By Rich M.

Stuttgart’s Serhou Guirassy increased his campaign goal tally to 10 on Friday in a 3:1 victory over visitors SV Darmstadt 98. Although the visitors found the net first, thanks to a goal in 17th minute from Dan-Axel Zagadou, the rest of the game belonged to the hosts. Enzo Millot scored a goal in the 22nd minute, and was followed by 2 goals from Guirassy, in the 32nd minute and in the 2nd minute of extra time. The victory moves Stuttgart to first place in the table going into the rest of the weekend’s contests. Bayern will travel to Bochum on Saturday and Bayern’s Harry Kane will look to increase his goal tally and move his club into first place. Kane was on target earlier in the week when Bayern defeated Manchester United in a 7-goal thriller in the UEFA Champions League. Kane has now scored 5 goals in 6 competitions, including a header in last weekend’s draw with Bayer Leverkusen. Leverkusen is currently tied on points with Bayern, but ahead in goal differential, and will not play their match until Sunday, giving Bayern an opportunity to at least temporarily move into first place. Bochum haven’t won in München for more than 30 years, and are winless this term. At the same time as the Bayern-Bochum contest, Dortmund will host Wolfsburg in what may be one of the most competitive matches this weekend. Wolfsburg is ahead of Dortmund in the table by just 1 point, and are presently aided by red-hot striker Jonas Wind, who has scored 5 and set up 1 so far this season. Wolfsburg are coming off a 2:1 victory last weekend over Union Berlin, and are certainly hoping to end a 10-game winless streak away at Dortmund. The hosts, conversely, have yet to lose so far this season, but their point tally has been slowed by draws with Heidenheim and Bochum. The club did come from behind last weekend to win in Freiburg, but were less successful in a midweek trip to Paris in the UEFA Champions League. One other match with implications for the top of the table on Saturday is that between hosts Borussia Mönchengladbach and visitors RB Leipzig. Leipzig’s 9 points so far this campaign have them in 4th place, ahead of Hoffenheim on goal differential, and have picked up wins against Stuttgart, Union Berlin, and Augsburg. Gladbach have failed to win any of their opening 4 Bundesliga fixtures, and have lost at home to both Bayern and Leverkusen. The weekend’s matches will close with Sunday’s late game between hosts Eintracht Frankfurt and visitors Sport-Club Freiburg, who are tied in the table with 6 points each.

By Rich M.

Rocco Reitz is a 21-year-old attacking midfielder for Borussia Mönchengladbach. Reitz was born on May 29, 2002 in Duisburg, Germany and came up through Gladbach’s youth academy. He made his professional debut for Gladbach on October 24, 2020, starting in an away match against Mainz 05. Reitz has been loaned out to Belgium’s Sint-Truiden twice, for the 2021-22 season and again 2023. In addition to those stints and to his 15 appearances for Gladbach, Reitz also made an appearance for Germany’s U16 squad in 2017.

By Rich M.

A fourth season goal from Bayern’s Harry Kane was not enough to keep visitors Bayern Leverkusen from picking up a late draw on Friday. Kane’s goal was the first of the match, and came in just the seventh minute. The visitors tied the match in the 24th minute, when Alejandro Grimaldo converted a direct free kick from 25 yards out. Bayern finally took the lead again in the 86th minute, thanks to a goal from Leon Goretzka, but Leverkusen’s Exequiel Palacios converted a penalty kick in the 4th minute of extra time. The draw keeps Leverkusen at the top of the table for the weekend, given their superior goal differential over Bayern. Competition for those spots below Leverkusen and Bayern resumes on Saturday when Leipzig hosts Augsburg, Hoffenheim travels to Köln, Freiburg hosts Dortmund, and Stuttgart travels to Mainz. Freiburg started the campaign with wins over Hoffenheim and Bremen, but were blown out by Stuttgart prior to the international break. Their opponents this weekend, Dortmund, are a point behind them, and 4 points behind Leverkusen and Bayern. Dortmund mayhave to play without summer signing Niclas Füllkrug, who is suffering from a minor muscle complaint. While Freiburg coach Christian Streich has suffered more defeats to Dortmund than to any other Bundesliga club he has faced, Dortmund are currently on their worst start to a league campaign in 14 years. Leipzig is currently enjoying a promising opening from 20-year-old Dutch playmaker Xavi Simons. Not only did Simons send the club on its way to a 3:0 victory over Union Berlin with a stunning drive into the corner from the edge of the box back on Matchday 3, but he is also holding on to an accuracy rate of 91 percent in hitting 22 passes. A win against Augsburg on Saturday would make it 3 in a row for Leipzig. Stuttgart is in fourth place going into Saturday’s contests, and the club features the league’s best marksman of the campaign in Serhou Guirassy. The Guinea international made his debut for the club in September 2022, and has since scored 16 times. The last time Stuttgart and Mainz met, Stuttgart came from behind to win 4:1. The Swabians have since won 6 of their last 9 competitive games. Mainz, conversely, have gone 8 league matches without a win, although that win came on April 15th against Bayern. On Sunday, finally, 3 of the 4 clubs at the bottom of the table will compete, and the match between hosts Darmstadt and visitors Gladbach will be an especially important one for both sides.