FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v RB Leipzig - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - December 9, 2023 Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic and RB Leipzig coach Marco Rose before the match REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo
BERLIN (Reuters) - Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten run towards a first Bundesliga title has captured the headlines but a battle is raging a bit further behind between Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig for a top four finish and a spot in the lucrative Champions League next season.
Leaders Leverkusen, on 67 points, are 10 clear of second-placed Bayern Munich and look set to break the Bavarians' 11-year stranglehold on the league crown.
But in the fight for fourth place with nine matches left, Dortmund, buoyed by Champions League quarter-final qualification on Wednesday with a win over PSV Eindhoven, host Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday after Leipzig travel to Cologne on Friday.
The Ruhr valley club, who have 47 points in fourth place, will want to protect their one-point lead over Leipzig, in fifth, ahead of their next league game at Bayern on March 30 after the international break.
Following a run of four league games with one win, Dortmund look to have recovered in time, winning their last two Bundesliga matches, and making it three wins in a row across all competitions.
"It has not been an easy time for us in the past few weeks," Dortmund coach Edin Terzic said after Wednesday's 2-0 win over PSV took them through 3-1 on aggregate.
"We had to soak up a lot of criticism. But I think we have shown what we are capable of."
"We now have nine (league) games left to put ourselves in the position to play again in the Champions League next season," Terzic added.
Leipzig failed to get past Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16 but have won three of their last four league games to put themselves back in top four contention.
"I don't spend any time thinking about the schedule," Leipzig coach Marco Rose said on Thursday when asked about their match at home to Dortmund coming up at the end of April.
"I only think about the next game that is Cologne. Otherwise we will lose focus. We are a point behind and we play a match tomorrow. Nothing has changed. I keep saying that we want to qualify for the Champions League.
"We have a direct duel against Dortmund at some stage where we can make up points but before that we have other tasks. This is a tight league race but we want to play Champions league next season."
Bayern, who themselves reached the Champions League last eight, have not given up of a 12th straight title so they cannot afford to drop points at bottom side Darmstadt 98 on Saturday before Leverkusen travel to mid-table Freiburg on Sunday.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)
