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Borussia Dortmund will hope to ramp up the pressure on league leaders FC Bayern München on Matchday 23 of the Bundesliga as both sides look to recover swiftly from their European exertions.
Dortmund trail Bayern by six points with 12 games to go following their 3-0 win at 1. FC Union Berlin and the defending champions’ shock 4-2 loss at VfL Bochum 1848.
Both teams will have their resources and title ambitions tested by the return of continental competitions this week. Dortmund host Borussia Mönchengladbach on Sunday but have also had to focus on Thursday’s UEFA Europa League knockout round play-off clash with Scottish champions Rangers. Bayern, meanwhile, return to league action against SpVgg Greuther Fürth on Sunday, after a 1-1 UEFA Champions League draw with RB Salzburg in Austria on Wednesday night.
Bayern will be the first of the top two in action, determined to bounce back after losing to midtable Bochum despite another double from Robert Lewandowski. Lewandowski now has a league-leading 26 Bundesliga goals this season, and the FIFA’s Men’s Player of the Year for 2021 will expect to add to his tally against Fürth. The visitors, after all, are still cut adrift at the bottom despite last week’s 2-1 win over Hertha Berlin.
Dortmund captain Marco Reus got two goals in the impressive victory at high-flying Union, and both he and his coach Marco Rose will hope for more of the same from the visit of their former club Gladbach. They’ll also hope that star striker Erling Haaland can make his long-awaited return to Bundesliga action against a visiting team that are just four points above the relegation zone.
Gladbach have a terrible recent record in Dortmund but they did win the reverse fixture 1-
0 in September and have an in-form ex-BVB player to call on. Germany midfielder Jonas Hofmann got his eighth league goal of the campaign in the Foals’ 3-2 victory over FC Augsburg last week.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen are five points behind Dortmund in third but they could edge closer if they win at ninth-placed 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Friday. Leverkusen have now won their last four league matches – scoring 16 goals in the process – after their 4-2 home success against VfB Stuttgart. Czech striker Patrik Schick has 19 league goals after netting in that game, but the standout player for Gerardo Seoane’s side in recent weeks has been Moussa Diaby. The French winger has 10 goals for the campaign including five in his last three matches.
There are five important games on Saturday as well. Max Kruse’s penalty helped midtable VfL Wolfsburg beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 last time out, and the mercurial winter signing next has fifth-placed TSG Hoffenheim in his sights.
Meanwhile the three teams directly above Fürth at the bottom will be desperate to make the most of home advantage. Stuttgart will aim to bring Bochum down to earth, while Augsburg – currently in the relegation/promotion play-off place – welcome sixth-placed SC Freiburg to Bavaria.
Arminia Bielefeld are out of the relegation zone on goal difference alone so could do with beating Union, while 1. FC Köln take on Frankfurt in a battle between two European hopefuls.
After the two top play on Sunday, struggling Hertha Berlin host fourth-placed RB Leipzig in the weekend’s final top-flight fixture.
There is also lots of excitement ahead in Bundesliga 2, where the top six are separated by only four points. FC Schalke 04 in fifth kick off Matchday 23 with a home game against SC Paderborn 07, while second-placed SV Werder Bremen plan to extend their seven-match winning streak when bottom side Ingolstadt visit on Saturday. Hamburger SV in third are at SV Sandhausen the same day, while their city rivals and league leaders FC St. Pauli are home to Hannover 96 on Sunday.
