Three things we learnt from the Bundesliga matchday 25 afternoon kick-offs – things get worse for Wolfsburg, Deniz Undav should start for Germany and Bayer Leverkusen’s Arsenal preparation | OneFootball

Bundesliga matchday 25 began with Bayern Munich comfortably beating Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday evening.

Saturday afternoon saw Freiburg host Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg face Hamburg, VfB Stuttgart travel to Mainz, Heidenheim vs Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig against Augsburg. 

Here are the three things we learnt:

Wolfsburg are in big trouble:

Last week, they dropped into the relegation zone following wins for St.Pauli and Werder Bremen, and with them both playing tomorrow, it was the perfect chance to drag themselves out of the Bundesliga bottom two. However, they were unable to take advantage.

In a game of three penalties, Christian Eriksen opened the scoring for die Wölfe, but spot kicks from Luka Vuskovic in the first half and then Jean-Luc Dompé in the second allowed Hamburg to win the game 2-1. 

It was a game Wolfsburg really should have done better in, as they registered a non-penalty xG of 1.05, via FotMob. Failing to take their chances against HSV could be catastrophic, as heading into the business end of the season, they only play two of their relegation rivals, Bremen and Gladbach. While their other opponents are also fighting for Europe, there is also Union Berlin away.

Unless a head coaching change is made sooner or later, Wolfsburg will be facing a very expensive relegation, and as we know, you probably won’t be able to spend €50m to get yourself out of the 2.Bundesliga so easily.

Deniz Undav should start for Germany:

This week in German football began with some questionable comments by Julian Nagelsmann about how he plans to set up the national team this summer.

One person who has shown they deserve to play on form alone is Deniz Undav. The 29-year-old scored and assisted in Stuttgart’s 2-2 draw with Mainz, taking his season tally to 19 goals and 12 assists in 34 games, making him the most in-form German striker, the highest scoring German in the Bundesliga, and the Bundesliga’s second top scorer. 

Add to this the poor patch that Nick Woltemade is currently going through at Newcastle, and Kai Havertz only just returning from injury for Arsenal, then it is a fair argument to make that the Stuttgart striker deserves to start in the summer, whether that be as the main striker or behind the striker alongside Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz. 

Bayer Leverkusen’s sub-optimal Arsenal preparation:

With a very tough Champions League tie against Arsenal on Wednesday, Leverkusen would be hoping to get the job done against Freiburg so they can focus on their next game. However, it was not easy at all.

From a positive point of view, in the first half Leverkusen fought from behind twice to make it 2-2 just before half time, with goals from Vincenzo Grifo, Yuito Suzuki (both Freiburg), Christian Kofane and Alejandro Grimaldo (both Leverkusen). 

However, they did then throw away their lead, after Martin Terrier made it 3-2, when they conceded a late Matthias Ginter goal to make it 3-3. They were then saved when an even later Ginter goal would be ruled out for offside. 

Die Werkself were far too open, and allowed Freiburg too many chances from open play. Luckily for Leverkusen, from set-pieces, they were a lot more solid, which, against a rather dire Arsenal side, is really their only meaningful outlet. 

Elsewhere around the Bundesliga:

GGFN | Jack Meenan