By Rich
Hosts 1. FSV Mainz 05 and visitors Borussia Mönchengladbach played to a 1:1 draw on Friday. Gladbach scored first when Florian Neuhaus tapped the ball into an empty net in the 38th minute. Mainz finally scored an equalizer in the 76th minute when Silvan Widmer took advantage of a ricochet in the box and put the ball in the net off the far post. Neuhaus’s goal was his first of the season, and his last 3 goals in the Bundesliga have all come away from home, and the draw means that Gladbach are unbeaten in their last 6 Bundesliga visits to Mainz. On Saturday, all eyes turn to the Bavarian capital, where 2 of the league’s hottest clubs will face off. The hosts’ Robert Lewandowski is coming off his 100th UEFA Champions League appearance, where he scored a hat trick in a 5:2 win over Benfica, which was the same score with which Bayern defeated Union Berlin last weekend. Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann has returned from his fling with the coronavirus, and assets Niklas Süle and Lucas Hernandez could also return after sitting out the Champions League match. Bayern are only 3 points clear of their opponents this weekend, and Freiburg are going into the match as the league’s only unbeaten team. For coach Christian Streich, this will be his 300th Bundesliga game with the club, and in his almost 10 years in charge at Freiburg he has now crafted the league’s toughest defense. Freiburg are playing with nearly a full squad, as they are only missing club record goalscorer Nils Petersen, who is out with a knee injury. Perhaps the ultimate statistic of this match is the opposing ages of the 2 coaches: at 56, Streich is the oldest coach currently in the league, while Nagelsmann is the youngest, at 34. The club that currently sits between those two clubs in the table will play later on Saturday, when Dortmund travel to Leipzig. Although Dortmund have now had to play 3 of the last 4 league fixtures without striker Erling Haaland, they have won all 4, showing the deep talent the club has accumulated. While Leipzig have notched all 4 of their wins so far this season at home, Dortmund’s Marco Reus has yet to lose a Dortmund-Leipzig fixture. Finally, the last of the 4 clubs at the top of the table will travel to Berlin on Sunday to take on Hertha. The match could be a close one: Leverkusen are without a win in 3 league matches, while Hertha are unbeaten in 4 against Leverkusen, including having kept a clean sheet in each of those games.
Hosts 1. FSV Mainz 05 and visitors Borussia Mönchengladbach played to a 1:1 draw on Friday. Gladbach scored first when Florian Neuhaus tapped the ball into an empty net in the 38th minute. Mainz finally scored an equalizer in the 76th minute when Silvan Widmer took advantage of a ricochet in the box and put the ball in the net off the far post. Neuhaus’s goal was his first of the season, and his last 3 goals in the Bundesliga have all come away from home, and the draw means that Gladbach are unbeaten in their last 6 Bundesliga visits to Mainz. On Saturday, all eyes turn to the Bavarian capital, where 2 of the league’s hottest clubs will face off. The hosts’ Robert Lewandowski is coming off his 100th UEFA Champions League appearance, where he scored a hat trick in a 5:2 win over Benfica, which was the same score with which Bayern defeated Union Berlin last weekend. Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann has returned from his fling with the coronavirus, and assets Niklas Süle and Lucas Hernandez could also return after sitting out the Champions League match. Bayern are only 3 points clear of their opponents this weekend, and Freiburg are going into the match as the league’s only unbeaten team. For coach Christian Streich, this will be his 300th Bundesliga game with the club, and in his almost 10 years in charge at Freiburg he has now crafted the league’s toughest defense. Freiburg are playing with nearly a full squad, as they are only missing club record goalscorer Nils Petersen, who is out with a knee injury. Perhaps the ultimate statistic of this match is the opposing ages of the 2 coaches: at 56, Streich is the oldest coach currently in the league, while Nagelsmann is the youngest, at 34. The club that currently sits between those two clubs in the table will play later on Saturday, when Dortmund travel to Leipzig. Although Dortmund have now had to play 3 of the last 4 league fixtures without striker Erling Haaland, they have won all 4, showing the deep talent the club has accumulated. While Leipzig have notched all 4 of their wins so far this season at home, Dortmund’s Marco Reus has yet to lose a Dortmund-Leipzig fixture. Finally, the last of the 4 clubs at the top of the table will travel to Berlin on Sunday to take on Hertha. The match could be a close one: Leverkusen are without a win in 3 league matches, while Hertha are unbeaten in 4 against Leverkusen, including having kept a clean sheet in each of those games.
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