Bundesliga matchday 15 review: Bayer Leverkusen win top-four clash, seven-goal thriller, Bayern Munich nine points clear | OneFootball

It was an action-packed weekend of Bundesliga football which saw relegation six-pointers, a seven-goal thriller, a top-four clash, and so much more. Here are all your talking points from matchday 15 in the Bundesliga. 

Leverkusen Win Top 4 Battle

Bayer Leverkusen came out 1-3 winners on Saturday evening as they beat RB Leipzig in Saxony. Both have been affected by the Africa Cup of Nations, with Leverkusen losing key players such as Ibrahim Maza and Edmond Tapsoba, while Leipzig’s star of the first half of the season, Yan Diomande, also headed to Morocco. 

Ole Werner’s Leipzig took the lead in the 35th minute when Aleix Garcia gave away a sloppy throw-in. The resultant throw-in was given to Xaver Schlager, who evaded several Leverkusen players before curling his effort past Mark Flekken to make it 1-0.

Die Werkself would not be behind for long when Martin Terrier scored a looping header in the 40th minute, his second in two games, to make it 1-1. Four minutes later, Schick was played through, and after a smart chop to get the ball onto his right foot, made it 2-1. 

Die Werkself finally put the game to bed late on when substitute Montrell Culbreath scored on his debut to make it 3-1.

B04 move up to 3rd in the table, leapfrogging Leipzig who slip down into 4th. 

Freiburg Edge Seven Goal Thriller

SC Freiburg were the right side of a seven-goal encounter as they beat VfL Wolfsburg 3-4. 

The away side were pegged back twice but eventually found a winner in the 78th minute through substitute Derry Scherhant. The 20-year-old scored his third goal of the campaign since moving from Hertha Berlin last summer. 

You have to spare a thought for Wolfsburg’s Dženan Pejčinović in this one. 

Pejčinović scored his first-ever hat-trick for the club, making the 20-year-old the youngest German player to score three goals in a game in over 15 years, since Thomas Müller. The absence of the Algerian, Mohamed Amoura (AFCON), will give the German youth international plenty of Bundesliga game time, and it also helps that he can feed off the service from Christian Eriksen. 

Wolfsburg end 2025 in 14th place, while Freiburg move into 9th and are eyeing up a European place. 

Bayern Munich 9 Clear at Christmas

Bayern Munich are nine points clear heading into Christmas and 2026 following a 0-4 win away at FC Heidenheim. 

Vincent Kompany’s side dominated the opening stages of the game and took the lead from a corner after just 14 minutes. Jonathan Tah hung himself up at the far post and his nodded header back across goal was poked home from point-blank range by Josip Stanišić as the Croatian bagged his second Bundesliga goal of the season. Bayern doubled their lead on the half-hour mark after a brilliant cross in from Lennart Karl resulted in a goalmouth scramble, which eventually found Michael Olise a yard from goal to score his 7th of the season.

Despite neither goal being vintage Bayern, they were very comfortable in the first half and went into the break with their 2-0 lead intact. Bayern wrapped the game up with five minutes to go through a Luis Diaz header after Stanišić’s cross put it on a silver platter for the Colombian winger. Bayern added a fourth through Harry Kane, who finally grabbed his goal two minutes into second-half stoppage time. Easily the pick of the bunch too, superbly worked in the build-up before Kane twice dropped his shoulder to create himself the space to easily finish past Ramaj.

Heidenheim remain in 17th, a point off St. Pauli, who occupy the relegation play-off spot. For Bayern, the unbeaten season is still on as they go nine points clear at the summit. 

Around The Grounds

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund won the battle of the “Borussias” as they beat Monchengladbach 2-0 on Friday night. Goals from Julian Brandt and Max Beier keep BVB in second and now three points clear of third. 

Steffan Baumgart returned to FC Koln and earned his new side, Union Berlin, all three points. Schafer’s 91st-minute winner means it’s now back-to-back wins for the Berliners, who move up to 8th. 

Hamburger SV continue to impress as they earned a solid 1-1 away at Frankfurt. HSV end the year in 13th position on 16 points. If you had offered HSV fans that at the start of the season, they would have been very pleased. 

Elsewhere, there was goalless draws between Augsburg v Werder Bremen, VfB Stuttgart v TSG Hoffenheim, and Mainz 05 v St. Pauli. It’s the first time this season that three games in a matchday have all ended goalless. HUMBUG! 

That’s a wrap on the Bundesliga in 2025. The next matchday starts slightly earlier than previous years on January 9th when Eintracht Frankfurt host Borussia Dortmund. 

GGFN | Jamie Allen