Bayern wins at Werder Bremen, RB Leipzig bacon after win over Freiburg

Leaders Bayern Munich did what it had to do to stay ahead of pursuer Borussia Dortmund: win on a visit to Werder Bremen. RB Leipzig also did excellent business in the Bundesliga by beating Freiburg.

Especially in the first half things were difficult for Bayern, where Matthijs de Ligt, Ryan Gravenberch and Noussair Mazraoui started. Just before halftime, the Munich team even escaped a deficit: Werder midfielder Christian Gross cleverly played himself free, but shot over eye to eye with goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

In the second half, Bayern came out more dangerous and after an hour of play it was a hit: Serge Gnabry got the ball at his feet with some fortune, was free in front of goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka and scored the opening goal.

Ten minutes later, Leroy Sané – who was superbly served by ex-Ajacied Mazraoui – made it 2-0. With a brilliant long-range shot by Niklas Schmidt, Werder Bremen (12th in the league) still found the connection, but a point was no longer in the cards: 1-2.

RB Leipzig again managed to beat Freiburg: 0-1. Leipzig – which just last Tuesday won 5-1 over the Freiburgers and thus reached the final of the German Cup – climbed to third place as a result.

Like at the beginning of the week, Leipzig had the better of the game. Timo Werner in particular created danger in the first half. The Leipzig attacker fired several shots, one of which hit the post.

More than fifteen minutes before time, substitute Kevin Kampl suddenly found himself free in front of the Freiburg goal after a tangle. The eventual matchwinner outsmarted Mark Flekken, the Dutch goalie at Freiburg.

The victory turned out to be worth gold for RB Leipzig, as Union Berlin went down at low-fly Augsburg. There, too, it was 1-0.

The team from Berlin had the better of the game especially in the first half. Augsburg, where Jeffrey Gouweleeuw played the whole match, countered more later in the game. And just after halftime there was even a goal: Dion Beljo scored the only goal with a volley.

The first four spots in the league give the right to Champions League soccer. Union Berlin drops to fourth place due to the defeat. Freiburg also has to drop one spot. Flekken’s club is now fifth with as many points as Union.

Borussia Dortmund hosts VfL Wolfsburg tomorrow and must win to reduce the gap to Bayern Munich to one point again.