Borussia Mönchengladbach – Bayern Munich 3: 2 (1: 1), Goals: 1:0 Stindl (13th), 1-1 Choupo-Moting (35′), 2-1 Hofmann (55′), 3-1 Thuram (84′), 3-2 Tel (90’+3′)
Red card: Dayot Upamecano (Munich) after an emergency brake (8th)
Having to face Borussia Mönchengladbach four days after a major contract in Paris was no easy task for Bayern anyway. The Gladbachers had recently lined up in the gray nothingness of the table – but the most recent duels against Munich still resonated on Saturday: Bayern had not been able to win the last three league games against their western rivals, and in the DFB Cup it had set a surreal 5-0 defeat in 2022. And now it was already clear after about ten minutes: The task would be even more difficult for Julian Nagelsmann’s ensemble today.
Upamecano fought a running duel with the hasty Plea, the running paths crossed, Upamecano’s hand lay on Plea’s back, Plea stumbled and fell – and the referee Tobias Welz immediately pulled the red card out of his back pocket (8th). emergency brake! It took a good four minutes for the VAR-Keller in Cologne to look through all available slow-motion footage after the crucial contact, but they were sent off. Ten Bayern against eleven emotional Gladbachers, that was the completely new starting position.
The Gladbachers knew a lot to do with their majority. Sometimes they let Munich watch their remarkably hard-nosed ball spinning, then they started fast counterattacks on Yann Sommer’s goal again – after eight years in Gladbach, this is now the case for Munich. And the Gladbachers also had clever free-kick variants in their program: Stindl completed one of these with the 1-0 in the 13th minute. Bayern were able to counter this lead in the first half: Davies got through on the left and Choupo-Moting converted his fantastic cross (35′). At halftime, Nagelsmann then brought Sané and Musiala for Gnabry and Gravenberch, so prominent offensive power. But more goals were scored by Gladbach: Hofmann in the 55th and Thuram in the 84th minute. Substitute Tel’s goal (93rd) was only a correction of the result.
Bayern can’t really afford this defeat: On Sunday, Union Berlin (against Schalke 04) can overtake Bayern in the table; Dortmund (against Hertha BSC) can at least catch up. The next fundamental debate should not happen at Bayern due to the circumstances: because a game that is decided by a red card in the eighth minute is just a singular event. Next Sunday, when Bayern receive Union Berlin in their Arena, there will certainly be more in-depth insights. And then the second leg against Paris Saint-Germain will soon follow.
VfB Stuttgart – 1. FC Cologne 3: 0 (1: 0), Goals: 1-0 Dias (9′), 2-0 Sosa (59′), 3-0 Coulibaly (74′)
Muscle play by Borna Sosa: The Stuttgart celebrates his free-kick goal against Cologne.
(Photo: Adam Pretty/Getty)
The enthusiasm of the VfB fans was limited when Stuttgart presented Gil Dias as an access shortly before the end of the transfer period. An unknown outside attacker, who didn’t play a league game for Benfica in the first half of the season, as a saving reinforcement in the relegation battle? The Portuguese then scored in the cup shortly after coming on as a substitute and helped VfB win in Paderborn. Now Dias scored his first goal in the Bundesliga. Against Cologne, after a remarkable one-two with Genki Haraguchi, he deliberately flicked the ball into the far corner and gave Stuttgart an early lead. It could have been even higher up until half-time.
And after the break, Stuttgart had the first big chance, but Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe held strong against Haraguchi. After almost an hour, the FC keeper was powerless. This time Borna Sosa flicked a free kick with his left hand to the lower edge of the crossbar and from there into the goal. On his 22nd birthday, substitute Tanguy Coulibaly gave himself a gift and scored the 3-0 with his first touch of the ball. In his second term as VfB coach, Bruno Labbadia celebrated his first league win and Stuttgart passed Bochum and Hoffenheim in 14th place. The enthusiasm of the Stuttgart fans knew no bounds.
VfL Wolfsburg – RB Leipzig 0: 3 (0: 1), Goals: 0: 1 Forsberg (14th), 0-2 Laimer (85′), 0-3 Szoboszlai (90’+3′)
Slipped again: VfL Wolfsburg hardly had any chances against Leipzig and had to accept their next defeat in the Bundesliga.
(Photo: Roger Petzsche/Imago)
VfL Wolfsburg started furiously after the winter break. The 6:0 against Freiburg was followed by a 5:0 against Hertha. Since then, coach Niko Kovač has had little reason to be happy: two Bundesliga defeats against Bremen and Bayern and a meager 0-0 draw at Schalke, plus the cup defeat against Union. And things got off to a bad start against Leipzig too. After almost a quarter of an hour, VfL could not control the ball on the edge of the penalty area. At the end of a lot of poking, the playground equipment landed at the feet of RB striker Emil Forsberg. The Swede shot without thinking twice: Inside the post and inside. VfL tried to counter it, but did not come close to dangerously in front of the Leipzig goal until the break.
The duel between Saxony and Lower Saxony remained a clear affair in the second round, even if the result was not yet. After almost an hour, André Silva didn’t get a low cross from three meters over the line, but shot at VfL defender Micky van de Ven, who cleared it. Christopher Nkunku then celebrated his comeback at Leipzig after a three-month injury break. The Frenchman could have come back with a goal ten minutes before the end, but he smashed the ball over the goal from the inside left position in the penalty area. But if it doesn’t work as a goalscorer, then as a preparer: Konrad Laimer converted an Nkunku pass from a tight angle into the far corner. Dominik Szoboszlai even scored the third goal in added time. The victory brings Leipzig to four points close to FC Bayern.
VfL Bochum – SC Freiburg 0:2 (0:1), Goals: 0: 1 Gregoritsch (39th), 0: 2 Höler (51st)
Anthony Losilla wants to hide in his jersey after being sent off.
(Photo: Christof Koepsel/Getty)
Statistics can be used to spin wonderfully coherent stories. Freiburg started with a three-game streak of away defeats against Bochum, who were particularly strong at home. VfL won all five home games under coach Thomas Letsch. So the numbers dictated a victory for Bochum. But as is well known, football does not follow any mathematical logic, as the head teacher Karl-Heinz Rummenigge already knew. Only one goal was needed to show the difference between Freiburg, fourth in the table, and Bochum, in 15th place. But the Freiburg team absolutely didn’t want to follow the script of the statistics. After Michael Gregoritsch took the lead, Lucas Höler also headed in after a cross from Christian Günter. At the latest when VfL captain Anthony Losilla was sent off with a red card (63rd), any statistical story was banished to the realm of fairy tales.