Nearly, after two months of no soccer activity in the German Bundesliga, it now makes a return this upcoming Saturday, May 16th, 2020.
The German Bundesliga is the first of Europe’s top-five Elite Leagues to continue their season. All eyes will are focused on German soccer, and with that, an excellent opportunity for the stars and stripes to put out extraordinary performances.
As of now, there is a total of nine Americans actively playing in the Bundesliga. Each of them is facing different challenges this season, some the Bundesliga title, others, fighting for European spots, and lastly, relegation. They all are facing different circumstances in each of their clubs, yet all are making the best of it, having excellent opportunities to showcase their talent for the whole world.
After receiving the green light from their government, the Bundesliga quickly designated a calendar that has their last game being played Saturday, June 26th, 2020. With that in mind, we begin right where we left off, matchday 26. Throughout this weekend, we will see two games featuring Americans on both sides of the field.
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Our first American match-up features the Revierderby. Weston McKennie of Schalke 04 faces off against Gio Reyna from Borussia Dortmund. This match surely will be promising, already known worldwide for the rivalry between the two teams, and this is an excellent opportunity for the young Americans to feature in it.
Both Reyna or McKennie didn’t play in the previous Revierderby, but this Saturday’s game could be different after the COVID-19 league’s postponement. Dortmund currently sits in second place, while Schalke sits in sixth fighting for a European spot.
We jump next to Tyler Adams and RB Leipzig facing off against Freiburg, Leipzig finds themselves in third place, and in the race to conquer the title. Following his injury in the first half of the season, Adams has had extraordinary performances that have earned him more appearances. Still, a calf injury in training set him back again and is hoping to get back on the field this weekend.
The 25-year-old goalkeeper Zach Steffen and 29-year-old Alfredo Morales were hoping to make more appearances this season. Their side, Fortuna Dusseldorf hosts, SC Paderborn 07 in a relegation battle.
Both teams are actively looking and craving a win that can get them out of the danger zone and into maintaining top-flight status. Unfortunately, an injury came to both during training. They will be missed as their side will look to regain control and make their way out of the relegation zone. Both seem to be making a return in the next few weeks in the hope of finishing the season with a few extra games in hand.
27-year-old center-back John Brooks and Wolfsburg go on the road against Augsburg. With 16 games under his belt this season, Brooks has been an essential player in the back-four line.
Brooks has scored one goal this whole season for Wolfsburg his side’s Europa League 2-1 loss against Shakhtar Donetsk this past March. Brooks seems to be working hard to keep that momentum he had in games when his team faces off against Augsburg.
For the second American match-up, we see Timothy Chandler and Eintracht Frankfurt host Fabian Johnson and Borussia Mönchengladbach. Although both players could be in the squad, Chandler realistically could see minutes against Gladbach.
Gladbach has had a winning pattern lately, and it is unlikely that Johnson can change that. On the other hand, Chandler started six of Eintracht’s seven Bundesliga games in 2020, netting four goals and an assist in that period to reignite the Eagles’ hopes of securing a top-six finish again.
Lastly, young forward sensation, Josh Sargent looks to feature in yet another game as he played in all of 2020 Werder Bremen’s league games. With three goals this season, Sargent will be looking to produce more goals that could lead to victories in his team’s pursuit out of the relegation zone. Werder Bremen have a tough game ahead of them as they host Bayern Leverkusen, who are at the top of the table featured in a five-team horse race for the title.
The Stars and Stripes have a tight schedule ahead of them, and with nine games left in the season, most will give their hardest to perform extraordinarily. These young Americans have a fantastic opportunity to showcase their talents while other leagues look to resume their season.