As coach of Leverkusen, Xabi Alonso meets Bayern professionals with whom he was on the pitch himself. Union Berlin meets a feared opponent – a preview of the remaining games of the 25th Bundesliga matchday.
Union Berlin – Eintracht Frankfurt (Sunday, 3.30 p.m.)
Does the “iron” run out of air? In the Bundesliga, Union Berlin is four games in a row without a win, and there is also the end of the Europa League. But the balance sheet is still splendid. This year the team has lost only one game – 0:3 at Bayern. The Frankfurters aren’t doing any better right now, they haven’t won in three Bundesliga games.
It is well known that the Köpenickers are difficult to defeat. Somehow no one likes to play against Union, which has gotten better every year since promotion in the Bundesliga. Or is it? In the seven Bundesliga duels against the Berliners, Eintracht has recorded four wins, one draw and two defeats – Frankfurt has such a good record against no other current Bundesliga club, and Eintracht has not scored as many goals against any other team as against Union, namely 2.1. Unpleasant memory: The 2-0 defeat at Eintracht in the first half of the season ended the Union Bundesliga record series of 14 unbeaten games in a row.
This may be due to the fact that the Frankfurters are just as strong in running and efficient in front of goal and also like to hit crosses – just like the Unioners. Berlin’s chance is more in the air on Sunday (from 3.20 p.m. live in the radio report on sportschau.de). Of all the teams, Union scored the most with headers (12), while Eintracht conceded the most headers (11).
Bayer Leverkusen – Bayern Munich (Sunday, 5.30 p.m.)
It was Bayern, of all people, who paved the way for Xabi Alonso to take the helm at Bayer Leverkusen. The 4-0 defeat in the first leg was the last Bundesliga game under Gerardo Seoane, who was replaced by Alonso a few days later in the Champions League at FC Porto after losing 2-0.
The Spaniard meets his former club for the first time as a coach on Sunday (from 5.20 p.m. live in the radio report on sportschau.de). From 2014 to 2017 he was at Bayern Munich, where he lost only six of his 79 Bundesliga games, was German champion three times and won the DFB Cup once. The greeting will probably be warm. He was on the pitch with five of the current Bayern players: Thomas Müller, Joshua Kimmich, Kingsley Coman, Manuel Neuer and Sven Ulreich.
But is it enough to win against the old employer? FC Bayern have won eight of their last nine competitive games and are in the quarter-finals of both the DFB Cup and the Champions League. In the Bundesliga, however, they need at least one point to regain the lead from Borussia Dortmund (6-1 against Cologne).
Leverkusen is currently ninth and is slowly approaching the European Cup places. And that’s thanks to Alonso, under whom things didn’t rise steeply but steadily and who took over the Werkself in 17th place.
1. FSV Mainz 05 – SC Freiburg (Sunday, 7.30 p.m.)
1. FSV Mainz 05 has slowly, quietly and secretly moved up the table. The team is unbeaten in five games and claims seventh place in the table, which can qualify for the UEFA Conference League. In the second half of the table, Mainz are even third behind Borussia Dortmund and Bayern with 16 points.
SC Freiburg hasn’t lost any of their last five Bundesliga games either. The Breisgauers occupy fourth place behind Mainz in the second half of the season and are fully involved in the race for a place in the Champions League. That’s why the party on Sunday (from 7.20 p.m. live in the radio report on sportschau.de) is something like the secret top game of the day.
This is mainly due to the two coaches. Bo Svensson and Christian Streich are still in their first coaching position in the Bundesliga, but the Freiburger has 269 Bundesliga games ahead of the Mainzer as the responsible coach. What unites both is success: Svensson is the most successful FSV coach with an average of 1.5 points per game, Streich is number 1 at SC with 1.3 points per game. Both have taken over their heart clubs in the relegation battle and made an impressive rebound.
