Leipzig might not be every Bundesliga fan’s idea of a weekend idyll but as the sun set on 2025, the venue for the final Saturday night Topspiel of the year might have been the scene of a minor Christmas miracle. It had already been a worthy showpiece to draw the curtains on pre-Christmas Bundesliga but the end result – achieved not without a smidgeon of controversy – left us with a satisfying tale to tell by an open fire over holiday season.

Bayer Leverkusen can enjoy their brief break with a rosy glow of satisfaction with their win against a direct competitor a clear measure of how far they have come; or, if you like, a measure of how far Kasper Hjulmand has taken them. Leverkusen sit third over the bridge to the new year which, if we were to return to the closure of the summer transfer window, looked a long way off.

At RB Leipzig, Erik ten Hag’s era seemed like aeons ago as they reacted with certainty, even to difficult moments like going a goal down to Xaver Schlager’s smart finish from the edge of the area. That occurred 10 minutes before half-time – yet at the interval Leverkusen led, courtesy of a looping header from the resurgent Martin Terrier and a Bergkamp-esque slalom and smash into the roof of the net by Patrik Schick.

The debate came later, when the 18-year-old debutant Montrell Culbreath iced the win by breaking clear and – after briefly considering squaring to his teammate Christian Kofane – driving his finish high past Peter Gulacsi. Leipzig were still calling for a penalty at the other end after the Leverkusen captain, Robert Andrich, handled the ball while tumbling over Willi Orbán, before the cleared ball broke to Culbreath on the halfway line. Around two-and-a-half minutes later (mercifully short by modern standards given the officials had to judge the position of Andrich’s hand, whether it was actually in the box and a possible foul by Orbán) the referee Benjamin Brand pointed to the centre circle; goal given, all over.

It was a frantic, scruffy end to what had been a high-quality game, showcasing what has been a better league so far this season than the gap from Bayern Munich to the rest would have its detractors claim. The chasing pack have had their inconsistencies but Leipzig and Leverkusen, both rebuilding in their different ways, turned up here. Leverkusen’s climb, though, has been the steeper one over the last few months. Hjulmand, whose only previous Bundesliga experience was a mixed spell at Mainz, had a thankless task ahead of him when he arrived at the BayArena in September.

Ten Hag’s legacy was of two league games, one point and performances that looked like what they were – a host of almost total strangers yet to form any sort of team. Hjulmand has had little time in the calendar to remedy this on the training pitch, which makes his record of 28 points from 13 Bundesliga games since even more remarkable. Progress in the Champions League (where the win at Manchester City might be considered a turning point in creating a collective) and to the DfB Pokal last eight, beating Dortmund along the way, is also highly impressive.

If there is one lingering element of the Xabi Alonso reign under Hjulmand it is of the refusal to complain about setbacks or misfortune. Leverkusen were missing a host of names here, with Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Eliesse Ben Seghir at the Africa Cup of Nations, Álex Grimaldo injured and Jarell Quansah suspended. But Leverkusen found a way, and did so in style.

That Culbreath brought 2025 to an end was quite an irony, the teenager having scored the first goal of the Ten Hag era during a 5-1 humiliation in a friendly against Flamengo’s under-20 side, a result which first sparked misgivings over the former Manchester United coach. That is the last mention Hjulmand and Leverkusen will want of the past, because the future looks very bright.

Talking points

• There is occasionally some confusion about the unofficial title of Herbstmeister (autumn champion), with some believing its recipient is the team which is top at Christmas, rather than the halfway point, as is actually the case. Helpfully Bayern Munich are going to cover both angles, as they are now nine points clear after 15 games (with two to go until halfway) after their 4-0 win at Heidenheim in the last Bundesliga game of 2025. It was largely as routine as it looks on paper, despite a minor flurry from the home team in the second half with the score at 2-0, which was of great satisfaction to Vincent Kompany with illness snaking through his squad to the extent that the injured Joshua Kimmich made the two-hour trip west just in case more went down. That relentlessness has seen Bayern back to their best, as Max Eberl and Harry Kane – who scored his 19th Bundesliga goal of the season at the death – pointed out, with the much-maligned Club World Cup cited by both as a bonding experience. “We developed a great energy and team spirit that’s hard to break,” said Kane, “and we’ve carried that into this season.”

• Dortmund ended 2025 by overcoming their own cluster of defensive injuries to defeat an improved Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-0 on Friday night. Nothing is ever straightforward in Dortmund, though, with more discussion about Karim Adeyemi’s future viability after Niko Kovac was forced to substitute him in the second half to nip a back-and-forth with the referee Sven Jablonski in the bud. Niklas Süle, on the other hand, received praise all round for his performance, stepping in to shine – and to set up Julian Brandt’s opener – after a week in which it has been widely reported that BVB will not seek to extend his hefty contract when it expires at season’s end. “Respect for that performance, Niki,” said the sporting director, Sebastian Kehl. “That’s something truly remarkable … when you consider what’s been thrown at him in recent days.”

• The real fun was in Wolfsburg, where a seven-goal thriller was won by visitors Freiburg, getting a touch of the fortune that lacked in last week’s draw with Dortmund as they recovered from 3-2 down after Dzenan Pejcinovic had bagged a hat-trick for the home side. Having been confirmed as the permanent head coach before kick-off, Wolfsburg’s Daniel Bauer will have less frivolity in 2026 as he works towards his Uefa pro licence between training and matches (though he did pledge a “culinary or liquid” commemoration of his appointment).

• Mainz’s goalless draw with St Pauli, the game that nobody dared to lose, was less jolly on Sunday afternoon, but perhaps gives Urs Fischer a platform to lift his side off the bottom in the new year. The Mainz coach is unbeaten in three so far after the midweek Conference League win against Samsunspor, which also secured a top eight league finish – and a couple of valuable midweeks off in February.