Freiburg and Union celebrate
©IMAGO
Five Bundesliga games on Saturday afternoon produced only two winners: SC Freiburg won in a goal festival at VfL Wolfsburg, which came away empty-handed despite three goals from Dzenan Pejcinovic, and FC Union Berlin stole a late three-pointer from Cologne. HSV and Eintracht Frankfurt ended in a draw. The fans of Stuttgart and Hoffenheim as well as Augsburg and Werder saw no valid goals at all.
VfL Wolfsburg is going into the future with Daniel Bauer as head coach, but still has a lot of work to do under the new coach. Shortly after the announcement of Bauer’s promotion, the VW club suffered a 3:4 (1:1) draw against SC Freiburg in a turbulent Bundesliga game and is therefore stuck in the bottom of the table at the winter break.
In front of 22,045 spectators in the Volkswagen Arena, even three goals from Pejcinovic (13th, 49th, 69th minutes) were not enough for Wolfsburg’s third win in a row. Philipp Treu (5th), Vincenzo Grifo (56th, penalty kick), Jenson Seelt (71st, own goal) and Derry Scherhant (78th) ensured Freiburg’s victory.
Cologne misses the turnaround – Union goes into the break with a win
The promoted team 1. FC Köln did not manage to break free at the end of the year. Coach Lukas Kwasniok’s team lost 0-1 (0-0) to 1. FC Union Berlin at the reunion with former FC coach Steffen Baumgart after conceding a late goal and being outnumbered 0-1 (0-0) and has been waiting for a win for six games.
The Köpenickers happily took the lead in stoppage time (90+1) thanks to joker András Schäfer and celebrated two Bundesliga wins in a row for the first time this season. While Union goes into the winter break with 21 points, Cologne has 16 points and still has a bit of a buffer against the relegation zone despite a winless streak.
Cologne’s Rav van den Berg was the last man to see the red card (83′) after a handball when he stopped a long pass from Union. The following free kick caused danger in the Cologne penalty area, and Union called for a penalty because an arm was also involved in the defense. But even without a penalty, Union scored a short time later: Substitute Schäfer scored an unstoppable goal.
HSV, strong at home, earns a draw against Frankfurt
Newly promoted Hamburger SV remains strong at home in the Volksparkstadion against European Cup teams and has extended its series. In the last Bundesliga game of the year, the North Germans drew 1-1 (1-1) against Champions League participant Eintracht Frankfurt and finished their fourth home game in a row without defeat.
The guests were largely too harmless offensively. HSV prevented the Hessians from finishing in the European Cup during the short winter break. The Hanseatic League celebrates Christmas with 16 points and is therefore in the secure table zone, Frankfurt has 25 points.
In front of 57,000 spectators, Albert Sambi Lokonga (19th minute) gave the hosts the lead. Hugo Larsson (26th) equalized shortly afterwards. An offside goal by Hamburg’s substitute Portuguese midfielder Fábio Vieira (80th) was disallowed after the video assistant intervened.
European Cup aspirants VfB and Hoffenheim split goalless
VfB Stuttgart missed its desired strong and successful end to the year. Seven months after the highlight of 2025, the DFB Cup triumph in Berlin, the Swabians ended the first season of the Bundesliga with a 0-0 draw against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. They spend the winter one point behind their European Cup competitors and national rivals.
After a largely disjointed game, TSG goes into the break as number one in Baden-Württemberg and – like VfB – can hope for Champions League qualification. In stoppage time, Deniz Undav seemed to have headed VfB to victory. But the striker was just offside when Chris Führich took a free kick.
No second victory as a happy ending for Baum in Augsburg
Manuel Baum missed the last goal in his short-term job as interim coach of FC Augsburg. In the last game of the year, the 0-0 draw against SV Werder Bremen, who had not won for the fifth time in a row in the Bundesliga, was not enough to achieve the home win they had hoped for. However, Baum was very close to his second win in the third game as Sandro Wagner’s interim successor.
In extra time, substitute striker Phillip Tietz headed the ball onto the crossbar. Before that, a goal by Alexis Claude-Maurice was disallowed after a VAR check due to an alleged foul play in the making (80th). And a shot from substitute Elvis Rexhbecaj hit the post (76th). Werder goalkeeper Mio Backhaus was also still on the ball. With luck, Bremen (17 points) maintained their lead over FCA (14).