Wolfsburg better than last-minute heroics suggest

Wolfsburg's late drama hides the truth

It's only one matchday ago that Eintracht Frankfurt beat Bayern Munich 3-2in the final minute. This weekend, the tables turned for Frankfurt as they lost 3-2 to Wolfsburg thanks to a set-piece goal with the final kick of the game.

This was another spectacular game, and one that showed how perhaps this Wolfsburg team is being sold as worse than they really are. For 70 minutes, Wolfsburg dominated and remain, without a doubt, Bayern's main challengers for the title. The problem is still their chance-conversion rate.

Alex Popp and Ewa Pajor's injury absences are noticed, but it helped that Frankfurt head coach Niko Arnautis miscalculated with his substitutions and made changes too late to save his side.

"I'm delighted. These are the best games," said Dominique Janssen, who scored twice.

For Wolfsburg this was a win to boost their confidence, and to stay close to Bayern. The only disappointment was an attendance of barely 1,000 fans. More media coverage alone doesn't seem to be enough to stop the decline in spectactors.

Champions League levels and unlevels the field

The newly expanded Champions League might not have taken place this weekend but it did play role.

"We are challenged more in the Champions League, that offers the chasing clubs a chance," Wolfsburg head coach Tommy Stroot said of the tight title race.

Those in Frankfurt see it the same way. "It's a lot of games for those teams who play in the Champions League," Laura Feiersinger said. "It will cost them a lot of energy."

The unspoken hope is that it will open up a chance for Frankfurt: the new group-stage as a leveler.

Next week, Wolfsburg face Juventus, PSG play Real Madrid and Hoffenheim are up against Barcelona. The gap in quality in the group stages is alarming though, with the teams from northern and eastern Europe completely falling away. Danish side Koge, Sweden's Hacken, Kharkiv from the Ukraine and Iceland's Breidablik are all on zero points and no goals after two games.

Soon they won't be able to qualify for the tournament that is supposedly designed to develop the game across Europe. Perhaps there will be a consolation cup for them. Because just like in life: those left behind are often not the first to be watched.

Rousing evening for Cologne and Mandy Islacker

In a game that, particularly in the second half, was completely wild, Cologne sealed a deserved 4-3 win over local rivals Leverkusen. Time and time again Cologne's attack swept through a surprisingly helpless Leverkusen defense.

Mandy Islacker, who has been reborn in Cologne, scored two of the four goals. The inexplicably passive Leverkusen came alive too late and only thanks to individual moments of quality did they make it interesting. Cologne, thanks to a tidy passing move, were 3-0 up at one point.

"We weren't at the races in the first half," Leverkusen captain and defender Melissa Friedrich told DW. "I think it was a question of mentality. Cologne were stronger in the tackle than us right from the first minute, and they took their chances too."

Head coach Achim Feifel criticized his side for a relaxed approach, an assessment Friedrich didn't agree with.

"I didn't have the feeling that we were too relaxed going into the game. We knew what we wanted, we just didn't deliver."

In Leverkusen though, they know the key games lie ahead. For the side's remarkable development there has been plenty of praise in the media but the real assessment of this team's season comes now. Next up, Hoffenheim.

"We're not afraid of a slump," said Friedrich, confidently. "It's a bit annoying that this defeat has come in the derby, but it happens sometimes."