The Daily Bee: BVB Back in the Driver’s Seat

Good morning, everyone! But especially you, Mainz 05. You beautiful, wonderful club, you.

After what has felt like an eternity, Borussia Dortmund are back in the driver’s seat in the race for the top four. Yesterday, the day after BVB’s harrowing 3-2 win over RB Leipzig, Mainz managed to draw Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1, taking two points from them, and allowing BVB to leapfrog into fourth place.

All in all, it was a great weekend for BVB, and you could tell by the reactions of the players, that they felt it as well. After the match’s conclusion, Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho, and manager Edin Terzic all celebrated in the middle of the pitch of the Westfalenstadion:

Over the last few months, this club hasn’t had much to cheer about. Out of the title race and the Champions League, unable to go a day without rumors about our best players leaving, and just managing to keep pace in the race for the top four, it was nice to see our players showing some camaraderie by celebrating a win.

Sebastian Kehl “Optimistic” for Erling Haaland to play on Thursday

Even though BVB proved on Saturday that they can still play well against a good team without Erling Haaland, most fans would agree that the team is much more lethal with him leading the line. Luckily, there is reason to believe that he should be ready to face RB Leipzig in the DFB-Pokal final on Thursday. According to Ruhr Nachrichten, Sebastian Kehl is “optimistic” that Haaland can return to training and regain his fitness in time for the important match on Thursday.

Of course, this guarantees nothing. BVB were optimistic last week that Haaland would be fit for the match on Saturday, and of course that didn’t happen. Hopefully, this time Kehl’s optimism pays off.

Various Title Chase Updates

Although the Bundesliga race was decided this weekend with Leipzig’s loss to BVB, there are two other races among Europe’s major leagues that look like they’re going to come down to the wire: La Liga and Ligue 1.

In La Liga, it looks like Atletico are going to pull through, following a few key results this weekend. The first was a 0-0 draw against Barcelona on Saturday. While this kept Simeone’s team in front of Barca, it also left the door open for Real Madrid to jump to the top of the table. Unfortunately for Los Blancos, they needed to beat Sevilla to do so, and although a stoppage-time goal from Eden Hazard was enough to draw them level, they couldn’t snatch a quick winner, and thus Atletico remain at the top with only three games remaining.

Meanwhile, in Ligue 1, Lille have inched closer to breaking the PSG/Monaco monopoly on the league title. After handily defeating their local rivals RC Lens 3-0 on Friday, Lille only need to beat Angers and St-Étienne, a pair of bottom-half teams, and their league title will be secured. They can also draw one of the games, as long as they win the other, as they’re currently three points above PSG in second place.

The Daily Buzz

Will Atletico hold out and win La Liga?