All you need to know about the seventeenth day of the German Bundesliga

Coach Xabi Alonso wants to start with Leverkusen after feeling the latest achievement. Dortmund and Gladbach fear away matches and in Cologne suspect Bayern is not Bremen. All you need to know about the seventeenth day of the German Bundesliga.

Bayern Munich – 1. FC Cologne (Tuesday, 8:30 pm)

Ah, the people of Cologne. Before the World Cup break, they had failed five times in a row in the Bundesliga and scored only two goals. So they trained at 1. FC Köln, it went well. Werder Bremen came in on Saturday and conceded seven goals for Cologne, which was FC’s highest win in nearly 40 years.

Since then, coach Steffen Baumgart has been warning a lot, he, of course, knows this: Saturday is not Tuesday, and Bayern is not Bremen.

Bayern are Bayern Munich, they just became fall champions for the 25th time. They have only failed to win the title three times. According to statistics, Bayern Munich is the champion with a percentage of 88 percent. What else it says: Colin is not going to stop Bayern, the last victory against the record champions was twelve years ago.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich announced the separation from goalkeeper coach Tony Tabalović the day before the match. The injured Manuel Neuer loses his closest associate. For now, former goalkeeper Tom Stark will take over the role of Tabalović.

TSG Hoffenheim – VfB Stuttgart (Tuesday, 8.30pm)

Overseas trips to Sinsheim to TSG Hoffenheim could be a good thing for VfB Stuttgart. An hour on the bus as the Baden-Württemberg landscape rolls by outside: cows, industrial estates, the occasional snow. If only for football: Stuttgart have not won any of their last seven away matches against Hoffenheim.

Which is why, before the next trip to Sinsheim, it’s like he’s always at VfB these days: there’s hope, but he’s always closely linked to coach Bruno Labbadia. He must save the club from relegation. How good is Labbadia’s team at Hoffenheim: Stuttgart won the Bundesliga three times against TSG, in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The coach, as you might have guessed, was always called Labbadia.

Hertha BSC – VfL Wolfsburg (Tuesday, 8:30pm)

After all, according to one statistic, Hertha and Wolfsburg are on equal terms, at least approximately. No team in the Bundesliga uses big chances better than the VfL, 57 percent resulting in goals. Berliners are good at it too, they use 53 percent of their chances. But as with stats – there is often a problem: Wolfsburg have scored 30 goals which is seventh, and Hertha have celebrated only 20 which is penultimate.

Therefore, Berlin coach Sandro Schwarz just said that they only know very well “What situation are we in?” Black, of course, talked about the relegation battle, his team have lost four of their last five league games and have only won three. Wolfsburg have won all of their past five matches. Perhaps the differences between Hertha and Wolfsburg are greater than some statistics suggest.

1. FSV Mainz 05 – Borussia Dortmund (Wednesday, 18:30)

Away games are not Dortmund’s business this season. BVB have lost five of their eight away league matches, and Judd Bellingham misses the ninth due to a yellow card suspension. After all, the opponent is called Mainz 05. Dortmund have not lost at Mainz since September 2014 and since then they have scored 19 points out of 21 in seven away matches.

Of course coach Edin Terzic will know that, but there are other things on his mind now. For example, carelessness on the defensive level, I witnessed it again in the victory over Augsburg, when VBVB conceded three goals. Terzic says: “We cannot assume that we will win every game if we concede three goals.” You don’t want to contradict him.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen – VfL Bochum (Wednesday, 8:30pm)

Xabi Alonso and Bayer Leverkusen seem to be working. It wasn’t an easy start, but Leverkusen recently won four consecutive league matches and is no longer 16th in the table, but 9th. Alonso changed the stats in the game for Bayer, the defense is now winning and changing the game. As for the culture of the game, they are already hoping for Florian Wertz back against Bochum.

And there are similarities between Leverkusen and Bochum, who would have thought. They also rely on defense and counterattacks in Bochum, and they are successful there too. VfL has won the Bundesliga three times in a row, the last time 15 years ago. Only one like Wirtz does not have coach Thomas Letsch on his team.

SC Freiburg – Eintracht Frankfurt (Wednesday, 8.30pm)

Freiburg vs. Frankfurt, 4th vs. 2nd – that’s a story, of course. Which got a new tune this past weekend. Freiburg celebrated Christmas in second place, then lost 6-0 to Wolfsburg, serving coach Christian Streich. He said: “I’d better say nothing, I won’t say anything wrong.”

Then Streich said something else. “no chance” It was his team, and in general “very bad”. Of course, Streich only spoke about the Wolfsburg match, otherwise he would be very happy with his team. And now Eintracht from Frankfurt. A team against which Freiburg has won just one of their last five home matches.

FC Augsburg – Borussia Monchengladbach (Wednesday, 8:30pm CEST)

Augsburg played an exciting match against Dortmund at the weekend. FCA was behind and tied three times, failing to do so only the fourth time. It was a narrow defeat – and a series they could have done without in Augsburg. They have been waiting to win there for eight Bundesliga matches, which is longer than any other team this season.

Since Augsburg Borussia Mönchengladbach may be within reach. Gladbachers have lost four of their last six matches, and away matches are nothing for Borussia anyway. Under coach Daniel Farke, Gladbach has yet to win a league match abroad.

SV Werder Bremen – 1. FC Union Berlin (Wednesday, 8.30pm)

The atmosphere before the duel between Werder Bremen and 1. FC Union could hardly be different. Berlin players are third in the Bundesliga and have topped the table for a few weeks. And now they can set a club record: the victory in Bremen and Union was the most successful first half of the season in the first or second division season.

In Bremen they are very far from that. At the end of the week, Werder lost for the third time in a row in the Bundesliga and also conceded seven goals against Cologne. In general, the goals were conceded: there are 34 in total, only Schalke and Bochum defend worse.