Skibbe raus!

OK, I should have followed up on this one. On Saturday of course Hertha BSC Berlin lost 0-5 to VfB Stuttgart, and I speculated that coach Michael would be fired. Sure enough, on Sunday night, Hertha GM Michael Preetz fired “Skibbe, Skibbe, Skibbe-to-the-loo”.

Michael Skibbe has managed to have a pretty nice career without accomplishing very much. He certainly was an abject failure at Dortmund, we was OK as a Germany assistant. Pretty much sucked at Leverksuen, Frankfurt, Galatasaray, Eskisehirspor and now Hertha.

Now when Hertha fired Markus Babbel and replaced him with Skibbe back in December, many pundits predicted this would end badly. But even the most rabid naysayers would have expected Skibbe to lose all his matches and only last 52 days.

Ultimately, I think most Hertha fans think Preetz should also fire himself.

One thing that would be “hella” funny (to use daughter-unit speech) would be if Hertha would hire Holger Stanislawski, who was just fired by Hoffenheim and replaced by Markus Babbel. And maybe both teams would be in relegation trouble and face each other in the last round of the season…

Champions League: Aspirins slapped

The Champions League knockout phase is underway, and Bayer Leverkusen got their ass handed to them by FC Barcelona. A sold out crowd of 29,412 in the BayArena saw Leverksuen basically try and defend their way through, which was obviously not going to work against the Catalan juggernaut. Two goals by Alexis Sanchez and a final by Leo Messi gave the defending champs a deserved win.

Bayer was too timid early on. They let Barcelona control the match with their usual “ticky-tacky” play. After falling behind, the Aspirins switched to a more aggressive attack, and were rewarded with an equalizer. However, they then let down their guard, and a superb through-pass by Fabregas aloowed Sanchez to round the keeper. From then, it was just a matter of time, and Messi provided the coup-de-grace near the end.

Basically, this contest is over, because their is no way Leverkusen has a chance in the Nou Camp.

Bayer Leverkusen:
Leno -
Corluka, M. Friedrich , Schwaab , Kadlec -
Reinartz, Rolfes, L. Bender -
Renato Augusto,Castro -
Schürrle

Subs:
77. Kießling for Rolfes
90. Bellarabi for Schürrle
90. + 1 da Costa for Corluka

FC Barcelona:

Victor Valdes -
Dani Alves, Mascherano, Puyol, Abidal -
Busquets -
Fabregas, Iniesta -
Adriano, Messi, Sanchez

Subs:
60. Thiago Alcantara for Iniesta
69. Pedro for Adriano
85. Cuenca for Sanchez

Scoring:
0:1 Sanchez (41., Messi)
1:1 Kadlec (52., Corluka)
1:2 Sanchez (55., Fabregas)
1:3 Messi (88., Dani Alves)

WSV: match canceled

Wuppertaler SV’s mini-revival was stopped by Jack Frost. The match against 1.FC Köln II had to be canceled, because the Zoo-Stadion pitch was frozen. No date has been set for the rematch.

Instead, folks were treated to a podium discussion about “Bergisch FC”, a so-called project to bring “professional” football back to the region. Supposedly this goofy idea would consist of a merger of WSV, Union Solingen and FC Remscheid. Luckily there is no support of this insanity. There are two schools thought regarding this idea:

1) It’s just a deliberate attempt by the board to spin up the fans and piss them off. If so, it would be one of the few successful moves by the board, since about 100 fans showed up to shout against this idea.

or

2) Crack is readily available in Wuppertal and smoked on a regular basis by certain members of the board.

There really is no support for this move. It worked 60 years ago in the founding of WSV, but virtually all subsequent mergers in the area have had no positive effects. Indeed, clubs disappear and the fans seem to go as well. A well run club is the only way forward, and clubs like Mainz or Freiburg clearly indicate that you can have success if you plan ahead.

2.Liga: Battles at top, bottom

Hard fought battles all around. Greuther Fürth temporarily takes the lead as the massacred Paderborn in a top match. Bottom clubs also show some life…

2.Liga, Round 21

Erzgebirge Aue	         -   1860 München	   canceled
Energie Cottbus	         -   Alemannia Aachen	   1:1 (0:0)    6,280
FSV Frankfurt	         -   FC Ingolstadt 04	   1:1 (1:0)    3,027
Eintracht Braunschweig	 -   Karlsruher SC	   0:0 (0:0)   19,000
1. FC Union Berlin	 -   Dynamo Dresden	   4:0 (1:0)   18,432
FC St. Pauli	         -   VfL Bochum	           2:1 (1:1)   24,257
Hansa Rostock	         -   MSV Duisburg	   4:2 (2:2)    9,200
SpVgg Greuther Fürth	 -   SC Paderborn 07	   5:1 (3:1)    9,230
Fortuna Düsseldorf	 -   Eintracht Frankfurt   1:1 (0:0)   41,213 	

 1  Fortuna Düsseldorf	        21   12    8    1    45:22  +23    44
 2  SpVgg Greuther Fürth        21   13    4    4    47:18  +29    43
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Eintracht Frankfurt (A)     21   12    7    2    44:21  +23    43
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  FC St. Pauli (A)	        21   13    3    5    41:24  +17    42
 5  SC Paderborn 07	        21   12    6    3    33:22  +11    42
 6  1860 München	        20   11    2    7    42:28  +14    35
 7  1. FC Union Berlin          21   10    4    7    36:32  +4 	   34
 8  Eintracht Braunschweig (N)  21    8    6    7    26:24  +2 	   30
 9  VfL Bochum                  21    8    3 	10   28:32  -4 	   27
10  Dynamo Dresden (N)	  	21    7    4 	10   36:39  -3 	   25
11  Energie Cottbus	  	21    6    6 	9    21:33  -12    24
12  MSV Duisburg	  	21    5    5 	11   27:33  -6 	   20
13  Alemannia Aachen	  	21    3   10 	8    20:28  -8 	   19
14  Erzgebirge Aue	  	20    4    7 	9    17:33  -16    19
15  FSV Frankfurt	  	21    3    9 	9    21:38  -17    18
---------------------------------------------------------------------
16  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	21    3    7 	11   23:41  -18	   16
---------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Karlsruher SC	  	21    4    4 	13   21:44  -23    16
18  Hansa Rostock (N)	  	21    2    9 	10   18:34  -16    15

Düsseldorf and Eintracht Frankfurt met Monday night, and the crowd of 41,000 was probably better than they had when both clubs were in the Bundesliga. (However it is an indication of the Bundesliga recent success, as even the prospect of gaining promotion means big crowds). The match itself was fiercely contended. Frankfurt actually had a slight edge early, but couldn’t make an advantage. After an hour, Düsseldorf was increasingly taking control of the match, and ironically it was then that Frankfurt struck, as veteran Benjamin Köhler received a perfect pass from Alex Meier, and was wide open in front of goal. Fortuna reacted with fury, launching assault after assault on the Eintracht goal. It looked like the visitors would hold out for an important victory. Then in injury time, a disputed call. Beister went down in a clash with Anderson. Referee Brych was going to let play continue, but after consulting his linesman, ruled a penalty. Langeneke put the strike home, and the match ended. Overall, the draw is probably a fair result.

Greuther Fürth was superb as they kicked upstart Paderborn’s ass. The match started furiously, as the teams traded goals, with SCP grabbing the lead after only 5 minutes. (Nick Proschwitz, who leads the 2.Liga with 14 goals). Greuther Fürth wasn’t phased and came roaring back, picking up two in the next 5 minute sequence. From then on, the hosts dominated and Paderborn basically sucked. Outstanding was oldie Gerald Asamoah, who scored his first double for his new club (having signed during winter break). This allows Greuther Fürth to at least temporarily take the lead, and they will be second after the top clash between Düsseldorf and Eintracht Frankfurt on Monday Night Football…

St.Pauli picked up an important win against Bochum. The Hamburgers deserved the win, because they pressed harder. Bochum got themselves in trouble when Paul Freier got his ass tossed, allowing the Paulistas a last sustained run at goal that resulted in the win with about 10 minutes left.

A superb effort by tailend Hansa Rostock, as coach Wolfgang Wolf picks up his first win. Veteran Marek Mintal led the way with two goals, and Hansa had one of their best performances as they beat down the Zebras.

Karslruhe showed their improvement trend might have some staying power, as they held a scoreless draw in Braunschweig. KSC looked like a certain drop candidate, but they’re looking like they want to resist the drop.

Ingolstadt and FSV Frankfurt traded goals in an entertaining match in Bornheim. Niether could afford to lose, and although the draw leaves neither happy, it’s a fair result.

Union Berlin showed who reigns supreme of ex-GDR clubs, at least this season. The hosts ripped Dynamo Dresden’s ass 4-0, reversing the 0-4 from the earlier match in Dresden. However, it wasn’t as easy as it looks. Union pressured, but wasn’t able to make headway until a penalty just before half. In the restart, Berlin then simply overran Dynamo, which disappointed at all levels.

3.Liga: Snow rules

The bad weather intervened and canceled most of the matches in the 3.Liga…

3.Liga, Round 25

Preußen Münster	     -    Werder Bremen II    0:0 (0:0)	   5,120  	
1. FC Saarbrücken    -    VfB Stuttgart II    0:0 (0:0)    3,454
1. FC Heidenheim     -    SV Babelsberg 03    5:0 (1:0)    5,200

all others canceled

 1  VfR Aalen	  	       24  12 	7   5 	  32:22  +10 	  43
 2  SV Sandhausen	       24  12 	7   5 	  35:26  +9 	  43
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Jahn Regensburg	       23  10 	8   5 	  37:22  +15 	  38
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Heidenheim	       24  10 	7   7 	  31:24  +7 	  37
 5  1. FC Saarbrücken	       25   8 	12  5 	  42:32  +10 	  36
 6  Rot-Weiß Erfurt	       24   9 	9   6 	  31:26  +5 	  36
 7  Wacker Burghausen	       23   8 	11  4 	  36:29  +7 	  35 
 8  Chemnitzer FC (N)	       24  10 	5   9 	  31:29  +2 	  35
 9  VfB Stuttgart II	       24   8 	10  6 	  27:29  -2 	  34
10  Kickers Offenbach	       23   9 	6   8 	  28:25  +3 	  33
11  Preußen Münster (N)	       24   7 	11  6 	  25:26  -1 	  32
12  VfL Osnabrück (A)	       22   6 	11  5 	  24:20  +4 	  29
13  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	       23   7 	8   8 	  26:28  -2 	  29
14   Arminia Bielefeld (A)     24   7 	8   9 	  32:38  -6 	  29
15   SV Babelsberg 03	       25   7 	8   10 	  33:41  -8 	  29
16   SpVgg Unterhaching	       23   8 	4   11 	  38:38   0 	  28
17  SV Darmstadt 98 (N)        24   7 	6   11 	  31:34  -3 	  27
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (A)    24   4 	9   11 	  21:31  -10 	  21 
19  Carl Zeiss Jena	       22   4 	6   12 	  24:43  -19 	  18
20  Werder Bremen II	       25   3 	9   13 	  24:45  -21 	  18

Saarbrücken blew a chance to strengthen their position, as they sucked against Stuttgart’s B squad. The dominated the match, but wasted enough chances to win two or three matches.

Heidenheim on the other hand took full advantage as they ripped Babelsberg’s ass. The Potsdam visitors were overrun, but at least only down a goal at half. But Heidenheim turned up the heat and blasted through in a quarter hour after the restart. The most interesting thing is that ex-Augsburg mini-legend Michael Thurk got his first goal for the club, off a free-kick.

Preußen Münster debuted their new coach Pavel Dotchev, but he probably needed medication after a crap effort. The fans couldn’t have been too happy either. Over 5,000 showed up in freezing weather against a last place team…

Bundesliga: M’gladbach makes a move

Dortmund and Bayern win ho-hum. Big winner is Gladbach, ripping Schalke’s ass. Hertha is in crisis…

BUNDESLIGA, Round 21

VfL Wolfsburg        -    SC Freiburg           3:2 (2:2)   23,057  (Jiracek 2, M.Schäfer - Flum, Caligiuri)
Borussia Dortmund    -    Bayer Leverkusen	1:0 (1:0)   80,000  (Kagawa)
1. FSV Mainz 05	     -    Hannover 96	        1:1 (1:0)   30,173  (Zidan - Sobiech)
Bayern München	     -    1. FC Kaiserslautern	2:0 (2:0)   69,000  (Gomez, T. Müller)
Werder Bremen	     -    1899 Hoffenheim	1:1 (0:1)   39,176  (Arnautovic - Vestergaard)
VfB Stuttgart	     -    Hertha BSC Berlin	5:0 (4:0)   45,000  (Ibisevic, Harnik 3, Okazaki)
Borussia M'gladbach  -    FC Schalke 04	        3:0 (3:0)   54,049  (Reus, Hanke, Arango)
FC Augsburg	     -    1. FC Nürnberg	0:0 (0:0)   30,660
1. FC Köln	     -    Hamburger SV	        0:1 (0:0)   46,500  (Guerrero)

 1  Borussia Dortmund (M)    21   14 	4    3 	  46:14    +32 	  46
 2  Bayern München	     21   14 	2    5 	  49:14    +35 	  44
 3  Borussia M'gladbach	     21   13 	4    4 	  34:12    +22 	  43
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  FC Schalke 04 (P)	     21   13 	2    6 	  46:28    +18 	  41
 5  Werder Bremen	     21    9 	6    6 	  34:35    -1 	  33
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 6  Bayer Leverkusen	     21    8 	7    6 	  28:28     0 	  31
 7  Hannover 96	  	     21    7 	10   4 	  23:25    -2 	  31
 8  VfL Wolfsburg	     21    8 	3   10 	  27:38   -11 	  27
 9  VfB Stuttgart	     21    7 	5    9 	  31:28    +3 	  26
10  Hamburger SV	     21    6 	8    7 	  26:34   -8 	  26
11  1899 Hoffenheim	     21    6 	7    8 	  23:25    -2 	  25
12  1. FC Köln	  	     21    7 	3   11 	  29:41   -12 	  24
13  1. FSV Mainz 05	     21    5 	8    8 	  29:35   -6 	  23
14  1. FC Nürnberg	     21    6 	4   11 	  19:31   -12 	  22
15  Hertha BSC Berlin (N)    21    4 	8    9 	  25:36   -11 	  20
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Kaiserslautern     21    3 	9    9 	  15:26   -11 	  18
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  FC Augsburg (N)	     21    3 	9    9 	  19:33   -14 	  18
18  SC Freiburg	  	     21    4 	5   12 	  27:47   -20 	  17

Wolfsburg and Freiburg delivered an entertaining Friday night clash. The VWs undoubtedly expected an easy win, especially when Petr Jiracek scored after only 5 minutes. But Freiburg gave a spirited performance, and with both defenses pathetic, it was anybody’s game. In the end, the VWs prevailed, but SCF probably deserved a point. Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath didn’t look too amused when the final whistle blew, probably intending on ripping his players for struggling against the tailenders.

Leaders Dortmund and Leverkusen played a snoozer. Bayer, along with Hoffenheim, seems to be the most boring team in the league, and they were able to impose their “will” on Dortmund. Leverkusen was tight in defense, but pathetic going forward. The Neons seemed only semi-interested in winning this game, and it took a nice individual effort by Shinji Kagawa to put one in the net. However, after that, Dortmund seemed content to just run down the clock, which meant that their usual all-out attack was not on display today.

Gladbach completely bitch-slapped Schalke in the top match of the weekend. The home side basically finished off the tie in a half hour, as they were up 3-0. Marco Reus opened things up after only 2 minutes. Hermann crossed the ball, Reus faked  Höwedes and Jurado out of their jock-straps, and put the ball into the net. I’m not sure Schalke knew what even hit them, and when Hanke scored after 15, it was really over. This allows the Gladbachers to leap over Schalke. This is really turning into an amazing season for Borussia, their first good campaign since perhaps 1989, when they finished 6th. (1987 was the last time they ended 3rd). Lucien Favre deserves a lot of credit of getting his team ready for each match. The Blues coach Huub Stevens was outraged over his squad’s lame effort, hinting darkly that there “are players who don’t deserve to be wearing the colors.”

Bayern München had no trouble in what Germans might call a Pflichstssieg, a “required win”. They basically just diod enough to wrap things early and then sail to the final whistle against a harmless Kaiserslautern.

Markus Babbel almost had a great debut with Hoffenheim. The Hoppers gave a strong 1st half performance at Bremen, and were nursing the lead until the bitter end. Unfortunately for them, Marko Arnautovic scored with seconds remaining to salvage a draw for Werder. This is actually a fair result, as Bremen definitely improved quite a bit in the 2nd half.

Babbel’s old team however isn’t looking too good. Hertha BSC lost 0-5 in Stuttgart, in what coach Michael Skibbe stated was the worst he had ever seen. Of course, this catastrophic performance is causing all sorts of speculation that Skibbe might be on a short leash, despite the fact he was just appointed in December when the board fired Babbel (who had announced he was going to quit at the end of the season.) The press is full of rumours that Skibbe will get canned, as Hertha has just sucked under his regime. (Which begs the question of why the board doesn’t fire itself, since they’re usually responsible when it really comes down to it. Michael Preetz, are you listening?) Stuttgart had been sucking bigtime recently, so beating the crap out of the “old lady” was just what the doctor ordered. Martin Harnik got the hat-trick, and with Vedad Ibisevic opening his account after his transfer from Hoffenheim, it might be that Cacau’s days with VfB are numbered.  Head coach Bruno Labbadia only put cacau in for the last 15 minutes, and when questioned mentioned “I don’t see any reason to change it.” As for the match itself, Berlin collapsed in about 8 minutes, when they gave up 3 goals enroute to a hopeless 0-4 half-time deficit.

Mainz and Hannover drew 1-1. Mohamed Zidan grabbed his 2nd in his second match since returning to Mainz, and it looked like the home side would get a needed victory. But with only 5 minutes remaining, 96er coach Mirko Slomka brought on Artur Sobiech, and the Polish international scored with seconds left to give Hannover a draw. Overall, this was probably a fair result, as both teams tried hard and were pretty evenly matched. I think this was Hannover’s 400th away Bundesliga match.

On the Sunday matches, Augsburg and Nürnberg played a draw that helps neither move out from danger. There wasn’t much to write home about, hard fought, but with little technical class and few chances.

Hamburg has basically come out of the dumps, as they manage another win, this time at Köln. Paulo Guerrero scored with only two minutes left, after it looked to peter out to a scoreless draw. However, the win for HSV isn’t too outrageous, as they were the more engaged team, actually trying to win the match. Köln didn’t show much except discipline in defense.

Stanislawski raus!

Hoffenheim has fired coach Holger Stanislawski. The Hoppers had been dicking around listlessly all season, and I guess the Pokal defeat at home against 2.Liga Greuther Fürth was the last straw. Stanislawski had joined Hoffenheim in summer, but has been under increasing criticism for Hoffenheim’s continuous decline.

I find it hard to blame things on Stanislawski. He got a lot out of little with St.Pauli, and he’s tried just about everything, including benching “stars” like Ryan Babel and Selad Salihovic. Of course, maybe the constant tinkering has been a problem as well. But I think the deeper reason is that frankly Hoffenheim is only a shell of the squad that caused a furore in their first Bundesliga season, and has been slowly whittled away.

Basically the board is trying to cover their asses by finding a scapegoat. Club patron Dietmar Hopp has indicated that he’s not spending any more money, and indeed he expects Hoffenheim to survive on their own. So the club has been selling their talent that Hopp paid for and replacing them with nobodies. This season and last, the club has had a net inflow of cash along teh lines of 25 million euros, so selling has been the major headline from Hoffenheim. Ralf Rangnick was the architect of Hoffenheim’s success (funded with Hopp’s money), and he objected vehemently when his high priced talent started getting sold, resigning his poisition.

The new coach is going to be Markus Babbel, the ex-Bayern star who did a decent job at Hertha BSC. However, I guess he was running out of gas, and told the club that he was exhausted and would be leaving at the end of the season. Always on the lookout for the best interest of players and staff, the Hertha board fired his ass instead. He’ll face a difficult challenge, perhaps not so much this year, as Hoffenheim has a 6 point cushion above relegation. But they’ve been pretty listless, and unless Babbel can light a fire, you’d have to expect the downward trend to continue next season.

 

DFB Pokal: Viertelfinale

The quarterfinals of the DFB Cup:

Tuesday/Wednesday
Holstein Kiel         -   Borussia Dortmund       0:4 (0:2)  11,386  (Lewandowski, Kagawa, Barrios, Perisic)
Hertha BSC Berlin     -   Borussia M'gladbach     0:2 aet    47,465  (Daems, Wendt)
TSV Hoffenheim 1899   -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth    0:1 (0:1)  14,000  (Occean)
VfB Stuttgart         -   FC Bayern München       0:2 (0:1)  57,500  (Ribery, Gomez)

Not a good round for the home sides…can’t even score a single goal…

Holstein Kiel was the sensation of the this year’s Cup campaign. The 4th division Regionalliga Nord squad had previously knocked off Bundesliga side FSV Mainz. The Storks hoped to trouble the reigning champions in a sold-out Holstein-Stadion, but the match pretty much went as expected. After Kiel wasted a early chance to take the lead, Robert Lewandowski put the Neons ahead in the 11th minute, and Shinji Kagawa pretty much settled things 7 minutes later. Dortmund really left Kiel with little chances as they controlled the match on a frozen pitch. Despite being outgunned, Holstein gave their all throughout the match and were supported by a vocal crowd enjoying the match. Late in the match, Lucas Barrios and Ivan Perisic added goals to raise the scoreline.

(Other matches scheduled for Wednesday night)

Gladbach was somewhat fortunate to win in Berlin. Overall, Hertha looked the better team for most of the match, but in overtime de Camargo did a good acting job and won a penalty, which proved to be decisive. With Hertha then throwing everything forward, Ramos blew a huge chance for the equalizer just before time. In injury add-on, Gladbach then scored on a counter to round things out.

Greuther Fürth  is the only non-Bundesliga club remaining. A small crowd in uninterested Hoffenheim watched the 2.Liga club defend tightly and fight hard, causing consternation among the Bundesliga side, which couldn’t make heads or tails out of their advantage. And soon they threw that away, as Martin Compper got his ass tossed for being a wanker after 36 minutes. Greuther Fürth took the lead on a breakaway, and then defended resolutely for the remainder. Some 4,000 fans made the journey from Fürth, and despite the cold, they had to be pretty happy.

Bayern had an easy time in Stuttgart. They were the clear better team in the 1st half, and when Gomez started things off in the 2nd with a goal, it was all over. Stuttgart was suprisingly listless and lame, as they often give Bayern a decent match. But VfB has been dicking around aimlessly for a while, so I guess this isnt too surprising.

3.Liga – Sandhausen looking good

Huge win for leaders Sandhausen, who look serious about promotion. Big win for Aalen too, as they upend Regensburg and move into 2nd.

3.Liga - Round 24

VfB Stuttgart II      -   Wacker Burghausen	canceled
Carl Zeiss Jena	      -   1. FC Heidenheim	canceled
SV Babelsberg 03      -   Preußen Münster       0:2 (0:2)    1,549
Arminia Bielefeld     -   SV Sandhausen	        1:3 (0:2)    6,502
VfR Aalen	      -   Jahn Regensburg	2:1 (0:1)    3,154
SV Darmstadt 98	      -   SV Wehen Wiesbaden	0:1 (0:1)    4,000
Chemnitzer FC	      -   SpVgg Unterhaching	5:1 (2:0)    3,400
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen   -   Kickers Offenbach	1:1 (1:0)    2,649
Werder Bremen II      -   1. FC Saarbrücken	2:2 (2:0)      347
VfL Osnabrück	      -   Rot-Weiß Erfurt       Tuesday

 1  SV Sandhausen	       23   12 	 7   4 	   35:24  +11 	  43
 2  VfR Aalen	  	       23   11 	 7   5 	   30:22  +8 	  40
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Jahn Regensburg	       23   10 	 8   5 	   37:22  +15 	  38
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Saarbrücken	       24    8 	11   5 	   42:32  +10 	  35
 5  Wacker Burghausen          23    8 	11   4 	   36:29  +7 	  35
 6  Chemnitzer FC (N)          24   10 	 5   9 	   31:29  +2 	  35
 7  1. FC Heidenheim           23    9 	 7   7 	   26:24  +2 	  34
 8  Rot-Weiß Erfurt            23    8 	 9   6 	   28:24  +4 	  33
 9  Kickers Offenbach          23    9 	 6   8 	   28:25  +3 	  33
10  VfB Stuttgart II           23    8 	 9   6 	   27:29  -2 	  33
11  Preußen Münster (N)        23    7 	10   6 	   25:26  -1 	  31
12  VfL Osnabrück (A)          21    6 	11   4 	   22:17  +5 	  29
13  SV Wehen Wiesbaden         23    7 	 8   8 	   26:28  -2 	  29
14  SV Babelsberg 03           24    7 	 8   9 	   33:36  -3 	  29
15  Arminia Bielefeld (A)      24    7 	 8   9 	   32:38  -6 	  29
16  SpVgg Unterhaching         23    8 	 4   11    38:38   0 	  28
17  SV Darmstadt 98 (N)        24    7 	 6   11    31:34  -3 	  27
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (A)    24    4 	 9   11    21:31  -10 	  21
19  Carl Zeiss Jena            22    4 	 6   12    24:43  -19 	  18
20  Werder Bremen II           24    3 	 8   13    24:45  -21 	  11

Sandhausen’s win in Bielefeld was quite impressive, especially since Arminia had been showing signs of recovery from their disastrous start. The leaders didn’t generate many chances, but were clinical when they arrived. Bielefeld pressed hard at times, but most threats were easily parried. This was Arminia’s first defeat in seven home matches. I find it hard to take Sandhausen seriously, but they seem to be a determined squad and can grind out the victories.

The big match was in Aalen, although you’d never guess it with only a little over 3,000 in attendance. That seems to be the main problem with lower division German football, attendance is somewhat sketchy unless you’re a “traditional” going through hard times. In any case, Regensburg took the lead, but a courageous fighting Aalen stromed back to seize the lead and deservedly keep the points. This allows them to vault over Jahn into 2nd.

Wehen’s win at Darmstadt probably gives the villagers a nice cushion in the relegation battle. Wehen took the lead after 32 minutes on a goal by Steffen Wohlfahrt, but they didn’t make it easy on themselves: 5 minutes later Canadian international Nikolas Ledgerwood got red carded for a dirty foul. Darmstadt pressed for an equalizer, but Wehen showed solid organization and was able to bring home the points.

Saarbrücken survived at Bremen II due to a 2nd half effort. That blew a chance to sneak closer to Regensburg. They were down two at half due to a brace by Felix Kroos, Bayern star Toni Kroos’ younger brother.

Chemnitz had a nice outing as they thumped unpredicatble Unterhaching. Oberhausen showed some signs of life in their draw against Offenbach, but coach Mario Basler’s side has a way to go if they want to stave off relegation.

Bundesliga: Huge win for Köln

Sunday’s matches had considerable drama, but ended well for only one club, Köln…

BUNDESLIGA, Round 20 (after Sunday)

 SC Freiburg	       -   Werder Bremen    2:2 (1:1)   22,000   (Makiadi, Schmid - Pizarro 2)
 1. FC Kaiserslautern  -   1. FC Köln	    0:1 (0:0)   38,043   (Roshi)      

 1  Borussia Dortmund (M)	20    13   4    3    45:14   +31    43
 2  Bayern München	  	20    13   2    5    47:14   +33    41
 3  FC Schalke 04 (P)	  	20    13   2    5    46:25   +21    41
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 4  Borussia M'gladbach	  	20    12   4    4    31:12   +19    40
 5  Werder Bremen	  	20     9   5    6    33:34   -1     32
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 6  Bayer Leverkusen	  	20     8   7    5    28:27   +1     31
 7  Hannover 96	  	        20     7   9    4    22:24   -2     30
 8  1899 Hoffenheim	  	20     6   6    8    22:24   -2     24
 9  1. FC Köln	  	        20     6   3   10    29:40   -11    24
10  VfL Wolfsburg	  	20     7   3   10    24:36   -12    24
11  VfB Stuttgart	  	20     6   5    9    26:28   -2     23
12  Hamburger SV	  	20     5   8    7    25:34   -9     23
13  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	20     5   7    8    28:34   -6     22
14  1. FC Nürnberg	  	20     6   3   11    19:31   -12    21
15  Hertha BSC Berlin (N)	20     4   8    8    25:31   -6     20
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16  1. FC Kaiserslautern	20     3   9    8    15:24   -9     18
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17  FC Augsburg (N)	  	20     3   8    9    19:33   -14    17
18  SC Freiburg	  	        20     4   5   11    25:44   -19    17

A fierce relegation battle in Kaiserslautern, and you would have to figure that Köln would be struggling, with their superstar Lukas Podolski out. However, the visitors showed some effort, and were the better team in the first half against the nervous Lauterers. Indeed, things got worse for the hosts as midfielder Borysiuk got his ass tossed for a second yellow shortly before half. It became clear that the only winner would be Köln, but they’re not exactly a force on offense without Podolski. Coach Solbakken had his squad pressing, but they couldn’t break down K’lautern’s defense. Finally, Albanian international Odise Roshi, who had just come on, headed home the winner with about 20 minutes left. K’lautern attempted desperately to try and equalize, but Köln was organized tightly and easily withstood the last assaults. A huge win for the Rhein club, moving them up from the relegation zone, and Lautern will lament the loss in a match where they really needed the 3 points.

With Freiburg and Bremen, you’ve got the worst two defenses, so you’d figure on goals, and you’d be right. Werder pressed and took the lead twice through their goal machine Claudio Pizarro, but the Bresigauer fought back and were rewarded with a point. A positive result for them, especially since they had to play teh last few minutes with ten – they were out of subs, and Krmas went out injured. One expects more from Bremen, but the point does move them above another disappointment, Leverkusen. A good result for Freiburg, but they remain at the bottom.