BERLIN: The closest Bundesliga title race for years ends on the final day of the season on Saturday when Borussia Dortmund or Bayern Munich will be crowned champion.
Dortmund lead by two points and need to beat Mainz at home to be sure of ending Bayern’s 10-year reign, while Bayern will be hoping for a Dortmund slip-up as they visit Cologne at the same time.
Bayern’s goal difference is better than Dortmund’s so a draw won’t be enough for Dortmund if Bayern beat Cologne.
“We have to win once more. That’s all that counts,” Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl said.
It would be Dortmund’s first German league title since Jürgen Klopp led the “black and yellows” to back-to-back triumphs in 2011 and 2012. Bayern have won every season since.
The fact that the Bavarian powerhouse doesn’t have the title already wrapped up means the season will be considered a failure – even if Mainz do Bayern a favor and cause an upset on Saturday.
Bayern’s total of 68 points is the lowest they had at this stage of the season since 2011, when interim coach Andries Jonker led the team to third place after Louis van Gaal was fired.
Bayern also fired their coach this season, when Julian Nagelsmann made way in March because the club felt their targets in the Champions League, German Cup and Bundesliga were in danger. Bayern were subsequently knocked out of the first two under new coach Thomas Tuchel, but he may yet salvage some lost pride if his former team Dortmund fails to beat Mainz – where he started his senior coaching career.
Dortmund’s 70 points are just one more than they managed last season, when they finished 10 behind Bayern. The story of the Bundesliga this season is one of Bayern’s decline, rather than any huge leap made by Dortmund – though the team have developed a new resilience under coach Edin Terzić.
“We’re ready to take the last step together – as a team, as a club, as a city,” Terzić said on Thursday.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Leipzig are assured of third place regardless of their result at home to Schalke, but fourth – the last qualification spot for Europe’s premier competition – is still in contention between Union Berlin and Freiburg.
Both teams are level on points, with Union ahead by four goals’ difference. Union can book their Champions League place with a win at home over Werder Bremen, or by matching Freiburg’s result at Eintracht Frankfurt – provided Freiburg doesn’t score four goals more than Union.
It’s already a remarkable achievement for Union and Freiburg – both clubs of modest resources – to be in this position going into the final round.
EUROPA LEAGUE/EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE
One of Union or Freiburg will finish fifth and qualify for the Europa League.
Sixth-placed Bayer Leverkusen and seventh-placed Wolfsburg hope to join, depending on what happens in the German Cup final on June 3 between Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Because the cup winner gets a European qualification spot, Leverkusen and Wolfsburg will be cheering for Leipzig in the final. If Leipzig successfully defends their title, they will free another Europa League qualification spot (sixth in the Bundesliga), because they have already qualified for the Champions League. If Frankfurt win, then the sixth-placed finisher goes to the Europa Conference League.
Leverkusen visit Bochum on the final day. Wolfsburg are just a point behind Leverkusen and can be confident of taking three more against already-relegated Hertha Berlin. Frankfurt, three points behind Leverkusen, have only a slim chance of finishing sixth.
FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL
Augsburg, Stuttgart, Bochum and Schalke are all still playing for survival on the final day. The bottom two are relegated and the team that finish above them goes into a two-leg relegation-promotion playoff against the second division’s third-placed finisher to see which play in the Bundesliga next season.
All of the final round’s matches are played at the same time on Saturday.
Dortmund or Bayern? Bundesliga up for grabs on final day
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Dortmund or Bayern? Bundesliga up for grabs on final day
- Bayern’s goal difference is better than Dortmund’s so a draw won’t be enough for Dortmund if Bayern beat Cologne
- “We have to win once more. That’s all that counts,” Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl said
Pochettino urges struggling Chelsea players to ‘believe’
- The Blues, European champions just two years ago, are a lowly 14th in the Premier League table
- But new manager Pochettino, speaking on the eve of their League Cup third-round match against Brighton, struck a positive note, saying his team were still a work in progress
LONDON: Mauricio Pochettino has urged his struggling Chelsea team to keep believing in themselves but admitted they had to “fix” their crippling goalscoring problem.
The Blues, European champions just two years ago, are a lowly 14th in the Premier League table, just four points above the relegation zone, after one win in their first six matches.
Big-spending Chelsea have mustered just five goals in the league — and three of those came in the 3-0 win against newly-promoted Luton.
But new manager Pochettino, speaking on the eve of their League Cup third-round match against Brighton, struck a positive note, saying his team were still a work in progress.
“(It is) a very short time that we are together,” said the Argentine. “Realistically, we only started after the transfer window closed. Before, it was a little bit of an unstable situation.”
He said injury-hit Chelsea were full of ideas and dominating games but struggling to find the net — Raheem Sterling is the top-scorer with just two goals.
“Every single football person in this country sees Chelsea deserve more but we have missed (scoring) goals, the most important thing in football — we cannot forget that,” said the former Tottenham boss.
“We need to get criticized, of course, because we are not winning games but we need to keep being strong in the belief.
“The team is very well-organized, the effort is massive. You can see against Aston Villa (a match Chelsea lost 1-0) how the players fight with 10 men.”
He added: “We are playing well, it’s only we are not clinical in front of the goal. That is what we need to fix and try to give more confidence to our offensive players.”
Al-Nassr cruise, Al-Hilal stumble into King’s Cup round of 16
- Without Cristiano Ronaldo, Al-Nassr comprehensively overcome Ohod 5-1
Riyadh rivals Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal safely booked their spots in the round of 16 of the King’s Cup after away victories over lower-tier opposition on Monday night.
But while Al-Nassr cruised to a comfortable 5-1 win over Ohod, Al-Hilal struggled to overcome Al-Jabalain 1-0.
Al-Nassr, playing without the rested Cristiano Ronaldo, took the lead on 15 minutes through a penalty by Sadio Mane, but the home team responded with a fine chipped equalizer from Konrad Michalak deep into first-half stoppage time.
Second-half strikes from Seko Fofana (62 minutes), Talisca (75), Ayman Yahya (81) and Sami Al-Najei (86) saw the Yellows safely through to the next round.
In contrast, Al-Hilal could only manage a solitary goal from Reuben Neves on 64 minutes as they labored to beat stubborn first-division outfit Al-Jabalain.
Elsewhere on Monday night, there was shock as Saudi Pro League team Al-Raed were beaten by first-division Al-Najmah 2-1, while Damac progressed after a 2-1 victory over Al-Qaisumah.
FIFA announce sale of Club World Cup 2023 match tickets
- Seven clubs, including Saudi’s Al-Ittihad, will contest the continental championship from Dec. 12th to Dec. 22nd
- 20th edition of the global club tournament will feature a debut appearance from European champions Man. City
RIYADH: Club World Cup 2023 match tickets will be available for purchase from Tuesday Sept. 26th at FIFA.com/tickets.
Seven clubs will contest the continental championship in Saudi Arabia from Dec. 12th to Dec. 22nd.
Al-Ittihad, winners of the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) 2022-2023, will represent hosts Saudi Arabia.
The 20th edition of the global club tournament will feature a debut appearance from European champions Manchester City.
It will also feature Concacaf champions Club Leon of Mexico, Japan’s Urawa Reds, Egypt’s Al Ahly and New Zealand’s Auckland City.
The line-up will be completed by the yet-to-be determined Copa Libertadores winners.
Saudi U-23 football team beat Vietnam 3-1 in Asian Games
- The Greens will face the Indian team in the qualifying rounds on Thursday
HANGZHOU, China: The Saudi under-23 football team qualified for the second round of the event in the Asian Games after defeating Vietnam 3-1 on Sunday.
Scoring for the Green Falcons were Mohammed Al-Yami in the 43rd minute, Mohammed Maran in the 87th minute, and Zakaria Hawsawi in the 90th minute.
The Greens will face the Indian team in the qualifying rounds on Thursday.
In tennis, Ammar Al-Haqbani of the Saudi team qualified for the round of 32 in the men's singles competitions, after defeating Qatar'sRashid Naif, 2-0, in the round of 64.
Ammar will next meet on Monday the 60th ranked player in the world, Zhizhen Zhang of China's.
His sister, Yara, lost to Mongolia's Maraljo Shumjav in the round of 64 of the women’s singles tennis competition in two sets to zero.
Ammar and Yara will open the tennis doubles competition at 3 p.m. Monday, facing the Indonesian national team.
In Taekwondo, the Saudi Arabia's Wahid Mughais was eliminated from the quarter-finals of the individual poomsae competition, after losing to Vietnam's Tran with a score of 7230 against 7490 points.
Wahid had qualified for this round by defeating the Bangladeshi Hussein Noureddine with a score of 7400 against 6460 points.
His colleague Abrar Bukhari dropped out of the competition after losing to Pakistan's Naila with a score of 7340 against 7180 points.
In e-sports, Saudi Arabia's Ahmed Mujahid retired from competitions early after losing to Vietnam's Duc Hieu Trong with a score of 2-0, and losing to (Non Martinez) from Macau with the same score.
In boxing, the Kingdom's Musa Al-Hawsawi lost his match to Kyrgyzstan's Azat Usenaliev by knockout in the second round of the round of 32 competitions in the over 63-kilogram category.
Saudi rowers Sultan Al-Shali and Turki Al-Aarif ended their participation in the tournament after finishing 12th in the overall standings of the doubles competition in the (LM2x) category. The duo finished the race with a time of 6.56.63 minutes.
In handball, the Saudi handball team lost its first match to Japan with a score of 29 against 37 points. The first half of the match ended with a Japanese lead of 20-14 points.
The Greens Hand will play their second match in the tournament, when they meet the Mongolian team at 4 p.m. on Monday.
Newcastle thrash Sheffield United 8-0 in Premier League
- Victory lifts Newcastle up to eighth and within five points of the top four
SHEFFIELD: Newcastle came close to matching the Premier League's record margin of victory as they thrashed Sheffield United 8-0 at Bramall Lane on Sunday.
Eddie Howe's side ran riot with goals from Sean Longstaff, Dan Burn, Sven Botman, Callum Wilson, Anthony Gordon, Miguel Almiron, Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak.
The biggest winning margin in the Premier League era is 9-0, a score recorded by Manchester United against Ipswich and Southampton in 1995 and 2021 respectively.
Liverpool won 9-0 against Bournemouth last year, while Leicester managed it against Southampton in 2019.
Sheffield United's largest ever league defeat sent the Blades to the bottom of the Premier League table.
With just one point from their first six games back in the English top flight, Paul Heckingbottom's future as manager is now in doubt.
"The first-half goals we conceded were really poor, but it's the second half I'm upset with," said Heckingbottom.
"The errors that led to goals, a lot of things I'd never seen before, and there's certain things that aren't acceptable."
Newcastle had lost three of their opening five league games of the season to dampen expectations that the Saudi-backed Magpies could challenge for the title.
Howe's men had been in the Champions League for the first time in 20 years on Tuesday as they played out a 0-0 draw away to AC Milan.
But Newcastle showed no signs of fatigue and they exhibited their strength in depth as they became the first side in Premier League history to have eight different scorers in one match, not including own goals.
"I thought we were really good, and once the goals came the confidence returned," said Howe.
"What a response from the players in the past week."
Sheffield United had started the game brightly at an emotional Bramall Lane as tributes were paid to Maddy Cusack.
The 27-year-old, who was the longest-serving player in the club's women's side and also worked in the club's commercial department, died earlier this week.
However, the hosts fell apart as Newcastle struck three times in a 14-minute spell.
Longstaff swept home Gordon's cross before centre-backs Dan Burn and Sven Botman headed home from Kieran Trippier crosses.
Trippier had a hat-trick of assists shortly after the break as he set up Wilson.
It was 5-0 just after the hour mark when Gordon capped a scintillating display by cutting inside and curling a fine 20-yard shot into the bottom corner.
Almiron's sweet strike found the bottom corner to make it six before Guimaraes converted a loose ball in the area.
Substitute Isak completed the rout by latching on to a loose header from Tom Davies.
Victory lifts Newcastle up to eighth and within five points of the top four.
