Soccer Bundesliga
The double Haaland, Fischer’s mentality monster and mysterious wolves
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Gregor Kobel and Manuel Akanji surf the wave of success with Dortmund. Kevin Mbabu and Renato Steffen lose the leadership position with Wolsburg. And Gerardo Seoane is experiencing a veritable roller coaster ride with Leverkusen.
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Despite the outstanding performance of Kevin Mbabu (on the right in a duel with the Frankfurt Kostic), Wolfsburg loses the championship lead.
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The wolves are a mystery. The new coach Mark van Bommel made a hair-raising mistake in the first competition game. In the cup he changes one player too many. Wolfsburg subsequently loses the game against the regional division Münster. Usually this is the beginning of the end. But not in Wolfsburg.
They win the first four Bundesliga games and on Sunday will be the leader in the game against Frankfurt and their successful coach from the previous season, Oliver Glasner. It’s not that Wolfsburg plays the most exciting football in the league. But when it comes to stability and organization, they are enviable.
Frankfurt is also finding it extremely difficult to get into a final position. Nevertheless, Eintracht takes the lead with a good Djibril Sow in midfield. Atalanta Bergamo striker Sam Lammers scores. But Wolfsburg also has an accurate Dutchman in the attack: Wout Weghorst. After the preparatory work of the outstanding Kevin Mbabu, he scored the 1-1 final result. Too little to displace Bayern (7-0 against Bochum) from the top of the table.
The double Haaland against Urs Fischer’s mentality monster
–Erling Haaland scores six and seven goals this season against Union Berlin.
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Urs Fischer is a trainer who pays great attention to the strengths of the opponent. He must too. After all, his Unioners get into the game as outsiders in more than half of their Bundesliga matches. Especially when they compete in Dortmund. So what does Fischer do? The 55-year-old from Zurich strengthens the center because Dortmund is feared for its vertical game through the middle with Erling Haaland as the target player.
His antipode, Marco Rose, must have guessed what Fischer was planning. Therefore, he puts the game of his Dortmunders extremely broad and takes Union Berlin by surprise. Nati defender Manuel Akanji, who is currently not only ennobled by Giorgio Chiellini, but also by German reporters as one of the world’s best central defenders, initiates the 1-0 through Raphael Guerreiro with a diagonal pass to the left wing.
The Dortmund 2-0 is also initiated via the wing. Cross from Meunier, header from Haaland: The game actually started in the 24th minute. Actually: Because Dortmund would not have conceded nine goals in the first four rounds if the defense had worked so wonderfully. But that has less to do with the Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, who enjoys a very high standing in Germany. No, Dortmund is just a bit too euphoric, too stormy and too playful for pragmatic results football.
Union comes in again and Kobel doesn’t look particularly good
And there is also an opponent. Notabene one with an outstanding mentality. Even after Friedrich’s own goal (52nd) to 3-0, Union Berlin showed no signs of resignation. Kruse (57th) scores 1: 3 for Fischer’s team from the penalty point. And the substitute Andreas Vogelsammer (81st) scores 2: 3 with his head, although Kobel doesn’t look particularly good.
This is Dortmund too: offensive spectacle and shaky final phases. But the tremor doesn’t last long. Just two minutes after the Berlin goal, Haaland decides the game with his seventh Bundesliga goal – 4: 2.
It will be exciting for Gerardo Seoane
–2-0 lead after 18 minutes. Nevertheless, it will be a nerve-wracking afternoon in Stuttgart for Gerardo Seoana and his Leverkusen team.
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Everything points to a calm afternoon for Gerardo Seoane. A game that every coach would like. Already clear in the lead early – Patrik Schick scores 2-0 for Leverkusen in the 19th minute – the opponent has taken the last bit of self-confidence and confidence. Put the lid on and bye Stuttgart.
It’s a class difference. But only until 1-0 scorer Robert Andrich loses his nerve. Leg stretched against the opponent’s knee – there has to be red and there is red and Stuttgart the possibility of somehow finding their way back into the game. Even more so when Orel Mangala scores the next goal before the break.
So now Seoane is still challenged. On the one hand, because his young team is infected by the heated atmosphere. On the other hand, to restore order to the square. And the former YB and Lucerne trainer does an excellent job. He changes the defense and Stuttgart hardly has a chance to score despite the majority.
The exciting scenes belong to Leverkusen. And it is the 18-year-old shooting star Florian Wirtz (70th) who uses the third promising counterattack to make it 3-1. This means that Leverkusen stays at the top – fourth place.
The crisis in Gladbach never ends
–Duel among Swiss national players: Augsburg striker Andi Zeqiri (left) against Mönchengladbach defender Nico Elvedi.
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Mönchengladbach can no longer find its way. The 3-1 win against Bielefeld a week ago was sold as a turnaround. The next setback followed on Saturday: 0: 1 in Augsburg. The national defender Nico Elvedi fails, compatriot Ruben Vargas puts on a formidable for Florian Niederlechner and this leaves Goalie Sommer no chance.
The goalscorer came on for Andi Zeqiri, who is in the Augsburg starting lineup for the first time. But apart from one scene in which Zeqiri can run towards Sommer on his own, but acts so awkwardly that he is separated from the ball before it is finished, he is not noticed. Gladbach, which only has four points after five laps, lacks inspiration and ease. Denis Zakaria also provided too little impetus. And Breel Embolo comes on just before the end.
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