Bundesliga Matchday 26: Out of Europe (Apart from Frankfurt)

It wasn’t a good week for German football as Bayern and Schalke joined Dortmund out of the Champions League while Frankfurt went through to the quarterfinals of the Europa League by vanquishing Inter Milan at the San Siro. Domestically, Bayern regained the lead on goal difference while Dortmund are still in a choppy waters and the tailspin that is Schalke resulted in the removal of Domenic Tedesco. Welcome to Matchday 26. 

BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH vs. SC FREIBURG (Friday at 2:30pm CT, FS2)

(Matchday 9:  Freiburg 3-1 Borussia MG)

The once happy home for the Foals has become a house of horrors. After winning ten straight at home, they have lost their last three matches allowing 11 goals in the process. They did get back to winning ways on the road at Mainz last week to keep them three points clear in fourth place and level on points with RB Leipzig. One thing that needs to improve is the scoring with just three goals in the last five matches.

Frieburg is virtually assured midtable safety in 12th place. They have lost just once in their last six matches and will look to continue the streak of the away team coming up big at Borussia Park (and end their 14-match winless streak there in the process). Watch out on set pieces as 44% of their goals this season have come from those situations. 

FC SCHALKE 04 vs. RB LEIPZIG (Saturday at 9:30am CT, FS2)

(Matchday 9:  RB Leipzig 0-0 Schalke)

Huub Stevens, a current board member at Schalke and two-time previous coach, will be the caretaker manager assisted by Mike Buskens—himself a caretaker boss on two occasion—at the Veltins on Saturday. Their task is to stem the freefall of the Royal Blues who are just four points clear of the danger zone. Their ignominious 7-0 thrashing by Manchester City marked the end of Dominic Tedesco’s reign that saw the Royal Blues from from 2nd last season to their current 14th. 

Leipzig were dealt a setback last weekend with a goalless draw against Augsburg that pulled them level on points with Gladbach for third. The Red Bulls are unbeaten in their last seven and former New York Red Bull Tyler Adams has featured in each of those matches starting five. Leading scorer Yussuf Poulsen is expected to return after missing last week with a minor knock. 

VFL WOLFSBURG vs. FORTUNA DUSSELDORF (Saturday at 8:30am, Fox Soccer Plus)

(Matchday 9:  Fortuna 0-3 Wolfsburg)

Bruno Labbadia’s departure from Wolfsburg will come at the end of the season after a 6-0 thrashing by Bayern last week. That loss—their 12th on the bound against Bayern—dropped them three points adrift of the top six with nine to play. They will go up against a team they have never lost a competitive match to. 

Fortuna’s great run of form ended at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt last Monday. Like Freiburg though, Fortuna is most likely to enjoy midtable safety in 11th place despite their heaviest defeat this season just five days ago. However, they will have to make do without forward Dawid Kownacki who is out with a thigh injury. 

VFB STUTTGART vs. TSG 1899 HOFFENHEIM (Saturday at 8:30am CT, Fox Soccer Matchpass)

(Matchday 9:  Hoffenheim 4-0 VfB Stuttgart)

Stuttgart will be looking to get out of the relegation playoff spot with a win. They do have some breathing space beneath them as they are five points clear of the trap door to Bundesliga 2. They will need to be less charitable than they have been at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Their 24 goals conceded at home is joint-worst. 

Eyes will be on Andrej Kramaric as he is one behind Sejad Salihovic for the all-time Bundesliga scoring mark for the Sinsheimers. Kramaric scored twice in Hoffenheim’s win over bottom-club Nürnberg last week. They are currently five points out of the top six with two teams to pass. 

SC FREIBURG vs. HERTHA BERLIN (Saturday at 8:30am CT, Fox Soccer Matchpass)

(Matchday 8:  Hertha Berlin 1-1 SC Freiburg)

Freiburg’s four-match unbeaten streak was ended by Leverkusen last week. They are still eight points clear of the drop zone and will look to enhance their cushion between now and their final two matches of the season against Hannover and Nürnberg so that they do not become six-pointers. They have scored ten goals in their last three home matches, but have shipped eight.

David Selke will likely miss this match with a muscular injury. He has been involved in at least one goal in five of the last seven matches for the Capital Club. That could open the door for Vedad Ibisevic to lineup alongside Ondrej Duda. Hertha has already matched their away win total from the Hinrunde with two. They’ll get a boost from the returns of Kerem Demirbay and Benjamin Huber. 

HERTHA BERLIN vs. BORUSSIA DORTMUND (Saturday at 12:30pm CT, FS2)

(Matchday 9:  Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Hertha Berlin)

The Capital Club have already beaten Bayern, Gladbach, and Frankfurt at the Olimpiastadion. They will look to add BVB to that list. However, they have beaten just two other teams at home this season. Salomon Kalou scored a brace at the Signal Iduna in Matchday 9. in a 2-2 draw. David Selke remains a doubt. 

For the first time since Matchday 5, BVB is not top of the table. A 3-1 win over Stuttgart was overshadowed by Bayern’s 6-0 thrashing of Wolfsburg and has also overshadowed them in the table on goal difference. A win will take BVB top for at least 24 hours before Bayern play on Sunday against Mainz. 

BAYER LEVERKUSEN vs. SV WERDER BREMEN (Sunday at 7:30am CT, FS1)

(Matchday 9:  Bayer Leverkusen 6-2 Werder Bremen)

They say that March comes in like a lion and Die Werkself came into the Ruckrunde virtually the same way winning six of their last eight. They have also scored at least twice in their last seven matches as Peter Bosz’s side are on a roll and into the top six. 

The Green-Whites have amassed six points in their last four matches despite conceding first in each of those matches. They have avoided defeat seven times as a whole this season from an 0-1 position. They will certainly not want to end up in a 2-6 position like they did in the reverse fixture. 

EINTRACHT FRANKFURT vs. FC NÜRNBERG (Sunday at 9:30am CT, FS1)

(Matchday 9:  FC Nürnberg 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt)

Frankfurt have gone unbeaten in their first eight Ruckrunde matches for the first time since 1981. Also, they are the last team in Europe after defeated Inter Milan on Thursday. Their purple patch has seen them move to within three points of the top four. Luka Jovic was the hero at the San Siro on Thursday and is second in the Golden Boot race with 15 goals behind Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski. Jovic’s teammate Sebastien Haller is one behind him with 14. 

FC Nürnberg has gone 19 matches without a win and that’s the worst since Kaiserslautern’s 21-match winless streak in 2011-12. They are currently six points adrift of 16th and nine points out of 15th. If there is any silver lining right now, they have conceded just five times in their last four matches. 

BAYERN MUNICH vs. MAINZ 05 (Sunday at 12pm CT, FS2)

(Matchday 9:  Mainz 1-2 Bayern Munich)

Bayern did return to the top of the table last weekend, but most will be talking about their elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Liverpool on Wednesday. Bayern have won 12 of their last 13 league matches and have done well to eliminate the gap between themselves and BVB and may now focus on winning their seventh straight Meisterschale.

The 05ers are eight points clear of 16th, but have lost five of their last six and need points to ensure safety this season. They will most certainly have to find a way to keep Robert Lewandowski off the scoresheet. The Bayern striker has scored 13 times in the last 12 meetings against Mainz.