The final 2 matchdays of the season begin on Saturday as the competition for both European play and survival in the 1. Bundesliga continues. Among the key contests on Saturday will be that between hosts Hertha Berlin and visitors 1. FC Köln. Pal Dardai’s Hertha squad are unbeaten in 7 matches and their 3-point cushion over the relegation play-off spot means that a victory over Cologne on Saturday will guarantee their stay in the top flight for next season. A Hertha victory will likewise almost certainly spell doom for Cologne, whose relegation will be confirmed if both Bielefeld and Bremen win their matches. Augsburg and Bremen will battle each other on Saturday in Augsburg to avoid relegation, with Augsburg having lost 4 of their last 5 matches and Bremen on a streak of 7 consecutive defeats. Although a win would put Bremen in a good position going into the final matchday, Augsburg have won 9 of their 19 Bundesliga matches with Bremen, and Bremen’s total of just 7 wins in the current season has them nearing a club record for the fewest victories in a single campaign. Bielefeld will host Hoffenheim on Saturday, and as long as they match or better Cologne’s result, they will avoid automatic relegation. Should Bielefeld also manage to better Bremen’s result, they will guarantee their return to the top flight next season. At the other end of the table, Gladbach will host Stuttgart on Saturday, and the Foals’ current position in the table is enough for a spot in the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round. There are, however, 3 more clubs close behind them, and one of them is Stuttgart, who need both a win against Gladbach and a failure of Union Berlin to beat Leverkusen to keep their European hopes alive. This brings us to the Freiburg-Bayern match, which is important for two reasons: Freiburg also remains in the hunt for European competition, and Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski is now just 1 goal behind Gerd Müller’s single-season record of 40 goals in 1971/72. Lewandowski has scored 18 goals in 17 games against Freiburg, so with 2 matchdays still remaining, Müller’s record could fall as early as Saturday. Also on Saturday, Frankfurt will travel to the already-relegated Schalke and remain in the hunt for qualification in the UEFA Champions League. A win over Schalke would move Frankfurt back up to 4th place momentarily, ahead of the Dortmund-Mainz contest on Sunday, but a loss to Schalke would cost Frankfurt qualification. Should Dortmund pick up wins against Mainz on Sunday and against Leverkusen next weekend, the club will qualify for the Champions League. Finally, Leipzig could secure 2nd place in the league with a win over Wolfsburg on Sunday, while Wolfsburg remain in contention for a spot in the Champions League, and those spots may well come down to outcomes next weekend.
By Rich
The final 2 matchdays of the season begin on Saturday as the competition for both European play and survival in the 1. Bundesliga continues. Among the key contests on Saturday will be that between hosts Hertha Berlin and visitors 1. FC Köln. Pal Dardai’s Hertha squad are unbeaten in 7 matches and their 3-point cushion over the relegation play-off spot means that a victory over Cologne on Saturday will guarantee their stay in the top flight for next season. A Hertha victory will likewise almost certainly spell doom for Cologne, whose relegation will be confirmed if both Bielefeld and Bremen win their matches. Augsburg and Bremen will battle each other on Saturday in Augsburg to avoid relegation, with Augsburg having lost 4 of their last 5 matches and Bremen on a streak of 7 consecutive defeats. Although a win would put Bremen in a good position going into the final matchday, Augsburg have won 9 of their 19 Bundesliga matches with Bremen, and Bremen’s total of just 7 wins in the current season has them nearing a club record for the fewest victories in a single campaign. Bielefeld will host Hoffenheim on Saturday, and as long as they match or better Cologne’s result, they will avoid automatic relegation. Should Bielefeld also manage to better Bremen’s result, they will guarantee their return to the top flight next season. At the other end of the table, Gladbach will host Stuttgart on Saturday, and the Foals’ current position in the table is enough for a spot in the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round. There are, however, 3 more clubs close behind them, and one of them is Stuttgart, who need both a win against Gladbach and a failure of Union Berlin to beat Leverkusen to keep their European hopes alive. This brings us to the Freiburg-Bayern match, which is important for two reasons: Freiburg also remains in the hunt for European competition, and Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski is now just 1 goal behind Gerd Müller’s single-season record of 40 goals in 1971/72. Lewandowski has scored 18 goals in 17 games against Freiburg, so with 2 matchdays still remaining, Müller’s record could fall as early as Saturday. Also on Saturday, Frankfurt will travel to the already-relegated Schalke and remain in the hunt for qualification in the UEFA Champions League. A win over Schalke would move Frankfurt back up to 4th place momentarily, ahead of the Dortmund-Mainz contest on Sunday, but a loss to Schalke would cost Frankfurt qualification. Should Dortmund pick up wins against Mainz on Sunday and against Leverkusen next weekend, the club will qualify for the Champions League. Finally, Leipzig could secure 2nd place in the league with a win over Wolfsburg on Sunday, while Wolfsburg remain in contention for a spot in the Champions League, and those spots may well come down to outcomes next weekend.
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By Rich
Ansgar Knauff is a 19-year-old right winger for Borussia Dortmund. Knauff was born on January 10, 2002 in Göttingen, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for SVG Göttingen from 2006 to 2015, Hannover 96 from 2015 to 2016, and Borussia Dortmund since 2016. He signed his first professional contract with Dortmund on November 25, 2020, and made his professional debut for the club on December 8, 2020, coming on as a substitute in the 83rd minute of a UEFA Champions League match against Zenit Saint Petersburg. His first goal for the club came on April 10, 2021 in a 3:2 win over VfB Stuttgart. Knauff has also made 2 appearances for Germany’s U19 squad since 2020. By Rich
The final 3 matchday of this season’s 1. Bundesliga began on Friday with a 2:1 win for hosts VfB Stuttgart over visitors FC Augsburg. The hosts took the lead early in the match when Philipp Förster’s right foot guided the ball into the goal in the 11th minute, and the visitors finally succeeded in evening the score in the 59th minute when Florian Niederlechner flicked the ball into the net, scoring his first goal since February. The hosts, though, retook the lead in the 74th minute with Sasa Kalajdzic headed the ball in from just a few meters out. The win will likely leave the newly-promoted club in the middle of the table at the end of the season, to begin a second season in the top flight at the end of the summer. Augsburg have now lost 5 consecutive away matches, tying a club record, and are still perilously close to the relegation zone with just 2 matchdays remaining. The contest to avoid relegation continues on Saturday Bremen host Leverkusen. Bremen are now on a streak of 7 defeats, and striker Josh Sargent has gone 5 games without a goal. To make matters worse, center-back Omer Toprak suffered an injury in training and will miss Saturday’s match. As much as Bremen need a win to avoid the relegation zone, Leverkusen are also in the hunt for a win to remain in contention for European competition. The Werkself have picked up 3 wins, 1 draw, and just 1 defeat in their last 5 matches under new coach Hannes Wolf. Competition at the other end of the table ahead of Leverkusen remains key for several clubs vying for bragging rights, even if Bayern clinches the title when they host Gladbach later Saturday. Fifth-place Dortmund will host second-place Leipzig early on Saturday, while third-place Wolfsburg host eighth-place Union Berlin. Union’s European hopes are still alive, with just 4 points separating them from Leverkusen, although the club will have to face both Leverkusen and Leipzig in the final 2 matchdays. A Wolfsburg win over Union could help secure the former’s return to the UEFA Champions League next season, and Wolfsburg striker Wout Weghorst would no doubt like to add to his impressive goal tally this season. Looking ahead to Sunday, Köln desperately need a win over visitors Freiburg, and back-to-back wins over both Leipzig and Augsburg have kept their hopes alive. A real showdown will occur later on Sunday when Hertha host Bielefeld. The teams are even on points and fighting for their survival. Hertha are unbeaten in their last 12 meetings with Bielefeld while playing at home: the last Bielefeld coach to win a Bundesliga match at Hertha, Otto Rehhagel, did so back in October 1978. |
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