Borussia Moenchengladbach defeated Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3-0 to go provisionally second in the Bundesliga, while Bayern Munich lost 1-0 to Augsburg on Saturday for the champions’ fourth straight loss in all competitions.
Bayern reserve goalkeeper Pepe Reina was sent off for a body-check on Raul Bobadilla in the 13th minute and the Augsburg forward’s 71st-minute back-heel secured the visitors’ victory.
“It’s a dream to win in Munich today,” Bobadilla said.
Photo: EPA
Augsburg captain Paul Verhaegh struck the post with the penalty after Reina’s sending off, but on-loan Bayern midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg crossed for Bobadilla’s winner to move Augsburg provisionally fifth ahead of Schalke 04.
“It wasn’t easy to play 80 minutes with a player less after our game in Barcelona,” Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola said, referring to last week’s UEFA Champions League semi-final loss against his former side.
Bayern host Barcelona for the second leg tomorrow, hoping to turn around the 3-0 deficit.
“The league doesn’t play a big role for us anymore. On Tuesday, we’ll see if we can make it to [the Champions League final in] Berlin. If not, we’ll celebrate the title,” Guardiola said.
Borussia Moenchengladbach ended fourth-placed Leverkusen’s 10-game unbeaten streak and moved one point above VfL Wolfsburg, who were due to visit relegation-threatened SC Paderborn 07 yesterday.
Patrick Herrmann set up Max Kruse in the 50th minute and then scored the clincher in the 81st. Ibrahima Traore added a late third for Moenchengladbach’s ninth successive home win to all but secure direct qualification for the Champions League.
Moenchengladbach are five points ahead of fourth-placed Leverkusen with two matches remaining.
“I’m already looking forward to the last two games. The Champions League dream is within touching distance,” midfielder Granit Xhaka said.
Also on Saturday, Borussia Dortmund defeated Hertha BSC 2-0 at home to close within two points of Schalke for UEFA Europa League qualification.
“We’re on the right course and we want to stay on it,” Dortmund defender Mats Hummels said.
Neven Subotic headed in Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s corner in the ninth minute and Eric Durm, another defender, made it 2-0 just after halftime by cutting in from the right and unleashing a curling shot past Hertha goalkeeper Thomas Kraft for his first Bundesliga goal.
Dortmund, who were bottom in February, have won all but one of their five games since coach Juergen Klopp announced his end-of-season departure.
“If I’d known, I would have announced my resignation at the beginning of the season,” Klopp said.
Schalke were due to play at Cologne yesterday.
In other matches, Hannover 96 drew 1-1 with Werder Bremen, while TSG 1899 Hoffenheim lost 3-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bremen stayed level on points with Dortmund, leaving Hannover in the relegation playoff place.
Frankfurt scored their first goals in four games, while Hoffenheim were unable to avoid slipping two points behind Bremen and Dortmund in the race for Europa League places.
Bottom side VfB Stuttgart secured an important 2-0 win over visiting FSV Mainz 05 in the late game to boost their hopes of avoiding relegation.
Stuttgart moved to one point behind their nearest rivals Hannover 96, SC Freiburg and SC Paderborn 07, who had a game in hand.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was