RB Leipzig scored a fourth victory in a row in the German championship on Saturday, overthrowing Freiburg (3-1), and moved to the top of the Bundesliga, while Leverkusen floundered in Bremen (2-2) and that Dortmund lost to Augsburg (2-1).
With 20 points on the clock, Leipzig confirms its almost perfect start to the season – four points left along the way against Union Berlin and Sankt Pauli, each time 0-0 – and puts Bayern Munich (17 pts ) in the obligation to win on the lawn of the red lantern Bochum (1 point) to finish the 8th day in the lead.
Bayer Leverkusen, the reigning German champion, gave up a victory that was reaching out to them in Bremen, conceding a draw at the start of the evening (2-2), after leading twice.
The Werkself (factory eleven, nickname of the club team founded by the chemist Bayer in 1904) thus leaves a first gap of five points to be created on Leipzig, and two on the Munich team expected at the turn on Sunday (3:30 p.m.) , after the rout at Barcelona in midweek (4-1) in the Champions League.
Last week, Leipzig sat in the comfortable leader’s chair for three hours, while Bayern corrected Stuttgart (4-0) and regained their possession on goal difference. This time, the eastern German club is guaranteed to stay there for at least 24 hours.
Saturday, against Fribourg, Willi Orban’s teammates were first dominated for around twenty minutes and were logically behind, before turning the game around after returning from the locker room in the space of around ten minutes. Orban (47th) and Lutsharel Geertruida (58th).
Dortmund fail away
They finally took cover thanks to Lois Openda, scorer in the 79th minute of her fifth league goal this season.
If Leipzig is running at the pace of a title contender at the start of the season, its start to its European adventure is much more complicated with three defeats against renowned teams (in Madrid against Atlético and at home against Juventus and Liverpool). .
Florian Wirtz for Leverkusen (in black) and Senne Lynen for Bremen on October 26, 2024 / Focke Strangmann / AFP
In Bremen, Xabi Alonso proposed a more classic team composition than what he aligned against Brest (1-1 draw in the Champions League), including the return of Victor Boniface, left to rest after his accident the road without gravity a week ago.
Leverkusen led twice thanks to Boniface (30th) and an own goal from Felix Agu (77th). But the defending champion’s defense is more crumbly this season, and conceded goals from Marvin Ducksch (74th) while Leverkusen controlled the second half, and Romano Schmid in the 90th minute.
Leverkusen have already conceded 15 goals in the first eight matches of the season compared to 24 over the entire 2023/24 financial year.
Far from the top, Borussia Dortmund once again sank far from its bases, beaten in Augsburg (2-1) after leading the score, conceding its third defeat in four trips this season in the Bundesliga. It comes four days after a 5-2 loss in Madrid against Real after leading 2-0 at the break.
Nuri Sahin’s men are already seven points behind first place (13 against 20) after eight days. They find themselves under pressure before traveling to Wolfsburg on Tuesday (8:45 p.m.) in the round of 16 of the German Cup, for one of the four duels between Bundesliga clubs at this stage of the competition.
