Leipzig closing in on Bayern Munich in German title race
Just when Bayern Munich seemed to be cruising to a record-extending ninth straight Bundesliga title, Leipzig came up with some other ideas.
The team coached by Julian Nagelsmann has cut the gap on the leaders from seven points to two over the last month, taking advantage of Bayern dropping points against Arminia Bielefeld and Eintracht Frankfurt following the Club World Cup.
Now Leipzig has a chance to overhaul Bayern this weekend. On Saturday, Bayern goes to Cologne looking to avoid going three Bundesliga games without a win for the first time since Hansi Flick took over as coach in 2019. Leipzig hosts Borussia Mönchengladbach later that day.
"FC Bayern Munich is currently the best team in the Bundesliga," Nagelsmann said Thursday. "If you want to keep up with Bayern, you have to stay unbelievably consistent and you can't allow yourself to make a single mistake."
Leipzig has a good record against Bayern. It's the only Bundesliga squad which Bayern has been unable to beat since Flick took charge. Their last meeting was a 3-3 draw in Munich in December.
Leipzig's quiet resurgence in the title race has been built on a solid defense and strength in depth, with scoring contributions from players in almost every position.
The team's leading scorer in the Bundesliga this season is midfielder Marcel Sabitzer with five. Compare that to Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski, who has scored a record-chasing 26 goals from 21 league games.
Leipzig has five more players with four league goals apiece, including left back Angelino, who has set up six more and whose loan from Manchester City has been made permanent. Dani Olmo, the Spanish midfielder who was signed from Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb last year, has three goals and seven assists in the Bundesliga this season.
Despite the defensive blunders which handed Liverpool a 2-0 victory last week in the Champions League, Leipzig's defense has actually been one of its most valuable assets this season. The team has conceded a league-low 18 goals, 13 fewer than Bayern. Only defense-first, third-place Wolfsburg comes close with 19.
The big name in the back line is Dayot Upamecano, who is joining Bayern next season after the Munich club met his release clause. But fellow center back Willi Orban has also been strong in defense as well as contributing four goals.
The loss to Liverpool, barring a dramatic turnaround in the second leg on March 10, could also end up helping Leipzig's title chances by cutting back on the number of matches it has to play. Bayern, meanwhile, is all but assured of a spot in the Champions League quarterfinals after beating Lazio 4-1 on Tuesday.
Leipzig should have an advantage on Saturday after having the week to recover while Gladbach traveled to Hungary to play Manchester City. Gladbach also lost 2-0.
There's another possible positive for Leipzig. Hungary winger Dominik Szoboszlai joined Leipzig in January after a strong Champions League campaign for sister club Salzburg, but he arrived with a muscle injury and has yet to play a minute for his new club.
If he recovers in time to make a meaningful contribution, Leipzig could be even harder to beat.
PSG can't afford more slip-ups in tense title race
The path toward a fourth straight league title is becoming increasingly complicated for Paris Saint-Germain.
The club that has grown accustomed to dominating the French league has six losses already, including two at home against its main three rivals.
With 12 rounds remaining, PSG is in third place following last Sunday's 2-0 home loss to fourth-place Monaco, which closed the gap on Mauricio Pochettini's side to two points.
Leader Lille is four points ahead of PSG after losing only twice, while second-place Lyon is one point ahead.
PSG still has a crucial stretch coming up, with a home game against Lille and a trip to Lyon shaped around an expected Champions League quarterfinal.
In theory, then, Saturday's game at last-place Dijon should be straightforward for a side which routed Barcelona 4-1 in the first leg of their round-of-16 game, and has one of the world's best strikers in Kylian Mbappe topping the league's scoring charts.
However, one of PSG's six league losses was also against a relegation struggler, a 3-2 defeat at Lorient on Feb. 1 even with 513 million euros ($622 million) of attacking talent on the field. Because Mbappe and the club's other star forwards all played in that game.
Dijon has lost its past six league games and looks set to be relegated.
But so did Lorient not so long ago, losing eight games in 10 before toppling PSG during a fivegame unbeaten run that hoisted it up from the relegation zone.
Dijon's approach will be simple: hassle hard and close down PSG's players all over the field.
Because playing at a high intensity can unsettle PSG, as Lorient showed. Furthermore, Pochettino will be keen to avoid a physical contest given recent injuries to Neymar, Angel Di Maria and to the ever-fragile Marco Verratti.
Pochettino's tactics will also be in the spotlight, given how easily he was outwitted by Monaco coach Niko Kovac last weekend.
Pochettino was criticized for not starting the influential Verratti in that game, and by the time the midfielder came on early in the second half, PSG had been struggling badly and hardly mustered an effort on goal.
Pochettino has lost two league games since replacing the fired Thomas Tuchel, who is unbeaten at Chelsea since taking over the London-based club.
While Pochettino's stock rose after the comprehensive win over Barcelona in Spain, some of that success was down to Barca's poor defending, and his tactical coaching has been questioned at times.
PSG drew at struggling SaintEtienne and was somewhat lucky to beat Nice at home recently, with Nice striking the crossbar before PSG's late winner.
So it can't afford to take this weekend's game for granted.
Tarxien Rainbows continued with their winning streak under the guidance of Steve D’Amato when in the first match played at the Centenary Stadium they beat fellow strugglers Gudja United by two late goals.
It was a good match with both teams playing offensive football but the respective rearguards were always up to it.
This was an encounter between two teams fighting a relegation battle. Both coaches didn’t have any particular problems with Tarxien welcoming back from suspension Eduardo Rosado.
In the first round match between the two neighbouring villages Gudja emerged easy winners in a match which they dominated by a 5-0 scoreline.
Gudja were the first team to venture forward and on 12 minutes a Justin Grioli shot from the edge of the area was turned onto a corner by Fernandes
Tarxien responded on 23 minutes when Kooh Sohna took hold of the ball following a short back pass and after advancing towards goal, with only Zammit to beat his shot was blocked by the Gudja goalkeeper.
On the half hour off a Darren Falzon corner a headed effort by Matthew Tabone landed on the roof of the net. And on the other end Mensah tested Fernandes with a low drive but the Portugese goalkeeper saved.
On 32 minutes Darren Falzon once again supplied a cross which was perfectly met by Plut’s header but the Rainbows attacker was unlucky when the ball hit the crossbar.
Eight minutes from the end of the first half James Brincat fired a diagonal shot from the edge of the area which Fernandes saved.
Just past the hour a Pankatican free kick was splendidly palmed over the bar by a brave Fernandes. And three minutes later Kooh Sohna blasted over the bar when well positioned. And in the 69th minute a long range shot by Darren Falzon ended just off the upright.
Nine minutes from the end Fernandes once again rescued his side saving at point blank a Grioli shot.
But a minute from the end of the match Tarxien found the net when off a Zarate corner from the left side Filho Conceicio
headed into the corner of the net.
And deep into stoppage time the Rainbows sealed the issue
when Vito Plut converted from the spot after the same player was brought down by Bolanos.