Bundesliga SRL Round-Up | Bayern Munich win Der Klassiker, Bayer Leverkusen win big and more
Another day, another matchday in the Bundesliga SRL and shockingly, all four games had something interesting to talk about. While the Der Klassiker had the audience glued to their screens, Leverkusenās battle against Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurtās clash vs Freiburg certainly shocked a few.
Bayer Leverkusen 5-1 Wolfsburg
In the end, it proved to be a cake-walk for Leverkusen with them winning 5-1 and Wolfsburg actually seemed lost towards the end. The away side did walk out of the first half with the statistics in their favour but Bayer Leverkusen had everything else. Theyād taken more shots (6-4), had more on target (4-1) and even scored three more goals than their visitors. Three strikes in a twenty-minute span in the first half meant that the second half was a mere formality.
Thatās exactly what it proved to be in the end, despite a tiny fight back from Wolfsburg. They had to walk away with something to show for their efforts and a six-minute spell was the best it got. TheĀ away side managed to get just one shot away during that spell but that one shot found the net and gave them hope. But that was before Leverkusen added another less than six minutes after Wolfsburgās goal to put the game well way from their visitors. A fifth goal just before the final whistle confirmed the win for the hosts.
Borussia Dortmund 0-2 Bayern Munich
Der Klassiker, the biggest and certainly the most popular German derby between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich but in recent years, Dortmund have struggled to win. Instead, Bayern have dominated the game and the title race for the last decade or so although this game could have seen the tide change. Both sides walked into the game on level points, with the exact same form (4W 1D) and even drew the same number of games. But this was Der Klassiker where all reason flies out the window and for one half, Dortmund were the better side.
They had more dangerous attacks (31-20) but most of their moves came on the counter (9 seconds per attack as compared to 16 for Bayern) and that hurt their chances. But by the end of the first 45 Dortmund had managed six shots on goal while Bayern had just four. Yet this is a game of two halves and the second half showed why Bayern have been a dominant presence. They opened the scoring with their first shot on goal, four minutes after the restart and doubled the lead ten minutes later. It effectively marked an end to any contest and potentially the title race despite the hosts taking five more shots.
Werder Bremen 0-0 Borussia Monchengladbach
A goalless draw but like most goalless draw, this was an interesting one to watch. Bremen walked into the game the side supposed to lose but they somehow managed to put up a rather impressive fight against a European contender. Seven shots in the opening half, three on target and 28 dangerous attacks saw them walk away as the better side and with hope in their eyes. Because Gladbach struggled with just three shots and 25 dangerous attacks, it meant that things had to change.
And it did, as Bremen stepped up their performance and took things to another level. They would fire another 10 shots on goal and the target five more times but it would amount to nothing. The hosts should have found the net at least once and maybe had a few more shots on their list because Gladbach let them have the run of the place. But in the end, luck simply wasnāt on their side.
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 Freiburg
A quick look at the first half and fans were shocked that Eintracht Frankfurt did not walk into the half time break with a comfortable lead. Not just because how dominant the hosts were but because of the number of shots they had on target. By the end of the opening 45, they had six shots on goal and four of them had to be parried away by the goalkeeper. In response, Freiburg had four shots on goal and all four never even came close to threatening their visitors.
Freiburg fans were hoping that their side would change things up and find their groove in the second half and while that did happen, Frankfurt proved to be more clinical. The away side would take six more shots on goal as compared to Frankfurtās seven but the main difference was the fact that Die Adler managed to score in the 79th minute. That sealed the win for the hosts and they couldāve doubled, maybe even tripled their lead before the full-time whistle.
