Featured Game – RB Leipzig 3-2 Borussia Mönchengladbach

Saturday’s Topspiel served up an absolute cracker with goals and drama galore! There was so much riding on the game for both sides and this is ostensibly what caused the match to go the way it did – Leipzig had such pressure on them to keep up their title challenge with a win at home, especially after seeing Bayern thrash Köln earlier in the day, but for ‘Gladbach the task was simply to try and keep themselves in with a shout of reaching the European spots at the end of the campaign. Arguably, it is Leipzig’s task that appears the more challenging and this may have been the reason for their nervous start to the game and questionable defending for both of their opponents’ goals.

Firstly, just six minutes into the game, Mönchengladbach were awarded a penalty after some rash play from Dayot Upamecano, who is leaving Leipzig for Bayern at the end of the season. The Frenchman’s late attempted shoulder charge in the box brought down his man and a spot kick was given. Jonas Hofmann stepped up and was fortunate see his effort just about squirm through the gloves of Peter Gulácsi in the Leipzig goal. It was a poor penalty in truth and the Hungarian keeper looked despondent after his failed attempt to prevent a Borussia opener. But even though they did now trail, the Leipzig response was still far from arriving. In fact, despite only having five shots in total throughout the whole game and a mere 33% of the ball, it was a ‘Gladbach second which came next. Some super wing play and a fine cross into the box from Austrian Valentino Lazaro set up Breel Embolo for a header on 20 minutes. The marking was lackadaisical from the home defence and Embolo made a clean connection with the aerial ball, however his shot was clearly going wide, before a deflection off of his fellow teammate and forward Marcus Thuram inadvertently guided it into the far bottom corner and past the once-again despairing Gulácsi. Thuram had little to no knowledge of his sixth goal in all competitions this season but like all good strikers he will not care one bit and will probably claim it natural instinct rather than blind luck. Although it did not matter to him or his team, Leipzig on the other hand would have started to fret over the prospect of just a fourth league loss. After half time, action needed to be taken.

And it was. As the teams came out for the second period, Julian Nagelsmann made a rather courageous substitution to get the Red Bulls back into the contest. After potentially scoring the goal of the season so far the weekend prior against Hertha Berlin, Leipzig captain Marcel Sabitzer was the man to be replaced, which seemed like a misguided switch at first, seeing as what Leipzig really needed was attacking impetus and Sabitzer can come up with moments of quality from nothing, whether that is a long range supergoal or a clever pass for a teammate. However, the coach’s plan to bring on big Norwegian striker Alexander Sørloth and play him in a wide left position in the attack worked to absolute perfection.

When Sørloth found himself with the ball high on the left flank an hour of the way through the game, he probably wondered what type of ball into the box he would have desired in that situation. He chose to go for the low road, cutting the ball back across the penalty area for Christopher Nkunku to finish high into the roof of the net and instil belief again into his side. This belief turned into more opportunities for Leipzig, however they never quite managed to summon the clear-cut chance they craved. No matter though, as in Sabitzer fashion, Yussuf Poulsen struck from range less than ten minutes after Nkunku’s goal to equalize and put us in for a thrilling last stage to the game. The six-foot four-inch Dane would usually be more at home powering his goals into the net with his head, but the striker opted to come short on this occasion and unleash a venomous strike, if only to change things up for his team. It worked a treat and now Leipzig were in the driving seat, ready to push on for the vital win to reenforce the pressure on Bayern. This late stage was when Nagelsmann’s half time change really came into effect and Sørloth secured his place as Man of the Second Half, if not the entire match. His striker’s instincts meant that he ended up back in his usual position as the clock ticked over to 93 minutes and, like Poulsen, his main attribute is his aerial prowess and heading accuracy. Therefore, when Nkunku reversed the roles and supplied the Norwegian with the perfect cross, it was no surprise to see the net ripple and the Leipzig players and staff elated as they clinched an injury time winner. Sørloth has certainly been far from prolific since joining the Easterners in the summer transfer window from Crystal Palace, but his introduction changed the tempo of the game as Leipzig got on top and really pressed Mönchengladbach back into their own half for almost the entirety of the second period.

The eventual winner would have been greeted with open arms by Leipzig fans, but also the majority of neutrals, who are probably eager for a real challenge to Bayern’s crown. Thus, they will also be relishing the fact that next Saturday Leipzig travel to the Black Forest to face Freiburg three hours before Bayern host Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker. An away victory for Nagelsmann’s team would really pile on the pressure to Bayern for their massive game, as three points would, at least temporarily, put Leipzig top of the Bundesliga table. The Red Bulls will just be hoping that they can do their bit at the Schwarzwaldstadion and then they can sit back and watch Sancho and Haaland do their thing against the champions.

The Games Keep Coming

Bayern München 5-1 Köln

After only managing one point from their last two games, Bayern were in desperate need of a good performance and, more importantly, a good result. They would have hoped that their victory would have put enough pressure on Leipzig before their trip to Mönchengladbach to cause their only remaining title challengers to slip up. However, this was not the eventual case, despite Bayern doing their part in emphatic style against Köln. With 56% possession in the match, the home side had the majority without absolutely dominating the ball, but it was their clinical nature in front of goal that made the difference in the end and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting’s goal on 18 minutes was a signal of intent. The Cameroonian, who joined the European champions on a free transfer from PSG in the summer, had a rather simple task to net from close range, however his opener was swiftly followed by Robert Lewandowski’s 27th goal of a ridiculous Bundesliga campaign to double Bayern’s advantage. The Pole would go onto double his own personal tally for the match, however not before Ellyes Skhiri got one back for Köln. It is fair to say that he did little of the work required to net the away side’s solitary goal with a defensive mix-up being the primary cause. Neither of Bayern’s two centre-backs Alaba or Boateng went for the ball when it came their way, and they presented the opposition player with an easy chance – this sort of occurence is becoming all too regular for the champions, but on this occasion, they scored five at the other end meaning Skhiri’s strike ultimately had little impact. Nevertheless, Hansi Flick will not want the trend to continue. What he will want is the sort of display seen in the final half an hour, with Bayern netting a further three goals. Firstly, Lewandowski grabbed his aforementioned second to restore the two-goal lead. It was unsurprising to see that the assist for the goal was provided by Thomas Müller, who leads the league in this regard. However, what was surprising was that Müller had been on the pitch for under twenty seconds before providing the pass for his striker to finish, but no settling into the game was needed for the German, much like his fellow substitute and compatriot Serge Gnabry, who was introduced by Flick at the same time. Although Gnabry’s mark on the game was not quite as lightning fast, his was arguably the one that put an end to any sort of Köln revival. Inside the last ten minutes, he netted twice: the first was a simple far-post tap-in and the second a rare headed goal, both set up by fantastic crosses that any forward player would thrive off. In the end, that is what Bayern did in an attacking sense – thrive. They kept their top spot for now, but for how much longer will it remain?

Stuttgart 5-1 Schalke

This game truly encapsulated the reasons why Schalke only have nine points this season. Despite actually marginally leading in the possession stats away at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, the Gelsenkirchen side’s defending was abhorrent. The sort of performance they put in was all too familiar to Schalke fans, who are probably fed up with their team repeatedly making the same blatantly obvious mistakes. Especially when facing a defensive set-piece situation, the fans must hide behind their sofas with the Royal Blues’ record in this regard this campaign. Unfortunately for them, this frailty was highlighted again not once, not twice, but three times in the first half alone against Stuttgart. Firstly, the home team prepared to swing in a cross from a corner kick on the right-hand side. The kick was taken and the ball passed every one of the multitude of blue shirts in the penalty area, until it arrived at the feet of Wataru Endo who swept the ball home simply on ten minutes. A lack of communication and initiative is what probably led to the ball not being defended, when a simple clearance downfield would have more than sufficed. But at least the same mistake would not be made again, right? Well, this is an unbelievable Schalke team, however just in the wrong sense of the word. Their defending is quite simply not up the standard required for the German top-flight and they arguably lost their main aerial threat for trying to combat balls into the box, when Ozan Kabak moved onto Liverpool in January. They could have done with him for the third Stuttgart corner, however the second was a carbon-copy of the first. The low ball again passed all players in the box, except for Wataru Endo who stuck it into the back of the net for his first Bundesliga brace. It was easy for Stuttgart and it would have taken a manager with much less expertise than Pellegrino Matarazzo to realise how a third goal was going to be secured, and the corner route was again prosperous for his side. On this occasion, however, the ball in was a high one and Sasa Kalajdzic nodded home for 3-0. The gargantuan Austrian is usually a beast in the air, let alone when given the freedom of the box by the Schalke defenders and he ruthlessly punished them like all good strikers should. Despite a goal back from the away side, scored by their Bosnian captain Sead Kolasinac, they never looked likely to mount much of comeback and their fate was sealed when second half substitutes Philipp Klement and Daniel Didavi scored late goals either side of the ninety-minute mark. Both were given too much space outside the box and found the same side of the net to really ram home Stuttgart’s advantage. The final whistle condemned Schalke to a sixteenth loss of the season and confirmed the fact that they need a miracle to survive the seemingly inevitable drop. No team has ever stayed up with less than fifteen points at this stage of a Bundesliga season and Schalke have only two-thirds of this total with a mere nine.

Rest of the Round-Up

Werder Bremen 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt

When André Silva netted yet another goal this season after just nine minutes in this one, it looked like the striker, who was returning from a minor injury that saw him miss the Bayern game last week, would inspire Eintracht to another victory. However, it was a fantastic second half performance from Werder which brought goals from Theodor Gebre Selassie and Josh Sargent to hand the Northerners an unexpected win.

Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Arminia Bielefeld

A convincing win from Dortmund that sets them up nicely for their massive clash with Bayern next weekend. Their domination of the ball meant that they ran Bielefeld ragged and the home team managed to score three goals, including a first career penalty conversion for Jadon Sancho and a first goal in a Borussia shirt for young Brazilian Reinier. The on-loan forward was only on the pitch for a matter of seconds after being subbed on and netted with his first touch!

Wolfsburg 2-0 Hertha Berlin

This game was more even than the score line suggests, and even though Wolfsburg were more clinical, Hertha did create chances, especially after the introduction of Krzysztof Piatek off the bench in the second period. All in all, it was another great win for the home team, with the only dampener coming in the form of an injury time sending-off of Marin Pongracic – the second of his Bundesliga career.

Union Berlin 1-1 Hoffenheim

After a rather surprising Europa League exit at the hands of Norwegian outfit Molde in midweek, Hoffenheim were looking for a positive response, but a trip to face arguably the stronger of the two capital teams at the moment was always going to be tough. All the more so, when Max Kruse was named in Union’s starting line-up for the first time since November. After he converted his 18th successful Bundesliga penalty on nine minutes, the away side were thankful to see Nico Schlotterbeck turn into his own net to level the game on the half hour mark.

Mainz 0-1 Augsburg

The prospect of avoiding relegation was becoming all the more realistic for Mainz, since a recent upturn in form, however this cruel defeat to Augsburg has really set them back again. Furthermore, the away team had to do very little work in order to grab their winner, when Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner served up the most glorious chance on a silver platter for Andre Hahn to turn home. It was a horrific error from the German keeper, who looked physically pained due to his mistake when the final whistle blew and he knew the extent to which he had damaged his team. All the more reason for the side second from bottom to train that it harder in preparation for their monumental relegation six-pointer against Schalke on Friday evening.

Bayer Leverkusen 1-2 Freiburg

The Freiburg performance in this contest was the definition of a snatch and grab. They pounced when the opportunity arose and made sure that young keeper Lennart Grill could do nothing to prevent either of their goals on his Leverkusen debut. While Leon Bailey did hit back with a goal of supreme skill and then power in his finish, the Jamaican’s teammates could not replicate this quality. With this defeat, Bayer’s European hopes are fading fast after just three wins from their last fifteen games in all competitions.

What to Look Forward to Next Matchday

Schalke vs. Mainz

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Stuttgart

Freiburg vs. Leipzig

Hoffenheim vs. Wolfsburg

Borussia Mönchegladbach vs. Bayer Leverkusen

Hertha Berlin vs. Augsburg

Bayern München vs. Borussia Dortmund

Köln vs. Werder Bremen

Arminia Bielefeld vs. Union Berlin

They say you can never have too much of a good thing – does that also apply to mouth-watering Bundesliga action. Matchday 24 is jam-packed full of massively important fixtures as the season nears its conclusion and excitement and drama are sure to be on the cards. The Friday night game is almost certainly going to decide the fate of the bottom two teams in the league, with a loss all but relegating Schalke and a three point haul moving Mainz up two places and out of the drop-zone at least for a few hours. However, perhaps even more notably, the results of the Saturday games could mean that a different side will end up leading the table at the end of the day. Leipzig play in Freiburg just hours before Der Klassiker kicks off between Bayern and Dortmund and a win for the Red Bulls could pile the pressure right onto the champions. We will just have to see whether Bayern can use their winning spirit to keep the challengers at bay for now.