Whenever Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund play against each other, it’s known as Der Klassiker, as those are the two teams that have won the most titles in the Bundesliga’s history. It happens at least twice per season, and much like the Barcelona-Real Madrid clásicos in Spain, it always seems to draw in neutral fans. This weekend’s game did not disappoint. Let’s run down that and the rest of the action in Germany.
Bundesliga Winners
German soccer
Not for the first or the last time, Der Klassiker lived up to its name, with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund trading haymakers all game long. Waldemar Anton’s equalizer in the 80th minute wound up being the last goal of a 2-2 draw, but both teams had myriad clear-cut chances after that to win at the Allianz Arena. If the result didn’t really help either team in the standings, it made for a great advertisement for the Bundesliga.
Andrej Kramarić
They call him “Mr. Hoffenheim” because he’s been at that team since 2016. The Croatian forward finished off both goals in a big win against Mainz that will help the Kraichgauers avoid relegation. Bazoumana Touré assisted him on both of those goals as well, so well done for the Ivorian.
Oliver Burke
Three goals in his last two games for Werder Bremen constitutes a goal-scoring tear for the Scotsman, as well as a triumph over Stuttgart. The first came when midfielder Jens Stage set him through on a breakaway. He scored the winner in similar fashion, running onto Leonardo Bittencourt’s through ball in stoppage time to finish past Alexander Nübel. For a guy who has spent so much time rooted to Bremen’s bench, it’s good to see him finding the net like this.
Freiburg
They overcame a heroic performance by Borussia Mönchengladbach goalkeeper Tiago Pereira Cardoso (he plays for Luxembourg!) for an important win that included Patrick Osterhage’s first goal for Freiburg. The three points leapfrogged them over their opponents and now has them three points behind RB Leipzig in fourth place. They couldn’t make the Champions League, could they?
Xavi Simons
The pint-sized RB Leipzig midfielder scored two belters against Wolfsburg that gave his team a 3-2 win and took them into fourth place.
Hugo Ekitiké
The Frenchman scored another two in a routine victory for Eintracht Frankfurt. That makes 14 for him in the Bundesliga this year, only one behind a bunch of players tied for third place in the goal-scoring charts. Why hasn’t this guy been capped by France?
Bundesliga Losers
Vfl Bochum
They created the majority of the chances at home against Augsburg, but a great performance by goalkeeper Finn Dahmen limited the Blues to one goal, while the visitors got a great goal from Michael Essende (whose spin move sat down his marker) and then a stoppage-time match-winner from young substitute Mert Kömür. By their expected goals measurement, Bochum should have scored three in this game. That is a frustrating loss. They might be headed down now.
Mainz
Another week, another blow to their Champions League hopes, as they shot everywhere except the goal in a road loss to Hoffenheim. They’re one point behind fourth place with five games to go, and three of those games include away to Bayern and home to Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen. The ’05ers might need some luck just to get into the Europa League.
Bayer Leverkusen
Their goalless draw at home to Union Berlin was matched by Bayern’s draw against Dortmund, but it represents one more opportunity gone to make up ground on the leaders from Munich.
Jonas Wind
The Wolfsburg defender gifted Leipzig their opening goal when his attempt to play the ball out went instead to Leipzig’s Loïs Openda, who immediately shot the ball inside the far post. Die Wölfe (why isn’t that the name of a heavy metal band?) mounted a furious comeback, but fell that one goal short of grabbing a draw.
Max Geschwill
The Holstein Kiel defender was thisclose to snatching a precious draw for his team when he chested down Noah Weißhaupt’s shot on the goalline, but he couldn’t clear it out before it had crossed the line by a couple of millimeters. Instead, the goal gave St. Pauli three points that probably secures their safety, and leaves Holstein in last place.