(Football news) Their hosts, meanwhile, will undoubtedly place in the top eight in the standings, and they could even qualify for the Champions League the following year.

In the event that extraordinary events take place over the next two weeks, Hoffenheim may find themselves seated at the top table of Europe for the 2024–25 campaign. However, Pellegrino Matarazzo’s team may also manage to qualify for the Europa League, Europa Conference League, or fail to secure a spot on the continent altogether.

Thanks to a 6-0 dismantling of demoted SV Darmstadt 98 on the penultimate matchday – where Maximilian Beier and Ihlas Bebou both helped themselves to braces – Hoffenheim enter gameweek 34 sat seventh in the table, three points below Eintracht Frankfurt and one clear of eighth-placed Freiburg.

Hoffenheim’s current standing would see Saturday’s hosts earn a Conference League ticket, although much is dependent on the results of Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund’s Europa League and Champions League finals after the Bundesliga earned an additional spot in the latter tournament via their UEFA coefficient.

Therefore, should Matarazzo’s men pip Frankfurt – who face RB Leipzig on the final day – to sixth and Dortmund beat Real Madrid in the European Cup final, they will be Champions League-bound for the 2024-25 campaign, but losing to Bayern and a Freiburg win will eliminate them from European contention entirely if Leverkusen lose the Europa League final.

Hoffenheim ought not to waste their energy crunching the numbers behind such mind-boggling scenarios, especially as Matarazzo’s side have a worrying home trend to buck against Bayern, having not kept a single Bundesliga clean sheet at the PreZero Arena all season long.

If Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel is to stay true to his word, Saturday’s game will bring the curtain down on his short-lived reign, although the most recent developments suggests that his Allianz Arena chapter may not be closing just yet after all.

With Bayern suffering setback after setback in their pursuit of a successor, FC Hollywood are now believed to be fighting tooth and nail to keep the former Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund boss, in spite of the fact that they will end the campaign without a single slice of silverware.

A torturous Champions League semi-final exit to Real Madrid doused the last flickering hope of bringing a trophy back to Munich, but Tuchel’s men at least salvaged some pride against Wolfsburg last weekend, where Leon Goretzka and 19-year-old Lovro Zvonarek struck in a 2-0 success.

Nevertheless, surprise package Stuttgart is only two points behind Saturday’s visitors, thus Tuchel’s club is not yet guaranteed the runners-up slot. Nevertheless, a point should be sufficient for the silver medal because of their significantly better goal differential.

Even so, Bayern, who have only won twice in their last seven top-flight away games, is eager for the 2023–24 season to end. They defeated Hoffenheim three times in January without a response, and they haven’t lost to them in six since a shocking 4–1 loss in September 2020.

Also read: Juventus lift the Coppa Italia after a narrow win of 1-0