Relegation six pointers, European challenges, and the return of Bibiana Steinhaus. That and more in the Bundesliga preview of matchday nine.
Bundesliga in Europe
Bayern is two for two, or we should say Jupp Heynckes has two wins from two. After a convincing victory over SC Freiburg, Bayern faced Scottish champions Glasgow Celtic. At no moment did it look like there was an upset in the making. Goals from Hummels, Muller, and Kimmich were on display as the gulf in squad class was apparent.
Borussia Dortmund was hoping against hope that they could make a run to the Champions League knockout round. No longer is that an option after a 1-1 draw in Cyprus against APOEL Nicosia. Let that sink in, and know that there are three matches left in the group phase and Dortmund needs to merely ensure that they defeat the Cypriots in the return leg as its too tall a mountain to get second in the group.
RB Leipzig looked a little bit like a scared sheep with the wolves lurking outside as they lost in Istanbul to Besiktas. Now with a 3-2 thrilling victory over Porto they might just be finding their feet in a difficult group. Timo Werner and Emil Forsberg were rested at the weekend and were in full flight. Goals from Willi Orban, Forsberg, and Jean-Kevin Augustin gave fans one of the best 90 minutes in the group stage as of yet.
In the Europa League FC Koln and Hertha Berlin both fell in their road matches leaving each bottom of their group after three matches. Hoffenheim earned themselves a 3-1 victory over Turkish side İstanbul Başakşehir, lending hope of qualifying for the later stage.
Opinion of the Week
What do you do when you are a big team full of tradition when you are trying to dispel this yo-yo attitude around the squad but you are down in the dumps?
Thats the current situation at both FC Koln and Werder Bremen as they face off in the early Sunday. FC Koln has one point, scored three and conceded 17. Werder Bremen in opposition is second from bottom with four points, scored three and conceded nine.
FC Koln lost Anthony Modeste who was a one man wrecking crew of a player and there has not been the proper replacement of his output. Manager Peter Stoger has had full control in rebuilding this team, firstly getting up after relegation and then staying up with year per year improvement. But sometimes you need a change to fix things, however the problem is who would fancy taking over this job?
Werder Bremen seems to find themselves in this dilemma every other season. Alexander Nori was brought in a year ago as a temporary fix and suddenly found a goal scoring combination that brought the team up. The goals have dried up while they have been a rather difficult side to break down. There has been little reinvestment in the squad and that should mean the coach had what he needed but results speak louder than words.
Either way this fixture is very much going to make or break either manager, and after the previous season each had this was not one that would’ve been predicted.
Matches of the Week
Eintracht Frankfurt is surging and they do so while now facing the top team in the Bundesliga in Borussia Dortmund. Frankfurt fell to the black and yellow in May in the Pokal final but at the Commerzbank Arena it has been a house of horrors for Dortmund. This is a clash of styles in Niko Kovac’s “fight it out style” and Peter Bosz’s “high attacking way”.
Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen have been constants for the Bundesliga in Europe. But after poor seasons each is finding it a little different only focusing on the Bundesliga matches. Located in the Rhineland these two will both be looking for steps up the Bundesliga table, and to do so they need to make their fans happy by putting one over their local rivals.
Bundesliga on Fox
Friday starts the matchday off with Schalke 04 facing Mainz 05, Schalke look like with a win they can find themselves back in Europe with continued good form on Fox Sports 2.
Saturday early slate starts with Fox Sports 1 hosting Eintracht Frankfurt vs Borussia Dortmund. Fox Soccer Plus has RB Leipzig hosting Stuttgart.
Saturday topspiel pits Bayern Munich and HSV on Fox Sports 2.
Sunday is a tripleheader. First is the relegation six-pointer between FC Koln and Werder Bremen on FS1. Directly following on FS1 is Freiburg and Hertha Berlin. On FS2 to end the matchday is Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg.
