The main pursuers of Bayern Munich, which on Friday established itself as the leader of the Bundesliga after beating Hertha Berlin 1-0, added the three points this Saturday … except Borussia Dortmund (6th), who lost 2-1 to Freiburg (8th).
Dortmund, Sevilla’s rival in the round of 16 of the Champions League, is now 16 points behind Bayern and three from the ‘Champions’ zone, after conceding a new defeat, the eighth in 20 games.
South Korean Jeong Woo-yeong (49) and Jonathan Schmid (52) overtook the hosts at the start of the second half and Dortmund only had time to close the gap, with a goal from 16-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko (76).
It does not appear that the change of manager in mid-December, when Edin Terzic replaced the Swiss Lucien Favre, has had a positive effect on Dortmund, nor that the new manager has found a solution to the team’s problems.
“We are not only disappointed, but also angry. I don’t have a button to press to tell the guys: ‘Stop wasting balls,’” Terzic said after the game, visibly upset.
“The only thing we can do is keep working, correct what we have to correct and look forward,” he added.
Dortmund could end the day out of the qualifying places for European competitions, when the club needs the economic income provided by the ‘champions’ to stay in the elite of European football.
“Qualification for the Champions League is in jeopardy,” admitted veteran central Mats Hummels, the 2014 world champion.
“The European classification is the minimum that is expected of us, we know it. The environment is going to get complicated for us, but it is our job. Edin (Terzic) does many things for us, but for now the results are not coming,” he added the defender.
– Easy for Leipzig and Leverkusen –
RB Leipzig, second to seven points behind Bayern, had no problems to win 3-0 on the court of bottom Schalke, which is increasingly difficult to save the category.
Nordi Mukiele (45 + 3), Marcel Sabitzer (73) and Willi Orban (87) were the authors of the goals of Liverpool’s rival in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Wolfsburg, third 10 points behind the leaders, continue their good run and won 2-0 in their visit to Augsburg (13th), with goals from Wout Weghorst (38) and Ridie Baku (59).
Bayer Leverkusen is provisionally in the ‘Champions’ zone after beating Stuttgart 5-2 (10th), although they could lose fourth place on Sunday if Eintracht Frankfurt (5th to two points) win on the Hoffenheim court (12th ).
In addition to Dortmund, the other big loser of the 20th round was Borussia Mönchengladbach (7th), who lost at home 2-1 against Cologne (14th) who moved away from relegation thanks to Elvis Rexhbeçaj’s double (3 and 55) .
For Mönchengladbach, which with the defeat moves away from the fight for qualification for the next Champions League (they have the same points as Dortmund), scored Florian Neuhaus (16).
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