Werder Bremen vs. FC Bayern München
In past seasons, this fixture might have acted as a title decider. This season, this fixture is nothing but a side note. Bremen, sitting eighth in the table, is still chasing a Europa League spot. They aren’t doing themselves much good though. Last week, Bruno Labbadia’s Stuttgart absolutely torn them apart, 4-1.
Bremen actually took the lead through Markus Rosenberg. Stuttgart then started to turn on the style. Christian Gentner scored the equalizer. Martin Harnik struck twice and Stuttgart’s favourite man Cacau added a fourth. Bayern meanwhile played out a boring stalemate against Mainz.
Bayern dominated the match but did not take their chances. The team seemed to almost not care about that match. Their focus was seemingly on Real Madrid knowing that they were nine points behind Dortmund before the game kicked off as Dortmund had beaten Schalke. Mainz played for the draw as expected.
Thomas Schaaf feels that it does not really matter whether Bayern even field a ‘Y team’. Each and every player of Bayern will be fighting to play in the semi-final second leg against Real Madrid according to Schaaf and will thus give their best on the pitch. Expect Bayern to field a largely sub-par side. This is the best time for Bremen to end their abysmal run at home against Bayern.
Prediction: Bremen 1-1 Bayern
Borussia Dortmund vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach
Dortmund is almost German champion for a second year running. They need two points to guarantee them the title due to Bayern’s superior goal difference. This game kicks off late on Saturday and thus if Bayern draws, Dortmund will be crowned champions even before the game against the fourth placed side in the table kicks off. They beat Schalke last week despite going behind to an early Jefferson Farfan goal.
Lukasz Pizsczek equalized shortly afterwards. Their captain, Sebastian Kehl grabbed the winner in the 63rd minute. Kehl has played a much larger role this season than he did last season due to the departure of Nuri Sahin. This year, he will probably be lifting the Bundesliga shield; last year, Roman Weidenfeller had done the deed.
Gladbach put a poor run of results to bed by absolutely thrashing bitter rivals and strugglers Köln 3-0. Their playmaker Juan Arango, Tony Jantschke and Dortmund bound Marco Reus scored the goals. A win will guarantee them fourth spot ahead of high flying Stuttgart. Considering Dortmund will perhaps be crowned champions before kick off, expect Gladbach to take something out of this one.
Prediction: Dortmund 1-2 Gladbach
Augsburg- Schalke 04
Augsburg was everybody’s favourites to get relegated but has since set off on a brilliant run. Last week, they beat a Wolfsburg side that is extremely tough at home. They took the lead through Torsten Oehrl in the 13th minute. The high-flying Patrick Helmes equalized just 14 minutes later. A Sebastian Langkamp goal in the 88th minute handed the team from southern Germany another prized victory.
Schalke’s loss to Dortmund sees the team coming into the game a rather battered side. Schalke has to win to keep in control of the third Champions League spot ahead of Gladbach in fourth. Augsburg will be an extremely stiff test; Schalke’s defensive deficiencies might be revealed on Saturday once again.
Prediction: Augsburg 2-1 Schalke
