By signing a tenth consecutive victory in all consecutive competitions on Tuesday evening at home against Mainz, Bayer Leverkusen put pressure on Bayern, who host Hoffenheim on Wednesday (8:30 p.m.), at the end of the 17th day of the German championship.
Reigning champion, Leverkusen have won their last seven Bundesliga matches, to which must be added two successes in the Champions League and a qualification for the quarter-finals of the German Cup at the expense of Bayern.
In the standings, the Werkself (the factory eleven, nickname of the team of the club founded in 1904 by the chemist Bayer) is one point behind Bayern (38 against 39), while the Munich leader still has to play his last first leg match on Wednesday.
After the impressive realism on Friday on the pitch of Borussia Dortmund (3-2 victory), Xabi Alonso's men had to wait a little longer to find the fault in the defense of Mainz, another team in good form at the moment in Germany (six victories in the last seven matches before losing at Leverkusen).
Dominant in the first period, Granit , who could do absolutely nothing.
Marmoush still decisive
Behind the Bayern/Bayer04 duo, Omar Marmoush once again participated in Eintracht Frankfurt's victory against Freiburg (4-1), scoring his 15th goal in the Bundesliga. The 25-year-old Egyptian international is one of the most coveted players in the winter transfer window, with Frankfurt confirming interest from a club on Saturday without naming it. Broadcaster Sky announced last week that Manchester City had reached an agreement with Marmoush, who shares first place in the scorers' rankings with Harry Kane (15 goals each) for at least 24 hours.
Dortmund “indigenous”
At the start of the evening, Borussia Dortmund went down in the north of Germany, in Kiel, beaten 4-2 by a novice in the Bundesliga.The first half was unworthy“, declared BVB sporting director Lars Ricken, speaking to broadcaster Sky. “In this kind of match, the way we represent the colors yellow and black is embarrassing, shameful and unworthy“, he insisted.
He defended his coach Nuri Sahin, under pressure again after two defeats in 2025, saying that a discussion with him “wasn't even necessary“, believing that the question of the coach was not on the agenda.
With 25 points, Dortmund achieved their worst first leg this season since the disastrous 2014/15 season (15 points and a penultimate place after 17 days) under the orders of Jürgen Klopp. A gulf now separates Dortmund from the top of the standings, with 13 points behind Leverkusen, and 14 behind Bayern before the Munich match on Wednesday.
