5 Talking Points from Matchweek 13 of the Bundesliga

Matchday 13 in the Bundesliga ended on Sunday evening with plenty of action throughout the weekend including upsets, goals and some morale-boosting victories.

Schalke headed into the weekend six points behind Bayern Munich and there was the small matter of the Revierderby to deal with not to mention the action at the bottom end of the table where Cologne are yet to win in 13 games.

It appears VAR (Video Assistant Referee) is always a talking point each matchday, there have simply been too many talking points across the nine Bundesliga fixtures this weekend, where VAR makes the headlines for various reasons.

#1 An early relegation six-pointer

Freiburg (red) were heartened by a gutsy display in a 2-1 win over visitors Mainz

While the game of the day may have been the Revierderby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke, many eyes were glued events at the Schwarzwald-Stadion as SC Freiburg took on Mainz in a relegation six-pointer.

Heading into the fixture, Freiburg – coached by the lovable Christian Streich – were sitting in 17th place, a stark contrast from their seventh-place finish in the 2016/17 campaign that saw them qualify for the Europa League.

Streich and Freiburg have failed to recover from their early European exit and went into the game on a poor run of form.

With Florian Niederlechner out, it was up to former Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen forward Nils Petersen to lead the line for Freiburg, something which he did very well.

The 28-year-old has had a slow start to the 2017/18 campaign in contrast to his form last season but his opening goal against Mainz went some way to securing a win for the Baden-Wurttemberg club.

Florian Kath doubled Freiburg’s lead in the 90th minute before Emil Berggreen pulled a goal back for the visitors in added time, although it was a little too late.

All in all, Freiburg gave fans the performance they had desperately needed while Streich & Co. will be hoping to carry their form over to next weekend’s fixture against Hamburg.

#2 Bayern Munich lose, RB Leipzig win

Jupp Heynckes tasted defeat for the first time since his return to the Bayern job

One of the many stories on Matchweek 13 was Bayern Munich head coach Jupp Heynckes returning to Borussia Monchengladbach, his hometown club and the place he spent 12 years over two spells, where he scored 218 goals.

Unfortunately for the 72-year-old, Gladbach tend to do fairly well against the Bundesliga champions, as was the case on Saturday afternoon. Coached by Dieter Hecking, the Borussia-Park outfit took an early lead through a Thorgan Hazard penalty before Matthias Ginter doubled their tally just five minutes later.

Arturo Vidal’s goal for Bayern Munich 15 minutes from time proved to be nothing more than a consolation following exceptional defending from Gladbach, who dealt Heynckes his first defeat as Bayern Munich coach since replacing Carlo Ancelotti in October.

RB Leipzig’s 2-0 win over Werder Bremen means Bayern Munich now lead the Bundesliga by just three points which could make for interesting reading as the teams head into the winter break in less than one month.

One thing’s for certain and that’s that RB will miss Naby Keita when he departs for Liverpool in the summer, but knowing sporting director Ralf Rangnick, he’ll have a plan in place.

#3 The biggest rivalry in German football

Schalke 04 coach Domenico Tedesco would have been impressed with what he saw

While Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund is seen as ‘Der Klassiker’ and the biggest game in German football there’s nothing more important for fans than beating your local rivals. On Saturday, we saw Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke in the Ruhr derby, which certainly didn’t disappoint.

Peter Bosz came into the game needing three points having not tasted a win in the Bundesliga in five games. BVB have won just two games in 11 in all competitions and after finding themselves 4-0 up at half-time, things seemed to be running smoothly.

However, we know not to take anything for granted in football and especially a Revierderby, where the form book goes out the window. Goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Benjamin Stambouli (OG), Mario Gotze and Raphael Guerreiro sent the home fans into a frenzy but what followed was nothing short of extraordinary.

Two quickfire goals from Guido Burgstaller and Amine Harit (61st and 65th minute) lifted spirits before Daniel Caligiuri pulled Schalke back to within one goal which then came through unlikely hero, Naldo, in the 94th minute.

In Germany, it’s unlikely we’re going to see a game as good as the Revierderby all season, while Schalke head coach Domenico Tedesco was overjoyed with the result, as you would expect.

“Playing in that atmosphere at 4-0 down is, quite honestly, hell. We were perhaps a little fortunate to avoid a red card for Thilo. If that happens, it's over. Huge compliment to the team for battling back,” Tedesco told reporters.

#4 Hamburg turn up, Hoffenheim don’t

Fans of Die Rothosen (The Red Shorts) were in full voice and cheered their team to victory

Julian Nagelsmann and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim really needed a win to lift spirits within the club following their Europa League exit on Thursday, but coming up against a fighting Hamburg side was never going to be easy.

An own goal from Kevin Akpoguma after great inter-changing play between Filip Kostic and Douglas Santos down the left promised for an exciting game but for the neutral, it wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing.

However coming into this fixture, Markus Gisdol and Hamburg wouldn’t give too much care for their performance, just as long as they got the three points, which Kostic made sure of with 15 minutes remaining before Gideon Jung got his first Bundesliga goal to make it three.

Even the introduction of Adam Szalai and Andrej Kramaric - meaning Hoffenheim had four strikers on the pitch - couldn’t help Nagelsmann avoid his third defeat of the season.

While that may not seem too bad, it’s the fact they’ve won just one Bundesliga game in seven attempts and with RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund still to play before the winter break, we may well see them mid-table as they enter 2018.

That win for Hamburg means they move out of the relegation play-off, swapping places with Freiburg whom they travel to next weekend.

#5 Are Cologne dead and buried already?

Cologne looks to be dead certain for relegation unless a miracle happens

The 27th and final goal of Matchday13 went to Hertha Berlin’s Vedad Ibisevic from the spot after the Bosnian opened the scoring in the first-half against a hapless Cologne.

Qualifying for Europe for the first time in 25 years has taken its toll on the Billy Goats who remain rooted to the foot of the Bundesliga, winless in 13 games – a Bundesliga record.

During the 2016/17 season, we saw Hamburg pick up their first win of the season in week 13 and while a win on Sunday night would have been morale-boosting for Cologne, they lacked any attacking threat and were lackadaisical at the back.

Their defeat against Hertha Berlin means they are now six points behind 17th placed Werder Bremen, while they’re currently 11 points off safety and being this early in the season, it’s not looking pretty for fans of Germany’s fourth largest club.

Cologne are clearly missing Anthony Modeste who departed for the Chinese Super League in the summer. Last season, the Frenchman scored 25 of Cologne’s 51 Bundesliga goals, while they’ve scored just four in 13 games this season.

It doesn’t get any easier next weekend either with a visit to Schalke this weekend, it’s now or never for Cologne and Peter Stoger.