Bundesliga Top Five, Round 28: Bravo, Baumgartner
Hoffenheim's 3-1 victory against Koln was all about one man - Christoph Baumgartner. The wonderkid was in sensational form, scoring two and assisting the other.
For his opening goal, he arrived into the box at the perfect moment to slide a strike home after the reversed cross from Jacob Bruun Larsen, while his second was an impressive feat of neck strength as he rose high to loop a header over everyone, with the attempt just crossing the line.
However, the moment of the match was yet to come. To set up the third goal, which ultimately killed Koln off, the 20-year-old picked up possession with his back to goal inside the box before wonderfully dragging the ball back and flicking it between two defenders for Steven Zuber to score. A truly remarkable piece of skill.
Koln couldn't really get near Baumgartner, with him also winning 8/11 duels and the majority of his aerial duels.
A day before his birthday, Max Arnold put in a cracking outing for Wolfsburg as they comfortably defeated Leverkusen 4-1 away from home. He contributed to three of the goals via two assists and one scored himself.
His goal, which was the second of the game, came via a huge slice of luck as his free-kick deflected past the helpless Lukas Hradecky.
The main contribution came through his set-piece deliveries into the box which caused massive problems all game for Leverkusen, as it was two of his whipped crosses into the area which were twice headed home by Marin Pongracic.
These were two of four successful crosses which were sent into the area, while he also sent eight passes into the final third.
His eight ball recoveries in midfield shouldn't be overlooked, either.
Staying with Wolfsburg now, with Pongracic making the cut after his aforementioned double against Leverkusen.
Both goals were strikingly similar as he ghosted into the centre of the box to glance two commanding headers into the bottom corner, albeit through little opposition from the home defence. It was his first goals for the club since moving from RB Salzburg in January.
In his usual defensive duties, he won 4/6 duels, 2/3 aerial duels, and made five ball recoveries, two interceptions, and four clearances.
Passing could have been a lot better, though, as he only completed 23/36 attempted balls to team-mates.
As Werder Bremen continued to fight for their Bundesliga status against Gladbach this week, they peppered the visiting goal with 12 shots, seven of which were on target.
However, they came up against an in-form Yann Sommer who saved each and every one of the seven attempts, earning his clean sheet for the 0-0 draw.
His most important save came in the 89th minute when he stood tall between the sticks to deny Davie Selke, who probably should have scored.
To help ease the pressure on the Gladbach defence, he helped his team-mates out with 14 ball recoveries, which was more than anyone in this round of Bundesliga fixtures.
In the biggest match of the week, and the biggest match of the Bundesliga season so far, Dortmund took on Bayern in Der Klassiker on Tuesday evening in front of an empty Westfalenstadion.
The match winner in the 1-0 Bayern victory proved to be Joshua Kimmich, who scored the only goal of the game with an opportunistic chip over the top of Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki, who admittedly didn't cover himself in glory with his flapped attempt at a save.
Still, definite props for Kimmich for having the audacity to try it.
With Thiago out injured, the onus was on him to be Bayern's creative force in deeper areas to keep things ticking over. He did that with 72/81 passes reaching their mark for a completion rate of 89%.
HONOURABLE MENTION
Bottom of the table Paderborn earned a 0-0 draw away at Augsburg, with defender Sebastian Schonlau (8.1) impressing at the back with 8/10 duels won, 3/3 tackles won, and 2/3 aerial duels won. He also made six ball recoveries, three interceptions, and four clearances.
ROUND TO FORGET
Freiburg may have secured a relatively impressive 3-3 away draw at Eintracht Frankfurt, but they might have claimed all three points if defender Robin Koch (4.7) had a better day at the office.
As well as losing the majority of his duels and half of his aerial duels, he didn't even attempt a single tackle during his time on the pitch. Not the best.