FEATURE | Bundesliga Matchday 11 Review: Resurgent Gladbach, clinical Undav and more | OneFootball

Matchday 11 of the Bundesliga season saw a whopping 34 goals across the weekend’s 10 matches. Runaway leaders Bayern Munich survived a first-half scare against Freiburg, Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart played out a six-goal thriller, whilst 1. FC Köln and Eintracht Frankfurt went one better with seven.

Leipzig lead chasing pack

Ole Werner’s RB Leipzig climbed back up to second place on Sunday afternoon with a hard fought 2-0 win over Werder Bremen. In what had already been a memorable week for Assan Ouédraogo, the German national team’s newest star struck with a brilliant left-footed effort from outside the box to give his side a lead they would not relinquish. 

Despite the scoreline suggesting a comfortable win for the hosts, this was anything but. Mio Backhaus in the Bremen goal produced a man of the match display, helping his team go into the break level after a dominant first half from Leipzig. Bremen came out in the second-half swinging though and probably should’ve taken the lead early after the break. 

Even after Ouédraogo put Leipzig in front, Bremen had chances to equalise through Jens Stage and Keke Topp. The away side thought they had equalised when Topp poked home at the far post following a corner, but the German had strayed offside by the barest of margins.

Leipzig remain the closest challengers to leaders Bayern, with the gap standing at six points. Behind the Red Bulls however, just five points separate themselves and the five teams behind them.

Food for thought for Nagelsmann?

Dortmund and Stuttgart played out an entertaining 3–3 draw at the Signal Iduna Park. Deniz Undav starred with a hat-trick for the away side, culminating in a stoppage-time equaliser just a couple of minutes after it looked like Karim Adeyemi’s turbulent week would have a happy ending when he put BVB in front with 89 minutes on the clock.

Saturday evening’s Topspiel saw Köln welcome Eintracht Frankfurt to the RheinEnergieStadion, with the hosts looking to continue their good home form after three wins in four in front of their own fans. They took the lead after just four minutes through Jakub Kamiński, who grabbed his fifth goal of the season. Die Adler turned up the heat, though, and went into the break leading thanks to rare goals from Arthur Theate and Mahmoud Dahoud.

Jonathan Burkardt then added a second-half brace to continue his excellent form since signing from Mainz in the summer. The German bagsman was asked about his lack of minutes for the national team over the recent break, remaining humble he said: “I wasn’t used twice, and that made me sad. But in the end, the coach decides what’s best for the team. I just want to continue performing well for Eintracht. And if they need me in the national team, I hope I’ll be there.”

Köln did get two goals back through Marius Bülter and Luca Waldschmidt to give Dino Topmöller’s side an uncomfortable finish to the game, but they would close out the win to take them up to sixth.

With Undav now back from injury, starting games and scoring goals – along with Burkardt at his brilliant best – this is surely giving Julian Nagelsmann food for thought as to whether Newcastle United forward Nick Woltemade is an automatic starter for his side heading to North America next summer.

Six teams set to be cut adrift?

When looking at the current state of the Bundesliga table, one would not be mistaken for noticing three different tables forming within the 18 teams. You have Bayern and the six chasing teams in the top seven spots. Then just three points separate Union Berlin in 8th position from Borussia Mönchengladbach in 12th, before the bottom six teams, who are separated by five points.

Looking at the bottom six in finer detail, Augsburg had a rough beginning to the season, losing to St. Pauli, Mainz, and Heidenheim in consecutive weeks. They have, however, steadily improved since, beating two of the teams around them in Wolfsburg and Hamburg. Worryingly for the latter, they have tasted defeat to the three teams closest to them: at home to rivals St. Pauli and Wolfsburg, before their defeat at Augsburg on Matchday 11.

Earlier in the season, Gladbach would have been part of this sextet of teams, but in recent weeks, under the guidance of new permanent head coach Eugen Polanski, they have managed to drag themselves up the table. A third comprehensive Bundesliga victory on the spin came this weekend away to bottom club Heidenheim.

Whether any of the other bottom-six clubs can replicate Gladbach and drag themselves clear remains to be seen. It looks likely to be a mouthwatering six-team dogfight to avoid the drop this season.

Around the grounds

To kick off the weekend, Mainz and Hoffenheim shared the spoils with an even 1-1 draw. It wasn’t pretty but Danny Da Costa equalised for the home side after a goal mouth scramble.

Bayern came from two goals down to dispatch Freiburg 6-2 at the Allianz. Goals included a brace from Michael Olise, while Harry Kane of course grabbed his customary goal.

There were comfortable away victories for Leverkusen (3-1 vs Wolfsburg) and Gladbach (3-0 vs Heidenheim), while Union Berlin rounded off the weekend with a battling 1-0 win at the Millerntor. This being the home side’s eighth consecutive Bundesliga defeat. Head coach Alexander Blessin seems to have the full support of the St. Pauli higher ups, although just how much longer they can continue losing games and not begin to think about a change is unclear.

GGFN | Harry Good