One criticism neutral fans have when it comes to the Bundesliga title race is that it's become a one-horse affair over the past decade. This season, however, things have been a bit more interesting. Although, as expected, reigning champs Bayern sit on top of the table and have a margin over the chasing pack, die Roten aren't exactly running away with the title, either. Several teams have emerged as title contenders, and two others have been on a kick lately which has helped them edge into the Champions League places.
Let's have a look at what took place over this weekend's round of fixtures.
Top five teams in the Bundesliga up to February 15
While all eyes have been on teams like RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt have quietly crept up the table to place themselves in a Champions League spot
Who are the top three scorers in the Bundesliga?
Eintracht Frankfurt's Andre Silva was on target this weekend as die Adler overpowered Hoffenheim 3-1. That's helped him pull ahead of Dortmund's Erling Haaland, who failed to score during his team's 2-1 loss to Freiburg. Meanwhile, Robert Lewandowski, who has won four of the last five Torjägerkanone prizes and is aiming to make it a fourth consecutive title this season, also was unable to score. However, Bayern Munich still beat Hertha Berlin 1-0, and with 24 goals so far, he holds a very comfortable lead over his rivals for the coveted prize.
The Bundesliga's top three marksmen
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Top Bundesliga headlines
More misery for Dortmund: Although 16-year-old striker Youssoufa Moukoko scored his second Bundesliga goal of his nascent career, it wasn't enough to prevent die Schwarzgelben from slumping to a 2-1 road defeat against Freiburg. For the hosts, it was a day to celebrate as long-serving manager Christian Streich finally got the result he wanted in his 275th match in charge: to beat Dortmund. It took him 17 tries, but as the statement goes, "if you don't succeed the first time around, try again".
Bayern continue to plug ahead: Die Roten showed why they're the side to beat as they powered to a 1-0 road win over Hertha Berlin. Lewandowski was unable to make it 25 goals this season as he missed his first spot-kick since January 2019, but that didn't matter ultimately. Kingsley Coman, the man whose goal earned Bayern their first Champions League trophy since 2013 last season, scored his third Bundesliga goal of this campaign to make it five consecutive wins for Hansi Flick's side.
Both Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt continue their positive streaks: Currently in third and fourth respectively, Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt managed their winning runs thanks to victories over Augsburg and Hoffenheim respectively.
The 3-1 win for Eintracht was also notable in several ways. Die Adler are now the second highest scoring side, with their 41 goals only bettered by Bayern Munich. In addition, their unbeaten run now extends to nine matches, which is the longest streak of any team featuring in the Bundesliga. As for Wolfsburg, they secured their grip on third with a 2-0 result.
Like Eintracht's win, Wolfsburg's victory set some milestones for the club. First, they've now maintained four straight clean sheets - something that's never been done in club history. And second, Wout Weghorst's 14th goal makes him the first player to score that amount in 20 Bundesliga matches; additionally, Weghorst has also scored nearly half of his team's goals this season (14 out of 32).
Gladbach's unbeaten run comes to an end: Marco Rose's side lost their first match of 2021 as they failed to pick up three points during their Rhine Derby clash with Cologne. As such, Eintracht Frankfurt remain the only team yet to lose in the Bundesliga since this year started.
Top Bundesliga matches: February 12-15, 2021
RB Leipzig vs Augsburg: Leipzig sit seven points behind Bayern, but the title race isn't over just yet. Die Roten Bullen will hope to close this gap even further when they welcome an Augsburg side who've won only one of their last five games - but will they be able to get the job done?
Union Berlin vs Schalke: Both these teams have been in awful form lately. Union Berlin have won just one of their last five Bundesliga games, while Schalke have picked up just one point from their last five ties. They're also one of just two teams in Europe's "Big 5" leagues who haven't won an away game this term - the other is Crotone, who sit bottom last in Serie A.
Schalke have conceded a whopping 52 goals so far and scored just 15 times, but this possibly could be the break they've been desperately looking for as they chase what would be their second win of the season.
Wolfsburg vs Gladbach: Just as Wolfsburg have been on a kick, Gladbach have suffered a dip in form. It was only last month that they battled to a 3-2 win against Bayern after going two goals down, but since then, things haven't gone as well as they'd planned. Amazingly, at one point, Gladbach were in a top four spot but now have slid into seventh. Will they be able to get back on track?
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