The 2. Bundesliga returns tonight as six sides face-off to get the second half of the season underway. In the first round of fixtures (Matchday 20), Kaiserslautern play host to Sascha Lewandowski's Union Berlin, SC Paderborn take their miserable away record to Sandhausen, and title-hopefuls SC Freiburg make the trip to VfL Bochum.
Promotion chasers among sides to get the Rückrunde underway
The pick of the bunch is likely to be the latter mentioned clash between Bochum and Freiburg. Bochum, who lay in 6th position, despite leading the table for quite some time, have work to do if they're to get their promotion push back on track and face a stern test from second-placed Sport-Club.
However, Freiburg have a number of injury problems and will go into the clash with a considerably weakened eleven. Four first-team regulars will miss the trip to the rewirpower Stadion. The sides have suffered contrasting fortunes during the Winterpause.
Bochum have won in three of their four friendly matches (all against Bundesliga opposition), whereas Freiburg have failed to win in any of their four test matches.
In Friday's other matches, Kaiserslautern host Union Berlin. A game which, barring an extraordinary run of results for either team, would be labelled a "mid-table" clash. The Red Devils lay in 8th position and are unlikely to trouble the top three places, and Union lay 13th but look equally as unlikely to be in a relegation scrap come May.
In Friday's third and final game, Stefan Effenberg's relegation threatened Paderborn make the trip to a Sandhausen side who've been rather hit and miss this season. They started superbly and were scoring goals for fun, but this tailed off towards the back end of the Hinrunde and they now find themselves one place above Kaiserslautern in seventh, equally as unlikely to trouble the top three positions.
However, Paderborn have struggled to stabilise since being relegated from the Bundesliga last season. An appalling start to the season under previous manager Markus Gellhaus has been steadied ever so slightly by Effenberg, but Paderborn will be hoping to avoid a repeat of the same scoreline that separated the two sides back in August, when Sandhausen ran out 0-6 winners in Paderborn.
Promotion hopefuls Nürnberg travel to lowly 1860 Munich
As the 20th 2. Bundesliga Matchday continues into Saturday, third-placed 1. FC Nürnberg make the trip to relegation threatened 1860 Munich. Nürnberg finished the Hinrunde extremely strongly after a faltering start, and look set to push the top two as far as they can in their bid to return to Germany's top flight.
However, Benno Möhlmann's 1860 side have some serious work to do if they're to remain in the second tier. They occupy 17th place and are six points adrift of safety. They also haven't won a match since November, although they'll take heart from the fact that their last two wins have come at home.
1. FC Heidenheim and Fortuna Düsseldorf also do battle on Sunday, with the latter hoping to try and put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone. Heidenheim are currently comfortable in mid-table but will be keen to build-up last season's middle of the pack finish and make strikes up the league.
Leaders take on challengers and St. Pauli look to kick on
Onto Sunday's games and league leaders RB Leipzig return to action against promotion challengers Eintracht Braunschweig. First-placed Leipzig and fifth-placed Braunschweig are separated by 12 points, and Braunschweig will have to get their Rückrunde off to a good start if they're to make ground on the top two.
Braunschweig have a pretty decent away record too, having taken 15 points from ten away matches. RB will be looking to carry on where they left off and remain clear of the chasing pack, but this fixture won't be the easiest start for them,
Fourth-placed St. Pauli lead the chasing pack, and they'll be hoping to get back off to a good start when they play host to mid-table outfit Greuther Fürth. Ewald Lienen's side are just three points of third-placed Nürnberg but remain eight points off the pace of Freiburg in second. Fürth aren't expected to challenge the top sides, nor are they likely to drop out of the second tier.
Sunday's third game sees Karlsruher SC host FSV Frankfurt. Last year's play-off losers haven't quite picked up where they left off and find themselves halfway down the league, but an impressive Winterpause, including a home win against Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, may give them the confidence to propel themselves up the league.
FSV, on the other hand, don't look in immediate trouble of facing the drop, however, a win on Sunday would be a massive confidence booster and could put them as much as 8 points clear of the dreaded drop.
Bielefeld and Duisburg wrap up the weekend's action
The ninth and final game of the 2. Bundesliga weekend sees bottom club MSV Duisburg travel to fellow promotion winners from last season Arminia Bielefeld. Duisburg have a mountain to climb if they're to remain in the division, and are 8 points adrift of safety at the bottom of the league.
Their away record in particular will have to improve drastically. They've taken just one point on the road this term, scoring just five times, and conceding a whopping nineteen times.
That said, Bielefeld have the second worst home record in the league, and although they're in 12th and quite clear of danger, when the worst away record meets the second worst home record, both sides will see this as a real opportunity to kickstart their season.