Stern-Check Bundesliga
Tor dreariness, verbal skirmishes and a strange home complex
Stuttgart’s captain Gonzalo Castro prevails against Hertha player Zeefuik. In the end, the newcomer brought the Berliners the third defeat of the season.
© Cathrin Müller / Picture Alliance
Without their own fans behind them, the strikers of the home teams outbid each other in harmlessness on matchday four. They managed a measly five hits. The young Mainz coach messed with a trailer – and RB striker Yussuf Poulsen vigorously applied for the plaque for the goal of the month October in Augsburg.
This is how the games in the Bundesliga went
All results of the 4th match day, the table and statistics for reading can be found here in stern-Ticker.
The excitement of the game day
After the fourth round of the game, you could put it under the title “Mainz how it scolds and (pretty much) does everything wrong”. This time, the interim coach Jan-Moritz Lichte, who hurriedly installed after Beierlorzer’s completely tripped out, was recommended for the “verbal attack” department. The collar burst when one of the 250 privileged fans let his frustration run free in the main stand. According to reports, the supporter had complained that the 05er could hardly develop a real scoring chance in the entire 90 minutes. Lichte did not want to let that sit on him. “Last time you complained about too little effort and today about too few chances to score,” the 40-year-old coach is said to have said during the heated discussion at the gang. In an interview with Sky, he defended the action. “It is part of the discussion here, and I try to live it.” It remains to be seen whether you have to wear yourself out in emotional battles with fans.
The fact is: After four games, Mainz are still without a point. Mainz scored two meager goals in the 360 minutes they have completed so far. Lichte was never allowed to cheer once. Instead of being annoyed about verbal failures (rightly) by eager fans, Lichte and his followers should bring their energy back to the field. Otherwise, the next home game against Borussia Mönchengladbach threatens the next blow in the neck.
PS: According to statistics, Mainz shot exactly six times towards the opposing goal in the game against Bayer Leverkusen. The Finnish keeper Lukas Hradecky never had to dirty his gloves during the attempts.
Match day winner
Even if he is reluctant to be the center of attention: one of the big winners of the game day is BVB coach Lucien Favre. The shrewd Swiss actually dared to put goal machine Erling Haaland on the bench – of all things in the game against feared opponents Hoffenheim. Marco Reus, the heart of Borussia, also had to stay outside for the time being. “We have to be sensible,” said Favre, explaining his wise move that might have fallen on his feet if he had lost. The 20-year-old Norwegian storm tank had almost gone the full distance twice within three days in the Nations League (and had scored Norway 4-0 against Romania with three hits). Favre had the right nose. He initially relied on Julian Brandt as the sole tip. In the 64th minute, the 62-year-old managed to make the decisive move. Haaland and Reus were barely ten minutes on the pitch in Sinsheim when the youngster served the BVB captain in an exemplary manner. Shot. Gate. And for Favre the first win against TSG since taking office in Dortmund two years ago.
Game day loser
In addition to the Mainz team already mentioned, this time you can’t get past Bruno Labbadia and his Hertha. At no other club in the Bundesliga are demands and reality so blatantly different as at the “Old Lady”. It goes after four matchdays on the stick and is as far removed from the international ambitions that Klinsmann’s successor Jens Lehmann boldly formulated in his new role as a member of the supervisory board as the storm newcomer Jhon Córdoba, who has moved from Cologne to the Spree, is from the top scorer’s crown. Coach Labbadia called the already flaring up discussions about his person and the support from the executive floor “silly”. Despite the three defeats in a row, they are definitely (still) out of place and yet the former top striker has to ask himself why his attractive and top-class squad, which he was involved in putting together, has only three points on the so far Has the credit side.
In order to save the honor, it should not be ignored at this point that the Berliners had shown a remarkable performance on the third match day. There wasn’t even a flower pot for the three goals against record champions Bayern Munich. But they also showed that there is more footballing class in Hertha than the capital soccer players revealed in the tired 2-0 home defeat against the effective, but by no means outstanding, promoted VfB Stuttgart.
And so as not to leave Hertha alone in the rain: The eight other home teams are also the losers of the match day. None scored more than one goal. The frustrating balance in front of the mostly only a few hundred spectators because of the corona pandemic: four draws and five defeats. In general, the supposed home advantage doesn’t seem to be any more, since the stadiums are more or less empty. The hosts have only left the pitch twelve times in their previous 36 games. The guests took home at least one point 24 times.
They should see this gate (again) “A goal like a work of art,” said the Sky commentator after the remarkable volley hit from RB Leipzig’s Yussuf Poulsen to make it 2-0 in Augsburg. © Matthias Balk / DPA
On a matchday with a lean football diet and a proper goal diet, there were no two opinions about who the laurels for the goal of the day go to. In the 66th minute of the game, RB coach Julian Nagelsmann sends his Danish all-purpose weapon Yussuf Poulsen onto the field. And even before the replaced Emil Forberg had wrapped up warmly and straightened the mouth and nose protection, there was a rattle in the box of Augsburg’s new keeper Rafał Gikiewicz. The fans of the statistics stopped for 26 seconds. One ball contact was enough for long-running Poulsen to decide the game. Dani Olmo stroked the ball from a central position as soft as butter on the striker’s left foot and he sent the leather directly and at full risk towards the goal. Two seconds later the ball hits the far corner. “A goal like a work of art”, the Sky commentator justifiably rejoiced. “We’re showing them this goal from every angle we have.” And from all perspectives it looked like October’s goal of the month.
Picture of the game day The slapstick insert of the day was delivered by returning Douglas Costa in the 4-1 win of Bayern on the Bielefelder Alm. In the 76th minute, Corentin Tolisso initially flew after an emergency tackle. To prevent a low shot under the wall, the Brazilian Costa placed himself behind his teammates on the grass. Müller and Hernández tried to explain to him that it is not very clever to face the ball. Initially in vain. Costa turned around – but only on the other side of the body. Finally, the 30-year-old saw a light. The laughs of his teammates were still certain. The free kick (of course) didn’t bring anything. © Sascha Steinbach / Getty Images
