VfL Wolfsburg gave their European hopes a boost with a 5-1 win away to Bochum on Matchday 29. Mattias Svanberg (10’, 56’) hit a brace, while Jakub Kaminski (21’), Patrick Wimmer (34’) and Luca Waldschmidt (77’) were also on the scoresheet for Niko Kovac’s side in front of a crowd of 24,834 at the Vonovia-Ruhrstadion. The victory has moved the Wolves up to eighth in the table.

It’d be a surprise to see him leave, with the chance to break that record now firmly in his sights. If he was to up sticks from Tottenham, though, he might just move within the Premier League.

Marco Reus (to Sky): “It was an all-round deserved victory. We set the course early on, had good control and closed down the centre. And Cologne were no longer able to plug the gaps. The goals were well worked. Mo Dahoud played a really good game. He has been out for so long; I really liked the presence that he showed on the pitch. He’s a great footballer. We dropped off in the second period against Schalke and were very disappointed with the 2-2 draw. That’s why it was important to become league leaders, even if it is only for tonight. We have a really cool game coming up in a fortnight; there’ll be a few players coming back. Even after that it won’t be decided, but it will be a very important game.”

SV Werder Bremen have secured their place in the Bundesliga on matchday 33. In front of 42,100 spectators in the sold-out wohninvest WESERSTADION, the Green-Whites fought their way to a 1-1 draw against 1. FC Köln. After the visitors took the lead through a header from Steffen Tigges (36’), substitute Romano Schmid scored the equaliser from a tight angle (73’). The draw was enough for Werder to confirm their place in the top flight for next season.

Silvère Ganvoula has joined Belgian side Cercle Brugge on loan. He’ll stay in Bruges, who are...

Jeffrey Gouweleeuw: “We started well, but then the red card undid all of that. It’s a harsh call, in my opinion. Despite that, we fought back hard, and continued to do so after going 1-0 down, but when you don’t take your chances, then any game against BVB is going to be tough. However, we’re still in control of our own fate and need to give it everything in Gladbach in order to stay up. The fans were incredible today, their noise and support really pushed us on.” 

The two players received a very warm welcome from the rest of the squad at Sabener Strasse as they prep for Sunday’s massive clash against Union Berlin in the Bundesliga that will have massive title ramifications. That encounter just might be too early to rush either player back, but resuming team training is a massive step in the right direction for the pair of long-term absentees.

Cologne occupy 11th position in the table and have not dropped below 13th place at any stage of the season, with the vast majority of the campaign spent in mid-table. Following their surprising qualification for the UEFA Europa Conference League last season, the management would have certainly settled for a quiet season.

RBL confirmed at Europe’s top table next season | Seventh year of continental football | Group Stage draw on August 31st

26,750 fans were in attendance to see 1. FSV Mainz 05 lose 3-0 at the MEWA ARENA to VfL Wolfsburg on matchday 13. Patrick Wimmer put the away team ahead somewhat against the run of play after 33 minutes. Despite a decent Mainz performance for large parts of the game, they conceded twice late on. Maximilian Arnold’s free-kick made it 2-0 (70’) and former Mainzer Ridle Baku finished the game off with a third.