Hertha Berlin battled to a positive 2-2 draw with Borussia Dortmund despite two goals from 18-year-old wunderkind Jadon Sancho on Saturday. But what stood out most from the Dortmund vs Hertha highlights were events taking place off the pitch, in the stands.
The scenes at Signal-Iduna Park, home of some of the most intimidating fans in the world, dissolved into madness as police and Hertha fans clashed in the stands.
Christian Pulisic started on the right wing and put in a strong performance in Borussia Dortmund’s impressive 4-0 rout of Atlético Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday. On Saturday, he started on the bench and watched as two more Jadon Sancho goals were scored by the right winger, putting added pressure on the young American, who could see his playing time increasingly limited.
Weston McKennie is expected to become a major part of the midfield fulcrum for the USMNT over the next decade. But the Texan, who turned 20 in August, has shown off his versatility with Schalke this season.
McKennie started up top as one of two forwards for Schalke on Saturday against Werder Bremen, the sixth different position he’s played in six Bundesliga appearances this season.
Christian Pulisic set all sorts of records for an American in the Bundesliga playing with Borussia Dortmund. With all due respect to Pulisic’s teammate Jadon Sancho, these Reiss Nelson goals show the 18-year-old is the English version of Christian Pulisic, the most enticing young Englishman playing in Germany right now.
Bayern Munich is in a rut right now, in seventh place in the Bundesliga and winless in almost a month.
It turns out, the reason Bayern Munich is so awful is because of the media.
Duh.
At least, that’s what Bayern Munich leadership wants you to think after calling a bizarre press conference that included president Uli Hoeness, CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic on Friday.
Josh Sargent’s time with the Werder Bremen U-23 team is all but ending. The 18-year-old is way past that, Werder Bremen coach Florian Kohfeldt said this week.
As Sargent returned from the international break, during which he scored, Kohfeldt told reporters the American teenager is in his plans for the senior team.
A German second division match was the sight of one of football’s great rarities today — the goalkeeper goal. With visitors Heidenheim leading 1-0 in the 94th minute against Union Berlin, Berlin goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz strove forward for a free kick just inside Heidenheim’s half.
After being played into the box, a neat little cutback eventually found its way to Gikiewicz, who towered over his marker and planted the equalizing header just inside the far post.
It should come as no surprise, but this was the first goal of Cikiewicz’s senior career.
Paco Alcacer has had a pretty decent career for himself by the age of 25. He’s won a LaLiga title with Barcelona and scored more than 60 goals in Spain while earning a handful of call-ups to the Spanish national team.
But since joining Borussia Dortmund on loan this fall, Alcacer has caught fire.
Paco Alcacer stats after Saturday’s crazy 4-3 win over Augsburg are absolutely insane — and the quality of some of his goals are equally ridiculous.
Weston McKennie went more than 30 appearances without scoring a goal for Schalke. Now the 20-year-old American midfielder has two goals in as many games.
McKennie scored a dramatic late match winner against Lokomotiv Moscow in the Champions League on Wednesday in Russia. It wasn’t quite the impact he was hoping to make in Russia in 2018, but it was a great moment for the Texan to score his first goal for the club he joined in 2016.
Well, that was embarrassing.
Stuttgart edged 10-man Werder Bremen 2-1 for its first win of the season on Saturday, but Die Roten nearly threw the three points away — quite literally.
With Stuttgart nursing a 1-0 lead with a man advantage after Milos Veljkovic was sent off in the first half, Borna Sosa threw the ball into the back of his own net. From a throw in. From about 30 yards out.
What?