Bundesliga preview: Clubs battle for Europa spots

5 May 2012 01:52

Borussia Dortmund may have wrapped up the league title but there is still plenty to play for in the final round of the Bundesliga.

The winners of two successive Bundesliga championships will receive their championship plate at home to 12th-placed Freiburg.

Seventh-placed Hannover welcome the already relegated Kaiserslautern to AWD-Arena, hoping to secure the final Europa League spot with victory.

Hannover are the only club yet to lose a game at home this season and unbeaten in their three previous encounters against the 2.Bundesliga-bound side.

Hannover may have their destiny in their own hands but Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen and Nuremberg are all ready to pounce on any slip-ups.

Wolfsburg trail Hannover by one-point and make the trip to sixth-placed Stuttgart, having picked up seven points from their last four away games and manager Felix Magath says his side have a chance of playing European football next season.

"We've shown that we belong near the top. If we can play that way again and win, we have a chance of making the Europa League."

Three points behind Hannover are Bremen and Nuremberg, who not only require results to go their way but need to boost their goal difference by three if they are any chance of claiming seventh spot.

Bremen's entertain 2010 runners-up Schalke, who have already sealed third spot and the Champions League berth that goes with it.

However, with Klass-Jan Huntelaar leading the race for the league's top scorer by one goal from Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez, the Dutchman could be a dangerous prospect for Bremen.

The other club vying for seventh spot are Nuremberg, but they face an in-form Bayer Leverkusen outfit at home, who are looking to seal fifth spot ahead of Stuttgart.

Nuremberg have enjoyed an impressive run of late, winning three and drawing two of their last five matches.

At the other end of the table, Cologne and Hertha Berlin are fighting to avoid the same fate as Kaiserslautern, direct relegation.

Cologne occupy the relegation play-off place ahead of Hertha and face runners-up Bayern Munich, knowing a win is enough to seal the play-off spot.

However, Bayern will be out to help Gomez find the target and pip Huntelaar to the top of the goal scoring charts.

If Cologne manages a draw at most and Hertha are victorious at home to Hoffenheim, the Berlin club will finish in the play-off spot.

The play-off occupant is set to face either Fortuna Dusseldorf or Paderborn.

In other matches, Mainz and Borussia Moenchengladbach meet at the Coface Arena, while Augsburg play host to Hamburg.