Berlin (AP) – RB Leipzig stays up, but FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund are putting pressure on. Off the pitch, the Bundesliga soccer team’s concerns about corona remain high.
In Mainz, the sporting crisis is worsening – FC Schalke want to fight their own negative series this Sunday.
TORMASCHINE: Two days after the sovereign progression in the cup, the spared national players were back in the starting line-up at Bayern – and put in a completely dominant first half at Arminia Bielefeld. After 51 minutes, Bayern led with two goals each from Thomas Müller and Robert Lewandowski 4-0. This was followed by a less strong phase, a goal to 1: 4 and a red card for Corentin Tolisso. “We make life difficult for ourselves,” said coach Hansi Flick, who was particularly annoyed by the “stupid” expulsion. Nevertheless: A strong 17 goals from the first four games are the best in the league and were last achieved by Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1967/68. The current Gladbach team, however, did not get beyond a 1-1 draw against VfL Wolfsburg.
UNMUT I: RB Leipzig had to do without Amadou Haidara after a positive test, Hoffenheim were missing two other professionals in addition to Andrej Kramaric due to the corona. Several teams had to do without their heavily stressed national players after the most recent releases. “This is an exclamation point that we now have to put, maybe as a league, maybe through the DFL, that we will act differently in the next period of deputation,” said Alexander Rosen, director of professional football at Hoffenheim, on TV channel Sky. “If necessary, we have to think about it more intensively, not let the boys go.”
HEAD BUNNERS: Angeliño scored a Bundesliga goal last season in his first half series for RB Leipzig. The 23-year-old has already scored twice this season – and both times with his head. As in the 4-0 win against Schalke 04, he succeeded in doing this in a 2-0 win at FC Augsburg. An extraordinary pleasure considering his height. “1.75m of concentrated header power,” tweeted RB – and received an answer from his own player. He was actually 1.71 meters tall, wrote Angeliño.
DISMUTE II: With loud whistles, the Hertha BSC players were bid farewell to their own fans after the disappointing 2-0 draw against VfB Stuttgart. Because of the corona pandemic, there were only 4,000 spectators in the Berlin Olympic Stadium, but they made themselves heard loudly. Supporters were also heard in Mainz after the 0: 1 against Bayer Leverkusen, FSV coach Jan-Moritz Lichte was in wild discussions with fans in the stands after the final whistle. It was just an “exchange of views,” the trainer dismissed. In total, only 250 spectators were allowed to enter the Rheinhessen stadium, waiting for the first point to be won.
There won’t be much more on the arenas on Sunday: The games between 1. FC Köln and Eintracht Frankfurt (3.30 p.m. / Sky) as well as FC Schalke 04 and 1. FC Union Berlin will take place in front of a maximum of 300 spectators. In terms of sport, the Revierclub wants to avoid a negative record: The Royal Blues have never lost seven league games in a row – with one defeat it would be so far. “We want to be more offensive,” announced coach Manuel Baum, who wants to turn the trend in his second game at Schalke.
The numbers for Saturday:
7 – Stuttgart last had seven points from four games in the 2008/09 season. Back then, VfB came in third.
18 – With his two goals in the 4-1 win in Bielefeld, Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski has now scored against all 18 Bundesliga clubs – like Schalke’s Vedad Ibisevic.
2014 – For the first time since February, Marco Reus scored 1-0 at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim for Borussia Dortmund. His last hit as a joker was much longer back. After a substitution, the national player last met in March 2014.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201018-99-983966 / 2
– .
