By Rich M

Finn Dahmen is a 25-year-old goalkeeper for FC Augsburg. Dahmen was born on March 27, 1998 in Wiesbaden, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for FC Bierstadt from 2002 to 2006, Eintracht Frankfurt from 2006 to 2008, and 1. FSV Mainz 05 from 2008 to 2017. He was promoted to Mainz’s second team in 2017, and made his professional debut for the first team on January 3, 2021, in an away loss to FC Bayern München. On June 1, 2023, he signed a contract with his current club. Dahmen has also made 20 appearances for Germany’s U15, U17, U18, U19, U20, and U21 teams since 2012.

By Rich M.

Hosts VfL Bochum 1848 appeared to be on their way to their first win of the season on Friday, but a late goal from visitors 1. FSV Mainz 05 resulted in a 2:2 draw. Both clubs were still without a win going into the match, and it was Bochum’s Kevin Stöger who scored the first goal, in the 21st minute. An own goal in the 59th minute from Kevin Schlotterbeck evened the score 1:1, but Schlotterbeck made up for the mistake in the 82nd minute, giving the hosts a 2:1 lead. It was Mainz’s Tom Krauß who found the net in the 6th minute of extra time to give the visitors a draw. Mainz remains, however, in last place in the table, and the point to Bochum moves them 1 point ahead of Köln going into the rest of the weekend’s matches. FC Bayern München’s goaltender Manuel Neuer is set to return on Saturday when his club hosts Darmstadt. Neuer hasn’t featured for Bayern since November 12, 2022, after breaking his leg following last winter’s World Cup. Bayern are currently enjoying a 12-game unbeaten run, but the upstarts from Darmstadt will look to spoil Bayern’s efforts to leap ahead of Leverkusen at the top of the table. Bayern have yet to lose a Bundesliga fixture against Darmstadt, having won the last 7 matches against them, including the last 5 home games. Another interesting match on Saturday will be that between hosts SV Werder Bremen and visitors Union Berlin. The clubs are tied with 6 points apiece just clear of the relegation zone, in what has been a stunning fall from grace for the squad from Berlin. Union are without a win in 6 league fixtures, while Bremen’s winless streak extends to 3. A goal from Rani Khedira won the last contest between the 2 clubs in the last such fixture, but Die Eisernen have won just twice in the league since then. Sunday will feature a pair of exciting and important fixtures, when Frankfurt host Dortmund and Leverkusen host Freiburg. Frankfurt are in the midst of an unbeaten streak at home that goes back to a loss against Dortmund last season, and are expected to welcome back Kevin Trapp in goal after a back complaint and Mario Götze, who became a father for the second time. Dortmund have won their last 4 competitive meetings with Frankfurt, and only Bayern have beaten Eintracht more often. Over in Leverkusen, Die Werkself have accumulated 7 league wins so far this season, and anticipate the return of Patrik Schick following 226 days on the sidelines. Freiburg snapped a 2-game losing streak last weekend with a 2:1 home win against Bochum.