By Rich

Bote Ridle Nzuzi Baku is a 23-year-old right-back/midfielder for VfL Wolfsburg. Baku was born on April 8, 1998 in Mainz, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for 1. FSV Mainz 05 from 2007 to 2018. His senior career continued at Mainz II beginning in 2017, where he made his debut in the Regionalliga Southwest on July 30, 2017 in a 3:0 home win against FSV Frankfurt. He made his professional debut for the senior squad on December 19, 2017 in a 3:1 home win against VfB Stuttgart in the 2017-18 DFB Pokal. Baku moved to Wolfsburg on October 1, 2020, where he has since scored 8 goals in 57 appearances. Baku has also played for Germany’s U18, U19, U20, U21, and senior squads since 2015, scoring 7 goals in 41 appearances.

By Rich

​Bundesliga competition resumes this weekend, with a schedule disrupted by the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. One of the first matches this weekend takes place in the German capital when 1. FC Union Berlin host VfB Stuttgart. Union have been inconsistent so far in 2022: the club started the year just 1 point outside the top 4, but that gap has now grown to 6. The club is currently in 7th place and is 4 points outside of the European qualification spots. Their opponents were on the losing side to Union Berlin in the 2019 promotion/relegation playoff, a fate the club is struggling to avoid this season. Last week’s 3:2 win over Gladbach helped keep their hopes of escaping the relegation zone alive, thanks in large part to the duo of Borna Sosa and Sasa Kalajdzic. Stuttgart have won just 1 of 12 away matches this season. Also on Saturday, Bayern München will have a chance to open up a 12-point lead in the table when they visit 4th-place Hoffenheim. Hoffenheim are currently enjoying the 3rd-best Bundesliga campaign in their history, and are coming off a clean sheet last weekend against Köln. Bayern are coming off a 1:1 draw with Leverkusen last weekend and a 7:1 UEFA Champions League win over Red Bull Salzburg, a game that included a Lewandowski hat trick. Lewandowski has scored 14 goals in 23 competitive appearances against Hoffenheim. This match is also a significant one for Bayern: it will be Bayern’s 1,934th in the Bundesliga, leveling the all-time appearance record held by SV Werder Bremen. Among Sunday’s matches will be an important Rhine Derby between hosts Bayer 04 Leverkusen and nearby 1. FC Köln. Both clubs have European football ambitions next season. Leverkusen are currently handicapped by the absence of Patrik Schick, who is sidelined by a calf injury, and who had supplied 20 of the club’s 64 goals this season. Köln are still looking to return to form following their loss to Hoffenheim last weekend, and striker Anthony Modeste has failed to find the back of the net for 2 straight games. Leverkusen are currently unbeaten in 7 home Bundesliga matches, but Modeste was able to score a fixture in the reverse fixture this season, and the Billy Goats have yet to lose 2 straight under coach Steffen Baumgart. The big match on Sunday is, of course, that between hosts Borussia Dortmund and visitors DSC Arminia Bielefeld. Dortmund are still anticipating the return of Erling Haaland, who suffered a groin strain against Hoffenheim at the end of January. Haaland had been averaging a goal every 72 minutes, the best such ratio in the league this season.

By Rich

Janni-Luca Serra is a 23-year-old forward for DSC Arminia Bielefeld. Serra was born on March 13, 1998 in Springe, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for FC Bennigsen, Hannover 96, TSV Havelse, and Borussia Dortmund. His senior career continued at Dortmund, where he made his debut for Borussia Dortmund II on July 30, 2017 in a home game against Rot-Weiss Essen. He played on loan to VfL Bochum in 2018 before transferring to Holstein Kiel, where he scored 30 goals in 80 appearances between 2018 and 2021. After fulfilling his contract there, he moved to his current club for the 2021-22 season, where he has scored 1 goal in 12 appearances. Serra has also made 31 appearances for Germany’s U17, U18, U19, and U21 squads since 2015, scoring 3 goals.

By Rich

​Augsburg’s Daniel Caligiuri scored the only goal of the match on Friday as visitors FC Augsburg defeated hosts DSC Arminia Bielefeld. Caligiuri’s goal came in the 50th minute, who drilled a low shot into the corner of Bielefeld’s goal off a cross from Iago. The goal was Caligiuri’s third so far this season, and the assist was Iago’s fourth. Augsburg have yet to lose to Bielefeld in 8 meetings in both the 1. and 2. Bundesliga, having won 6 and drawn 2. The loss was Bielefeld’s first in 7 at home, and Augsburg’s win was their second away victory this season, allowing them to leapfrog Bielefeld in the table going into the rest of the weekend’s competitions. Among the hottest of those competitions will be that on Saturday between hosts Bayern and visitors Leverkusen, when Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski faces off against Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick. Lewandowski is currently averaging 1 goal every 74 minutes, and has failed to score in only 6 of his 24 league appearances. Although Schick is 8 goals behind Lewandowski in the scorers’ table, he is not alone in scoring prowess for Leverkusen: Argentine striker Lucas Alario was responsible for the opening goal against Bielefeld a week ago, and was joined by France international Moussa Diaby, who scored 2 more. Bayern have won their last 4 league meetings with Leverkusen, but Leverkusen have claimed 16 points to Bayern’s 15 points in 7 Bundesliga games in 2022. Also on Saturday, Leipzig will host Freiburg, and both clubs are currently tied on points in the table, and both are top-4 hopefuls. Leipzig have lost just twice since former Schalke coach Domenico Tedesco took over, and are powered by the red-hot Christopher Nkunku and his 14 league goals this season. Freiburg, like Leipzig, have reached the final 4 of the DFB Pokal thanks in part to the attacking form of Vincenzo Grifo, who has notched 5 goals and 6 assists. The statistics to date favor Leipzig, who have never lost at home to Freiburg and have not lost their last 4 meetings with the club from the Schwarzwald. Regardless of the outcomes of Saturday’s competitions, however, table positions will not be resolved for some time. Sunday’s match between hosts Mainz and visitors Dortmund has been postponed to March 16, as Mainz will  not have the minimum number of players required by DFL rules. Some positive coronavirus findings have left club members in temporary isolation. That leaves 1 contest on Sunday, when Köln host Hoffenheim. Hoffenheim are currently 4 points ahead of their hosts in the table, and could even finish the weekend in 4th place, should there be no winner in the Leipzig/Freiburg game.