With Schalke already relegated, attention has now shifted towards the opposite end of the table. As many had expected, Bayern are now set to become champions of Germany once again. Or at least, that's what it seems like it should be this coming May. This season's title race was a lot more exciting than in past seasons, and Bayern will need to take care to make sure they wrap things up as quickly as possible if they want to guarantee the title stays in Munich!
However, although it's now seemingly been decided that the Bavarian titans will remain champions of the top flight, things didn't turn out as planned this weekend.
Let's have a look at what happened over this weekend's round of fixtures.
Top five teams in the Bundesliga up to April 26
Certainly, no one saw that result coming, especially considering Mainz's struggles against Bayern. Still, Leipzig followers aren't going to give up because there is still a slim chance die Roten could slip up. Yes, Bayern should make it nine on the spin...but you never know, and it's not over, as they say, until the proverbial "fat lady" sings, is it?
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Who are the top three scorers in the Bundesliga?
Robert Lewandowski returned to action with a bang as he netted a consolation for Bayern during their shock loss. He's definitely going to successfully defend his Torjägerkanone prize, but everyone's hoping to see if he can match - or break Gerd Muller's long-standing record. Lewandowski needs four more to match, and five to break it, and only has three games to achieve this. It's going to be really close, but if anyone can do it, it's him. Meanwhile, Portuguese star Andre Silva netted his 25th strike of the season, but was unable to prevent his team from slumping to a 3-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen over the weekend.
1. Robert Lewandowski - Bayern Munich - 36 goals
2. Erling Haaland - Borussia Dortmund - 25 goals
3. Andre Silva - Eintracht Frankfurt - 25 goals
Top Bundesliga headlines
Bayern's shock loss: Prior to their clash with Mainz, Bayern had lost just one of their last 18 meetings with Mainz, while winning 15. As such, it was expected that the title race was going to be decided on Saturday. Mainz, however, had other ideas. Since Bo Svensson took over, they've been quite impressive, and came into this clash unbeaten in their last six games. The last time they achieved this was from November through December 2015, but still, their record against Bayern was quite dire.
Yet, after 90 minutes, Mainz had picked up a rare win, and now are unbeaten in their last seven matches. That means Bayern will have to wait just a bit longer to celebrate their ninth straight league win, perhaps next weekend.
Lewandowski scores again...but will he be able to match (or break) Gerd Muller's record? Despite the loss, Lewandowski was determined to get a goal, and he was able to do so late in the game to make it 36 strikes for the season. He needs four more to get to 40 and five more to hit 41. Time is running out for him and it will be very interesting to see if he'll be able to break that record from the 1971/72 season. Will his long injury lay-off cost him?
Gladbach make history: Gladbach were on a tear as they cruised to 5-0 win against Arminia Bielefeld. They haven't given up hopes of possibly snatching a Europa League spot, but they'll make to make a super late push. And in doing so, they're the first Bundesliga side to score at least three goals in the first 18 minutes against Bielefeld, who will be desperately battling to avoid slipping down into the play-off spots, especially with Cologne doing everything they can to claw their way out of 16th and sneak into 15th with just a handful of games remaining until the end of the season.
Top Bundesliga matches: May 7-9, 2021
Borussia Dortmund vs RB Leipzig: Dortmund have been in excellent form lately, with four straight wins as die Schwarzgelben are now within touching distance of a Champions League berth. Will their late push be successful? Frankfurt are starting to wobble at a crucial point, and Dortmund are just one point behind. Meanwhile, Leipzig seem to have now lost their verve given that the title is now firmly in Bayern's hands. Can die Roten Bullen find it within themselves to at least finish the campaign strong? They still do have the DFB-Pokal semis to concern themselves with, too...
Bayern Munich vs Borussia Gladbach: After their shock loss, can Bayern get back on track to wrap up the league title? They could face a tough test when Gladbach come to town, as this is the same team that gave die Roten a rude shock earlier this season when they came from two goals down to snatch a win, so Hansi Flick's men won't take this game lightly, that's for certain.
Cologne vs Freiburg: The hosts have been aggressively pushing to try to climb out of 16th and into 15th, which would see them avoid a dreaded two-legged play-off. With back to back wins, they're just one point from achieving this, but will need to find a way past Freiburg and hope that Arminia Bielefeld, who were on a four game unbeaten run, lose to 17th-placed Hertha Berlin.
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