In Bielefeld, the home side, who suffered their sixth defeat in the last seven games, also gave Bayern a good helping hand in winning. Jacob Laursen put the visitors ahead with an own goal in the tenth minute. Serge Gnabry made it 2-0 before the break in injury time (45+7) and made the preliminary decision. In the final phase, Jamal Musiala (88th) added the third goal for Munich.
Bayern, where Marcel Sabitzer was in the starting XI but was substituted in the 61st minute, took the next step towards the 32nd championship in their club’s history and the tenth in a row. Bielefeld, where Manuel Prietl played as captain and Patrick Wimmer and Alessandro Schöpf was substituted after 74 minutes, is still in 17th and penultimate place. The gap to the non-relegation zone now occupied by Hertha BSC is three points. VfB Stuttgart is two points ahead of Arminia on the relegation rank.
“Of course that was a bit of a frustration relief,” said goal scorer Gnabry, referring to the defeat in the Champions League during the week against Villarreal. “But in the end, football just keeps going. Today was a new game, our goal was to win. And that’s what we did.” Trainer Julian Nagelsmann judged, “In the end it was a deserved win, but it got tougher at the back than it had to be”. It is “then okay if you just downplay a game in Bielefeld, even if at some point it is no longer so attractive in the end”.
Union dampens Frankfurt euphoria
In the game for third place, RasenBallsport Leipzig narrowly won 1-0 (0-0) at Bayer Leverkusen. Three days after reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League, Dominik Szoboszlai scored the winning goal for the guests from Leipzig in the 69th minute. At this point, Konrad Laimer was also on the field. The ÖFB team player came into play in the 58th minute. The win moved Leipzig up to third place on Sunday with 54 points, two points ahead of Leverkusen.
Eintracht Frankfurt suffered a setback in the championship three days after the sensational 3-2 win in Barcelona and the associated promotion to the semi-finals of the Europa League. Without first-choice goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who was injured at the Camp Nou, coach Oliver Glasner’s team lost 0-2 at Union Berlin. Martin Hinteregger played through for Frankfurt, but in contrast to the game in Barcelona, he could not prevent the Berlin team from conceding, in which Christopher Trimmel came into play in the 84th minute.
Stefan Posch, Hinteregger’s defensive partner in the ÖFB team, was injured when TSG 1899 Hoffenheim lost 0-0 at home against Greuther Fürth at the bottom. The Hoffenheim defender collided with team-mate Diadie Samassekou and had to be substituted with a bleeding head injury. His club colleague Christoph Baumgartner played through. Fürth has four laps before the end of the season eleven points behind the relegation rank and is on the verge of relegation.
Teenager initiates Dortmund Gala
Borussia Dortmund have five goals in 14 minutes and a 6-1 thrashing of VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday with a place in the UEFA Champions League. A dream debut by 17-year-old Tom Rothe and a brace from Erling Haaland were the highlights at the BVB gala at the start of the 30th round of the German Bundesliga. And that a week before the hit at leaders FC Bayern.
With a twelve-point lead over fifth place in the table and a significantly better goal difference, second-placed BVB can only theoretically gamble away their CL participation in the last four games. Wolfsburg’s cushion on the relegation place could shrink to up to five points again on Sunday after the highest half-time deficit in the club’s 25-year Bundesliga history.
SC Freiburg won 3-0 against VfL Bochum and, in fifth place, can continue to dream of the Champions League. 1. FC Köln won the derby at Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1. In the fight against relegation, Hertha BSC left the relegation rank that VfB Stuttgart now occupies with a 1-0 win at FC Augsburg. The Swabians couldn’t get past a 0-0 draw at FSV Mainz 05.
Haaland ends dry spell
The goal festival in Dortmund was started in the 24th minute by teenager and debutant Rothe, who stepped in at left-back. Axel Witsel (26) and Manuel Akanji (28′) quickly followed suit, Emre Can (34′) and Haaland twice (38′, 54′) scored the other goals for coach Marco Rose’s team. For the 21-year-old Norwegian, who is said to be very popular with Manchester City, an unusual dry spell of almost three months, five appearances and 384 minutes of play ended without a goal.
Goalkeeper Koen Casteels did not look good for Wolfsburg when he conceded several goals, ÖFB team player Xaver Schlager was replaced by coach Florian Kohfeldt in the 63rd minute. Wolfsburg’s Ridle Baku (82nd) finally prevented the third 6-0 defeat in VfL Bundesliga history after those in Munich in 2017 and 2019.
Goals from Kainz and Ljubicic
Thanks to the two outstanding Austrians Florian Kainz and Dejan Ljubicic, Cologne was able to celebrate a 3-1 derby victory at Mönchengladbach and, being sixth in the table, kept its chances in the European Cup. Kainz made it 2-0 in the 20th minute after setting up Anthony Modeste’s lead (5th). Ljubicic made things clear before the break with a perfect low shot into the far post (34′). Breel Embolo (85th) scored the late consolation goal for coach Adi Hütter’s team, Stefan Lainer was substituted at half-time.
Freiburg is getting closer to Leverkusen and Leipzig
Freiburg moved up into the top four with a 3-0 home win against newly promoted Bochum. Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig, currently in third and fourth place, meet on Sunday evening. Lukas Kübler (5th) and Roland Sallai (16th, 53rd) scored for the Breisgauer, Philipp Lienhart played through in central defense. Bochum’s Konstantinos Stafylidis was ruled out after a hard foul (68′), as was his coach Thomas Reis after criticism from the referee.
In the fight against relegation, Hertha BSC and coach Felix Magath achieved the hoped-for liberation. The capital club initially climbed out of the relegation zone with the 1-0 win in Augsburg. The first away win for Berlin since October was fixed by Suat Serdar (49th) via Fersler through the legs of a defender and goalie Rafal Gikiewicz. Augsburg striker Michael Gregoritsch hit the crossbar in the 56th minute.
Stuttgart with ÖFB team striker Sasa Kalajdzic has to tremble after the goalless draw in Mainz in relegation place 16. The gap to Hertha, where there will be a direct duel next Sunday, is one point.
German Bundesliga, 30th round
Sunday:
Bielefeld – Bayern Munich 0:3 (0:2)
Tore: Laursen (10./Eigentor), Gnabry (45th + 7th), Musiala (88th)
Bielfeld: Prietl and Wimmer played through, Schlöpf until the 74th minute
Bayern: Sabitzer up to the 61st minute
Union Berlin – Frankfurt 2:0 (2:0)
Tore: Awoniyi (17.), Prömel (21.)
Union: Trimmel ab 84. Minute
Frankfurt: Hinteregger played through, Bignetti on the bench
Hoffenheim – Fuerth 0-0
Hoffenheim: Baumgartner played through, Posch until the 50th minute
Leverkusen – Leipzig 0: 1 (0: 0)
Tor: Szoboszlai (69th)
Leipzig: Laimer from the 58th minute
Saturday:
Dortmund – Wolfsburg 6: 1 (5: 0)
Goals: Rothe (24′), Witsel (26′), Akanji (28′), Can (34′), Haaland (38′, 54′) and Baku (81′)
Wolfsburg: Schlager up to 63 minutes, Pervan replacement
Freiburg – Bochum 3: 0 (2: 0)
Goals: Kübler (4th), Sallai (16th, 53rd)
Red Card: Stafylidis (68./Bochum)
Freiburg: Lienhart plays through
Augsburg – Hertha BSC 0:1 (0:0)
Tor: Serdar (49th)
Augsburg: Gregoritsch played through
Mainz – Stuttgart 0:0
Mainz: Onisiwo until the 62nd minute, Stöger and Nemeth substitute
Stuttgart: Kalajdzic played through
Mönchengladbach – Cologne 1: 3 (0: 3)
Goals: Embolo (85′) or Modeste (5′), Kainz (20′), Ljubicic (34′)
Mönchengladbach: Lainer up to 46 minutes
Cologne: Kainz up to 61 minutes, Ljubicic up to 80 minutes, Schaub from 80 minutes
Tabel:
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