For about 20 minutes there was a reasonable hope that this game and possibly the title fight in the Bundesliga would be exciting. During this time, Bayer Leverkusen led Bayern Munich, even without Kai Havertz, who only sat in the stands after a blow to the knee. A deployment in the DFB Cup against Saarbrücken is also questionable. But Havertz substitute Lucas Alario switched quickly in the ninth minute, after a throw-in he sprinted in a pass from Julian Baumgartlinger, David Alaba wanted to put Alario offside, but reacted a moment too late and the Argentine shot under Manuel Neuer’s balancing act through the gate.
From this point on you could start to count: If Leverkusen holds now and if BVB wins and if Bayern lose points against Gladbach again next week, Borussia Dortmund could … As I said, this palace of thought lasted a good 20 minutes . Then Bayern were in the game, had Leverkusen under control, initially failed due to offside positions, but after 27 minutes Leon Goretzka conquered the ball in midfield against Leverkusen, who moved too far, and immediately played in the sprint of Kingsley Coman, who was solely on Lukas Hradecky supply and achieved the deserved compensation.
From then on it was another demonstration. The 2: 1 was a goal that only Bayern can currently play in the Bundesliga and on good days of BVB. Winning the ball on your own sixteen, the ball flies forward with speed and precision over several stations, the best Munich player on the pitch, Leon Goretzka, converted to 2-1 (42nd). Leverkusen then surrendered a bit. After two half-cooked pressing campaigns against the Munich defense, two high balls landed at Serge Gnabry. The first chance in the 44th minute thwarted Hradecky, Gnabry then converted the second, almost identical action by lupfer to 3: 1 just a minute later.
The second half had – almost – only chronicler value. Robert Lewandowski scored his 30th goal of the season (66th, but like Müller due to his fifth yellow card against Gladbach next week) and FC Bayern still need ten goals to reach the 100-goal mark. Shortly before the end, however, Leverkusen shortened again, by Florian Wirtz. He is 17 years old, overcame Manuel Neuer with Schlenzer and is now the youngest Bundesliga goal scorer in history (see below).
And: Before the game, the players warmed up in T-shirts with “Red against Racism” and the hashtag #blacklivesmatter. All Bayern players wore an armband with this lettering during the game.
For a long time it looked as if Julian Nagelsmann’s team would be even closer to qualifying directly for the Champions League. Until the injury time, the Leipziger led, they could have gained five points ahead of fifth. But then Paderborn took a corner, RB goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi deflected a shot from Marlon Ritter in the middle, where Christian Strohdiek still managed to equalize. And even if Leipzig played outnumbered, you can call it a blunder.
In the first half, Timo Werner had contributed to the Leipzig goal. According to media reports, the attacker is facing a move to Chelsea. Werner is “in the driver’s seat, not us anymore,” said RB managing director Oliver Mintzlaff before the kick-off at Sky. “So far, Werner has not drawn the clause, nor has any club sent us a transfer contract.” In any case, Werner put the ball in the middle in the 27th minute, where Patrik Schick shot in. Leipzig then had to outnumber for more than a half: The already warned Dayot Upamecano had seen yellow-red after a rough duel with Streli Mamba and then kicking the ball (43.). The result did not change for a long time – until Paderborn just took his corner.
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Düsseldorf played in the majority for almost the entire game – at the end of the afternoon the gap to the direct non-relegation places had nevertheless grown to three points. The game had special events to offer early on: There was the goal from Rouwen Hennings, who was back in the starting line-up and was able to head in freestanding after a cross from Kevin Stöger. Shortly afterwards there was a scramble in the penalty area at a corner of Hoffenheim, Kaan Ayhan fell after Benjamin Hübner hit him in the face when he was pushed. Referee Sören Storks whipped out red and never took back the tough decision. Huebner, who was only on the side, had just returned to the team after a ban.
Minutes later, Hoffenheim was able to cheer: Munas Dabbur dusted off after Florian Kastenmeier had fended off a previous TSG attempt. Hennings scored his second goal a little later – but referee Storks took it back because he previously recognized a foul by Kenan Karaman on Stefan Posch in the header duel. By the way, it was only about 20 minutes played.
After that it was a bit calmer, Robert Skov gave the best Hoffenheim opportunity shortly after the break when he ran towards the goal and shot too high. Skov later contributed to the TSG leadership: He crossed over to Steven Zuber, who hit flat. Düsseldorf had chances to equalize and finally used one of them: Havard Nordtveit had used the arm in the duel with Erik Thommy, the Düsseldorf player fell – and Hennings scored with a penalty. Fortuna is now three points ahead of 17th Bremen. Werder welcomes Wolfsburg on Sunday.
Mainz secured three points from the “fairly important” category. The 05ers were just one point before the matchday in front of the relegation place, now there are three. In the derby Moussa hit Niakathé with a head just before the break, Daniel Brosinski had brought the ball into the middle. And customer Malong later made everything clear when he ran freely towards Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and tunneled him.
Yellow card of the match day: Jürgen Gjasula, 30, is playing his first Bundesliga season, but he has already made a lasting impression. The Paderborn had already seen yellow 15 times before Saturday’s game against Leipzig. After a little over 20 minutes he kicked opponent Nordi Mukiele on the foot – and saw yellow again. Now he and Tomasz Hajto (1998/99, MSV Duisburg) are record holders. And: he still has four days left for yellow card number 17.
Goal scorer of the match day: Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz was 17 years and 34 days old at his Schlen concert goal against Manuel Neuer, setting the Bundesliga record as the youngest goal scorer in Nuri Sahin’s history. He was 17 years and 82 days old when he hit the Borussia Dortmund shirt and has held the best since 2005.
Second record player of the game day: This week there was an outrageous announcement that Wolfsburg wanted to remove “Mount Magath” – the hill on which Makoto Hasebe became a German champion in 2009. Hasebe, now 36 years old, no longer plays in Wolfsburg, via 1. FC Nürnberg he landed at Eintracht Frankfurt, where there are no mountains but only high-rise buildings, but where Hasebe is still used. As of today, the Japanese is the player from Asia with the most Bundesliga matches. 309 in number, one more than the legendary Bum-Kun Cha. He is also one of the few players in the recent past to have won the Cup and Cup (2018 with Eintracht) without ever playing for Bayern or Dortmund.
