The lessons of the 16th matchday: FC Rumpel-Bayern says thank you very well

Monday, January 18, 2021

The lessons of day 16
FC Rumpel-Bayern says thank you very well

Needed by David

FC Bayern does its compulsory job in the Bundesliga more poorly than right and thanks the even weaker competition. Dortmund fluctuates too much for a chance at the championship and at Union Berlin they haven't fully understood racism.

It's still enough for the league

Bayern coach Hansi Flick had emphasized after the "brutal wake-up call" from Kiel in the second round of the DFB Cup: "There is no more excuse!" The game against Freiburg will show "whether we are a top team". Well, half of it should be the honest answer right now. Although Robert Lewandowski snapped his 21st (!) First half goal, which meant a new Bundesliga record, and Thomas Müller ensured the 2-1 win against Christian Streich's team. But Bayern is still a long way from dominating the triple year.

In the end it was a tremendous game.

(Photo: Peter Schatz / Pool)

Rather, the record champions are still more vulnerable than they have been in a long time. Nils Petersen only needed a few seconds to stand on the pitch to be able to head straight to the 1: 1 in the meantime. After a corner, the Munich team was completely missing the assignment. Shortly before the end, the goal scorer was again criminally alone, Manuel Neuer was already beaten with his forceful shot, but the bar saved. Everything was crowded in the Bayern penalty area in the final minutes, something the record champions are not used to. His actions in these scenes were a bit slow and nervous.

"The way we play we can improve. In the end we shook," admitted Jérôme Boateng. But after the cup frustration, Munich ultimately just managed to escape the next setback and actually expand their lead in the table despite the weak phase. So the bottom line is: Even with this form depth it is enough for the Bundesliga title, because …

… the competition won't and can't

The persecution clubs always made the same statements: yes, FC Bayern is overpowering, but our job is to be there when the great power wavers. Well, before the Freiburg game, the Munich team had won eleven points from the previous six league games, which was inadequate for them. Then the faux pas in the cup at Holstein Kiel. The Titan swayed (at least until Sunday afternoon) and the rear? I was busy with my own tripping.

With a win in Wolfsburg, RB Leipzig could have taken the lead in the table for at least one night. In the end, coach Julian Nagelsmann and Co. had to be happy that Wout Weghorst missed the VfL winning goal shortly before the end and they at least drove home with one point. In the past four games, the Saxons have only collected five points. Even Werder Bremen got two more. "It's not a natural law that all other teams win if Bayern don't do that," Nagelsmann had to admit after the game. "I'm not talking about hunting Bayern, but rather our own collecting of points." In the end, Leipzig may not be a real permanent top club: In the past and this season, RB only managed a single three-point against the big players in the league – Bayern, Dortmund, Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and Mönchengladbach.

"Bayer 04 Leverkusen", answered Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz shortly before Christmas after the undeserved 1: 2 defeat against Bayern Munich when asked which team will become German champions. Even if the answer might not have been taken seriously, the ambitions of the Werkself were clear at the time. Since then, however, they have only scored a measly point in three league games (Bosz never had a counter from four games before). The Bosz team also had a hard time in the 1-0 defeat against Union Berlin. Nothing was to be seen of the ease and accuracy from the final phase of 2020 – on Tuesday BVB will visit in a groundbreaking game.

BVB fluctuations cannot be explained

Borussia Dortmund, however, is also a vacillating pursuer of Bayern and is not going to Leverkusen with confidence. After two important victories in the duels against Wolfsburg and Leipzig, the team around the new coach Edin Terzic had smelled morning air again and secretly looked up to the top of the table. Especially the unleashed appearance in the second half against RB made desire and hope for more.

But now the meager 1: 1 against Mainz 05, in which Marco Reus also missed a penalty. For the first time ever, the BVB captain aimed past the gate from the point. It could have been the turning point in the game – but those who expected a yellow-black assault after the missed chance to make it 2-1 were bitterly disappointed. Hardly a rearing up was noticeable, it remained a draw. Only a three-point from the last five home games is recorded, fear opponent Mainz kidnapped seven points from Dortmund in the last four games.

It is questionable whether it will be enough for the title race after the 1-1 draw. In the event of a defeat in Leverkusen, the gap to Bayern could grow to ten points: Sky expert Didi Hamann answered the question with a very simple "no". He could "not explain the fluctuations" in the BVB game. Terzic has to find such explanations quickly, otherwise even qualifying for the Champions League is in danger.

Does the alleged racism scandal stop the Union hype?

Union Berlin has also become a serious competitor for Dortmund, although many fans and experts still ask themselves when the iron people will actually start stumbling. Union has not lost since the city derby on matchday ten. Before that there was only the defeat from the start against Augsburg. Should the Köpenickers also chase away points from RB Leipzig at the end of the first half of the season – and thus possibly end up in a place that would qualify for participation in the Champions League – the sensation would finally be perfect.

But now an alleged racism scandal could tear down the whole Union world. Berlin's Florian Huebner is said to have said "Scheiß Afghane" in the direction of Leverkusen's Nadiem Amiri after the Friday game. The German international has Afghan roots, the issue is now occupying the DFB's investigators. Immediately afterwards, Hübner went to the Bayer dressing room and apologized to Amiri. Only for what is still not clear. Jonathan Tah made the racist insult public, but later admitted that he had "not heard the words himself". Leverkusen and Amiri said nothing more than that the issue was "settled".

Union managing director Oliver Ruhnert confused a few hours after the final whistle with his statement that Huebner could not be accused of racism because he was with a "non-white" woman. Such a fallacy is often used in the United States by supporters of white supremacy and superiority (Donald Trump has already made use of it) to justify that they are not racist towards blacks. The crude argumentation is often cited in the States as an example of a certain resistance among whites to anti-racist thinking. "Chill, we're here in Germany" is another statement that is said to have been made when Leverkusen's Leon Bailey refused to be helped up after a foul. TV recordings suggest this, but do not show who was speaking. The reputation of the cosmopolitan club has been scratched.

Poop goals also bring points

Hit and win.

(Photo: imago images / Nordphoto)

ARD presenter Arnd Zeigler selects the "poop goals" of the various German leagues every month. Zeigler is likely to have been twice as happy about Werder's Felix Agu's goal against Augsburg: First, it secured three important points for the Hanseatic League in the relegation battle and the ARD man is an avowed Bremen fan. And second, the 2-0 was a real "shit goal", as Agu announced after the game.

The goalscorer even laughed at his goal. "When the ball went in, I had to smile a bit," said Agu, who shot himself on the leg from where the ball flew into the Augsburg goal. But, the debutant from the starting line-up, who had also prepared the 1-0: "After last season, what matters is not how beautiful the football is, but what the results are." With that Agu got to the point. Werder can't help themselves with "poop" at the moment, the offensive game was again extremely uncreative and uninspired. But "poop goals" also bring points – and a Zeigler nomination should also be gratefully accepted by other Bremen goal scorers, if in the end the class should be bagged.