Five things to look out for on Matchday 20
There promises to be plenty more thrills and spills - and perhaps even a slice of history - as the Bundesliga heads into Matchday 20.
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Bayern and Dortmund looking to avoid slip-ups
On paper, FC Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund should have a comfortable weekend as they travel to face the bottom two sides in the Bundesliga, FC Ingolstadt 04 and SV Darmstadt 98 respectively. Yet with one eye on next week's UEFA Champions League games against Arsenal FC and SL Benfica, the big boys will have to be wary of any slip-ups – particularly Dortmund, who are 12 points adrift of leaders Bayern in the table. The champions face an Ingolstadt side who have been steadily improving under Maik Walpurgis, and who stunned RB Leipzig at the Audi Sportpark in December. Darmstadt, admittedly, haven't won since October – but Bayern needed a wondergoal from Douglas Costa to edge past them just before Christmas.
Click here for the Ingolstadt-Bayern Match Centre.
Click here for the Darmstadt-Dortmund Match Centre.
Watch: Costa seals victory for Bayern at Darmstadt with one of the goals of the season:
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Tables turned as flying Frankfurt head to Leverkusen
In the not-so-distant past, Bayer 04 Leverkusen would have gone into a home game against Eintracht Frankfurt as the clear favourites. Consider the two sides' finishing league positions over the past three seasons: 3rd, 4th and 4th for Leverkusen, 16th, 9th and 13th for Frankfurt. This season, though, the tables have turned, and it's the Eagles who are flying high ahead of their clash at the BayArena. Currently third, Niko Kovac's side are chasing a fourth straight win in all competitions, while Roger Schmidt's Leverkusen will be desperate to avoid a third consecutive league defeat.
Click here for the Leverkusen-Frankfurt Match Centre.
Watch: Five things on Leverkusen vs. Frankfurt:
Gladbach looking to continue resurgence in Bremen
It would be an understatement to say that Borussia Mönchengladbach have struggled for consistency this season. After a decent start to the campaign, the Foals endured a nightmare autumn, with a single league victory in 11 outings before the winter break. They have started 2017 rather more positively under new coach Dieter Hecking, picking up seven points from a possible nine. Having just recorded back-to-back wins for the first time this season, Gladbach will be keen to continue their push for a European spot – and SV Werder Bremen, who have lost three on the bounce, look like the ideal victims.
Click here for the Bremen-Gladbach Match Centre.
Watch: Gladbach continue their fine start under Dieter Hecking with a 3-0 win over Freiburg:
Leipzig's bouncebackability
RB Leipzig fell to just their third defeat of the season on Matchday 19, going down 1-0 to Dortmund at the SIGNAL IDUNA PARK. Following their two previous losses, though, Ralph Hasenhüttl's men responded in fine style. After being stunned by Ingolstadt, they swept aside fellow high fliers Hertha Berlin. Defeat to Bayern before the winter break was followed up with a comfortable win over Frankfurt just after it. As they welcome 16th-placed Hamburger SV to the Red Bull Arena, where they are unbeaten this season, you wouldn't bet against the newcomers bouncing back once again.
Click here for the Leipzig-Hamburg Match Centre.
Watch: Leipzig recover from defeat to Bayern with a straightforward win over 10-man Frankfurt:
A place in the history books up for grabs
The Bundesliga goal counter currently stands at 49,979. If there are at least 21 goals this weekend, then somebody will etch their name in the history books, as the scorer of the 50,000th Bundesliga goal. The very first goal came back on 24 August 1963, during the opening weekend of the all-new top flight, as Friedhelm Konietzka gave Dortmund a first-minute lead against Bremen. Over half a century later, someone is on the verge of joining him in Bundesliga folklore.
Click here for an overview of all of the Matchday 20 fixtures!