Bayern faces Leipzig as Dortmund fights to keep Bundesliga title race alive

It's crunch time for Thomas Tuchel and Bayern Munich.

Saturday's game against Cham‐ pions League‐chasing Leipzig could help crown Bayern as the Bundesliga champion once again, or put Borussia Dortmund in the driver's seat with one more game to go.

Bayern has a one‐point advan‐ tage over Dortmund in the stand‐ ings, so a win over Leipzig would be enough for the title if Dort‐ mund loses to Augsburg a day later. Given Bayern's big 19‐goal advantage in goal difference, only a win will realistically do for Dort‐ mund.

Leipzig is a tricky opponent for Bayern and got a 1‐1 draw in their last game in January. Third‐ place Leipzig and coach Marco Rose have won seven of their last eight games in all competitions and know that a win over Bayern would guarantee Champions League qualification for next sea‐ son.

There are plenty of links be‐ tween the two clubs, with former Leipzig players Dayot Upamecano in the Bayern defense and Joshua Kimmich in midfield. Former Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann may have been replaced by Tuchel nearly two months ago, but his influence still shapes the way Bayern plays, and Leipzig midfielder Konrad Laimer is re‐ portedly close to agreeing to move to Bayern when his con‐ tract expires at the end of the sea‐ son.

Chasing a record‐extending 11th consecutive title, Bayern has got back on form with three straight wins since the 3‐1 loss to Mainz last month which briefly handed Dortmund the lead in the standings. Not all has gone smoothly for Bayern this week, though.

Goalkeeper Yann Sommer, him‐ self a stand‐in for the injured Manuel Neuer, missed training on Wednesday with what the club called "a stomach complaint," po‐ tentially opening the way for third‐choice Sven Ulreich to get a game Saturday. The future of Sadio Mané remains unresolved after a largely disappointing sea‐ son for the Senegal forward.

At first glance, Augsburg might seem an ideal opponent for Dort‐ mund. Likely safe from relegation in 13th, Augsburg may have little to play for but has raised its game against Germany's top teams all season.

In its last game against Dort‐ mund, Augsburg leveled the score three times before Gio Reyna fi‐ nally scored the winning goal in a 4‐3 victory for Dortmund. Augs‐ burg stunned Bayern in a 1‐0 win in September and went down fighting in a dramatic 5‐3 loss in March.

This weekend could decide the relegation fight, too.

Anything but a win against Bochum will doom Hertha Berlin to relegation from the Bundesliga, a final humiliating blow after the team spent much of the last decade dreaming of becoming a "big city club" in the Champions League, putting Berlin on par with European capitals like Lon‐ don, Paris and Madrid.

To make matters worse for Hertha, the city of Berlin could be getting a Champions League club next season — Union Berlin. Hertha's cross‐city rival could se‐ cure a spot in Europe's top com‐ petition with a draw against Hoffenheim on Saturday if Freiburg loses to Wolfsburg the day before.

Stuttgart also could be rele‐ gated, but only if it loses to Mainz on Sunday and Schalke, Hoffen‐ heim and Bochum all win their games.

Title race over, Spanish league turns focus to 6 teams in relegation fight

With the Spanish league title al‐ ready clinched by Barcelona, the focus now shifts to the drama at the bottom.

Six teams — Valencia, Almeria, Cadiz, Valladolid, Getafe and Es‐ panyol — are within seven points of one another in a fight to see which two will accompany al‐ ready‐relegated Elche to the sec‐ ond division.

With four matches left, Getafe and Espanyol are currently in 18th and 19th place, respectively, the spots that will be relegated at the end of the season.

Cadiz hosts Valladolid on Friday in a direct fight between two teams trying to stave off demo‐ tion. Cadiz and Valladolid are even on points and only one ahead of Getafe. The loser of Fri‐ day's game — or both teams if it ends in a draw — would be in danger of falling into the drop zone if Getafe beats last‐place Elche on Saturday.

"We know how important this game is," Cadiz coach Sergio González said Thursday. "We are playing at home and have our fans to push us forward. The re‐ sult of this game can be a turning point for what is left of the season. It will be an intense match, and we have to reduce our errors and go for the win."

Valladolid, a club owned by Brazil great Ronaldo, has lost four straight under coach Paulo Pez‐ zolano, who took over last month.

"I would be more worried if we weren't creating chances, but we have to score more," Pezzolano said. "We have rivals which are also in trouble and there are three teams below us in the standings, so we have to take advantage of that."

Valencia, in 14th place, can take a big step to ensuring it stays up if it can beat Real Madrid at home on Sunday.

Madrid only has second place to play for after Barcelona wrapped up the title last weekend. Madrid won the Copa del Rey earlier this month but was eliminated from the Champions League semifinals by Manchester City this week.

Almeria is two points above the relegation zone before it hosts Mallorca on Saturday.

Espanyol is four points from safety before visiting Rayo Valle‐ cano on Sunday. Espanyol may face disciplinary action from the Spanish league for last weekend's field invasion by spectators an‐ gered by the celebrations of Barcelona following their title‐de‐ ciding victory.

Inter still highly motivated with treble in play as it visits new Serie A champ

Even though it has reached the Champions League final, Inter Milan isn't certain yet of playing in the Champions League next season.

The top four in Serie A qualify. Inter is third, and five points clear of fifth‐placed AC Milan.

Inter can secure a berth on Sun‐ day if it can go to Naples and beat new Serie A champion Napoli, and other results go its way.

Inter ought to be far more up for the game than Napoli.

Napoli was the champion‐in‐ waiting for months and finally clinched the title two weeks ago. Amid the celebrations, it has won one game and drawn one and there are likely to be more party‐ ing scenes at Stadio Diego Ar‐ mando Maradona.

There are few goals left for Napoli. It's still possible for Lu‐ ciano Spalletti's team to break Napoli's record season tally of 91 points under Maurizio Sarri in 2018, as the club has 83 points with three matches to play.

But it's hard to see the new champions going all out for a mere points record, while Inter has a treble of trophies in play.

While not quite in the realm of Manchester City's treble bid — Champions League, English Pre‐ mier League, FA Cup — Inter won the Italian Super Cup in Jan‐ uary, has the Italian Cup final against Fiorentina next Wednes‐ day, and then the Champions League final with City next month.