Matchday 25 in the Bundesliga saw big wins at both ends of the table as the race for survival and Europe heats up. From six-goal thrillers to head coach dismissals, there’s plenty to discuss from matchday 25 in the Bundesliga. Here is everything you need to know. 

No Kane, No Problem

Bayern Munich had to make do without Harry Kane on Friday evening, with the English captain absent through a minor injury. Despite their start striker watching from the stands, Bayern cruised to a 4-1 victory against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Vincent Kompany’s side typically dominated the first half, regularly challenging Moritz Nicolas in the Gladbach net, but the visitors did have their fair share of half-chances. It took until the 33rd minute for Bayern to open the scoring.

Leon Goretzka’s chipped pass landed in the path of Luis Diaz, who scored to make it 1-0 with his 14th goal of the season. 

Then, as the first half progressed, Bayern gained a stronger hold and would double their lead just before the break when a nice team move was finished off by Konrad Laimer to make it 2-0. 

Just after half time, business resumed and Bayern would win a penalty when Nicolas Jackson was played through but was fouled by Rocco Reitz for a denial of a goalscoring opportunity. With Harry Kane absent, this allowed Jamal Musiala to step up and score his first goal since returning from injury. Jackson would be the next to end his goal drought, as he would make it 4-0 just before the 80th minute. 

At the end of the game, 17-year-old Wael Mohya would make it 4-1 to give Gladbach a consolation goal, but it would make him the youngest scorer in the history of die Fohlen. 

Up next for Bayern is Atalanta in the Champions League. The Bavarians will be without veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. The 39-year-old was replaced at half-time by Jonas Urbig, who will now take up the number one spot again as Neuer recovers from a minor muscle tear in his calf. 

Wolfsburg Sack Daniel Bauer 

Wolfsburg have announced the dismissal of head coach Daniel Bauer and managing director of sports, Peter Christiansen.

VfL’s decision comes following the 2-1 defeat against Hamburg, with the club occupying 17th, four points adrift of Mainz 05 in 15th. 

“This decision was anything but easy for us,” said sporting director Pirmin Schwegler. “We had hoped to turn things around together. After analyzing the overall situation, we came to the conclusion that we needed to give the team a new impetus to secure our place in the league.” 

The rumours were already circulating, and it was no surprise that VfL announced the appointment of former head coach Dieter Hecking. The 61-year-old returns to the Bundesliga outfit he last coached 10 years ago. Hecking brings with him the experience of having coached 443 Bundesliga matches with Wolfsburg, Nürnberg, Hannover 96, Alemannia Aachen, and Borussia Mönchengladbach. 

Most recently, Hecking coached VfL Bochum in the top flight last season. Wolfsburg were rumored to be interested in bringing in their former coach last week, but ultimately opted to stick with Bauer for one more match

Bremen Win Back-to-Back 

Werder Bremen have won consecutive Bundesliga games for the first time this season after beating Union Berlin 4-1 in the capital on Sunday evening. 

Union enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening quarter of an hour and were awarded a penalty when Niklas Stark pulled down Ilyas Ansah, who was through on goal. Derrick Köhn confidently converted the spot-kick past Mio Backhaus to give the hosts a deserved lead.

The game would flip on its head almost immediately when Andras Schäfer was given his marching orders for a clumsy tackle on Jens Stage in the middle of the park.

That soon gave Bremen renewed impetus as they pushed for an equaliser, and they soon found it thanks to a perfectly placed strike into the top corner from Olivier Deman. Thioune’s men weren’t happy to settle for going into half-time level and soon took the lead through a bullet header from Stage following a Cameron Puertas corner.

Bremen continued to control possession against the 10 men of Union, and 20 minutes into the second half, they extended their lead. The ball fell kindly to Romano Schmid inside the box after a failed clearance in the Union backline, though Schmid could have pulled the trigger himself; he chose to square it for Marco Grüll, who had the simple task of poking home.

Bremen saw the game out excellently, not giving Union a sniff of a goal. They added the icing on the cake at the end of stoppage time, with 18-year-old Patrice Čović scoring a fourth after a great lay off from Leonardo Bittencourt.

Bremen have now launched themselves in 13th position, five points away from automatic relegation. However, there is still just one point separating them and the clubs between 14th to 16th. 

Around The Grounds 

After suffering a dramatic 3-2 defeat at the hands of rivals Bayern Munich in the Der Klassiker last weekend, Borussia Dortmund returned to winning ways, courtesy of goals from Serhou Guirassy and Maximilian Beier as they beat FC Köln 2-1. The win further secures BVB’s hold on second position, now six points clear of Hoffenheim in third. Following the win, Dortmund sporting director Lars Ricken has confirmed that Julian Brandt will leave the club on a free transfer when his contract expires at the end of the season.

SC Freiburg and Bayer Leverkusen played out a thrilling 3-3 draw. Leverkusen drop down to sixth place, with just three points separating them, RB Leipzig in fifth, and VfB Stuttgart in fourth. Freiburg stay in eighth on 34 points, with an outsider’s chance of European football. 

Elsewhere, there were wins for TSG Hoffenheim (4-2 vs FC Heidenheim) and RB Leipzig (2-1 vs FC Augsburg), whilst there were draws between St. Pauli / Frankfurt and Mainz 05 / Stuttgart.