Thanks to a slip-up by Bayern Munich in the newly promoted team, Leverkusen is further extending its lead at the top of the table. Next weekend, Granit Xhaka’s club can secure the first championship title in the club’s history.
The newcomer from Heidenheim celebrates, but Bayern are left with questioning faces.
Imago/Frank Hoermann/Sven Simon
(sda) Because Leverkusen celebrated their ninth win in a row in the Bundesliga with a 1-0 win at Union Berlin and their first rival Bayern Munich lost 2-3 in Heidenheim at the same time, Granit Xhaka’s team’s lead is 16 points. With a win on Sunday at home against Bremen a week from now, Leverkusen would be champions early, regardless of what their pursuers played the day before. Under certain circumstances, the title could even be decided on Saturday. Simply summed up: It’s only a matter of time before Leverkusen lifts the first trophy in the club’s history.
Leverkusen confident, Bayern weak
Between reaching the Cup final last Wednesday and the European Cup quarter-finals against West Ham, Leverkusen also delivered so reliably in the championship this season. The decisive factor in the victory in Berlin came in stoppage time in the first half, in which Robin Gosens received a yellow-red card and a little later Florian Wirtz scored a hand penalty to make it 1-0.
Bayern Munich, who host Arsenal in the Champions League next week, provided another example of their current fragility. In Heidenheim, Munich lost a 2-0 half-time lead. Tim Kleindienst, now eleven goalscorer this season, became the match winner with goals to make it 2:2 (51st) and 3:2 (79th). Bayern Munich now definitely has to look backwards. Leipzig (4-1 in Freiburg) and Dortmund, which still has a game in reserve, are seven points behind in fourth and fifth place.
Mainz and Cologne with home wins
In the fight against relegation, Mainz achieved an important 4-0 home win against bottom team Darmstadt, which no longer has a realistic chance of staying in the league. Swiss substitute Silvan Widmer prepares South Korea’s Lee Jae-Sung’s final goal with a beautiful advance.
However, Mainz’s situation remains delicate: 1. FC Köln are second to last and are only one point behind because they beat Bochum 2-1 thanks to goals in stoppage time from Steffen Tigges and Luca Waldschmidt. Bochum is three points ahead of Cologne.