By Rich M

Janis Blaswich is a 32-year-old goalkeeper for RB Leipzig. Blaswich was born on May 2, 1991 in Willich, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for VfR Mehrhoog from 1997 to 2006 and Borussia Mönchengladbach from 2006 to 2010. His senior career continued at Borussia Mönchengladbach, where he made 127 appearances for Gladbach II between 2009 and 2018. He spent 1 season on loan to Dynamo Dresden in 2015 to 2016, and 1 season on loan to Hansa Rostock from 2017 to 2018. He then spent 2018 to 2022 at Heracles Almelo, where he made 107 appearances. On February 17, 2022, he signed a contract with RB Leipzig, effective to June 2025, later extended to 2026. In November 2023, he was called up for the German national team, ahead of friendly matches with Turkey and Austria.

By Rich M

FC Augsburg collected an important 3 points on Friday with a 2:0 shutout of visiting 1. FC Union Berlin. Both of the goals came in the second half of the match. Phillip Tietz intercepted a pass and found the net in the 47th minute, and Sven Michel scored against his former club in the 81st minute. Augsburg remains in 7th place going into the rest of the weekend’s matches, just 3 points behind Frankfurt, while Union Berlin are just 6 points clear of the relegation zone. The battle for a second place finish in the standings continues on Saturday when FC Bayern München host 1. FC Köln. A Bayern win over Köln could extend the home team’s slender hold on the championship by at least a day, but if both Bayern and Stuttgart lose, Leverkusen will become league champions on Saturday. Assuming that Leverkusen do take the championship this weekend, the battle for second place remains, and Bayern’s Harry Kane is still chasing Robert Lewandowski’s single-season scoring record. Kane still needs 10 goals from the final 6 matchdays to catch Lewandowski. The visitors, too, have plenty to play for, as they sit in 17th place, 1 point behind Mainz and 4 points behind Bochum’s spot in safety. The Billy Goats won last time out, and it was the club’s second victory under Timo Schultz. All 5 of Köln’s away fixtures since the beginning of the year have ended in draws: the club’s longest such run in the division. Stuttgart will host Frankfurt in Saturday’s late game, in a contest between the league’s 3rd-place and 6th-place rosters. Stuttgart won the reverse fixture 2:1, thanks to a brace from Deniz Undav, which ended a run of 15 home matches unbeaten for Frankfurt. Stuttgart’s Serhou Guirassy could set a new club record for goals scored in a single league season. He equaled Mario Gomez’s record of 24 in Dortmund last weekend. League leaders Leverkusen will host Bremen on Sunday in the weekend’s final contest, and could do so having already been crowned champions, depending on the outcomes of the Bayern and Stuttgart matches on Saturday. Regardless of Saturday’s results, however, a Leverkusen win over Bremen will seal the deal. The hosts have dropped points only 4 times in the league this season and have yet to lose a single match in all competitions. It is the first time in their history, and only the second time by any club, that they have reached Matchday 29 without defeat. One final permutation this weekend: if Bayern and/or Stuttgart draw on Saturday, then Leverkusen would only need a point on Sunday to be crowned champions.

By Rich M

​Moritz Broschinski is a 23-year-old forward for VfL Bochum 1848. Broschinski was born on September 23, 2000 in Finsterwalde, Germany, and spent his youth career playing for SV Hertha Finsterwalde and Glückauf Brieske-Senftenberg before joining Energie Cottbus’s youth academy in 2012. His professional career continued at Cottbus, where he made his professional debut on February 4, 2018. He ultimately scored 7 goals in 37 appearances for the side before joining Borussia Dortmund II in 2020, where he went on to score 3 goals in 33 appearances. He joined his current club in 2023 on a three-and-a-half year deal.

By RIch M

​Hosts Eintracht Frankfurt and visitors SV Werder Bremen each picked up a point on Friday in a 1:1 draw in Frankfurt’s Waldstadion. The game’s first goal did not come until the 62 minute, when Bremen’s Milos Veljkovic shot the ball inside Frankfurt’s right post. Frankfurt tied the match in the 77th minute, thanks to a header from Tuta. Both sides finished the game with just 10 men on the pitch each, after dismissals of Jens Stage and Tuta. The result is of little consequence to both clubs, as Frankfurt were going to remain in 6th place regardless of the match’s outcome, while Bremen remains in the middle of the table, 2 points behind Hoffenheim and 1 point ahead of Heidenheim going into the rest of the weekend’s contests. Leverkusen will be playing away at Union Berlin on Saturday, and need just 3 wins from their final 7 matches to be crowned Bundesliga champions for the first time. The club is also on track to make history as the first team to go unbeaten through a league campaign. Leverkusen will also be going to Berlin to compete in the DFB Pokal final next month. A Leverkusen win on Saturday would also tie the league record of 28 unbeaten contests to start a season, which is currently held by Pep Guardiola’s Bayern and Jürgen Klopp’s Dortmund from just over 10 years ago. It was a Leverkusen victory in the reverse fixture earlier this season that spelled the end of Urs Fischer’s time as Union Berlin’s trainer, but the club’s fortunes have turned since Nenad Bjelica took over. Union have collected 23 points from their last 16 games, all but ending any fears of relegation. Two important contests on Saturday at the other end of the table will take place, and one of those occurs when 1. FC Köln host VfL Bochum 1848. Köln have only lost 2 of their 31 Bundesliga home games against Bochum, but Bochum are unbeaten in their last 4 games against the Billy Goats, with 3 draws and 1 win. Should Köln win, they could take the relegation play-off spot from Mainz, unless Mainz win their match against visitors Darmstadt. While the reverse fixture ended in a scoreless tie, Mainz haven’t lost any of their last 4 home matches, and Darmstadt are now winless in 20 contests. The late game on Saturday between hosts Borussia Dortmund and visitors VfB Stuttgart is not one to miss, as just 4 points separate the clubs in their 3rd and 4th-place posts. While Stuttgart have won 7 of their last 9, they’ve only won 1 of their last 14 league games in Dortmund. Looking ahead to Sunday, both fixtures feature sides that are separated by just a few points in the table. A win for Hoffenheim at home against Augsburg would bring the 2 clubs level on points.