Matchday 27 in the Bundesliga saw incredible comebacks followed by next-day sackings, more trouble for Wolfsburg, a managerial change at FC Köln, another Bayern Munich hammering, and much more. Here’s everything you need to know from matchday 27 in the Bundesliga.
In one of the most entertaining games of the weekend, Borussia Dortmund came from 0-2 down to Hamburger SV to win 3-2 on Saturday evening.
HSV were well worth their 0-2 lead at halftime and looked like they were heading for a remarkable away win, which would go a long way to helping seal their Bundesliga status for another season.
However, two second-half penalties from Ramy Bensebaini and a winner from Serhou Guirassy complete a dramatic comeback from BVB.
The first penalty, which ignited the comeback, went to VAR after Maximilian Beier fell after being hit on the ankle. Upon review, it looked like the forward had felt the minimum contact and decided to go to ground. Very harsh on HSV, but that seems to be enough these days.
The second was a close-range handball following a shot. Nothing the HSV defender could do, but the arm was away from the body and therefore deemed another spot kick.
Guirassy bundled home the winner following a strong header, which was originally saved by Daniel Heuer Fernandes.
The win leaves Dortmund in second, now eight points clear of VfB Stuttgart, who jumped to third on Sunday evening.
Following the result, BVB announced the somewhat shocking and incredibly out-of-the-blue news that Sporting Director Sebastian Kehl had stepped down from his role by mutual consent.
Kehl has been associated with the club for over 20 years, first joining as a player in 2002, before switching to a director role in 2018 and then replacing Michael Zorc as sporting director in 2022.
On leaving the club, Kehl said:
“Borussia Dortmund has been a part of my life for half my life, and I have an extremely strong connection to this great club. Nevertheless, we have now jointly come to the conclusion that it’s time to move forward – both for BVB and for me. Lars, Carsten, and I reached this decision today after a constructive discussion. I owe Borussia Dortmund a great deal and am proud to have been part of the BVB family for around 24 years.”
So who comes in now? Reports have surfaced over the weekend concerning a potential move to Dortmund for SV Elversberg personnel executive Nils-Ole Book.The 40-year-old – thanks to his string of amazing developmental loan deals at Elversberg – has actually garnered a reputation very similar to Mislintat’s. Book arranged for Nick Woltemade, Fisnik Asllani, Paul Wanner, and plenty of others to join the Saarland outfit on loan. Nils-Ole Book (as Mislintat was once referred to as “diamond eye”) has earned the nickname “pearl diver” thanks to his work at SVE since 2017.
New manager bounce? Not a thing in Wolfsburg, apparently. New head coach Dieter Hecking’s first home game in charge could not have been any bigger against relegation rival Werder Bremen.
Justin Njinmah’s 68th-minute winner for Bremen launches them into 14th spot and puts Wolfsburg five points from safety with just seven games to go.
In a time where clubs around them seem to be putting up more of a fight, you feel that the writing could well and truly already be on the wall for Wolfsburg.
Following the defeat, Hecking wasn’t too harsh on Wolfsburg’s efforts: “What can be held against us today is that we were too imprecise in the final third. As a result, hardly any really clear chances were created. In this game, it was about who would score the first goal. We had opportunities to take the lead ourselves but didn’t score, and then conceded an unfortunate goal.”
As many Bundesliga journalists had anticipated following Saturday’s anti-media tirades, head coach Lukas Kwasniok has been relieved of his duties at FC Köln. The German cathedral city club confirmed the news on Sunday that Kwasniok departs Köln after nine months on the job.
For the time being, no permanent replacement has been appointed. Köln were rumored to be considering two options yesterday. The Domstädter will go the internal promotion route initially. Assistant coach René Wagner will take over on an interim basis. Wagner worked under Steffen Baumgart at Kwasniok’s former club Paderborn, ultimately following Baumgart to Köln, Hamburger SV, and Union Berlin. He was with Baumgart through his former mentor’s entire two-and-a-half-year-long stint between July 2021 and December 2023. Wagner – fluent in English – obtained his UEFA pro coaching license in England.
The dismissal followed an epic 3-3 draw to local rival Borussia Mönchengladbach. Despite the point, Köln drop down to 15th, just two points outside the relegation play-offs. The Billygoats just have two wins to their name in five months – a remarkable stat which could see them drop into the relegation places very soon.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich put four goals past Union Berlin to maintain their charge to the title. Goals from Serge Gnabry x2, Michael Olise, and Harry Kane.
VfB Stuttgart dispatched FC Augsburg 2-5 on Sunday evening to go into third spot. Deniz Undav scored his 17th and 18th Bundesliga goals of the campaign and heads into the international break in high spirits.
Mainz 05 moved nine points clear of the automatic relegation places with an impressive 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. You feel that the 05ers are now safe from the drop – a remarkable job done by Urs Fischer and his team.
There were also wins for RB Leipzig, who dismantled TSG Hoffenheim 5-0 on Friday evening. The win puts TSG into 5th whilst Leipzig march into 4th and into the Champions League places.
