By Nathalia Araujo, dpa
Berlin (dpa) – Top of the table RB Leipzig have a Bundesliga fixture at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday as both teams hope to recover after disappointing mid-week Champions League games.
While Gladbach suffered two late goals to draw Real Madrid after a 2-0 lead on Tuesday, Leipzig were thrashed 5-0 by Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Bayern Munich continued the defence of their Champions League title with a hard-earned 2-1 win over Lokomotiv Moscow on Tuesday and travel to Cologne on Saturday.
On the same day Borussia Dortmund visit Arminia Bielefeld also after a successful game in the continental competition.
Due to the rising number of coronavirus infections in Germany fans will be banned from Bundesliga matches for the month of November as the country plans to close all cultural and recreational facilities.
The measures are part of a pre-Christmas blitz sought by Chancellor Angela Merkel, which is set to go into effect on Monday until at least the end of November.
However, most of the clubs have been playing behind closed doors or in front of just a few hundred fans since the season kicked off in September.
The good Bundesliga momentum was not enough for Leipzig at Old Trafford as they suffered the first defeat of the season. The setback itself doesn’t concern coach Julian Nagelsmann, but the 5-0 final scoring.
“The result doesn’t feel good and looks worse than it was,” Nagelsmann told DAZN after the game.”
“I think we actually played a good game after conceding. After we switched from 3-5-2 to 4-2-3-1 I can’t remember them [Manchester United] playing in our own half again before the break.”
Nagelmann’s side now need to shake off the harsh defeat in order to hold on to their place at the top of Bundesliga table. And their weekend opponent is also trying to recover from a Champions League hangover.
Gladbach were about to have a fairytale evening when they went 2-0 up against Real Madrid. But the dream was shattered as the Spanish team managed to stage a late comeback.
Sitting 6th in the Bundesliga the team now have another tough challenge against the league leaders.
“We will move on,” Marcus Thuram, who scored Gladbach goals, said. “We will work hard to improve ourselves. We will learn from this and do better in the next game.”
Bayern kept their unbeaten run in the Champions League (13 consecutive wins) with a hard-earned triumph against Lokomotiv Mowcow. On Saturday they travel to Cologne eyeing Leipzig’s first position at the table, only one point behind Nagelmann’s side.
“Moscow did really well. We missed one or two chances and took a few blows on the counter,” Thomas Mueller said after the Champions League fixture. “We’re glad we won. It means we can now focus on the weekend.”
Coach Hansi Flick still waits to see if Leon Goretzka will be available after he had calf problems during the game and was subbed off as precaution.
Also aiming to reach the top of the table Dortmund pay a visit to Bielefeld after adding up the first three points in the Champions League against Zenit Saint Petersburg.
“We must not forget to defend and must play wisely. We’ve done that well [against Zenit],” coach Lucien Favre said.
Schalke open matchday six on Friday against VfB Stuttgart trying to put an end to a winless run of 21 games. Failing to beat Stuttgart will give them sole possession of the second-worst winless streak in league history.
Other games include Eintracht Frankfurt v Werder Bremen, Augsburg v Mainz, SC Freiburg v Bayer Leverkusen, Hertha Berlin v Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim v Union Berlin.
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