Bundesliga match day 10 preview

European qualification, retirement of a German legend, birthday parties, and top table clashes in the latest Bundesliga preview.

Borussia Monchengladbach let their fans down as they were only able to find a point in hosting Celtic. With Manchester City victorious over Barcelona all hopes of progress to the next stage of the Champions League hinge on the next fixture at Borussia Park the next match day on November 23.

Bayern Munich sealed their path to the next round in a comprehensive 2-1 victory over PSV in Eindhoven. While there is still question of who gets the top spot in the group a final match hosting Atletico Madrid will mean that the Bavarian’s go through as winners or runners-up. Sadly history is very against runner-ups in the knockout stages.

Bayer Leverkusen was thought to be bound to be headed towards the Europa League knockout round with a visit to London against Tottenham Hotspur, but then Kevin Kampl scored at Wembley Stadium and things changed. A trip to Moscow is next up and there has not been a clean sheet in over a decade of Champions League matches. Currently round of 16 qualification is a serious possibility, funny when you win what possibilities arise.

Borussia Dortmund will take the lifeline extended themselves by Legia Warsaw who drew 3-3 with Real Madrid. With another hard fought win over Sporting Lisbon BVB are now qualified for the next stage and leading the group. Group winners in the Champions League tend to win the competition itself, a good chance now is at stake for Dortmund.

Schalke 04 qualified for the next phase of the Europa League with a 2-0 win over Krasnodar. With a 100% record after four matches winning the group will mean that they still could face one of the eight third place Champions League teams. Mainz 05 had a bad day out as they fell to Anderlecht 6-1. Three points behind second place Saint Etienne with two matches to go it will be nervy like Augsburg to make the knockout round.

Without a club since the end of his contract with Italian club Lazio Miroslav Klose announced his retirement at age 38.

The all time World Cup goal scorer played with FC Kaiserslautern, Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich, and lastly in Italy.

As a player he won the Bundesliga title twice and DFB Pokal twice with Bayern and the Coppa Italia with Lazio. A top goal scorer title while with Bremen goes with a World Cup Silver Shoes and Gold Shoes awards.

With his retirement from the game as a player now official Germany coach Joachim Low has offered Klose a coaching position with the national team so an impact will surely be felt going forward on the team.

Being told not to go off for a birthday party has Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang off the rails.

A former Milan player, Aubameyang was instructed not to leave for his birthday but as per sources still did so.

This is supposed to be the actual reason as to his sitting in the stands during the recent Champions League victory over Sporting Lisbon.

Question is whether there will be any more matches that he will miss due to his own decisions off the field.

Top Matches of the Week

Traditional top of the table clash this is not but Hoffenheim vs Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena is. Bayern has a two point lead on the table and Hoffeneheim is surprisingly only four points behind. It is a match between the young hungry coach of Julian Nagelsmann and the seasoned manager of Carlo Ancelotti. This will start the Saturday with a bang.

Friday has been a solid day for top fixtures and this is week is no less. Hertha Berlin plays hosts to Borussia Monchengladbach. The Foals need to get some sense of purpose, and should they be able to keep up with the teams vying for Europe then this is a match that will test themselves. Same could be said for Berlin. Win and you prove you are able to play with the big boys.

Traditional Saturday Topspiel has a top clash of FC Koln and Eintracht Frankfurt. This time both sides are looking at spots for European qualification while initially focusing on mid table finishes. Anthony Modeste still leads the way with 11 goals on the season but the Frankfurt response is Alexander Meier who returned last season in style in this fixture. Each team is a traditional team that had difficulties in recent years but seem to have a return of the good times in recent months.

Bundesliga on Fox

Friday starts with Hertha Berlin vs Borussia Monchengladbach on FS2.

Saturday starts off with Bayern Munich vs TSG Hoffenheim on FS2, Borussia Dortmund hosts HSV on Fox Soccer Plus and Bayer Leverkusen vs Darmstadt on Fox Deportes. Topspiel of Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Koln is on FS2.

Sunday’s doubleheader starts with RB Leipzig vs Mainz 05 on FS1 followed by Schalke 04 hosting Werder Bremen on FS2.