It was painful for an assistant referee at the weekend in the Bundesliga. The unfortunate foals from Gladbach were hit even harder. And Uli Hoeneß fought back tears.
That’s how the game day went
Excitement of the game day
Normally, assistant referees are only indirectly in contact with the game. You run up and down the line and raise the flag for offside, foul or throw-in. Linesman Mike Pickel, on the other hand, became part of the turf action involuntarily and painfully when he was on duty on Sunday. Hoffenheim’s Christoph Baumgartner was pushed away from his opponent in a duel on the sideline to such an extent that he crashed into pimples at full speed. The linesman went rudely to the ground and Baumgartner fell over him. But even assistant referees can bite their teeth: After a short treatment on the knee, pimples continued.
Matchday losers
How much misfortune can a team overtake in just 90 minutes? Borussia Mönchengladbach entered new dimensions in this regard on Saturday evening. Off we went’s already in the third minute when goalkeeper Yann Sommer got a rebound from the post so stupidly against his foot that it rolled into his own goal. But the curious own goal was just the beginning of the Gladbach bankruptcy bad luck and breakdown show. While Leverkusen scored four goals, Gladbach only hit the post and didn’t even hit the goal with a penalty. And that’s not all: With Marcus Thuram, Alassane Plea, Matthias Ginter and Stefan Lainer, four top performers had to leave the field injured. The latter even suffered a broken ankle and will be out for a long time.
Match day winner
VfL Bochum is back! The gray mouse of the Ruhr area – forever in the shadow of Dortmund and Schalke but nonetheless an absolute cult club among football fans – is back in the Bundesliga after what feels like an eternity. With a team without stars and a real Bochum trainer. A remarkable solo run by Gerrit Holtmann and a header goal by Sebastian Polter gave the Bochumers their first Bundesliga home win after exactly 4,207 days.
You should see this gate (again)
In the 4-0 victory over Stuttgart, RB Leipzig showed that the team will be involved in the championship fight despite the slip on the first matchday. The class in the team became clear immediately after the second half kicked off: In just 15 seconds, the Leipzig offensive to the goal by Emil Forsberg combined, dribbled and hacked. The opposing defense could only watch with amazement.
image of the day
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
