Survival battle takes center stage in Bundesliga
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Hannover, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) - All eyes will be on the bottom of the Bundesliga table on the final day of the season on Saturday as six teams battle for their top-flight survival.
Two games will feature direct rivals in the battle to avoid relegation as last-place Paderborn entertains Stuttgart, which sits in the relegation playoff position, while Hannover squares off with Freiburg as both sides sit just one point above the drop zone.
Paderborn has fallen to the foot of the league after back-to-back losses against Wolfsburg and Schalke, and the club must win on Saturday to have a shot at staying up.
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Stuttgart, meanwhile, enters the match on a two-game winning streak that has given the club a real chance at avoiding relegation.
The club knows going into the match that a third successive win will ensure their safety, while it would also drag Hannover or Freiburg into the bottom three.
Hannover picked a great time to snap its 16-game winless streak with a 2-1 win at Augsburg last time out, keeping the club out of the bottom three and giving them a chance to stay up.
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Freiburg also collected three points from its last fixture, downing Bayern Munich 2-1 to snap a five-match winless run.
Hamburg is second from the bottom and two points from safety, but the club hosts a Schalke side that has already secured a Europa League berth for next season.
Hertha Berlin is the other club still not out of danger, but Hertha needs just a point at Hoffenheim to secure safety.
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Champions Bayern Munich have lost their last three games since clinching the title and the club closes out its campaign at home against Mainz.
Wolfsburg can secure second place with a win at Cologne, Monchengladbach tangles with Augsburg in a top-six clash, fourth-place Bayer Leverkusen visits Eintracht, and Borussia Dortmund squares off with Werder Bremen as both sides enter the match on 43 points.