Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Charles Aranguiz. (Photo : Getty Images)
Contending squad Bayer 04 Leverkusen (17-10-6, 57 points) is set to meet middling team FC Ingolstadt 04 (10-13-10, 40 points) at the BayArena on Saturday, May 14th as the 2015-2016 Bundesliga season reaches its final matchday.
Bayer Leverkusen is currently at the no. 3 spot of the German top flight table, a long 20 points away from second-running team Borussia Dortmund and five points ahead of fourth-placed squad Borussia Monchengladbach. The team is assured of a third place finish this term, which means they are also directly qualified in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League competitions next season.
In their most recent outing, Bayer suffered a sorry 1-2 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach last Saturday at the Stadion im Borussia-Park, as per ESPN.
Head coach Roger Schmidt's men drew first blood in the contest, courtesy of a right-footed shot from the left side of the six-yard box by Chilean winger Charles Aranguiz off an assist by Mexican striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, to take a 1-0 lead.
However, Die Fohlen was able to level the count two minutes before the halftime interval with the first goal of midfielder Andre Hahn's double at the 43rd.
Hahn then scored the winner at the 79th minute in the second half to hand Bayer its first loss in nine games and narrowed their gap to only five points. The gap is enough, though, for Bayer to secure third place this term.
Meanwhile, tenth-placed squad Ingolstadt was nipped by newly-crowned Bundesliga 2015-2016 champions Bayern Munich, 1-2, at their home ground of Audi Sportpark also last Saturday, via BBC Sport.
Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski scored a brace at the 15th and 32nd minutes to give the Bavarians a quick 2-0 lead in the first half hour of the contest.
Die Schanzer striker Moritz Hartmann cut the lead in half with a penalty kick at the 42nd, but it was all manager Markus Kauczinski's side could do against the four straight champions.
The predicted result is a 3-1 victory for Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayer Leverkusen starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Leno; Bender, Ramalho, Toprak, Henrichs; Kruse, Kramer, Aranguiz, Calhanoglu; Hernandez, Kiessling
FC Ingolstadt 04 starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Ozcan; da Costa, Matip, Hubner, Suttner; Gross, Roger, Cohen; Hartmann, Lezcano, Leckie
