Bundesliga matchday 26 review: Bayern Munich goalkeeper crisis, the race for Europe gets tighter, and a six team relegation fight | OneFootball

Matchday 26 in the Bundesliga saw Bayern Munich play with 9 men in the closing stages, and now facing a goalkeeper crisis, the race for Europe get even closer with a big win for Stuttgart, and six relegation candidates now separate by just 4 points. There’s plenty to discuss, so here’s everything you need to know from matchday 26 in the Bundesliga. 

Bayern Goalkeeper Crisis

When your luck is down, sometimes it feels like everything goes wrong. It feels weird writing this about a club on course for yet another Bundesliga title, but when it comes to Bayern’s current goalkeeping situation, it really is quite extraordinary. 

Already, Bayern were missing Manuel Neuer and Jonas Urbig through injury and concussion, respectively. During their 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen this weekend, a game which saw Nicolas Jackson and Luis Diaz sent off, their third-choice goalkeeper, Sven Ulreich, also picked up an injury. On Sunday, the German record champions revealed that Ulreich had indeed suffered a torn muscle fiber in his right adductor and would be out for the foreseeable future. 

So what happens now? All three senior goalkeepers are injured. 

Bayern possess a high aggregate lead over their forthcoming Champions League opponents, meaning the question of who will stand in goal against Atalanta on Wednesday isn’t necessarily the most important question. Urbig may be able to return in time, assuming that he’s recovered from the after-effects of a concussion. 

On Saturday, 16-year-old German American keeper Leonard Prescott made Vincent Kompany’s squad and sat on the bench at the BayArena. While not on Bayern’s Champions League squad this past autumn, Prescott is eligible for the UCL knockout phase and also dressed for last week’s Champions League match. 

The New York City native moved to the Bayern Campus from the Union Berlin academy in 2023. He’s represented Germany seven times at U17 level and below. He currently represents the Bayern U19s in the German youth league but could soon make his first team debut if Urbig does not recover in time for next weekend’s clash with yep you guessed it, Union Berlin. 

The Race for Europe – As it Stands

On Sunday evening, Stuttgart eanred a massive victory over European rivals, RB Leipzig, and with it go three points ahead of them in 4th. Star striker Deniz Undav with the winner to really cermet their chances of playing Champions League football next term. But what is the current state-of-play?

Currently, it’s unclear if the Bundesliga will be granted an additional spot for the Champions League next season, that really depends on how German clubs perform during European competitions. If they don’t get it, then only the top four will do. 

As it stands, five points separate Hoffenehim (50 pts) in 3rd and Bayer Leverkusen (45 pts) in 6th. Wedged between them and in order are Stuttgart (50 pts) and RB Leipzig (47 pts). The remaining outsiders are Frankfurt in 7th with 38 points and SC Freburg with 34 points. With Freiburg losing to Union Berlin on the weekend, you feel they have also lost chances of European football next season. Frankfurt still have a slight chance but really need to put a run of wins together to have any chance. 

Between now and the end of the season, there are going to be some huge games between these European hopefuls. The first being on Friday to kickstart matchday 27 as RB Leipzig hosts Hoffenheim. A win for the Saxons puts them level on points with TSG and Stuttgart ahead of their game against Augsburg on Sunday.

Mainz Win Big as Relegation Gets Tighter

Mainz 05 applied more pressure on Werder Bremen on Sunday and further put some distance between themselves and the drop as they ran out 0-2 winners of the banks of the Weser on Sunday. 

From the bottom seven clubs, the only other tesam to win was Borussia Monchengladbach during matchday 26 with a much-needed 2-0 victory of fellow relegation candidates St. Pauli. 

 Whilst we can assume that Heidenheim will remain bottom and will soon be confirmed as relegated, just four points separate those from 12th-16th. Wolfsburg in 17th are now three adrift of St. Pauli in the relegation play-off spot and four points adrift of complete safety – an utterly unbelievable set of circumstances for the former Bundesliga champions. 

With Mainz and Gladbach keeping up points more regularly, you feel as if they could steer away from an end-of-season relegation fight in the coming weeks, but that is easier said than done. 

Those most in danger of FC Koln, Werder Bremen, St. Pauli, and Wolfsburg. Whilst Koln got a point at HSV on the weekend, they’re currently winless in six games. On matchday 27, Koln host Gladbach whilst Wolfsburg welcome Werder Bremen [insert Elmo fire GIF]. Certainly two games to watch out for this weekend. 

Around The Grounds

Elsewhere in the Bundelsiga, Borussia Dortmund further confirmed their second place finish with a 20- win over Augsburg. 18-year-old Luca Reggiani scored his first professional goal and become the youngest ever Italian to score in the league. 

After the Arsenal loanee scored his fifth Bundesliga goal in yesterday evening’s 1-1 draw with 1. FC Köln, Hamburg head coach Merlin Polzin has lamented the fact that Fabio Vieira’s time in Germany will invariably come to a close soon. A €20m purchase option in the 25-year-old’s loan agreement shall surely prove too much for the Hanseatic city state club. It’s also doubtful Arsenal will wish to negotiate a new loan.

GGFN | Jamie Allen