By Rich

​Hoffenheim extended on Friday its winning streak to 5 consecutive Bundesliga matches with a victory on Friday over hosts 1. FC Köln. The match’s first goal came in the 34th minute when Köln’s Jhon Cordoba collected a pass from Louis Schab and drilled a low shot past Oliver Baumann. Hoffenheim’s Sargis Adamyan tied the match in the 48th minute off a cross from Sebastian Rudy, and the match appeared headed to a draw as the 90th minute passed. However, 8 minutes into stoppage time, a VAR review converted a free kick for Köln into a penalty kick for Hoffenheim, and Jürgen Locadia beat Timo Horn to give his club 3 points in the table. Locadia’s goal was his first-ever penalty in the Bundesliga and has now scored in 3 consecutive matches, and Hoffenheim is now temporarily in 2nd place in the table. Saturday’s key match will, of course be the Klassiker between Borussia Dortmund and hosts FC Bayern München. Both clubs have the highest average attendances in Europe in recent years, and have won 22 of the last 26 Bundesliga titles. Bayern are currently four points out of first place in the standings and will go into Saturday’s match with a former player, Hansi Flick, as the new interim coach. Flick’s first game as coach actually occurred earlier in the week, and he was successful with a 2:0 UEFA Champions League win over Olympiacos. Bayern are especially struggling defensively, as both Niklas Süle and Lucas Hernandez are injured, and Jerome Boateng is suspended following a red card last Saturday. Dortmund are just 1 match behind league leaders Gladbach in the standings and are coming off 2 impressive wins: a 3:0 victory over previously unbeaten Wolfsburg last weekend and a come-from-behind victory over Inter Milan in the Champions League. At the other end of the table, Paderborn will host Augsburg on Saturday. Although Paderborn have managed just 4 points so far this season, 3 of them came in their last home game, against Düsseldorf, and are unbeaten in their 6 competitive matches at home against Augsburg, including the last one in 2015. Looking ahead to Sunday, don’t miss what is likely to be a competitive match between Freiburg and Frankfurt, who are separated by just 1 point in the table. Freiburg are unbeaten in 6 of their last 7 league matches, while Frankfurt managed to beat Bayern last week 5:1.

By Rich

​Julian Brandt is a 23-year-old winger for Borussia Dortmund. Brandt was born on May 2, 1996 in Bremen, Germany and spent his youth career playing for SC Borgfeld from 2001 to 2009, FC Oberneuland from 2009 to 2011, and VfL Wolfsburg from 2011 to 2013. His senior career began at Bayer Leverkusen, where he scored 34 goals for both the reserve and senior squads in 165 appearances from 2014 to 2019. On May 22, 2019, Brandt completed a transfer to Borussia Dortmund for a reported 25 million Euros on a 5-year deal, and scored his first goal for Dortmund on the first matchday, in a 5:1 win over Augsburg. Brandt has also played for Germany’s U15, U16, U17, U19, U20, U21, Olympic, and senior squads, scoring 15 goals.

By Rich
​Hoffenheim extended on Friday its winning streak to 4 matches when they defeated visiting Paderborn 3:0. All 3 of the match’s goals came in the first half, and the scoring began early when Robert Skov found the net with a 25-yard free kick after just 2 minutes, and Skov was followed by Pavel Kaderabek in the 15th minute and Jürgen Locadia in the 26th minute. Skov’s goal was his 1st in the Bundesliga, and Locadia’s was his 2nd - his 1st came last weekend against Bremen. Hoffenheim are now the only team in the league to have won their last 4 league matches, and have scored at least 2 goals in each of those. The victory now puts them just 2 points behind league leader Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1 point behind runner-up Bayern München, and tied on points with Freiburg and Wolfsburg. One of the most anticipated matches of the season occurs on Saturday, when, for the 1st time in 42 years, Germany’s capital city hosts a derby in the Bundesliga. Union Berlin’s Stadion an der Alter Försterei will feature the first-ever Bundesliga contest between 1. FC Union Berlin and Hertha BSC. Union Berlin reached the last 16 of the DFB Pokal with a 3:1 win over Freiburg earlier in the week, and almost earned a point playing at the Allianz Arena against FC Bayern München. Hertha is also coming off a DFB Pokal win earlier in the week, in a dramatic penalty shootout, but will have to play on Saturday without Vladimir Darida, who is suspended following a red card against Hoffenheim. The 2 clubs faced each other 4 times in the 2. Bundesliga, and both clubs each won 1 game away and drew twice. Also on Saturday, watch for a close contest between Borussia Dortmund and VfL Wolfsburg, who are separated by just 1 point in the table. Wolfsburg is the last remaining unbeaten team this season in the league, having suffered only a 1:6 home loss against RB Leipzig in the DFB Pokal competition. Dortmund’s Marco Reus, however, has scored more Bundesliga goals against Wolfsburg than has any other current Dortmund player, and Dortmund is undefeated in their last 8 Bundesliga matches against Wolfsburg. Looking ahead to Sunday, another derby will take place when 1. FC Köln travel to nearby Düsseldorf: this will be their 1st Bundesliga contest since the 1996-1997 season, and Düsseldorf have won just 9 of their 44 Bundesliga matches against the Billy Goats.

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