KAMPALA: Two of the Bundesliga’s highest rated managers, Julian Nagelsmann and Gerardo Seoane, lock horns with their futures at stake when Bayern Munich host Bayer Leverkusen on Friday night. Bayern boss Nagelsmann is wholly aware his team must arrest a slump that has witnessed the Bavarians drop to an unfamiliar fifth place in the standings following a four-match winless run, or receive his marching orders from the club’s historically fickle board.
The Bavarians started the season on fire, with the ten-time defending champions averaging five goals per match in their first four competitive fixtures. The goals have since dried up, with the Munich giants unable to score more than once in any of their last four Bundesliga games. Their 0-1 reverse at the hands of Augsburg on matchday seven was the first time they failed to score in close to 90 German top flight matches.
Seoane is under even more pressure as his Leverkusen side have only won once in seven outings and could drop into the relegation zone with defeat at the Allianz Arena. Usually a free scoring outfit, Bayer have been in free-fall all season, with a 2-0 Champions League win over Atletico Madrid and 3-0 triumph over Mainz their only victories to date.
Table leaders Union Berlin defend a two point cushion atop the standings when they confront Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday afternoon. Urs Fischer’s team are riding high thanks to robust defending and the clinical finishing of Sheraldo Becker and Jordan Siebatcheu. Becker’s rapid improvement is a breath of fresh air to the capital club as his six goals and three assists have lifted Union Berlin to previously uncharted territory.
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Other interesting matchups see second placed Borussia Dortmund travel to Koln without injured talismanic skipper Marco Reus, Christian Streich’s third placed Freiburg at home to unpredictable Mainz , RB Leipzig host winless basement club Bochum and Werder Bremen test Daniel Farke’s Borussia Moenchengladbach.
FRIDAY
Bayern Munich v Bayer Leverkusen
SATURDAY
Eintracht Frankfurt v Union Berlin,
Koln v Borussia Dortmund,
Freiburg v Mainz,
RB Leipzig v Vfl Bochum,
Wolfsburg v Stuttgart
SUNDAY
Hertha Berlin v Hoffenheim,
Schalke v Augsburg,
Werder Bremen v Gladbach
