Welcome back to the Bundesliga, where we are where we were: Bayern Munich beat Hoffenheim on Sunday, and Borussia Dortmund beat Wolfsburg. The gap is still six points between first and second.
Luis Diaz was the main character at Allianz Arena during Bayern’s 5-1 win. The Colombian won two first-half penalties, converted by Harry Kane, and scored a hat-trick of his own.
That first penalty was decisive and controversial. Hoffenheim headed into this game having won six of their previous seven matches and sitting third, having not lost since early December. Their chances of extending that record looked over after 16 minutes, though, when Diaz tumbled in the box after grappling with Kevin Akpoguma.
Both players had fists full of each other’s shirts, but the referee pointed to the spot and deemed Akpoguma not to have made a genuine attempt for the ball. Red card.
It was incredibly tough on Hoffenheim. As Sky Deutschland wrote in its commentary of the game: “It’s a penalty you can give, but one that you don’t have to.”
The visitors were courageous. An under-hit Manuel Neuer pass gave them an equaliser, and they also struck the bar twice in the first half — and drew an excellent save from Neuer — but the outcome seemed inevitable after the sending off.
Bayern still played well. There was no question about the second penalty, and Diaz took his goals really well, but this was not the contest it might have been.
But Dortmund are still in touch, largely thanks to a tricky afternoon for Wolfsburg’s Mohamed Amoura.
The Algerian is one of the most exciting forwards in the Bundesliga — and someone to keep an eye on during the World Cup — but he had a rotten time against Niko Kovac’s side, snatching at chance after chance at the Volkswagen Arena.
There were no sitters within that catalogue of misses — nothing toe-curling or likely to do a million views on YouTube — but his profligacy allowed Dortmund to escape with a 2-1 win.
Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen drew 1-1, Hamburg won 2-0 in Heidenheim, and Stuttgart came unstuck at the Millerntor, losing 2-1 to a really good St Pauli performance.
A word for St Pauli captain Jackson Irvine. Irvine suffered a fracture in his left foot last season and it has still not properly healed. But with a mini injury crisis in Alexander Blessin’s midfield, Irvine managed 90 minutes against Stuttgart, visibly limping during the game and running with obvious discomfort, but still playing extremely well. If St Pauli survive relegation this season, this will be remembered as a pivotal performance.
Bad news for Werder Bremen, who could not make a one-man advantage count at Europa Park, losing 1-0 to Freiburg. Daniel Thioune, the former Hamburg and Fortuna Dusseldorf head coach, is now in charge of Bremen, but there was no immediate bounce; Thioune and his new side sit in the relegation play-off place.
Two Nadiem Amiri penalties were enough for Mainz to beat Augsburg 2-0. They also made Amiri briefly the most successful penalty taker in the Bundesliga this season. Briefly, because Kane converted those two spot kicks against Hoffenheim on Sunday, moving him up to eight for the year.
Freiburg’s Vincenzo Grifo has four, putting him third on that list.
RB Leipzig finally won again, beating Koln on Sunday courtesy of two Christoph Baumgartner goals — the second of which was a real masterpiece, a perfect slice of Ralf Rangnick football.
Leipzig are going through a strange period. Their continuity before Christmas was disrupted by injuries and Africa Cup of Nations absentees, and they have been searching for the same rhythm since returning from the Winterpause.
This was just their third win of the year (from six games), but it was their most competent. Baumgartner’s impact speaks for itself and Antonio Nusa, Yan Diomande and Xaver Schlager all had fine games — Brajan Gruda made his debut following his loan move from Brighton & Hove Albion — but Leipzig’s best work often seems to go through Romulo, the Brazilian forward.
He is not a complicated player, but his use of the ball is extremely clever and his defensive work rate is diligent, too. Watch for him over the final months of the season. In that attacking group, he will never attract the most attention, but he’s one of the reasons why those eclectic parts — at their best — work in harmony.
Next up for Leipzig and Romulo: the DFB-Pokal quarter-final against Bayern at Allianz Arena on Wednesday night.
Former Liverpool and Spain midfielder Albert Riera made an encouraging start as Eintracht Frankfurt’s head coach on Friday: his new team drew 1-1 in Koepenick with Union Berlin.
The game itself was no spectacle, but it was still a step forward for Frankfurt. They had failed to win any of the previous five Bundesliga games (three defeats, two draws) and had conceded three goals each time.
No win yet — Frankfurt have not beaten anybody since their 1-0 win over Augsburg in the middle of December — but there was certainly a higher defensive standard on show, and the negative momentum has been arrested.
And Riera — who has arrived from NK Celje in Slovenia — is an interesting person. One of the criticisms of Dino Toppmoller, his predecessor, was that he was too gentle with the players and not a forceful enough personality. Riera is a response to that; he is going to be a tougher proposition. Not necessarily a stone thrower, but someone more willing to challenge a squad that, despite some injury absences, has been performing within itself this season.
It’s early, but even in his opening press conferences — given in English for the time being — Riera speaks in a way which is quite different from Toppmoller, who was a much more technocratic character. The Spaniard is definitive about what he wants and charismatic with it, too. He also has his quirks.
Riera has implemented a new disciplinary system. Players who are late, miss meetings, or use their phones when they are not allowed will still be fined, but they will also spin a roulette wheel, delegating them a task within the organisation. Working with the groundskeepers, perhaps, or with the video analysis staff.
It’s about culture. Here he is explaining what he wants to build and how he intends to do it.
Albert Riera explains his fine system — and it’s about more than money.
Yes, there are fines. Yes, it affects the pocket — because that hurts. But there’s more.
Players also have to give time and service: clean teammates’ boots, work with the analyst, spend an hour with the… pic.twitter.com/I4PGC4uQuY
— ⚽️Pedro Mendonça🧠 (@PedMenCoach) February 7, 2026
His football is going to be aggressive. He has already spoken — slightly tongue-in-cheek — about banning his players from passing sideways and backwards. He sees that as a player abdicating responsibility and so, clearly, quality of possession is going to be the central pillar of his work at the club, in both its speed and its timing.
Without the ball, he has talked too of wanting his teams to be “uncomfortable” to play against — “annoying” is a word he has used several times already. Given how accommodating Frankfurt have been this season, there’s a lot of physical and tactical work ahead.
His assistant coach, Pablo Remon Arteta, is Mikel Arteta’s cousin, a detail seized upon by the local media, hopeful that defensive organisation runs in that family. Riera is close to the Arsenal head coach, too, as he is to Pep Guardiola, with whom he regularly plays golf.
He played with and for Mauricio Pochettino (at Bordeaux and Espanyol), and worked under Fatih Terim as a player and then as a novice coach at Galatasaray.
So, there are all sorts of fun details and influences here and everybody at Eintracht Frankfurt sounds incredibly excited about where the appointment may lead.
Lastly, more from Friday night: here’s Union Berlin’s stadium-wide tifo, which was part of their 60th anniversary celebrations.
Let it play to the end to see the pyrotechnics.
Dit war dit Schönste, was die AF jemals zu kieken bekommen hat! 🥹
Danke an jeden einzelnen Unioner für dieses Meisterwerk. 🙏#FCUnion #FCUSGE #Bundesliga pic.twitter.com/zDA1UB9eCR
— 1. FC Union Berlin (@fcunion) February 7, 2026
The Alte Forsterei never lets you down. Alles gute zum Geburtstag, FCU.