Bayern Munich and Leverkusen fumbled between their two Champions League clashes and lost with the B team in the 25th round of the Bundesliga.
08.03.2025, 17:44
08.03.2025, 17:48
SDA
Both Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso and his Munich counterpart Vincent Kompany prioritized the Champions League second leg on Tuesday. Alonso made seven changes to his starting line-up against Bremen (0:2) compared to the first clash against Bayern Munich three days ago, Kompany even made ten against Bochum (2:3).
Among those who kept their starting place was Granit Xhaka, who played one half and was on the pitch for the 1-0 defeat. The Austrian Romano Schmid scored for Bremen after just seven minutes. Leverkusen fought in vain against the deficit and experienced a second bitter moment after the break when Florian Wirtz, who came on as a second-half substitute, had to be substituted after less than a quarter of an hour due to injury. His participation on Tuesday is at least questionable. The 0:2 was scored in the 94th minute by substitute Justin Njinmah.
Bayern Munich can live with the status quo mathematically. The lead over Leverkusen remains comfortable at eight points. The 3:2 home defeat against Bochum will nevertheless annoy the record champions. They led 2-0 after half an hour thanks to two goals from Raphaël Guerrero and had also been awarded a penalty by Serge Gnabry.
The turnaround of Bochum, who were reinvigorated under coach Dieter Hecking, with three goals between the 31st and 71st minute was aided by the red card against Munich's João Palhinha. The Portuguese, who has been unlucky since his move to FC Bayern, was sent off for an unintentional but dangerous dive after a pass. Just over a year ago, Lukas Görtler received a controversial red card for a similar action in the Super League.
Dortmund, the third German Champions League round of 16 finalist, conceded a home defeat to Augsburg between the duels against the French side from Lille. Jeffrey Gouweleeuw beat goalkeeper Gregor Kobel in the 23rd minute with an unstoppable header into the far corner of the goal. BVB remain stuck in the second half of the table, level on points with FC Augsburg, for whom Cédric Zesiger put in a strong performance in central defense.
Leonidas Stergiou, the Swiss central defender at Stuttgart, was shown a red card eight minutes after the break in the 2-2 draw against Holstein Kiel. The defender resorted to an emergency brake after causing the emergency situation himself with poor ball control. Ten-man Stuttgart secured the 2-2 draw, with Ermedin Demirovic scoring just two minutes after Stergiou was sent off.
Telegrams and table:
Bayer Leverkusen - Werder Bremen 0:2 (0:1). - Goals: 7 Schmid 0:1. 94 Njinmah 0:2 - Comments: Bayer Leverkusen with Xhaka (until 46.).
Borussia Dortmund - Augsburg 0:1 (0:1). - Goal: 23. Gouweleeuw 0:1. - Remarks: Borussia Dortmund with Kobel. Augsburg with Zesiger.
Wolfsburg - St. Pauli 1:1 (0:1). - 28'917 spectators. - Goals: 38. Van der Heyden 0:1. 70. Amoura (penalty) 1:1.
Holstein Kiel - VfB Stuttgart 2:2 (1:1). - 15'034 spectators. - Goals: 15 Leweling 0:1. 30 Skrzybski 1:1. 46 Skrzybski 2:1. 55 Demirovic 2:2. - Remarks: 52nd red card against Stergiou (VfB Stuttgart, emergency brake). VfB Stuttgart with Stergiou, without Jaquez (not in the squad) and Rieder (substitute).
Bayern Munich - Bochum 2:3 (2:1). -... Spectators. - Goals: 14 Raphaël Guerreiro 1:0. 28 Raphaël Guerreiro 2:0. 31 Medic 2:1. 51 Sissoko 2:2. 71 Bero 2:3. - Comments: 42nd red card against João Palhinha (Bayern Munich, rough foul). 22nd Gnabry (Bayern Munich) misses penalty.
The other matches of the 25th round. Friday: Borussia Mönchengladbach 1:3 - Saturday: SC Freiburg - RB Leipzig 18.30 - Sunday: Eintracht Frankfurt - Union Berlin 15.30 Hoffenheim - Heidenheim 17.30.
1. Bayern Munich 25/61 (74:23). 2. Bayer Leverkusen 25/53 (55:30). 3. Mainz 05 25/44 (42:26). 4. Eintracht Frankfurt 24/42 (50:37). 5. SC Freiburg 24/40 (34:36). 6. RB Leipzig 24/38 (39:33). 7. Wolfsburg 25/38 (49:39). 8. VfB Stuttgart 25/37 (44:39). 9. Borussia Mönchengladbach 25/37 (39:38). 10. Borussia Dortmund 25/35 (45:39). 11. Augsburg 25/35 (28:35). 12. Werder Bremen 25/33 (38:49). 13. Hoffenheim 24/25 (31:46). 14. Union Berlin 24/23 (20:37). 15. St. Pauli 25/22 (19:30). 16. Bochum 25/20 (26:49). 17. Holstein Kiel 25/17 (37:61). 18. Heidenheim 24/15 (27:50).
