Bayern Munich are homing in on a 31st Bundesliga title and a tenth in succession after beating Wolfsburg 4-0 on Friday and then watching their biggest rivals fall flat on their faces.
After Borussia Dortmund lost away to Hertha Berlin the gap at the top was confirmed at nine points and it’s difficult to see the Bavarians giving that many points away. Indeed the latest Bundesliga 2021 betting odds are concentrating on the race for a top-four place and a relegation battle which includes two of the biggest names in the top tier.
Borussia Dortmund, Red Bull Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen all lost, Die Werkself losing by the odd goal in three to Freiburg who leapfrogged them into third place. But BVB and Red Bull both lost games they were expected to win comfortably and they have given the Champions a big hand up that they probably don’t need.
Bayern piled more misery on Wolfsburg who find themselves in the lower reaches of the table, alongside Borussia Monchengladbach. And the Bavarians had four players on the score sheet on an evening of total Munich domination. Thomas Muller, Dayot Upamecano, Leroy Sane and, of course, Robert Lewandowski scored to send their fans home happy and their opponents back to Wolfsburg with a nasty headache.
With the league nicely under control, Die Bayern can concentrate on the Champions League where they have drawn Red Bull Salzburg in the Round of 16 and the SBOTOP odds are backing them to reach the final.
BVB look lost without Bellingham and Hummels
Marco Richter scored a quick-fire double to give mid-table Hertha Berlin a shock 3-2 win over title chasers Borussia Dortmund. Die Schwarzgelben have recently seen the return of Erling Braut Haaland to give them a timely boost, but the loss of Jude Bellingham and Mats Hummels seems to have cancelled out any advantage. BVB missed Bellingham’s box to box drive and the commanding defending of Hummels, but the first half went roughly to plan as Julian Brandt gave them a halftime lead at the Olympiastadion.
But Brandt’s first-half success was overshadowed by his second-half mishaps after Ishak Belfodil had levelled for Hertha with a smart finish from a tight angle. First, he conceded possession in a dangerous position and Richter scored with a thunderbolt, then Brandt made another mistake to let Richter volley Berlin into a 3-1 lead. Borussia substitute Steffen Tigges headed in a cross from Raphael Guerreiro to set up a nervy finish but Hertha held on to complete an impressive win.
Bielefeld are ready for a fight
After battling to a 15th placed finish in their first season back in the Bundesliga, Frank Kramer’s Arminia Bielefeld are fighting hard again and this weekend they stunned moneybags Red Bull Leipzig to climb to within two points of safety. Die Roten Bullen had 78 per cent possession and 17 shots to four, but with four each on target Bielefeld made more use of their time with the ball. They hit their hosts twice on the break; first Janni Serra slid his shot into the bottom left corner on 57 minutes and then Masaya Okugawa took a through ball from Florian Kruger before firing his shot into the opposite corner. That goal, on 75 minutes, was enough to see the strugglers over the line for a huge three points, but it came after they had gone down to ten men when Fabian Klos was red-carded for carving down Willi Orban.
Red Bull are stranded in ninth, while Bielefeld went 11 points clear of Greuther Furth, who earned a fifth point of the season with a 0-0 draw at home to Augsburg but are clearly doomed.
Are Monchengladbach and Wolfsburg in danger?
At the halfway stage of the season, Monchengladbach are two points clear of the relegation zone while Wolfsburg’s cushion is equally uncomfortable at three. After a strong start to the campaign Die Wolfe’s Bundesliga 2021 results have been a little short of disastrous, while Monchengladbach didn’t even make a good start.
Die Fohlen almost took all three points from their visit to fifth-placed TSG Hoffenheim when Breel Embolo gave them a 35th-minute lead which they held until the 91st minute. But their defence switched off when a cross came in and was nodded down by Ihlas Bebou into the path of Kevin Akpoguma who gratefully fired low into the corner.
Surely Monchengladbach and Wolfsburg have too much quality to go down, but their fans will rightly be worried as things stand.
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