Bayern Munich take on Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga on Saturday, with the hosts looking to seal a ninth successive Bundesliga title with a victory.
Gladbach, meanwhile, are aiming to secure European football for their incoming boss Adi Hutter to compete in.
Match preview
© Reuters
Bayern, meanwhile, are all set for managerial change themselves, with RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann replacing Hansi Flick in the Bayern dugout during the summer.
Leipzig, who are seven points behind Bayern with three matches remaining, can still mathematically catch Bayern, although should Leipzig lose to Borussia Dortmund earlier on Saturday then Bayern will no longer require one more win to be crowned champions.
Either way, Flick will be keen to ensure he exits the Bavarian-based giants on a high after a glorious 18 months in charge, which has seen the 56-year-old lead the club he spent five years at as a player between 1985 and 1990 to six trophies so far, with that potentially becoming seven on Saturday.
Bayern will need to perform with much more intensity than they did in the 2-1 defeat to Mainz 05 last time out, though, with Robert Lewandowski's injury-time consolation strike doing little to mask a lethargic team performance. The Poland forward remains four goals shy of Gerd Muller's record 40 goals in a Bundesliga campaign, so will be desperate to break that in the coming weeks.
© Reuters
Gladbach, meanwhile, seem intent on providing Marco Rose with a spectacular send-off ahead of his switch to Dortmund in the summer, or perhaps more accurately impressing their incoming manager Hutter, who will leave Eintracht Frankfurt to replace Rose.
Die Fohlen have smashed Frankfurt and Arminia Bielefeld 4-0 and 5-0 respectively in recent weeks, although the 3-2 defeat to Hoffenheim having held a 2-0 lead at half-time was a disappointing turn of events.
Since crashing out of the Champions League knockout stage to Manchester City in mid-March, Gladbach have picked up 13 points in six matches to move into seventh position in the table. Currently, that would see Hutter take charge of a club competing in next season's inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League, although Bayer Leverkusen are potentially catchable in the Europa League qualifying positions four points ahead.
Gladbach have actually won four of their last seven matches against Bayern, so may feel confident of springing an upset and delaying the Bavarians' title celebrations in the process depending on how Leipzig fare against Dortmund earlier in the day.
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- D
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
- L
- W
Article continues after the advert
Team News
© Reuters
Bayern will remain without Douglas Costa, Corentin Tolisso and Ron-Thorben Hoffmann, who are all likely to be out for the rest of the season due to injury.
Niklas Sule is struggling with a thigh injury and is unlikely to be risked as a result, with Jerome Boateng and David Alaba continuing at the heart of the defence as both players' decorated Bayern careers come towards an end.
Serge Gnabry will be hoping for a recall to the starting XI, with Leroy Sane potentially dropping out.
Gladbach, meanwhile, will travel to Munich without Mamadou Doucoure due to an Achilles tendon injury, but otherwise Rose appears to have a clean bill of health to select from.
Jonas Hofmann, who scored twice in the reverse fixture, is likely to come back into the side having recovered from a muscle injury, with Hannes Wolf dropping out.
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Pavard, Boateng, Alaba, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Gnabry, Muller, Coman; Lewandowski
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Ginter, Elvedi, Bensebaini; Lainer, Zakaria, Neuhaus, Lazaro; Hofmann; Embolo, Thuram
We say: Bayern Munich 3-2 Borussia Monchengladbach
We can envisage a highly entertaining affair between two sides who have been scoring goals for fun in recent times.
Bayern will want to end their wait for a ninth successive league title after the disappointing loss to Mainz last time out, but equally Gladbach will not want to miss out on a European qualification spot this season.
