Featured Game – RB Leipzig 2-2 Wolfsburg

It was the penultimate round of fixtures in the Bundesliga and there was still much to be decided at both ends of the table, however for the visitors to the Red Bull Arena, Wolfsburg, they knew a point would be enough to secure their place alongside their opponents Leipzig in the Champions League next season. The hosts also required a draw top achieve their aim of finishing in second place in the league behind champions Bayern to round off another fantastic campaign. Although, the past week had not been too good to Leipzig in truth, as they saw their slim title hopes evaporated with Bayern’s six-goal thrashing of Mönchengladbach before they lost in the DFB-Pokal final to Borussia Dortmund on Thursday. Coach Julian Nagelsmann would have been especially disappointed about the cup result, as he now will not be able to sign off as the Red Bulls’ manager with silverware before going to München in the summer. Therefore, he would have been particularly eager to make his last home game a memorable one with a win against fellow flyers Wolfsburg.

However, the opening stages of the game did not see much of an intensity from the home side at all. This was largely down to the fact that their opponents would not allow them any of the ball and when they did try and pass out of defence they were quickly swarmed upon. Furthermore, the away team’s attacks were starting to appear more and more threatening and with Wout Weghorst leading the line, not too many chances are ever going to be needed before one finds the back of the net. The lingering threat of the big Dutchman may have distracted the Leipzig defence however, as they seemed to forget about the other keen striker Wolfsburg possess. Maximillian Philipp moved into a more advanced role for this game, after the Wolves’ hattrick hero from the last matchday against Union Berlin, Josip Brekalo, had to drop out due to injury. Therefore, it was the responsibility of Philipp, who is currently on loan from Russian Premier League side Dynamo Moscow, to step up to the plate and he certainly did just that. A dipping volley from about 20 yards out caught keeper Peter Gulacsi unaware and the ball whistled into the far top corner to give the visitors a lead that put them on course for securing a top four spot.

Philipp may not have been earmarked before proceedings as the player to cause Leipzig the most trouble, but that was how the first half panned out and he did his team’s European ambitions no damage when he extended their advantage right on the stroke of half time. A couple of nutmegs for Wolfsburg, first from Gerhardt and then from Baku in squaring the ball, set up the chance for the German forward to just nip in front of his defender Ibrahima Konaté before using the pace on the cross to steer an effort into the far side of the goal. Philipp, like his Wolfsburg side, looked super sharp and the hosts were struggling. The whistle to signal the mid-way point brought with it a much-needed break for Leipzig.

The 15 minutes were used very wisely though, if the performance of the home side after the restart was anything to go by. The introductions of Amadou Haidara and Angeliño also provided an injection of pace and invention to Leipzig’s play, and it was not long before the team conjured up a goal which had these two traits in an abundance. However, it was not one of the substitutes who engineered the opportunity, but club captain Marcel Sabitzer whose delicious ball over the top found Justin Kluivert in the penalty area. The nifty forward turned one way and then back to sell the defender and the goalkeeper to reveal the open side of the goal into which he smashed his strike. That made the game 2-1, but now with momentum fully in the hosts’ corner, it was simply a case of whether Wolfsburg could cling on or not.

The eventuality was that they could not. Although, RB Leipzig did not have to break through enemy lines on this occasion to find the back of the net. Rather, a coming together inside the 18-yard box led to a contentious penalty decision that ultimately went their way. When Amadou Haidara and Paulo Otavio crossed paths in the area, both ended up on the deck with it seeming like Haidara was the guilty party, but after a VAR review, it was clear that Otavio had actually kicked through the back of the Guinean midfielder’s standing leg as he attempted to clear the ball. Therefore, a spot-kick was awarded and Sabitzer stepped up to slot home confidently. He is very reliable from 12 yards and has now converted all six of his penalties for club and country this season. It was only fitting that the skipper should be the man to seal second spot for his team and when the referee brought the game to a close at the end of the 90, Leipzig knew that that aim was achieved. They had repeated the feat of their inaugural Bundesliga campaign under Ralph Hasenhüttl, but they are now a much more established side and a top four will certainly be expected rather than hoped for by fans next season. Whereas for Wolfsburg, after not featuring in the Champions League since the 2015-16 campaign, the prospect of Europe’s elite competition is an enthralling one and the joy of securing their participation was evident on manager Oliver Glasner’s face perhaps more than most.

The Games Keep Coming

Freiburg 2-2 Bayern München

The Schwarzwald-Stadion turned out to be the venue for what was a really entertaining game. However, the match itself was vastly overshadowed by the fact that history was made when the away side opened the scoring. Going into the contest, Robert Lewandowski had 39 league goals for the season – a staggering tally with two games left to play including this one. He also was just one strike off of the single season record for the German top-flight. The München legend Gerd Müller had held the record for almost half a century and his achievement of 40 goals in a 34-game campaign looked as if it would never be matched. That was until the perfect Pole Lewandowski came along and, in a season where he started fast and has never taken the handbrake off, he has unbelievably equalled Müller’s achievement. There was a sense of inevitability about it too when Bayern were awarded a penalty when Gerd’s namesake, current Bayern player Thomas Müller, was fouled in the area in the midst of a corner situation. Therefore, Lewandowski got his chance to put his name in the history books from 12 yards and he was never going to pass it up. He nonchalantly stroked the ball home after deceiving the keeper with his signature stutter, and his celebration revealing an undershirt which read “4ever Gerd” gave a modest nod to the man who has doubtless inspired the Polish striker to repeat the goal-scoring feat.

Lewandowski’s Bayern teammates gave him a guard of honour for matching the 40-goal haul, however their obvious delight for their talismanic front man perhaps is what left them rather distracted just three minutes later. Manuel Gulde headed home from a corner of Freiburg’s to just give Bayern a bit of a reality check. They may have wrapped up the league title and their forward may have made history, but the Bundesliga keeps even the best on their toes, especially when the Black Forest side are the opponents. Bayern München did get back into the lead in the second half through Leroy Sané, but really the period of play after the break would have disappointed many Bavarian fans due to the number of glaring chances that went begging for Lewandowski. The fact that he somehow managed to miss a shot from on the goal line just showed that this was only the game for him to match the record, not break it. That will have to wait until next week. However, again Freiburg hit back to equalise, and it was their rampaging captain Christian Günter who provided the goal from his left-back birth. Getting forward in usual style, he opted for a shot across goalkeeper Nübel, who was playing his first ever game for Bayern, and his effort fizzed into the far bottom corner. The match remained at 2-2 which may have slightly frustrated the visitors, as they simply should have killed off the tie with their plethora of opportunities. Although, no one associated with the club would have been feeling too down about the course of proceedings. They did, after all, get to witness an historic moment for the league, their club, and their superstar striker.

Augsburg 2-0 Werder Bremen

From the champions and matters at the top, to the other end of the scale and the fight for survival. Arguably, the footballing equivalent of a life-or-death situation that is a relegation battle, can play on emotions more than anything else in the game. That was certainly evident in this one. Augsburg knew that a win would secure their safety for the 11th season in a row, but for Werder the position they found themselves in was only getting steadily worse and worse. After ending the previous campaign in the relegation play-off place, they would have hoped for a much better finish this time around, but an abysmal string of results in the latter part of the current Bundesliga season means that even automatic relegation to the second tier remains on the cards for the final day. However, the start of the game away to Augsburg had appeared to be setting a decent trend for Bremen when they got a bit of luck on the quarter hour mark. An off-ball incident sparked something in young Swiss international Ruben Vargas and he lashed out on his opponent, resulting in a simple decision for the referee: Vargas was dismissed and the hosts now had to play 77 minutes with ten men. This really should have given Werder Bremen a leg up, but it was only ever the home team that looked like having the fight in them to win, despite the visitors’ domination of the possession stats.

As so often can be the case with a relegation six-pointer, the breakthrough was provided by a set-piece. An Augsburg corner was not dealt with on the hour, and Rani Khedira, in his final home game for the club, scuffed a left-footed attempt into the corner of the net to set the home side on their way to survival. Strangely enough, Khedira’s goal also helped out his brother Sami’s team Hertha, whose draw was enough to see them stay up another year after Augsburg’s win meant that Werder could no longer catch Berlin either. All in all, the predicament for Bremen is a dire one and they will require a big display on the final day, after their fate in this one was sealed with a late Daniel Caligiuri spot kick to make the score line 2-0. The final whistle sounded and the home celebrations began. Coach Markus Weinzierl had only been brought in recently to try and ensure the team’s Bundesliga status in August, but he accomplished the aim with a game to spare and Augsburg will not have to look far, one would presume, to find the man to manage them for the next campaign.

Rest of the Round-Up

Arminia Bielefeld 1-1 Hoffenheim

With Werder’s loss, a point for Arminia kept them just above the relegation play-off spot going into the final day. They certainly had to work hard for the draw as well, after going behind as early as the fifth minute when Andrej Kramaric netted his 19th goal of the season to break the Hoffenheim record for a single campaign. However, Andreas Voglsammer produced some much-needed inspiration to equalise for the hosts, hitting a superb free kick into the top corner from 25 yards out.

Hertha Berlin 0-0 Köln

Although this game was far from a classic, the capital side Hertha would not have cared one bit, as the goalless stalemate was enough to ensure their Bundesliga survival. For Köln, a share of the spoils would have been appreciated too and they retain a chance of climbing out of the drop zone in the final round of fixtures, especially seeing as they will take on bottom side Schalke at home.

Schalke 4-3 Eintracht Frankfurt

Matchday 33 was full of drama with the relegation battle at the fore front of the fixtures as well as the scoring record being matched by Lewandowski. However, when Eintracht visited the Veltins-Arena, we saw arguably the best game of the weekend to many people’s surprise. Already condemned to the drop, Schalke were able to play under little pressure, unlike their Europe-chasing opponents, and this allowed some of their youngsters to shine who have struggled when thrown in at the deep end having to play with all of Schalke’s injury woes this season. The game swung back and forth, but ultimately it was a three-goal spree for the home side in just 12 minutes that sealed the win. It was enough to survive a Frankfurt third with 20 to go, but the strike did have significance of another kind – a 27th of the campaign for André Silva surpassed the single season scoring record for Frankfurt which had stood for over 40 years.

Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-2 Stuttgart

This was a damaging home defeat for Gladbach’s European aspirations, as it meant that Union were able to leapfrog them into 7th spot in the standings – the position in the table that has been allocated for entry into next season’s inaugural European Conference League. However, with Stuttgart taking all three points, after a couple of second half strikes from Endo and Kalajdzic turned the match around following captain Stindl’s goal for the hosts on the stroke of half time, the team enjoying their first campaign back in the top-flight may have even more reason to enjoy it on the final day, as they still are in with a shot of grabbing 7th as well.

Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Union Berlin

The Borussia slip-up opened the door for Union to climb into the Conference League spot and a second half goal from Finnish forward Joel Pohjanpalo handed them the necessary point to do so. However, it was rather strange to see him notch one against Leverkusen, seeing as he is currently on loan in Berlin from Bayer. His effort did not prevent his parent club from reaching their aim though. Along with the Gladbach loss, a point made sure that the home side finish in a Europa League place.

Mainz 1-3 Borussia Dortmund

After Eintracht Frankfurt had failed to take anything from their game against Dortmund’s derby rivals Schalke the day before, the black and yellows had the opportunity to seal their top four spot that seemed well beyond their grasp just months ago. However, a relentless display for the majority of the game saw Borussia go into a 3-0 lead away from home, which was more than enough in the end. Late on though, the hosts were given a spot kick and that handed Robin Quaison to reach another milestone in a weekend full of goal-scoring records being broken. He put away the penalty to claim his 30th goal in the Bundesliga for Mainz, meaning he is now their all-time leading scorer in the competition.

A Few Words On… Robert Lewandowski

Bayern’s striker supreme achieved the unimaginable when he matched Gerd Müller’s 40-goal tally for a single season, but with one game still to go, he has every chance of beating it. He certainly has not been bad for Bayern after his free transfer from Borussia Dortmund back in 2014, and his goal-scoring stats have always been massively impressive throughout his career. However, the past couple of seasons have seen the Pole reach stratospheric heights as one of, if not the, key part of the Bayern puzzle that has now won seven trophies in the past 18 months or so, after they clinched their most recent Meisterschale. Of course, Lewandowski’s task would be impossible without the incredible service he is provided with by his teammates, and he is always very quick to mention the help he gets. He did, however, criticise a lack of support when he missed out on the Golden Boot to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the Gabon superstar’s final season for Dortmund before making the switch to England. Since then though, the Bayern machine has only become ever more efficient in churning out chances on a regular basis for the Polish front man and he has more than been obliged to stick them away. But perhaps one opportunity is all Lewandowski will need on the final day against Augsburg, as he looks to accomplish mission 41.

What to Look Forward to Next Matchday

Stuttgart vs. Arminia Bielefeld

Werder Bremen vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Freiburg

Union Berlin vs. RB Leipzig

Wolfsburg vs. Mainz

Köln vs. Schalke

Bayern München vs. Augsburg

Hoffenheim vs. Hertha Berlin

Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayer Leverkusen

All the games on Matchday 34, the final round of fixtures in the Bundesliga, will kick off simultaneously on Saturday. There is still a lot to play for as seventh spot remains up for grabs for four teams and the fight to avoid the drop is still very much the order of the day for three more. Interestingly, the two issues overlap in two of the fixtures as Stuttgart host Arminia and Gladbach travel to Werder, with all four teams requiring points for their respective aims even at this late stage of the season. Hoping to benefit from Bielefeld and Bremen’s rather tough tasks against two of the Conference League hopefuls are Köln, who play already relegated Schalke at home and they know that a win could see them avoid the drop zone altogether, including the play-off spot. It really is still all too close to call, but Saturday is sure to be jam-packed full of drama.