Match Day 25: Weekend Wrap-Up
There will be a lot of Marco Reus-inspired writing this week at The Barrel, but in helping Borussia Dortmund seal a 1:1 draw with RB Leipzig 1, Reus has firmly established himself as "back."
With another strong effort, Reus has taken the burden of Dortmund's success from the shoulders of Peter Stoger and placed it on his own. The game was really a treat to watch as both sides took turns applying pressure, but Dortmund's penchant for going offside (they went off roughly 7834823 times), probably prevented them from leaving with a win.
Bayern Munich 4, SC Freiburg 0: Bayern dominated Freiburg in all facets of the contest, with Thomas Müller was at his unconventional best in creating havoc and play making for Die Roten. Müller played an integral role in three of Bayern's four goals with Corentin Tolisso also chipping in with a screamer. This was as complete a performance as Bayern has had this season and they did it with the likes of Arjen Robben and Robert Lewandowski sitting on the bench.
VfB Stuttgart 3, FC Koln 2: Stuttgart and Koln hooked up for an extremely entertaining contest in which Mario Gomez continued his resurgence with a brace, while Andreas Beck notched the game winner. For Koln, which is showing just a ton of grit, Claudio Pizzaro and Milos Jojic found the back of the net.
Borussia Monchengladbach 2, Werder Bremen 2: M'Gladbach and Bremen engaged in a thriller Friday afternoon. M'Gladbach hit for two goals early behind a goal from Denis Zakaria and an own goa; while Bremen charged back in the second half with scores from Thomas Delaney and Aron Johannsson. Also of note, Bayern loanee, Marco Friedl, had a very solid game at outside back for Bremen.
Hoffenheim 2, Augsburg 0: Another Bayern loanee, Serge Gnabry, turned in a solid effort with a goal to help Hoffenheim dispense Augsburg. Andrej Kramaric notched his 8th Bundesliga goal of the season as well for Hoffenheim, which needs a strong run here to get back into the race for a top 6 slot.
Eintracht Frankfurt 1, Hannover 96 0: Danny DaCosta's 39th minute tally was the difference for the Eagles in a victory over pesky Hannover. Hannover is game every week and has proven it belongs in the top flight with a string of hard-fought efforts, even if the wins have been hard to come by.
Hamburger SV 0, Mainz 0: This game, well....
Schalke 04 1, Hertha Berlin 0: Marko Pjaca's 39th minute goal kept Schalke in second place behind Bayern in a strong effort for the shorthanded squad. Schalke's upcoming slate against Mainz, Wolfsburg, Freibrug, and Hamburger should allow the Royal Blues to build some momentum before facing off with Dortmund on April 15th.
Bayer Leverkusen 2, Wolfsburg 1: Lucas Alario's first half tally and Julian Brandt's beautiful chip for a score gave Leverkusen the win over the Wolves, who are struggling mightily. With how the season is trending for Wolfsburg in comparison to the other teams in the RELEGATION DANGER ZONE; it's easy to see the Wolves being the squad left out in the cold.
Weekly record: 6-3 (bigger font...F YEAH)
Overall prediction record: 20-25 (smaller font...still mildly embarrassing)
Note: Predicted ties count as a win if correct and a loss if there is a winner in the game; conversely, if a game is predicted to have a winner, but ends in a tie - it will count as a loss.
