The top flight German football league, the Bundesliga resumed their season on May 16 after a two month hiatus. The season was postponed shortly before Matchday 26 back in mid March due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. The Bundesliga is the first of the top flight international football leagues to resume their season.
The games had no fans in attendance, players on the bench were sitting away from each other and they all had to wear face masks if they weren't on the pitch.
Coming into Matchday 26, FC Bayern Munich sat atop of the league table with 55 points. Sitting behind them was Borussia Dortmund with 51 points, RB Leipzig with 50 points and Borussia Mönchengladbach with 49 points.
Dortmund vs Schalke
On Saturday May 16, the first big match of the day was Dortmund vs Schalke. It didn’t take long for Dortmund to score their first goal of the match. Norwegian striker Erling Håland gave The BVB a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute of the match when he tapped in a beautiful cross into the back of the net.
Just before halftime Dortmund made their lead two when Portguese international Raphaël Guerreiro tucked a low driven shot into the corner of the goal. It took Dortmund just three minutes into the second half to put the game to rest when Thorgan Hazard rifled a shot behind Schalke keeper Markus Schubert. To end the night Raphaël Guerreiro scored his second goal of the game with the outside of his boot. Borussia Dortmund won the game 4-0 and obtained 3 points, putting them just one point behind Bayern Munich.
Mönchengladbach vs Frankfurt
Borussia Mönchengladbach sat in fourth place heading into the match, just behind RB Leipzig. Gladbach wasted absolutely no time to give themselves a one goal lead over Eintracht Frankfurt when Frenchman Alassane Plea scored in the first minute of the match. Plea’s countryman Marcus Thurman gave his squad a 2-0 lead in the seventh minute of the game. Gladbach dominated the entire match, rarely giving Frankfurt any opportunities. Ramy Bensebaini put the game to rest by burying a penalty giving a 3-0 lead to Gladbach. Frankfurt was able to get on the scoresheet but it was a little too late. Mönchengladbach won the game 3-1 and jumped RB Leipzig for third place. They are just two points behind Borussia Dortmund for second place in the Bundesliga.
Leipzig vs Freiburg
Possibly the biggest story coming out of Matchday 26 was RB Leipzig drawing against SC Freiburg. Leipzig was just one point behind Dortmund for second place before missing out on three points when they tied with Freiburg 1-1. Leipzig was down for a large part of the game until Yussuf Poulsen tied it up in the 77th minute. Leipzig fell back to fourth place in the lead due to Mönchengladbach winning their match the same day. Leipzig currently has 51 points.
Bayern vs Berlin
On Sunday May 17, the Bundesliga leaders and German champions for seven straight years, Bayern Munich, took on Union Berlin. It seemed that Bayern’s Thomas Müller gave the Bavarians an early lead but the goal was blown offside. Bayern was able to get that first goal they were looking for when Bundesliga leading scorer Robert Lewandowski scored a penalty.
Bayern went into the half up 1-0. The high powered Munich side had numerous chances to enhance their lead in the second half. Canadian fullback Alphonso Davies was setting up his teammates with some amazing passes but they couldn't connect with the crosses. In the 80th minute of the match, Bayern put away any chance for Berlin to steal a point when Benjamin Pavard put a header into the goal. Bayern won the match 2-0 and is now four points clear of Dortmund for first place in the Bundesliga with 58.
Other matches across Germany saw Hertha Berlin defeat Hoffenheim 3-0, Wolfsburg take down Augsburg 2-1, Düsseldorf and Paderborn drew at 0-0, Mainz and Köln also drew two a piece. Werder Bremen takes on Bayer Leverkusen on Monday to complete Matchday 26. With a win, Leverkusen will be just one point behind Leipzig for fourth place, and two points behind Gladbach for third.