Bundesliga: Bayern desperate against TSG, madness in Stuttgart – Sport

FC Bayern Munich – TSG Hoffenheim 1: 1 (1: 0), Gates: 1-0 Benjamin Pavard (16′), 1-1 Andrei Kramaric (71′)

The game against TSG would actually have been a so-called “sandwich game” for FC Bayern because it lies like a piece of hard cheese between the two Champions League games against Manchester City. In such games, FC Bayern is usually about winning somehow, not hurting yourself and immediately putting the focus on the European Cup evening at the final whistle. But too much had happened in the past week, which was particularly evident in Leroy Sané, who played with a lip that was still visibly swollen after being hit by Sadio Mané in a cabin dispute after the 3-0 defeat in Manchester. Mané was suspended for this game as a consequence.

The kick against Hoffenheim initially didn’t keep up with the excitement of the week, it was as sleet as the Munich weather for a long time. Which was also due to the fact that Bayern led early. In the 17th minute Benjamin Pavard stopped a weak low shot from Kingsley Coman after a corner was saved and converted it through the legs of TSG goalkeeper Oliver Baumann to make it 1-0. For the third time in a row a central defender gave Bayern Munich the lead. Which of course says something about the state of the offensive, in which Serge Gnabry again acted unhappy and visibly unsettled as a striker in the absence of Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. Hoffenheim didn’t necessarily play like a relegated team afterwards, but they weren’t dangerous enough to punish Bayern for their tough harmlessness in attack.

That changed in the 70th minute: Hoffenheim suddenly got a free kick and, like against Freiburg when they lost the cup (penalty), it was a standard situation that Munich punished harshly for failing to score a second goal. Andrej Kramaric circled the ball perfectly over the wall into the corner away from Yann Sommer, who, like against ManCity, was disadvantaged by his rather small height (1.83 meters) for a goalkeeper. He couldn’t quite get the ball. The fact that shortly afterwards it was not an attacker but Pavard who put the ball into the opposing goal again fitted into the picture. But this time he was offside.

The most gratifying thing in Munich was the announcement by the stadium announcer after the final whistle, who announced Stuttgart’s sensational equalizer against champion rival Dortmund. The audience cheered. But that didn’t hide the fact that Bayern were overwhelmed by scoring goals against Hoffenheim in this mousy performance. Manchester City are coming to Munich on Wednesday and they need at least three goals in 90 minutes.

VfB Stuttgart – Borussia Dortmund 3: 3 (0: 2), Gates: 0-1 Sebastien Haller (25′), 0-2 Donyell Malen (33′), 1-2 Tanguy Coulibaly (78′), 2-2 Josha Vagnoman (84′), 2: 3 Giovanni Reyna (90 + 3), 3: 3 Silas (90 + 7)

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It was a game that really can’t exist – and a game with two halves that almost caused sensational waves. The first half could have been summed up like this: life in the championship race can be awfully easy when you have strikers who can reliably score goals (greetings to FC Bayern). Dortmund played forward with conviction, concealed calamities in their backup defense around Mats Hummels and Emre Can, and Haller and Malen did the rest. And with classic center forward moves: the Frenchman held his toe in a cross, the Dutchman simply turned and held on – that was too much for VfB, who were decimated early on (yellow-red for Konstantinos Mavropanos).

But then at some point everything turned around: Reus and Bellingham (twice the bar) and Malen missed the best chances, which the Stuttgart team took as an opportunity to rear up like a knocked-on comeback boxer. First Coulibaly curved around freely in front of the sixteen and hit with a deflected shot before everything overturned because Vagnoman made it 2-2 from the hustle and bustle. Crazy, almost surreal game. And of course it wasn’t that far: Reynas for BVB 3:2 made all spectators completely lose faith – and the 3:3 by Silas, yes mei, in the 97th minute, what more can one say? Soccer, you devil stuff.

RB Leipzig – FC Augsburg 3: 2 (3: 1), Gates: 0: 1 Arne Maier (5th), 1: 1 Kevin Kampl (10th), 2: 1 and 3: 1 Timo Werner (32nd/35th), 3: 2 Ruben Vargas (82nd)

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Before the game, everyone in Leipzig was talking about two fine feet: Dani Olmo was finally back from the start, but where is Christoper Nkunku? The best Bundesliga player of the previous season was not in the starting line-up again. His teammates also wanted to quickly forget that. Szoboszlai appeared early on at the pentagon, but substitute keeper Koubek made a first-class save (3′). The guests did better in their first attack. After a wing run by Iago, they benefited from the fact that Leipzig had the famous Pass behind the defense clumsy defending, which is why Arne Maier was able to put the ball under the crossbar from ten meters (5′).

Leipzig lost the last home game against Mainz 0:3, that shouldn’t happen again. There was a brief shake and then Timo Werner surprised twice: Firstly, he was not offside on the wing, and secondly, he hit a useful cross. There, Kampl steered the ball straight into the short corner despite the hardship. However, since the goal scorer couldn’t breathe after the shot, a curious picture emerged: While the goal scorer was hanging over an advertising board, the goal scorer’s teammates signaled that the medical attendants should please hurry to the crime scene at Timo Werner’s pace. Which then worked.

It continued with the Werner miracles. The striker pushed Henrichs’ flat cross into the corner like he had always done it (32′), and as if he wanted to punish all his critics for all the mean sentences, he scored an even nicer goal less than three minutes later: He tapped a pass from Kampl in such a way that he was able to chase the ball straight onto the goal from 21 meters – and Werner then did it in a way as if he would do the same thing again 99 out of 100 times. Olmo? nkunku? The answer was Werner. At least this afternoon. In the first half.

After the break, the hosts seemed to want to take it easy, and one wondered: what for? They won’t play the Champions League again this season. Or did you want to vary the history of the first half of the season? Augsburg lost a 3-0 lead against Leipzig in the autumn. This time Vargas (82nd minute) shortened to 3: 2, but it wasn’t enough for more. Substitute Nkunku missed the big chance to make it 4:2, but it wasn’t his afternoon. And it was still enough to win.

1. FC Cologne – Mainz 05 1: 1 (0: 1), Gates: 0-1 Ludovic Ajorque (17′), 1-1 Dejan Ljubicic (51′)

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Mainz arrived in Cologne with a terrible record: they have only won one win in eleven attempts in all their Bundesliga years. This time, however, they brought the results of the second half of the season with them as a recommendation: they are the third-best team in the second half of the season, have recently been annoyed by the draw against Bremen, put players like Onisiwo (9 goals!) on the bench without any negative effects (mood or quality) and play under coach Bo Svensson preferably to win, no matter where. This is best embodied by the bald-headed giant Ludovic Ajorque, who apparently someone told him that in Germany there is a bonus for the best winter signing in the league. In any case, the Frenchman collected further arguments for the still very unofficial title, primarily through his coolly played goal in the 17th minute to give the visitors the lead.

The Cologne team tried hard, but first of all the striker Davie Selke was the focus, who Ajorque need not fear in his category. In his short time on the Rhine, Selke has collected more injuries than scorer points. This time, after a painful duel, he was given a turban that was fashionable. After all, his ability to suffer carried away his teammates. Up to half-time, chances were noted that kept getting better, through Martel (24th, 35th), Schindler (31st), Maina (42nd), Selke (44th, with a header, now again without a turban), Chabot ( 45.+2), with an overhead kick, and once Augsburg’s bully kicker Dominik Kohr saved dangerously but skillfully on the edge of the penalty area against Cologne captain Jonas Hector (27.), who was ready to score.

After the break, FC happily continued to press. Skhiri representative Ljubicic didn’t just shoot at the opponent’s penalty area, but improved his shooting position with a one-two with Hector, who put the ball back on his feet so that Ljubicic was able to deliberately push the ball into the free corner to make it 1-1 (51′). The Cologne team continued to dominate the game, albeit not with the vigor of the phase between the 25th and 50th minutes. They still had a hundred percent chance to make it 2-1: In the 70th minute, Maina ran away from everyone and headed towards the Mainz goal alone – but he pushed the ball past the goal.