The weekend action kicks-off on Friday with Freiburg hosting Bayern Munich at the Europa Park. The Black Forest side are actually more concerned at the moment with the potential Black Hole that is threatening to swallow them up as their league form continues to be a real concern. Christian Streich’s side have taken just one point from their last five matches, which has seen the Breisgauer drop to ninth in the table. Their hopes of yet another top six finish are evaporating. They did manage to bring about some cheer in the Europa league play-off tie with French side Lens, coming back from 2-0 d ..read more

Freiburg v Bayern Munich It’s not so much a case of the Black Forest for Freiburg this weekend, but the potential Black Hole they are in danger of entering. With just one point from their last five matches, the Breisgauer have dropped to ninth in the table and are seeing their hopes of another top six finish evaporating. They will look to summon up the spirit of last season when they beat Bayern in the DFB Pokal as they seek to end their barren run. The Rekordmeister ended their own poor run of three successive defeats last weekend with their late 2-1 win at home to RB Leipzig. It may not have ..read more

The final whistle blows, and the dust settles on the previous ninety minutes. But the press soon wants to get the opinions from the Bundesliga trainers whether they have won, lost, or drawn. Here’s what they had to say following matchday 23. Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Mainz Xabi Alonso: “It was a very intense game. Mainz came with good energy. We were prepared for it, but it wasn’t easy. It wasn’t our best game, but the three points are very important. We can now enjoy the weekend a bit and then we can move on.” Martin Schmidt (sporting director): “It was a good, courageous performance in many phase ..read more

It wasn’t as straightforward as the team’s league positions would have suggested, but Bayer Leverkusen overcame Mainz 2-1 at the Bay Arena to open up an 11-point lead over second place Bayern Munich. A rare goal from Granit Xhaka opened the scoring only for Dominik Kohr to head in an equaliser minutes later.  The hosts plugged away and were rewarded in the 68th minute when an absolute howler from Robin Zentner allowed the Werkself to regain the lead. The final ten minutes were an uphill struggle with the Nullfünfer reduced to ten men. Here are five takeaways from the Friday night action ..read more

There is an old Paul Simon song from 1977 called ‘Slip Sliding Away’ and it could very well be the new Bayern Munich anthem for this current stage in the season as their mini-crisis becomes a medium-sized crisis with the potential to turn into a full-blown crisis. Three successive defeats have seen Bayer Leverkusen open up an eight-point lead at the top of the table, Thomas Tuchel has in effect been fired for next season and the players look shorn of all confidence.   After losing to title rivals Leverkusen in the top of the table clash dubbed a ‘Meisterschale decider’ two weeks ago ..read more

The Bundesliga serves up another round of exciting matches this weekend and the eighteen trainers have been giving their pre-match thoughts ahead of what promises to be another fascinating matchday. Here you’ll find all the key thoughts ahead of matchday 23. Bayer Leverkusen v Mainz Xabi Alonso: “The last training session is behind us, we are well prepared for the game tomorrow. We have almost all players with very good energy and mood. Exequiel Palacios trained well yesterday and today, but it’s not enough for tomorrow. “Bo Henriksen’s teams always perform with a lot of energy and intensity ..read more

We’re entering the final third of the season and there is no let up in the excitement at either end of the table with the title race providing so many talking points and the battle for relegation hotting up. Here we bring you five questions ahead of what promises to be another great Bundesliga weekend… 1- Can Leverkusen go 11 points clear? Yes, Werkself fans you are reading this correctly, a win on Friday against Mainz would put Bayer Leverkusen a whopping eleven points ahead of second place Bayern Munich (albeit until the Bavarians play Leipzig on Saturday).  Last weekend’s trip to Heide ..read more

It’s like waiting for a bus. You wait ages for one to come along, and then as fate would have it, two arrive. In the case of the elite German coaching fraternity four have arrived at the same time with the stars aligning to mean that Jürgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, Julian Nagelsmann and Hansi Flick will all be available in the summer. The machinations across European board rooms start now. If you were to line-up the trophies won by the aforementioned quintet of German coaches, you would have quite the impressive haul of silverware in front of you. Three Champions Leagues, eight league titles, and ..read more

The country-wide protests from German fan groups across the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga look to have reached their objective with news emerging that the DFL is scrapping its plans to bring in outside investors.  In a statement from Hans-Joachim Watzke, spokesman for the DFL Executive Committee, it was announced that, “the viability of a successful conclusion of a contract in terms of financing the 36 clubs can no longer be guaranteed given the circumstances in the league association with its 36 member clubs.” The Presidium therefore unanimously came to the conclusion that “it should exerc ..read more

After a fascinating weekend last week and teams involved in European action in midweek, the Bundesliga is back for another round of fixtures that are sure to deliver once again. The Leverkusen title charge continues, Bayern’s crisis deepens, while the teams around the bottom know time is against them in the battle for survival. Here’s what matchday 23 has in store this weekend… Bayer Leverkusen v Mainz (Friday) The Werkself passed their tricky test at Heidenheim last weekend and, combined with Bayern’s demise at Bochum on the Sunday, they have opened up an eight-point lead at the top of the ta ..read more