Two teams that are fighting for different causes are clashing against each other on Saturday, May 13th, when Wolfsburg will be playing host to Gladbach in the penultimate match-day of the Bundesliga. Gladbach are theoretically chasing a top 6 finish that grants entrance to the European competitions next season, while Wolfsburg are coming off a massive win that pushed them outside the red line.
Gladbach (12-13-7) are coming into this match after suffering quite a scare at home against Augsburg. After a goal-less first half, Augsburg took the lead at the 57th minute, and were holding on to the result till the end, but that’s when Gladbach pulled even at the 4th minute of stoppage time for the final 1-1. They are now sitting at the 9th spot of the Bundesliga with 43 points, having scored 42 goals against 46 conceded. They are currently 3 points behind the top 6 spots that grant entrance to the European competitions next season. Their next match is at home against Darmstadt who have already been relegated, and the 3 points should be a given, so winning here would give them a huge boost towards a top 6 finish. Gladbach have been quite competitive on the road so far (5-8-3), where they have scored 18 goals against 30 conceded. Even so, they haven’t been very good on the road lately, as they have won just one of their last 6 matches in all competitions (2-2-2).
Wolfsburg (10-16-6) are coming off a crucial 2-0 win on the road against Eintracht Frankfurt. After a pretty boring and goal-less first half, they took the lead at the 48th minute with Didavi, before doubling their lead at the 63rd minutewith Mario Gomez for the final 2-0. That was just their 2nd win in their last 8 matches (2-4-2), but it was a very important one, as they took advantage of other results and moved outside the relegation zone. They are now sitting at the 14th spot of the Bundesliga with 36 points, 2 points ahead of Mainz and Hamburg, and 1 point behind Bayer Leverkusen. Winning here would be a huge step towards avoiding the relegation, but they are hosted by Hamburg in the last match of the season, and that will be a fight to the death. Wolfsburg have not been very good at home all season (5-9-2), where they have won just 2 of their last 5 matches (2-3-0).