By Rich

​FC Bayern München came within striking distance of Borussia Dortmund in the 1. Bundesliga table with a closely-contested 3:2 win over derby rivals Augsburg on Friday.  The first goal came just seconds into the match, when Leon Goretzka turned a cross from Philipp Max into his own net, putting Augsburg in the lead.  The score became equal in the 17th minute when Kingsley Coman scored off a pass from Joshua Kimmich, but Augsburg went into the leas again in the 24th minute when Dong-Won Ji shot the ball past Manuel Neuer.  Bayern equalized just before halftime when Kingsley Coman scored a second goal off a pass from Goretzka.  The final goal came in the 53rd minute when David Alaba scored off a pass from Coman.  The mistake at the beginning of the match was the fastest goal so far this season, at just 15 seconds, and was Goretzka’s first own goal at Bayern, and his second overall:  the first came while he was still at Schalke, and came against Bayern in 2015.  League rivals Borussia Dortmund will not play until Monday, when they travel to Nürnberg, who are struggling this season and who parted on Tuesday with coach Michael Köllner and sporting director Andreas Bornemann.  The club has not won in their last 15 matches.  Dortmund, conversely, only managed a draw against Hoffenheim last week and are without the services of Marco Reus, who is out with a groin injury.  A key match to watch on Saturday will be the contest between Hertha and Bremen, who are separated in the middle of the table by just 1 point.  Both clubs are in contention for Europa League spots and both are coming off wins last weekend:  Hertha gave Gladbach a stinging 3:0 defeat, while Bremen shut out Augsburg 4:0.  Bremen have a couple things going for them this weekend:  Hertha lost to Bremen back on Matchday 5, and Hertha are winless in their last 10 Bundesliga meetings with Bremen.  Looking ahead to Sunday, Frankfurt will be looking to get back into scoring mode when they host Gladbach.  Frankfurt failed to score in last week’s draw in Leipzig, despite fielding 2 of the league’s most prolific scorers.  Gladbach, for their part, are looking to get back into European competition, and currently hold a comfortable 3rd-place position in the table, just 6 points behind Bayern and 4 points ahead of Leipzig.  Gladbach’s loss to Hertha last weekend was just their first loss at home all season.

By Rich

Mitchell Weiser is a 24-year-old right back for Bayer 04 Leverkusen.  Weiser was born on April 21, 1994 in Troisdorf, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for TV Eintracht Veltenhof from 2001 to 2005, and 1. FC Köln from 2005 to 2011.  His senior career continued with Köln’s reserve and senior squads during the 2011-2012 season, after which he played for FC Bayern München from 2012 to 2015, 1. FC Kaiserslautern on loan in 2013, Hertha BSC from 2015 to 2018, and his current club since last year.  Weiser has also played for Germany’s U16, U17, U18, U20, and U21 squads, scoring 5 goals in 43 appearances between 2010 and 2015.