BERLIN: The stage is set in Dortmund for the most dramatic Bundesliga finale in more than a decade with Borussia Borussia fans desperate to see the team win their first league title in 11 years on Saturday against visitors Mainz 05.

The Ruhr valley club, who last won the Bundesliga under then coach Juergen Klopp in 2012, are one win away from making sure they lift the Meisterschale in front of a sold-out 81,000 home crowd on the last matchday of the season.

Dortmund are two points clear of Bayern Munich going into the last game and know that a draw or even defeat might still be enough to secure the title depending on Bayern’s result in Cologne.

Dortmund coach Edin Terzic called on his side not to lose focus, with one game to play.

“We’re not done yet, but we’re ready to take the final step,” Terzic said, “As a team, as a club, as a city.”

Victory against Mainz to secure the title would be a major achievement for Terzic, who had to endure a rollercoaster season with the team almost out of the race by the halfway mark.

It could also mark the biggest success of captain Marco Reus’ long and injury-plagued career, with the 33-year-old being one of the most gifted players of his generation but having so far failed to win a league title.

Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham is in a race against time to be fit for Saturday’s title-defining match against Mainz, in what may be his last game for the club.

Bellingham missed Dortmund’s 3-0 win away at Augsburg on Sunday with a knee issue, only the second game the English teenager has missed in the past two seasons due to injury.

“I feel good” Bellingham said on Wednesday, but Dortmund sports director Sebastian Kehl revealed the midfielder was sticking to an “incredibly ambitious” regime to return to the pitch.

Terzic said on Thursday Bellingham would “definitely be in the squad” but was still working hard to make the starting XI.

The atmosphere could not be more different in Munich, where coach Thomas Tuchel, whose team suffered a shock 3-1 home loss to RB Leipzig last week to surrender the lead in the title race, is trying to convince his players that all is not lost.

And Bayern are no strangers to dramatic title wins — in 2001 they bagged a stoppage time goal on the final day of the season to snatch the title from Schalke 04.

Further down the pecking order, one of Union Berlin or Freiburg will join RB Leipzig in the Champions League for the first time.

Level on points, Union hold a slight advantage on goal difference and can all but secure a top-four spot by beating Werder Bremen at home, where they have not lost a league match this season.

Frankfurt have only a slight mathematical chance of a return to European football, needing a big win while hoping both Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen lose.

At the other end of the table, while last-placed Hertha Berlin’s return to the second division after a decade was sealed last week, any one of four clubs — Schalke, Bochum, Stuttgart and Augsburg — could join them.

Schalke likely have the toughest challenge, travelling to face Leipzig, while Bochum host Leverkusen and Augsburg visit Borussia Moenchengladbach.

The third-last side escapes the automatic trapdoor to the second division but must play a two-legged relegation playoff against the third-best side in the second division.

Fixtures: (all times Saturday 1330 GMT): Borussia Dortmund v Mainz, Cologne v Bayern Munich, Bochum v Bayer Leverkusen, Union Berlin v Werder, Wolfsburg v Hertha Berlin, RB Leipzig v Schalke, Eintracht Frankfurt v Freiburg, Borussia Moenchengladbach v Augsburg, Stuttgart v Hoffenheim.

Published in Dawn, May 27TH, 2023