Much is being made of the race for a top four finish in the Premier League as the season draws to its inevitable conclusion. London based trio Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham are all vying for a top four finish with just two points separating the three teams, with one that will miss out on a place amongst Europe's elite next season.
While the race to secure third and fourth is tight, it pales in comparison to the teams chasing the final Champions League berth in the Bundesliga. With Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund guaranteed a place in the continent's top flight competition, and Bayer Leverkusen on course to join them, the race for that final place is set to go to the wire.
Five teams are all competing for a fourth placed finish – FC Schalke 04, Freiburg, Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Monchengladbach and Hamburger SV. They are currently separated by just two points in the upper echelons of the Bundesliga and with just four games remaining between now and the end of the season, who will finish in that final Champions League spot is anyone's guess.
As things currently stand, it's Schalke that are in the stronger position to secure fourth place. Die Konigsblauen occupy the position at present on 46 points and with the previous experience in the Bundesliga and the Champions League, it wouldn't be a surprise to see them secure a top four berth.
In fact, if the season had begun at the turn of the year, it's Schalke that are leading the race for the fourth placed finish having taken 21 points from a possible 39 following the winter break, a period of 13 games in which Jens Keller's side have won six of those games and lost only four.
However, it's the recent form over the last six games that would be of particular worry to the Gelsenkirchen based side. Two of those four losses have come in their last five games, with the most recent of those coming against top four rivals Eintracht Frankfurt at the Commerzbank-Arena, Die Adler picking up just four points from six games prior to the confidence boosting victory.
Perhaps more importantly, Schalke still have to play three of their four rivals in the race for fourth between now and the end of the season, hosting Hamburg at home, with the welcome of VfB Stuttgart to the Velkins-Arena providing the proverbial filling in the Monchengladbach and Freiburg sandwich.
In the five games against their fellow Champions League hopefuls earlier in the campaign, Schalke have fared rather poorly, having taken just two points from a possible 15, those coming in home draws against Eintracht and Monchengladbach.
Unsurprisingly, in the head-to-head table, it's Eintracht who come out on top of all five teams, having picked up 14 points from 24 available, including a crucial 1-0 win over Schalke at the weekend.
Winning half of their games against the four sides, three of which came at home, it's no shock to see them lead the mini-league table, although they have played one more game than Freiburg, Monchengladbach and Hamburg and three more than Schalke.
With Mainz 05 upcoming this weekend, their Bundesliga counterparts being the highest placed team of Eintracht's last four games of the campaign and with an outside chance of securing a European place next season, with Fortuna Dusseldorf and Werder Bremen - 15th and 14th respectively - in real danger of dropping into the relegation play-off place between now and May, the onus is certainly with Eintracht to press on and you'd expect Armin Veh's side to secure fourth place, regardless of their poor recent form.
However, in facing Bremen and Wolsfburg in the penultimate and final game of the season, respectively, there is one player from each side that can potentially hamper their quest for Champions League football next season.
Two of Eintracht's weaknesses this term have proven to be 'defending through balls' and 'preventing opponents from creating chances'. Against Bremen, they'll come up against Chelsea loanee Kevin De Bruyne, who along with Franck Ribery and Mario Gotze, has created the joint most clear cut scoring opportunities (15) in the Bundesliga this term.
Furthermore, the inability to defend through balls will further hinder their chances against Wolfsburg on the 18th of May, especially with Diego playing the most successful through balls (17) in the Bundesliga this season, two facets of their game which could cost the club this season.
Stopping the opposition creating chances has also been a problem for Monchengladbach and Hamburg this term and with the pairing also set to face Wolfsburg and Diego over the last four games, the Brazilian could well play a significant role in the final say of the top four placing, especially with the 28-year-old having laid on five assists and playing 1.9 key passes per game over his 28 appearances this year.
There's also the prospect of both Freiburg and Monchengladbach taking on recently crowned Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, the former taking on Jupp Heynckes' side this weekend and the latter on the final day of the season.
Der FCB may have nothing to play for in the Bundesliga, but will be on an unequivocal high following their morale boosting 4-0 thumping of Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
While it is only Europe's elite competition and DFB-Pokal final against Stuttgart to play for this year, Heynckes is unlikely to allow the performance of his players to drop over the final four games of the season, having overseen his side drop points just four times this year and having won each of their last six Bundesliga games, Bayern will play a major role in determining whether Freiburg or Monchengladbach will be plying their trade in the Champions League next season.
It isn't just the aforementioned pairing that will face tough opposition over the next four games, with Hamburg hosting third placed Bayer Leverkusen on the final day of the campaign. The Lowen overcame their Bundesliga counterparts with minimal ease in their 3-0 win earlier this season and Thorsten Fink's side will be looking to avenge the December defeat.
Furthermore, barring a cataclysmic downturn in form, Leverkusen are well positioned to have guaranteed their place in the Champions League next season, with club needing just six points from a possible 12 to secure safe passage to the group stages of the competition, meaning the final game of the season for Sami Hyypia and Sascha Lewandowski's side could have little bearing on their final position.
Either way, with just two points separating the five teams between fourth and eighth, the race for a Champions League place is certainly hotting up and with only four games to go, the final stretch will likely be an entertaining one for the neutral, with any one of the five teams in the running standing a good chance of securing fourth place.
