This weekend featured two signature matches: RB Leipzig vs Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt vs Borussia Dortmund. Both games were especially crucial as one ultimately will likely decide who wins the league title while the other is vital in determining which team will be playing in the Champions League and which side will have to settle for a spot in the Europa League next season. And neither match disappointed, as by the time the final whistle sounded, one pair of sides were left celebrating, while the others were left wondering what could have been.
Let's have a look at what happened over this weekend's round of fixtures.
Top five teams in the Bundesliga up to April 5
Bayern now have pretty much secured the title for themselves after beating Leipzig over the weekend while Frankfurt are moving ever so closer to earning a top four berth
Who are the top three scorers in the Bundesliga?
Robert Lewandowski is out for the long-haul due to a knee injury, but the Polish star's certainly not under threat as he's already built up a comfortable margin over his challengers for the coveted Torjägerkanone. Eintracht Frankfurt's key striker Andre Silva scored the game winner which has now moved him finally into second spot ahead of Dortmund's Norwegian international Erling Haaland
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Andre Silva's goal secures a historic win for Frankfurt: Could the Portuguese international's late, late goal have sealed a historic achievement for Eintracht Frankfurt? Well, first of all, die Adler hadn't won at Signal Iduna Park since February 2010 when they arrived at Dortmund's home ground.
And it looked like that record wasn't going to change, especially when veteran defender Mats Hummels managed to equalize for die Schwarzgelben in the 45th minutes.
That is, until Silva, who's been having an excellent season, grabbed the game winner three minutes from the end of regulation time. That was enough to give the visitors their first win in 11 years and more important, just may have done enough to help Frankfurt secure a spot in the Champions League for the first time in club history.
Leipzig's title dreams unfortunately look to have ended: From a Leipzig and neutral perspective, the results from this weekend will be really disappointing. Despite their best efforts, Julian Naglesmann's men couldn't prevent Bayern from coming out on top as die Roten, once again, managed to walk away with all three points despite not having Robert Lewandowski on the pitch. This means that the Bavarian titans are now seven points clear, and if history is any indicator, the Bundesliga title will remain in Munich for yet another season once May comes around.
Of course, from Bayern and their fans' viewpoints, this is excellent news. Die Roten won't be able to defend their Treble - as they were shockingly dumped out of the DFB-Pokal in the second round by minnows Holstein Kiel - but they certainly will make sure no one else will be crowned champions of Germany for at least another season.
A personal milestone for Huntelaar, but not enough: Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar netted for Schalke over the weekend, and thus became the oldest ever goal-scorer for the team in Bundesliga history at the age of 37 years and 234 days. Interestingly, the prior man to hold this record wasn't even an outfield player. Rather, he's a goalkeeper: Oliver Reck. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to prevent Schalke from slumping to yet another defeat, this time, a 2-1 reversal to Bayer Leverkusen, and they're still rooted to the bottom of the table on 10 points.
Top Bundesliga matches: April 9-12, 2021
With just one month or so to go before the 2020/2021 Bundesliga season comes to a close, here are some of the games to keep an eye on for the next round:
Werder Bremen vs RB Leipzig: How will Leipzig, who were the most in-form side in the Bundesliga prior to their heart-breaking defeat to Bayern respond here? Yes, no team has been able to come back after falling seven points behind in the title race. But Naglesmann's side certainly don't want to be pipped to second by a Wolfsburg team who have started to regain momentum after a minor dip, do they?
Stuttgart vs Dortmund: Just four points divide these two teams. Dortmund are in fifth, but are now cut adrift of the top four and are desperately trying to avoid being dragged into the congested mid-table range. Stuttgart, meanwhile, have been having a very impressive season since being promoted, and could close that gap to just one point with a win. They've won three of their last five, losing just once, and although they're a team who, interestingly, have done better on the road than at home, they just may be able to get a win here against a Dortmund side who haven't looked sharp recently.
Koln vs Mainz: A very interesting match. The hosts are just hovering above the drop zone, as they sit in 16th spot, so any more bad results could see them right into 17th place. Meanwhile, Mainz, who recently secured an interesting new sponsorship naming rights deal for their stadium, are in 15th and could definitely help themselves by winning here. So, in short, there's more than three points at stake on the table for these two sides heading into Sunday's match.
Hoffenheim vs Bayer Leverkusen: Matchday 32 concludes on Monday with this fixture. Will Hoffenheim be able to get themselves out of a funk that have now seen themselves lose three on the spin? Or will Leverkusen, who've had a disappointing campaign as of late, be able to take advantage and try to earn back to back wins to potentially leap-frog Dortmund into fifth place?
Make sure you don't miss out on these key games and stay on top of all the action by checking out our bespoke Bundesliga match page.
