Lots Riding on Ruhr Valley Derby

Two months ago, nobody would have believed that Dortmund's (eighth place, 49 points) second to last match would have such great implications. After 24 games, coach Bert van Marwijk's side had managed to drag itself away from the relegation struggle but were fighting teams like Bielefeld and Hanover for the dubious honor called "Best of the Mediocre."

But now the Ruhr Valley derby with archenemy Schalke has taken on meaning for both squads. Schalke want to assure themselves a spot in the Champions League competition next season. Dortmund, after a strong run the the last eight weeks, still have an outside chance at reaching the Uefa Cup.

Dortmund fans, management and players have one thing on their mind -- stopping a twelve game winless streak against their bitter rivals.

"I've been thinking about only one thing for days -- how we can win at Schalke," veteran defender Christian Wörns told Sport-Bild. "This victory is more important than any other for our fans this season."

Dortmund's chances have improved immensely. Royal Blues' coach Ralf Rangnick will not have the services of fullback Mladen Krstajic nor his team's captain, goalie Frank Rost. Nevertheless, he knows his side realizes the importance of the match.

"We can defend second place with a win," Rangnick says on the Schalke Web site. "That's all the motivation we need to do everything we can to win the game."

Former champs have easier task

Werder Bremen are no longer Bundesliga champions. The polish from last season when they played exciting and eye-catching soccer has long been tarnished. Now they are struggling to retain a spot in the Uefa Cup. Last week they lost a hard-fought match against Dortmund. This week they welcome last place Freiburg. There's no reason to think that they can't repeat their 6-0 pasting of the southwestern club in the first leg and take an important step in playing in international club competition next season.

Stuttgart pulled off a 1-0 victory in the waning minutes against Hanover last week -- a huge win in their quest at chasing down Schalke for second place. Matthias Sammer's club face Bochum who mathematically have a chance to stay in the first division but must score some goals in a big manner to do so. Bochum are simply playing the role of the spoiler and can send off coach Peter Neururer, who will not accompany the team to the second division, as a winner in his last home match.

Another club in the hunt for a berth in European competition is Leverkusen. They travel to Wolfsburg, a place where Klaus Augenthaler's club has had relatively little success. Of seven matches in the auto city, they have walked away losers six times. The team has shown lots of fight the last few weeks after they finally realized what's at stake, noted Augenthaler. Erik Gerets' Wolfsburg are fighting for the highest spot amongst the mediocre, far short of their European ambitions at mid-season.

Hertha knocking at the door

Berlin have had a great run in the second leg and lie just two points back of Stuttgart. Their opponent is Mönchengladbach who are breathing a big sigh of relief as they must only tie in one of their last two matches to retain first division status. Berlin whalloped Gladbach in Berlin 6-0 in the first leg. They have probably the league's most prolific player at the moment, midfield playmaker and goalscorere Marcelinho, and should be able to take all three points on the road.

Hamburg are on the borderline of reaching the Uefa Cup. In seventh place, they travel to northern neighbor Hanover where they have had a good deal of success in the past. There is more at stake for Thomas Doll's club.

Rostock have stamped their ticket to the second league, well, they have a minute chance to stay in the top division. Coach Jörg Berger has declared he will stay with the team either way. It's a different story for his would-be counterpart on the Bielefeld bench. Uwe Rapolder signed a contract earlier in the week to coach promoted side FC Cologne next season. The timing didn't sit well with Bielefeld's management who promptly released him. Rapolder did well to keep the small club in the first division. His successor will have an imminently more difficult task as a slew of key players are leaving for greener pastures elsewhere.

Mainz has played heroically this year. At the beginning of the season, the experts all had them on the relegation list. Yet, coach Jürgen Klopp welded together a team that has played entertaining soccer all season and will play again in the first division next year. Their opponnent, Kaiserslautern, have failed to meet expectations. They hired the long-time assistant of Ottmar Hitzfeld (Munich, Dortmund) Mike Henke to try and lead the club to happier times.

Finally, new champions Bayern Munich play their last match ever at the historic Olympic Stadium. Their opponent is Bavarian rival Nuremberg. The handing over the championship trophy will be a fitting end to the stadium. In it, Bayern Munich celebrated 23 national and eight international titles in the spectacular stadium built for the 1972 Olympics.

"The Olympic stadium is part and parcel of the rise of Bayern Munich," general manager Uli Hoeneß recalled. "It was here that we came to European and world attention."