Goalfest thrillers, title changing results, 120 years of history, and relegation six-pointers. This and more in the 21st matchday of the Bundesliga.
In Dortmund, there’s been a lot of shenanigans recently and a 3-3 match where they were up 3-0 is the killer. Not exactly what you want before a Champions League knockout phase leg one.
As the Marco Reus-less squad put three goals away in the first 66 minutes, things seemed to be more than satisfactory while being up 3-0. Then, the bubble was burst as Hoffenheim led by Ishak Belfodil with his brace sandwiching a Pavel Kaderabek strike in 12 minutes. For BVB, it is two points dropped in the title race and things are that with only five points difference, there are no secure things in the fussball world.
Bayer Leverkusen has had one of the most frightening of turnarounds. With a 5-1 victory over Mainz and a Europa League trip to Russia on Thursday, Peter Bosz has made a real strong side out of a Jeckyl and Hyde team.
Mainz has kept things defensively sound, but then they faced the all out attack of Leverkusen. When they defeated Munich last week, it was due to a massive wave after wave of attacks. This was much of the same as four goals found their way into the net in a mere 45 minutes. For Bayer, the stats did not lie. With nearly 80% possession and nearly 20 shots, this new style of attack brought in from the new coach means that we can expect some great things.
Werder Bremen rocked the emotions of the Bundesliga as they faced relegation-threatened Augsburg while celebrating 120 years of history. The crowd celebrated in style with a 4-0 victory that moved the team within points of the European places.
Augsburg entered the match knowing that they really were up against it. Bremen showed off their attack that has been rocking all ruckrunde with Milot Raschida scoring two and a pair of assists from David Klaassen. For Bremen fans, it will be a match that will not be long forgotten despite their midweek heroics in defeating BVB in the pokal.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga
Bayern Munich put one over on Schalke with a convincing 3-1 victory. The victory in the late match means that the title race gap was shortened by two points to five.
Hannover’s defeat of Nurnberg in the battle of the basement was profoundly impacted by an early red card to Simon Rhein that put Der Klub on the backfoot and after a brace by Nicoli Muller gave the fans of the 96ers a bit of hope.
Borussia Monchengladbach entered their home match with Hertha Berlin with the idea of keeping pace with Borussia Dortmund, but they never got the chance as the Old Lady from the Capital shocked everyone with a convincing 3-0 victory.
In the fight at the bottom of the table, Fortuna Dusseldorf earned a solid 2-0 victory over struggling Stuttgart. One will merely question at what time the Swabian’s will be firing their second manager of the season.
SC Freiburg seems to be always capable of some fireworks. For Vfl Wolfsburg, the 3-3 match was an opportunity lost as they were unable to move further up the table, but for the neutral nobody can say that they would be bored.
Eintracht Frankfurt visited Leipzig to take on the energy drink team. Sadly this fourth v fifth matchup did not live up to the possible fireworks promised. Despite end to end action, the match ended 0-0 as Frankfurt looks towards Thursday and a trip to the Ukraine in the Europa League.
Prost Bundesliga POTW
Karim Bellarabi-For Bayer Leverkusen his goal, assist, and one off the post was a solid individual effort that was on display and one can only expect that with the Bosz revolution going on things could continue to be on the up and up.