Dortmund Slumps to Another Loss at Augsburg as Leipzig Tops the Bundesliga

26 October 2024, Bavaria, Augsburg: Augsburg's Alexis Claude-Maurice (R) and Dortmund's Felix Nmecha battle for the ball during German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund at the WWK Arena. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa
26 October 2024, Bavaria, Augsburg: Augsburg's Alexis Claude-Maurice (R) and Dortmund's Felix Nmecha battle for the ball during German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund at the WWK Arena. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa
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Dortmund Slumps to Another Loss at Augsburg as Leipzig Tops the Bundesliga

26 October 2024, Bavaria, Augsburg: Augsburg's Alexis Claude-Maurice (R) and Dortmund's Felix Nmecha battle for the ball during German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund at the WWK Arena. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa
26 October 2024, Bavaria, Augsburg: Augsburg's Alexis Claude-Maurice (R) and Dortmund's Felix Nmecha battle for the ball during German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund at the WWK Arena. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa

Borussia Dortmund's awful away from continued in a 2-1 loss to Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday that increases the pressure on coach Nuri Sahin.
Dortmund's fourth loss in a row in away games in all competitions — including 5-2 at Real Madrid on Tuesday — left the team seven points off new Bundesliga leader Leipzig, The Associated Press reported.
Alexis Claude-Maurice made his first start since joining Augsburg in August and rewarded his new team with two goals from distance to turn the game around. Dortmund led with an early Donyell Malen goal.
The game ended with 18-year-old Dortmund defender Almugera Kabar sent off for two yellow cards on his Bundesliga debut.
Sahin, who took over after Edin Terzic left following Dortmund's Champions League final loss last season, has seven wins, one draw and four losses in 12 games.
Leipzig on top Leipzig looks like two different teams, depending on which competition its playing in.
In the Champions League, it has lost all three of its games. In the Bundesliga, Marco Rose's team leads the standings — at least until Bayern Munich plays Sunday — and is unbeaten in its eight games.
Leipzig briefly looked like bringing its Champions League form to the Bundesliga before a second-half comeback to beat Freiburg 3-1.
Poor marking allowed Ritsu Doan to head Freiburg in front in the 15th — the first goal Leipzig conceded in the Bundesliga since Aug. 31. Goals from defenders Willi Orban and Lutsharel Geertruida got Leipzig back into the game before Loïs Openda scored from a tight angle to secure the win.
With attacking midfielder Xavi Simons set to be out for weeks with an ankle ligament injury sustained in Leipzig’s 1-0 loss to Liverpool on Wednesday, teammates Castello Lukeba and Amadou Haidara raised his shirt in tribute.
Stuttgart wins again El Bilal Touré scored a vital goal in Stuttgart's 1-0 win over Juventus on Tuesday in the Champions League, and the Mali forward did it again on Saturday with a goal and assist to beat Holstein Kiel 2-1.
Touré surged for most of the length of the field on a counterattack to set up Deniz Undav for Stuttgart's first goal and scored the second with an audacious long-range shot.
That gave Stuttgart a much-needed first Bundesliga win in over a month, but only after surviving the last half-hour with 10 men after Jeff Chabot earned two yellow cards in the space of three minutes.
Also, Wolfsburg drew at St. Pauli 0-0.
Champion Bayer Leverkusen played Werder Bremen later Saturday.



Bayern Have Attacking Options to Replace Kane, Says Kompany

 Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
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Bayern Have Attacking Options to Replace Kane, Says Kompany

 Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany claps hands during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the Signal-Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)

Bayern Munich have enough talented players to replace injured striker Harry Kane, starting on Tuesday with their German Cup round of 16 tie against holders Bayer Leverkusen, coach Vincent Kompany.

The England captain, who has netted 20 goals across all competitions this season and leads the Bundesliga scorers' list with 14, suffered a thigh muscle injury in Saturday's 1-1 league draw at Borussia Dortmund.

Kane is expected to be out for a couple of weeks but Kompany said he hoped he could still return to action before the winter break starts on Dec. 22. Bayern are top of the Bundesliga with a four-point lead over Eintracht Frankfurt.

"It is difficult to say at this moment but there is a chance for him to still play this year," Kompany told a press conference on Monday.

"But he will miss several games and to replace him, you know you cannot replace the goals or the player one-for-one. That's why he is a top player."

Kompany said players like Thomas Mueller, Serge Gnabry, Michael Olise and Leroy Sane had enough experience to fill the gap.

"We have talent in the team and need to solve it differently. We won't be lacking talent tomorrow but it will look different," Kompany said.

"We have many options. Thomas Mueller, Mathys Tel, Gnabry, Olise, Leroy. I now named almost everyone. Obviously, Harry has scored 20 goals... but we have dangerous players in attack."

Bayern last won the German Cup in 2020 and have failed to get past the quarter-finals since, losing in the second round in three of the past four seasons.

"We play the Cup holders tomorrow. One of the top two or three games in Germany, and I hope our performance will match the importance of the game," Kompany said.