USMNT weekend viewing guide: still finding our legs

The return of the Bundesliga last weekend wasn’t the most glorious of events for fans of the USMNT with the low point probably being Giovanni Reyna’s first start of his Bundesliga career literally ending before it began as he was a late scratch from the lineup with an injury picked up in warm-ups. The good news is that reports are the injury was not serious and Reyna could be available already this weekend. If so Reyna will be one of several players to keep an eye on this weekend beginning on Saturday.

Saturday

Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund - 9:30a on FS1

The Good news is John Brooks got the start, didn’t allow FC Augsburg to score, and his team won the game. The bad news is John Brooks had a fantastic shot on goal that required a nice save from the keeper and the rebound was put away to tie the game up. The bad part being that it was his own goal, his own keeper, and resulted in an Augsburg goal, one which was initially scored as an own goal for Brooks but later changed to technically let him off the hook.

The win left Augsburg in sixth place heading into this weekend’s match against Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund are also coming off a win, a 4-0 trouncing of FC Schalke in the Revierderby. As was mentioned above Gio Reyna was initially in the team lineup and scheduled for the first start of his young Bundesliga career before an injury in warmups kept him from appearing in the match. Reports are that the injury was not serious and Reyna was back in training this week.

Other Notes:

• Fabian Johnson was out last weekend due to injury and his return is unknown as Borussia Monchengladbach face Bayer Leverkusen at 9:30a on FS2.
• Timothy Chandler came in for the final fifteen minutes of Eintracht Frankfurt’s 3-1 loss to Gladbach last Saturday. Frankfurt will be playing Bayern Munich at 12:30p on FS1.

Looking through the paywall:

• Josh Sargent saw twenty minutes off the bench on Monday in Werder Bremen’s 4-1 loss. The team continues to struggle and looks likely to be relegated which would mean Sargent will be playing in 2 Bundesliga or for a new club next season, maybe catch him while you can?

Sunday

Schalke 04 v Augsburg - 7:30a on FS1

Weston McKennie and Schalke were on the loosing end of the 1-4 Revierderby match and certainly no one on the team bathed themselves in glory. The team has fallen to eighth place now and would miss an opportunity to take part in European competition if it takes place next season. On Sunday Schalke will face an Augsburg team that is currently in fourteenth pace and are losers of four straight.

Mainz 05 v RB Leipzig - 9:30a on FS1

Tyler Adams and RB Leipzig also struggled out of the gate for the restart, settling for a 1-1 draw with SC Freiburg that dropped them to fourth place, seven points behind Bayern Munich for first place and just one point ahead of Bayer Leverkusen for the coveted fourth spot which qualifies for Champions League play. Adams played on the right side of the midfield which may come as some relief to USMNT fans after he had been used as a RB leading up to the suspension of play though he didn’t have a major impact on the game. On Sunday the team will face fifteenth place Mainz who have struggled but have a fairly healthy gap between themselves and relegation, four points ahead of the relegation playoff spot and nine points ahead of Werder Bremen for straight relegation.

Other Notes:

• The weekend finishes with a match between Koln and Fortuna Dusseldorf at Noon on FS1. Zach Steffen remains out for Dusseldorf and Alfredo Morales saw roughly twenty minutes for the team last weekend.

Let us know what you’re watching in the comments section below and we’ll do our best to come back with a mid-week viewing guide next Tuesday as the Bundesliga increases their fixtures in an attempt to close out the season in compressed fashion