Three things we learnt from the Bundesliga Konferenz | OneFootball

The start of the second half of the Bundesliga season saw Eintracht Frankfurt beat Borussia Dortmund last night and it continued this afternoon with Bayern Munich holding off a late Wolfsburg revival to beat them 3-2, RB Leipzig collapsed against relegation-fighting Bochum to draw 3-3, VfB Stuttgart beat SC Freiburg 4-0, Holstein Kiel lost to Hoffenheim 3-0 and St Pauli beat Heidenheim 2-0.

Here are the things we learnt:

VfB Stuttgart are back to their best:

Stuttgart had a rough first half of the season, but since the new year, they have won three on the bounce with their convincingly win against Freiburg. Nick Woltemade was once again on the score sheet while Ermedin Demirovic was on the scoresheet again having gone eight games without a goal. Stuttgart now finds themselves within one point of the Champions League places and can use this good run of form to help them secure a place in the Champions League playoffs as well.

However, the man of the match was Angelo Stiller. The 23-year-old provided two assists but showed why he will likely be a sought after midfielder in the near future. He was dominant on the defensive end while also in control in the attack. Stiller had created the joint most chances in the game (2), with 85% passing completion, 100% aerial duels won and eight recoveries.

A shakeup in the fight to avoid relegation:

The biggest story when it came to the relegation battle was Bochum’s fight back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with RB Leipzig thanks to a Myron Boadu hat-trick. The draw sees Bochum move within four points of safety after there were wins for Hoffenheim and St Pauli. After Bochum looked doomed for relegation, their recent performances have given hope that they can actually somehow survive once again.

Hoffenheim were also one of the big stories heading into the game as a loss to Kiel would likely cost head coach Christian Ilzer his job, however, they were able to win 3-0 to give themselves breathing space from the drop zone, This also puts pressure on Union Berlin who plays Mainz on Sunday as they find themselves just two points from safety.

Leon Goretzka gives himself a lifeline:

There has been a lot of talk about Goretzka’s future at Bayern but in recent games, he has shown that he can still be a valuable player for the Rekordmeister and that was again seen today. The 29-year-old scored twice to help Bayern beat Wolfsburg.

With the unreliability of João Palhinha’s fitness as well as Konrad Laimer being used mainly as a right-back, Bayern will likely need senior numbers in midfield to play alongside Joshua Kimmich, Aleksandar Pavlovic and what seems like Tom Bischof as well. However, the one issue with this is, whether Goretzka is willing to accept such a role going forward.

There is no doubt of what Goretzka can bring to the table, it is just whether he both Bayern and him can agree on a longer collaboration.

GGFN | Jack Meenan