As hundreds of thousands die from a global pandemic, as livelihoods are ruined by a tanking economy and as Minneapolis burns amid protests over a black man dying at the hands of police, 2020 has already reached a decade’s worth of devastation in five months.
Fortuna Dusseldorf boosted their hopes of avoiding relegation from the Bundesliga as goals from Rouwen Hennings and Kenan Karaman helped them come from behind to beat Schalke 04 2-1 at home in a scrappy contest on Wednesday.
The result left Fortuna 16th, the relegation playoff spot, on 27 points from 28 games, one behind Mainz who stayed in the safety zone with a 1-1 draw at Union Berlin.
Schalke, who extended their winless league run to 10 matches, stayed ninth on 37 points.
In midweek action in the 2.Bundesliga, VfL Osnabrück defeated Greuther Furth to take its point tally to 33 for the season. Osnabrück, competing in the 2.Bundesliga for the first time since 2010-11 after securing promotion last season, is now five points clear of the relegation playoff space with six games left to play.
USMNT player Timmy Chandler helped Eintracht Frankfurt secure a 3-3 draw against Freiburg with an 82nd-minute goal on Tuesday.
Frankfurt had gone down 3-1 before Japanese midfielder Daichi Kamada struck in the 79th minute to bring Die Adler back within one. Soon after, Chandler popped up at the back post to steer home a long cross from Filip Kostic.
Bayern Munich put itself on the cusp of an eighth straight Bundesliga title after defeating Borussia Dortmund 1-0 at an empty Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday. Joshua Kimmich’s delicate chip just before halftime proved the difference as Bayern opened up a seven-point lead at the top with only six matches remaining.
The battle for the prestigious European Golden Shoe award has effectively morphed into a four-horse race between Lazio’s Ciro Immobile and three Bundesliga representatives: Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner and Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland. The Bundesliga top scorers are largely pacing Europe right now, but who else is lighting up Germany’s top division?
(Updated 05/24/20)
He’s been heavily linked with Liverpool — although Chelsea, Manchester United and Inter Milan are reportedly in the fight — but RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner might’ve added a little more to his $70 million valuation following a hat-trick in Sunday’s 5-0 rout of Mainz.
Schalke slumped to a shock 3-0 home loss to relegation-threatened Augsburg on Sunday, their fourth defeat in five games dropping them to eighth place in the Bundesliga.
Augsburg's Eduard Löwen curled in a sensational free kick from 25 yards in the sixth minute and Nigerian winger Noah Sarenren Bazee slotted home in the 76th before Sergio Cordova added the third in stoppage time.
6’: Eduard Löwen Free Kick
Bayer Leverkusen thrashed Werder Bremen 4-1 on Monday in a match that showcased exactly why Leverkusen could be playing in the Champions League next season while Werder’s 40-year stay in the top division is almost certainly at an end.
Given it’s the only major league in action, there’s no ignoring the season Robert Lewandowski’s having anymore. On Sunday, the Bayern Munich striker scored his landmark 40th goal across all competitions this season, a staggering total that begs comparison: Cristiano Ronaldo has 25 and Lionel Messi has 24.
The 31-year-old has never finished higher than fourth in Ballon d’Or voting (2015), but he’s going toe-to-toe with Lazio’s Ciro Immobile for this season’s prestigious Golden Shoe award.