Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the Bundesliga game between FC Koln and Bayern Munich, being played at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany.
Confirmed starting lineups:
Match Preview
The closest Bundesliga title race for years ends on the final day of the season on Saturday when Borussia Dortmund or Bayern Munich will be crowned champion.
Dortmund leads by two points and needs to beat Mainz at home to be sure of ending Bayern’s 10-year reign, while Bayern will be hoping for a Dortmund slip-up as it visits Cologne at the same time.
Bayern’s goal difference is better than Dortmund’s so a draw won’t be enough for Dortmund if Bayern beats Cologne.
“We have to win once more. That’s all that counts,” Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl said.
It would be Dortmund’s first German league title since Jürgen Klopp led the “black and yellows” to back-to-back triumphs in 2011 and 2012. Bayern has won every season since.
The fact that the Bavarian powerhouse doesn’t have the title already wrapped up means the season will be considered a failure – even if Mainz does Bayern a favor and causes an upset on Saturday.
Bayern’s total of 68 points is the lowest it’s had at this stage of the season since 2011, when interim coach Andries Jonker led the team to third place after Louis van Gaal was fired.
Bayern also fired its coach this season, when Julian Nagelsmann made way in March because the club felt its targets in the Champions League, German Cup and Bundesliga were in danger. Bayern was subsequently knocked out of the first two under new coach Thomas Tuchel, but he may yet salvage some lost pride if his former team Dortmund fails to beat Mainz – where he started his senior coaching career.
Dortmund’s 70 points are just one more than it managed last season, when it finished 10 behind Bayern. The story of the Bundesliga this season is one of Bayern’s decline, rather than any huge leap made by Dortmund – though the team has developed a new resilience under coach Edin Terzic.
“We’re ready to take the last step together – as a team, as a club, as a city,” Terzic said on Thursday.
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