By Rich

Lennart Grill is a 23-year-old goalkeeper for Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Grill was born on January 25, 1999 in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for SC Idar-Oberstein, SpVgg Nahbollenbach, 1. FSV Mainz 05, and 1. FC Kaiserslautern. His senior career continued at Kaiserslautern beginning in 2016, where he made 66 appearances for both the senior and reserve squads between 2016 and 2020. His transfer to his current club was announced on March 8, 2019, where he would start in the 2020-21 season on a 4-year deal. He made his debut for the team on February 28, 2021 in a 1:2 home loss to Freiburg. Later in 2021, he appeared in 9 matches for SK Brann on a loan. Grill has also made 20 appearances for Germany’s U16, U17, U18, U19, and U21 squads.

By Rich

The final matchday of this season’s Bundesliga has arrived, so let’s look at what’s already been decided and what remains to be decided on Saturday. As for what has already been determined: FC Bayern München are league champions, Borussia Dortmund have finished in second place, and SpVgg Greuther Fürth have been  relegated to the 2. Bundesliga. For the UEFA Champions League, 3 of the 4 spots have already been claimed by Bayern, Dortmund, and Leverkusen. The 4th spot is currently occupied by Leipzig, and Leipzig could secure the spot if they win or draw in their away match in Bielefeld. Leipzig could also secure the spot if they lose and Freiburg also don’t win, but Freiburg could claim the spot if Leipzig were to lose and Freiburg win in their away match in Leverkusen. Looking at the UEFA Europa League, the rules state that the team in 5th and the team that wins the DFB Pokal qualify directly for the group stage; however, as Leipzig and Freiburg are this season’s Pokal finalists, the team that finishes 6th will take the 2nd Europa League group berth. Should the Pokal winner finish 5th or 6th, there will not be a 3rd Bundesliga team in the Europa League, and the team that finishes 7th will instead go into the Europa Conference League play-offs. The 4 teams in question are Leipzig, Freiburg, Union Berlin, and Köln. Freiburg’s superior goal differential means they are virtual guaranteed group stage football at a minimum, regardless of what happens on Saturday: only a heavy loss in Leverkusen, combined with big wins for Union Berlin and Köln, would drop them to 7th. Even then, they could still qualify by winning the Pokal final. Union will qualify if they win at home to Bochum, and a draw will also suffice if Köln don’t win in Stuttgart. If Union draw and Köln win, goal differential will decide. Köln must win to have a chance, but also need help from Stuttgart, for a Köln win and a Union draw will then bring in goal differential and perhaps even head-to-head records into the equation. If Köln draw or lose, they will go into the Conference League playoffs. 7 teams have only final league positions to play for: Hoffenheim, Mainz, Gladbach, Bochum, Eintracht, Wolfsburg, and Augsburg. That leaves the relegation battle. Fürth are already relegated, and Bielefeld are almost certainly relegated, too. The real battle is between Hertha and Stuttgart. If Hertha avoid defeat in Dortmund, they will stay in the top flight. Stuttgart, however, need to win at home against Köln and have Hertha lose to climb above Hertha on goal differential. If Stuttgart draw or lose, they will end the season in the relegation play-off spot and Hertha will finish above them. Don’t miss the action at the top of the 2. Bundesliga: Schalke have already been promoted, but Bremen, Hamburg, Darmstadt, and St. Pauli are all still in contention for promotion. The 2. Bundesliga finishes its season on Sunday, when Bremen host Regensburg, Hamburg play in Rostock, Darmstadt host Paderborn, and St. Pauli host Düsseldorf.

By Rich

​Christopher Lenz is a 27-year-old left-back for Eintracht Frankfurt. Lenz was born on September 22, 1994 in Berlin, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for Stern Marienfelde, Tennis Borussia Berlin, Hertha BSC, and Borussia Mönchengladbach. His senior career began in 2012 with 4 appearances for Hertha BSC II, before he transferred to Borussia Mönchengladbach II. He then made 64 appearances for Union Berlin from 2016 to 2021, and 30 appearances for Holstein Kiel while on loan from 2017 to 2018. He joined his current club in 2021. Lenz also made 12 appearances between 2012 and 2013 for Germany’s U18 and U19 squads.

By Rich

Hosts VfL Bochum defeated visitors DSC Arminia Bielefeld 2:1 on Friday, leaving Bielefeld in a precarious position in the last 2 weeks of the season. The hosts’ first goal came in the 22nd minute, when Sebastian Polter headed in a cross from Milos Pantovic. The visitors tied the score later in the first half, thanks to a header from Joakim Nilsson. The match’s final goal, though, came in the 89th minute, when the ball ricocheted off George Bello, resulting in an own goal and the Bochum win. The loss leaves Bochum 2 points behind VfB Stuttgart in the relegation play-off spot, with just 1 game remaining. Bayer Leverkusen will travel to Hoffenheim on Saturday, where a victory could fire the visitors back into the UEFA Champions League. Hoffenheim’s European aspirations can only be kept alive with a victory on Saturday and a Union Berlin loss or tie and/or a Köln loss. Union Berlin currently occupy 7th place, and are likely to qualify for European competition, thanks to Freiburg’s Pokal final appearance with Leipzig. The only question remaining for Freiburg are which European competition they will see: the club is currently in 4th place, the final Champions League berth, but only 1 point above Leipzig. Freiburg are also on the cusp of some key personnel changes, as Nico Schlotterbeck will be leaving for Dortmund over the summer while Matthias Ginter will be coming to the club from Gladbach. At the other end of the table, Hertha Berlin will be looking to secure their 1. Bundesliga survival when they host Mainz in Saturday’s late game. Hertha are now 4 points ahead of Stuttgart, and a win over Mainz would assure Hertha’s presence in the top flight next season. The visitors are safe in the middle of the table, having ended a 5-game winless streak last weekend with a surprise victory over league champions Bayern. Bayern will host Stuttgart on Sunday, in what is nearly a must-win match for the visitors. Stuttgart are just 2 points ahead of the automatic relegation spots and 4 points adrift of outright safety, thanks to a winless streak of 5 league matches. If Stuttgart were to be relegated at the end of the season, it would be their 5th change of division in just 7 years. The final match of the weekend is that on Sunday between hosts RB Leipzig and visitors FC Augsburg. While Leipzig look to keep their UEFA Champions League hopes alive, Augsburg have managed to assure their safety, thanks to 2 wins in the last 5 matches, and a final match next weekend against the already-relegated Fürth.