The international break is finally over, and that means it's back to club football. The Bundesliga resumes action this Friday, with many interesting games in store for German football fans, including another reunion for Julian Naglesmann, Wolfsburg hoping to finally end their horrible winless streak, and a high-flying Union Berlin seeking to break into the top three.
Here's all you need to know ahead of matchday 21.
Bundesliga standings ahead of matchday 21
Here's how the table looks ahead of the next round of games:
Pos. Tim MN M S K MG KG SG P Keterangan
1
Bayer Leverkusen
31
25
6
0
77
22
+55
81
SSMMM
2
Bayern München
31
22
3
6
89
38
+51
69
MMMKK
3
Stuttgart
31
20
4
7
70
38
+32
64
SKMMS
4
RB Leipzig
31
19
5
7
73
35
+38
62
MMMMS
5
Borussia Dortmund
31
16
9
6
59
39
+20
57
KSMKM
6
Eintracht Frankfurt
31
11
12
8
47
42
+5
45
KMKSS
7
Freiburg
31
11
7
13
43
55
-12
40
KSMKM
8
Augsburg
31
10
9
12
48
52
-4
39
KKMKS
9
Hoffenheim
31
11
6
14
55
63
-8
39
KMKMK
10
Werder Bremen
31
10
7
14
41
50
-9
37
MMKSK
11
Heidenheim
30
8
10
12
43
52
-9
34
KSMSS
12
Wolfsburg
31
9
7
15
37
51
-14
34
MMKKM
13
Borussia M'gladbach
31
7
11
13
53
60
-7
32
SKKMK
14
Union Berlin
31
8
6
17
26
50
-24
30
SKKKS
15
Bochum
31
6
12
13
37
62
-25
30
MKSKS
16
Mainz 05
31
5
13
13
32
49
-17
28
SSMMS
17
Köln
31
4
11
16
24
54
-30
23
SKKMS
18
Darmstadt 98
30
3
8
19
30
72
-42
17
MKKSK
Bundesliga games you won't want to miss on matchday 21
Augsburg vs Union Berlin: Union Berlin continue to impress, and they've now put themselves in contention for a Champions League football spot. Third place is actually within their reach, provided they can beat Augsburg and Bayer Leverkusen don't defeat Borussia Dortmund in a much anticipated clash. Given that Augsburg are barely hanging onto 16th spot, and have picked up just three wins from their last five games, this indeed could present a strong opportunity for the visitors to potentially find themselves moving up the table by the time matchday 21 concludes.
Borussia Dortmund vs Bayer Leverkusen: A top four clash is in store as Dortmund welcome Leverkusen. Bayern now have a six point gap on top of the table, but die Schwarzgelben still haven't given up hope of catching them. While that's highly unlikely, they'll still want to make sure they can consolidate second spot and keep Leverkusen at bay when the two sides lock horns this weekend. Will Moussa Diaby, fresh off his first ever hat-trick last weekend cause problems for the hosts at Signal Iduna Park?
Dortmund will be really concerned - once again - about the fitness of Erling Haaland, who's struggled with injuries all season. As of now, the Norwegian, who continues to be a target for Europe's biggest clubs, could end up missing this tie outright due to a groin injury, but given that the game isn't until Sunday, he will continue to be evaluated until then.
Bayern Munich vs RB Leipzig: Old faces will become reacquainted once against as Julian Naglesmann welcomes his former side to the Allianz Arena. Leipzig have had their ups and downs, resulting in the sacking of American tactician Jesse Marsch last year, but things have started to improve for Leipzig as of late.
Indeed, Domenico Tedesco's men have now seen a big improvement as they'll come into this contest having won their last three league games on the trot. Still, they will have to face Bayern, who've scored a whopping 65 goals from just 20 games. That being said, Leipzig are the only team to win all of their games (across all comps) so far in 2022, and are the last team to block Bayern from scoring. Ironically, though, Naglesmann was in charge of die Roten Bullen at that point in time, which was in February 2020. Two years later, it'll be interesting to see how things pan out.
Wolfsburg vs Greuther Fürth: Certainly, no one could've predicted that Wolfsburg and Greuther Fürth would be so close in the table, especially considering the way Wolfsburg burst out of the gates early on to surge to the top of the table. Unfortunately, that's exactly what has happened over the past few months. Wolfsburg haven't won a game since November, and have picked up just one point from their last five games.
Meanwhile, Greuther Furth recently won their second game and while they're still quite a ways away from safety, the visitors will have a glimmer of hope at getting something out of this match considering Wolfsburg's horrible form over the last two months. Indeed, Wolfsburg are just two matches away from matching their bad run from 2009/10, when they failed to win 13 consecutive games.
Team news for matchday 21
Here's who's out and and in doubt ahead of matchday 21
*All info as of 04 February 2022
Bayern Munich: Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (AFCON), Alphonso Davies (heart issue), Bouna Sarr (AFCON); Doubtful - Leon Goretzka (knee injury), Josep Stanisic (thigh injury)
Borussia Dortmund: Emre Can (groin injury), Erling Haaland (groin injury), Mateu Morey (knee injury), Marcel Schmelzer (knee injury); Doubtful - Mats Hummels (ill)
Bayer Leverkusen: Julian Baumgartlinger (knee injury), Daley Sinkgraven (groin injury), Edmond Tapsoba (AFCON), Andrey Lunev (ankle injury); Doubtful - Exequiel Palacios (back injury), Paulinho (match fitness)
Borussia Moenchengladbach: Lars Stindl (knee injury); Doubtful - Tobias Sippel (rib injury)
RB Leipzig: Tyler Adams (thigh injury), Marcel Halstenberg (thigh injury)
Wolfsburg: Lukas Nmecha (ankle injury), Xaver Schlager (knee injury), Paulo Otavio (knee injury), William (knee injury)
Eintracht Frankfurt: Ragnar Ache (muscular issues), Daichi Kamada (thigh injury), Filip Kostic (flu), Diant Ramaj (knee injury); Doubtful - Martin Hinteregger (knock), Stefan Ilsanker (COVID-19)
