Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich travel to Stuttgart on Friday in the hope of an ideal warming prior to next week's Champions League collision with Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern sports director Max Eberl insisted that full focus is on the meeting with Stuttgart, because the Vincent Kompany team wants to consolidate their place in the first place.
However, it can be difficult for some attention not to be in an All-Bundesliga match in Europe.
Bayern has won eight of their last nine league games and has 58 points, eight free of the second -placed Leverkusen. According to the Opta -Supercomputer, they have a chance of 94.2% to win the title.
But they did not defeat Xabi Alonso's side in six games under the Spaniard in the most exciting German rivalry of the past seasons.
“The game in Stuttgart is crucial for us because we want to protect our position in the rankings,” Eberl said in a press conference on Thursday.
“It will not be easy against a solid club that played in the Champions League this season. For us it is a Champions League match against a Champions League club. We have to wait and see what it will mean for the Leverkusen match.”
Bayern -Coach Kompany will most likely be without defensive midfielder Joshua Kimmich, who has not yet recovered from a thigh injury, in Stuttgart.
“It is unlikely that Joshua will travel with us. This game came a little too early unless a kind of miracle happens,” said Kompany.
However, the Belgian will has again appropriate midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic, who had missed the training.
Leverkusen has an equally heavy task to the third placed Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, with the hosts desperate to bounce back from last week's 4-0 loss at Bayern while haunting a top-four finish and a place in the Champions League of next season.
The train of @EATTRACHT_eng continues to roll #bundesliga | #Bundesligamatchfacts | @AwsCloud pic.twitter.com/ijjefvvntx
– Bundesliga English (@bundesliga_en) February 19, 2025
Eintracht has 42 points, three ahead of Freiburg in fourth place.
Colleague Champions League club Borussia Dortmund, who takes on it on Tuesday on their own last-16-drawing game, will try to build on last week's 6-0 home wins on Union Berlin with another three points in St Pauli on Saturday.
Dortmund, which runs the risk of missing Champions League football next season, has won one of their three league matches under new coach Niko Kovac and is in 10th place at 32 points.
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