Bundesliga Wrap-Up Before the Winter Break

The concluding matchday of the Bundesliga for 2025 kicked off with Borussia Dortmund securing a 2-0 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Match Highlights from Saturday

The Bundesliga featured five matches on Saturday afternoon, with Stuttgart taking on Hoffenheim as the highlight encounter. In addition, Augsburg competed against Werder Bremen, Freiburg faced Wolfsburg, Köln went head-to-head with Union Berlin, and Hamburg met Eintracht Frankfurt.

Key Takeaways from the Matches:

African Cup of Nations Hits Bundesliga Teams Hard

Both Stuttgart and Hoffenheim have felt the impact of the Africa Cup of Nations, as they each lost significant players this week. Bilal El Khannouss (representing Morocco) and Bazoumana Toure (playing for Ivory Coast) departed for the tournament following last weekend’s fixtures. Both players have been crucial to their teams’ performances in the initial stages of this season.

The home side, while having better squad depth, still struggled without El Khannouss, finding it difficult to penetrate Hoffenheim’s defense. According to FotMob, Stuttgart only created three scoring opportunities in the entire match. The surprising Christian Ilzer’s team, who have impressed many this season, failed to consistently test Alexander Nübel, with a solitary long-range attempt by Albian Hajdari hitting the target.

Stuttgart is already looking to enhance their attacking options this winter to alleviate these issues while also coping with multiple injuries.

As both teams prepare for the 2026 Bundesliga season, they aim for a strong start.

Wolfsburg’s Progress Continues

After appointing Daniel Bauer as their new head coach, Wolfsburg demonstrated signs of improvement, despite a 4-3 defeat in their latest match. The team appears to be gaining momentum under Bauer’s direction.

Though Mohamed Amoura was unavailable, Dženan Pejčinović seized the opportunity by netting his first-ever hat-trick for the club. At just 20 years old, he has become the youngest German player to achieve three goals in a single match in over 15 years, a record previously held by Thomas Müller. Amoura’s absence will open doors for Pejčinović to gain more playing time, benefiting from the creative input of Christian Eriksen.

The loss against Freiburg highlights that Wolfsburg still needs defensive reinforcement; they let their lead slip three times and conceded two goals in a brief, seven-minute span. Nevertheless, positive signs indicate that the team is on an upward trajectory.

Dino Toppmöller’s Future at Eintracht Frankfurt in Jeopardy

Eintracht Frankfurt’s defensive frailty has become a significant topic of discussion this season. In today’s match, their defensive issues were again blatant, raising questions about whether Dino Toppmöller is attempting to address the situation but failing to find viable solutions, or if the problems have been overlooked.

The match against Hamburg revealed a marked defensive error when Nmandi Collins mishandled a pass, which allowed Albert Sambi Lokonga to score the opening goal. Collins later redeemed himself by assisting Nathianal Brown, who set up Hugo Larsson for the equalizer. Frankfurt narrowly avoided further embarrassment when a potential winner from Fabio Vieira was disallowed due to offside.

Current statistics show that Frankfurt possesses the joint worst defense in the league while sitting in seventh place. This persistent issue has gone largely unaddressed.

There is a need for improved squad composition to incorporate agile, defensively inclined midfielders, which also pertains to Toppmöller’s tactical approach. If Frankfurt chooses to part ways with Toppmöller during the interim break, it would likely not provoke any discontent among the fans.