There are no big sensations on the 20th matchday of the Bundesliga. The last team, Darmstadt, can’t really annoy table leaders Leverkusen, but Mainz is annoyed at home against Bremen. Bochum is annoyed by a late handball, while Stuttgart nurtures its Champions League hopes.
SV Darmstadt 98 – Bayer Leverkusen 0:2 (0:1)
Bayern can come: Bayer Leverkusen easily mastered its dress rehearsal before the league summit. Coach Xabi Alonso’s team won 2-0 (1-0) against bottom team Darmstadt 98 and goes into the top game against Munich next Saturday as league leaders. Before that, however, a big chunk awaits in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup with VfB Stuttgart on Tuesday.
Double packer Nathan Tella (33rd, 52nd) scored the Werkself’s fifth win in a row against the Lilies. Bayer remained unbeaten in the 29th game of the season and surpassed its club record streak from the 1978/79 second division season of 28 games without defeat. Darmstadt, on the other hand, has been waiting for a win for 13 games and is still at the bottom of the league.
Spoiled for success: Florian Wirtz and double packer Nathan Tella.
(Photo: REUTERS)
The outsider’s match plan became clear in the first action in front of 17,810 spectators. After winning the ball in midfield, Darmstadt quickly switched gears and Gerrit Holtmann fired a first warning shot that was too high after 16 seconds. The second-best offense in the league initially had a hard time against the low-lying Lilies bulwark. In the only nice attack in the opening phase via Granit Xhaka and Alejandro Grimaldo, Adam Hlozek aimed just wide (16th).
The Hessians looked more dangerous in the first half hour. First, Luca Pfeiffer tested Lukas Hradecky with a shot on the move (24′), Emir Karic nodded the ball into the goalkeeper’s arms from four meters (39′). Tella’s header from Grimaldo’s cross to the back post came out of nowhere. But with a final spurt before the break including chances from new signings Borja Iglesias (41′), Robert Andrich (42′) and Florian Wirtz (45′), Bayer earned the lead.
In the second half, Leverkusen continued to press forward at the windy Böllenfalltor, with Tella hitting powerfully under the crossbar after a dream combination via Xhaka and Wirtz. This broke the resistance and Bayer kept the bottom line in the penalty area. With the combinations now much more fluid, the only thing that was missing in front of the goal was a little bit of determination, Wirtz hit the crossbar with a curling shot (75th).
1. FSV Mainz 05 – Werder Bremen 0:1 (0:1)
FSV Mainz 05 continues to slide unchecked towards relegation. Coach Jan Siewert’s team once again missed the urgently needed liberation blow in the fight to stay in the league in the 0-1 (0-1) draw against Werder Bremen and has been waiting for a win for nine games. The Rhenish Hessians are facing restless carnival days. Marvin Ducksch (2nd) gave the once again committed but too harmless Mainz team the next blow in the neck. In the important catch-up game against direct competitor Union Berlin on Wednesday (6.30 p.m./DAZN and in the live ticker at ntv.de) Siewert and the FSV are under enormous pressure. Bremen, on the other hand, remained unbeaten for the seventh time in a row – and is slowly even setting its sights on the European Cup ranks.
In view of the difficult situation, sports director Christian Heidel appealed that Werder had to play “against an entire city”. He spoke of “central games” with a view to the two upcoming tasks. However, disillusionment quickly followed and Mainz got off to a nightmare start. An unsuccessful defensive action by Anthony Caci landed at the feet of Ducksch, who scored from the turn to take the lead and threw Rheinhessen’s plan overboard. Olivier Deman missed the chance for the second goal with his header (10th).
Mainz needed some time to digest the shock. The FSV subsequently invested a lot, but was a bit unlucky when Tom Krauss hit the post (17th), but once again presented themselves with a lack of ideas on offense. The efforts of Amiri and Jonathan Burkardt often came to nothing. Werder, on the other hand, put pins and needles and caused danger again through Justin Njinmah (42nd).
The approach of both teams didn’t change much after the break. The guests limited themselves to counterattacks and, as in the Rhine-Main duel at Eintracht Frankfurt (0-1), Mainz initially couldn’t think of a suitable answer. It took Ngankam (61′) to challenge Werder goalkeeper Michael Zetterer with his first shot in a long time. The FSV then became more compelling: Karim Onisiwo, however, could not find a way through the dense Werder defense (66th), and just a minute later a header from substitute Ludovic Ajorque whizzed just wide. Mainz threw everything forward in the final phase, but Onisiwo headed just over (82′).
VfL Bochum – FC Augsburg 1:1 (1:0)
Despite a fantastic overhead kick from Moritz Broschinski, VfL Bochum missed a big step towards staying in the league. Coach Thomas Letsch’s team only drew 1-1 (1-0) from FC Augsburg after taking the lead, but remained unbeaten in the seventh game in a row at the Ruhrstadion. Broschinski (33rd) put the home team on the road to victory with his artistic goal, Augsburg hit back with a hand penalty from Ermedin Demirovic (90th+1). This means that the Swabians are still one point ahead of Bochum in the table.
In the Bochum rain, the hosts dominated the initial phase. When they had the ball, they moved forward at lightning speed and continually put Augsburg under pressure. Consequently, the first chance of the game went to the home team: Patrick Osterhage grabbed the ball in his own penalty area and went solo across the entire pitch. In the end, he missed his shot from the best position to the left of the visitors’ goal (9th).
Artistically valuable: Moritz Broschinski’s goal.
(Photo: IMAGO/Beautiful Sports)
In a game that was very tough in the duels, the Bochum team remained the more active team. The lively Christopher Antwi-Adjei was often sought after with his high pace, but on the rain-soaked surface the teams now had difficulty creating compelling opportunities.
And so Bochum’s lead fell out of nowhere in front of 24,500 spectators – and how. A cross from Antwi-Adjei accidentally lands over several stations at Broschinski, who scored his first goal of the season from close range with a brilliant overhead kick. The Ruhrstadion was raging, Letsch clenched his hand into a fist several times on the sidelines with a grin on his face.
In the second half, the guests acted more offensively, Bochum made pinpricks with counterattacks. Thorup gestured wildly on the sidelines and repeatedly cheered his team loudly. After an hour, the Dane brought in new offensive signing Pep Biel, but Augsburg’s big chances remained in short supply. On the other hand, Moritz Kwarteng (75th) and Matus Bero (76th) forgave carelessly. This ended up being punished.
FC Bayern Munich – Borussia Mönchengladbach 3:1 (1:1)
You can find our match report on the record champions’ victory here.
SC Freiburg – VfB Stuttgart 1:3 (1:2)
VfB Stuttgart has clinched their next big win and clearly left their New Year’s low far behind them. Thanks to a furious start, the Swabians won 3-1 (2-1) against SC Freiburg, who are actually so strong at home, and consolidated third place in the table. After the recent gala against Rasenballsport Leipzig (5:2), it was the next impressive proof of performance; VfB had previously started 2024 with two defeats.
Deniz Undav (3rd) and Chris Führich (7th), who had been so strong recently, scored early for VfB, who were initially overwhelmingly superior and who then played in the majority after the red card against Merlin Röhl for a serious foul (18th). . Nevertheless, Freiburg found its way back into the game thanks to Lukas Kübler’s goal (45th + 11th). However, Maximilian Mittelstädt (74th) stepped up and in the end there was a deserved victory for Stuttgart, who remain the first pursuers from Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.
The third minute was running when captain Waldemar Anton played a perfect through ball, Undav picked it up and hit it coldly into the far corner. It was goal number 13 in the 17th Bundesliga game of his career – the last German to start so successfully was Horst Hrubesch in 1975/1976. And just four minutes later, Freiburg had no access in the center again, Undav found Führich, who finished just as calmly as his colleague before.
The hosts, however, found themselves in a completely unfamiliar situation. They had only lost one Bundesliga home game this season, more than four months ago against Borussia Dortmund (2:4), but VfB initially overran them – and it got even worse: Top talent Röhl went in with an open mind a duel with Mittelstädt and saw red. The disillusionment in the stadium was palpable, the game seemed lost early on. But in the endless injury time of the first half – the pitch had to be cleared due to a fan protest – Kübler equalized with a header from a corner; it was Freiburg’s first shot on goal.
The duel was different in the second half. Stuttgart let the ball run, but got through much less often, and Freiburg no longer seemed without a chance either. Maximilian Eggestein (52’/90’+5) could have scored twice, Michael Gregoritsch’s header (90’+2) was cleared off the line. It was a shaky affair for Stuttgart, SC also posed danger at set pieces – but Mittelstädt’s goal had a reassuring effect.