Where did the Leon Goretzka swimming shorts come from?
That was the vital question at the heart of German football this weekend. After Bayern Munich completed their 3-2 win over Freiburg on Saturday — with goals from Tom Bischof in the 92nd minute and Lennart Karl in the 99th — a pair of enormous board shorts, emblazoned with pictures of Goretzka’s face, found their way down to the pitch from the stands after full time.
Goalscorer Bischof tried — and failed — to get Goretzka to put them on. Serge Gnabry was more than happy to, dancing away as Bayern celebrated a win that kept them nine points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
It got even stranger at Europa-Park: Josip Stanisic, Kim Min-jae and Dayot Upamecano were seen holding up a giant flag of a topless Goretzka as Gnabry danced.
Goretzka will leave Bayern in the summer after eight years at the club, having won everything there is to win. While his popularity has waned in recent years and some parts of the fanbase have grown frustrated with his diminishing impact (relative to his hefty salary), that has partly given way to this sort of highjinks since it was announced in January that he would not be renewing his contract.
Goretzka took it all in good humour, giggling his way through the post-game celebrations. Asked what happened to the… items afterwards, Joshua Kimmich reassured his interviewer that the shorts and giant poster were returned to their owner.
“The fan wanted it back. That was important to him.”
What else is in that Leon Goretzka collection?
Bayern face Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Tuesday. Harry Kane’s involvement is still questionable, although the club are confident he will be fit to start. Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies both returned from injury against Freiburg, with Davies assisting Karl’s late winning goal.
And look how happy everyone was for him.
Look how Kompany and the whole Team from the Bench went to Phonzy After his last Minute assist on Karl.
What a Team, This is Mia San Mia.❤️🤍 pic.twitter.com/1Gm8qjgsZy
— 𝘽𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙞𝙁𝘾𝘽 ¹⁷ (@Official_Benji_) April 4, 2026
There were also stoppage-time goals and shenanigans at the Neckarstadion, a few hours later.
The game between Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund was not a classic, but a 93rd-minute goal from Karim Adeyemi won it for Dortmund, before a superb angled drive from Julian Brandt removed any doubt. Dortmund (2nd) effectively have their Champions League qualification secured. Stuttgart (4th) still have work to do.
Tempers flared between the two sets of players after each goal, with fans from the Cannstatter Kurve — where the ultras stand – baited down to pitchside. After the first goal, several appeared to take exception to Adeyemi’s celebration, with a few beer cups and some salty language discharged from behind the advertising hoardings.
Some context: when the two sides faced each other in November, Deniz Undav scored a very late equaliser — the third goal of a hat-trick — to snatch a point, before “shushing” all four sides of a crestfallen Westfalenstadion.
On Saturday, Adeyemi returned the favour, putting his finger to his lips after winning the game, provoking the fans, but also several Stuttgart players, including Undav, who was quickly on the scene, pointing fingers.
The second goal, in the 96th minute, drew an even worse response.
Brandt scored — fabulously — and again gestured towards the Cannstatter Kurve in celebration, causing another confrontation with the Stuttgart players. At one point, a steward’s collapsible chair was flung on to the pitch, WWE-style, as if someone was imminently about to be cracked around the head.
Respect the chair. pic.twitter.com/KWtuEFnb6g
— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) April 4, 2026
Joking aside, this was no good: Stuttgart head coach Sebastian Hoeness and Undav, who is having a prolific goalscoring season (18 goals in 24 games), were both critical of the fans afterwards and the DFB sports court will almost certainly get involved.
Around the league, Heidenheim’s creditable 2-2 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach seems only to have delayed the inevitable; they are well adrift at the foot of the table and are likely three games from relegation now.
Wolfsburg seem likely to follow. They led twice against Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena — 1-0 and 3-1 — but lost 6-3 and are now four points off even the relegation playoff place.
That’s because St Pauli drew with 1-1 Union Berlin in Koepenick. It featured a spectacularly violent volley from Mathias Pereira Lage and also some minor trivia: Union’s Oliver Burke recorded the highest speed in the league season, reaching 37km/h.
RB Leipzig won at the Weserstadion, beating Werder Bremen 2-1 to climb above Stuttgart and into third. Hoffenheim’s collapse continues; they lost 2-1 at home to Mainz and now have just one win in six, while losing their grip on Champions League qualification. TSG are fifth and falling.
Christian Ilzer’s side will face Augsburg next week, who took a point home from Hamburg after an entertaining 1-1 draw. Eintracht Frankfurt and Albert Riera continue to have a difficult time, as they lost a 2-0 lead to Koln on Sunday, drawing 2-2.
Riera has charged the atmosphere around him, for good and bad. He’s bold and bullish in his press conferences, which does not always play well with the German media. Without wishing to rehash the Max Kruse saga — covered in far too much detail here — there are other pundits who are not going to be devastated if the former Liverpool winger falls flat on his face.
(Neil Baynes/Getty Images)
Will that happen? It’s still too early to tell. Riera has won three of his eight games, losing two and drawing the others. Eight goals conceded, 12 scored. There are no proper trends yet.
Riera has certainly made some positive changes. His Frankfurt side are more positive and aggressive with the ball, but there are still players struggling with the new play style. Understandably so, because this squad has had a difficult season, suffering some chastening losses along the way, and the resulting fragility is never too far from the surface. It’s just not possible to feign technical confidence. Neither is it easy for a coach to install new foundations mid-season.
This is the kind of project that will need a summer rebuild. Frankfurt continue to have problems in defence, their central midfield also needs work, and the goalkeeping situation is anything but certain. Michael Zetterer or Kaua Santos? That question needs an answer.
One bit of news already: Mario Gotze has extended his contract by a further two years.
