Who plays against whom and when?
Which game should you definitely not miss?
Heidenheim against Bayern. On March 8th this year, Christmas and Easter fell on the same day. Bayern lost 2-3 at home against Bochum under Dieter Hecking. It was one of the very few victories this season for VfL, which has since been relegated and Hecking has been released. For Bayern, who rested important players between two Champions League games and also lost João Palhinha to a red card in the first half, it was their only defeat against a German team in the 2025 calendar year so far. They haven’t lost at all away from home. The last chance is on Sunday.
It is now up to 1. FC Heidenheim to give German football a Bayern defeat on the 4th of Advent. Sounds like David against Goliath, but the Ostalblers win every other home game against Bayern if you look at the record very carefully. Okay, they’ve only played them twice, but many fans still remember their 3-2 win in April 2024, despite being 2-0 down. And you can guess three times who was the last league leaderbefore Bayern established themselves at the top until today?
Which game can you safely miss?
Dortmund against Mönchengladbach. What Matthias Sammer sometimes says something about it, there should be a separate Duolingo language course for that. “If that wasn’t Borussia Dortmund’s problem and everyone saw it, then we wouldn’t have the problem, it’s quite simple,” said sporting advisor Aki Watzkes this week in the most beautiful Sammerisch on Sky. He joined Nico Schlotterbeck, who had recently criticized a lack of attitude in the best Dortmund tradition: “There are people who have wonderful character traits in the perception of what he does, but no leadership qualities. Of course, they are frightening at first.” As Duolingo students who have failed several times, we are trying out this triple XP rating: Schlotterbeck was referring to his fellow players. The addressee of Sammer’s attack, on the other hand, is likely to be Sebastian Kehl. As we hear, the days of the sports director, who has been very popular with Watzke for a long time and whose future has often been in question, will soon be numbered.
Who is in the spotlight?
Jurgen Klopp. When he was still a coach in Dortmund, he said about the former coach Matthias Sammer, then sports director at FC Bayern: “As Matthias Sammer, I would thank God every day that they brought him in. I don’t think Bayern Munich would have a point less if Matthias Sammer wasn’t there.” Klopp now has a similar job to Sammer as Head of Global Soccer in the Red Bull Group, and his first year of work is coming to an end. The interim results don’t look bad. Leipzig is in second place, five places better than in the previous season. With a win against Leverkusen on Saturday, the most important team from the can kingdom would consolidate their Champions League ambitions. Over the holidays, a nice question arises that one can philosophize about for a long time: How many points less would Leipzig have if Jürgen Klopp wasn’t there?
