Race for Champions League qualification and survival battles keeping Bundesliga on edge

BERLIN (AP) — Four teams are vying to join Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League next season and a host more are fighting for survival in the Bundesliga.

Last-placed Heidenheim could be relegated this weekend, possibly replaced by second-division leader Schalke, which can seal promotion.

There are no games on Friday as it’s May Day, traditionally a day of demonstrations and worker protests accompanied by a heavy police presence across Germany. May Day falls on a Saturday next year, when there will be no matches at all over the whole weekend because of the anticipated security requirements.

Saturday's and Sunday’s games are unaffected this year. The Women's Bundesliga is also unaffected, with Union Berlin visiting Hamburger SV on Friday. Bayern sealed the women's title as it did the men's already.

Heidenheim faces a daunting trip to Bayern on Saturday. Heidenheim boosted its hopes of avoiding the drop with wins over Union Berlin and St. Pauli this month. But a win at Bayern would be a major surprise, even if the already crowned league champion is likely to field a B team before its Champions League semifinal second leg against Paris Saint Germain next week. PSG won a pulsating first leg 5-4 on Tuesday.

Heidenheim would be relegated by a defeat in Munich if St. Pauli, currently in the relegation playoff place, beats Mainz at home on Sunday.

Schalke can clinch promotion on Saturday with a win at home over struggling Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Hoffenheim welcomes Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen hosts Leipzig for duels with Champions League qualification at stake on Saturday. Third-placed Leipzig is the best-positioned of the four teams after five straight wins for 62 points, followed by Stuttgart and Hoffenheim on 57. Leverkusen is seven points behind Leipzig with three round rounds to play.

Union Berlin hosts Cologne on Saturday with both teams just outside the relegation zone. Union is looking for its first points since Marie-Louise Eta was appointed coach.

Leverkusen 18-year-old Montrell Culbreath scored in the 3-1 win in Leipzig when the sides last met in December, and he’s likely to get another run out after appearing in each of Leverkusen’s last eight games across all competitions.

Yan Diomande has become Leipzig’s star with goal involvements in each of the team’s last three games.

Continuing the theme of youngsters breaking through, Dortmund gave 18-year-old Italian forward Samuele Inacio his first start last weekend, when 16-year-old Mathis Albert became the youngest American to play in the Bundesliga. Dortmund visits Borussia Mönchengladbach on Sunday.

Bayern 18-year-old Bara Sapoko Ndiaye from Senegal made his first start against Mainz last weekend and will likely get another chance in midfield against Heidenheim.

Union goalkeeper Frederik Rønnow is out for the rest of the season with a muscle injury from last weekend’s defeat in Leipzig. Carl Klaus, who made his Bundesliga debut at age 32, can look forward to three more appearances.

Leverkusen defender Edmond Tapsoba extended his contract with the club on Wednesday through June 2031. The 27-year-old Burkina Faso mainstay joined Leverkusen in early 2020 from Portuguese team Vitória de Guimarães and has since played in 183 Bundesliga games for the club.

The German soccer league (DFL) announced on Tuesday that it entered a “strategic cooperation” with sportswear giant Adidas to boost the development of professional soccer in the country. Adidas was to give the DFL a loan of 100 million euros for investment, while it extended its deal to provide match balls for the top two divisions until 2034. The Associated Press has asked the DFL for further details.

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Heidenheim's Marvin Pieringer, right, and St. Pauli's Arkadiusz Pyrka during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Heidenheim and 1. FC St. Pauli in Heidenheim, Germany, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany reacts during a Bundeliga soccer match between Mainz and Bayern in Mainz,Germany, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Hamburg's Robert Glatzel, front, celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Hamburger SV and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP)

Heidenheim's head coach Frank Schmidt gestures during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Heidenheim and 1. FC St. Pauli in Heidenheim, Germany, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

LONDON (AP) — The British government Thursday called antisemitism in the U.K. an “emergency,” and said it would spend millions increasing security around Jewish sites after a string of arson attacks and a double stabbing.

The government announced 25 million pounds ($34 million) for more police patrols and protection around synagogues, schools and community centers after two Jewish men were stabbed and seriously injured in London’s Golders Green neighborhood on Wednesday. The victims, aged 34 and 76, are in stable condition.

Police arrested a 45-year-old man on suspicion of attempted murder and labeled the attack an act of terrorism. Detectives are working to determine a motive, and whether there could be a link to Iranian proxies.

Counterterrorism police are investigating whether the stabbings are linked to recent arson attacks on synagogues and other Jewish sites in the British capital.

Police said the suspect, whose name hasn’t been released, had “a history of serious violence and mental health issues.” Police searched a property in southeast London after reports the suspect was involved in an “altercation” in the area hours before the Golders Green attack.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was treating antisemitism as “an emergency,” calling it “the top pressing issue in relation to security” she faced.

Britain’s Jewish community is long established, but tiny as a percentage of the population, numbering about 300,000. The northwest London suburb of Golders Green is one of its epicenters, home to kosher restaurants, Jewish schools and several dozen synagogues, as well as large Asian and Middle Eastern communities.

The number of antisemitic incidents reported across the U.K. has soared since the attack by Hamas-led militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza, according to the Community Security Trust charity. The group recorded 3,700 incidents in 2025, up from 1,662 in 2022.

In October 2025, an attacker drove his car into people gathered outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur and fatally stabbed one person. Another person died during the attack after being inadvertently shot by police.

Some Jews and others say pro-Palestinian protests have gone beyond criticism of Israel's actions to foster an atmosphere of intimidation and hatred against Jews.

The protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful, but some say chants such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” incite anti-Jewish hatred. Some protesters have been arrested for displaying support for Hamas, a banned organization in the U.K.

Jonathan Hall, the government’s former reviewer of terrorism legislation, called for pro-Palestinian marches to be temporarily banned, saying they had helped “incubate” antisemitism.

Opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch backed calls for a ban, saying the marches “are used as a cover for violence and intimidation against Jews.”

Since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28, there have been a string of arson attacks on Jewish sites and opponents of the Iranian government. Several people, ranging in age from teens to people in their 40s, have been arrested and charged over the arsons, which haven’t caused injuries.

Several of the attacks have been claimed online in the name of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia. Israel’s government has described the group, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as a recently founded group with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy” that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

An online claim in the same name also took responsibility for Wednesday’s stabbing. Mahmood said authorities were investigating whether that claim was credible or “opportunistic.”

The government said Thursday it would bring in legislation to prosecute “individuals and groups acting on behalf of state-sponsored organizations.”

Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks in Downing Street after chairing a Cobra meeting following two people being stabbed in Golders Green, north-west London, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP, Pool)

A police officer stands behind a police cordon after two people were stabbed in Golders Green neighbourhood, that has a large Jewish community, in London, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Members of the community watch as forensic officers search the area after two people were stabbed in the Golders Green neighbourhood, that has a large Jewish community, in London, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A Police officer patrols the high street after two people were stabbed in Golders Green neighbourhood, that has a large Jewish community, in London, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Forensic officers search the area after two people were stabbed in Golders Green neighborhood, that has a large Jewish community, in London, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)