Borussia Dortmund vs Holstein Kiel

There’s no margin for error in the Bundesliga final-day showdown between top-four hopefuls Borussia Dortmund and an already-relegated Holstein Kiel at Signal Iduna Park.

Borussia Dortmund spoiled Xabi Alonso’s farewell party at the BayArena last weekend, fighting back to beat Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 and maintain their dream of securing Champions League qualification. Only a point adrift of fourth-placed Freiburg heading into the final weekend, Niko Kovac’s men boast an impressive seven-game unbeaten league run (W6, D1). However, they still need Eintracht Frankfurt to do them a favor at Freiburg, though they must hold up their end of the bargain to sneak into the top four. Die Borussen can draw heart from their near-flawless league record against bottom-seven teams this term (W5, D1), with Kovac’s side amassing an eye-catching 21 goals in such fixtures while only conceding six in return. That said, Dortmund slumped to a 4-2 defeat in Kiel in January.

In the meantime, Holstein Kiel nearly helped Dortmund overtake Freiburg last weekend, only to waste a lead in a 2-1 home defeat, which confirmed their immediate relegation to the second tier. That loss also snapped Kiel’s decent three-game unbeaten run in the Bundesliga (W2, D1), which only delayed the inevitable. On the bright side, the visitors haven’t lost any of their last three league matches on the road (W1, D2). Yet, before the abovementioned victory in the reverse fixture, they had lost their other two meetings with Dortmund via a combined score of 9-0. Ominously, that triumph remains Kiel’s only success from 17 encounters against clubs currently residing inside the upper half of the Bundesliga table (D4, L12).