Just under a year on from selling goal machine Erling Braut Haaland, few would have envisaged Borussia Dortmund perched at the top of the Bundesliga table with one game remaining, but head coach Edin Terzicis hoping to become the first BVB boss since Jurgen Klopp to win the title and finally end a decade of Bayern dominance.
The Black and Yellows have capitalised on Bayern’s faltering form in recent weeks and have accumulated 17 points from their last 21 available, convincingly winning each of their last three matches against Wolfsburg, Borussia Monchengladbach and Augsburg by an aggregate score of 14-2.
A 6-0 thrashing of Wolfsburg and a 5-2 triumph over Monchengladbach were followed by a 3-0 home victory against 10-man Augsburg last Sunday courtesy of goals from Sebastianqq Haller (2) and Julian Brandt, a day after Bayern had lost 3-1 at home to RB Leipzig.
Dortmund were nine points adrift of former league leaders Bayern after matchday 15, but they have since gradually closed the gap before claiming top spot last weekend, becoming the first team since Stuttgart in 2006-07 to move to the Bundesliga summit within the final two matchdays.
BVB will be confident of securing the three points that they require to clinch top spot and the title on Saturday, as they boast the best home record in the Bundesliga this season, winning 14 and
drawing one of their 16 matches at Westfalenstadion. An ongoing run of 11 straight home victories, dating back to October, is also their best since a club-record streak of 12 back in 1994.
Between February 11 and April 22, Mainz put together an impressive 10-game unbeaten run in the Bundesliga, the longest of any side in the division during that period.
Such a streak had seen Bo qSvensson’s side soar up the top-flight standings and put them in contention to claim a European qualification spot for the first time since 2015-16.
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However, hopes of a top-seven finish for Mainz have since been quashed after suffering four successive league defeats, conceding at least three goals in each game including last weekend’s 4-1 loss at home to relegation-threatened Stuttgart.
Marcus Ingvartsen had put the 05ers in front midway through the first half, but Wataru Endo restored parity for the visitors on the stroke of half time before the hosts suffered a second-half collapse, conceding three goals in the final 26 minutes and were eventually condemned to back-to-back home losses for the first time this season.
Mainz currently sit ninth in the Bundesliga table and can only finish as high as eighth place, with just two points separating them from Eintracht Frankfurt, although ending the season on a positive note could prove challenging against a title-chasing Dortmund outfit whom they have beaten just once in their last nine league meetings.
