Rostock relegated. 3rd place battle continues, same for relegation playoff.

Dynamo Dresden	        -    FC St. Pauli	      1:0 (0:0)   29,184

                       1:0  Koch (54., Schuppan)

MSV Duisburg	        -    Erzgebirge Aue	      2:1 (2:0)   15,627

                       1:0  Sukalo (18., Wolze)
                       2:0  Wolze (23.)
                       2:1  König (56., Kocer)

FC Ingolstadt 04	-    Energie Cottbus	      1:0 (0:0)   11,047

                       1:0  Quaner (84., Rechtsschuss, Caiuby)

SpVgg Greuther Fürth	-    Fortuna Düsseldorf	      1:1 (1:0)   15,500

                       1:0  Nöthe (33., Sararer)
                       1:1  Ilsö (60.)

Eintracht Frankfurt	-    1860 München	      0:2 (0:2)   50,800

                       0:1  S. Jung (17., own goal, Volland)
                       0:2  Vallori (21., Volland)

SC Paderborn 07	        -    FSV Frankfurt	      1:0 (0:0)   14,668

                       1:0  Kara (49., Proschwitz)

Alemannia Aachen	-    Karlsruher SC	      1:0 (1:0)   21,657

                       1:0  Demai (20., Kratz)

VfL Bochum	        -    Eintracht Braunschweig   2:0 (1:0)   18,107

                       1:0  Freier (3., Federico)
                       2:0  Ginczek (90., Inui)

1. FC Union Berlin	-    Hansa Rostock	      5:4 (3:3)   18,300

                       0:1  Holst (4.)
                       0:2  Semmer (10.)
                       1:2  Silvio (17., Kohlmann)
                       2:2  Parensen (26., Mattuschka)
                       3:2  Mattuschka (28., penalty, Silvio)
                       3:3  Gusche (32., Blum)
                       4:3  Ede (47., Mattuschka)
                       4:4  Mintal (54., Blum)
                       5:4  Göhlert (69., Ede)



 1  SpVgg Greuther Fürth	33    20    9 	 4    71:25  +46    69 
 2  Eintracht Frankfurt (A)	33    20    8 	 5    76:32  +44    68
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Fortuna Düsseldorf	  	33    16   13 	 4    62:33  +29    61
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  SC Paderborn 07	  	33    17   10 	 6    51:37  +14    61 
 5  FC St. Pauli (A)	  	33    17    8 	 8    54:34  +20    59 
 6  1860 München	  	33    17    6 	10    61:44  +17    57 
 7  1. FC Union Berlin	  	33    14    6 	13    54:56  -2     48 
 8  Dynamo Dresden (N)	  	33    12    8 	13    49:51  -2     44 
 9  Eintracht Braunschweig (N)	33     9   15 	 9    34:34   0     42 
10  MSV Duisburg	  	33    10    8 	15    40:45  -5     38 
11  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	33     8   13 	12    42:55  -13    37 
12  VfL Bochum	  	        33    10    7 	16    40:53  -13    37 
13  FSV Frankfurt	  	33     7   13 	13    42:58  -16    34 
14  Energie Cottbus	  	33     7   11 	15    28:48  -20    32 
15  Erzgebirge Aue	  	33     7   11 	15    29:54  -25    32
----------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Karlsruher SC	  	33     8    6 	19    33:60  -27    30
----------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Alemannia Aachen	  	33     5   13 	15    28:46  -18    28 
18  Hansa Rostock (N)	  	33     5   11 	17    32:61  -29    26

St.Pauli blew their big chance. A win could have put them in the driver’s seat, as they host Paderborn next week. Now they have to hope for Fortuna to lose. It was a hard-fought match in Dresden, and the sold-out Rudolf-Harbig stadium was rocking. Both teams pressed to win, but it was Dynamo that scored the only goal. Pauli often has unhappy experiences in the ex-GDR, as their fans get under the skin of the locals. After 50 years of drab communism, probably the last thing you want to see is a bunch of left-wing hipsters showing up in your neighborhood. I’m sure the SP fans don’t see it that way, they’re just having a good time. But sinking St.Pauli’s ship probably makes the win a bit sweeter for Dynamo fans…

Greuther Fürth and Düsseldorf met in a top-of-the-table clash. It was an interesting match, with Fürth having the edge. The Greuther take back the lead, since Eintracht Frankfurt got dumped. Düsseldorf gets a critical point, and can seal the promotion playoff with a home win over Duisburg.

Paderbirn needed a win, but they had a rough time against visiting FSV Frankfurt. The mini-hot dogs gave the hosts all they could handle, and even when SCP took the lead, they were still in nervous-nelly land. They finally managed to hold on, but despite the win, they face a difficult task next week. SCP travels to St.Pauli, and they need a win, and for Duisburg to get an away point in Düsseldorf.

A party in Frankfurt to celebrate Eintracht’s promotion. Unfortunately, 1860 was the guest from hell, they dumped a turd in the punchbowl, kicked the host in the balls, and stole all the points. This is Eintracht’s only home loss of the season. Still, the fans probably didn’t feel too bad, since they’re going up.

Duisburg had a good 1st half, and that was enough to dump Aue. Another positive was a decent crowd, considering how lame the Zebras campaign has been. Erzgebirge raised their game after the restart, but they weren’t good enough for a point. They still have to worry about Karlsruhe catching them.

Ironically, Ingolstadt was outplayed at home by struggling Cottbus, but grabbed all the points with a late goal. The Schanzer are mathematically safe, and a brilliant post-winterbreak run is the reason why. Energie was actually the better team in this match, needing a result to end their relegation worries. They didn’t get it, so things could still go south…

A hard fought relegation battle in Aachen. Alemannia dominated the first half, but Karlsruhe came back strong after the restart. Both clubs desperately wanted the points, and Eagles keep their slim hopes alive with the points. KSC is still in the drivers seat though, as Aachen can only hope for them to slip up so they can grab the playoff spot.

The “who cares?” match in Bochum saw VfL end their 10 game winless streak. Oldtimer Paul Freier’s early header gave Bochum the lead, and Braunschweig really didn’t do too much to resist defeat. However, this is Bochum and they’ve been crapping on their fans all season, so why should they stop? Philipp Bönig promptly got his ass tossed after 60 minutes, and Braunschweig realized they might have a chance. There was a nervous 30 minutes, but Bochum managed to stave off damage and get the win.

A wild eastern derby in Berlin, but Union prevails and dumps Rostock into the 3.Liga. Hansa realized this was their last theoretical chance, so jumped out quickly in the sold out Alte Försterei. But Union was in no mode to let down their fans and came storming back. More goals could have been scored, but in the end, Hansa couldn’t get the needed win and have to say “Auf wiedersehen”…

Aalen promoted. Oberhausen down. Only 3rd place up for grabs, but now it’s Regensburg’s to lose…

	
VfL Osnabrück	      -    SV Sandhausen	2:1 (0:0)    7,000
1. FC Heidenheim      -    Preußen Münster	4:1 (2:0)    8,000
Kickers Offenbach     -    1. FC Saarbrücken	2:3 (1:1)    9,557
SpVgg Unterhaching    -    Wacker Burghausen	4:0 (2:0)    2,800
Chemnitzer FC	      -    Rot-Weiß Erfurt	0:2 (0:2)    9,300
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen   -    Jahn Regensburg	1:2 (0:0)    3,417
Carl Zeiss Jena	      -    SV Wehen Wiesbaden	1:0 (0:0)    4,758
SV Babelsberg 03      -    Arminia Bielefeld	1:0 (0:0)    4,038
Werder Bremen II      -    SV Darmstadt 98	0:4 (0:2)      427
VfB Stuttgart II      -    VfR Aalen	        2:2 (0:0)    2,150

 1  SV Sandhausen	  	37    19    9 	 9    56:40  +16    66 
 2  VfR Aalen	  	        37    18   10 	 9    50:38  +12    64
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Jahn Regensburg	  	37    16   12 	 9    54:40  +14    60
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Heidenheim	  	37    15   12 	10    46:35  +11    57 
 5  Rot-Weiß Erfurt	  	37    14   14 	 9    50:41  +9     56 
 6  Kickers Offenbach	  	37    15   10 	12    49:40  +9     55 
 7  Chemnitzer FC (N)	  	37    15   10 	12    47:40  +7     55 
 8  Wacker Burghausen	  	37    12   18 	 7    52:47  +5     54 
 9  VfL Osnabrück (A)	  	37    13   13 	11    42:35  +7     52 
10  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	37    12   15 	10    57:49  +8     51 
11  VfB Stuttgart II 	  	37    12   13 	12    42:45  -3     49 
12  SV Darmstadt 98 (N)	  	37    12   12 	13    49:45  +4     48 
13  Preußen Münster (N)	  	37    11   14 	12    39:44  -5     47 
14  Arminia Bielefeld (A)	37    11   14 	12    50:57  -7     47 
15  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	37    12    8 	17    61:55  +6     44 
16  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	37    10   13 	14    38:46  -8     43 
17  SV Babelsberg 03	  	37    11   10 	16    42:57  -15    43
----------------------------------------------------------------------
18  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (A)	37     8   14 	15    33:43  -10    38 
19  Carl Zeiss Jena	  	37     9   11 	17    38:58  -20    38 
20  Werder Bremen II	  	37     4   10 	23    29:69  -40    22

Aalen was unable to win at Stuttgart, despite taking the lead twice. However VfR did enough to secure promotion into the 2.Liga, and they could still catch Sandhausen for the title.

A snoozer in the 1st half in Osnabrück, but the hosts picked up the pace in the 2nd period. As a result, the Lilacs win prevent Sandhausen from claiming the championship, although they probably don’t care.

Jahn Regensburg has one foot in the promotion playoff. Jahn travelled to desperate Oberhausen and came away with the points. It wasn’t easy. RWO played with purpose, as they were playing for their life. They looked the better team, and when David Jansen gave them the lead after an hour, they looked like they might win. Suprisingly, Jahn however raised their game and managed to turn things around and come back to win. This huge win means that Regensburg can defend 3rd place just with a home draw next week.

Heidenheim is the only “chasing” team that keeps any pressure on Regensburg. VfL made short work of visiting Münster, scoring after only two minutes and basically dominating the match.

An exciting match in Offenbach. Saarbrücken had nothing to play for, but wanted to win. Kickers needed a win to keep their promotion hopes alive, but they couldn’t beat down FCS. Instead, they go down in flames in front of their home fans. That’s been the story of Offenbach’s season. They suck, folks give up hope, then they come roaring back and make fans believe, then they cruelly crap all over you.

Burghausen blew their chance. Wacker needed a win to stay in the race. Instead, they got their ass whupped silly by a rampaging Unterhaching, who ended any thoughts of relegation with a thumping win. This was total domination by the homeside, the most unpredicatble club in the 3.Liga – you’ll note that they’re clearing the top scoring team, in 15th place, and have a positive goal difference! After getting “wacked” Burghausen slinks away wussily…

Chemnitz drops out of the race as well. Ironically, it was the eastern derby with Erfurt that put the final nail in the coffin (although CFC had been dicking around aimlessly recently after a brilliant run). RWE started like Formula 1 and blitzed the home side with two quick goals. CFC’s response was for Silvio Bankert to get his ass red carded. So the match was essentially over after 30 minutes.

Jena defeated Wehen to keep their slim hopes for survival alive, but Babelsberg’s late win sealed their fate.

Ukrainian Anton Makarenko scored on a free-kick 3 minutes into injury time. This gave Babelsberg the crucial win against Bielefeld, and secured their survival in the 3.Liga. It also sends down Oberhausen and Jena, who also gave strong performances today. It was a somewhat lucky win, as although the Potsdamers had dominated the game, Arminia defended well and looked to escape with a point. But Makarenko’s freekick crashed off the underside of the bar and then into the net, giving Babelsberg the defining win…

Ho-hum win for Darmstadt as they kicked Bremen’s ass.

Augsburg safe, Schalke directly into Champions League, Gladbach into CL-Qualifier.

	
1. FC Kaiserslautern   -   Borussia Dortmund   2:5 (1:3)    49,780

                      1:0  Felipe Santana (16., own goal, Fortounis)
                      1:1  Barrios (18., Owomoyela)
                      1:2  Barrios (26., Perisic)
                      1:3  M. Götze (33., Lewandowski)
                      2:3  De Wit (49., Fortounis)
                      2:4  Barrios (55., Perisic)
                      2:5  Perisic (78., Kagawa)

VfL Wolfsburg	       -   Werder Bremen       3:1 (1:1)    30,000

                      1:0  Salihamidzic (40., Helmes)
                      1:1  Rosenberg (45. + 1, Trybull)
                      2:1  Helmes (66., Vieirinha)
                      3:1  Helmes (89., Mandzukic)

Bayer Leverkusen       -   Hannover 96	       1:0 (0:0)    30,210

                      1:0  Kießling (75., Rechtsschuss)

Hamburger SV	       -   1. FSV Mainz 05     0:0 (0:0)    56,537

1899 Hoffenheim	       -   1. FC Nürnberg      2:3 (1:2)    30,150

                      0:1  Pekhart (9., Didavi)
                      1:1  Beck (22., Musona)
                      1:2  Didavi (45., Feulner)
                      1:3  Pekhart (71., Pinola)
                      2:3  Braafheid (88., Mlapa)

Bayern München	       -   VfB Stuttgart       2:0 (1:0)    69,000

                      1:0  Gomez (32., T. Müller)
                      2:0  T. Müller (90. + 2, Olic)

SC Freiburg	       -   1. FC Köln	       4:1 (1:0)    24,000

                      1:0  Mujdza (36., D. Caligiuri)
                      1:1  Podolski (47.)
                      2:1  Guedé (54.,  D. Caligiuri)
                      3:1  D. Caligiuri (84., Makiadi)
                      4:1  Freis (90. + 1, Schmid)

Borussia M'gladbach    -   FC Augsburg	       0:0 (0:0)    53,306

FC Schalke 04	       -   Hertha BSC	       4:0 (1:0)    61,673

                      1:0  Huntelaar (32., Matip)
                      2:0  Holtby (73., Huntelaar)
                      3:0  Raul (84.)
                      4:0  Huntelaar (87., Raul)

 1  Borussia Dortmund (M)	33    24    6 	 3    76:25  +51    78 
 2  Bayern München	  	33    22    4 	 7    73:21  +52    70 
 3  FC Schalke 04 (P)	  	33    19    4 	10    71:42  +29    61
 4  Borussia M'gladbach	  	33    16    9 	 8    46:24  +22    57
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  Bayer Leverkusen	  	33    14    9 	10    48:43  +5     51
 6  VfB Stuttgart	  	33    14    8 	11    60:44  +16    50 
 7  Hannover 96	  	        33    11   12 	10    39:44  -5     45
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 8  VfL Wolfsburg	  	33    13    5 	15    45:57  -12    44 
 9  Werder Bremen	  	33    11    9 	13    47:55  -8     42 
10  1. FC Nürnberg	  	33    12    6 	15    37:45  -8     42 
11  1899 Hoffenheim	  	33    10   11 	12    40:44  -4     41 
12  SC Freiburg 	  	33    10   10 	13    45:57  -12    40 
13  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	33     9   12 	12    47:48  -1     39 
14  Hamburger SV	  	33     8   12 	13    35:56  -21    36 
15  FC Augsburg (N)	  	33     7   14 	12    35:49  -14    35
----------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Köln	  	        33     8    6 	19    38:71  -33    30
----------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Hertha BSC Berlin (N)	33     6   10 	17    35:63  -28    28 
18  1. FC Kaiserslautern	33     4   11 	18    23:52  -29    23

Kaiserslautern was already relegated, but hosting champions Dortmund was a nice way to say goodbye to their fans, and the Fritz-Walter was packed. Dortmund made a few changes, resting five starters, but bringing in Mario Götze for the first time since injury, and giving a rare start to Lucas Barrios, who appears on his way out to China. Needless to say, FCK was engaged and the Neons were lackadasical at the start. The Red Devils took the lead when Felipe Santana had a ball bounce off him into his own net (GK Roman Weidenfeller getting a rare day off). However, that served a wakeup call for the champs, and they quickly started dominating the match and banged in a few goals. Lautern did what they could, but with Barrios grabbing 3 goals and Dortmund totally dominating, the hosts did well to keep it down to five.

Wolfsburg kept their chances for Europe alive and dealt an almost fatal blow to Bremen’s
chance. The northern derby was hard fought and somewhat even in the first half, but the VWs gradually assumed control, and a double by Patrick Helmes gave the Wolfs a crucial win. Helmes has been in fine form since the winter-restart (when he was in coach Magath’s dog-house, and available on the market for some training balls and a case of beer). It will be interesting to see if he’s now staying. For Bremen, this horrible season is almost over. They could sneak in if Hannover gets a hiding and Wolfsburg loses, but that seems far fetched, because they would need to win as well.

Leverkusen has one foot in the Europa-liga. The Aspirins downed Hannover in an even match, which will probably be remembered for other reasons. Michael Ballack came on as a sub in the 2nd half, his last home game for Bayer, and perhaps bringing an end to his illustrious career. The Alka-Seltzers hold down the auto-qualifying spot, but will still need to hold off Stuttgart. Hannover needs a win at home to gain entry into the Europa-liga qualifying rounds.

HSV is mathematically safe. What a crap season for the Hamburgers. They have to hold off Mainz at home to avoid relegation. The match itself was a snoozer, although HSV had the edge. Pundits declared the high-point(s) is when Mladen Petric and David Jarolim got subbed out in the 2nd half. They’ve probably been HSV’s best players this season, and both are leaving the club. Somebody needs to light a fire under Hamburg’s ass next season, because this one is pretty pathetic. Mainz? Pretty good effort if you ask me, considering they’re a bunch of nobodies.

An entertaining match in Hoffenheim, with really nothing to play for. Nürnberg actually got their first Bundesliga win against Hoffenheim, and actually have a miniscule chance of sneaking into Europe. FCN was dangerous throughout on counterattacks, and demonstrated reasonably good defense in blunting Hoffenheim’s attacks.

Stuttgart has been a tough team, but not for Bayern recently, who’ve slapped them 6 straight times (Bundesliga and Cup). This was another ho-hum, with Bayern obviously relishing their advance into the Champions League final. Veteran GK Jörg Butt was given a going-away start in front of the home fans, although he might as well have sat on the bench, since he had nothing to do. He’s played some 387 Bundesliga matches with HSV, Leverkusen and Bayern, scored 26 goals (mostly penalties) and capped 4 times for Germany. Stuttgart trails Luserkusen by a point in the auto-qualify for Europa-liga, but at least are guaranteed the qualifying rounds.

Köln needed a result in Freiburg, but got bitch-slapped instead. They were under constant pressure from improved Freiburg, and a Rensing patzer gave the hosts the lead. There was a glimmer of hope when Podolski (of course) equalized after the restart, but SCF proceeded then to slap the helpless Kölners all over the field. Now the only hope for Köln is to hold onto the relegation playoff spot and face the 2.Liga contender.

Ho-hum match in Gladbach. The Borussen didn’t seem to interested in pressing things, which was fine by Augsburg. The visitors got the point they needed to stay up, which is quite an impressive feat, since there’s probably nobody that that didn’t pick them to go down in their initial Bundesliga season. Gladbach will just play out the season, going into Champions League qualifying.

Party time in Gelsenkirchen, but the Berliners weren’t invited. Well, they were, but the hosts spilled beer all over them and had a good laugh at their expense. Schalke fans said goodbye to Spanish legend Raul, who has decided to leave. His presence really helped turn around a club wandering aimlessly, and he grabbed a goal and assist in his home finale. Schalke’s reward is 3rd place and Champions League. Hertha remains pathetic and can only hope to catch Köln to avoid automatci relegation.

Bayern München defeated Real Madrid on penalties and advances to the Champions League finals. Real managed to win at the Bernabeu 2-1, but even after extra time there was no final decision. So it came down to penalties, with Manuel Neuer pulling some brilliant saves off Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka. Bayern ended up winning the shootout 3-1 and will now face Chelsea in München.

The match looked like it was going to go Madrid’s way, as after only 6 minutes a somewhat harsh handball on Alaba gave RM a penalty, which Cristiano Ronaldo duly put home. Then on the counterattack, Arjen Robben managed to put the ball over an empty net from only 4 yards. (He managed to crash into the netting himself though). When after 14 minutes CR7 knocked home another, it looked like it was all over. But led by Schweinsteiger and a dangerous Robben and Gomez, Bayern gradually began to wrest control from the home side. When Gomez was bundled over in the box, Robben put home the penalty, and the aggregate score was exactly equal.

What followed was a tense back and forth that gave both sides some chances to get the goa ahead goal. Near the end Bayern came close to winning, as Real seemed to be running out of gas. After a further hard fought overtime, Real’s inability to put the ball away in penalty kicks led to their downfall.

Bayern figures to be a slight favorite over Chelsea in the finals, if for no other reason than it’s being played in their home stadium.

Dortmund wins the title! After only going .500 in their first 6 matches, they’re now on a 26 match unbeaten streak and deservedly win their 8th German championship, their 5th in the Bundesliga.

1. FSV Mainz 05	   -  	VfL Wolfsburg	        0:0 (0:0)    31,069

1899 Hoffenheim	   -  	Bayer Leverkusen	0:1 (0:0)    28,150

                  0:1  Schürrle (79., Kadlec)

Werder Bremen	   -  	Bayern München	        1:2 (0:0)    42,100

                  1:0  Naldo (51., Pizarro)
                  1:1  Naldo (75., own goal, Ribery)
                  1:2  Ribery (90., Kroos)

1. FC Nürnberg	   -  	Hamburger SV	        1:1 (0:0)    40,000

                  0:1  Son (59., Berg)
                  1:1  Didavi (64., Simons)

Hertha BSC	   -  	1. FC Kaiserslautern	1:2 (0:2)    51,461

                  0:1  Kirch (27., Linksschuss, Sahan)
                  0:2  Wooten (38., Linksschuss, Fortounis)
                  1:2  Niemeyer (60., Kopfball, Ebert)

1. FC Köln	   -  	VfB Stuttgart	        1:1 (0:0)    51,000

                  1:0  Peszko (50., Podolski)
                  1:1  Cacau (71., Ibisevic)

Borussia Dortmund  -  	Borussia M'gladbach	2:0 (1:0)    80,720

                  1:0  Perisic (23., Schmelzer)
                  2:0  Kagawa (59., Lewandowski)

Sunday:
	
FC Augsburg	   -  	FC Schalke 04	        1:1 (1:1)    30,660

                  1:0  S. Langkamp (6., M. Ndjeng)
                  1:1  Huntelaar (38., Matip)

Hannover 96	   -  	SC Freiburg	        0:0 (0:0)    48,000

 

 1  Borussia Dortmund (M)	32   23    6 	3    71:23  +48    75
 2  Bayern München	  	32   21    4 	7    71:21  +50    67
 3  FC Schalke 04 (P)	  	32   18    4   10    67:42  +25    58
 4  Borussia M'gladbach	  	32   16    8 	8    46:24  +22    56
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  VfB Stuttgart	  	32   14    8   10    60:42  +18    50
 6  Bayer Leverkusen	  	32   13    9   10    47:43  +4 	   48
 7  Hannover 96	         	32   11   12 	9    39:43  -4 	   45
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 8  Werder Bremen	  	32   11    9   12    46:52  -6 	   42 
 9  1899 Hoffenheim	  	32   10   11   11    38:41  -3 	   41
10  VfL Wolfsburg	  	32   12    5   15    42:56  -14    41
11  1. FC Nürnberg	  	32   11    6   15    34:43  -9 	   39 
12  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	32    9   11   12    47:48  -1 	   38 
13  SC Freiburg	  	        32    9   10   13    41:56  -15    37 
14  Hamburger SV	        32    8   11   13    35:56  -21    35 
15  FC Augsburg (N)             32    7   13   12    35:49  -14    34
---------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Köln	  	        32    8    6   18    37:67  -30    30
---------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Hertha BSC Berlin (N)	32    6   10   16    35:59  -24    28 
18  1. FC Kaiserslautern	32    4   11   17    21:47  -26    23

Snoozer Friday night in Mainz. The hosts mathematically avoid relegation, and the VWs probably blow their Euro-liga chance. Actually, you could say that either occurence was pretty unlikely.

Dortmund wrapped up the back-to-back Bundesliga title in style. For a few minutes they were champions, but Frank Ribery’s late goal in Bremen meant that they needed a result to secure the title today. Gladbach started out OK, but soon the Neons took control of the match. The visitors remained dangerous on their counters, but mainly because of some lackadaisical defending by the champs after the goal by Perisic giving them the lead. Marco Reus almost had an equalizer as Marcel Schmelzer cleared off the line. That served as a wakeup, and the Neons went to business. Lewandowski played Kagawa in, who dribbled around the keeper for a tap-in. Gladbach was beaten, and was lucky they didn’t get a hiding. Borussia basically had a half-hour of celebration with their fans until the final whistle…

Hoffenheim outplayed Leverkusen for the whole match, but Aspirin GK Bernd Leno was sharp and stopped everything – including a penalty from Salihovic with 5 minutes left. With peformances like this all season, Leno has probably won the starting job over German international Rene Adler. (Just recovered from a season long injury, Adler is playing in the II squad, but obviously isn’t going to want that. I’d expect Bayer to offer him for transfer…) The Alka-Seltzers stole all the points on a rare counterattack, leaving the Hoppers wondering what happened.

Bayern coming to town always means the home side is motivated, especially Bremen. For long periods, Werder was dominant, as Bayern left many regulars on the bench. It looked like a loss for Bayern, but I guess Jupp Heynckes couldn’t take it any longer, so with about 25 minute left, he brought on Ribery, Kroos and Gomez. This was enough for Bayern to turn the match and win, leaving Bremen high and dry with seven straight winless matches.

After a horrible first half, the fans probably wanted their money back. Nürnberg and HSV looked pathetic, although I suppose Hamburg was a bit worse, as Son missed an open net from about 8 yards. After the restart, FCN played better, but got kicked in the balls as ironically Son banged the Hamburgers into the lead. Der Club then furiously pressured Hamburg, grabbing a tie 5 minutes later. However, they couldn’t get any more, and HSV weathered the storm for a somewhat fortunate point.

Already relegated, with nothing to play for. Well, I guess the pressure is off, and Kaisersalutern finally played a decent match. Berlin was all excited about the relegation battle, but Hertha was overly nervous and pathetic. FCK showed confidence heretofore lacking all season and ran rings around their hosts.

Köln has been sucking wind the last few rounds, looking like the relegation fodder they are. Stuttgart has been kicking asses, so you’d expect a severe hiding behind the shed for the lame Kölners. Nothing could be further from the truth. FCK came out motivated and with purpose, Stuttgart was pressed into the defensive. A perfect Podolski cross gave Köln the lead, and Stuttgart realized they could lose this match. Oldtimer Cacau got an equalizer, but even so, the hosts were probably closer to a win. A somewhat fortunate point for Stuttgart.

On Sunday, Augsburg was in the drivers seat. The Fuggers hosted Schalke, and were clearly the motivated team. They played hard and controlled the match, pressing the Blues into defense. A win would just about clinch safety, but it was not to be. Schalke was too clever and countered ice-cold to grab an equalizer. Despite the superior talent, Schalke only did enough not to lose, which still keeps their hold on 3rd place tenuous.

Hannover and Freiburg played a scoreless draw. The 96ers had the better chances, but Freiburg was equal to the task and was never really under much of a threat. For SCF, this mathematically ensures another season in the Bundesliga, for Hannover, they’ve got one foot in Europe, but have Bremen and even Hoffenheim hoping they’ll still stumble.

With their win on Monday night, Eintracht Frankfurt gets promoted back into the Bundesliga.

Energie Cottbus	         -   VfL Bochum	             1:1 (1:0)    15,822

                        1:0  Reimerink (33., Rechtsschuss, Sörensen)
                        1:1  Vogt (57., Rechtsschuss)

FSV Frankfurt	         -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth    1:1 (1:0)     7,120

                        1:0  Schlicke (17., Micanski)
                        1:1  Nehrig (75., penalty, Prib)

Eintracht Braunschweig	 -   MSV Duisburg	     0:0 (0:0)    19,825
	
1860 München	         -   FC Ingolstadt 04        4:1 (1:1)    22,000

                        1:0  Volland (22., Rukavina)
                        1:1  Leitl (32., Schäffler)
                        2:1  Aigner (48., Lauth)
                        3:1  D. Stahl (60., Volland)
                        4:1  Volland (76., Aigner)

Erzgebirge Aue	         -   Dynamo Dresden	     1:1 (1:1)    15,000

                        1:0  Fa. Müller (17., König)
                        1:1  Schuppan (45. + 2, Trojan)

Fortuna Düsseldorf	 -   1. FC Union Berlin	     2:1 (2:1)    33,637

                        1:0  Ilsö (15., Rösler)
                        1:1  Terodde (18., Zoundi)
                        2:1  Rösler (22., penalty, Beister)

Karlsruher SC	         -   SC Paderborn 07	     2:0 (1:0)    14,112

                        1:0  Krebs (43., Terrazzino)
                        2:0  P. Groß (88., Calhanoglu)

FC St. Pauli	         -   Hansa Rostock	     3:0 (1:0)    22,620

                        1:0  Ebbers (12., M. Kruse)
                        2:0  Ebbers (49., Naki)
                        3:0  Bartels (79., Ebbers)

Monday:	
Alemannia Aachen	 -   Eintracht Frankfurt      0:3 (0:1)   27,942

                        0:1  Idrissou (45., Köhler)
                        0:2  Idrissou (48., Köhler)
                        0:3  Olajengbesi (72., own goal, Butscher)


 1  Eintracht Frankfurt (A)	32    20    8 	 4    76:30  +46     68
 2  SpVgg Greuther Fürth	32    20    8 	 4    70:24  +46     68 
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 3  Fortuna Düsseldorf	  	32    16   12 	 4    61:32  +29     60
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 4  FC St. Pauli (A)	  	32    17    8 	 7    54:33  +21     59 
 5  SC Paderborn 07	  	32    16   10 	 6    50:37  +13     58 
 6  1860 München	  	32    16    6 	10    59:44  +15     54 
 7  1. FC Union Berlin	  	32    13    6 	13    49:52  -3      45
 8  Eintracht Braunschweig (N)	32     9   15 	 8    34:32  +2      42 
 9  Dynamo Dresden (N)	  	32    11    8 	13    48:51  -3      41 
10  MSV Duisburg	  	32     9    8 	15    38:44  -6      35 
11  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	32     7   13 	12    41:55  -14     34 
12  FSV Frankfurt	  	32     7   13 	12    42:57  -15     34 
13  VfL Bochum	  	        32     9    7 	16    38:53  -15     34 
14  Energie Cottbus	  	32     7   11 	14    28:47  -19     32 
15  Erzgebirge Aue	  	32     7   11 	14    28:52  -24     32
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16  Karlsruher SC	  	32     8    6 	18    33:59  -26     30
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17  Hansa Rostock (N)	  	32     5   11 	16    28:56  -28     26 
18  Alemannia Aachen	  	32     4   13 	15    27:46  -19     25 	

FSV Frankfurt is a veteran of relegation battles, and they know how to get points when they need to. They’re not quite out of the woods yet, but are sitting pretty. They showed new Bundesligist Greuther Fürth a few things. (BTW, GF officially got promoted on Monday night when Düsseldorf crashed in Dresden). The visitors seemed to dominate most of the play, but ex-Fürther Björn Schlicke gave FSV an early lead to pressure the Greuther. The pressure did eventually pay off and the leaders got an equalizer, but that was it.

Cottbus and Bochum dicked around in a relegation battle. Energie was dominant and could have finished off the match by half-time. Bochum didn’t even wake up until the restart, but then did enough to grab a draw.

Also a snoozer in Braunschweig. Eintracht controlled most of the match against Duisburg, but actually didn’t create that many chances, and the MSV keeper Felix Wiedwald put down the few that appeared. Two teams going nowhere, which from the host perspective is not a bad thing, as this was their promotion season into the 2.Liga.

The Bavarian derby in München was an even affair for the 1st half, but then 1860 seized control and kicked Ingolstadt’s ass after the restart. Probably one of 1860’s best performances in recent memory, as Ingolstadt has been excellent since winterbreak.

A sold out Sparkassen stadium in Aue for a Sachsen derby with Dresden. It was hard fought, but both teams seemed to waste promising chances in front of goal. Obviously this match meant a lot more to Erzgebirge, as the relegation struggle should keep them nervous. Dynamo has had a respectable season back in the 2.Liga.

Düsseldorf reclaimed 3rd with a tough win over Union Berlin. The 1st half saw end-to-end action, with both teams having good chances. In the 2nd period, Fortuna began to take control of the match, and there was little doubt that they would get the win.

Karlsruhe isn’t dead yet! Erstwhile 3rd place Paderborn looked like they had more play, but KSC had a tight defense and were dangerous on counters. After grabbing the lead, the hosts were content to see if SCP could turn of their “optical superiority” (Optische überlegenheit) into something real. Nix-da. KSC countered again and put home another, and that was all she wrote. A huge win which keeps Karlsruhe’s chances alive, especially Cottbus and Aue need to be very nervous.

St.Pauli remains in the promotion race with an easy win over Hansa Rostock. The Paulistas dominated from start-to-finish, and probably could have knocked in a few more. Hansa was pretty crap, and their chance to avoid relegation rests solely on sneaking into the playoff spot, which looks increasingly like a long shot. Hansa fans were banned by the league from attending this match. Basically because they are like the dog that shows up at your house and pees on the carpet. That’s too bad, because the squad desperately needed their support in what was already a very difficult match.

Eintracht Frankfurt assured immediate re-promotion with an overall easy win in Aachen. Alemannia fought hard, and was able to almost make it into half-time with an even score. But Idrissou scored for EF, and then it was an easy time after the restart. For Aachen, it’s basically lights out, as they’re now 5 points down from the relegation playoff spot. Despite strong fan support all year, they basically couldn’t get points in the close ones, and sucked down the stretch.

Sandhausen promoted! Several teams win relegation battles to end their fears.

	
VfL Osnabrück	     -    VfB Stuttgart II	0:1 (0:1)    7,300	
Preußen Münster	     -    SV Sandhausen	        1:2 (0:1)    5,100
VfR Aalen	     -    Werder Bremen II	2:0 (1:0)    5,723
SV Darmstadt 98	     -    SV Babelsberg 03	3:1 (2:0)    4,500
Arminia Bielefeld    -    Carl Zeiss Jena	2:1 (1:1)    9,287
SV Wehen Wiesbaden   -    Rot-Weiß Oberhausen	1:0 (1:0)    4,661
Jahn Regensburg	     -    Chemnitzer FC	        1:0 (0:0)    8,346
Rot-Weiß Erfurt	     -    SpVgg Unterhaching	2:1 (1:1)    5,488
Wacker Burghausen    -    Kickers Offenbach	2:3 (0:2)    3,100
1. FC Saarbrücken    -    1. FC Heidenheim	0:0 (0:0)    3,019


 1  SV Sandhausen	  	36    19    9 	 8     55:38  +17    66 
 2  VfR Aalen	  	        36    18    9 	 9     48:36  +12    63
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 3  Jahn Regensburg	  	36    15   12 	 9     52:39  +13    57
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 4  Kickers Offenbach	  	36    15   10   11     47:37  +10    55 
 5  Chemnitzer FC (N)	  	36    15   10 	11     47:38  +9     55 
 6  Wacker Burghausen	  	36    12   18 	 6     52:43  +9     54 
 7  1. FC Heidenheim	  	36    14   12 	10     42:34  +8     54
 8  Rot-Weiß Erfurt	  	36    13   14 	 9     48:41  +7     53 
 9  VfL Osnabrück (A)	  	36    12   13 	11     40:34  +6     49 
10  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	36    11   15 	10     54:47  +7     48 
11  VfB Stuttgart II	  	36    12   12 	12     40:43  -3     48 
12  Preußen Münster (N)	  	36    11   14 	11     38:40  -2     47 
13  Arminia Bielefeld (A)	36    11   14 	11     50:56  -6     47 
14  SV Darmstadt 98 (N)	  	36    11   12 	13     45:45   0     45 
15  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	36    10   13 	13     38:45  -7     43 
16  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	36    11    8 	17     57:55  +2     41 
17  SV Babelsberg 03	  	36    10   10 	16     41:57  -16    40
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18  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (A)	36     8   14 	14     32:41  -9     38 
19  Carl Zeiss Jena	  	36     8   11 	17     37:58  -21    35 
20  Werder Bremen II	  	36     4   10 	22     29:65  -36    22

Sandhausen assured themselves of promotion to the 2.Liga with their win in Münster. However, it wasn’t easy, as Preussen resisted defeat until the very end, and gave the leaders all they could handle. Aalen also made a gigantic step towards promotion, as they dominated against already relegated Bremen II. A single point will be enough to guarantee, although with a 6 point lead, it seems highly unlikely that VfR won’t be able to make it stand up.

Darmstadt assured their survival by downing threatened Babelsberg. The 98ers were the dominant team through most of the match, and deservedly take all the points.

Bielefeld also locked down their spot. Arminia hosted a desperate Jena in a weak, but exciting match. Technical skill was in short supply, but both clubs fought furiously for every inch, as you would expect. Jena is now faced with an almost impossible task to save themselves. I would say they would have to win out and hope somebody gets their license withdrawn.

A massive relegation battle in Wiesbaden saw Wehen take a huge step for survival, and put Oberhausen in a grave position. The match was hardfought and tense, and probably could have gone either way. Wehen had the edge in the 1st half, but RWO was desperately chasing them in the 2nd period, keeping the hosts pinned back in their own area. However Wehen was able to weather the storm and get the crucial points.

A huge win for Regensburg against Chemnitz. Jahn defends the promotion playoff spot and keeps Chemnitz at bay. CFC was the hottest club since the winterbreak, pulling themselves on the verge of promotion, but have floundered without a win in 4 matches. Overall Jahn looked the better team, and deserves the win.

Erfurt got a ho-hum win against Unterhaching, which keeps the visitors nervous in the relegation battle. RWE still has some mathematical possibilities for promotion, but they be better off buying some lottery tickets.

Burghausen suffers their first home lost of the season, and it comes at the worst time. They needed the win to keep pace on 3rd, and their loss to Offenbach might have ended their hopes. Kickers have been charging hard after being dead only a few weeks ago. This huge win catapults them right into the promotion race. They still need to win out and hope that Regensburg drops a point. The match was hard fought and tense, with OFfenbach stealing the marbles at the final whistle. Bitter defeat for Wacker.

Not much going on in Saarbrücken. Heidenheim needed a win to pressure for the promotion spot, but that’s probably done now. In any case, FCS was closer to the win, hitting the post and in general outplaying FCH in a snoozer.

Osnabrück wasted a boat-load of chances and ended up losing against Stuttgart juniors. Pretty crap season from VfL so far, I think their fans deserve better. For Stuttgart, the win mathematically eliminated any chance of relegation.