Where are we?

The Bundesliga is restarting with nine fixtures left to play – the same as the majority of teams in the Premier League.

There are 34 games in a season and the team who is top of the table at that point is declared the champion.

The bottom two sides are relegated to the 2. Bundesliga, while the third-bottom side will enter into a two-legged play-off with the third-placed side from the division below.

Who’s going to win the league?

Bayern Munich are top of the table going into the restart. They are Germany’s most successful team with 29 league titles and have won the Bundesliga in each of the last seven seasons.

But, with just six points separating the top four, they are far from guaranteed to lift the trophy at the end of the season.

Bayern have 55 points and must face second-placed Dortmund, who are four behind, on the second matchday. In June, meanwhile, they host fourth-placed Borussia Monchengladbach, who beat them 2-1 in December and are on 49 points.

Who’s going down?

Paderborn and Werder Bremen currently make up the bottom two. While nothing is decided yet, the two respective sides are 10 and eight points away from guaranteed safety.

Fortuna Dusseldorf are third-bottom on 22 points, four points behind Mainz, and are on course for a play-off with the third-placed side from the division below.

What else is there to play for?

As in the Premier League, the top four teams in the Bundesliga qualify for the Champions League.

With only four points between second-placed Dortmund and fifth-placed Leverkusen, there is plenty to play for.

Elsewhere, the fifth and sixth-placed sides qualify for the Europa League. Schalke are currently sixth on 37 points, but there are only two points between themselves and ninth-placed Hoffenheim.

MUST-WATCH MATCHES

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Dortmund v Schalke (14:30) 16 May

What an introduction! Known as the Revierderby, this rivalry is one of the most fiercely contested in Europe.

Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin 22-25 May*

Prior to this season, there had been no Berlin derby in the top flight of German football for over 40 years.

Union won the reverse fixture 1-0 and are on course to finish above Hertha for the first time in their history.

Dortmund v Bayern Munich 26-27 May*

You’ve heard of El Clasico, well this is Der Klassiker. Simply, it doesn’t get bigger than this in the Bundesliga.

Germany’s two most successful sides go head-to-head and the outcome is certain to be pivotal in this season’s title race.

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Bayern Munich v Borussia Monchengladbach 12-14 June*

Gladbach have a good recent record against Bayern. They won the reverse fixture 2-1 in December and beat the Bundesliga champions 3-0 at the Allianz Stadium on their last visit in 2018/19.

A repeat would blow the title race wide open.

Leverkusen v Cologne 16-17 June*

The Rhineland derby is a bitter one and, with Leverkusen and Cologne having respective amibitions for a Champions League and Europa League spot, it is sure to be important.

RB Leipzig v Dortmund (14:30) 20 June

This fixture rarely disappoints. Both sides drew 3-3 in the reverse in December and their last five meetings have produced 19 goals.

Dusseldorf v Augsburg (14:30) 20 June

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It’s not all about the top of the table. The penultimate game of the season for these two could not be more important in their fight for survival.

*Exact kick-off time and date not yet confirmed.

WHO’S WHO?

AUGSBURG

Manager: Heiko Herrlich

Captain: Daniel Baier

You’ll probably recognise

Former West Ham academy graduate Reece Oxford has been with the club since January 2019, while Stephan Lichtsteiner joined last summer after he was released by Arsenal.

BAYER LEVERKUSEN

Manager: Peter Bosz

Captain: Lars Bender

You’ll probably recognise

Wingers Kai Havertz and Leon Bailey are widely considered to be two of Europe’s most exciting players, with the latter having once been touted for an England call-up before he declared for Jamaica.

Elsewhere, Austrian international defender Aleksandar Dragovic had a brief loan spell at Leicester during the 2017/18 season.

BAYERN MUNICH

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Manager: Hans-Dieter Flick

Captain: Manuel Neuer

You’ll probably recognise

Most of them if you watch the Champions League. Their biggest stand-out names are Neuer, who is captain of the club and national team and Robert Lewandowski, who has scored 39 goals in 33 games in all competitions this season.

Premier League fans will also be familiar with Jerome Boateng, Serge Gnabry and Phillippe Coutinho, who is on loan from Barcelona.

BORUSSIA DORTMUND

Manager: Lucien Favre

Captain: Marco Reus

You’ll probably recognise

The scarily good duo of Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland.

Mats Hummels and Mario Gotze both won the World Cup with Germany in 2014, with the latter scoring the winning goal, while captain Reus is also a household name.

Thorgan Hazard, meanwhile, is the brother of Real Madrid winger Eden.

BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH

Manager: Marco Rose

Captain: Lars Stindl

You’ll probably recognise

Forward Marcus Thuram is the son of former World Cup-winning defender Lillian.

Swiss duo Yann Sommer and Breel Embolo have both featured against England on a few occasions.

EINTRACHT FRANKFURT

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Manager: Adi Hutter

Captain: David Abraham

You’ll probably recognise

Midfielders Gelson Fernandes and Jonathan de Guzman have both played in the Premier League along with defender Erik Durm, who spent the 2018/19 season with Huddersfield.

Striker Andre Silva is on loan from AC Milan and travelled to the 2018 World Cup with Portugal.

FORTUNA DUSSELDORF

Manager: Uwe Rosler

Captain: Oliver Fink

You’ll probably recognise

Their manager. Rosler has previously managed Brentford, Wigan, Leeds and Fleetwood, while he also had a successful spell with Manchester City during his playing career.

FREIBURG

Manager: Christian Streich

Captain: Mike Frantz

You’ll probably recognise

Young striker Luca Waldschmidt is rumoured to be on Chelsea’s wanted list and has earned three caps for Germany.

HERTHA BERLIN

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Manager: Bruno Labbadia

Captain: Vedad Ibisevic

You’ll probably recognise

Former goal machine Krzysztof Piatek, who was allowed to leave AC Milan in January after he had failed to reproduce the deadly form he showed during his time at Genoa last season.

Ex-Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou is vice-captain, while former Manchester City defender Dedryck Boyata and on-loan Liverpool midfielder Marko Grujic are on Hertha’s books as well.

HOFFENHEIM

Manager: Alfred Schreuder

Captain: Benjamin Hubner

You’ll probably recognise

Leicester fans will remember Croatian striker Andrej Kramaric, who had an unspectacular year at the King Power after joining as the club’s then-record signing.

COLOGNE

Manager: Markus Gisdol

Captain: Jonas Hector

You’ll probably recognise

Captain Hector has earned 43 caps for Germany in his career and was included in both their Euro 2016 and 2018 World Cup squads.

RB LEIPZIG

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Manager: Julian Nagelsmann

Captain: Willi Orban

You’ll probably recognise

Timo Werner’s name crops up next to a host of English clubs every time the transfer window rolls around.

Ademola Lookman has been at the club since 2018 after making his loan from Everton permanent, Ethan Ampadu is on loan from Chelsea and Angelino is currently being borrowed from Manchester City.

MAINZ

Manager: Achim Beierlorzer

Captain: Danny Latza

You’ll probably recognise

Remember that Ji Dong-Won goal for Sunderland against Manchester City? Well, the South Korean striker is now at Mainz.

He’s joined by former West Ham midfielder Edimilson Fernandes ex-Chelsea defender Jeffrey Bruma.

PADERBORN

Manager: Steffen Baumgart

Captain: Christian Strohdiek

You’ll probably recognise

Vice-captain Uwe Hunemeier spent three years at Brighton between 2015 and 2018, while forward Dennis Srbeny came back to the club in January after two years at Norwich.

SCHALKE

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Manager: David Wagner

Captain: Omar Mascarell

You’ll probably recognise

Wagner performed miracles at Huddersfield to get them into the Premier League and keep them up in the 2017/18 season.

Matija Nastasic and Benjamin Stambouli both have Premier League experience with Manchester City and Tottenham respectively, while full back Jonjoe Kenny is on loan from Everton.

Welshman Rabbi Matondo left Manchester City’s youth set-up for Schalke in 2019 and has earned four caps for his country.

UNION BERLIN

Manager: Urs Fischer

Captain: Christopher Trimmel

You’ll probably recognise

Those with a good memory might recall striker Sebastien Polter’s two years at QPR between 2015 and 2017.

Defender Neven Subotic, meanwhile, won the Bundesliga twice with Dortmund and was a losing Champions League finalist in 2013.

WERDER BREMEN

Manager: Florian Kohfeldt

Captain: Niklas Moisander

You’ll probably recognise

Former Real Madrid and Liverpool midfielder Nuri Sahin and veteran Peruvian forward Claudio Pizarro are both on the books at Werder Bremen.

WOLFSBURG

Source: Getty Images

Manager: Oliver Glasner

Captain: Josuha Guilavogui

You’ll probably recognise

Striker Admir Mehmedi has 65 caps for Switzerland and has featured in the last three major international tournaments for his country.