Bayer 04 Leverkusen hired a world star as a coach - and he delivered straight away: Xabi Alonso, world champion as a player, clearly won his debut as a Bundesliga coach. VfL Bochum wins for the first time this season on the ninth day of the game.
Bayer Leverkusen - FC Schalke 04 4: 0 (2: 0)
Xabi Alonso made his debut as Bundesliga coach. The new coach of Bayer Leverkusen witnessed a 4-0 (2-0) walk by the Werkself against the completely harmless FC Schalke 04, whose coach Frank Kramer is now under pressure. In the final phase, the many Schalke fans who had traveled with them chanted loudly: "Kramer out". For the former Spanish world-class professional Alonso, however, it was a successful debut two days after his predecessor Gerardo Seoane was on leave. The 40-year-old emotionally celebrated the goals of Moussa Diaby (38th minute), Jeremie Frimpong (41st/52nd) and substitute Paulinho (90th) on the sidelines.
Thanks to the second win of the season for the Champions League participant from Leverkusen, the Rhinelanders left the relegation zone with eight points from nine games and passed promoted Schalke. The Royal Blues have now been waiting for an away win for 33 Bundesliga games. In particular, Schalke's lack of playing level remains worrying, and the performance on Saturday was also combative.
In addition to a change in personnel compared to the 0: 2 in the Champions League at FC Porto, which cost predecessor Seoane his job, the switch to a three-man defensive chain when in possession of the ball was particularly noticeable. The Werkself initially didn't know what to do with the manpower they wanted in midfield. As expected, Bayer was decisive in view of the individually significantly better players, but far too unimaginative in the first half hour.
In view of the current situation of both clubs, which started the season badly, it was initially not a respectable game. Especially from the promoted little came apart from fighting and bolting. An idea for the build-up of the game could not be seen at the Revierclub. Added to this was individual inferiority. Goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow let a long-range shot from committed Diaby pass after just under 40 minutes.
The leadership gave one crisis team - Leverkusen - noticeably more self-confidence and unsettled the other crisis club. Just two minutes after taking the lead, Schalke's defense let themselves be played off all too easily and Frimpong, after assisting the best Leverkusen player Diaby, increased the lead to a reassuring 2-0 lead for Bayer. With one goal and some assists - Diaby later prepared the third Leverkusen goal again by Frimpong - the Frenchman scored more goals in just one half under Alonso than in the first eight Bundesliga games of the season under ex-coach Seoane.
Kramer reacted at half-time and brought in Mehmet Aydin and Thomas Ouwejan for the again disappointing attacker Sebastian Polter and the overwhelmed Tobias Mohr. Leverkusen now withdrew a bit, but Schalke still lacked ideas and class for the build-up game. Nevertheless, Alonso remained tense and always tried to make contact, especially with the Spanish-speaking players of his new team. Even the decisive 3:0 again by Frimpong just a few minutes after the break hardly caused him to calm down.
For Alonso, Leverkusen is the first major coaching station after a move to Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2021 did not work out. Most recently, he coached the second team of the Spanish first division club Real Sociedad San Sebastian for three years.
1. FSV Mainz 05 - RB Leipzig 1: 1 (1: 0)
RB Leipzig again missed important points in the fight for the international starting places. The Champions League participant only drew 1-1 (0-1) at FSV Mainz 05 and is thus stuck in the middle of the table in the Bundesliga. In front of 26,100 spectators, Marcus Ingvartsen put the hosts ahead in the 45th minute, which Christopher Nkunku (80th) equalized.
Both teams, who are still tied with twelve points each, shied away from the full risk at the beginning. So what happened in the starting phase mainly took place between the penalty areas. The guests caused the first excitement. Nkunku crossed to Amadou Haidara, whose header smacked the post. That was a wake-up call for Mainz, who now played bolder forwards. However, Leipzig goalkeeper Janis Blaswich, who is set to stand in for the seriously injured Peter Gulacsi in the coming months, twice stood in the way of the home side taking the lead. First the 31-year-old deflected a shot from Karim Onisiwo (23rd) around the post, then he fended off an attempt by Jae-sung Lee (25th) with a strong foot save.
Before the game, RB managing director Oliver Mintzlaff confirmed that the Saxons wanted to sign the clubless Norwegian Orjan Nyland because of Gulacsi's long absence (torn cruciate ligament). The 32-year-old should be number two behind Blaswich. "I can say that we are in final talks," said Mintzlaff on the pay TV channel Sky. After the Mainz double chance, things calmed down again. RB had a lot more possession of the ball, but couldn't do anything with it. The guests found it extremely difficult to build up the game against the running and fighting Rheinhessen and could hardly put themselves in the limelight.
Before the break, the 05ers only got in trouble once more when goalkeeper Robin Zentner saved at the last moment from Emil Forsberg, who was ready to score. The Swede was one of six new players in Leipzig's starting XI after beating Celtic Glasgow 3-1 in the Champions League last Wednesday. With the last action before the break, Mainz then struck. Anton Stach skilfully chipped the ball into Ingvartsen's run, who gave Blaswich no chance with a shot into the far post. After the change, Silvan Widmer stayed in the Mainz dressing room because of a thigh injury. The captain was replaced by Danny da Costa. Leipzig pressed vehemently for the equalizer, which initially did not want to fall.
A goal by Abdou Diallo (53rd) was not recognized because the ex-Mainzer was offside, then FSV goalkeeper Zentner saved twice with his foot against Nkunku and Timo Werner within 60 seconds. Only ten minutes before the end, Nkunku hit his head and thus saved RB from the impending bankruptcy.
VfL Bochum - Eintracht Frankfurt 3:0 (0:0)
VfL Bochum clinched their first win of the season at the ninth attempt. The bottom of the table surprisingly won 3-0 (0-0) against the Eintracht Frankfurt team, who suffered a setback before the Champions League second leg at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday (9 p.m. / DAZN). . The end of the Frankfurt series of the last four competitive games without defeat after the goal by Philipp Hofmann (71st minute), the own goal by Evan Ndicka (87th) and the goal by Philipp Förster (90th 4) is not good as an encouragement for the premier class - Duel in London.
The Hessians came with great expectations, especially since 2014 world champion Mario Götze was back in the starting XI on Saturday after his ankle injury and the resulting break in the first leg against Tottenham (0-0). At best, they could even have made the jump to third place in the table. Nevertheless, in front of 24,850 spectators, Oliver Glasner made five changes to his team compared to the Champions League game, including the recently strong Makoto Hasebe who got a break and captain Sebastian Rode was only on the bench for an hour.
VfL coach Thomas Letsch had also changed the Bochum team to four positions at his home premiere - and the coach returned from the three-man defense to the four-man defense after the 0:4 in Leipzig. Philipp Förster replaced VfL playmaker Kevin Stöger, who tested positive for the corona virus. However, the qualities of a playmaker were not in demand from Bochum in the first few minutes, instead a stable defense. The Frankfurters, with their offensively chosen line-up, put pressure on from the start, but initially only had opportunities to take the lead through Lucas Alario (7th/23rd minute) - because Bochum was struggling. As the new coach Letsch had previously demanded: "It must be uncomfortable to play against us."
The Bochum team took on the duels against the significantly stronger Frankfurt team, tried to take the ball from their opponents in their half and wanted to reward their performance. But Eintracht goalkeeper Kevin Trapp was not seriously tested by the harmless VfL offensive for a long time. Not even in the second half, in which Frankfurt started the game again and missed the greatest opportunity to take the lead with Rafael Borré's (63rd) hit on the post. Bochum was initially only busy with defensive work. Frankfurt coach Glasner reacted and rearranged the offensive with Daichi Kamada coming on for the inconspicuous Götze.
But Bochum now had room to counterattack due to the guests' urge to attack and took advantage of this: Hofmann turned the game upside down with his header after a corner, Frankfurt's Ndicka, who unluckily deflected the ball into his own goal shortly before the end of the game, made the preliminary decision , before Förster scored Bochum's third goal.
FC Augsburg - VfL Wolfsburg 1:1 (0:1)
In the hectic summit against coach Niko Kovac and VfL Wolfsburg, FC Augsburg missed their fourth win in a row. In a heated and nervous game with pack formation and fisticuffs, coach Enrico Maassen's team won a valuable point at 1:1 (0:1). The Augsburgers still have to wait to improve on their Bundesliga record from the end of 2014 with four three-pointers in a row.
In a nervous duel with many defensive mistakes and interruptions, Yannick Gerhardt (27th minute) gave Wolfsburg the lead in front of 26,220 spectators. A short power play after the change was completed by Robert Gumny (55th) for Augsburg, who had to do without goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz, who was so strong last time, due to a thigh injury. Replacement Tomas Koubek did his job just as well as Koen Casteels at VfL.
At first Augsburg really wanted to play this game - and put the error-prone Wolfsburg under constant pressure. A co-production by Paulo Otavio and goalkeeper Casteels saved VfL from falling behind early on. A combination of Fredrik Jensen and Ruben Vargas, who started in place of André Hahn (knee) and Mergim Berisha (suspension), put Ermedin Demirovic (13') in the best shooting position. But Demirovic didn't put enough pressure behind the ball from four yards out, Otavio's foot and especially Casteel's right hand prevented the 0-1.
Niko Kovac first took off his parka. His Wolfsburg were then more secure and offered the Augsburgers hardly any space to get started. A sharp in-depth pass from Jakub Kaminski to Ridle Baku exposed the home side's defence. Baku delayed in front of the goal line and passed the ball to the onrushing Gerhardt, who could almost walk the ball into the goal. After a pack of fisticuffs, referee Daniel Siebert dealt five yellow cards shortly before half-time: a total of three against Augsburg's Jeffrey Gouweleeuw and Carlos Gruezo and Wolfsburg's Paulo Otavio, and one against the bench of both teams. Football was hardly played in this phase.
Shortly after the restart, Koubek excelled. Baku crossed to Felix Nmecha with pinpoint accuracy, but the Czech goalkeeper (49') quickly blocked his header from six meters off the line. Gikiewicz, who has been missing a Bundesliga game for Augsburg for the first time since his move in the summer of 2020, also applauded in the stands.
After Gumny's equalizer, Casteels (63') threw himself twice successfully into shots from Augsburg's captain Gouweleeuw. Iago (66th) then only moved a few centimeters. The encounter later slowed down, but goalkeeper Koubek remained alert until the end against Maximilian Arnold (88th).
