Misfiring Leipzig draws, Leverkusen hammers Frankfurt
WOLFSBURG, Germany (AP) — Leipzig looked set to drop further back in the Bundesliga title race after a 0-0 draw at Wolfsburg on Saturday, while Bayer Leverkusen crushed Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 to force its way into the Champions League places.
Leipzig lacked firepower up front after leaving top scorer Timo Werner on the bench ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 second leg against Tottenham.
Wolfsburg has one of the league’s best defensive records and looked more than comfortable holding Leipzig at bay as Yussuf Poulsen and Emil Forsberg missed scoring chances. Werner finally came on in the 60th minute but couldn’t turn the game around.
Leipzig has drawn four of its last six Bundesliga games and could drop five points off the lead if Bayern Munich beats Augsburg on Sunday.
“We just wanted more,” Leipzig midfielder Konrad Laimer said. “We found it hard to find the final pass.”
Nineteen-year-old Brazilian Paulinho starred in his first league start of 2020 as Leverkusen moved up to fourth.
Paulinho scored two goals, including one after a superb dribble from midfield, and set up Karim Bellarabi for another after creating space in Frankfurt’s box.
Kai Havertz scored one and set up Paulinho’s second in another good performance for the young German, who was subdued in the first half of the season but has six goals and seven assists in all competitions since the winter break.
Sixth-place Schalke made it six games without a win in all competitions, drawing 1-1 with Hoffenheim after Weston McKennie’s solo goal was canceled out by Christoph Baumgartner’s close-range finish from a corner.
Hertha Berlin and Werder Bremen drew 2-2 in a relegation scrap. U.S. forward Josh Sargent took advantage of space in the defense to score the opening goal for Werder, which took a 2-0 lead only for Hertha to fight back.
Freiburg climbed to eighth after beating Union Berlin 3-1.
Borussia Dortmund, which visits Borussia Mönchengladbach in the late game, can overtake Leipzig for second place with a win, while Gladbach could also retake fourth from Leverkusen.
