Bundesliga Fantasy Manager: The top 3 picks for Matchday 33
An in-form Jonas Hofmann hoping to help Borussia Mönchengladbach into the UEFA Champions League; Alvaro Odriozola guaranteed to start for a Bayern Munich in celebratory mood and Rouwen Hennings looking to fire Fortuna Düsseldorf towards safety are some of the Fantasy players to look out for on Matchday 34…
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Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Next opponent: Hertha Berlin (h)
Position: Midfielder
Price: 11.2m
The final day of the season is a tricky predicament for Fantasy players, with only one chance to get your 11 players right due to all nine games kicking off at the same time. Knowing how teams line up before hitting "confirm" on your transfers is a bonus, but there is no chance to cycle your star man throughout the weekend. Allied to that, not many teams have anything left to play for.
That is far from true for Borussia Mönchengladbach, however. The Foals welcome Hertha Berlin to the Borussia-Park on Saturday knowing that if they better Bayer Leverkusen's result against Mainz then a first season of UEFA Champions League football since 2016/17 will be theirs.
There is no question that Marco Rose will pick a full-strength team against a side who are now only playing for pride, and part of that starting XI is the most in-form midfielder in the Fantasy game: Jonas Hofmann.
His 25-point haul in the 3-0 win over Wolfsburg on Matchday 32 - the highest tally that week - was followed up by another superlative performance last time out. Although Hofmann failed to repeat his brace against the Wolves, his attacking intent in the 3-1 win at Paderborn took home 18 points. There are few safer bets this weekend.
Alvaro Odriozola (Bayern Munich)
Next opponent: Wolfsburg (a)
Position: Defender
Price: 8.7m
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It's not often that Fantasy players know for a fact how Bayern will line up on a matchday. The spine of the team - Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich and Robert Lewandowski - may pick itself, but even the world's best goalkeeper made way for Sven Ulreich in last Saturday's 3-1 win over Freiburg, with the champions now on a victory tour having already sealed their eighth consecutive Bundesliga Meisterschale.
But that is a luxury we have with Odriozola this Saturday if Hansi Flick is to be believed. "It's clear that Odriozola didn't play too many games," the coach said, reflecting on the right-back's loan from Real Madrid, earlier this week. "But he'll definitely play from the start against Wolfsburg at the weekend."
Yes, bundesliga.com knows that the last time the Spaniard started Bayern shipped two goals to relegated Paderborn before Lewandowski got them out of jail with a 3-2 win in the 88th minute, and that Odriozola only tallied four points; but that game was the only time this season that Flick has deviated from playing a back four, and it's not an experiment he's likely to try again.
Bayern will be in their favoured 4-2-3-1 formation, and with a DFB Cup final against Leverkusen next Saturday, Flick is likely to make sure that most of his first-choice team are fit and firing. Odriozola's job is clear - bomb up the right flank like Benjamin Pavard normally does, get crosses into the box for Lewandowski, and hope that the Pole can come close to repeating the incredible five-goal, nine-minute haul he managed against the same opponents in September 2015.
Rouwen Hennings (Fortuna Düsseldorf)
Next opponent: Union Berlin (a)
Position: Forward
Price: 11.1m
Watch: Hennings on target as Fortuna sealed a crucial point against Augsburg last time out
At the other end of the table is where there are meaningful points to be won both on the field and in the Fantsay game. Fortuna Düsseldorf travel to the capital to take on Union Berlin with their top-flight destiny still in their own hands: get a better result against Die Eisernen than Werder Bremen do against Cologne and Fortuna will be assured of the relegation play-off spot with Die Grün-Weißen relegated for the first time in 40 years.
Only Lewandowski, Jadon Sancho, Timo Werner and Wout Weghorst have outscored Düsseldorf captain Hennings this season, and the forward has re-found form at just the right time for Die Flingeraner, having scored three goals in his last four games. With 44 Fantasy points for goals scored this season as well as 54 for those attempted, livewire Hennings is also only owned by one percent of players, making him a fine differential.
Almost every squad in the game now has at least two from Lewandowski, Werner and Sancho's Borussia Dortmund teammate Erling Haaland in their stable of strikers. Looking for a player to make the difference on the final day? Hennings might just be your man, and at 11.1m, he is more than affordable if you are indeed selling one of the aforementioned to bring him in. Oh, and he also scored in the reverse fixture with far less at stake.
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