Gladbach aiming to join Leverkusen in Champions League
Borussia Mönchengladbach are out to cement fourth place with a victory when they host in-form Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Saturday (kick-off:15:30CEST/13:30GMT).
With 49 points on the board and a far superior goal difference to the chasing pack, Gladbach's fate is in their own hands as they bid to secure a UEFA Champions League play-off berth.
Matchday 16 rewind: Leverkusen 5-0 Gladbach
That is the best the Foals can achieve this term after Leverkusen locked down third place thanks to a 2-1 win over fellow European candidates Hertha Berlin last time out - their seventh successive Bundesliga win no less.
Download the free Bundesliga app here!
Matchday 33 - match stats
Goals: 1-0 Kießling (30'), 2-0 Hernandez (63'), 3-0 Kießling (65'), 4-0 Hernandez (75'), 5-0 Hernandez (77')
Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez netted his maiden Bundesliga hat-trick and Stefan Kießling grabbed a brace as Leverkusen thrashed Gladbach 5-0 at the BayArena.
- Gladbach are the first team in Bundesliga history to secure a European finish after starting the season with five successive defeats.Leverkusen have never won eight successive Bundesliga matches in a single season.No other team has been so reliant on their home form this season: 37 of Gladbach's 49 points have come at BORUSSIA-PARK.Never before have Gladbach averaged so many goals per game as they have under Schubert (2.3).Leverkusen have secured a top-three finish for the tenth time in their Bundesliga history.Julian Brandt could equal Kießling's club-record run of scoring in seven consecutive matches this weekend.Kießling had a hand in four of Leverkusen's five goals in the reverse fixture.Roger Schmidt took over from Andre Schubert at SC Paderborn 07 in summer 2011. The North Rhine-Westphalian club was the pair's first station as a head coach in Germany's top two divisions.
Possible line-ups
Gladbach: Sommer - Elvedi, Nordtveit, Christensen, Wendt - Xhaka, Dahoud - Hahn, Hazard - Stindl, Raffael
Absentees: Dominguez (back), Jantschke (hernia), Schulz (knee)
Coach: Andre Schubert
Leverkusen:
Leno - Bender, Toprak, Kramer, Henrichs - Aranguiz, Kampl- Mehmedi, Brandt - Chicharito, Kießling
Absentees: Boenisch (thigh), Papadopoulos (calf), Tah (virus), Wendell, Yurchenko (both ligaments), Bellarabi (suspended),
Coach: Roger Schmidt