European hopefuls Union, Cologne out to challenge top clubs

BERLIN : Borussia Dortmund have reignited the Bundesliga title race with leaders Bayern Munich but both will be on their guard against their next opponents, European hopefuls Cologne and Union Berlin, who are hungry for points.

Champions Bayern, top of the table on 60 points and four ahead of Dortmund, host Union on Saturday, with the Berliners playing their best season yet.

They are sitting in eighth place and challenging for a European spot, a point behind Cologne, who entertain second-placed Dortmund on Sunday.

"Everyone at the start of the season would have signed up to this," Union's Rani Khedira said of their solid run so far. "It is a very comfortable situation for us. We will go (to Munich) to get something out of the game."

Union, who like Cologne had far lower expectations at the start of the season, are not only doing well in the league, they also face RB Leipzig in the German Cup semi-final next month.

"So we cannot lean back and say everything is fine, we'll just play it out and enjoy the weather," Khedira said.

Bayern have been far from dominant in recent weeks, having drawn their last two league matches and having won two of their last five.

There has also been widespread media speculation regarding the future of the league's top scorer Robert Lewandowski with no talks yet on a contract extension and the Polish striker reportedly unhappy with the situation.

While Union will hope to spring a surprise in Munich, Cologne also have no plans to sit back when they host Dortmund.

Cologne, buoyed by last week's Rhine derby win over Bayer Leverkusen, will be without captain Jonas Hector and Florian Kainz, after both players missed training through illness on Wednesday.

They will also be missing Kingsley Schindler, scorer of