Joe Casey: 1-7 Dortmund aim to avoid more final-day heartache

Borussia Dortmund and hard-luck stories have been a match made in heaven in recent years, most notably letting the Bundesliga title slip on the final day of the 2022-23 season.

So they will not be counting any chickens before Saturday's final game of the season, but they have had a remarkable end to their campaign and are now just 1-7 to qualify for the Champions League.

BVB were as big as 25-1 to finish in the top four in the middle of March when they sat 11th in the Bundesliga table.

However, a 4-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen last weekend capped a run of six wins and a draw from their last seven games that has catapulted Nico Kovac’s team up the table and to the brink of returning to Europe’s premier club competition.

Kovac is only just getting his feet under the table after taking over from Nuri Sahin in February but has masterminded Champions League wins over Sporting and Lille and his side’s late surge in the race for the top four.

Dortmund have scored 23 times in their last seven outings, star striker Serhou Guirassy has bagged five goals in his last four games, and the only fixture they did not win was a 2-2 stalemate with title-winners Bayern Munich.

BVB simply need to beat relegated Holsten Kiel to return to Champions League action next season, while the other two teams battling it out for a top-four spot, Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt, face each other.

Eintracht Frankfurt are aiming to see off top-four rivals Freiburg on the final dayCredit: Alex Grimm

Frankfurt are in pole position in third and a point would be enough for them to hold on to a top-four spot even if Dortmund win.

However the equation is not so simple for hosts Freiburg. The Breisgau Brazilians must win to overtake the away team or hope that Dortmund cannot get the job done against Holsten Kiel if the Eagles come out on top.

Frankfurt in particular will be disappointed if they miss out on a top-four spot considering they were second in the table for large parts of the campaign.

The departure of Omar Marmoush to Manchester City in January, coupled with a tough Europa League campaign, has seen Dino Toppmoller's men fall off the early pace that they had set.

Freiburg will be cheered on by their fervent home support as they chase history. The club have never qualified for the Champions League and a win would see them equal their highest Bundesliga finish.

That feat is made even more remarkable by the fact that it is Julian Schuster’s first season as a manager after taking over at the start of the campaign from club legend Christian Streich, who departed after 13 years in charge.

As a result the final day of the Bundesliga will be headlined by a top-four race between three teams for two spots who, despite deeply contrasting campaigns,  have one aim - returning to the top table of European football. 

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