Berlin (AFP)
Bayern and Leipzig, at the top of the Bundesliga standings, can sleep peacefully: their pursuers are making more mistakes, like Leverkusen and Dortmund on Saturday, forced to draw by less well-ranked teams on this 21st day.
Leverkusen led 2-0 against the penultimate Mainz in the 89th minute, but then conceded two goals.
Bayer, despite a still untenable Moussa Diaby, is provisionally fourth 12 points behind leader Munich, but can be overtaken Sunday by Frankfurt, which receives the 14th Cologne (3.30pm).
Munich are in the lead with 48 pts and a match to be played on Monday against play-off Bielefeld.
Leipzig, Friday 2-1 winner over Augsburg, follows with 44 points, ahead of Wolfsburg (38 pts).
Far from these summits, Borussia Dortmund, the only German Champions League team competing this Saturday, saved the draw point (2-2) in extremis after being led at home by Hoffenheim.
Edin Terzic, the bombed coach - without any high level experience - on the bench in mid-December after the dismissal of Lucien Favre, has won only one of his last six league games, and is already on the bench. harness barely two months after his arrival.
In this atmosphere of crisis, the trip to Seville on Wednesday, in the knockout stages of the Champions League, no longer seems a priority: to save their season, and ensure their financial and sporting future in the medium term, the vice-champions of Germany in the title must absolutely finish in the top-4 to qualify for the lucrative Champions League, a goal that currently seems compromised.
The team temporarily stagnates in sixth position, the last qualifier for a folding seat in the Europa League, and will be overtaken Sunday by Mönchengladbach if the "Colts" win against Wolfsburg.
As often, the individual talent of Jadon Sancho (1-0, 24th) and Erling Haaland (2-2, 81st) saved the minimum, but the team once again gave the impression of being unbalanced , with a midfielder not ensuring the link between the defense and the offensive sector.
And without leaders capable of sounding revolt in difficult times.
"We fought, but we didn't necessarily play well, we put in good will but it was a bit crazy game," said center-back Mats Hummels.
"We are making progress," he said, however, without really convincing, "but it does not happen overnight, with no coach in the world".
The managers, who have decided to hand the team over to Terzic, Favre's former assistant, until the end of the season, may have to quickly rethink their plan if the promised improvement does not translate into results very quickly.
© 2021 AFP