That speaks for Borussia Dortmund

Borussia’s home strength was the last reliable. At the Bundesliga’s largest stadium, Borussia Dortmund have won every last eleven games without exception. Another win over Mainz would set a club record. In addition, another record beckons: the BVB has never recorded 15 home wins and 46 home points in a Bundesliga season. Another plus is the accurate offensive: since the end of the winter break, coach Edin Terzic’s team has scored an impressive 56 goals in 18 games.

This speaks against Borussia Dortmund

BVB has been a good hunter this season but a nervous leader in the league. Bayern were a whopping nine points behind during the winter break. Since then, BVB has moved up from sixth to first and is now two points ahead of Munich. However, two points in the table have already been lost again. A point won on match day 25 was lost again two weeks later in a 2-4 crushing match in Munich. After beating Frankfurt 4–0 on 22 April, the BVB overtook the record champions again, but stumbled again the next match day in a 1–1 draw in Bochum.

It’s about Bayern.

Really nothing more – and this could be a chance for Bayern. Because who – if not Munich – can host the Bundesliga final. A point on the last day of the 1999/2000 season at SpVgg Unterhaching would have been enough for Leverkusen to win their first German championship. But Bayern took advantage of Leverkusen’s 2-0 defeat to score their own 3-1 victory and still prevailed. In stoppage time of the 2000/01 season, Bayern snatched the championship from Schalke at the last moment. Another plus for Bayern: Borussia often failed to cope with their nerves when it mattered.

It speaks against Bayern.

Ten years after the first treble in the club’s history, Bayern were knocked out of the cup and the Champions League and lost the lead in a 1-3 draw against Leipzig a week ago. The performance upset coach Thomas Tuchel. Even if the stars manage to win again in Cologne, the title is no longer in their hands. And with such a performance, as against the winners of the Leipzig Cup, victory in Cologne is far from certain. Bayern already had big problems with FC in the first leg, Joshua Kimmich saved just one point with a last-minute equalizer.
© dpa