News Focus
- Stuttgart can secure Champions League football with a victory at home
- Frankfurt manager Albert Riera faces dismissal after just three months in charge
- The visitors must win to keep their European hopes alive on the final day
- Stuttgart defeated Frankfurt 3-2 in their previous meeting this season
- The hosts will face Bayern Munich in the German Cup final next week
The Bundesliga season reaches its dramatic conclusion this Saturday. VfB Stuttgart host Eintracht Frankfurt in a match that will decide Champions League qualification.
The visitors face a crisis in the dugout. Manager Albert Riera could lose his job after only three months. Results under the 44-year-old have disappointed fans. His side has won just four of sixteen league matches. They have lost five games and drawn four others.
Recent defeats against Hamburg SV and Borussia Dortmund have damaged Frankfurt’s European hopes. The team sits eighth in the table. They trail seventh-placed Freiburg by one point. Freiburg currently hold the Conference League qualification spot.
Frankfurt must beat Stuttgart to keep their European hopes alive. A victory will put them seventh if Freiburg do not beat RB Leipzig. However, a draw only works if Freiburg lose and Augsburg fail to win.
Stuttgart stand in fourth place. They control their own destiny in the race for Champions League football. Sebastian Hoeneß guided his team to a vital 3-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen last weekend. Ermedin Demirović, Maximilian Mittelstädt and Deniz Undav scored the goals.
That win gives Stuttgart a three-point cushion over Leverkusen. They also lead Hoffenheim by five goals. A victory on Saturday guarantees a top-four finish. A point will suffice if Hoffenheim do not beat Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Defeat would complicate matters. Stuttgart could still miss out if Leverkusen win and Hoffenheim overcome their goal difference deficit.
Both managers face selection headaches. Frankfurt cannot call upon injured defenders Nnamdi Collins and Jens Grahl. Midfielder Oscar Højlund misses the trip with a toe problem. Stuttgart welcome back Finn Jeltsch from injury. However, they lose captain Atakan Karazor through suspension.
Stuttgart have struggled on the road recently. They have won just one of their last six away matches. Yet they beat Frankfurt 3-2 in the reverse fixture in January.
The home side also look ahead to the DFB-Pokal final. They face Bayern Munich on May 23 for the German Cup trophy.