Schalke slip sets up tense final day
Saturday, May 11, 2013
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FC Schalke 04 lost 2-1 at home to VfB Stuttgart, blowing the race for fourth place wide open with one game remaining, while the battle to avoid relegation will also go to the final day.
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The stage is set for a tense finale to the Bundesliga season, as Saturday's penultimate round of results ensured the race for fourth and the battle to avoid relegation will go to the last day.
FC Schalke 04 could have secured fourth place, but a 2-1 home defeat by VfB Stuttgart – shaped by a Vedad Ibišević double – has opened the door for their rivals. Three teams will thus go into next week's final round of matches with designs on a place in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League play-offs.
A vital comeback win for SC Freiburg (now a point behind Schalke) at SpVgg Greuther Fürth and a draw for Eintracht Frankfurt (two points adrift) against SV Werder Bremen has set up an exciting climax. Schalke host Freiburg in a winner-takes-all encounter next Saturday.
Three teams, who all lost, are in danger of filling the second automatic relegation place: TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, FC Augsburg and Fortuna Düsseldorf. Bremen's draw preserved their top-flight status for another campaign.
FC Bayern München eased past Augsburg on Saturday, extending their unbeaten top-flight streak to 24 matches, while Borussia Dortmund are certain to finish second after recovering from two goals down to draw 3-3 with VfL Wolfsburg.
