By Rich
Two of the clubs facing relegation at the end of the season played a scoreless tie on Friday, when Schalke hosted Mainz. The match featured the debut of yet another coach for Schalke in Dimitrios Grammozis, who made 143 appearances as a player in the Bundesliga. Grammozis in turn allowed 18-year-old Kerim Calhanoglu to make his Bundesliga debut at left-back - Calhanoglu is the 34th different player to be fielded by Schalke in the current season, and he is the cousin of former Hamburg and Leverkusen player Hakan. The point picked up by Schalke leads them still 8 points behind Mainz, while the point for Mainz moved them momentarily into the relegation play-off spot going into the rest of the weekend’s contests. The big match on Saturday, of course, is the Klassiker between hosts FC Bayern München and visitors Borussia Dortmund, and the match will feature two of the league’s, and the world’s, best strikers: Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland. Lewandowski has scored 28 goals this season and still has 11 matches to tie or exceed the league record of 40 goals set long ago by Gerd Müller. Haaland, meanwhile, has scored 17 goals in 18 Bundesliga appearances, and scored his 4th assist of the campaign last weekend in a 3:0 win over Bielefeld. The odds for this match, of course, are in Bayern’s favor: Lewandowski has scored 19 goals in 22 meetings with Dortmund, including 5 braces and 1 hat trick, and Dortmund have lost their last 6 league matches in Munich. Close behind Bayern in the table, however, are Leipzig’s Red Bulls, who will travel south to Freiburg on Saturday. They face a formidable opponent, in their hosts: Freiburg have won 4 of their last 5 Bundesliga encounters with Leipzig when playing at home, and the club is currently just 3 points out of a spot in European contention. Leipzig only managed a 3:2 win over Gladbach last weekend after falling behind 2:0, and captain Marcel Sabitzer will be out of service on a 1-match ban. Nevertheless, Leipzig are currently on a 5-match winning streak, and a win Saturday morning would put them momentarily in first place, awaiting the outcome of the Klassiker later in the day. Relative positions at the bottom of the table won’t be settled until Sunday, when Bielefeld host Union Berlin. Bielefeld picked up a new coach this week in Frank Kramer, who replaced Uwe Neuhaus, who was released after last week’s loss at Dortmund. A win against Union Berlin could move them out of the relegation zone entirely, depending on the outcome of Saturday’s match between Hertha and Augsburg, but won’t come easy: Union won 5:0 in the reverse fixture this season.
Two of the clubs facing relegation at the end of the season played a scoreless tie on Friday, when Schalke hosted Mainz. The match featured the debut of yet another coach for Schalke in Dimitrios Grammozis, who made 143 appearances as a player in the Bundesliga. Grammozis in turn allowed 18-year-old Kerim Calhanoglu to make his Bundesliga debut at left-back - Calhanoglu is the 34th different player to be fielded by Schalke in the current season, and he is the cousin of former Hamburg and Leverkusen player Hakan. The point picked up by Schalke leads them still 8 points behind Mainz, while the point for Mainz moved them momentarily into the relegation play-off spot going into the rest of the weekend’s contests. The big match on Saturday, of course, is the Klassiker between hosts FC Bayern München and visitors Borussia Dortmund, and the match will feature two of the league’s, and the world’s, best strikers: Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland. Lewandowski has scored 28 goals this season and still has 11 matches to tie or exceed the league record of 40 goals set long ago by Gerd Müller. Haaland, meanwhile, has scored 17 goals in 18 Bundesliga appearances, and scored his 4th assist of the campaign last weekend in a 3:0 win over Bielefeld. The odds for this match, of course, are in Bayern’s favor: Lewandowski has scored 19 goals in 22 meetings with Dortmund, including 5 braces and 1 hat trick, and Dortmund have lost their last 6 league matches in Munich. Close behind Bayern in the table, however, are Leipzig’s Red Bulls, who will travel south to Freiburg on Saturday. They face a formidable opponent, in their hosts: Freiburg have won 4 of their last 5 Bundesliga encounters with Leipzig when playing at home, and the club is currently just 3 points out of a spot in European contention. Leipzig only managed a 3:2 win over Gladbach last weekend after falling behind 2:0, and captain Marcel Sabitzer will be out of service on a 1-match ban. Nevertheless, Leipzig are currently on a 5-match winning streak, and a win Saturday morning would put them momentarily in first place, awaiting the outcome of the Klassiker later in the day. Relative positions at the bottom of the table won’t be settled until Sunday, when Bielefeld host Union Berlin. Bielefeld picked up a new coach this week in Frank Kramer, who replaced Uwe Neuhaus, who was released after last week’s loss at Dortmund. A win against Union Berlin could move them out of the relegation zone entirely, depending on the outcome of Saturday’s match between Hertha and Augsburg, but won’t come easy: Union won 5:0 in the reverse fixture this season.
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