Bundesliga and the rest: Domestic and European competition discussion

In Europa League, Genk v Freiburg and Stuttgart v Porto. Conference League, Sigma Olomouc v Mainz.

All 3 have reasonable chances of progression.

 

Genk vs Freiburg is pretty even. Stuttgart on their day have a good chance at making this a competitive match up, although Porto have an advantage and are crushing it in the Portuguese league this season.

I haven't heard of Mainz's opponent before. In theory anything but progression would be disappointment but anything can happen there

 

Late reply.

It's very disappointing that Dortmund's current CEO is so devoid of ambition, considering we're talking about Lars Ricken, a man who won the CL as a player. Having experienced the highest of highs at the club, how can he be fine with his lifetime club not winning anything?

 

Bayern with a dominant and strong performance beating atalanta with mercy in Italy with 6 goals. What matters the most is Urbig's injury. Hopefully it is nothing serious to see him in March International squad. One more thing : why didn't Kompany give Karl 1 half or at least 30 min while Bayern were easily winning. As if Kompany wants to give Nagelsmann excuse to exclude him from the March selection.

 

Havertz scores a penalty at the 89th min to squander Leverkusen's 1-0 lead

 

Though the penalty was doubtful

 

Stuttgart lose 2-1 at home to Porto

 

Freiburg also lose today, falling 1-0 to Genk on the away leg

 

For 15 years I am following Champions League and Europa league closely and except for Bayern, all Bundesliga club consistently disappoints

 

Bad results yesterday for german teams in EL and Conference league. But yet they can still qualify in the return leg although it could be hard for Stuttgart to win away in Portugal but nothing impossible.

 

Mainz look well placed to advance in the Conference League, after a 0-0 draw away v Olomouc.

 

Eintracht Frankfurt had a recent stretch of years where they were a solid presence in Europa League:

Semi finals losing to Chelsea in 2018-19
EL Champions in 2021-22, beating Rangers in the finals
Quarter finals losing to Tottenham in 2024-25

Stuttgart losing to Porto yesterday isn't too surprising. Porto are the stronger team and have been dominating their domestic league. Although Stuttgart still have a chance

I feel like the running record in European football is that Belgian clubs have done well versus Bundesliga clubs, so I could kind of see Freiburg losing as well yesterday. Still alive but they'll need to do a lot better

 

Dortmund are pretty consistent too, normally make the CL round of 16 and have made 2 finals over the last 15 years. Leipzig were also CL semi finalists under Nagelsmann.

The main issue is squad depth, most clubs have one strong season and then struggle to combine playing BL and Europe. Hoffenheim will likely have similar issues next season.

 

Dortmund are consistent. However, I think the issue with them is they only end up being the bridesmaid, never the bride. And therefore leave a disappointing taste. Losing to Bauern in the 2012/13 and Real Madrid in 23/24 CL finals most notably

 

Dortmund losing the 2024 CL final is especially painful, because it was the last ever realistic shot at winning another CL. With the expanded format I just don't see BVB getting anywhere near the final ever again.

 

The problem with BL teams( aside from bayern) is that they cannot hold on their stars. If dortmund kept their stars they would easily have won many CLs. This year they are having a great season domestically ( already close to their 57 pts they had last season with 9 more matches remaining) but they were not as good in CL. In summer they are losing many players , I wonder how will they fill up these positions and how much they r gonna spend.

 

Leverkusen on the verge of being eliminated from the CL

 

Freiburg up 1-0 on Genk. Aggregate now tied 1-1

 

Freiburg blow up the lead 4-1

Mainz up 1-0 vs Sigma

 

Freiburg now 5-1 up. As things stand they will face Celta Vigo in the QF.

Mainz still lead but their opponents Sigma are now down to 10 men.

 

Sieb seals the win for Mainz. They advance 2-0 on aggregate and will face either Strasbourg or Rijeka in the last 8.

 

Great wins for Mainz and especially Freiburg to go through. Hopefully Stuttgart can make an away comeback too in Portugal to give BL more points in their race with La Liga for the 2nd position.

 

Celta Vigo are a pretty solid squad and are in 6th place in La Liga right now. It's a doable opponent for Freiburg though. Probably a slight edge to Celta based on each respective team's league placement and overall form. But close to a 50:50 match up

Mainz will have to put up a good fight but should have a chance for the most part as long as they show up competently

 

Stuttgart eliminated after losing to Porto