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)

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate eased for the second week in a row, but remains elevated compared with this time last year.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate fell to 6.65% from 6.67% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.58%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, often sought by borrowers refinancing a home loan, also eased this week. That average rate dropped to 5.95% from 5.96% last week. However, a year ago, it was at 5.69%.

Despite the recent pullback, mortgage rates have been mostly rising this year, limiting homebuyers’ purchasing power. Elevated rates can lead prospective home shoppers to delay buying a home, one reason U.S. home sales have been sluggish this year.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including inflation, broader policy rate decisions from the Federal Reserve and expectations from bond market investors for the economy. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

Both mortgage rates and the bond market have been mostly rising this year due to the U.S. war with Iran, which has fueled expectations for hotter inflation as crude oil prices soared. Despite easing oil prices recently, long-term bond yields remain steeper than they were before the conflict began in late February, pushing mortgage rates to tread higher.

With bond yields marching higher in recent months on worries about high inflation, gargantuan government debts and other factors, the U.S. Treasury Department said Wednesday that it would at least double the amount of U.S. government bonds that it planned to buy back over the next few months.

The move helped helped pull yields down after the 10-year Treasury’s yield had hit its highest level in more than a year.

The 10-year Treasury yield was 4.71% as of midday Thursday on the bond market. Before the war, it was just 3.97% in late February.

The U.S. housing market has been in a slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes were essentially flat last year, stuck at a 30-year low. U.S. sales of previously-occupied homes again slowed in July.

FILE - A for sale sign is displayed in front of a home in Evanston, Ill., on March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)