Bayern’s title hopes suffered another blow on Friday with a 2:2 away draw against hosts Sport-Club Freiburg. Freiburg’s Christian Günter scored first, in the 12th minute, and Bayern’s Mathys Tel equaled in the 35th minute. Bayern then pulled ahead in the 75th minute, thanks to a goal from Jamal Musiala, but Freiburg’s Lucas Höler scored the final goal in the 87th minute. The match was Bayern’s 2000th in the division. The draw means that Leverkusen could pull a full 10 points ahead of Bayern in the table should Leverkusen win on Sunday in the derby against hosts 1. FC Köln. Fourth-place Dortmund will travel to take on Union Berlin on Saturday, a contest that will occur between 2 clubs that have each picked up 3 wins and just 1 defeat in the last 6. A win could move Union Berlin further into safety, while Dortmund continue to covet a 4th-place division finish. In the reverse fixture back in early October, Dortmund came from a 2:1 deficit to win the match 4:2. At the other end of the table, Darmstadt is still fighting for survival and will host Augsburg on Saturday. Darmstadt have gone 16 matches without a win, but that last win did occur against Augsburg in October. The club is, however, just 4 points behind Köln’s relegation play-off spot. Augsburg currently occupy 11th place and a win over Darmstadt could propel them into the top half of the table. The big match on Saturday is that between hosts VfL Wolfsburg and visitors VfB Stuttgart. The visitors are now just 7 points behind 2nd-place Bayern in the table, and could cut that spread to just 4 points with a win. Stuttgart trainer Sebastian Hoeneß is coming off a stomach bug and therefore canceled his pre-match press conference, saying he would limit his pre-match preparations to overseeing the final training session on Friday and traveling with the team. Wolfsburg have drawn 6 of their past 7 Bundesliga fixtures, while Stuttgart had won 4 games in a row before drawing with Köln last weekend. In this season’s reverse fixture between the 2 clubs, Serhou Guirassy picked up a hat-trick in a 3:1 victory. Looking ahead to Sunday, the derby between hosts 1. FC Köln and visitors Bayer 04 Leverkusen might appear to be a game between 2 mismatched sides, as 44 points separate them in the table: the largest gap between the 2 prior to a league encounter. Nevertheless, Leverkusen trainer Xabi Alonso said he’s expecting a “hard game with intense duels”. The weekend ends later Sunday when Hoffenheim host Bremen. Hoffenheim’s win in Dortmund was their first win in 9, while Bremen have lost just 1 of their past 10.
By Rich M.
Bayern’s title hopes suffered another blow on Friday with a 2:2 away draw against hosts Sport-Club Freiburg. Freiburg’s Christian Günter scored first, in the 12th minute, and Bayern’s Mathys Tel equaled in the 35th minute. Bayern then pulled ahead in the 75th minute, thanks to a goal from Jamal Musiala, but Freiburg’s Lucas Höler scored the final goal in the 87th minute. The match was Bayern’s 2000th in the division. The draw means that Leverkusen could pull a full 10 points ahead of Bayern in the table should Leverkusen win on Sunday in the derby against hosts 1. FC Köln. Fourth-place Dortmund will travel to take on Union Berlin on Saturday, a contest that will occur between 2 clubs that have each picked up 3 wins and just 1 defeat in the last 6. A win could move Union Berlin further into safety, while Dortmund continue to covet a 4th-place division finish. In the reverse fixture back in early October, Dortmund came from a 2:1 deficit to win the match 4:2. At the other end of the table, Darmstadt is still fighting for survival and will host Augsburg on Saturday. Darmstadt have gone 16 matches without a win, but that last win did occur against Augsburg in October. The club is, however, just 4 points behind Köln’s relegation play-off spot. Augsburg currently occupy 11th place and a win over Darmstadt could propel them into the top half of the table. The big match on Saturday is that between hosts VfL Wolfsburg and visitors VfB Stuttgart. The visitors are now just 7 points behind 2nd-place Bayern in the table, and could cut that spread to just 4 points with a win. Stuttgart trainer Sebastian Hoeneß is coming off a stomach bug and therefore canceled his pre-match press conference, saying he would limit his pre-match preparations to overseeing the final training session on Friday and traveling with the team. Wolfsburg have drawn 6 of their past 7 Bundesliga fixtures, while Stuttgart had won 4 games in a row before drawing with Köln last weekend. In this season’s reverse fixture between the 2 clubs, Serhou Guirassy picked up a hat-trick in a 3:1 victory. Looking ahead to Sunday, the derby between hosts 1. FC Köln and visitors Bayer 04 Leverkusen might appear to be a game between 2 mismatched sides, as 44 points separate them in the table: the largest gap between the 2 prior to a league encounter. Nevertheless, Leverkusen trainer Xabi Alonso said he’s expecting a “hard game with intense duels”. The weekend ends later Sunday when Hoffenheim host Bremen. Hoffenheim’s win in Dortmund was their first win in 9, while Bremen have lost just 1 of their past 10.
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By Rich M.
Bayer Leverkusen extended its commanding lead in the table on Friday with a 2:1 victory over visitors 1. FSV Mainz 05. The match’s opening goal came just 3 minutes in, when Granit Xhaka whipped a long-range finish past Robin Zentner. Mainz equaled 3 minutes later, when Dominik Kohr sent a flying header past Lukas Hradecky. The winning goal came in the 68th minute, when Robert Andrich sent a strike toward Zentner, who then fumbled the ball over the line. Leverkusen are now unbeaten in 33 games in all competitions this season, surpassing Bayern’s runs in 2020 and 2021. Leverkusen are also the only team in the division who have yet to lose at home this season, while Mainz remain the only side without an away win. You won’t want to miss Saturday’s derby between hosts Borussia Mönchengladbach and visitors VfL Bochum 1848. There has not been a goalless draw in this fixture since Matchday 3 of the 1979/80 season, so expect some goals. Gladbach picked up their first win of the season in the reverse fixture back on Matchday 6, in a 3:1 result The big match on Saturday, though, is the late game between hosts FC Bayern München and visitors RB Leipzig. The hosts are coming off losses to Leverkusen and Bochum, and have already announced the departure of coach Thomas Tuchel at the end of the season. Tuchel will need the services of star striker Harry Kane, given the absences of Kingsley Coman and Bouna Sarr, who both have long-term injuries, and Serge Gnabry, Noussair Mazraoui, and Sacha Boey. Dayot Upemecano will also sit out Saturday’s match, after picking up a red card in last weekend’s defeat. Thanks to a win over Gladbach and a Dortmund-Wolfsburg draw, Leipzig are now just 1 point behind Dortmund in the table, and are traveling to Bayern with almost a full roster. Leipzig haven’t lost any of their last 4 competitive meetings with Bayern, and if Bayern should lose on Saturday, they will have had their worst run in 32 years. Dortmund will host Hoffenheim on Sunday, and a win could put them just 3 points behind third-place Stuttgart, depending on the outcome of not only the Bayern-Leipzig contest, but also Saturday’s contest between Stuttgart and Köln. Hoffenheim’s slide in the table continued last weekend, thanks to a defeat at the hands of Union Berlin, bringing the team’s tally of games without a victory to 8. A loss to Dortmund could slip Hoffenheim into the bottom half of the table, further endangering their chances of European competition. The matchday ends with Sunday’s final game between hosts Augsburg and visitors Freiburg, who are separated by 6 points in the table. by Rich M.
SV Werder Bremen advanced in the table on Friday with a 1:0 away win against 1. FC Köln. The game’s lone goal came in the 70th minute, when Justin Njinmah touched in a cross from Mitchell Weiser. The goal was Njinmah’s 5th in the Bundesliga, and moves his club 13 points clear of the relegation zone. The loss ends Köln’s 3-game unbeaten streak and leaves the club in the relegation play-off spot, just 4 points ahead of Mainz and Darmstadt. Mainz will host Augsburg on Saturday, and history clearly has been on Augsburg’s side. Augsburg have defeated Mainz more times (12) than they have any other Bundesliga side. The reverse fixture had Augsburg come from behind to win 2:1, thanks to 2 goals from Ermin Demirovic. Darmstadt will host Stuttgart on Saturday, and are currently on a club record of 14 straight winless league matches. Darmstadt’s last league win was back on October 7, when they beat Augsburg 2:1. Stuttgart won the reverse fixture 3:1, thanks in part to Serhou Guirassy, whose 17 goals so far this season make him the league’s second-most proficient scorer, behind only Bayern’s Harry Kane. Saturday’s late game between hosts RB Leipzig and visitors Borussia Mönchengladbach could be a tightly-fought contest. Leipzig are coming off a Champions League loss to Real Madrid earlier in the week, and have only won 1 of their last 6 Bundesliga contests. Gladbach are still without a win in the second half of the current campaign, having drawn with Darmstadt last weekend and lost to Bayern the weekend before that. Gladbach have also never won in Leipzig in 7 attempts, including losses in the last 3. A win for Leipzig could bring them even on points with Dortmund, depending on the outcome of the game earlier in the day between Wolfsburg and Dortmund. The big match on Sunday will be that between hosts Sport-Club Freiburg and visitors Eintracht Frankfurt, who are separated by 4 points in the upper half of the table. The reverse fixture this season ended in a 0:0 draw, and Frankfurt are unbeaten in their last 3 meetings with Freiburg, and only lost 1 of the previous 8. Matchday 22 will end later on Sunday when VfL Bochum 1848 host FC Bayern München, in what could be another lop-sided Bayern victory. The visitors have claimed a 7:0 win in this fixture in each of the last 3 seasons, while winning their last 3 games against Bochum by an aggregate score of 17:0. The reverse fixture on Matchday 5 featured Harry Kane’s first Bundesliga hat-trick, and Kane also assisted on 2 other goals. By RIch M.
Borussia Dortmund consolidated its position in 4th place on Friday with a 3:0 shutout of visitors Sport-Club Freiburg. Dortmund’s goals came courtesy of Donyell Malen in the 16th and 45th minutes, and Niclas Füllkrug in the 87th minute. Füllkrug’s goal was celebrating his 31st birthday on Friday, and the goal was his 10th of the season. Füllkrug also set up both goals in Malen’s brace. While Freiburg remain in 7th place for now, their chances for European competition are dimmed with the loss, as the club now lies 3 points behind 6th-place Frankfurt going into the rest of the weekend’s matches. Saturday’s early contests will see more clubs jockeying for better position in the bottom half of the table. Union Berlin go into their game against visitors Wolfsburg just 3 points outside of the relegation zone, and the home team has won its last 3 consecutive home matches. A fourth would equal the club record set in the 2019/20 season. Wolfsburg won this season’s reverse fixture 2:1. VfL Bochum 1848 are 3 points ahead of Union Berlin going into the former’s outing to Frankfurt, and will be facing a club that has won its last 3 home matches. Both of the last 2 contests between the 2 sides ended in 1:1 draws. SV Darmstadt 98, in last place at the table, will travel to Gladbach, and the clubs currently feature the league’s most porous defenses. Darmstadt have conceded 49 goals so far this season, and Gladbach have conceded 41. The reverse fixture this season ended in a 3:3 draw, but did feature a thrilling comeback for Gladbach from a 3:0 deficit. The big match on Saturday, though, is the late game between hosts Bayer 04 Leverkusen and FC Bayern München, and will almost certainly set the trajectory for the remainder of the season, as just 2 points separate the 2 sides at the top of the table. The hosts currently feature the best defensive record in the league, and goalkeeper Lukás Hrádecky has accumulated 58 saved shots this campaign. In attack, Bayern of course features the division highest goal scorer in Harry Kane, who is comfortably in first place in scoring. This is the first time in Bundesliga history that 2 teams have at least 50 points after 20 matchdays. A Leverkusen win would give the home side a 5-point cushion in the table, while a Bayern win would give the visitors the top spot in the table for the first time since the close of play on Matchday 5. Looking ahead to Sunday, both 1. FC Köln and 1. FSV Mainz will look to gain on Union Berlin on twin outings south to Baden-Württemberg, when Köln travel to Hoffenheim and Mainz travel to Stuttgart. |
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