Bundesliga title race run-in: Who do Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have to play?
Who will hold their nerve in the title race? And which teams could put a spanner in the works for Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund? With just two games to go, bundesliga.com assesses the top two’s final fixtures.
Bayern were nine points adrift of Dortmund after Matchday 15, but are now in pole position to land a seventh successive title with a four-point lead over their nearest challengers heading into the final two weekends...
Matchday 33
Saturday 11 May
Dortmund: Fortuna Düsseldorf (h)
Last season: N/A
This season: Düssseldorf won 2-1 at home on MD16
Bayern: RB Leipzig (a)
Last season: 2-1 win for Leipzig
This season: Bayern won 1-0 at home MD16
Revenge will be on Dortmund minds when Düsseldorf come to town on the penultimate day of the season. BVB will also hope that the visitors will be thinking about summer holiday plans after successfully securing another year of top-flight football.
There have been some dramatic matches in Leipzig since RB got to the top tier in 2016. Bayern came from 4-2 down – thanks to two goals in injury-time – to win a madcap encounter 5-4 in May 2017, before following up with a penalty shootout win in the DFB Cup that October. Leipzig – who could well be fighting for third place by the time this game comes around - came from behind to win in the league last season.
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Matchday 34
Saturday 18 May
Dortmund: Borussia Mönchengladbach (a)
Last season: 1-0 Dortmund win
This season: Dortmund won 2-1 at home on MD17
Bayern: Eintracht Frankfurt (h)
Last season: 4-1 Bayern win
This season: Bayern won 3-0 away on MD17
If Dortmund are to win the title, they sure have to do it the hard way. Gladbach don’t tend to lose many games at home, and on the final day of the season they will still be in with a shout of getting a European place. Dortmund have won on their last three trips though – with former Foal Marco Reus getting the only goal last season – so there is cause for optimism for Favre when he returns to another of his former clubs.
Could it all finish how it started for the champions? In August Niko Kovac returned to his previous employers – the team he helped guide past Bayern in the 2017/18 DFB Cup final – to watch Bayern win 5-0 against the Eagles in the DFL Supercup that kicked off the season. Will Kovac – after a rocky period pre-Christmas – return to Frankfurt to celebrate another title triumph with Bayern? The high-flying home side could still have plenty to play for by then, however, and will be keen to get a first league win over the visitors since March 2010.
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