The Sunday games of the 25th Bundesliga matchday at a glance:
After two strange penalty decisions, FC Bayern will go into the Bundesliga hit against Borussia Dortmund on April 1 as second in the table. The Munich team lost 2-1 (1-0) at Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday after taking the lead at half-time and are now one point behind BVB, who had won 6-1 against 1. FC Köln the day before.
Joshua Kimmich, who will captain the national team in the absence of Manuel Neuer in the coming week, put Bayern ahead (22′). But the Argentinian Exequiel Palacios, the only current world champion in the Bundesliga, turned the game around with two penalties (56th/73rd). Curious: After both actions by Benjamin Pavard and Dayot Upamecano, referee Tobias Stieler initially gave the fouled Amine Adli a yellow card for alleged swallows. Both times he took the card back after studying the video, both times he apologized to Adli – and both times he pointed to the point belatedly.
Bayer, who are the only Bundesliga side in the Europa League alongside Munich in the quarter-finals of a European Cup competition, extended their series to seven competitive games without defeat and are now close to the European Cup places. Coach Xabi Alonso, who had set the team up well, sent a message to the Bayern bosses. The former midfield strategist, who played for Bayern Munich from 2014 to 2017, is being watched in Munich as a possible coach of the future.
Overall, Leverkusen’s line-up wasn’t defensive and the team didn’t play like that. The hosts had the first chance when Kerem Demirbay cheekily took a corner kick directly onto goal, but Yann Sommer steered the ball over the crossbar with his fingertips (10′). Seven minutes later, the ex-national player tried again, this time Sommer had a little less trouble.
But Bayer was now in charge and before Bayern even had their first chance, Moussa Diaby (15′), Jeremie Frimpong (16′) and Palacios (17′) created further chances. What was more surprising than the 4-0 corners and shots on goal after 20 minutes was the hosts’ possession of over 60 percent of the ball. And then, out of nowhere, the series champion struck ice cold: Leon Goretzka put it down for Kimmich, whose shot Odilon Kossounou deflected untenably under the bar. It was Kimmich’s fourth goal of the season. He only had more in the 2016/17 season when he was six.
A triple change at the break indicated that Nagelsmann was not really satisfied: In addition to Musiala and Gnabry, Kinsgley Coman also came. Thomas Müller, Sadio Mané and Joao Cancelo stayed in the dressing room. But the goal fell on the other side. Bayern now stepped up their offensive efforts, but Musiala narrowly missed after a great solo and one-two with Gnabry (69th). And then the next penalty followed. After falling behind, the guests pressed for the equaliser, but Bayer keeper Hradecky was in top form.
In a duel between the teams that failed in international business during the week, 1. FC Union Berlin underpinned its claim to the Champions League places in the Bundesliga. After the 2-0 (0-0) win against Eintracht Frankfurt, the Berliners climbed to third place on Sunday with 48 points and distanced their pursuer from Hesse, who was in sixth place and still has 40 points. In front of 22,012 spectators in the An der Alten Försterei stadium, Rani Khedira and substitute Kevin Behrens (75th) scored the goals for the Irons in the 53rd minute.
After the strenuous last few English weeks, both teams initially acted on the back burner, so that there was no real flow of play. It was usually only dangerous in front of the goal after standard situations. Top striker Kolo Muani missed the first real chance in the 16th minute after a free kick. Union had two opportunities through Sheraldo Becker (13th) and Haberer (21st), but both missed the goal.
The pace picked up as the first half progressed and both teams created several chances. Union goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow, who has been in good form for weeks, thwarted a possible deficit when he saved in the 34th minute before Daichi Kamada was freed, Kolo Muani headed over the goal five minutes later. On the other hand, Siebatcheu narrowly missed a Becker cross in the 37th minute, Seguin failed after 40 minutes at national goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, Rafael Borré shortly before the break at Rönnow and again Kolo Muani after a corner with a head on the post.
After the change of sides, the home side were able to use their first opportunity to take the lead. Khedira used a corner from Gießelmann to take the lead from around five meters out of the crowd (53′). Union acted much more agile afterwards, while Frankfurt had to nibble on the backlog. Becker completed a counterattack after 68 minutes, but was just offside when he accepted the ball. Frankfurt tried individual actions through the energetic Kolo Muani and substitute Lucas Alario, but both got stuck in defence. Behrens, on the other hand, made the decision with a shot through Trapp’s legs fifteen minutes before the end.
Borussia Mönchengladbach versus Werder Bremen 2:2
The game reports from Friday and Saturday can be found here.
