Hertha Berlin vs Bayern Munich: Die Roten hope to wrap up title

Bayern Munich could potentially wrap up the title with a win at the Olympiastadion against Hertha Berlin on Saturday afternoon.

With a seven point lead over Dortmund, a win for die Roten – coupled with, of course, a loss for die Schwarzgelben – would give Pep Guardiola’s men the league crown. Should that happen, Bayern Munich would become the first German side to win four straight top flight trophies. More important, it would complete part one of their sought-after Treble as they look ahead to a tough Champions League semi-finals tie with Atletico Madrid next week.

Of course, Dortmund are not going to give in that easily. They will head to the Mercedes-Benz Arena intending to pick up a win and try to keep up the pressure for as long as possible. Thomas Tuchel’s side will be facing Bayern Munich in an epic Klassiker clash in this season’s DFB-Pokal final, and certainly will be relishing in the chance to deny the Bavarian giants the chance to get their hands on that piece of silverware next month.

Guardiola, who could be welcoming Jerome Boateng back for this game, will have to decide whether to rotate his squad or use his strongest starting XI for this match. Arjen Robben and Holger Badstuber are the only two key players still out for Bayern Munich. Fans should not be surprised to see the Spanish tactician possibly initially start strong to try to get an early – and comfortable lead – and then withdraw some big players in lieu of fringe squad members to seal the win.

Certainly, die Roten will want to head into their European clash against Diego Simeone’s troops having already completed part one of the Treble. And for all intents and purposes, they likely will do it this Saturday. For starters, Pai Dardai’s Hertha Berlin will still be reeling after their crushing defeat to Borussia Dortmund in their DFB-Pokal semi-finals tie.

Secondly, die Blau-Weißen do not have fond memories of facing die Roten. Their last win was on Valentine’s Day 2009, when they powered past them 2-1. Since then, it has been nothing but misery for die Blau-Weißen. They have lost every single one of their last nine meetings. And although Bayern Munich have not been in tip-top form, the Bavarians still have enough firepower to heap more misery on their hosts, who have picked up just one point from their last three games.

In less than 24 hours’ time, we could be witnessing history as Bayern Munich makes it a fourth consecutive Bundesliga title. Of course, if Dortmund win against Stuttgart, then the title celebrations will have to wait another week – but for all intents and purposes, it is not a matter of if, but when Guardiola’s side get their hands on the domestic crown.

As for Hertha, they will be keen on arresting their poor form if they want to make sure they can secure Champions League football for next season. Currently, they sit in fourth and are two points behind Bayer Leverkusen. They are also four ahead of Borussia Moenchengladbach, meaning that a good result here or a bad result there could find them in several interesting positions. Dardai’s side could move into a guaranteed Champions League spot, remain in fourth – which means getting there through the play-offs – or move into a Europa League berth.

However, it does not look like that poor run is going to end this weekend against Bayern Munich, who, after taking one step closer towards securing part two of their Treble, will be seeking to complete part one before their crunch clash with Los Rojiblancos in European action next week.

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