Bayern Munich is set to collect the Bundesliga trophy Saturday when
it visits Hertha Berlin, which will be bidding farewell from the
German top-flight.
Bayern goes into the final round with a three-point lead and
a vastly superior goal difference (17 goals) over Schalke, making
the title all but a formality. Coach Louis van Gaal is seeking a
rare treble in his first season with Bayern, which is also in the
Champions League and German Cup finals.
The final round will also decide which one of three teams
will definitely join Hertha on the way down - Hannover, Nuremberg
or Bochum. Another of the three will then face a play-off against
the team finishing third in the second division.
Also to be decided is whether Werder Bremen or Bayer
Leverkusen finish third, securing a place in the Champions League
qualifiers.
Goal difference effectively rules out fifth-place Borussia
Dortmund, which is assured of Europa League football next season.
Stuttgart is three points ahead of Hamburger SV in the race for the
last slot in that competition.
Bayern claimed the title when it beat Bochum 3-1 last week at
home. Van Gaal gave his players a few days off and the club is
planning a celebration Sunday in the Bavarian capital with a
motorcade procession and a party in front of the city hall.
Preparations for the party have not distracted Bayern players
from the upcoming games.
"We have to keep the foot on the gas pedal," captain Mark van
Bommel said. "If you let up, it's difficult to catch up again."
"It may be the unique opportunity of a career, we can write
history and crown an extraordinary season with three titles. We are
all eager, the players, the coach, the club, the fans."
Van Bommel will be Bayern's first non-German captain to lift
the trophy at the end of the match in Berlin.
"It's going to be a special experience for me. I won three
championships as captain in Eindhoven and now my first with Bayern.
That makes me proud."
Defender Philipp Lahm said the players want more than just
the Bundesliga title.
"When you are in two finals, you want to win them," defender
Philipp Lahm said. "It would have been bad for Bayern if we didn't
win the title two years in a row. We've shown everyone now that we
are No. 1 in Germany.
"You don't have the possibility every year to win a double or
a treble."
Schalke, which visits Mainz, is sure to finish second and has
earned a slot on the Champions League next season in Felix Magath's
first year as coach. Schalke has 64 points, while Bayern has 67.
Werder Bremen, which dashed Schalke's hopes by beating
Magath's team 2-0 last week, hosts Hamburger SV and will look to
protect its two-point lead over Leverkusen, which visits Borussia
Moenchengladbach.
Dortmund visits Freiburg and will finish either fourth or
fifth. Dortmund is one point behind Leverkusen.
Bochum hosts Hannover in a decisive game at the bottom.
Bochum is next-to-last at 58 points. Nuremberg, which hosts
Cologne, is also on 28 points, one goal better than Bochum.
Hannover has 30 points.
