Tension builds in Bundesliga with five teams in relegation danger
BERLIN (AP) — Five teams are fighting for Bundesliga survival with two rounds remaining while Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen are level before their high stakes Champions League qualification duel. Hoffenheim also is making it a three-team race for fourth place and the last guaranteed qualification spot for the Champions League. Germany may yet get five Champions League qualification spots depending on Freiburg’s international success.
Freiburg faced a 2-1 deficit to Braga before the second leg of their Europa League semifinal on Thursday. Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich was knocked out of the Champions League by defending champion Paris Saint-Germain in the semifinals on Wednesday. Key matchups Leverkusen visits Stuttgart on Saturday knowing a defeat or even a draw could allow Hoffenheim to take advantage with a win over relegation-threatened Werder Bremen at the same time.
Bremen is just above the relegation zone, one of the five teams still in danger. Wolfsburg moved into the relegation playoff spot last weekend but next faces a visit from Bayern, which will hope to bounce back from its disappointment against PSG. Last-placed Heidenheim held Bayern to 3-3 between its two meetings with PSG, meaning the Bavarian powerhouse is on a three-game winless streak.
Second-from-bottom St. Pauli, which is winless in eight games, faces a daunting trip to third-placed Leipzig on Saturday. Leipzig can clinch Champions League qualification with a win.
Heidenheim will be hoping Wolfsburg and St. Pauli lose – preferably heavily – so it could potentially move into the relegation playoff spot with a win in Cologne on Sunday. But Cologne is not safe yet either.