Bundesliga Match Day 31: Weekend Wrap-Up
Borussia Dortmund took a one week hiatus from looking apathetic to unexpectedly bash Bayer Leverkusen, 4-0. The victory for BVB came after several stressful weeks marred by uninspired performances.
The one and only man, who can drive Dortmund to push out of its malaise did exactly that. Led by Marco Reus and his two goals, Dortmund was able to stun and embarrass Die Werkself; the same squad that look like the future of Bundesliga just last week!
Jadon Sancho and Max Philipp also scored for Borussia Dortmund, which was a strong sign that any off-the-field drama that has occurred was not going to have any lasting effect.
For Leverkusen, it needs to examine how this happened....like now.
Borussia Monchengladbach 3, Vfl Wolfsburg 0: M'Gladbach put a beating on the Wolves behind goals from Lars Stindl, Raffael, and Christoph Kramer. The Foals have only one loss in their last five games (two wins, two draws), so maybe ( ? ) they have turned the proverbial corner and are headed for a strong finish. The Wolves, however, are back to, well, blowing the house down.
VfB Stuttgart 2, Werder Bremen 0: Using goals from Christian Gentner and Berkay Ozcan, Stuttgart held off Werder Bremen and found the form that had been missing for the previous three weeks. Bremen is now winless in its last three after a surge in February and March.
Hoffenheim 5, RB Leipzig 2: Talk about about two teams headed in different directions. Julian Nagelsmann has his team roaring down the home stretch in an effort to secure a Champions League berth, while Ralph Hasenhüttl's team is doing everything possible to let it slip away. Hoffenheim used a brace from Mark Uth and single goals from Serge Gnabry, Pavel Kaderabek, and Lukas Rupp to out-pace Leipzig (goals from Naby Keita and Dayot Upamecano). For as hot as Hoffenheim has been, Leipzig has been cold. Even worse apparently, is that Leipzig players are starting to drop hints on social media that their own individual tenure may be coming to an end:
Bayern Munich 3, Hannover 96 0: Die Roten used second half goals from Thomas Müller, Robert Lewandowski, and Sebastian Rudy to capture another Bundesliga win. Bayern is full of momentum and confident heading into its Champions League showdown with Real Madrid.
Hamburger SV 1, SC Freiburg 0: In a game that held major consequences for the RELEGATION DANGER ZONE, Hamburger did just enough with a goal from Lewis Holtby to keep its hopes of crawling out of danger alive. Freiburg, meanwhile, is in a downward spiral that it cannot seem to break out of. Freiburg has lost five in a row and is winless in its last eight overall.
Hertha Berlin 3, Eintracht Frankfurt 0: The roller coaster that is Eintracht Frankfurt, just keeps on going. The Eagles got spanked last weekend (4-1 loss to Leverkusen), made the DFB Pokal finals with a win on Wednesday (1-0 over Schalke), and went right out and got shellacked by Hertha Berlin, who received second half goals from Davie Selke, Mathew Leckie, and Alexander Esswein. There is no good way to figure out exactly which Eagles squad will show up from game to game.
FC Augsburg 2, Mainz 0: I knew I would get this one wrong. Austrian Michael Gregoritsch and Icelander Alfred Finnbogason provided the scoring over a hapless Mainz side.
FC Koln 2, Schalke 04 2: Schalke experience a letdown at a critical time. If the Royal Blues want to ensure they maintain a stronghold on second place, they need to be better. Breel Embolo and Evgen Konoplyanka provided the offense for Schalke, while the Billy Goats received tallies from Leonardo Bittencourt and Marcel Risse. A draw may not be a normal reason to celebrate, but Koln's tie against second-place Schalke during this season is definitely a positive note. Another great piece of news would be that Koln has retained the services of Jonas Hector (rumored to have considered moving to either Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund) through the 2023 season.
This week's (horrid) record: 3-6
This season's (terrible) record: 47-52
Note: Predicted ties count as a win if correct and as a loss if there is a winner; conversely if a game is predicted to have a winner but ends in a tie, it will count as a loss.
