By Rich

​1. FSV Mainz 05 ended a 4-game losing streak and Jean-Philipp Mateta scored a hat trick in a dramatic 5:0 shutout over Sport-Club Freiburg on Friday. Mateta netted goals in the 25th, 33rd, and 77th minutes, and goals also came from Jean-Paul Boetius in the 20th minute and Karim Onisiwo in the 73rd minute. In fact, all 3 of Mainz’ first shots on goal found the net, and this was not only Mateta’s first hat trick in the Bundesliga, but also the first hat trick by a Mainz player since Danny Latza scored 3 goals in December 2016 at home against Hamburg. Freiburg could at least claim more shots on goal, 17, than in any other Bundesliga match so far this season. The victory moved Mainz further out of relegation danger in the final weeks of the season and 1 point ahead of Freiburg in the table. Two of the league’s popular contests take place on Saturday. The first is the derby between Wolfsburg and Hannover in the Volkswagen Arena, where Wolfsburg will have the opportunity to push local rivals Hannover closer to the 2. Bundesliga next season and, at the same time, improve their chances for European qualification. With 7 matches left in the season, only a goal differential with Leverkusen separates Wolfsburg from a Europa League qualifying spot. Hannover did snatch 1 of only 3 wins this season when the 2 clubs met last time, but Hannover is struggling with injuries, including those to Bobby Wood, Kevin Akpoguma, and top scorer Niclas Füllkrug. Later on Saturday, the battle for Bundesliga supremacy continues when league leader Borussia Dortmund travels to Munich to take on 2nd-place FC Bayern München. This will be the 100th “Klassiker” and one of the most important yet, with Bayern trailing in the table by just 2 points. Manuel Neuer will be back to play after missing last week’s draw with Freiburg, and Robert Lewandowski is now just 1 goal shy of scoring 200 in the Bundesliga. Dortmund will regain the services of Marco Reus, who missed last week’s win over Wolfsburg to become a father. The last time Dortmund, or any other club, were ahead of Bayern this far into the season was all the way back in the 2011-12 season, when Dortmund went on to win the title - and Bayern have lost the last 4 matches against Dortmund when Dortmund led them in the table. Bayern, for their part, have won their last 7 home matches, including 2 by 6:0 margins. Looking ahead to Sunday, Bremen will travel to Gladbach in what is likely to be a close match. Both clubs are in contention for European qualification and are separated by just 5 points in the standings. Gladbach have struggled recently, with just 1 win in 7 matches, while Bremen are unbeaten in 10 under Germany 2018 Coach of the Year Florian Kohfeldt.

By Rich & Otto

​SV Werder Bremen achieved an important 4:2 victory on Friday over visiting FC Schalke 04.  Schalke scored first when Breel Embolo capitalized on a flick-on from Weston McKennie in the 26th minute, but the lead was short-lived: just 5 minutes later, Milot Rashica scored off a cross from Max Kruse.  Bremen extended their lead in the 73rd minute with another goal from Rashica before Schalke’s Embolo scored another goal in the 85th minute.  Finally, Bremen’s Martin Harnik sealed the victory deep into extra time.  Bremen’s Rashica now has more goals since the beginning of the year than other player, except for Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski.  The victory moves Bremen 1 point ahead of Hertha Berlin going into Saturday’s matches, and 3 points behind 7th-place VfL Wolfsburg.  Hertha will travel to Freiburg on Saturday and may miss the services of Davie Selkie, who is nursing a muscular injury sustained in the match against Mainz.  Hertha have collected 11 points in their 7 matches during this Rückrunde, which is their best return in 10 years.  Although Freiburg have won just 1 of their 7 matches in the same period, several draws have helped them build an 8-point berth clear of the relegation zone, with 10 matches to go, the final 2 of which will be against Hannover and Nürnberg.  Also on Saturday, Borussia Dortmund will try to hold off visiting Stuttgart and prevent Bayern from taking the top spot in the table.  Over at Bayern, Robert Lewandowski has pulled even on goals this season with Frankfurt’s Luka Jovic, and is also tied with Claudio Pizarro as the Bundesliga’s leading foreign scorer, with 195 goals.  Coincidentally, Lewandowski has scored more goals against Wolfsburg than against any other club.  Wolfsburg, for their part, are unbeaten in their last 5 outings, including taking 7 points in their last 3 away matches, and remain in contention for a spot in European competition.  Looking ahead to Sunday, neither Hannover nor Nürnberg can hope to escape the relegation zone in their respective matches against Leverkusen and Hoffenheim.  Nürnberg are without a win in 18 matches, and lost the Hinrunde match against Hoffenheim 1:3.  Hannover lost to Stuttgart 1:5 last Sunday and have been affected by an unfortunate series of injuries.  Leverkusen have managed to climb to 6th place in the league and are just 4 points out of qualification for the UEFA Champions League.  On Monday, Fortuna Düsseldorf will look to extend their winning streak:  they have collected 22 points in 10 matches.

By Rich

SV Werder Bremen achieved an important 4:2 victory on Friday over visiting FC Schalke 04.  Schalke scored first when Breel Embolo capitalized on a flick-on from Weston McKennie in the 26th minute, but the lead was short-lived: just 5 minutes later, Milot Rashica scored off a cross from Max Kruse.  Bremen extended their lead in the 73rd minute with another goal from Rashica before Schalke’s Embolo scored another goal in the 85th minute.  Finally, Bremen’s Martin Harnik sealed the victory deep into extra time.  Bremen’s Rashica now has more goals since the beginning of the year than other player, except for Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski.  The victory moves Bremen 1 point ahead of Hertha Berlin going into Saturday’s matches, and 3 points behind 7th-place VfL Wolfsburg.  Hertha will travel to Freiburg on Saturday and may miss the services of Davie Selkie, who is nursing a muscular injury sustained in the match against Mainz.  Hertha have collected 11 points in their 7 matches during this Rückrunde, which is their best return in 10 years.  Although Freiburg have won just 1 of their 7 matches in the same period, several draws have helped them build an 8-point berth clear of the relegation zone, with 10 matches to go, the final 2 of which will be against Hannover and Nürnberg.  Also on Saturday, Borussia Dortmund will try to hold off visiting Stuttgart and prevent Bayern from taking the top spot in the table.  Over at Bayern, Robert Lewandowski has pulled even on goals this season with Frankfurt’s Luka Jovic, and is also tied with Claudio Pizarro as the Bundesliga’s leading foreign scorer, with 195 goals.  Coincidentally, Lewandowski has scored more goals against Wolfsburg than against any other club.  Wolfsburg, for their part, are unbeaten in their last 5 outings, including taking 7 points in their last 3 away matches, and remain in contention for a spot in European competition.  Looking ahead to Sunday, neither Hannover nor Nürnberg can hope to escape the relegation zone in their respective matches against Leverkusen and Hoffenheim.  Nürnberg are without a win in 18 matches, and lost the Hinrunde match against Hoffenheim 1:3.  Hannover lost to Stuttgart 1:5 last Sunday and have been affected by an unfortunate series of injuries.  Leverkusen have managed to climb to 6th place in the league and are just 4 points out of qualification for the UEFA Champions League.  On Monday, Fortuna Düsseldorf will look to extend their winning streak:  they have collected 22 points in 10 matches.

By Rich

​Struggling FC Augsburg scored an upset 2:1 victory over visiting Borussia Dortmund on Friday.  Augsburg striker Dong-won Ji scored both of his club’s goals, the first in the 24th minute off a pass from Dan-Axel Zagadou, and the second in the 68th minute off a poor defensive pass.  Dortmund’s lone goal finally came in the 81st minute from substitute Paco Alcacer.  The victory was Augsburg’s first-ever home win over Dortmund, in 9 meetings, and Dortmund’s 2nd defeat of the season - the first came at the hands of Fortuna Düsseldorf.  Dortmund now holds only a 1-match lead in the league table over Bayern, who travel to Gladbach on Saturday.  The 2 clubs were the league’s dominant competitors back in the 1970s, and earlier this season, Gladbach won 3:0 in the Allianz Arena on Matchday 7.  Gladbach has struggled recently, however - the club has managed just 6 goals in 2019 and captain Lars Stindl has not scored a single goal since Matchday 12.  A win for Bayern would tie them on points in the table with Borussia Dortmund, while club striker Robert Lewandowski is just 2 goals shy of Frankfurt’s Luka Jovic at the top of the scorers’ table.  Eintracht Frankfurt is still clinging to 6th place - the last of the European qualifying berths - in the table, and are just 3 points ahead of Hoffenheim, their opponents on Saturday.  Both clubs are doing well in 2019:  Frankfurt are unbeaten in their first 6 Rückrunde matches, while Hoffenheim have lost just 1 of their last 16 Bundesliga matches.  Also on Saturday, Leipzig will visit struggling Nürnberg, where a win could lift them into 3rd place in the league, if Gladbach fail to defeat Bayern.  Club star Timo Werner, who has 11 goals so far this season, missed Monday’s 1:1 draw at Hoffenheim with a cold, but is expected to return on Saturday.  For hosts Nürnberg, who have managed just 13 points for the season, relegation appears all but certain:  no team with so few points at this point in the season has managed to avoid relegation.  Looking ahead to Sunday, US international teammates John Brooks and Josh Sargent could line up on opposite sides for the first time when SV Werder Bremen travels to Wolfsburg.  Wolfsburg have taken 10 points from their last 4 matches and hold a tenuous 5th-place position in the table, just 1 point ahead of Frankfurt.  Bremen, for their part, are unbeaten so far in 2019, although they only managed a 1:1 draw against Stuttgart last week.  Also on Sunday, 2 of the league’s bottom-dwellers, Stuttgart and Hannover, will face off in a bid to move out of relegation territory:  neither club has ever before had so few points after 23 matches, with both clubs having suffered 15 defeats so far this season.