The Bundesliga continued: Week 5

We’re less than two weeks away from the conclusion of this enthralling Bundesliga season. With a full round of midweek fixtures to indulge, come the weekend we may already have a champion crowned and one less relegation spot to worry about. Champions elect, Bayern Munich, left it late on Saturday evening but got the job done against a spirited Borussia Monchengladbach side. Leon Goretzka’s late goal reinstated their comfortable 7-point cushion over challengers Dortmund and ensured that victory in Bremen this Tuesday will give them a 30^th league title. Werder Bremen won’t bow down to Hansi Flick’s Munich, however. Three-points on Tuesday night will be just as valuable to Bremen who are in a relegation dog fight with Fortuna Dusseldorf and Mainz. Florian Kohfeldt’s side all but relegated Paderborn at the weekend with an uplifting 5-1 away win. Paderborn’s second stay in Germany’s topflight will come to an end unless they leave the capital with three-points on Tuesday. As teams scrap for points at the foot of the table, competition for European qualification is proving just as fierce. Gladbach’s respectable performance in Munich on Saturday was rewarded by Leverkusen dropping points yesterday. Schalke displayed their best football since the league’s resumption yesterday and were unfortunate not to snatch all three-points at home to Peter Bosz’s Leverkusen. Missing out on Champions League football has serious repercussions for both Gladbach and Leverkusen. Both sides are loaded with some of the Bundesliga’s most promising young players, players who want to compete in Europe’s premier continental competition. A 5^th place finish may be the catalyst for the likes of Kai Havertz, Jonathan Tah, Marcus Thuram, Florian Neuhaus etc to seek clubs of a larger scale. 

            Although Bayer Leverkusen made more progress in the push for 4^th place at the weekend, ‘Die Werkself’ (The company’s eleven, Leverkusen’s nickname), dropped two valuable points at Schalke’s Veltins-Arena yesterday. Schalke, who have picked up just two-points since football continued in May, frustrated a Leverkusen side that welcomed back their star-man Kai Havertz. For the first time in well over a month Schalke started the game on the front foot, showing absolutely no fear in the face of their opponents. Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky was called into action early on parrying shots from both Weston McKennie and captain Daniel Caligiuri. The home side attacked in waves as full-backs Jonjoe Kenny and Juan Miranda exploited the wings well offering extra support going forward. Schalke’s risky high line saved them from going in one down at the break, Lucas Alario steered in a header from an Amiri free kick but was ruled offside. Within minutes of the restart Schalke’s persistent pressure paid off. V.A.R deemed Tapsoba guilty of handling the ball in the box and Caligiuri was handed the opportunity to give his side the advantage. The captain despatched confidently and for just the fourth time in 2020, Schalke took the lead. Kai Havertz was struggling to find his stride in his return from injury. Playing out wide as opposed to his most recent position up the middle, Havertz (who celebrated his 21^st birthday midweek) couldn’t motivate his side and failed to establish a partnership with Alario who had filled in up front. Alario himself soon became the villain of the afternoon, latching on to a Wendell through ball that everyone assumed was a pass-back following a Schalke injury. After some handbags, bookings were issued for either side and play resumed. Young Brazilian Paulinho was introduced to the scene and made an instant impact. A pass across the face of goal from fellow countryman Wendell allowed Paulinho to poke in a crucial equaliser. Replays later showed Schalke’s Miranda had the final touch and was unfortunately handed the plaudits. With literally the final touch of the game, Hradecky pulled off one final stop, a phenomenal save at point blank range from a Gregoritsch header. One point was enough for Leverkusen to claim 4^th place for the time being, yet Peter Bosz’s men were fortunate to escape Gelsenkirchen with anything following such an enthusiastic Schalke showing. Schalke’s most recent performances have given fans hope, David Wagner’s men are just four points off 7^th place which now offers a route into the Europa League given the results in the domestic cup midweek.

            Leverkusen are still fighting on three fronts with their ticket for the cup final in three weeks already punched and the Europa League not yet abandoned. Kai Havertz and co welcome Cologne, winless in their last seven, on Wednesday evening before games at Hertha Berlin (in limbo with neither relegation or Europe a realistic target) and at home to struggling Mainz. Challengers for 4^th Borussia Monchengladbach face a tough task at home to Wolfsburg tomorrow night, possibly without their star forward Marcus Thuram who limped off at the Allianz Arena on Saturday. A trip to (most likely relegated by then) Paderborn then a home game against Hertha Berlin see out the season for Marco Rose and Gladbach. If Gladbach can build on their performance at Bayern Munich on Saturday, they stand a great chance of snatching 4^th from Leverkusen’s reach. Gladbach started the stronger side and had a goal disallowed early doors after Jonas Hoffman was ruled offside before Breel Embolo blew a fantastic opportunity from a yard out.  Against the run of play, a goalkeeping error from the usually reliable Yann Sommer gifted Joshua Zirkzee an open goal to give Bayern the lead. Zirkzee making his presence clear in the absence of the suspended Robert Lewandowski. Gladbach didn’t panic and found a route back into the game, Herrmann’s low cross into the six-yard box was fortuitously turned into his own-goal by Benjamin Pavard. Manuel Neuer was at his best into the second half as he kept Gladbach at bay. Either side shared chances on goal but as per usual, Bayern Munich wouldn’t disappear. Pavard made amends for his first-half error by locking onto a wayward pass and playing in Leon Goretzka to bundle home a dramatic winner in the 86^th minute. The Bavarian giants’ 8^th title in a row is inevitable and can be clinched with three-points in Bremen tomorrow night.

	Champions League Race:
Pos	Team	P	GD	Pts
3rd	R.B. Leipzig	31	45	62
4th	Bayer Leverkusen	31	16	57
5th	Borussia Monchengladbach	31	20	56

           

Werder Bremen are ready for battle, with a heroic Davy Klassen at the heart of the midfield, Kohfeldt’s Bremen essentially relegated Paderborn on Saturday with a commanding 5-1 victory away from home. An early penalty save by Paderborn keeper Leopold Zingerle gave the home team false hope, seconds after Milot Rashica’s spot-kick, Klassen headed in the opening goal and Bremen didn’t look back. A statement win by Werder Bremen leaves them level on points with 16^th placed Fortuna Dusseldorf, behind by just a single goal. Bremen are finding form at the right time, taking down Bayern Munich might be overly optimistic, but two relegation threatened sides (Mainz and Cologne) end their regular season schedule. Dusseldorf were agonisingly close to a huge point at home to Dortmund at the weekend until Erling Haaland’s stoppage time goal (his 11^th of the season) earned the visitors all three. A trip to Leipzig for Dusseldorf is followed by games with Augsburg and Union Berlin, both of whom are all but mathematically safe for another year. The final automatic relegation spot may be unsettled until the very last kick of the season. Augsburg’s top scorer Florian Niederlechner picked the perfect time to end his nine-game dry spell in front of goal, bagging the match winner away to Mainz yesterday after just 45-seconds. The 1-0 win has given Augsburg serious breathing room and piled the pressure on relegation rivals Mainz.

	Relegation Race:
Pos	Team	P	GD	Pts
12th	FC Cologne	31	-11	35
13th	Augsburg	31	-15	35
14th	FC Union Berlin	31	-17	35
15th	Mainz 05	31	-24	31
16th	Fortuna Dusseldorf	31	-28	28
17th	Werder Bremen	31	-29	28

            With Leverkusen and Bayern Munich destined for European football of some sort and the teams set to meet in the DFB-Pokal (domestic cup) final, an extra spot has opened for Europa League qualification. As is the case across Europe, the domestic cup winners in Germany are gifted a qualification berth for the Europa League. If the cup winners already qualify this opens a spot for 7^th place to gain qualification. Hoffenheim currently occupy this spot but Freiburg are in close pursuit, just a point behind. Both Schalke and Eintracht Frankfurt remain in contention for 7^th but will both rue their poor string of results up until this point. Frankfurt took advantage of a Dedryck Boyata red card in Berlin on Saturday to defeat Hertha 4-1 on their own patch. Hertha too had Europa League aspirations prior to their hammering from Frankfurt.

	Europa League hunt:
Pos	Team	P	GD	Pts
6th	Wolfsburg	31	6	46
7th	Hoffenheim	31	-10	43
8th	Freiburg	31	-2	42
9th	Schalke	31	-12	39
10th	Eintracht Frankfurt	31	-3	38
11th	Hertha Berlin	31	-11	38

            This week provides multiple fixtures with European football implications. Tomorrow Gladbach host Wolfsburg with either side fixated on different European competitions. Freiburg host Hertha Berlin in a game that could catapult the winner into a more prominent position. On Wednesday Schalke, uplifted by their display against Leverkusen yesterday, travel to Frankfurt. Anything other than a win could axe either side’s European hopes depending on how Hoffenheim perform at Augsburg that evening.

            It seems a long time since Haaland netted the opener against Schalke and resumed this intense Bundesliga season. In reality it’s only been five weeks but with games coming thick and fast, along with the sly resumption of the DFB-Pokal midweek, the return of German football has been an amazing distraction from the ongoing concerns our society faces. With the Bundesliga setting such a fine example of how to conduct football under the fear of covid-19 and its many restrictions, the DFB, Deutscher Fussball Bund (German Football Association) has paved the way for league’s across Europe to continue their football operations. The past few weeks have been a great opportunity for us neutrals to get a closer look at the Bundesliga and some of European football’s top talents. With only two-weeks remaining there is still plenty to play for in what is sure to be a dramatic conclusion to the league season.