Maybe this weekend in the Bundesliga didn’t offer the insane comebacks that we saw in Spain, but the games still offered plenty of grist for the mill and the promise of an actual title race. Let’s go over the action.
Bundesliga winners
Alassane Pléa
He had a hand in all four of Borussia Mönchengladbach’s goals, scoring three himself and assisting on Tim Kleindienst’s goal that put away the 4-2 win at Werder Bremen. That brings the Frenchman’s total to eight on the season.
Union Berlin
Despite a battering from Bayern Munich’s offense, they held firm to salvage a 1-1 draw at home that pulls them up to 13th place. There’s hope that the German capital will still have a team in the country’s top flight next season.
Bayer Leverkusen
Unlike last week, Leverkusen managed to take advantage of Bayern’s slip-up. Mind you, in the 67th minute they were trailing 3-1 at Stuttgart and looked so shaky that Coach Xabi Alonso probably needed some Bayer aspirin for his headache. (Fun fact: Leverkusen is where that stuff was invented, and the team gets its name from the pharmaceutical company.) Fortunately, Stuttgart gave away an own goal and so many other chances that the visitors could well have scored eight goals. Instead, they grabbed two between the 88th minute and the end to run out 4-3 winners and pull within six points of Bayern. Maybe there’s some drama left in this title race after all.
Eintracht Frankfurt
Their match against VfL Bochum was delayed by an hour because of fan banners blocking the stadium’s emergency exits, but once it got underway, the visitors took care of business with a 3-1 win that kept them three points ahead of RB Leipzig for fourth place and Champions League football.
Heidenhim
Their relegation six-pointer against Holstein Kiel resulted in an emphatic 3-1 win that lifted them off the bottom of the table and put Holstein there in their place. Every team in the bottom three still has a prayer of saving themselves, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on them.
Bundesliga losers
Borussia Dortmund
The image that summed up their 2-0 loss to RB Leipzig was Maximilian Beier staring at the sky after another miss. Yes, Péter Gulácsi had a great game in Leipzig’s goal, but many of the chances were flat-out missed by the attackers in black and yellow. They’ll probably have to win the Champions League to play in it next season because they won’t qualify any other way.
Oliver Baumann
The Hoffenheim goalkeeper and captain had an avert-your-eyes moment when he gave the ball straight to St. Pauli’s Philipp Treu, who squared the ball for Noah Weißhaupt to score the game’s only goal. It was only St. Pauli’s third home win this season, and it pulled them clear of the relegation zone. If they stay up, they should send Baumann a case of St. Pauli Girl beer as a danke schön.
Jonas Urbig
Speaking of goalkeeping errors, his probably matters less, but Bayern Munich’s backup stopper spilled a cross into the path of Union Berlin’s Benedict Hollerbach to allow the draw. It won’t help his case for being Manuel Neuer’s long-term replacement.
Dominik Kohr
With his team 1-0 up on Freiburg and fighting for Champions League qualification, the Mainz defender fouled Lucas Höler on a breakaway and got himself a red card. His teammates fought valiantly with the man disadvantage, but the result was a 2-2 draw that allowed Eintracht to pull even with them on points. The visitors from Freiburg now have a hope of grabbing one of those Champions League places themselves since they’re only three points back.
Wolfsburg
They lost to Augsburg on the road. Their Champions League hopes are getting dimmer and dimmer.