05/09/2008 - Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath described Saturday's Bundesliga match against Stuttgart as a "final."
Wolfsburg has climbed from 11th at the halfway point of the season to seventh - only Bayern Munich and Schalke have more points in the second half - and has two games left to try and qualify for the UEFA Cup.
Wolfsburg and Stuttgart are among five teams battling for the two spots in the UEFA Cup - Bayern, Werder Bremen and Schalke already have the Champions League berths secured.
Saturday's full schedule - eight of the nine matches will help decide either a European spot or relegation - is highlighted by Stuttgart's trip to Volkswagen Arena.
"We have a real final match here at home for the UEFA Cup against Stuttgart," Magath said. "Now that we're so close, we want to move into international football."
Wolfsburg is unbeaten in its last three, tying Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern and defeating Eintracht earlier this week. Wolfsburg is seventh but just three off Stuttgart and Hamburg - two teams with 51 points and in the final two European spots.
Stuttgart and Hamburg had opportunities to open six-point cushions this week, but both lost. Stuttgart, despite two goals from Mario Gomez, was defeated by Borussia Dortmund, 3-2.
"There are only two games left for us to play now. Before this game we planned to win the final three matches, but now we must win the last two," Gomez said.
"We just have to put that game behind us now and focus our attention on the final two matches," Stuttgart captain Pavel Pardo said.
In the other games involving UEFA Cup contenders, eighth-place Hannover plays at Werder Bremen, which is trying to secure second place in the league. Sixth- place Bayer Leverkusen visits Rostock, which is last in the league and needs a lot of help to avoid relegation. Hamburg visits Energie, which is two points clear of the drop zone.
Three other clubs in the relegation struggle - Arminia Bielefeld, Duisburg and Nurnberg - face different tasks this week. Arminia Bielefeld hosts Dortmund, which just clinched its survival, Duisburg hosts champions Bayern and Nurnberg visits Hertha Berlin.
Schalke, which has been the second-best team in the second half of the season, hosts Eintracht with an eye on second place. The second-place team goes right to the group stage of the Champions League and the third-place team has to go through qualifying.
The only meaningless match this week is Bochum at Karlsruher. Bochum is clear of the relegation zone and Karlsruher, the surprise of the league for most of the season, can no longer qualify for the UEFA Cup.
<< Maggert's brother killed in CO plane crash
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Professional golfer Jeff Maggert's
brother was killed Thursday when a single-engine plane he was piloting crashed
in a mountainous area in Colorado.
The plane went down in a rugged, wooded area a
<< Phillies continue western swing in San Francisco
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The struggling San Francisco Giants will open a 10-game
homestand this evening, when they welcome the Philadelphia Phillies to AT&T
Park for the first of three straight games.
San Francisco has lost four in a
<< A pair of aces to highlight Padres-Rockies opener
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A solid pitching matchup is on tap tonight at Petco Park,
where Jake Peavy will lead the San Diego Padres against Aaron Cook and the NL
West-rival Colorado Rockies.
Peavy is 4-1 with a 2.22 earned run average in seven
<< Reeling Brewers return home to face Central-leading Cards
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers are back at home after a lengthy road
trip, and they will try to stop a six-game slide tonight in the first of four
straight games versus the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park.
Milwaukee went 2-7 o
Columbus gunning for fifth straight win at San Jose >>
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When asked how the Columbus Crew, who have
won four straight and five of six, could continue their early-season success,
forward Alejandro Moreno had a simple answer.
"Well," Moreno said, "we keep doing t
Reds place Mercker on DL >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds placed relief pitcher
Kent Mercker on the 15-day disabled list on Friday, retroactive to May 6,
with lower back pain.
The 40-year-old left-hander has a 3.86 earned run average
Blake, Chelios and Pisani finalists for Masterton >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Jason Blake,
defenseman Chris Chelios of the Detroit Red Wings and right wing Fernando
Pisani of the Edmonton Oilers are the finalists for the 2008 Bill Masterton
Memoria
Houston looks for first win vs. first place Rapids >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The back-to-back defending Major League Soccer
Cup champion Houston Dynamo will be gunning for their first win of the 2008
season on Saturday night when they host the Colorado Rapids.
The struggling Dynam
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