Bundesliga Preview, Week 25: Hannover 96 Look To Compound Bayern Munich’s Troubles

Any last, slight opportunity for a title race in Germany disappeared last week, as Borussia Dortmund thrashed Bayern Munich 3-1 at the Allianz Arena. However, the battle for European places is still intense, and there are two huge games in the battle for Champions League and Europa League qualification this weekend as third-placed Hannover 96 host Bayern and fifth-placed Mainz 05 visit Hamburg SV. Further down the table, Borussia Mönchengladbach and VfB Stuttgart will want to move closer to safety against TSG Hoffenheim and Schalke 04, respectively.

Borussia Dortmund vs. FC Cologne

Friday, 2:30 PM, TV: ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com

After breaking their streak of futility in Munich with a 3-1 victory over Bayern, leaders Borussia Dortmund return to the Westfalenstadion to face surging Cologne, who have won three of their last four to move all the way up to 11th. A few more wins for the visitors and they should be safe, but even though BVB only have pride and records to play for this season, they are still an excellent team and are clear favourites here. Though Cologne have improved markedly in the second half of the season, Dortmund have too much quality and momentum for die Geißböcke (who possess the worst away record in the Bundesliga), and Jürgen Klopp’s team should take another step towards breaking Bayern Munich’s record of 79 points in a Bundesliga season.

Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. TSG Hoffenheim

Saturday, 9:30 AM

‘Gladbach haven’t won back-to-back games all season after a 2-1 defeat against Wolfsburg last week, but will fancy their chances of getting back on track against a Hoffenheim side that have nothing to play for the rest of this season. Diego was the architect of Borussia’s defeat a week ago, but they nearly snatched a point after pulling a goal back in the closing stages. It looked like David Alaba had grabbed a late draw for Hoffe, but Elkin Soto scored the winner for Mainz 05 to leave their hosts winless in three. Hoffenheim are coasting to a mid-table finish, while Mönchengladbach need points desperately -- there’s only one side in this game with motivation, and they should be able to get a result because of that drive.

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. FC Kaiserslautern

Saturday, 9:30 AM

Somehow, Eintracht Frankfurt are only three points off of the drop after heading into 2011 with an 11-point buffer. They still haven’t scored since the turn of the year, and a 2-0 defeat at home to VfB Stuttgart last week was their third loss in a row and sixth in seven games. ‘Lautern are now just three points behind their hosts this weekend after picking up a draw at home to Hamburg, and will want to improve on their away record with a result against a Frankfurt side in free-fall (this column knows that it described Frankfurt the same way last week, but since they are still down the table dropping like a stone it will continue to use that description).

Hannover 96 vs. Bayern Munich

Saturday, 9:30 AM, TV: GOL TV

Bayern Munich have had an atrocious week: back-to-back home defeats against Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 have meant the return of rumours about Louis van Gaal facing the sack, and they could not face a more important game at a worse time. Hannover haven’t been the most attractive or brilliant side in the Bundesliga this year, but they’ve racked up plenty of points and find themselves in third place, two points ahead of their Bavarian visitors, and just two behind Leverkusen in second.

The defending champions have beaten Hannover in the last four meetings between the two sides, scoring 18 and conceding just one. However, only one of those matches was at the AWD-Arena, and FCB have been poor on the road this season. Bayern have a better squad than their hosts on paper, but that hasn’t stopped them from dropping points before. Even more so than against Dortmund or Schalke, this is an absolute must-win game for the Bavarians, and there is no way Louis van Gaal will be able to rest players in advance of the Champions League second leg against Inter Milan.

FC Nürnberg vs. St. Pauli

Saturday, 9:30 AM

Nürnberg’s charge up the table in the second half of the season hit a bump last matchday, as Raúl pulled Schalke back from a goal down in the second half to deny FCN a fifth successive win. However, Nürnberg are back at the EasyCreditStadion this week where they’ve recorded three straight wins without conceding a goal and they’ll be facing the worst away attack in the Bundesliga. St. Pauli had looked liked moving up into mid-table, well away from the relegation zone, but back-to-back defeats mean they are still just four points above the drop. Nürnberg have plenty to play for as well, as they are just four points off of the final European place, and they should be able to close that gap before Hamburg host Mainz in a big game for the European race on Sunday.

VfB Stuttgart vs. Schalke 04

Saturday, 9:30 AM

The dynamics of this game are very similar to those of ‘Gladbach’s clash with Hoffenheim: the home side is fighting for Bundesliga survival, while the visitors are comfortably mid-table in the league with nothing to play for (in the league) this season. Schalke knocked Bayern Munich out of the DFB Pokal in midweek, but any momentum they gained from that will likely be conserved for their home clash with Valencia in the Champions League, and Felix Magath may rest some of his key players in preparation for that vital test. Therefore, a Stuttgart side that overcame Matthieu Delpierre’s red card after just fifteen minutes last week to win 2-0 in Frankfurt should be able to pick up a win on home turf that could pull them out of the relegation zone for the first time since Matchday 12.

Bayer Leverkusen vs. VfL Wolfsburg

Saturday, 12:30 PM, TV: GOL TV

Bayer and Wolfsburg come into this game off the back of results totally opposite to how they have played this season. Leverkusen gave up a 2-0 lead in the closing stages away to Werder Bremen, while Wolfsburg wobbled after seeing their lead at home against Mönchengladbach be cut to 2-1, but hung on for the win. Bayer have been disappointing at home, but should get back on track in this game against a poor Wolfsburg side and either cement or re-take second place, depending on the result of Hannover-Bayern.

SC Freiburg vs. Werder Bremen

Sunday, 9:30 AM, TV: ESPN Deportes (tape delay), ESPN3.com

Bremen claimed a point after looking dead and buried last week, and will hope to take that momentum into this game and claim their first away win in eight games. While Werder were celebrating a late equalizer last week, Freiburg were ruing letting in the 88th-minute Lukas Podolski goal that sent them down to defeat in Cologne. Fortunately for them, not only are Bremen poor on the road, their defence is still extremely suspect -- the second-worst in the Bundesliga. Freiburg won’t have an easy time as Bremen will be scrapping for any kind of a result, but the home side should be able to take advantage of the visitors’ weak defence and close the gap with Mainz, in fifth, who play later.

Hamburg SV vs. Mainz 05

Sunday, 11:30 AM

Mainz gained a bit of breathing room for themselves last week; their win combined with a loss for Freiburg and draws for Nürnberg and Hamburg meant they re-established a three-point gap over sixth place. The battle for the final European place continues this weekend, as HSV will look to regain lost ground and move ahead of Mainz -- a win by more than two goals will do just that. While Hamburg haven’t been great of late (aside from their Nordderby victory over Bremen), Mainz are quite poor and only beat Hoffenheim, who have nothing to play for, last week; not the most impressive of “bounce back” victories. It won’t be an easy game, but Hamburg should be able to throw a wrench into the race for Europe with a win here.