عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

European Qualification Brings Some Drama to Bundesliga

Leverkusen's Patrik Schick, center, celebrates with the team after winning the German Bundesliga match between Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt in Leverkusen, Germany, Monday, May 2, 2022. (AP)
Leverkusen's Patrik Schick, center, celebrates with the team after winning the German Bundesliga match between Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt in Leverkusen, Germany, Monday, May 2, 2022. (AP)
TT
TT

European Qualification Brings Some Drama to Bundesliga

Leverkusen's Patrik Schick, center, celebrates with the team after winning the German Bundesliga match between Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt in Leverkusen, Germany, Monday, May 2, 2022. (AP)
Leverkusen's Patrik Schick, center, celebrates with the team after winning the German Bundesliga match between Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt in Leverkusen, Germany, Monday, May 2, 2022. (AP)

With little excitement at the top of the Bundesliga, it’s the clubs just below Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund that are providing the entertainment at the end of the season.

Bayer Leverkusen, Freiburg, Leipzig, Cologne and Union Berlin are all scrapping for European places with two matches to go, with two of those teams joining Bayern and Dortmund in the Champions League, while another two will qualify for the Europa League

Third-place Leverkusen next visits Hoffenheim before ending the season with a potentially decisive game against Freiburg, which currently holds the last Champions League qualification place one point ahead of Leipzig.

Freiburg, which also plays Leipzig in the German Cup final on May 21, hosts Union on Saturday, a game the team will feel it has to win to maintain the all-important fourth spot. Seventh-place Union will be looking for a victory after drawing with relegated Greuther Fürth last weekend.

Union ends the season at home against Bochum, which clinched survival last weekend.

Leipzig, which has lost its last two games after a 15-match unbeaten run in all competitions, next plays Augsburg at home before its final game at Arminia Bielefeld, which could be relegated by then.

Sixth-place Cologne is also eyeing Europe’s premier competition. The team would secure Europa Conference League qualification if it beats Wolfsburg on Saturday and Union fails to beat Freiburg at the same time.

But Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart said he wouldn’t celebrate yet.

"I’m not counting (points) at all," Baumgart said. "I’m counting on the fact that we want to win the next game. And that’s difficult enough. And then we’ll look at the next week. We know where we are. We know how many points we have and we still want to see whether we can go on another step or the other."

Cologne will play relegation-threatened Stuttgart in the final round for what is likely to be another high-stakes clash.

Stuttgart, Bielefeld and Hertha Berlin are providing the excitement at the other end of the standings. Bielefeld is in second-to-last place - and the most likely to join Fürth in the second division - ahead of its games at Bochum on Friday and Leipzig next weekend.

Stuttgart is only two points ahead of Bielefeld after failing to win any of its last five games, and it looks set for a relegation-promotion playoff against the third-place finisher in the second division to see which club plays in the Bundesliga next season.

Stuttgart on Sunday visits champion Bayern - which was criticized for allowing its players take a trip to Ibiza after losing 3-1 in Mainz last weekend - before hosting Cologne in the final round.

Hertha is four points ahead of Stuttgart and can clinch survival with a win against Mainz on Saturday. Failing that, it will have a second chance at Dortmund in the final round.

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Arsenal Closes in on Premier League Leader Liverpool after 2-1 Win over Tottenham

15 January 2025, United Kingdom, London: Arsenal players celebrate following the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at Emirates Stadium. Photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire/dpa
15 January 2025, United Kingdom, London: Arsenal players celebrate following the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at Emirates Stadium. Photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire/dpa
TT
TT

Arsenal Closes in on Premier League Leader Liverpool after 2-1 Win over Tottenham

15 January 2025, United Kingdom, London: Arsenal players celebrate following the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at Emirates Stadium. Photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire/dpa
15 January 2025, United Kingdom, London: Arsenal players celebrate following the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at Emirates Stadium. Photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire/dpa

Arsenal closed the gap on Premier League leader Liverpool to four points after a 2-1 victory over Tottenham on Wednesday.
Mikel Arteta’s team took advantage of Liverpool’s draw with Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, with Leandro Trossard firing the winner in the north London derby at the Emirates Stadium.
“Everybody knows you need to win these games, the fans are buzzing and it’s a great night for us,” Trossard said. “It’s an amazing feeling, especially to get the winner as well, it had to come and now we need to look forward.”
Arsenal was runner-up to Manchester City in the last two seasons and is in contention for the title again this year. But it was given a fright by Spurs when Son Heung-min opened the scoring for the visitors in the 25th minute.
A Dominic Solanke own goal when trying to defend a corner leveled the game in the 40th and Trossard struck low from just inside the box four minutes later to put Arsenal ahead.
Liverpool still has a game in hand on second-place Arsenal but has dropped points by drawing its last two league matches and is on a run of just one win in four in all competitions. That was against fourth-division Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup, The Associated Press reported.
Arsenal bounced back quickly after the disappointment of being knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester United on penalties and opened up a two-point lead over Forest in third.
“Less than 72 hours ago we played 120 minutes in another competition that we went out of — that is not easy psychologically. So the way we performed and played today was exceptional,” Arteta said.
Tottenham has won just one of its last nine games in the league.
“The losses hurt me but they aren’t acceptable. We have had too many losses this year and too many games that have got away from us. That needs to stop,” head coach Ange Postecoglou said.
Isak on target again Alexander Isak scored for the eighth straight league game to propel Newcastle into the top four.
The Sweden international struck twice in a 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton to take his season total to 17 in all competitions. He became the fourth player to score in eight consecutive games in the Premier League, following Ruud van Nistelrooy, Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge.
Vardy scored a league record 11-straight games.
“Like most strikers, Isak wants to practice his finishing. It is an art form. He is there after training every day trying to do more,” Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said.
Isak's form has pushed Newcastle into Champions League contention. He's scored 12 in his last 10 games in all competitions and Newcastle is on a nine-match winning streak.
Isak opened the scoring in the 34th against relegation-threatened Wolverhampton at St James' Park. He got his second in the 57th and Anthony maintained his own scoring form with his fourth goal in successive games.
Howe's team is now one point ahead of fifth-place Chelsea.
Unhappy homecoming for Moyes David Moyes' return to Everton didn't get off to the start he wanted after a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa.
In his second spell at the Merseyside club, Moyes took charge of his 519th game as Everton manager and was welcomed by the Goodison Park crowd.
But he couldn't inspire his relegation-threatened team to victory as Ollie Watkins' goal six minutes into the second half sealed Villa's win.
Everton is 16th in the standings and a point above the bottom three.
Moyes' immediate priority is to find goals from somewhere. Everton has failed to score in nine of its last 11 league games.
Leicester slumping The hiring of Ruud van Nistelrooy hasn't paid off for Leicester yet.
A 2-0 loss at home to Crystal Palace leaves the 2016 champion second from bottom of the standings and without a league win since Van Nistelrooy's first game in charge at the start of December.
It's now six straight defeats in the league, with Jean-Philippe Mateta and Marc Guehi scoring for Palace in the second half at the King Power Stadium.
“Six without a win is not good enough. You can’t keep talking about performances. We need to win and that needs to happen soon,” Van Nistelrooy said.
United drops Manchester United doesn't play until Thursday, but Palace's win saw the record 20-time champion slip to 15th in the standings.
Ruben Amorim's team plays last-place Southampton at Old Trafford.