And it goes on again

Games at Leverkusen remain a dubious pleasure for Eintracht Frankfurt. The Werkself's 3:1 win is the ninth home victory in a row against the Hessians - with a goal difference of 32:5. More important than the numbers, however, are the effects on the standings: Bayer continues its race to catch up and moves up to sixth place in the table. A few weeks ago, that was still a utopian scenario.

The match was characterized by intensity and physicality in the early stages. The direct duels were not overly unfair, but at times unnecessarily heated and boisterous. But it was precisely in those first ten minutes that the Werkself picked up the necessary aggressiveness to successfully hold their own in the game. And it was once again our fast top players who set the decisive accents after the one or other pass from Flo Wirtz, thus tempting the opposing defense into making mistakes. That's good.

The winning streak continues

Bayer yesterday with an absolutely deserved 3-0 away win in Schalke continued its winning streak. The statistics say that the Bayer thus further since 2012 has not won against the Werkself. And: Schalke was still without defeat this year, but that is now wastepaper.

Florian Wirtz's magnificent goal to make it 2-0 provided plenty to talk about. The international was not only voted player of the match by a clear margin by the Bayer 04 fans. With this, he also gave a quick answer to his early substitution during the week in the international match against Belgium with a lightning-clean performance. But Wirtz wasn't the only one to shine; the Black-and-Red team was convincing as a whole, and in Edmond Tapsoba, together with Jonathan Tah, the team had a prudent defensive clearer who also impressively demonstrated his strengths in the build-up and passing game.

Next Saturday, the team will face Frankfurt. The winning streak must continue so that the gap to the European places can be closed.

Home wins against Bayern always do you good

A deficit turned around, a penalty kick sunk, a great atmosphere, no loss of contact with the top. Yesterday evening offered everything that the Bayer heart desires. Not to forget the curious penalty incidents: twice swallow given against Adli, yellow card for him and twice reviewed and penalty sunk. Without VAR, the game would have gone once again for Bayern and Adli with yellow-red from the field.

Somehow, I am now glad about the international break. Our team now needs air to breathe, even if 14 players are traveling the world on international duty. Sometimes international call-ups give us a little extra breathing room.

Mandatory win in Budapest

Even such hurdles have to be overcome in order not to suffer any further setbacks for the rest of the season. After the 2-0 home win against weak Budapest, the Werkself also won the return match in Budapest 2-0 and is thus safely in the Europa League quarterfinals. Often enough, such leads have melted away in the past. Today, however, our logo is in the lottery again when it comes to the next round. If the Werkself can be blamed for anything, it's the fact that after the quick 1:0 in the 3rd minute, the lead wasn't extended further. But maybe we were just saving things for Sunday night, when Bayern are guests at the BayArena before the international break.

We can also come from behind

The Werkself won its third competitive match in a row, winning 3:2 in Bremen. We certainly had the necessary luck on our side. To be fair, however, we have to admit that we have not had this luck often enough this season. And a nice message of the evening is also the fact that we can come back from behind. That wasn't always the case in the past. And unlike Freiburg, where it was "only" enough for a draw, this time it was a three-goal win despite being behind.

However, one thing lies in my stomach every week, and this is the fact that the Bayer still catches a goal against in the last minutes. Gladbach, Monaco. Mainz, Hoffenheim are just a few names that come to mind. This must change urgently.

Tough game, but important win against Budapest

The home match in the Europa League round of 16 against Budapest was anything but a footballing treat. A tough game with rather few chances, but with a satisfactory outcome of 2-0 for the Werkself. This is a good cushion for the second leg next week.

Somehow I did not see a good player last night, which was surprising after the top performance against Hertha on Sunday, Sure, the defense played to zero. To be fair though, Budapest, even though they were group winners ahead of Monaco, performed more at second division level. Advancing next week is a must. Before that, get three points in Bremen, then pass Budapest successfully and then Bayern can come. Even if they feel like they're "Überbayern" after the win against PSG, they're not this year.

Why not always like this?

On matchday 23, Bayer put in a convincing performance to beat Hertha BSC 4:1, a result that was also well deserved. This was the right mood for the hot phase of the season.

From kickoff, it was one-way soccer in the direction of the Berlin box. In addition, the Werkself was quickly rewarded for its storm and drive. After twelve minutes, the fast-paced interplay down the right bore fruit for the first time when Moussa Diaby passed to Jeremie Frimpong, whose cross was pushed over the line by Sardar Azmoun from six meters. The Berliners lost sight of the Leverkusen attack, which was unleashed as if on fire, and the attack via Odilon Kossounou, Frimpong, Diaby and Frimpong again as the shooter of the 2:0 was wonderfully played out. Finally, after an hour, the third strike of the highly superior home side: Florian Wirtz shook a fantastic pass to Diaby from his ankle and the Frenchman scored his eighth goal of the season to make it 3-0. Berlin's connection through Lukebakio's penalty no longer had any influence on the game, substitute Amine Adli restored the old distance and the final score after Patrik Schick had done the groundwork.

After this victory, the only motto is: keep it up. On Thursday, the first leg against Budapest will be European. A clear home victory would certainly be helpful for everyone.