Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola celebrates their fifth goal during his team’s UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg against Porto.
DPA/Berlin
Bayern Munich will be looking for victory over Hertha Berlin tomorrow which could help wrap up their third successive Bundesliga title this weekend.
Bayern are almost over the line with five matches remaining, but will have to wait for Sunday’s top match between Borussia Moenchengladbach and Wolfsburg before celebrating.
With a 12-point gap over Wolfsburg, Bayern need a better result than the Wolves to clinch the club’s 24th Bundesliga title (25th German championship titles).
Even if the top two win, the league title is virtually secure for Bayern in view of their vastly superior goal difference.
Bayern coach Pep Guardiola is thought likely to make some changes to rest players who took part in the 6-1 rout of Porto in the Champions League.
The coach will also have one eye on Tuesday’s German Cup semi-final against Borussia Dortmund.
It could mean a start for midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who was on the bench against Porto, while winger Arjen Robben is thought close to a comeback to the squad following a stomach muscle tear.
Hertha, seeking a first win in Munich since October 1977, are meanwhile not completely out of trouble.
A difficult programme awaits the Berlin side, with the next three games against Bayern, Moenchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund. But the mood is upbeat after a series of seven unbeaten games.
Hertha coach Pal Dardai was left impressed with Bayern’s all-round performance against Porto Tuesday but indicated that would count for nothing on Saturday.
“It was a nice international match. But now it’s the Bundesliga,” he said. “We will see whether or not our defensive system is good and works against Bayern.”
On Sunday, Wolfsburg could still be without midfielders Kevin De Bruyne and Andre Schuerrle for the trip to Moenchengladbach after both missed Thursday’s Europa League match at Napoli.
Gladbach, now nine league games without a defeat, would close the gap on Wolfsburg to four points with a win, but the main aim for Lucien Favre’s side is to stay ahead of Bayer Leverkusen in the race to secure a certain Champions League spot. Leverkusen, level on points, visit Gladbach on May 9.
“We’re in a Champions League place with not long left of the campaign so we’re desperate to qualify and obviously, we’d rather finish third so we get there automatically,” Gladbach midfielder Granit Xhaka said.
“The games against Wolfsburg and Leverkusen are key for us. If we want to come out on top, we’ll need to work for it.”
Leverkusen are meanwhile at nearby Cologne in the Rhine derby, with the home side looking to avoid slipping into the relegation fight.
Second-last VfB Stuttgart have the opportunity to draw level on points with fellow strugglers Freiburg and possibly move out of the immediate drop zone.
The bottom four are all at home, with Hanover under new coach Michael Frontzeck taking on Hoffenheim, third-last Paderborn meeting Werder Bremen on Sunday and bottom side SV Hamburg facing sixth-placed Augsburg.
Bruno Labbadia’s first home match since returning as Hamburg coach will determine whether the Bundesliga ever-presents can mount a last-ditch recovery after five straight defeats without a goal and nine without a win.
“The fact is we have to get the three points against Augsburg,” defender Heiko Westermann said. “We can’t wait for help.”
Teammate Matthias Ostrzolek, who will be up against his former club, said: “We still have three home matches (against Augsburg, Freiburg and Schalke). It’s important with the fans behind us to win these games.
“You can look at the game against Augsburg as a final. After a final you don’t normally have anything else but we have four games which will be just as important.”