By Rich M
FC Augsburg collected an important 3 points on Friday with a 2:0 shutout of visiting 1. FC Union Berlin. Both of the goals came in the second half of the match. Phillip Tietz intercepted a pass and found the net in the 47th minute, and Sven Michel scored against his former club in the 81st minute. Augsburg remains in 7th place going into the rest of the weekend’s matches, just 3 points behind Frankfurt, while Union Berlin are just 6 points clear of the relegation zone. The battle for a second place finish in the standings continues on Saturday when FC Bayern München host 1. FC Köln. A Bayern win over Köln could extend the home team’s slender hold on the championship by at least a day, but if both Bayern and Stuttgart lose, Leverkusen will become league champions on Saturday. Assuming that Leverkusen do take the championship this weekend, the battle for second place remains, and Bayern’s Harry Kane is still chasing Robert Lewandowski’s single-season scoring record. Kane still needs 10 goals from the final 6 matchdays to catch Lewandowski. The visitors, too, have plenty to play for, as they sit in 17th place, 1 point behind Mainz and 4 points behind Bochum’s spot in safety. The Billy Goats won last time out, and it was the club’s second victory under Timo Schultz. All 5 of Köln’s away fixtures since the beginning of the year have ended in draws: the club’s longest such run in the division. Stuttgart will host Frankfurt in Saturday’s late game, in a contest between the league’s 3rd-place and 6th-place rosters. Stuttgart won the reverse fixture 2:1, thanks to a brace from Deniz Undav, which ended a run of 15 home matches unbeaten for Frankfurt. Stuttgart’s Serhou Guirassy could set a new club record for goals scored in a single league season. He equaled Mario Gomez’s record of 24 in Dortmund last weekend. League leaders Leverkusen will host Bremen on Sunday in the weekend’s final contest, and could do so having already been crowned champions, depending on the outcomes of the Bayern and Stuttgart matches on Saturday. Regardless of Saturday’s results, however, a Leverkusen win over Bremen will seal the deal. The hosts have dropped points only 4 times in the league this season and have yet to lose a single match in all competitions. It is the first time in their history, and only the second time by any club, that they have reached Matchday 29 without defeat. One final permutation this weekend: if Bayern and/or Stuttgart draw on Saturday, then Leverkusen would only need a point on Sunday to be crowned champions.
FC Augsburg collected an important 3 points on Friday with a 2:0 shutout of visiting 1. FC Union Berlin. Both of the goals came in the second half of the match. Phillip Tietz intercepted a pass and found the net in the 47th minute, and Sven Michel scored against his former club in the 81st minute. Augsburg remains in 7th place going into the rest of the weekend’s matches, just 3 points behind Frankfurt, while Union Berlin are just 6 points clear of the relegation zone. The battle for a second place finish in the standings continues on Saturday when FC Bayern München host 1. FC Köln. A Bayern win over Köln could extend the home team’s slender hold on the championship by at least a day, but if both Bayern and Stuttgart lose, Leverkusen will become league champions on Saturday. Assuming that Leverkusen do take the championship this weekend, the battle for second place remains, and Bayern’s Harry Kane is still chasing Robert Lewandowski’s single-season scoring record. Kane still needs 10 goals from the final 6 matchdays to catch Lewandowski. The visitors, too, have plenty to play for, as they sit in 17th place, 1 point behind Mainz and 4 points behind Bochum’s spot in safety. The Billy Goats won last time out, and it was the club’s second victory under Timo Schultz. All 5 of Köln’s away fixtures since the beginning of the year have ended in draws: the club’s longest such run in the division. Stuttgart will host Frankfurt in Saturday’s late game, in a contest between the league’s 3rd-place and 6th-place rosters. Stuttgart won the reverse fixture 2:1, thanks to a brace from Deniz Undav, which ended a run of 15 home matches unbeaten for Frankfurt. Stuttgart’s Serhou Guirassy could set a new club record for goals scored in a single league season. He equaled Mario Gomez’s record of 24 in Dortmund last weekend. League leaders Leverkusen will host Bremen on Sunday in the weekend’s final contest, and could do so having already been crowned champions, depending on the outcomes of the Bayern and Stuttgart matches on Saturday. Regardless of Saturday’s results, however, a Leverkusen win over Bremen will seal the deal. The hosts have dropped points only 4 times in the league this season and have yet to lose a single match in all competitions. It is the first time in their history, and only the second time by any club, that they have reached Matchday 29 without defeat. One final permutation this weekend: if Bayern and/or Stuttgart draw on Saturday, then Leverkusen would only need a point on Sunday to be crowned champions.
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