By Barry Whelan, dpa
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund continue their domestic duel at the top after European action – with Dortmund in a derby duel at rivals Schalke – while the focus also turns to the Bundesliga relegation battle.
Berlin (dpa) – Bayern Munich will be out to take another step to a record fourth league title when they visit Stuttgart, while Borussia Dortmund are at arch-rivals Schalke in weekend Bundesliga action in which the heat is also on in the relegation battle.
Four of the bottom five teams face off Saturday, with second-last Eintracht Frankfurt hosting improving Hoffenheim, while third-last Augsburg are at Werder Bremen, who are a point and a place ahead in the table.
«We’ve had good results recently but in this match there are no favourites,» Hoffenheim midfielder Eugen Polanski told the Eintracht Frankfurt website.
«Everything is at stake – it’s a tremendously important game, and so it will be intense, emotional and perhaps heated.»
Bottom club Hanover, 10 points adrift and already planning for the second division next season, meanwhile visit third-placed Hertha Berlin on Friday.
Wolfsburg, fresh from their impressive 2-0 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League, need to translate some of their fine form in Europe onto the domestic stage when they greet Mainz on Saturday.
Dieter Hecking’s side, lying eighth, are in danger of slipping out of contention for a European place next season and badly need the points against sixth-placed Mainz, who are six points ahead.
The Ruhr derby on Sunday between seventh-placed Schalke and Dortmund is one of the highlights of the weekend, with Dortmund – already assured of at least second place – needing to recover from the exertions of Thursday’s Europa League encounter with Liverpool ahead of the clash in Gelsenkirchen.
Schalke striker Eric Maxim Choup-Moting fondly remembers the last home derby against Dortmund, when the Cameroon striker scored scored one of the goals in a 2-1 win.
«Of course, I still remember my goal. First and foremost, it is important that we put in a good team performance and are successful and if I can score again it would make it that bit sweeter,» he told the Schalke website.
«We proved in the last home fixture against Dortmund that it’s possible to beat them. It was exciting right until the very end as a derby should be.
«We deserved to win in the end. Nevertheless, we have a large amount of respect for Dortmund. They are having a very good season so we will have to be at our best on the day.»
The striker says Schalke also need «to make amends» for a 3-0 defeat at Ingolstadt last weekend.
«Things simply have to go well. We have to be at 100 per cent mentally and physically to perform at the highest level possible,» he said.
«We can’t allow any mistakes because Dortmund will punish them instantly.»
Sunday is derby day, with fifth-placed Bayer Leverkusen at Rhine neighbours Cologne in the day’s other meeting of local rivals after Schalke-Dortmund.
Elsewhere on Saturday, fourth-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach will be hoping to strengthen their Champions League credentials when they travel to Ingolstadt, while midtable take on visiting relegation candidates Darmstadt.
Bayern, who defeated Benfica 1-0 in the Champions League Tuesday, protect a five-point lead over Dortmund for the visit to Stuttgart, who have dragged themselves out of the immediate relegation danger zone.
Stuttgart are due at least a point against the German champions, having lost their last 14 games against Bayern – 11 in the league and three in the cup.
