor. 7th place in the Bundesliga could also provide a spot in the Europa League conference play-offs should Leipzig win the DFB Pokal. The only teams who can still finish in 7th are Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, and Frankfurt, and Frankfurt will finish seventh at home if they win and Wolfsburg lose to Hertha or if they win by at least 5 goals to ensure their goal differential is better than Wolfsburg’s in case Wolfsburg draw with Hertha. At the bottom of the table, Hertha have already been relegated, and 5 teams are still in danger of joining Hertha: Hoffenheim, Augsburg, Stuttgart, Bochum, and Schalke. Hoffenheim will be guaranteed safety if they get at least 1 point or if they lose and Bochum fail to make up 26 goals on them. Augsburg will be safe if they win, or if they draw and Bochum fail to achieve a 16-goal swing at home to Leverkusen. Stuttgart will be safe if they win, or if Bochum and Schalke both lose. Bochum will be safe if they win and Stuttgart fail to beat Hoffenheim or Augsburg lose to Gladbach, or if they draw and Stuttgart lose to Hoffenheim and Schalke fail to beat Leipzig. Finally, Schalke will be safe if they win and both Stuttgart and Bochum fail to win, or if they draw and Bochum lose and Stuttgart lose by a 22 or 23-point margin.

by Rich M.

​David Raum is a 25-year-old left midfielder and left back for RB Leipzig. Raum was born on April 22, 1998 in Nürnberg, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for Tuspo Nürnberg from 2002 to 2006, and SpVgg Greuther Fürth from 2006 to 2017. His senior career continued at Fürth, where he made 110 appearances for Greuther Fürth and Greuther Fürth II between 2016 and 2021, scoring 5 goals. He then spent one season at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, scoring 3 goals in 32 appearances. He joined his current club on July 31, 2022 on a 5-year deal. Raum also played for Germany’s U-19 and U-20 squads before debuting for Germany’s senior squad in a 6:0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification win over Armenia on September 5, 2021.