31st matchday of the Bundesliga: Three top games – high tension no, anticipation yes

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As of: April 25, 2024 5:55 p.m

On the 31st matchday of the Bundesliga, the first six teams in the table will compete against each other in direct duels. It’s no longer really exciting, but we can still be happy.

Actually, this 31st round of the Bundesliga is picture perfect in terms of excitement. As if the schedule makers had known it, four match days before the end the first six teams in the table are competing against each other in direct duels. Leaders Bayer Leverkusen await third-placed Stuttgart, second-placed Munich Bayern face sixth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, and fourth-placed Leipzig play against fifth-placed Borussia Dortmund.

• To the live ticker: 31st matchday arrow on the right

• 31st matchday arrow right

Champion has been determined, fifth place in the premier class is approaching

But it’s not really that exciting up there in the table. This is because Leverkusen has long been confirmed as champions and the Bundesliga has been very successful in the European cups this season. Bayern and Borussia Dortmund are in the semi-finals of the Champions League, and Bayer Leverkusen made it to the last four teams in the Europa League.

That’s why the league has the best chance of getting an additional place in the Champions League via UEFA’s new one-year ranking. This is due to the reform of the premier class. Dortmund, Bayern and Leverkusen only have to collect four points in at least six European Cup games. There are two points for a win, one for a draw and one for advancing. If that works, then there will be five German teams in the Champions League next season.

If that were the case, and that is very likely, then Leverkusen, Bayern, VfB Stuttgart and RB Leipzig would already be safely in the premier class. BVB still needs a point from four games. In short: the air is out. The game between Leipzig and Dortmund was seen for weeks as a “final” for participation in the Champions League, but now there is a bit of tension missing.

Leipzig and Dortmund: Two series, spectacle and explosiveness

We can still look forward to the game. Leipzig has been unbeaten since the end of February and took 19 of the 21 possible points from the last seven Bundesliga games. Above all, top goalscorer Lois Openda and top preparer Xavi Simons are just brimming with enthusiasm. Dortmund, on the other hand, have been without an away defeat in the Bundesliga for almost six months and have scored more points away than at home.

And it’s a little explosive now. This is how the Dortmunders meet their former coach Marco Rose, who was chased off the court in the summer of 2022 despite finishing runner-up at BVB.

And the statistics promise a spectacle. In the 15 Bundesliga duels between Leipzig and Dortmund, 51 goals were scored, an average of 3.4 per game. In the most recent seven duels in the Bundesliga there were even 28 goals, an average of four per encounter. In the first half of the season in Dortmund, Leipzig won 3-2.

Leverkusen and Stuttgart: duel between two high flyers

It’s also about series and spectacles between Leverkusen and Stuttgart. The Werkself sensationally clinched the first championship in the club’s history on matchday 29, the Swabians jumped from relegation place to the top 3. Both teams currently have the best record in their Bundesliga history. Leverkusen has now been undefeated in 45 competitive games and wants to continue to be so after the game against VfB. The goal of coach Xabi Alonso and Co. is the first undefeated season for a team in Bundesliga history.

The game promises high football art. There is Leverkusen with their sensational midfield, and there is Stuttgart with the most dangerous attack in the league. Serhou Guirassy and Deniz Undav scored 42 striker goals.

Most recently, things got down to business in the cup quarter-finals. Leverkusen narrowly won 3-2. The first half of the season was also a game at the highest level, which ended 1-1 in keeping with the performance.

Bayern want revenge against Frankfurt

And Bayern? They probably want to take revenge against Frankfurt for the disastrous 5-1 defeat in the first leg. For Eintracht, it is now about cementing sixth place and participation in the European Cup. The advantage over SC Freiburg is five points, and one more over FC Augsburg in eighth place.

Residual tension remains, fifth starting position is not fixed

So we can look forward to the three top games that the 31st Bundesliga matchday has to offer. And it’s not perfect with the additional space in the premier class. Why shouldn’t Aston Villa win the remaining three games in the Conference League? And why shouldn’t the three German teams lose all six semi-final games? FC Bayern have been without a win against Real Madrid for seven games and lost six times. Leverkusen have only won one of their six European Cup games against AS Roma, and Dortmund have only won one of their six duels against Paris Saint-Germain. England would then be past the Bundesliga again in the UEFA rankings.

So it still remains somehow exciting.