Lots Riding on Ruhr Valley Derby

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."