Bundesliga Match 29: Weekend Wrap-Up
- Chuck Smith
- Apr 15, 2019
- 4 min read
While many expected Werder Bremen to make big strides this season, there could not have been a big crowd that expected Die Werderaner to have a chance to make such a big impact to the Bundesliga title race at this point in the season.
With one point separating Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table, Werder Bremen will get a chance to knock off both of the table toppers in the coming weeks. 36-year-old Florian Kohfeldt and his squad will not be an easy draw for either Die Roten or BVB. Werder Bremen will face off with Bayern next weekend and will battle Dortmund on May 4th.
In addition, Werder Bremen will hook up with Bayern in the DFB-Pokal semifinals -- which will be its second game with Bayern in a span of four days. Clearly, this is the opportunity for Die Werderaner to show that it truly is a team on the rise in the Bundesliga.
Davy Klaassen, who often looks and acts like the angriest man in the Bundesliga, continued his excellent season by scoring Werder Bremen's first goal at during the 76th minute before Theodor Gebre Selassie added another score in the 83rd minute.
Luca Waldschmidt put Breisgau-Brasilianer on the scoreboard in the third minute of extra time, but it was too little, too late for Freiburg.
For Werder Bremen, the excitement starts to build now. A team that was considered by most to be a middle-of-the-table squad at best, can now have a strong say in how two major competitions will end over the next few weeks.
Prediction: Werder Bremen 2, SC Freiburg 1 (W)
Schalke 04 1, FC Nurnberg 1: Not much going on in this one as two teams that desperately needed a win both failed to get three points. Yuya Kubo gave Der Club a 1-0 lead in the 83rd minute, but Matija Nastasic answered in the 85th minute for Die Königsblauen to secure the draw.
Prediction: Schalke 04 2, FC Nurnberg 1 (L)
RB Leipzig 2, Wolfsburg 0: If Timo Werner is putting together a highlight reel for his season to help market himself for the summer transfer window, this effort would be among first he should use. Werner was a menace in every aspect of the game offensively. Whether he was working wide or centrally, Werner was a complete and utter menace. Werner's pace, strength (an underrated part of his game), body positioning, and awareness were all just too much for Wolfsburg to handle. Kevin Kampl put Die Roten Bullen on the scoreboard in the 16th minute before Werner's 28th minute tally gave the game its final margin.
The Wolves might be losing a little bit of steam down the stretch here. For as well as Wolfsburg has played this season, it just does not look as confident right now.
Prediction: RB Leipzig 3, Wolfsburg 2 (W)
Bayer Leverkusen 1, VfB Stuttgart 0: A penalty conversion by emerging megastar Kai Havertz was the difference maker in the final score as Leverkusen continued its push for a top six position, while Stuttgart fell deeper into the relegation pool.
Havertz has stunning ability that is opening more and more eyes each week. With Leverkusen sporting director unwilling to part with the 19-year-old any time soon, Die Werkself could be looking at a nine-figure pay day in the summer of 2020 should Havertz continue his progression. Bayern is already allegedly interested, but Havertz will likely have many other suitors at this time next season.
Prediction: Bayer Leverkusen 4, VfB Stuttgart 2 (W)
Borussia Monchengladbach 1, Hannover 96 0: While the win was important for Die Fohlen, losing Lars Stindl for the rest of the season was an absolute killer for a team already looking for consistency and leadership. Raffael, who came on for Stindl in the game's 5th minute, ultimately scored the game winner in the 53rd minute, but the cost of this game was heavy for M'Gladbach.
Prediction: Borussia Monchengladbach 3, Hannover 96 1 (W)
Borussia Dortmund 2, Mainz 1: Jadon Sancho had a brace for Dortmund, which was a bit sluggish, but still ultimately rebounded nicely to hold off Mainz. Truthfully, the game was there for the taking by M05, but Mainz could do nothing with the opportunity. Robin Quaison scored the only goal for Die Nullfünfer, which was strong -- but not strong enough to knock off BVB.
Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 4, Mainz 3 (W)
Hoffenheim 2, Hertha Berlin 0: Nadiem Amiri and Reiss Nelson kept Hoffenheim scorching hot and helped further bury the floundering boys from Die Alte Dame.
Prediction: Hoffenheim 3, Hertha Berlin 1 (W)
Bayern Munich 4, Fortuna Dusseldorf 1: Bayern stayed red hot with a brace from Kingsley Coman and separate tallies from Serge Gnabry and Leon Goretzka. It was yet another phenomenal game for the Bayern front four of Coman, Gnabry, Thomas Muller, and Robert Lewandowski as the quartet was thoroughly dominant and constantly a threat throughout the contest
For F95, Dodi Lukebakio added a late penalty kick to at least put the severely injured and under-manned Dusseldorf squad on the score sheet.
The downside for Bayern, however, was that both Manuel Neuer and Mats Hummels were injured during the contest Neuer left the game with a calf injury and Hummels a suffered a muscle pull late in the game.
Prediction: Bayern Munich 4, Fortuna Dusseldorf 0 (W)
FC Augsburg 3, Eintracht Frankfurt 1: In the shocker of the weekend, Die Fuggerstadter stunned Die Adler in its first game under Martin Schmidt, who hopefully has found a way to unlock the talent on the Augsburg roster.
Goncalo Paciencia gave Eintracht Frankfurt an early 1-0 lead with a goal in the 13th minute, but Die Fuggerstadter looked inspired under its new coach. 21-year-old midfielder Marco Richter scored two first half goals to give Augsburg the lead before Frankfurt's Gelson Fernandes was assessed his second yellow card of the game in the 47th minute. Playing a man down, Die Adler could not muster enough offense to mount a comeback.
24-year-old forward Michael Gregoritsch added another goal in the 84th minute to give the game its final score and send Schmidt home as a winner in his first game at the helm of Augsburg.
Prediction: Eintracht Frankfurt 3, FC Augsburg 1 (L)
Match day record: 7-2
Season record: 134-127
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.
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