BUNDESLIGA, Round 25: Bad for bottom

Round 25, Mar 13-15

Not a good round for bottom dwellers, as they all got owned this weekend.

First up is the worst, Stuttgart. VfB got smashed in Leverkusen, and looked absoultely horrible. Well, technically, they looked OK, because they have these cool black jersies that I hadn’t seen before. But as far as their play, the first goal pretty much describes it. A cross came into the box, one defender tried to clear but only succeeding in kicking off his fellow defender’s face. Luckily the ball bounced out of the danger area, but two Stuttgart players just ran past the ball, so an Aspirin picked it up and knocked a long shot into the goal. Easy win for Bayer, it’s hard to imagine that Stuttgart can recover, given their chaos on the field and incompetancy in the board. (In fairness, the new leadership is cutting costs, as VfB has had a couple of terrible financial years)

Next up, Paderborn. They sucked. Frankfurt ripped them to shreds, an easy win. SCP looked like a relegation candidate, the luster of their great season start only a distant memory. The highlights of the match were another goal by Alex Meier, and a goal by Nelson Valdez, who had left the Bundesliga in 2010 after some success with Bremen and then less-success with Dortmund. The Paraguayan international had been out for 8 months with an injury, so you’d have to say it was a successful comeback.

Freiburg was worthless as Wolfsburg had no trouble. The VWs were basically attacking at will, especially Chelsea castoff Kevin de Bruyne, who is quickly becoming one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe. The Breisgauers had a few chances to draw level when the match was still open, but overall should consider themselves lucky they didn’t get a worse hiding.

Hamburg also sucked, as they were taken apart by Hoffenheim. Things were basically over when after 20 minutes GK Drobny got his ass tossed for a foul, and HSV couldn’t recover. The Hoppers took their time, but eventually wrapped things up with a scoreline that reflects their dominance.

Hertha at least got a point. The Berliners were in a difficult match with Schalke, and benefited from some weak goal-keeping by Schalke’s youngster Wellenreuther. The visitors seemed to have more of the play, but needed a last minute header by Matip to salvage a point. Overall, probably a fair result, and Hertha keeps their head above the drop zone.

Bremen deserves some kudos for attempting to slug it out with Bayern München, but all they did was receive an ass-kicking. bayern looked sharp when they needed too and mercilessly took advantage of any Werder breakdown. The host side wasn’t really to create any worthwhile chances either, so the result is predicatble.

Dortmund gave a rather listless performance against Köln. Now in earlier rounds they might have managed to lose this, so I guess you could say they’ve improved. It was the usual, they dominated possesion and created chances, but wasted them. Newcomer Deveryson especially – he had two huge chances to win. But in the end, a disappointment for the Neons, a nice point for Köln.

Gladbach dominated early against Hannover, but the 96ers had a few moments in the 2nd period as they tried to fight back. But down the stretch the hosts were superior again, and get a deserved win to maintain 3rd place.

Mainz is very unpredicatble, and this week they were spot on. Ironically, it was at Augsburg, one of the toughest road matches in the league. FSV was disciplined, and the Fuggers were basically banging their heads against the solid Mainz defensive wall. The visitors then struck on counters for a great away win.

Total attendance 391,448 (avg 43,499), 94.2% capacity, sellouts in Hoffenheim, Bremen, Dortmund

 	
Bayer 04 Leverkusen  -   VfB Stuttgart	   4:0 (2:0)   29,384

                    1:0  Wendell (32.)
                    2:0  Drmic (36., Hilbert)
                    3:0  Bellarabi (50., Castro)
                    4:0  Drmic (59., Calhanoglu)

FC Augsburg	     -   1. FSV Mainz 05   0:2 (0:1)   28,359

                    0:1  Okazaki (32., de Blasis)
                    0:2  Koo (89.)

TSG Hoffenheim	     -   Hamburger SV	   3:0 (1:0)   30,150 *

                    1:0  Polanski (22., penalty, Schipplock)
                    2:0  Polanski (81., Schwegler)
                    3:0  Rudy (87., Volland)

Hertha BSC	     -   FC Schalke 04	   2:2 (1:1)   59,156

                    1:0  Ben-Hatira (21., Stocker)
                    1:1  L. Sané (40., Huntelaar)
                    2:1  Haraguchi (81., Stocker)
                    2:2  Matip (90., Fuchs)

Werder Bremen	     -   Bayern München	   0:4 (0:2)   42,100 *

                    0:1  T. Müller (24.)
                    0:2  Alaba (45., direct freekick)
                    0:3  Lewandowski (76., . Müller)
                    0:4  Lewandowski (90. + 1, T. Müller)

Eintracht Frankfurt  -   SC Paderborn 07   4:0 (2:0)   46,000

                    1:0  Meier (27., Stendera)
                    2:0  Stendera (42., Meier)
                    3:0  Aigner (55., Inui)
                    4:0  Valdez (82., Inui)

Borussia Dortmund    -   1. FC Köln	   0:0 (0:0)   80,667 *

VfL Wolfsburg	     -   SC Freiburg	   3:0 (1:0)   26,538

                    1:0  De Bruyne (19., Rodriguez)
                    2:0  Rodriguez (78., penalty, De Bruyne)
                    3:0  Arnold (85., De Bruyne)

Bor. Mönchengladbach -   Hannover 96	   2:0 (1:0)   49,134

                    1:0  Herrmann (43., Hazard)
                    2:0  Herrmann (75., M. Kruse)
 


 1  Bayern München (M, P) 	25   20  4  1 	  70:11  +59 	  64 
 2  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	25   16  5  4 	  56:28  +28 	  53 
 3  Bor. Mönchengladbach 	25   12  8  5 	  35:20  +15 	  43 
 4  Bayer 04 Leverkusen	  	25   11  9  5 	  44:29  +15 	  42 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	25   11  6  8 	  37:30  +7 	  39 
 6  FC Augsburg 	  	25   12  2  11 	  33:32  +1 	  38
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  TSG Hoffenheim 	  	25   10  6  9 	  40:38  +2 	  36 
 8  Eintracht Frankfurt 	25    9  7  9 	  48:49  -1 	  34 
 9  Werder Bremen	  	25    9  6  10 	  40:53  -13 	  33 
10  Borussia Dortmund 	  	25    8  6  11 	  31:31   0 	  30 
11  1. FSV Mainz 05 	  	25    6  11 8 	  34:35  -1 	  29 
12  1. FC Köln (N) 	  	25    7  8  10 	  25:31  -6 	  29 
13  Hannover 96 	  	25    7  6  12 	  27:39  -12 	  27 
14  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	25    7  5  13 	  30:44  -14 	  26 
15  Hamburger SV	  	25    6  7  12 	  16:36  -20 	  25
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  SC Paderborn 07 (N) 	25    5  8  12 	  23:50  -27 	  23
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  SC Freiburg 	  	25    4  10 11 	  24:36  -12 	  22 
18  VfB Stuttgart 	  	25    4  8  13 	  24:45  -21 	  20


M = Meister, defending Champion
P = Pokalsieger, Cup winner
N = Neuling, just promoted

3.Liga, Round 29: Lots of favorites struggle

Round 29, Mar 13-14

This was not a good round for several of the favored sides that are battling for a promotion spot. Most of the chasing clubs dropped points, which allowed the leaders to open up bigger gaps at teh top. And the bottom sides are desperately fighting, all gathering results in the tough relegation battle.

Stunning scene in Osnabrück. The hosts hadn’t won in seven straight, and the visiting Kickers are battling for promotion. Perhaps VfL let all the frustration of the season out, as they seriously biatch-slapped the Stuttgarters. If the Purples had been playing like this all season – they certainly have the talent – they could have been battling for promotion.

Another favorite swallowed a bitter pill. Erfurt was flying high until they got owned by Kiel. Now they hit rock bottom as they lose at tail-end Regensburg, who already one foot and 4 toes in the Regionalliga. A bitter defeat for Erfurt, who aren’t out of the race, but they would have to climb over at least four clubs. It’s probably too late for Regensburg, as Jahn is 8 points from safety. However, I suppose a couple of quick wins could give them a chance.

Preußen Münster drops back as well, as the Eagles were held by desperate Großaspach. The Preußen can’t complain too bitterly though, as they hardly showed superiority and instead relied on a host gift to grab the lead. A valuable anti-relegation point for Sonnenhof, who float above the drop zone. The Prussians are barely holding on to the promotion playoff spot.

Cottbus has realistic promotion chances, but Energie took one in the gut as they were beaten down by Halle in an eastern derby. The visitors had the lead, but in the 2nd half HFC seized control of the match and overran the defenses of the favored side.

Perhaps they’ve completely fallen out of promotion, but you still expect a lot from Dynamo Dresden. But the easterners failed again, this time losing at Mainz-II, who are desperately fighting against relegation.

Duisburg remains hot in the race, although they weren’t overly impressive against a lame Unterhaching side. The visitors rarely ventured outside their own half, so the Zebras really just waited for a mistake to get the points. With others failing, MSV now is now the leader of the chasing pack.

So the “winners” this week were the top sides. Bielefeld had a hard time with Rostock, but the Arminen showed why they’re going up (barring a total collapse they’re through). The hosts didn’t get discouraged by the strong effort from Hansa and eventually broke through for the win.

Kiel also had a huge win, a tough battle at Wehen that their defensive prowess once again carried them through. The win gives them a point advantage over Münster, which had previously only been goal difference.

A sad day in Köln, not because Fortuna was held scoreless by Dortmund-II. Club President Klaus Ulonska died from a heart-attack prior to the match. Ulonska had basically saved the club from collapse, bringing them back to life. After many years of support under Jean Löring, who had brought Fortuna all the way to the Bundesliga, the club had basically fallen on hard times and was on the verge of going under. Ulonska was able to save them and his stewardship – without the massive money input from the Löring days – stabilized the club and sparked this mini-revival.

Total attendance 58,171 (avg 5,817), 32.8% capacity

 	
SV Wehen Wiesbaden  -  	Holstein Kiel	      0:1 (0:1)    2,688
Chemnitzer FC	    -  	VfB Stuttgart II      1:0 (0:0)    4,077
Arminia Bielefeld   -  	Hansa Rostock	      3:2 (1:1)   15,070
Fortuna Köln	    -  	Borussia Dortmund II  0:0 (0:0)    1,840
MSV Duisburg	    -  	SpVgg Unterhaching    1:0 (0:0)   11,322
VfL Osnabrück	    -  	Stuttgarter Kickers   4:1 (4:0)    8,053
Jahn Regensburg	    -  	Rot-Weiß Erfurt	      1:0 (0:0)    2,762
SG S-hof Großaspach -  	Preußen Münster	      1:1 (0:1)    1,900
1. FSV Mainz 05 II  -  	Dynamo Dresden	      1:0 (1:0)    2,433
Hallescher FC	    -  	Energie Cottbus	      3:1 (0:1)    8,026


 1  Arminia Bielefeld (A)	29   18  5  6 	  60:31  +29 	  59 
 2  Holstein Kiel	  	29   14  10 5 	  39:19  +20 	  52
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Preußen Münster 	  	29   14  8  7 	  44:32  +12 	  50
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  MSV Duisburg	  	29   13  10 6 	  43:31  +12 	  49 
 5  Stuttgarter Kickers 	29   13  10 6 	  47:36  +11 	  49 
 6  Energie Cottbus (A) 	29   13  8  8 	  37:32  +5 	  47 
 7  Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	  	29   13  7  9 	  41:38  +3 	  46 
 8  SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	  	29   12  6  11 	  44:34  +10 	  42 
 9  Dynamo Dresden (A) 	  	29   11  8  10 	  34:33  +1 	  41 
10  Hallescher FC 	  	29   11  7  11 	  37:38  -1 	  40 
11  Chemnitzer FC 	  	29   11  6  12 	  28:27  +1 	  39 
12  VfL Osnabrück 	  	29   11  6  12 	  42:45  -3 	  39 
13  Fortuna Köln (N) 	  	29   10  8  11 	  32:29  +3 	  38 
14  VfB Stuttgart II 	  	29    9  7  13 	  36:44  -8 	  34 
15  SpVgg Unterhaching 	  	29    8  7  14 	  40:52  -12 	  31 
16  Hansa Rostock 	  	29    8  7  14 	  40:55  -15 	  31 
17  SG Sonnenhof Großaspach (N) 29    7  9  13 	  30:51  -21 	  30
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  1. FSV Mainz 05 II (N) 	29    7  7  15 	  31:44  -13 	  28 
19  Borussia Dortmund II 	29    4  14 11 	  27:37  -10 	  26 
20  Jahn Regensburg 	  	29    6  4  19 	  32:56  -24 	  22


A = Absteiger just relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

1st line: Promotion to 2.Liga
2nd line: Promotion Playoff with 2.Liga 16th place 
3rd line: Relegation to Regionalliga

2.Liga, Round 24: Life in St.Pauli?

Round 24, Mar 6-8

St.Pauli expeted to be contending for promotion, but instead have stunk all season. Things were beginning to look hopeless, but perhaps now they have shown signs of life. The Paulistas gave a solid defensive performance at Braunschweig. The hosts controlled the tempo and attack, but the Kiez-Kicker defended well and took advantage of unattentive defense by Eintracht. This huge win lifts St.Pauli off the bottom, and the loss likely ends Braunschweig’s promotion hopes.

Leaders Ingolstadt hasn’t been impressing too much lately, and that trend continued at Aue. The difference was that the Schanzer ruthlessly took advantage of Erzgebirge screwups and seized control when they needed to, getting a solid win.

Union Berlin and Kaiserslautern played a drab draw. The visitors had better chances, and probably could have won the match, but weren’t sharp enough.

Nürnberg blew their chance to get back into the promotion race as they were dumped at home by Heidenheim. The visitors desperately wanted a result, and played hard. FCN ran around alot, but not much else.

The traditional western derby between Düsseldorf and Bochum was exciting in the 1st period, but petered out as both sides clamped down on defense after the restart. Doesn’t really help either side, but Fortuna probably needed a win to keep their promotion drive within reach.

Aalen dropped to last, but did get a point against Greuther Fürth. The visitors were the better side, but dicked around instead of finishing the match. Aalen held on and equalized on a crappy goalkeeper error.

It certainly looks like at least one “famous” club is going down. St.Pauli is one, but showed signs of life. 1860 is the other, as they looked crap. The Lions were outplayed at home by Sandhausen, who probably don’t have to worry anymore. 1860 looked crap, and continues to falter, largely looking uninterested.

A rare sellout in Bornheim as FSV Frankfurt and Darmstadt met in a hard fought Hessen derby. Both sides ran around alot and fought for every inch, leading to a tense match, well played in at least the 2nd period. The darmstadters remain on course for a sensational promotion opportunity. FSV remains unbeaten in 2015, banshing any relegation worries.

On omnday night, KSC dominated against RedBallsport Leipzig. The RasenBulls were even down a man, but Swiss international GK Fabio Coltorti was brilliant and was able to pull off some serious saves to salvage a point for Leipzig.

Total attendance 169,669 (avg 18,852), 57.3% capacity, sellout in Frankfurt

 	
1. FC Nürnberg	     -   1. FC Heidenheim	0:1 (0:1)   31,263

                    0:1  Wittek (28., Kopfball, Schnatterer)

Fortuna Düsseldorf   -   VfL Bochum	        2:2 (2:2)   33,481

                    0:1  Sestak (9., Terodde)
                    1:1  Benschop (12., Bellinghausen)
                    2:1  Liendl (24., penalty, Benschop)
                    2:2  Sestak (45., Perthel)

Erzgebirge Aue	     -   FC Ingolstadt 04	0:3 (0:0)    7,500

                    0:1  Lex (65.
                    0:2  Morales (77., P. Groß)
                    0:3  Mo. Hartmann (90. + 3, penalty, P. Groß)

Eintr. Braunschweig  -   FC St. Pauli	        0:2 (0:1)   23,100

                    0:1  Gonther (25., Daube)
                    0:2  L. Sobiech (65., Daube)

VfR Aalen	     -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth	1:1 (0:1)    6,012

                    0:1  Gießelmann (17., direct freekick)
                    1:1  Quaner (68., Feick)
 
1860 München	     -   SV Sandhausen	        2:3 (1:1)   17,100

                    0:1  Wooten (7.)
                    1:1  Kagelmacher (33., Wittek)
                    1:2  Stiefler (47., Kübler)
                    1:3  Adler (52., Kister)
                    2:3  Kagelmacher (90. + 1)

1. FC Union Berlin   -   1. FC Kaiserslautern	0:0 (0:0)   20,842

FSV Frankfurt	     -   SV Darmstadt 98	1:1 (0:0)   12,542 *

                    1:0  Dedic (65., Grifo)
                    1:1  Gondorf (76., Rosenthal)

Monday:
Karlsruher SC	     -   RasenB. Leipzig	0:0 (0:0)   17,829 


 1  FC Ingolstadt 04 	  	24   13  9  2 	  39:19  +20 	  48 
 2  SV Darmstadt 98 (N)	  	24   10  12 2 	  29:17  +12 	  42
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	24   11  9  4 	  32:22  +10 	  42
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Karlsruher SC 	  	24   10  10 4 	  31:18  +13 	  40 
 5  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	  	24    9  9  6 	  37:32  +5 	  36 
 6  RasenBallsport Leipzig (N)	24    8  10 6 	  26:18  +8 	  34 
 7  Eintracht Braunschweig (A) 	24   10  4  10 	  31:29  +2 	  34 
 8  1. FC Nürnberg (A) 	  	24   10  4  10 	  29:34  -5 	  34 
 9  FSV Frankfurt	  	24    9  5  10 	  33:38  -5 	  32 
10  1. FC Heidenheim (N) 	24    8  7  9 	  33:27  +6 	  31 
11  SV Sandhausen	  	24    8  7  9 	  23:28  -5 	  31 
12  1. FC Union Berlin 	  	24    8  7  9 	  30:37  -7 	  31 
13  VfL Bochum	  	        24    5  14 5 	  37:37   0 	  29 
14  SpVgg Greuther Fürth	24    6  10 8 	  25:27  -2 	  28 
15  1860 München 	  	24    5  7  12 	  31:39  -8 	  22
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	24    5  6  13 	  21:35  -14 	  21
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  FC St. Pauli	  	24    5  6  13 	  25:42  -17 	  21 
18  VfR Aalen 	  	        24    4  8  12 	  17:30  -13 	  20

1st line: Promotion to Bundesliga
2nd line: Playoff with 16th Bundesliga
3rd line: Playoff with no.3 of 3.Liga
4th line: Relegation to 3.Liga

A = Absteiger just relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

BUNDESLIGA, Round 24: Wolfsburg stopped

Round 24, Mar 6-7

Bayern had a surprisingly tough time at Hannover. The 96ers were inspired, unlike their recent outings. They took the lead, and although Xabi Alonso curledin a freekick for the equalizer, Hannover was by no means done.
However Bayern excerted pressure and got a somewhat lucky penalty. Lewandowski got kicked in the face by marcelo, but it was a diving header, which didn’t seem like much of a foul, especially since it looked after the fact. But the penalty proved decisive, and a few minutes later Ribery zipped past the defender and lifted a perfecet cross for Müller to head home.

Schalke gave a decent performance against Hoffenheim, dominating most of the match and finishing nicely. They had been sucking recently, but this certainly helps right the ship.

Augsburg got a big win against in-form Wolfsburg. The Fuggers had a discplined game plan to neutralize the VW attack, and it worked to perfection, grabbing a win on a penalty rebound. This puts FCA back in solid hunt for a Euro spot. The Wolfsburgers shouldn’t be too worried, as they pretty much have 2nd place wrapped up. The main issue is whether the Augsburg win can be repeated by other clubs.

Stuttgart met Berlin in a relegation battle, and neither side did anything to suggest that they aren’t where they belong. Hertha did squat, basically trying to hold a draw, and Stuttgart, although pressing, was too incompetent to do anything to change the result.

Freiburg remains in serious trouble as they lost at home to Bremen. SCF was engaged and had a few chances, but Werder was the cleverer side and probably deserved the win.

HSV is desperate and were ordered to fight for every milimeter against recovered Dortmund. Indeed, the Hamburgers certainly went about their business in violent fashion, kicking anything that moved, ganing a half-dozen yellows, and especially lucky that Behrami didn’t get his ass tossed. (Zinnbauer realized that the Swiss international was acting like a rabid animal and pulled him after an hour so HSV wouldn’t be down a man.) Meanwhile, although dominating the match, the Neons were unable to break down the HSV defense, and the times they got through, veteran GK Drobny was on point.

Gladbach probably threw away a win at Mainz. They were the better side and had grabbed a two goal lead. To their credit, mainz dodn’t give up and launched desperate attacks to try and get back. They manged to do so in a few minutes. First Gk Yann Sommer was caught flat footed on Tobias Geis direct freekick, and then the Gladbach defense couldn’t deal with a ping-pong ball, so Okazaki courageously jumped up and headed in the equalizer.

Köln got a nice win to remain above the relegation mire. But they got a lot of help from Frankfurt, who looked horrible on defense, making a lot of bone-head mistakes. The home side merely took advantage of the gifts to get the important win.

Paderborn was holding it’s own against Leverkusen, who were somewhat disappointing. However when the Aspirins took the lead, the hosts fell apart and ended up with a clear Bayer win, which didn’t really reflect the match.

Total attendance 363,653 (avg 40,406), 95.3% capacity, sellouts in Hannover, Freiburg, Hamburg, Mainz, Köln

 	
VfB Stuttgart	 -   Hertha BSC	            0:0 (0:0)   45,420

FC Schalke 04	 -   TSG Hoffenheim	    3:1 (2:0)   60,607

                1:0  Fuchs (12., Höger)
                2:0  M. Meyer (41., Choupo-Moting)
                3:0  M. Meyer (53., Choupo-Moting)
                3:1  Volland (73., Szalai)

FC Augsburg	 -   VfL Wolfsburg	    1:0 (0:0)   28,721

                1:0  Kohr (63., To. Werner)

Hannover 96	 -   Bayern München	    1:3 (1:1)   49,000 *

                1:0  Kiyotake (25., Briand)
                1:1  Xabi Alonso (28., direct freekick)
                1:2  T. Müller (61., penalty, Lewandowski)
                1:3  T. Müller (72., Ribery)

SC Freiburg	 -   Werer Bremen	    0:1 (0:1)   24,000 *

                0:1  di Santo (35., Öztunali)

Hamburger SV	 -   Borussia Dortmund	    0:0 (0:0)   57,000 *

1. FSV Mainz 05	 -   Bor. Mönchengladbach   2:2 (0:1)   34,000 *

                0:1  Raffael (27., Traoré)
                0:2  Raffael (67., LF. Johnson)
                1:2  Geis (73., direct free kick)
                2:2  Okazaki (77., Bell)

1. FC Köln	 -   Eintracht Frankfurt    4:2 (1:0)   50,000 *

                1:0  Deyverson (28., Horn)
                1:1  Meier (58.)
                2:1  Risse (72., Vogt)
                3:1  Osako (79., Ujah)
                4:1  Ujah (82., Risse)
                4:2  Meier (90. + 3, penalty, Seferovic)

SC Paderborn 07	 -   Bayer 04 Leverkusen    0:3 (0:0)   14,905

                0:1  K. Papadopoulos (73., Castro)
                0:2  Son (84., astro)
                0:3  Son (90. + 3)



 1  Bayern München (M, P) 	24   19  4  1 	  66:11  +55 	  61 
 2  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	24   15  5  4 	  53:28  +25 	  50 
 3  Bor. Mönchengladbach 	24   11  8  5 	  33:20  +13 	  41
 4  Bayer 04 Leverkusen 	24   10  9  5 	  40:29  +11 	  39
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	24   11  5  8 	  35:28  +7 	  38
 6  FC Augsburg 	  	24   12  2  10 	  33:30  +3 	  38 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  TSG Hoffenheim 	  	24    9  6  9 	  37:38  -1 	  33 
 8  Werder Bremen 	  	24    9  6  9 	  40:49  -9 	  33 
 9  Eintracht Frankfurt 	24    8  7  9 	  44:49  -5 	  31 
10  Borussia Dortmund 	  	24    8  5  11 	  31:31   0 	  29 
11  1. FC Köln (N) 	  	24    7  7  10 	  25:31  -6 	  28 
12  Hannover 96 	  	24    7  6  11 	  27:37  -10 	  27
13  1. FSV Mainz 05 	  	24    5  11 8 	  32:35  -3 	  26 
14  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	24    7  4  13 	  28:42  -14 	  25 
15  Hamburger SV 	  	24    6  7  11 	  16:33  -17 	  25
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  SC Paderborn 07 (N) 	24    5  8  11 	  23:46  -23 	  23
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  SC Freiburg 	  	24    4  10 10 	  24:33  -9 	  22 
18  VfB Stuttgart 	  	24    4  8  12 	  24:41  -17 	  20


M = Meister, defending Champion
P = Pokalsieger, Cup winner
N = Neuling, just promoted

3.Liga, Round 28: Kickers make a move

Round 28, Mar 6-7

The 3.Liga continues as a tight battle. Whereas leaders Bielefeld have some breathing room at the top, and Regensburg looks to be out of hope at the bottom, everybody else needs every single point.

Arminia basically took the day off, as they put in a weak performance at desperate Dortmund-II. They can afford to do so, given their big lead. BVB was somewhat lucky that the visitors looked a bit tired an unmotivated so they could grab a critical point.

Kiel was a big winner, as they prevailed in a northern derby and defended their 2nd place. The Holsteiners needed some luck to get the win over Osnabrück.

Preußen Münster needed to take care of business, and they did, living Regensburg without a chance. That keeps them equal with Kiel on points in the fierce promotion battle.

Stuttgarter Kickers was probably the biggest winner in the promotion race, as they beat down Duisburg to vault into 4th. The Kickers blizted the Zebras out, and ran up a 4-0 lead. Although the guests came back with a couple and pressed, they were unable to get back in. If they can sneak in, you could have another Stuttgart derby next year in the 2.Liga!

Energie Cottbus figured to have an easy outing, but they struggled against Mainz-II. Sven Michel won the match with a double, but the easterners nervously held on as the relegation candidate fought hard till the end.

Speaking of relegation candidates, Sonnenhof Großaspach had a huge win at struggling Dresden. They fully deserved their win – even missing a penalty. Dynamo’s season is in tatters, and despite the huge crowds (nice weather almost brought a sellout!), the Saxony side continue to fall apart at times.

Erfurt was riding high only a couple of weeks ago, and now have completely fallen off the chart. RWE was well beaten at home by Wehen. Although they’re not far behind, they certainly expected to get the points, considering they were a league best 11-1-1 at home going into the match.

Rostock continues their 2015 recovery, their win over Chemnitz giving them a nice cushion over the relegation zone.

Total attendance 83,503 (avg 8,350), 46.9% capacity

 	
Holstein Kiel	     -   VfL Osnabrück	        1:0 (1:0)    7,441
Energie Cottbus	     -   1. FSV Mainz 05 II	2:1 (1:0)    6,617
Dynamo Dresden	     -   SG S-hof Großaspach	0:1 (0:0)   28,144
Preußen Münster	     -   Jahn Regensburg	3:0 (1:0)    8,507
Rot-Weiß Erfurt	     -   SV Wehen Wiesbaden	0:2 (0:2)    5,624
Stuttgarter Kickers  -   MSV Duisburg	        4:2 (2:0)    8,650
SpVgg Unterhaching   -   Fortuna Köln	        1:1 (0:1)    1,800
Borussia Dortmund II -   Arminia Bielefeld	1:1 (1:1)    4,670
Hansa Rostock	     -   Chemnitzer FC	        1:0 (1:0)   11,200
VfB Stuttgart II     -   Hallescher FC	        0:1 (0:1)      850


 1  Arminia Bielefeld (A)	28   17  5  6 	  57:29  +28 	  56 
 2  Holstein Kiel	  	28   13  10 5 	  38:19  +19 	  49
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Preußen Münster	  	28   14  7  7 	  43:31  +12 	  49
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Stuttgarter Kickers 	27   13  9  5 	  45:31  +14 	  48 
 5  Energie Cottbus (A) 	28   13  8  7 	  36:29  +7 	  47 
 6  MSV Duisburg 	  	28   12  10 6 	  42:31  +11 	  46 
 7  Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	  	28   13  7  8 	  41:37  +4 	  46 
 8  SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	  	28   12  6  10 	  44:33  +11 	  42 
 9  Dynamo Dresden (A) 	  	28   11  8  9 	  34:32  +2 	  41 
10  Fortuna Köln (N) 	  	28   10  7  11 	  32:29  +3 	  37 
11  Chemnitzer FC 	  	28   10  6  12 	  27:27   0 	  36 
12  Hallescher FC 	  	27   10  6  11 	  33:36  -3 	  36 
13  VfL Osnabrück 	  	28   10  6  12 	  38:44  -6 	  36 
14  VfB Stuttgart II 	  	28    9  7  12 	  36:43  -7 	  34 
15  SpVgg Unterhaching 	  	27    8  7  12 	  39:49  -10 	  31 
16  Hansa Rostock 	  	28    8  7  13 	  38:52  -14 	  31 
17  SG Sonnenhof Großaspach (N) 27    6  8  13 	  28:50  -22 	  26
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  Borussia Dortmund II 	27    4  13 10 	  27:36  -9 	  25 
19  1. FSV Mainz 05 II (N)	27    5  7  15 	  28:43  -15 	  22 
20  Jahn Regensburg 	  	28    5  4  19 	  31:56  -25 	  19

A = Absteiger just relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

1st line: Promotion to 2.Liga
2nd line: Promotion Playoff with 2.Liga 16th place 
3rd line: Relegation to Regionalliga

DFB-Pokal: Achtelfinale

Mar 3-4

The DFB-Cup was once again on, and it pretty much went as expected. The only upset was in Bielefeld.
The sensation was 3.Liga Arminia stunning Werder Bremen. And it wasn’t undeserved, as Bielefeld largely outplayed the Bundesliga side. It also means that Arminia is the only non-Bundesliga side in the quarterfinals.

Cupholders Bayern München had no problems with Braunschweig. The most interesting part was that the Allianz-Arena was sold out.

Gladbach didn’t have too many problems at Offenbach. The 4th division side held out well against the Bundesliga side, but the visitors weren’t too motivated. They did just enough to win.

Bundesliga runner-up Wolfsburg only did the necessary at Leipzig, as they easily brushed aside the Rasenbulls. The VWs were control throughout, leaving only a large crowd as the achievement for the RedBallsport.

Dortmund had a hard time breaking down Dresden’s wall, but the Neons eventually broke through for the win. The main story is however that Marco Reus had to be carted off after only 24 minutes, as he got wacked in the knee.

Freiburg met 1.FC Köln in the only clash of Bundesliga sides. But it was perhaps also the least interesting match. The Breisgauers had the match firmly in grip and coasted against a lame Köln side.

It took a while, but Leverkusen broke down Kaiserslautern in overtime to advance.

Aalen gave a good account of themselves, fighting hard. But Hoffenheim was clearly teh better side technically, and eventually was able to turn their advantage into a win.

Kickers Offenbach   - 	Bor. M'Gladbach       0:2 (0:0)   20,500 *

                   0:1  M. Kruse (52., Hand penalty)
                   0:2  Herrmann (83., Kramer)

FC Bayern München   - 	Eintr Braunschweig    2:0 (1:0)   75,000 *

                   1:0  Alaba (45. + 1, direct freekick)
                   2:0  M. Götze (57., Robben)
 
Arminia Bielefeld   - 	Werder Bremen 	      3:1 (1:0)   26,601 *

                   1:0  Junglas (32., Schütz)
                   2:0  Schuppan (57., Dick)
                   2:1  Fritz (76.)
                   3:1  Junglas (84., Ulm)

RasenB. Leipzig     - 	VfL Wolfsburg 	      0:2 (0:1)   43,348

                   0:1  D. Caligiuri (20., De Bruyne)
                   0:2  Klose (57., K. Schäfer)

Dynamo Dresden 	    - 	Bor. Dortmund         0:2 (0:0)   30,503 *

                   0:1  Immobile (50.)
                   0:2  Immobile (90., Blaszczykowski)

SC Freiburg         - 	1.FC Köln 	      2:1 (2:0)   18,800

                   1:0  Ujah (17., own goal, Schmid)
                   2:0  Darida (19., Philipp)
                   2:1  Deyverson (89.)

Bayer Leverkusen    - 	1.FC Kaiserslautern   2:0 aet     26,000

                   1:0  Calhanoglu (102.)
                   2:0  Kießling (114.)

VfR Aalen 	    - 	TSG Hoffenheim 	      0:2 (0:1)    8,252

                   0:1  Polanski (16., Volland)
                   0:2  Volland (56., Schipplock)

2.Liga, Round 23: Darmstadt on point

Round 23, Feb 27-Mar 2

Darmstadt was the big winner as the 98ers upended Braunschweig deep into injury time. It’s pretty amazing for a club that could have been in the 4th division. The match was hard fought and looked to peter out, but late sub Jan Rosenthal rifled a shot into the net at the closing whistle.

Kaiserslautern was in total control against Greuther Fürth, but had to unnecessarily sweat the closing minutes as the visitors tried to pull out a point.

A huge relegation battle in Hamburg, but St.Pauli can’t be too happy with the draw against Aue. It was a hard-fought match, with both sides wasting sitters. But the Paulistas desperately needed a win, so only Erzgebirge can be happy with the result.

Leaders Ingolstadt seemed to be running away, but they’ve been dicking around recently, and the field seems to be moving closer. It was a rare sellout as they faced 1860 in a Bavarian derby. The Schanzer were clearly the dominant club, but 1860 hung around and struck late to grab a point that is quite valuable, considering their relegation battle position.

Fortuna Düsseldorf had a hard fought win away to Heidenheim, which keeps their slim promotion hopes alive – at least they’re within striking distance.

1. FC Kaiserslautern -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth	2:1 (1:0)   23,796

                    1:0  Zimmer (38., Karl)
                    2:0  Löwe (48., penalty, Zoller)
                    2:1  Gießelmann (85., direct freekick)

VfL Bochum	     -   FSV Frankfurt	        3:3 (1:0)   11,594

                    1:0  Terrazzino (16., Eisfeld)
                    2:0  Eisfeld (61., Losilla)
                    2:1  Dedic (79., Balitsch)
                    3:1  Latza (81.)
                    3:2  Kapllani (84., penalty, Grifo)
                    3:3  Kapllani (90. + 1, Grifo)

SV Darmstadt 98	     -   Eintr. Braunschweig	1:0 (0:0)   13,600

                    1:0  Rosenthal (90. + 3)

1. FC Nürnberg	     -   Karlsruher SC	        1:1 (1:1)   30,458

                    1:0  G. Burgstaller (4., Sylvestr)
                    1:1  Hennings (45., Torres)

SV Sandhausen	     -   VfR Aalen   	        2:0 (0:0)    5,112

                    1:0  Bouhaddouz (65., F. Hübner)
                    2:0  Mockenhaupt (83., own goal)
 	
FC St. Pauli	     -   Erzgebirge Aue	        0:0 (0:0)   22,590

1. FC Heidenheim     -   Fortuna Düsseldorf	1:2 (1:1)   11,800
  
                    1:0  Leipertz (11., Titsch-Rivero)
                    1:1  O. Fink (23., Liendl)
                    1:2  Bellinghausen (61., Liendl)

RasenB. Leipzig	     -   1. FC Union Berlin	3:2 (3:2)   24,780

                    1:0  D. Kaiser (3., penalty, Damari)
                    2:0  Kimmich (7., Damari)
                    2:1  Skrzybski (8., Parensen)
                    3:1  Teigl (13., Forsberg)
                    3:2  Polter (29., Quiring)

FC Ingolstadt 04     -   1860 München	        1:1 (1:0)   15,000 *

                    1:0  Danilo (41.)
                    1:1  Bandowski (83., Rama)



 1  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	23   12  9  2 	  36:19  +17 	  	45 
 2  SV Darmstadt 98 (N)	  	23   10  11 2 	  28:16  +12 	  	41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	23   11  8  4 	  32:22  +10 	  	41
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Karlsruher SC 	  	23   10  9  4 	  31:18  +13 	  	39 
 5  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	  	23    9  8  6 	  35:30  +5 	  	35 
 6  Eintracht Braunschweig (A) 	23   10  4  9 	  31:27  +4 	  	34 
 7  1. FC Nürnberg (A) 	  	23   10  4  9 	  29:33  -4 	  	34 
 8  RasenBallsport Leipzig (N) 	23    8  9  6 	  26:18  +8 	  	33 
 9  FSV Frankfurt 	  	23    9  4  10 	  32:37  -5 	  	31 
10  1. FC Union Berlin 	  	23    8  6  9 	  30:37  -7 	  	30 
11  1. FC Heidenheim (N) 	23    7  7  9 	  32:27  +5 	  	28 
12  VfL Bochum 	  	        23    5  13 5 	  35:35   0 	  	28 
13  SV Sandhausen 	  	23    7  7  9 	  20:26  -6 	  	28 
14  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	23    6  9  8 	  24:26  -2 	  	27 
15  1860 München 	  	23    5  7  11 	  29:36  -7 	  	22
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Erzgebirge Aue	  	23    5  6  12 	  21:32  -11 	  	21
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
17  VfR Aalen 	  	        23    4  7  12 	  16:29  -13 	  	19 
18  FC St. Pauli 	  	23    4  6  13 	  23:42  -19 	  	18



1st line: Promotion to Bundesliga
2nd line: Playoff with 16th Bundesliga
3rd line: Playoff with no.3 of 3.Liga
4th line: Relegation to 3.Liga

A = Absteiger just relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

BUNDESLIGA, Round 23

Round 23, Feb 27-Mar 1

Leaders Bayern had no trouble with Köln. The visiting coach Peter Stöger gave an pre-match interview where he stated that “Köln has a chance, why not?”. Apparently he thought he was a contestant on “Deutschland sucht den naechsten Komiker”. The match was over in 3 minutes, and it should have turned into another slaughter. But in fairness, Köln caught themselves and prevented a total disaster. Not really much to say from the Bayern standpoint. I guess Guardiola can be happy that Schweinsteiger looks to be back in top form, as if they needed more weapons.

Dortmund and Schalke met in the Revier-derby, probably Germany’s top clash. The Neons showed that they’re back on track, as they dominated and pressured the Blues back into desperately defending. How dominate? How bout 31-3 in shots. The Schalker were clearly hoping this would be the early Dortmund that would dominate and waste chances, then they could steal a goal and the points. Actually not a bad strategy, because BVB was wasting a lot of chances. But they finally broke through late and the dam broke, giving Dortmund a crushing victory over a helpless Schalke, it probably should have been about 6-0. So for Dortmund, they look to have recovered and should be a team to be feared for the rest of the season. Schalke is a strange side that seems to just want to do the bare minimum, despite the fact they’ve probably got some decent talent to play attractive football. But it looks like di Matteo is only concentrating on results, since he’s seen what happens when die Knappen underachieve.

Leverkusen resorted to boring football, as their last couple of wild shootouts hadn’t led to great results. And Freiburg was completely lame, so the Aspirins only needed the single goal to make this one stick.

A hard fought local derby between Hoffenheim and Mainz. The hosts came out as somewhat fortunate winners. Mainz was the better side early, but wasted some great chances. Instead the Hoppers collected themselves and played better after the restart, and ended up with the win.

Hannover and Stuttgart met in a scrappy relegation fight. Well, it’s definitely a fight for Stuttgart, but teh 96ers might get dragged in if they continue their winless 2015 run. Neither side showed much skill, but there was a lot of running around and kicking things. I guess it’s a good result for Stuttgart, since they’re dead last and anything is good, especially on the road. Hannover might consider themselves lucky they didn’t lose.

Hertha got a huge win late against Augsburg. The Berliners have fallen into the relegation battle and desperately needed a result. Augsburg just the type of team it’s hard to get the result against, and since both sides play similar scrappy rather than skill football, it was a hard match to watch. But a late goal by Kalou got Hertha critical points, and they should be thrilled.

Alex Meier was the news as Frankfurt defeated Hamburg. The veteran notched two goals (and even missed a 3rd by rocketing an injury time penalty off the crossbar). He had come under criticism from Frankfurt’s sport-director Bruno Hübner after the last loss in Mainz. Basically Hübner stated that Meier is lazy and doesn’t do anything but score goals, otherwise he’s not to be seen. Meier reacted by stating that Hübner is always criticizing him. As for his performance in Mainz, Meier was measured at having run 11 kilometers on the pitch, which is hardly lazy. Basically Hübner is just a wanker who should STFU. Meier has been Frankfurt’s best player for years and his 16 goals this season is only one behind Robben. Although apparently the two have made up, Hübner is still in hot water with the league for criticizing the refs. As for today’s match, HSV needed some points, but didn’t deserve anything.

Wolfsburg showed they are the no.2 in Germany as they downed Bremen in a pulsating match. The VWs were in a dogfight as Werder stood toe-to-toe, and even managed a lead at half-time. But Wolfsburg had too much firepower, and in form Bas Dost doubled to give the VWs a lead, and there was no way back for Bremen.

Gladbach had a ho-hum win over Paderborn to keep a solid hold on 3rd place.

Total attendance 427,427 (avg 47,942), sellouts in München and Dortmund


Bayern München	     -   1. FC Köln	  4:1 (2:1)   75,000 *

                    1:0  Schweinsteiger (3., Robben)
                    2:0  Ribery (10., Schweinsteiger)
                    2:1  Ujah (45. + 1, M. Lehmann)
                    3:1  Robben (67., Ribery)
                    4:1  Lewandowski (75., Robben)

Borussia Dortmund    -   FC Schalke 04	  3:0 (0:0)   79,500 *

                    1:0  Aubameyang (78., H. Mkhitaryan)
                    2:0  H. Mkhitaryan (79., Gündogan)
                    3:0  Reus (86.)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen  -   SC Freiburg	  1:0 (1:0)   28,624

                    1:0  Rolfes (33., Bellarabi)

TSG Hoffenheim	     -   1. FSV Mainz 05  2:0 (0:0)   24,310

                    1:0  Volland (55., Roberto Firmino)
                    2:0  Polanski (76., Beck)

Hannover 96	     -   VfB Stuttgart	  1:1 (0:0)   40,200

                    0:1  Gentner (52.)
                    1:1  Stindl (70., Joselu)

Hertha BSC	     -   FC Augsburg	  1:0 (0:0)   36,015

                    1:0  Kalou (88., Hegeler)

Eintracht Frankfurt  -   Hamburger SV	  2:1 (1:1)   50,500

                    1:0  Meier (12., penalty, Piazon)
                    1:1  Stieber (45. + 2, N. Müller)
                    2:1  Meier (54.)

Bor. Mönchengladbach -   SC Paderborn 07  2:0 (1:0)   53,152

                    1:0  F. Johnson (18., Korb)
                    2:0  Herrmann (81.)

Werder Bremen	     -   VfL Wolfsburg	  3:5 (3:2)   40,126

                    1:0  Junuzovic (9., Öztunali)
                    1:1  D. Caligiuri (10.)
                    2:1  di Santo (16., Öztunali)
                    2:2  Arnold (18., De Bruyne)
                    3:2  Vieirinha (28., own goal, F. Kroos)
                    3:3  Dost (48., De Bruyne)
                    3:4  Dost (51., De Bruyne)
                    3:5  D. Caligiuri (53., Dost)



 1  Bayern München (M, P) 	23   18  4  1 	  63:10  +53 	  58 
 2  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	23   15  5  3 	  53:27  +26 	  50 
 3  Bor. Mönchengladbach 	23   11  7  5 	  31:18  +13 	  40
 4  Bayer 04 Leverkusen 	23    9  9  5 	  37:29  +8 	  36
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  FC Schalke 04 	  	23   10  5  8 	  32:27  +5 	  35 
 6  FC Augsburg 	  	23   11  2  10 	  32:30  +2 	  35
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  TSG Hoffenheim 	  	23    9  6  8 	  36:35  +1 	  33 
 8  Eintracht Frankfurt 	23    8  7  8 	  42:45  -3 	  31 
 9  Werder Bremen 	  	23    8  6  9 	  39:49  -10 	  30 
10  Borussia Dortmund 	  	23    8  4  11 	  31:31   0 	  28 
11  Hannover 96 	  	23    7  6  10 	  26:34  -8 	  27 
12  1. FSV Mainz 05 	  	23    5  10 8 	  30:33  -3 	  25 
13  1. FC Köln (N) 	  	23    6  7  10 	  21:29  -8 	  25 
14  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	23    7  3  13 	  28:42  -14 	  24 
15  Hamburger SV 	  	23    6  6  11 	  16:33  -17 	  24
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  SC Paderborn 07 (N) 	23    5  8  10 	  23:43  -20 	  23
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  SC Freiburg 	  	23    4  10 9 	  24:32  -8 	  22 
18  VfB Stuttgart 	  	23    4  7  12 	  24:41  -17 	  19


M = Meister, defending Champion
P = Pokalsieger, Cup winner
N = Neuling, just promoted

3.Liga, Round 27: Here come the Storks!

Round 27, Feb 27-28

Schleswig-Holstein is mostly known for their cows, but another animal is getting recognition now. Holstein Kiel, known as die Störche (the storks), have silently climbed the table and suddenly siezed the spotlight. They thumped high-flying Erfurt to seize 2nd place, and with the best defense in the league (by far), they certainly have the capability to hang tight. As you can see, the fight for promotion is a dogfight, with 2-7 only a win away. Even a club like Dresden could sneak back into the hunt. Against Erfurt, Holstein dominated. Even though RWE tied the match briefly after the restart, Kiel wasn’t bothered at all, piled the pressure on, and the visitors cracked.

At the top sits Bielefeld, which has established themselves as the class of the league. Arminia thumped Unterhaching and sit 9 points above. That should be solid enough for a return to the 2.Liga. The visitors were without a chance and lucky that Arminia turned down the heat in the 2nd period. But the Mini-Münchenkins were probably still happy from their big 4-1 away win midweek at Großaspach in a makeup match, calming their relegation fears.

Stuttgarter Kickers were impressive at Fortuna Köln, getting a solid away win without ever being threatened.

Preußen Münster can’t be too happy with their draw at Wehen. They were the better team and had a chance to really take control, but missed a penalty that would have put them 2-0 up. Instead the hosts fought their way back and salvaged a point.

Cottbus blew a chance to join the leaders, as they were held at Großaspach. But actually, the Sonnenhofer were the better team, and only the woodwork saved Energie from an embarassing loss.

Rostock got a huge away win at Halle and more critical points in the relegation battle. Hansa isn’t out of the woods yet, but at least they have some breathing room.

Regensburg’s mini-revival may be over already. Jahn was beaten at home by Dresden, who desperately needed a result to stop their slide. They were off to a good start as Justin Eilers nailed a hat-trick and Dynamo could seemingly phone the rest in. Bad idea, as Jahn came back and pressed for a draw, but luckily Dresden held on.

Total attendance 59,872 (avg 5,987)

 	
Holstein Kiel	    -  	Rot-Weiß Erfurt	      4:1 (1:0)    8,006
1. FSV Mainz 05 II  -  	VfB Stuttgart II      0:2 (0:0)      453
Hallescher FC	    -  	Hansa Rostock	      1:2 (1:0)   11,324
Chemnitzer FC	    -  	Borussia Dortmund II  3:1 (1:1)    5,046
Arminia Bielefeld   -  	SpVgg Unterhaching    4:0 (3:0)   12,087
Fortuna Köln	    -  	Stuttgarter Kickers   0:2 (0:2)    1,568
VfL Osnabrück	    -  	MSV Duisburg	      1:1 (1:0)    8,300
SV Wehen Wiesbaden  -  	Preußen Münster       2:2 (0:1)    2,746
Jahn Regensburg	    -  	Dynamo Dresden	      2:3 (0:3)    8,742
SG S-hof Großaspach -  	Energie Cottbus	      2:2 (1:0)    1,600


 1  Arminia Bielefeld (A) 	27   17  4  6 	  56:28  +28 	  55 
 2  Holstein Kiel 	  	27   12  10 5 	  37:19  +18 	  46
 --------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  MSV Duisburg 	  	27   12  10 5 	  40:27  +13 	  46
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Preußen Münster 	  	27   13  7  7 	  40:31  +9 	  46 
 5  Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	  	27   13  7  7 	  41:35  +6 	  46 
 6  Stuttgarter Kickers 	26   12  9  5 	  41:29  +12 	  45 
 7  Energie Cottbus (A) 	27   12  8  7 	  34:28  +6 	  44 
 8  Dynamo Dresden (A) 	  	27   11  8  8 	  34:31  +3 	  41 
 9  SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	  	26   11  5  10 	  41:32  +9 	  38 
10  Fortuna Köln (N) 	  	27   10  6  11 	  31:28  +3 	  36 
11  Chemnitzer FC 	  	27   10  6  11 	  27:26  +1 	  36 
12  VfL Osnabrück 	  	27   10  6  11 	  38:43  -5 	  36 
13  Hallescher FC 	  	26    9  6  11 	  32:36  -4 	  33 
14  VfB Stuttgart II 	  	26    9  6  11 	  35:41  -6 	  33 
15  SpVgg Unterhaching 	  	26    8  6  12 	  38:48  -10 	  30 
16  Hansa Rostock 	  	27    7  7  13 	  37:52  -15 	  28 
17  Borussia Dortmund II 	26    4  12 10 	  26:35  -9 	  24
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  SG Sonnenhof Großaspach (N) 26    5  8  13 	  27:50  -23 	  23 
19  1. FSV Mainz 05 II (N) 	26    5  7  14 	  27:41  -14 	  22 
20  Jahn Regensburg 	  	27    5  4  18 	  31:53  -22 	  19
	
A = Absteiger just relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

1st line: Promotion to 2.Liga
2nd line: Promotion Playoff with 2.Liga 16th place 
3rd line: Relegation to Regionalliga

2.Liga, Round 22: Lautern stunned

Round 22, Feb 20-23

Kaiserslautern must realize they’re in a dogfight – you need your A game every match. The Devils showed up in Bornheim to face the mini-Frankfurters FSV…and deservedly lost. Although at the start of both halves FCK had some sustained pressure and looked like they wanted it, after that initial wave, the hosts seized control. FSV came close several times and a beauty of a free kick by Hoffenheim loanee Vicenzo Grifo gave the Bornheimers a deserved lead. They even could afford a silly double yellow by Aoudia. Even with 10 men. they looked determined, and indeed grabbed another goal for an impressive win. Lautern drops to 4th, and perhaps the realization that in the 2.Liga, the field is pretty balanced.

Leaders Ingolstadt had a rough time in Aalen. The hosts desperately need points and played like it. The Schanzer could never get going, as Aalen kept them off balance. A hard fought draw was the fair result.

Karlruhe had a tough time with Bochum. The visitors have improved under new coach Gert Verbeek, and wer ready to play. KSC never had the match under control, and in the end should be happy with the result..they jump into 2nd due to Lautern’s failure.

Darmstadt steals a win at Aue, keeping their promotion hopes alive. The 98ers were in a battle, as Erzgebirge has shown definite improvement in recent weeks. The visitors stole a goal, and then relied on GK Christiam Mathia to hold on for a good road win.

1860 won a huge relegation battle against St.Pauli. Both teams had expected to contend for promotion, but now are fighting for their lives. Torsten Fröhling was in charge for his first game as 1860 coach, and they get a huge win. It wasn’t easy, and especially down the stretch the Lions were barely holding on as the Paulistas tried a desperation comeback.

Two giants met in Düsseldorf, as Nürnberg travelled to meet Fortuna. At stake was the last chance to have any hope of promotion. Der Club is going to be happier with the result, as they efficiently grabbed a win. Fortuna had some advantage in possesion and field position, but FCN was far more clever. A good win for the visitors.

Union Berlin have established themselves in secure mid-table, as they upended Heidenheim. The Berliners had been sliding a bit towards the danger zone, but have recovered and should have no worries. FCH started quickly, but was then outplayed by their hosts.

 	
SpVgg Greuther Fürth -   SV Sandhausen	        0:0 (0:0)    9,135

VfR Aalen	     -   FC Ingolstadt 04	1:1 (0:0)    5,048

                    1:0  J. Gjasula (56., penalty, Ademi)
                    1:1  Leckie (77., P. Groß)

Erzgebirge Aue	     -   SV Darmstadt 98	0:1 (0:0)    9,000

                    0:1  Gondorf (83., König)

Karlsruher SC	     -   VfL Bochum	        0:0 (0:0)   11,989

1860 München	     -   FC St. Pauli	        2:1 (1:0)   25,100

                    1:0  Gonther (10., own goal, Bandowski)
                    2:0  M. Wolf (72., Adlung)
                    2:1  Nöthe (77., Budimir)

Fortuna Düsseldorf   -   1. FC Nürnberg	        1:3 (0:0)   30,213

                    1:0  Pohjanpalo (67., Bruno Soares)
                    1:1  Stark (71., Füllkrug)
                    1:2  D. Blum (77., Sylvestr)
                    1:3  Kerk (88., Füllkrug)

1. FC Union Berlin   -   1. FC Heidenheim	3:1 (2:1)   16,512

                    0:1  Schnatterer (5., Niederlechner)
                    1:1  Kreilach (7., Schönheim)
                    2:1  Brandy (28., Schönheim)
                    3:1  Quiring (56., Schönheim)

FSV Frankfurt	     -   1. FC Kaiserslautern	2:0 (0:0)   10,153

                    1:0  Grifo (71., direct freekick)
                    2:0  Dedic (88., Ballas)

Monday:
Eintr. Braunschweig  -   RasenB. Leipzig	1:1 (1:0)   20,650

                    1:0  Berggreen (45., Pfitzner)
                    1:1  D. Kaiser (84., Poulsen)
 


 1  FC Ingolstadt 04 	  	22   12  8  2 	  35:18  +17 	  44 
 2  Karlsruher SC 	  	22   10  8  4 	  30:17  +13 	  38
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 3  SV Darmstadt 98 (N) 	22    9  11 2 	  27:16  +11 	  38
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 4  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	22   10  8  4 	  30:21  +9 	  38 
 5  Eintracht Braunschweig (A) 	22   10  4  8 	  31:26  +5 	  34 
 6  1. FC Nürnberg (A) 	  	22   10  3  9 	  28:32  -4 	  33 
 7  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	  	22    8  8  6 	  33:29  +4 	  32 
 8  RasenBallsport Leipzig (N) 	22    7  9  6 	  23:16  +7 	  30 
 9  FSV Frankfurt 	  	22    9  3  10 	  29:34  -5 	  30 
10  1. FC Union Berlin 	  	22    8  6  8 	  28:34  -6 	  30 
11  1. FC Heidenheim (N) 	22    7  7  8 	  31:25  +6 	  28 
12  VfL Bochum 	  	        22    5  12 5 	  32:32   0 	  27 
13  SpVgg Greuther Fürth	22    6  9  7 	  23:24  -1 	  27 
14  SV Sandhausen 	  	22    6  7  9 	  18:26  -8 	  25 
15  1860 München 	  	22    5  6  11 	  28:35  -7 	  21
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16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	22    5  5  12 	  21:32  -11 	  20
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17  VfR Aalen 	  	        22    4  7  11 	  16:27  -11 	  19 
18  FC St. Pauli 	  	22    4  5  13 	  23:42  -19 	  17



1st line: Promotion to Bundesliga
2nd line: Playoff with 16th Bundesliga
3rd line: Playoff with no.3 of 3.Liga
4th line: Relegation to 3.Liga

A = Absteiger just relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted