Three things we learnt from the Bundesliga Konferenez | OneFootball

Bundesliga Matchday 23. Freiburg opened the weekend with a five-star (cliche) performance against Werder Bremen, beating them 5-0. In the afternoon kick-offs on Saturday, Bayer Leverkusen beat Holstein Kiel 2-0, Borussia Mönchengladbach lost to Augsburg 3-0, Mainz continued their push for European football after beating St Pauli 2-0 and Wolfsburg drew with Bochum 1-1.

If you didn’t watch these games (lucky you), here are three things we learnt:

How far can Mainz actually go?

Mainz wore their carnival kit today, to honour the regional holiday, and on the pitch, they are having as much fun as people are having of it. Another win for the 05ers sees them move up to fifth in the table and only one point off of a Champions League place.

It is a testament to the work of Henriksen as with basically the same team as last season, they have gone from fighting relegation to now fighting for Europe. What makes this even more impressive is that they are also doing this with a core of academy products with Robin Zentner and Jonathan Burkardt the more experienced, on top of Paul Nebel and even Nelson Weiper who has also been playing a bigger role in recent weeks.

Nebel, especially, has grown as a player this season. in 21 games this season, he has six goals and two assists and alongside Jae-Sung Lee (who is one of the most underrated players in the Bundesliga) has helped reduce the hole left by Brajan Gruda in the summer.

Mainz have a difficult set of fixtures on the horizon, but if they can navigate them, the partying in the city will likely continue well into the summer as they head for another campaign in Europe, 10 years after their last. The question is though, will this be in the Champions League or the Europa League, as of right now, no one wants the fourth qualification spot, so it is wide open.

Bayer Leverkusen understands what it is like to play with a striker:

Last weekend, Schick did not play for the first 92 minutes of Leverkusen’s game against Bayern Munich. Today he started and scored within the first 10 minutes. The type of finish, a poacher one, was also the type of finish which probably would have won the game for Leverkusen last weekend. Granted the opponent was Kiel, but the difference a recognised striker could make was obvious. The same can be said for Victor Boniface, who also had an immediate impact upon his substitution.

The win up North for Leverkusen was an easy one. Kiel never caused them any issues and they came out of the game unscathed and can look ahead to a difficult tie against Eintracht Frankfurt next week. Who knows, maybe Die Adler will do them a favour and help close the gap to six/five points.

Bochum continue their quest for unlikely survival:

(Oh my god! do you hear that in the distance, it’s Bochum. *Herbert Gröenemeyer’s Bochum plays in the distance* – Hoffenheim (probably))

Deep in the west where the sun gathers dust, Dieter Hecking is pulling off what initially seemed like an impossible job earlier this season. Since taking over back in November, Bochum has risen from winless and 18th in the table to 16th and are six points off of Hoffenheim in 15th. In the table, since Hecking has been in charge, Bochum are 12th (ahead of Borussia Dortmund).

Next week’s home game against Hoffenheim will be very important a win will close the gap to three points and the momentum will be well in Bochum’s favour when it comes to avoiding the relegation playoff. Six points may seem like a big gap to reduce in such a small period of time, but Hecking closed that gap in the 13 matches he has been in charge.

The veteran head coach has taken Bochum from relegation being a formality, to believing of another season in the top flight.

Good luck Bochum.

(If you want the other ideas that I had for the three things: Whats the point of Augsburg? and Mohamed Amoura could probably upgrade his club)

GGFN | Jack Meenan