display

Was that it for Borussia Dortmund?

After a deserved defeat in the duel at Bayer Leverkusen, the runner-up is threatened with saying goodbye to the championship race as early as mid-season.

As a result of the 1: 2 (0: 1), BVB's deficit on leaders FC Bayern, who will play in Augsburg on Wednesday, could increase to ten points - Bayer, on the other hand, is three points more than Dortmund as second in the table.

Moussa Diaby (14th) and exceptional talent Florian Wirtz (80th) met in a lively and interesting game for strong hosts who had only taken one point from the four previous games.

The former Leverkusen-based Julian Brandt (67th) achieved the interim compensation.

Dortmund's coach Edin Terzic has had a good start with ten points from six games and now has a mixed record.

"These are two teams that want to play forward," said Leverkusen's coach Peter Bosz shortly before the kick-off at Sky.

The opening goal for the hosts was initiated by Leon Bailey with a strong long ball straight into Diaby's run, who skillfully finished with his left foot.

This is where you will find third-party content

In order to interact with or display content from third parties, we need your consent.

Activate external content

I consent to content from third parties being displayed to me.

This allows personal data to be transmitted to third party providers.

This may require the storage of cookies on your device.

More information can be found here.

display

Bayer then determined the game against noticeably uncreative Dortmund.

Offensive, the highly talented BVB lacked ideas against cleverly positioned Leverkusen in the entire first half.

Driven by the exceptional talent Wirtz, Leverkusen should have led higher early.

But Bürki parried brilliantly against the unstoppable Diaby (27th, 35th) and Alario (44th).

BVB only got better during the second half.

Reus, Brandt and Jadon Sancho kept looking for Haaland at the top.

Brandt equalized with his first Bundesliga goal in almost exactly a year (January 18, 2020).

The national player held back after the goal against his ex-club with the cheers.

BVB then pressed for the second goal - but then Wirtz came back to lead Bayer with his powerful shot.

Hertha BSC - Hoffenheim 0: 3

display

A liberation for Sebastian Hoeneß, blatant setback for Bruno Labbadia: In the city of his youth, Hoeneß impressively consolidated his position at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim with his first win of the year.

For his colleague Labbadia, however, the Kraichgauer 3-0 (1-0) against Hertha BSC in Berlin are facing really difficult days.

Hoffenheim shoots itself out of the crisis in Berlin

Source: Getty Images / Boris Streubel

Sebastian Rudy (33rd minute) and Andrej Kramaric (68th, 88th) scored the goals for the conciliatory first half of the season for Hoffenheim and ended the discussions about Hoeneß's coaching future at TSG.

Goalkeeper Oliver Baumann (11th) parried a penalty from Hertha striker Krzysztof Piatek.

With the victory, Hoffenheim jumped to eleventh place for the time being.

At Hertha, however, the situation worsens seriously after the third game in a row without any sense of achievement.

Instead of advancing into the European Cup regions, the Berliners end the first half series just a few points before the relegation zone.

The promised January upswing has fizzled out.

For the second half of the season opener on Saturday against Werder Bremen, Labbadia has to score.

Mainz - Wolfsburg 0-2

display

FSV Mainz 05 are facing very difficult weeks in the relegation battle.

Coach Bo Svensson's team not only lost the home game against VfL Wolfsburg 2-0 (0-0), they also have to do without the outgoing Jean-Philippe Mateta for the rest of the season.

Wout Weghorst (l.) Lifts the ball over Mainz goalkeeper Rrobin Zentner and scores to make it 2-0

Source: Getty Images / Alex Grimm

In a very weak game, the Polish joker Bartosz Bialek (65th minute) and Wout Weghorst (79th) scored the goals to win, which brings the Lower Saxony very close to the Champions League places.

Mainz, on the other hand, remained goalless in the fourth home game in a row and without a win in the ninth home game in a row - both are negative records in the Bundesliga history of the self-proclaimed carnival club.

The 05ers had to deal with the first shock of the evening before kick-off.

Top striker Mateta, who has scored seven goals so far, significantly more than all other Mainz professionals, will no longer play in the Bundesliga in the second half of the season.

Head coach Svensson confirmed a report by “Bild”, according to which the 23-year-old Frenchman is already at the medical check-up in London and is about to move to Crystal Palace.