Fortuna Düsseldorf has gained promotion to the Bundesliga after the 2-2 draw with Hertha BSC. In that sense justive prevails, as Hertha should have been automatically relegated. Fortuna had won the 1st match in Berlin 2-1, so was favored in the rematch at home. And things started out with a bang as Max Beister rocketed a shot into the corner from distance, giving Fortuna the lead. To Hertha’s credit, they didn’t fold, and fought their way back into the match. Anis Ben-Hatira has been their workhorse recently, and he scored again off a nice header. From then on, Hertha looked the better team, having more of the possesion. Fortuna’s attacks were limited to rare forays, although they did create a couple of huge chances, when Beister broke through and hammered a shot that brought out a great save, but the trailing Düsseldorfer made like a wanker and not only missed the open net, but fell on his ass as well. Hertha created some good chances of their own, a nice turn around shot from Ronny brought a brilliant parry from Ratajczak.

The second half clearly seemed to go Fortuna’s way. For one thing, Ben-hatira made another dick move and got his ass rightfully tossed. So Hertha was down to 10 men, and was soon losing after Jovanovic scored. To Hertha’s credit, they didn’t give up and tried valiently to press. Despite having a man advantage, Fortuna stupidly decided to defend and were duly punished near the end when Raffael scored. This led to anxious moments, as there was to be at 7 minutes of extra-time tacked on due to interruptions from firebombs being thrown from the crowd. In fact, in extra time, Fortuna fans stormed the field to celebrate. Evidently they interpreted a whistle from the ref as the end, but it was only a foul. This led to a 20 minute delay until order was restored and the match finished out. Overall, Düsseldorf deserves promotion, but they certainly made things more difficult than needed. Hertha and Köln get to continue their argument over who is the worst managed club in Germany down in the 2.Liga…

Fortuna Düsseldorf     -     Hertha BSC Berlin    2:2 (1:1)    51,000

                      1:0  Beister (1., Ilsö)
                      1:1  Ben-Hatira (22., Ronny)
                      2:1  Jovanovic (59., Bröker)
                      2:2  Raffael (85., Ramos)

In a somewhat upset, Jahn Regensburg advances into the 2.Liga as they held favored Karlsruher SC 2-2. Since the first leg in Regensburg ended 1-1, Jahn advances on the away goal rule. This is a bitter pill for KSC and their fans, who packed the Wildparkstadion in anticipation of a win and another season in the 2.Liga. Instead, they swallow the bitter pill of a 3.Liga future.
For Jahn Regensburg, this is a fortunate turn of events. They struggled to get that 3rd place finish in the 2.Liga, and were clear underdogs against the better known Karlsruhe side. But it is as things should be, as KSC should have been relegated anyway, if you believe that the playoffs are rewarding teams that have sucked all year long with another chance.

Karlsruher SC	 - 	Jahn Regensburg	 	2:2 (1:1)    29,699

                0:1  Hein (28.)
                1:1  Lavric (32., Iashvili)
                2:1  Charalambous (56., Staffeldt)
                2:2  Laurito (66., Alibaz)

Dortmund defeat Bayern 5-2 to do the domestic double! This is a huge win for Dortmund, as they’ve beaten their rivals in all three critical matches this season. Overall, this was an exciting game, where Bayern actually had more of the play, but the Neons were much more opportunistic.

Things started out with a disaster for Bayern: after only 3 minutes, Luiz Gustavo made a horrible pass, Kuba picked it up and passed to Kagawa, who had an empty net. bayern reacted well, with some pressing and strong attacks. Only a few minutes later, Gomez was put through, but Weidenfeller made a courageous dive to intervene. He was down injured for quite a while, with speculation that he had broken a rib. However, he continued in the match. Dortmund actually looked a bit confused after the early lead, and was relying more on a stout defense. Bayern then got a deserved equalizer in a similar Weidenfeller vs. Gomez repeat: this time however the keeper got the player instead of the ball and Arjen Robben put home the subsequent penalty. A few minutes later Weidenfeller had to leave the match, and he was replaced by Australian Mitch Langerak. One might have expected Bayern to gain the upper hand, but the opposite happened. Kuba tried to dribble in the penalty area, and Boateng chopped him down; Hummels put home the penalty, and the Neons were back on top. The lethal blow however came in injury time. Kagawa got to a bouncing ball and passed perfectly splitting the defense for Lewandowski to blast home.

Bayern tried to regroup and come out strong in the 2nd half, but didn’t look like they would take advantage of their chances. Instead it was Dortmund, showing some nice passing as Kagawa to Grosskreutz, who played through Schweinsteiger’s legs to Lewandowski, who hammered past Neuer. Bayern was stunned, and Dortmund was sailing along. Some good combination passing gave Lewandowski another chance, but Neuer made a great save. The Müncheners then recovered for a last ditch run. Gomez headed off the bar, then Ribery did somefancy footwork and finished with a nice shot into the corner. But that was as close as they would get. Lewandowski did get  his hat-trick near the end, as Neuer dove on a ball, but then lost it, Piszcek flipped it high to the far post where Lewandowski headed home for the final nail in a historic Dortmund victory.

Borussia Dortmund     -     Bayern München    5:2 (3:1)    74,794

                     1:0  Kagawa (3., Blaszczykowski)
                     1:1  Robben (25., penalty, Gomez)
                     2:1  Hummels (41., penalty, Blaszczykowski)
                     3:1  Lewandowski (45. + 1, Kagawa)
                     4:1  Lewandowski (58., Großkreutz)
                     4:2  Ribery (75.)
                     5:2  Lewandowski (81., Piszczek)

So is this signaling a changing of the guard in German football? I would say “no”. Clearly Dortmund is well on track to become the second force, but they still have a ways to go. Bayern still dominates the league financially, and Dortmund is only recovering from their previous run at the top. (where they also won the Champions League). Dortmund has yet to do anything in Europe, whereas next week Bayern could perhaps “salvage” their season by beating Chelsea in the Champions League final…in München.

Last season Dortmund stormed to the title, and Bayern played poorly. Management reacted by spending big, and things started quite well, as it looked like they would run away with things. But as Dortmund played themselves into (superb) shape, Bayern began to reveal some weakness, at the same time getting stretched in Europe. I would expect Bayern to spend some more to shore up the at times shaky defense, and certainly be one of the favorites again. Dortmund will have to achieve a deep Champions League run (or maybe win it all) in order to gain recognition as Bayern’s equal, while increasing their financial muscle. So I would say they still have quite a way to go, but at least they’re on the right track.

Jahn Regensburg	    - 	 Karlsruher SC	  1:1 (0:0)    10,724

                   1:0  Alibaz (58., penalty, Binder)
                   1:1  P. Groß (76., Ngwat-Mahop)

Karlrsuher SC is trying to remain in the 2.Liga, and 3.Liga challenger Jahn Regensburg went into the series as a slight underdog.

Karlsruhe has a slight advantage after the 1st leg of the 2.Liga promotion playoffs. Jahn Regensburg had the support of a sold-out stadium, and looked equal to KSC, but will be at a disadvantage in the replay.

After an even but rather boring 1st half, things heated up. Regensburg got lucky as Binder took a dive and was awarded a penalty. This woke up KSC, and they pressed hard for the equalizer. A nice 20 meter blast by Pascal Gross squared the match, and the visitors looked the fresher team until the end, threatening to take all the points.

Both clubs will undoubtedly make adjustments for the replay in Karlsruhe on Monday the 14th…

Promotion playoff, 1st leg

Hertha BSC Berlin    -     Fortuna Düsseldorf    1:2 (1:0)    68,041

                    1:0  Hubnik (19., Ben-Hatira)
                    1:1  Bröker (64.)
                    1:2  Ramos (71., own goal, Ilsö)

Fortuna Düsseldorf took a giant step towards a return to the Bundesliga. The 2.Liga 3rd place club defeated Hertha BSC in Berlin, putting themselves in a good position to hold on at home and gain promotion.

Berlin started out trying to dominate the match, but Fortuna began to gain confidence. However, despite gaining some promising opportunities, they wasted them. They were duly punished. A corner from Ben-Hatira, and Hubnik leapt the highest, Berlin up 1-0. Now it was complete Hertha dominance, as Fortuna struggled to get the ball out of their half, and were in danger of being overrun. Berlin pressed, but couldn’t get another goal, Fortuna barely hanging on.

The half-time was definitely put to good use by coach Norbert Meier. Düsseldorf came out aggressive, and although they were still helpless going forward, they neutralized Hertha’s midfield. Then a brilliant piece turned the game. Thomas Bröker, one of Fortuna’s key players all season long, started a slalom run through the Berlin defense, beating 3 players and knocking home. Now Fortuna began to dominate, and and own goal off a free kick gave the visitors the lead. They then fell back and killed off the match, taking a massive win home to take to Düsseldorf. Meier definitely out-foxed Otto Rehagel in this one.

The rematch is next Tuesday in Düsseldorf. The club has already received over 100,000 requests for tickets, so the 51,000 capacity stadium will be packed to the rafters with Fortuna fans, hoping to see a return to the Bundesliga, last seen in Düsseldorf back in 1997. Fortuna had some hard times, falling down to the 4th division, but now they’re almost back. Hertha has their work cut out, as they’ve been weak on the road, but they basically have to win by two goals. Meier definitely out-foxed Otto Rehagel in the opener, so the old-timer will have to work some magic if Berlin is to prevail.

Schalke 04 has been heavily in debt, but this season has been good to the Blues. Overall turnover at the clubs was up almost 20%, to 224 million euros. This allowed the club to reduce the debt from 217 million to 185 million euros. Still a large chunk is the stadium costs, still around 59 million at the end of 2011. The plan is to have the stadium completely paid off by 2018. Personnel costs had risen from 83 million to 100 million, largely a result of ex-coach Felix Magath spending like a drunken sailor (which he repeated at Wolfsburg in the winterbreak).

Schalke’s high attendance and Champions League run all last season all contributed to the improvement. This year figures to be fairly decent as well, since they had a great Europa-liga performance and will be playing Champions League again.

I’ll follow up with some in-depth looks at the top three divisions, but I thought I’d put together some quick impressions of the (essentially) completed season….

Bundesliga

This was clearly an impressive year for Dortmund, taking the title in style after a slow start. With impressive attacking football on display, they were clearly the best team. Their victory is probably also good for German football in general, as they are now rising to challenge Bayern, although they still have a way to go financially. Bayern München was in fact quite decent, impressive at times. And of course they can still claim victory by winning the Champions League (and to a lesser extent by defeating Dortmund in the DFB-Cup final). Schalke had a fine season, probably playing to their potential. They’re still lacking some steel to challenge Dortmund and Bayern. But they appear to be on the right path. Gladbach had a wonderful season, but you wonder whether they can repeat next season. Leverkusen and Stuttgart had OK finishes, but looked crap at times.One might have expected them to challenge, but they were nowhere near that level. Werder Bremen has really fallen off and one has to wonder whether they’re on they’re way back to mediocrity.

For the bottom teams, Augsburg was the most impressive, as everybody considered them automatic relegation fodder, but they fought and punched above their weight to stay up. Both Mainz and Freiburg were also candidates, but showed grit and determination. Kaiserslautern was found to be too weak, and Köln was a disaster, despite Likas Podolski’s best efforts. Hertha once again proved their management incompetant, as they fired coach Markus Babbel prematurely and almost got themselves relegated. (Still could happen if they lose against Düsselfdorf. Losing would be good for the game, perhaps the relegation would force some needed changes in Berlin). However, if they save themselves it will be because Köln was such a mess, not because of anything they (or Rehagel) did. Another dishonrable mention goes to Hamburger SV, which should be a power, but had their worst Bundesliga season ever.

2.Liga

Some interesting things happened in the 2.Liga. Eintracht Frankfurt was solid and earned immediate re-promotion to the Bundesliga. No real surprise there. Greuther Fürth has toyed with the idea for years, but always choked. This season they put everything together and deservedly go up. Düsseldorf was the pace setter for much of the season, but then fell off. They could still succeed if they upend Hertha in the playoffs. Fortuna has recovered from years in the wilderness, so this is definitely a positive trend. St.Pauli was strong all season, but lacked that little extra to put themselves over the top. Paderborn had perhaps their best season ever, and was in contention until the final day.

The rest of the news in the 2.Liga was mostly negative. Traditionals like 1860, Bochum and MSV Duisburg largely sucked. Karlsruhe and Aachen totally collapsed and got stuck in relegation. (KSC at least will be favoured to survive the playoff against Regensburg). The ex-GDR clubs were very disappointing. Hansa got relegated, and Cottbus and Aue were nervous until the final day. Aue was clearly punching above their weight last season, so at least their collapse was no surprise. However Energie might have harbored some thoughts of at least challenging, as they’ve gone up a couple of times. Instead they largely sucked. At least Union Berlin was decent, and Dynamo Dresden’s mid-table finish was positive. With Köln and Kaiserslautern coming down, at least a couple of attractive dates are on the schedule for next season, albeit balanced by Sandhausen and Aalen.

3.Liga

The third division turned out to be the most competitive of all. Notice that virtually every team had double-digit drawn matches, and promoted sides had double-digit losses. Sandhausen and Aalen surprised the pundits and gained relegation. Neither team was overly impressive, but they ground out results when they needed. Regensburg withstood a fierce battle to hold onto the promotion playoff spot. Disappointment for traditional sides like Osnabrück, Offenbach and Saarbrücken, who never really got into the race. Bielefeld never got started, but at least recovered from a horrible start to prevent disaster. Oberhausen cointinued their collapse getting relegated for second straight year. Jena was crap and deservedly went down. Normally I don’t care about the “B” sides, but Werder Bremen II reflects the chaos from the Bundesliga side. It’s the first time in some 40 years that they won’t be represented in the 3rd division…However the outlook for the league is quite nice: Aachen, Rostock and potentially Karlsruhe are very attractive draws for next season, Stuttgarter Kickers should create some interest as well. And one of Halle, Kiel or RB Leipzig should be coming up as well, all with decent attendance.

Düsseldorf defends the 3rd place and promotion playoff, and Karlsruhe holds onto the relegation playoff spot.

Karlsruher SC	      -    Eintracht Frankfurt	  1:0 (1:0)    26.780

                     1:0  Charalambous (9., Schiek)

Erzgebirge Aue	      -    VfL Bochum	          2:1 (1:0)    12,500

                     1:0  Klingbeil (6.)
                     1:1  le Beau (57., own goal, Federico)
                     2:1  Curri (66., Kocer)

Hansa Rostock	      -    SpVgg Greuther Fürth	  2:2 (0:1)    14,100

                     0:1  Nöthe (35., Pekovic)
                     1:1  Gusche (59., R. Müller)
                     1:2  Sararer (68., Mavraj)
                     2:2  Mintal (90., Holst)

Fortuna Düsseldorf    -    MSV Duisburg	          2:2 (2:2)    51,000

                     0:1  Exslager (8., Brosinski)
                     1:1  O. Fink (18., Bröker)
                     2:1  Lukimya (21., O. Fink)
                     2:2  Gjasula (27.)

1860 München	      -    Alemannia Aachen	  1:2 (1:2)    25,100

                     0:1  Streit (10.)
                     1:1  Aigner (18., Nicu)
                     1:2  Uludag (21., Achenbach)

Energie Cottbus	      -    1. FC Union Berlin	  2:1 (0:0)    20,049

                     1:0  Adlung (59., Kruska)
                     1:1  Ede (61., Pfertzel)
                     2:1  Rangelov (73.)

FC St. Pauli	      -    SC Paderborn 07	  5:0 (2:0)    24,847

                     1:0  Sobiech (30., Funk)
                     2:0  M. Kruse (36., Ebbers)
                     3:0  Bruns (60., Ebbers)
                     4:0  Volz (65.)
                     5:0  Naki (90. + 1, Ebbers)

Eintr. Braunschweig   -    FC Ingolstadt 04	  3:1 (1:1)
FSV Frankfurt	      -    Dynamo Dresden	  1:1 (0:0) 

 1  SpVgg Greuther Fürth	34    20   10 	 4     73:27  +46    70
 2  Eintracht Frankfurt (A)	34    20    8 	 6     76:33  +43    68
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 3  Fortuna Düsseldorf	  	34    16   14 	 4     64:35  +29    62
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 4  FC St. Pauli (A)	  	34    18    8 	 8     59:34  +25    62
 5  SC Paderborn 07	  	34    17   10 	 7     51:42  +9     61
 6  1860 München	  	34    17    6 	11     62:46  +16    57
 7  1. FC Union Berlin	  	34    14    6 	14     55:58  -3     48
 8  Eintracht Braunschweig (N)	34    10   15 	 9     37:35  +2     45
 9  Dynamo Dresden (N)	  	34    12    9 	13     50:52  -2     45
10  MSV Duisburg	  	34    10    9 	15     42:47  -5     39
11  VfL Bochum	  	        34    10    7 	17     41:55  -14    37
12  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	34     8   13 	13     43:58  -15    37
13  FSV Frankfurt	  	34     7   14 	13     43:59  -16    35
14  Energie Cottbus	  	34     8   11 	15     30:49  -19    35
15  Erzgebirge Aue	  	34     8   11 	15     31:55  -24    35
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16  Karlsruher SC	  	34     9    6 	19     34:60  -26    33
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17  Alemannia Aachen	  	34     6   13 	15     30:47  -17    31
18  Hansa Rostock (N)	  	34     5   12 	17     34:63  -29    27

A wild first half hour in Düsseldorf, as Fortuna hosted local rival Duisburg for a Rhein-Ruhr derby. Fortuna needed a result to ensure the promotion playoff, and the Zebras had nothing to play for. However, MSV did not roll over, on the contrary they came out swinging. They grabbed an early lead, Fortuna came storming back, then the deciding point of the match perhaps: Zebra Maurice Exslager got his ass tossed in the 23rd minute. With the lead and a man advantage, Düsseldorf could relax. Wrong. MSV countered and equalized, and for the rest of the match remained a dangerous opponent. Fortuna continued to press, as news from Hamburg indicated that St.Pauli was shooting a fish in a barrel. In the end, a deserved draw for both sides, and Fortuna will face Hertha BSC in the Budesliga sweepstakes.

St.Pauli hosted Paderborn in attempt to pass Düsseldorf. Paderborn could leapfrog Fortuna with a win, but the Paulistas needed some help from Duisburg…unless they could blast their way through. St.Pauli dominated from start-to-finish, and kicked Paderborn in the ass. After grabbing the lead, Pauli didn’t let up and continued to attack. SCP tried some feeble efforts to get back in the game, but ended up getting rocked like a punching bag. In the end, a nice win for St.Pauli, a bitter defeat for Paderborn, although they can look back at a fine season.

Karlsruhe defended the relegation playoff spot and with some luck might have saved themselves outright (Cottbus and Aue needed results to stay ahead). It was a nerve-wracking win against Eintracht Frankfurt in front of a sold out Wildparkstadion. KSC grabbed an early goal, but were pushed pack into defense by the superior Frankfurt side, looking to win and perhaps get promoted as champions.

Aue needed a result to ensure their survival, and facing crap Bochum, it certainly started well. However, despite the lead Erzgebirge got more nervous as the match progressed, and Bochum started to take over and attack. Bochum equalized and things were bleak, as another goal for KSC hundreds of miles away would send Aue into the relegation playoff. But Erzgebirge coach Karsten Baumann reacted by bringing on fan favorite Skerkilaid Curri, and the Albanian-German rewarded the trust by scoring the winning goal only 5 minutes later.

Dimitar Rangelov’s freekick gave Cottbus the win over Union, and secured Energie’s palce in the 2.Liga. Cottbus was in a decent position, as long as they didn’t lose they’d probably stay up due to goal difference. Neverthless, in a eastern derby, Energie was quite nervous in the 1st half, and despite better performance after the restart, couldn’t really enjoy things untl Rangelov’s winner.

A decent performance by relegated Rostock against the 2.Liga champions. hansa had nothing to play for, but at least had some pride. Greuther Fürth wanted to win to seal the title, but were met with tough resistance. In the end, Hansa got a deserved draw, and Greuther Fürth took the title anyway, as Frankfurt lost at Karlsruhe.

1860 played crap, Aachen picks up a bittersweet win in saying goodbye to the 2.Liga. The Alemannen needed Frankfurt to equalize in Karlsruhe, which didn’t happen. So despite a decent effort, Aachen is relegated.