Mondays officially are Bundesliga matchdays as European action gets underway for Bundesliga clubs.
Bundesliga Talking Points
While Bayern Munich is in the knockout phase it was the Europa League teams who got action started.
Borussia Dortmund went from strength to strength and the question after their 3-2 come from behind victory over Atalanta in Dortmund.
Currently Dortmund could make Peter Stoger permanent as he has righted the ship and there have been some good results of late. Take this match for example the team dug deep, and they haven’t been the easiest on the eye but they have been gaining results and look like they could qualify for the Champions League next season which means the gravy train rolls on.
Question then is should they for the future?
RB Leipzig benefited from Juventus in their 3-1 road win over Napoli. Juventus has won the last six titles and not since Maradona was with the team in the 1989-1990 season. As they have a slim lead on the title all the news has been that they were to send out reserves, and they did. Thing is Leipzig will take a lot from this but will need to find the balance as the Europa League is a very grueling knockout phase with an additional two matches should they make the final.
For Leipzig it is a matter of this. How do they rotate their squad to manage Europe and Bundeslgia and still make Europe for next season.
Bundesliga Matches of the Week
Monday matches made a one match debut two seasons ago and now become a fixture for the league with the new tv deal. And Eintracht Frankfurt v RB Leipzig is a tasty way to introduce Monday matches to the world.
Eintracht Frankfurt is in a good run presently. In the semifinals of the Pokal and currently fourth manager Niko Kovac has found a nice blend with the most international squad in the Bundesliga and fact is there is no big star. Leipzig in third has recovered some ground after Europe has drained them of some of their vitality. Of late they’ve found wins and in Frankfurt will be a massive test right between first and second legs of their European tie.
The battle of the Borussia’s between Dortmund and Monchengladbach is always a high profile affair. Dortmund has been stringing results together while the Foals have been dropping off of late. Should this go bad for BMG thsi might see an end to their manager Dieter Hecking.
It’s the relegation six pointer of the week. Each SC Freiburg and Werder Bremen are outside of the relegation zone by three and five points but they are in the half of the table that keeps them still in the danger zone. A win for either side could mean that there is no relegation scare and each team has been enjoying a good ruckrunde.
Bundesliga on Fox
Friday starts us off on Fox Sports 2 as relegation threatened Mainz travels to Berlin to take on Hertha.
Saturday Bayern Munich faces off against Wolfsburg in the first match of the day. Bayer Leverkusen faces HSV on Fox Deportes.
Saturday topspiel has Schalke and Hoffenheim on Fox Soccer Plus.
Sunday doubleheader is all on FS2. Augsburg faces off with Stuttgart followed by Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach.
Monday on FS2 has Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig
