A late Willi Orban goal denied Julian Nagelsmann's Hoffenheim a win over his future club RB Leipzig. But with the absent Timo Werner's future unclear, Leipzig's blunt display may eventually concern the young head coach.
Image: picture alliance/AP/J. Meyer
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Strange as it sounds, a loss on Monday night would've left Julian Nagelsmann pretty confident of another crack at the Champions League next season. But as it is, a 1-1 draw between his current side Hoffenheim and the club that will employ him next season, RB Leipzig, keeps the battle for the Bundesliga's last two Champions League spots open.
The bad news started early for Leipzig, with Timo Werner deemed too ill to play ahead of the match and things got worse in the opening exchanges, with the home side limp, passive and chanceless in the first half. Their visitors sensed blood early on and got their reward after 22 minutes when Joelinton's persistence earnt him a shot that Peter Gulacsi pushed in to the path of Andrej Kramaric.
Joelinton impressingat home and abroad
The man who created the opener had been the subject of almost as much pre match chat as his coach. After an impressive debut Bundesliga campiagn so far, bustling Brazilian forward Joelinton has been linked with a €50 million move to Premier League side Newcastle and with following his coach east to the Red Bull Arena.
"It doesn't matter, even if the fee is a bit below that," said current RB boss Ralf Rangnick, who will revert to the sporting director role at the end of the season. "We will never be a club who can afford such players. It amused me a bit in these past days, reading this and also being linked to the player.
"He is a great player but there are more great players - at Hoffenheim and at other teams in the Bundesliga"
Nagelsmann will know what he's signing up for at the Red Bulls, who have a clear policy of buying young and low and selling high. With Werner set to be sold this summer if he doesn't sign a new contract, Yussuf Poulsen having an off night, Jean-Kevin Augustin's future unclear and Cunha seemingly bereft of confidence, finding a top class finisher may be high on his list of priorities on arrival.
The fact center back Willi Orban, who turned in the 89th minute equalizer, was Leipzig's biggest threat tells its own story.
Battle on for last two places
The kind of targets Lepizig can attract will depend not just on their financial resources, but on their participation in the Champions League. Three points on Monday would have sent the Red Bulls third, seven points clear of fifth but the draw means just six points separate Leipzig in fourth and Bayer Leverkusen down in seventh. Hoffenheim are two points further back but can't be written off after a late surge in the the Champions League spots last term.
All is not lost of course, with the inconsistency of those below Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund ensuring that the race for the two remaining Champions League places is unlikely to be dull.
Nagelsmann's prompting from the sidelines and fury at a couple of refereeing decisions were clear evidence that his mind and heart remains with Hoffenheim for now. But with a mind as analytical as his, there's little doubt he'll also be aware of the flaws he's soon to inherit.
Bundesliga matchday 23 roundup
Wolfsburg notched up another impressive away win against Borussia Mönchengladbach while Dortmund and Bayern secured narrow wins in different ways. Elsewhere, another dispiriting loss meant time for change at Schalke.
Image: Imago/Jan Huebner
Stuttgart 5-1 Hannover
Stuttgart steam-rolled Hannover in the big relegation six-pointer on Sunday. Victory would have seen Hannover climb above Stuttgart in the table, but that was never on the cards. Mario Gomez fired the hosts into a fourth minute lead and an Ozan Muhammed Kabak brace put Stuttgart in firm control. Jonathas de Jesus pulled one back for Hannover, but Steven Zuber added two more to complete the rout.
Image: Imago/J. Huebner
Hannover 0 - 3 Eintracht Frankfurt
Adi Hütter's players completed a perfect week on Sunday. After beating Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa League on Thursday, Eintracht beat strugglers Hannover, keeping the Eagles unbeaten in 2019. Ante Rebic, Bundesliga top scorer Luka Jovic (pictured) and Filip Kostic were all on the scoresheet for the visitors and Hannover's chances of staying up are looking slimmer by the week.
Image: Imago/Jan Huebner
RB Leipzig 1 - 1 Hoffenheim
For much of this one, an early strike from Andrej Kramaric (above) looked to have given Julian Nagelsmann victory over his future employers. In the absence of Timo Werner, Leipzig looked blunt for much of the match but captain Willi Orban rescued a point from close range in the 89th minute.
Image: Imago/J. Huebner
Borussia Dortmund 3 - 2 Bayer Leverkusen
Mario Götze (center) scored the decisive third as BVB won their first match in six. The hosts opened the scoring through Dan-Axel Zagadou, only to be pegged back immediately by Kevin Volland. Jadon Sancho's sublime volley made it three goals in seven minutes just before the break then Götze struck in the second half. Jonathan Tah's late header couldn't save Peter Bosz on his return to Dortmund.
Image: Imago/DeFodi
Borussia Mönchengladbach 0 - 3 Wolfsburg
A second half double from Admir Mehmedi and Yannick Gerhardt's 38th-minute strike led Wolfsburg to a second successive 3-0 win and up to fifth, for 24 hours at least. The Wolves have now taken 10 points from their last four games and are just five points off their opponents, who are now without a win in three.
Image: Reuters/W. Rattay
Bayern Munich 1 - 0 Hertha Berlin
Javi Martinez' nodded home a James Rodriguez corner just after the hour mark to secure a hard-fought win for the champions. Hertha had the better of the first half chances but couldn't convert. After bringing on Thiago, Bayern improved after the break but a late injury to substitute Kingsley Coman will be troubling for Niko Kovac.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/C. Stache
Freiburg 5 - 1 Augsburg
Nils Petersen (center) was among the scorers as Freiburg picked up their biggest Bundeslgia win of Christian Streich's long reign as head coach. Petersen scored the first and third as Vincenzo Grifo, Luca Waldschmidt and Florian Niederlechner also got on the scoresheet. Rani Khedira briefly made it a contest while Reece Oxford saw red for the visitors late on.
Image: Getty Images/A. Scheuber
Mainz 3 - 0 Schalke
It's carnival time in Mainz and their club provided even more reason for celebration with a dominant win over Schalke. Karim Onisiwo (pictured) was the star, scoring a spectacular opener after 19 minutes and adding Mainz's third after substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta had scored the second. Schalke announced after the game that sporting director Christain Heidel would leave at the end of the season.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Silz
Fortuna Düsseldorf 2-1 Nuremberg
Friedhelm Funkel's side took a big step towards securing another season in Germany's top flight with a 2-1 win over Nuremberg. The away team were reduced to ten men after Matheus Pereira was sent off four minutes in, but took a 41st minute lead thanks to Eduard Lowen's fine strike. However, Funkel's players turned things around through an own goal from Ewerthon (top) and a late Kaan Ayhan header.
Image: picture-alliance
Werder Bremen 1-1 Stuttgart
Werder Bremen recovered from going behind inside a minute to salvage a point against stuttering Stuttgart on Friday. The visitors got off to the perfect start when Steven Zuber slotted the ball home after 59 seconds, stunning the Weserstadion. But Stuttgart couldn't take their lead into the break as Davy Klaassen leveled in first half injury time.
