After Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win against Augsburg on Friday night, the Bundesliga Konferenez returned on Saturday afternoon with Borussia Dortmund convincingly beating SC Freiburg 4-0, Bayer Leverkusen coming from behind to beat Heidenheim 5-2, Hoffenheim also coming from behind to beat RB Leipzig 4-3 while there were also wins for VfB Stuttgart (2-0 vs Bochum) and Wolfsburg (1-0 vs Union Berlin).
The injury to Victor Boniface was a big blow for Leverkusen as after Florian Wirtz the Nigerian has been one of die Werkself’s best players. While Patrik Schick has struggled in form after injuries and playing behind Boniface but with his injury, Schick now needed to step up.
The 28-year-old was crucial in Leverkusen coming from behind to beat Heidenheim 5-2 with a fine poacher’s performance. The main issue now is that Schick has to continue this form to help Leverkusen climb back up the table as last season Schick scored a hat-trick against Bochum before Boniface left for the Africa Cup of Nations, looking like he was back to his best, but failed to capitalise on this form.
Away from their attack, Leverkusen’s defending remains an issue. Both of Heidenheim’s goals came from situations that could have been avoided with simply put, better defending.
Hoffenheim were never meant to be in the position that Christian Ilzer inherited from Pellegrino Matarazzo but under their new head coach they look like a rejuvenated side. The game against Leipzig, the ‘El Plastico’ was slightly chaotic but Hoffenheim took the game to Leipzig and deserved their win. The highlight of the game was Tom Bischof’s direct free kick to equalise for Hoffenheim just after halftime.
