Athletistic/ Football. On the 34th day of the German championship, Borussia will host Mainz. The fate of the gold medals is decided.
Borussia D – Mainz
Few could believe before the start of the season that the gold medals of the last round of the Bundesliga would depend entirely on the match Borussia Dortmund-Mainz. “Bumblebees” became the champion last time after the results of the draw in 2011/2012. Then the Dortmund club under the leadership of Jurgen Klopp twice became the best in Germany, after which he transferred the powers of the championship to Bayern for ten years. Borussia Dortmund have only won twice this season. The second took place extremely timely – following the results of the last round. In order to make a sensational finish in first place, the Dortmund team must win in the last round. Any other result will suit him only if Bayern cannot win in Cologne.
“Mainz” is already devoid of tournament motivation. The guests of the next meeting are five points behind the European Cup positions, so in Dortmund they can try only professional qualities. The bookmakers have determined the hosts as the undisputed favorites for the match. Borussia is close to phenomenal success thanks to two factors. First, a great game in 2023. Second, a phenomenal game in his home stadium. At “Signal Iduna Park” the team fought sixteen fights, in which they won fourteen times. Borussia Dortmund averaged 3.3 goals per game at home. Directly in the home meetings of the current year, Borussia won ten times, never losing points and consistently scoring four or six goals against their opponents. At the same time, it is important to note that out of ten home matches won in 2023, the “bumblebees” missed only three.
On April 22, Mainz unexpectedly beat Bayern at home, who had no time to recover from the Champions League quarter-final second leg with Manchester City. After this great victory, the players of “Mainz” considered all the tasks of the season accomplished and ceased to fulfill their duties on the field properly, which ended in four consecutive defeats. Alternatively, the club lost to Wolfsburg, Schalke, Eintracht and Stuttgart. While the players have been on de facto “vacation” for several weeks, they will not be able to pack up and get in tune with a duel with the local German team.
Cologne – Bavaria
Over the past ten seasons, Bayern have consistently become champions. The Munich club’s hegemony was bound to come to an end sooner or later, but the inevitable end of everything in the world of football makes the current tournament situation no less sensational. Before the last round, Thomas Tuchel’s wards were one point ahead of Borussia Dortmund, and the bookmakers offered odds of 1.30 for their league title. After winning the first half of the week-long game against Leipzig, Bayern completely missed the second half and, before the final round, found themselves in the role of catching completely unclear prospects.
In the next round, Bayern will only be content with a victory that will bring them the title if Borussia loses points in a parallel meeting against Mainz. Any other development will lead to the first arrival of the “Munich car” which has not been in first place since the 2012/2013 season. “Cologne” before the 34th round takes tenth place in the standings. Regardless of the outcome of the match with Bayern, the goats will not move more than one position down or up. The bookmakers, which is logical, proposed the guests as favorites for the next meeting. After the arrival of Thomas Tuchel at Bayern, the management of the Munich club expected an immediate transformation of the team, above all on the psychological level. Instead, the still reigning German champion had a different effect. During the reign of Tuchel, the team played eleven matches, after which they won less than half. During this period, the reigning German champion flew out of the German Cup, the Champions League and the Bundesliga for some time lost seemingly unshakable leadership. The last lap plunged the whole Munich “party” into a state of shock and painful expectation of an end to the season without titles, which already seems inevitable.
Cologne is devoid of tournament motivation, but the influence of native supporters on the definition of the national champion may seem interesting to the players of the team, which from 2019 to 2021 “cling” near the relegation zone of the Bundesliga. Aggressive attacking football will start from the first minutes of the game in Cologne.
Andrey Andreev, Sport.Ru
Source: Sport

I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.