The top 10 games of the 2021/22 season
As another spellbinding Bundesliga season comes to a close, there have been many memorable games to reflect on, including a classic Klassiker between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, a nine-goal thriller involving Hoffenheim and a record-breaking 37-minute goalfest for Freiburg.
bundesliga.com has picked out 10 of the best games this season…
Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Bayern Munich
Goals: 1-0 Brandt 5' (assist: Bellingham), 1-1 Lewandowski 9' (assist: Müller), 1-2 Coman (44'), 2-2 Haaland 48' (assist: Bellingham), 2-3 Lewandowski (pen. 77')
Just one point separated Dortmund and Bayern ahead of the Matchday 14 encounter at Signal Iduna Park. BVB struck early through Julian Brandt but Robert Lewandowski immediately replied. Kingsley Coman had the champions in front at the break before Erling Haaland had his say straight after the restart. Lewandowski would ensure it was Bayern’s day, though, with his penalty to send the league leaders four points clear after a pulsating Klassiker.
Greuther Fürth 3-6 Hoffenheim
Goals: 1-0 Leweling 22’ (assist: Hrgota), 1-1 Bebou 32’ (assist: Rutter), 1-2 Rutter 40’ (assist: Raum), 2-2 Tillman 46’ (assist: Hrgota), 2-3 Rutter 57’ (assist: Raum), 2-4 Bebou (62’), 2-5 Meyerhöfer (o.g. 66’), 3-5 Hrgota 67’ (assist: Leweling), 3-6 Bebou 80’ (assist: Kramaric)
However, the highest-scoring game of 2021/22 saw nine goals netted the previous week. Fürth were the unlucky recipients, although they did score three themselves for the very first time in a Bundesliga home game. The problem was that they shipped six at the other end, including a hat-trick from Ihlas Bebou – one of only four three-goal hauls or better across the league this season – and a brace from Georginio Rutter.
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Bayer Leverkusen 1-5 Bayern Munich
Goals: 0-1 Lewandowski (assist: Upamecano) 4', 0-2 Lewandowski (assist: Davies) 30', 0-3 Müller (assist: Süle) 34', 0-4 Gnabry (assist: Müller) 35', 0-5 Gnabry (assist: Goretzka) 37', 1-5 Schick (assist: Wirtz) 55'
Leverkusen discovered what it felt like to be on the end of a thrashing at the BayArena this season as they suffered their joint-heaviest home defeat in the Bundesliga. And all the damage on Matchday 8 was done in 37 bruising first-half minutes as blistering Bayern scored five unanswered goals from Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry (both braces) and Thomas Müller. Never before had the Munich club had a five-goal lead at half-time in the Bundesliga. Schick got the consolation in the second half.
Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-6 Freiburg
Goals: 0-1 Eggestein 2' (assist: Schade), 0-2 Schade 5' (assist: Günter), 0-3 Lienhart 12' (assist: Grifo), 0-4 Höfler 19' (assist: Grifo), 0-5 Höler (25'), 0-6 Schlotterbeck 37' (assist: Grifo)
The aforementioned Matchday 14 saw a total of 41 goals scored. Only the final weekend of 2001/02 has seen more across a single matchday this century (44). The final six on this occasion came from Freiburg away at Gladbach, and all in the opening 37 minutes. Never before had Freiburg scored six times in a Bundesliga game, let alone in a first half – Borussia had never before conceded six in the first 45 minutes of a top-flight match. It was the fifth time a team had held a 6-0 lead at half-time in the Bundesliga.
Bayer Leverkusen 3-4 Borussia Dortmund
Goals: 1-0 Wirtz 9' (assist: Paulinho), 1-1 Haaland 37' (assist: Meunier), 2-1 Schick 45' (assist: Wirtz), 2-2 Brandt 49' (assist: Haaland) 3-2 Diaby 57', 3-3 Guerreiro 71', 3-4 Haaland 77'
Dortmund played out their second seven-goal game of the season on just Matchday 4 as they and Leverkusen produced another one of their habitually thrilling encounters. Borussia came from behind three times at the BayArena before Haaland finally put them in front with a quarter of an hour remaining as he got two of BVB’s four goals.
Eintracht Frankfurt 5-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Goals: 0-1 Schick 5' (assist: Andrich), 0-2 Schick (pen 22'), 1-2 Tuta (23'), 2-2 Lindström 30' (assist: Sow), 3-2 Ndicka (50'), 4-2 Jakic (66'), 5-2 Sow 76' (assist: Borre)
Matchday 15 looked like being the Schick Show once again in the Bundesliga after he scored twice to put Leverkusen 2-0 up in the first 22 minutes away at Frankfurt. But Eintracht hit back a minute later and added a further four more without reply from five different players to completely turn the game on its head.
Bayern Munich 3-2 RB Leipzig
Goals: 1-0 Müller (12'), 1-1 Silva (27'), 2-1 Lewandowski (assist: Coman) 44', 2-2 Nkunku (assist: Laimer) 53', 3-2 Gvardiol (o.g. 58')
Müller and Lewandowski were on a target for a Bayern side that ultimately profited from a Josko Gvardiol own goal as the defending Bundesliga champions recorded a narrow win against battling RB Leipzig on Matchday 21, leaving 21 points between the two sides and Bayern nine clear of Dortmund. The win also saw an influential-as-always Manuel Neuer bring up a 310th win in what was his 458th Bundesliga game, equalling Oliver Kahn's record for Bundesliga wins.
Borussia Dortmund 2-5 Bayer Leverkusen
Goals: 0-1 Akanji (o.g. 11'), 1-1 Frimpong (o.g. 16'), 1-2 Wirtz 20' (assist: Bellarabi), 1-3 Andrich (28'), 1-4 Tah (54'), 1-5 Diaby 87' (assist: Frimpong), 2-5 Tigges (90'+1)
Bayer Leverkusen narrowed the gap on second-placed Borussia Dortmund to five points on Matchday 21 with a swashbuckling 5-2 victory at Signal Iduna Park, which left the Westphalians' title dreams in tatters following Bayern's win over Leipzig. Florian Wirtz was at his mesmerising best in one of his last games before injury brought a premature end to his season, while Leverkusen showed some of the most exciting and effective football the Bundesliga saw all season with a masterclass in Dortmund.
Hoffenheim 3-4 Freiburg
Goals: 0-1 Sallai 23' (assist: Höler), 1-1 Kramaric 32' (assist: Raum), 2-1 Stiller 49' (assist: Kramaric), 2-2 Günter 50' (assist: Grifo), 2-3 Höler 70' (assist: Günter), 2-4 Jeong 73'(assist: Schlotterbeck), 3-4 Rudy 84' (assist: Raum)
More than the fact that seven goals were scored, it was the stakes which made Freiburg's 4-3 win at Hoffenheim on Matchday 32 so special. Not just was it a local derby, but Freiburg needed to win to keep their hopes of a top-four finish alive, and a sensational Saturday evening contest saw Freiburg triumph by the odd goal in seven, with Christian Streich's side rewarded for their efforts with an overnight place in the Bundesliga's top four and a shot at Champions League qualification going into the final round of fixtures.
VfB Stuttgart 2-1 Cologne
Goals: 1-0 Kalajdzic 14' (assist: Führich), 1-1 Modeste 60', 2-1 Endo 90'+2 (assist: Ito)
If last-gasp, nerve-jangling drama is your thing then look no further than Stuttgart’s Matchday 34 encounter at home to Cologne. Pellegrino Matarazzo’s men were in the relegation play-off spot ahead of kick-off on the final day of the season, three points behind Hertha Berlin. As such, they needed to win and hope Hertha lost away to Dortmund if they were to survive outright. Sasa Kalajdzic put VfB on course with the opener on 14 minutes, but when Anthony Modeste equalised on the hour mark, it looked like Stuttgart were heading for the play-offs, especially as Hertha were beating Dortmund 1-0 at that stage.
However, Erling Haaland and Youssoufa Moukoko turned that game on its head, presenting Stuttgart with a chance for salvation they had not reckoned with. Cue an explosion of delirium when Wataru Endo scored a 92nd-minute winner to hand Stuttgart all three points that lifted them above Hertha and ensured their Bundesliga status for another year.
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