Ups and downs

Hoffenheim stays in the Bundesliga. The Hoppers defeated Kaiserslautern in the rematch 2-1 in K-town to complete a 5-2 aggregate sweep. Hoffenheim deserved the victory, as they were too clever for FCK, who basically ran around like chickens with their head cut off. They generally had the match in their grip, and after taking the lead, were a solid bet to coast home.

Dresden remains in the 2.Liga. Dynamo defeated VfL Osnabrück 2-0 in the rematch in front of a sold-out home crowd. They had lost the first match 0-1, so Cristian Fiel’s “equalizer” after 30 and Idir Ouali’s strike in the 71st minute means that Dynamo takes the series 2-1. Dresden really dominated the match, going out for the win, and Osnabrück basically sucked, so no real unfairness here.

Duisburg may get relegated. MSV Duisburg put in a fine late-season run to move out of the relegation zone of the 2.Liga. However it may been in vain as the DFB Finance Board has denied MSV a 2.Liga operating license because they “failed to show that they have adequate funds” for the upcoming season. The MSV board states that they are “shocked”, but if you run your club like a Cypriot investment bank, you shouldn’t be complaining when you get kicked in the balls. Duisburg gets to appeal to the standing “sports court” of the DFB, and hopefully they can show that they are in fact solvent. It would suck to see them go down after the hard work on the field, but if their finances are too crap, well most German fans would want to see them punished. If their appeal is denied, they will be forcibly relegated to the 3.Liga. That would mean that SV Sandhausen, who were relegated as 17th, would get the option of claiming MSV’s spot.

3.Liga promotion is still open. The various Regionalliga qualifiers are battling it out to see who gets promoted to the 3.Liga. The first round is finished, the return matches are this upcoming Sunday. The the first match, “RasenBallsport” Leipzig defeated SpFr Lotte 2-0. Over 30,000 showed up in Leipzig, desperate for some quality football. Interestingly enough, some fellow eastern fans showed up to cheer Lotte, as they were protesting against moneybags RedBull continuing to buy their way to the top. However I guess that if RB moves on, at least the Leipzigers might get over it, since football has sucked there since…forever. Holstein Kiel dominated against Hessen Kassel and also won 2-0. The Kasselers have their work cut out in the return match. And of course in the least interesting match, SV Elversberg defeated 1860 München II 3-2. I think were all in agreement that it would be best if Elversberg got promoted, but I would guess that the kitty-kats get the return done.

In somewhat of a proof that for most it’s already vacation, the DFB squad defeated Ecuador 4-2 on their American tour. Obviously not at full strength, Germany actually jumped out 4-0 after half and hour, and I was annoyed that they didn’t finish off the job, winning something like 8-0. However, as the match was played in Florida somewhere, perhaps they decided to head to South Beach in the 2nd half. (For some reason, Germans seem to like Florida as a vacation spot, perhaps they like getting mugged.) Anyway, obviously no Bayern or Dortmunders in this first match.

Bayern rules Europe

Bayern München defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the Champions League final and is officially crowned as Europe’s dominant club. I’m sure most of you had a chance to watch the match, so no real need to go into the details. Overall, it was an excellent match, with both teams going for the win. Dortmund had an early edge, but as the match wore on, Bayern began to assert control. I would say they deserved to win, although one will have to wonder if Mario Götze wouldn’t qualify as “playing” for his new club, since he might have been able to tip the scales in the Neons favor early on.

As fans of German football, it’s nice to see the Bundesliga on top, and it was a dominant campaign by Bayern and almost as good by Dortmund.

WSV blog: more continued disaster

Wuppertal suffered yet another embarassing defeat, this time at home 2-3 to neighbors SSVg Velbert. And since Fortuna Düsseldorf II shocked Viktoria Köln on the road, it comes down to the last game. And WSV has to travel to Verl, which could be a tough assignment, while the mini Düssels get to play the already relegated mini-Duisburgers.

If you look at the table below, you can see how precarious the situation is. If WSV fails to win, there’s a good chance that they’ll go down. 15th spot means relegation, as Aachen is coming down from the 3.Liga. With Oberliga champions coming up (Uerdingen, Euskirchen, Lippstadt, Wattenscheid) that means too many clubs. The Regionalliga West is also scheduled to reduce to 18 clubs. From what I’ve been able to piece together, that means 15th spot is doomed as well.

So the “Initiative WSV 2.0” wants voluntary relegation and administration along with a new start. The Runge cronies have been claiming Regionalliga or bust, but it sounds like the Oberliga is becoming a reality anyway because of their own incompetance. The good news is that as long as the request for administration is in by June 30, they wouldn’t get relegated down to the Verbandsliga as a penalty…Seriously, the WSV 2.0 is the only way forward, it’s bad enough WSV is the laughingstock of German football…to think that this is a club that has beaten both Champions League finalists in the Bundesliga days…

REGIONALLIGA WEST

 1  Sportfreunde Lotte	  	37    25   8   4    69:27  +42 	  83
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 2  Fortuna Köln	  	37    25   4   8    68:30  +38 	  79 
 3  FC Schalke 04 II	  	37    20   8   9    61:37  +24 	  68 
 4  Sportfreunde Siegen (N)	37    19   7  11    58:42  +16 	  64 
 5  Rot-Weiss Essen	  	37    18   9  10    62:50  +12 	  63 
 6  FC Viktoria Köln (N)	37    18   7  12    75:62  +13 	  61 
 7  Borussia M'gladbach II	37    16   6  15    53:49  +4 	  54
 8  SC Wiedenbrück 2000	  	37    15   6  16    55:54  +1 	  51 
 9  Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (A)	37    15   5  17    49:56  -7 	  50 
10  SC Verl	  	        37    12  11  14    64:55  +9 	  47 
11  Bayer 04 Leverkusen II	37    13   8  16    45:51  -6 	  47 
12  SSVg Velbert (N)	  	37    13   8  16    43:56  -13 	  47 
13  VfL Bochum II	  	37    11  13  13    47:41  +6 	  46 
14  Wuppertaler SV 	  	37    11  13  13    51:51   0 	  46
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15  Fortuna Düsseldorf II	37    12  10  15    42:47  -5 	  46
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16  1. FC Köln II	  	37    10   9  18    59:61  -2 	  39 
17  VfB Hüls (N)	  	37    11   6  20    46:70  -24 	  39 
18  SV Bergisch Gladbach (N)	37    10   6  21    43:74  -31 	  36 
19  MSV Duisburg II (N)	  	37     8   9  20    32:67  -35 	  33 
20  FC Kray (N)	  	        37     9   5  23    33:75  -42 	  32

BUNDESLIGA, Round 34 (final)

Holy-smolly, a stunning end to the relegation battle! Not only is Augsburg safe, but Hoffenheim pulls off an amazing win and grabs the playoff spot. Therefore a legendary collapse of Düsseldorf sees them down.

Ah, the irony of the result in Dortmund! The Neons started out strong and were pushing Hoffenheim around, scored early and then proceeded to waste enough chances to win several games. Meanwhile the Hoppers were timidly taking it in the rear, basically given up. But then a curious thing happened near the end, as they ventured forth for the hell of it, and were rewarded with not one but two clumsy Dortmund fouls and penalties – and salvation. Now nobody is suggesting the Dietmar Hopp gave some of his millions to Dortmund, but it is a bit ironic how it turns out. Here is a traditional club, with a massive fan base, that has rebuilt itself with financial responsibility and from within, versus a club that essentially bought their way into the Bundesliga on Hopp’s wallet and almost all German football fans wouldn’t mind seeing relegated. Now to be fair, today’s Hoffenheim is only a shell of the earlier versions (Kind of like Yahoo, hehehe) – mostly made up of nobodies. And they’ve given good effort in the last few weeks under interim coach Markus Gisdol. But this result is certainly something nobody – including Hoffenheim – could have believed. Now they have a chance of staying up, as 2.Liga challenger Kaiserslautern hasn’t exactly set the world on fire.

Augsburg is safe! The Bundesliga’s own “Itchy and Scratchy” team (fight-fight-fight…fight-fight-fight…the Itchy and Scratchy Show!) How’s that for an obscure cultural reference. Well, cultured football is not to be mentioned with the Fuggers. Probably the least talented club in the league, but they survive on 100% effort in every match. And they were deservedly rewarded, as by dumping
Greuther Fürth. (Ironically, this critical match was one of their few home non-sellouts). Things started bad for FCA, but Alex Manninger stopped Prib’s penalty at the 5 minute mark. Eventually the Fuggers took control and beat down the Greuthers.

Gutless and listless. Düsseldorf was easily thumped by hosts Hannover and go down. After their excellent season start, Fortuna kept sliding and now they’re gone. Basically a lame offense did them in. The 96ers weren’t particularily interested in this match, but must have figured “what the hell, lets kick then in the balls” and Fortuna didn’t react.

Schalke wins the “final” for the Champions League spot. I think many felt that the edge went to Freiburg, who have been playing well and are tough especially at home. But teh Blues put in a decent effort and SCF never really got going. They did themselves in with a silly own goal where the defender kicked it in off another. A cold-blooded effort by Schalke to get the potential euros. Freiburg and their fans are probbaly still kicking themselves for the lost opportunity.

An absolutely furious opening 20 minutes in Gladbach, but eventually champions Bayern notched up another deserved win. This was a special match, as it is a fitting retirement for Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes – for those of you not versed in German football history, Heynckes was a brilliant forward in his playing career – 3rd on the all time scoring list – for Gladbach. The hosts jumped out to a blitz start, Bayern pegged them back and eventually their superiority showed and they grabbed the win.

Good drama for the last Euroliga spot as well. HSV was holding off sustained Leverkusen pressure, but they needed a win. They were getting the necessary help since Wolfsburg was winning at Frankfurt. So a HSV goal could have done it. But in the last minute of each game it ended. Kiessling scored for a deserved Aspirin win, and Wolfsburg made an own goal, so Frankfurt fans go home happy.

Stuttgart and Mainz end somewhat disappointing seasons with a draw. VfB still has a chance to redeem themselves with a good effort in the upcoming Cup final against Bayern, but based on this outing, that doesn’t seem likely. Of course, they qualify for the Euroliga spot since Bayern is already in the Champions League. After flirting with Europe for most of the season, Mainz just collapsed down the stretch.

Nürnberg ends with a positive win against Bremen. The guests are entering a new era, as midweek coach Thomas Schaaf either resigned or rather was “mutually agreed seperation”. End of an era, as Schaaf was been with the club 40 years as a player and coach. Werder gave a good effort, catching der Club with their pants down. However FCN got their act together in the 2nd galf and was on the road to victory.

Final day saw sellouts in Dortmund, Gladbach, Hannover, Freiburg, Hamburg and Frankfurt. Total attendance 443,444 (avg 49,272)
This might actually be a record, there weren’t many empty seats this round, despite most of the matches not having too much of interest for the home team.

 	
Borussia Dortmund      -    1899 Hoffenheim	   1:2 (1:0)   80,645 *

                      1:0  Lewandowski (6., Blaszczykowski)
                      1:1  Salihovic (77., penalty, Volland)
                      1:2  Salihovic (82., penalty, Schipplock)

Borussia M'gladbach    -    Bayern München	   3:4 (3:2)   54,010 *

                      1:0  Stranzl (4., Arango)
                      2:0  Hanke (5., Hrgota)
                      2:1  Javi Martinez (7., Ribery)
                      3:1  Nordtveit (10., Herrmann)
                      3:2  Ribery (18., T. Müller)
                      3:3  Ribery (53., Lahm)
                      3:4  Robben (59., Ribery)

VfB Stuttgart	       -    1. FSV Mainz 05	   2:2 (2:2)   51,020

                      0:1  Ede (16., N. Müller)
                      1:1  Wetklo (22., pwn goal, Harnik)
                      2:1  Boka (33., Ibisevic)
                      2:2  N. Müller (42., Pospech)

Hannover 96	       -    Fortuna Düsseldorf	   3:0 (1:0)   49,000 *

                      1:0  M. Diouf (36., Cherundolo)
                      2:0  Ya Konan (61., M. Diouf)
                      3:0  Ya Konan (76., Stindl)

1. FC Nürnberg	       -    Werder Bremen	   3:2 (0:1)   46,157

                      0:1  de Bruyne (37., Junuzovic)
                      1:1  Nilsson (61.
                      2:1  Polter (81., Mak)
                      3:1  Pekhart (88., Mak)
                      3:2  de Bruyne (89., Petersen)

SC Freiburg	       -    FC Schalke 04	   1:2 (0:1)   24,000 *

                      0:1  Draxler (20., Huntelaar)
                      1:1  Schmid (54., Rosenthal)
                      1:2  Schuster (58., own goal, J. Jones)

FC Augsburg	       -    SpVgg Greuther Fürth   3:1 (1:0)   30,112

                      1:0  Werner (30., direct freekick)
                      2:0  Callsen-Bracker (55., Werner)
                      2:1  Trinks (62.)
                      3:1  Ji (75., Ostrzolek)

Hamburger SV	       -    Bayer 04 Leverkusen	   0:1 (0:0)   57,000 *

                      0:1  Kießling (90., Rechtsschuss, Sam)

Eintracht Frankfurt    -    VfL Wolfsburg	   2:2 (1:2)   51,500 *

                      0:1  Polak (8., Rodriguez)
                      0:2  Diego (19., Olic)
                      1:2  Meier (36., penalty, Inui)
                      2:2  Rodriguez (90., own goal, Schwegler)



 1  Bayern München	  	34    29   4   1    98:18  +80 	   91 
 2  Borussia Dortmund (M, P)	34    19   9   6    81:42  +39 	   66 
 3   Bayer 04 Leverkusen	34    19   8   7    65:39  +26 	   65
 4  FC Schalke 04	  	34    16   7  11    58:50  +8 	   55
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 5  SC Freiburg	  	        34    14   9  11    45:40  +5 	   51 
 6  Eintracht Frankfurt (N)	34    14   9  11    49:46  +3 	   51
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 7  Hamburger SV	  	34    14   6  14    42:53  -11 	   48 
 8  Borussia M'gladbach	  	34    12  11  11    45:49  -4 	   47 
 9  Hannover 96	  	        34    13   6  15    60:62  -2 	   45 
10  1. FC Nürnberg	  	34    11  11  12    39:47  -8 	   44 
11  VfL Wolfsburg	  	34    10  13  11    47:52  -5 	   43 
12  VfB Stuttgart	  	34    12   7  15    37:55  -18 	   43 
13  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	34    10  12  12    42:44  -2 	   42 
14  Werder Bremen	  	34     8  10  16    50:66  -16 	   34 
15  FC Augsburg	  	        34     8   9  17    33:51  -18 	   33
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16  1899 Hoffenheim	  	34     8   7  19    42:67  -25 	   31
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17  Fortuna Düsseldorf (N)	34     7   9  18    39:57  -18 	   30 
18  SpVgg Greuther Fürth (N)	34     4   9  21    26:60  -34 	   21


M = Meister, defending Champion
P = Pokal, defending Cup winner
N = Neuling, newly promoted

1st line: Champions League
2nd line: Europaliga (+ Cup winner)
3rd line: Playoff with 2.Liga 3rd place
4th line: Relegation to 2.Liga

2.Liga, Round 34 (final)

2.liga finished with a whimper. The only “interesting” match was in Sandhausen, where Aue got the win, so Dresden failed to catch them and will have to playoff against 3.Liga contender Osnabruck.

It was a somewhat contraversial goal in Sandhausen that saves Erzgebirge. In the 79th minute, Sub Jan Hochscheidt ran into GK Michael Langer, who already had the ball under control. His header dislodged it and into the net. However the ref allowed the goal to stand and Aue got the late win.

With Aue winning, Dresden’s win was meaningless, since Dynamo had a far worse goal difference going in. Dresden’s effort was surprisingly lame, as they were actually losing at one point, hardly a performance their fans were expecting. Both keepers saved penalties.

Champions Hertha needed a win to set a 2.Liga points record, but settled for a draw with Cottbus in a releatively hard fought Berlin-Brandenburg clash. Energie led most of the way and had a man advantage in the 2nd half, but couldn’t hold off the Hertha pressure.

A hardfought match in Braunschweig, as surprsing FSV Frankfurt battled the promoted hosts to a draw. The home fans didn’t mind though, as they return to the Bundesliga after a 28 year absence.

St.Pauli pissed on Kaiserslautern’s parade, but I doubt FCK cared too much, as they prepare for battle against Hoffenheim for the Bundesliga.

Before the weekend started, 1. FC Köln was stunned when head coach Holger Stanislawski threw in the towel. After a very slow start, he had whipped the Kölners into shape and they actually made a run at the promotion playoff. Hos squad at least sent him off with a win at Ingolstadt.

1860 had a ho-hum win over undermanned Aalen. Duisburg ends on an up note, and Union Berlin wins at Bochum. Nobody really cares, both ex-Bundesligists stunk this season and almost got relegated.


 	
Hertha BSC	       -    Energie Cottbus	 1:1 (0:1)   63,267

                      0:1  Farina (28., Rivic)
                      1:1  Brooks (87., Ronny)

1. FC Kaiserslautern   -    FC St. Pauli	 1:2 (0:2)   46,460

                      0:1  Daube (15., Schindler)
                      0:2  Ginczek (33., Ebbers)
                      1:2  Hoffer (71., Köhler)

1860 München	       -    VfR Aalen	         3:0 (1:0)   23,400

                      1:0  D. Stahl (35., indirect freekick)
                      2:0  Wood (59., Friend)
                      3:0  Lauth (75.)

Eintr. Braunschweig    -    FSV Frankfurt	 2:2 (1:1)   22,100

                      1:0  Kruppke (2., Boland)
                      1:1  M. Görlitz (11., Kapllani)
                      1:2  Kapllani (50., Leckie)
                      2:2  Kruppke (73., direct freekick)

Dynamo Dresden	       -    Jahn Regensburg	 3:1 (0:0)   29,703

                      0:1  Koke (47., Altinay)
                      1:1  Fort (50., Trojan)
                      2:1  Fort (54., Trojan)
                      3:1  Fiel (83., penalty, Ouali)

MSV Duisburg	       -    SC Paderborn 07	 3:2 (1:1)    9,000

                      1:0  Perthel (12.)
                      1:1  Kachunga (20., Saglik)
                      2:1  Bajic (60., penalty)
                      2:2  Vrancic (70., direct freekick)
                      3:2  Brandy (77., Brosinski)

VfL Bochum	       -    1. FC Union Berlin	 1:2 (0:0)   24,244

                      0:1  Özbek (49., Mattuschka)
                      0:2  Skrzybski (55., Özbek)
                      1:2  Kramer (80., Lumb)

FC Ingolstadt 04       -    1. FC Köln	         0:3 (0:0)   12,000

                      0:1  Royer (48., Hector)
                      0:2  Bruno Nascimento (76.)
                      0:3  Ujah (77., penalty, Ujah)

SV Sandhausen	       -    Erzgebirge Aue	 0:1 (0:0)    5,250
	
                      0:1  Hochscheidt (79., Schröder)



 1   Hertha BSC Berlin (A)	34    22  10   2    65:28  +37 	   76 
 2   Eintracht Braunschweig	34    19  10   5    52:34  +18 	   67
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 3   1. FC Kaiserslautern (A)	34    15  13   6    55:33  +22 	   58
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 4   FSV Frankfurt	  	34    16   6  12    55:45  +10 	   54 
 5   1. FC Köln (A)	  	34    14  12   8    43:33  +10 	   54 
 6   1860 München	  	34    12  13   9    39:31  +8 	   49 
 7   1. FC Union Berlin	  	34    13  10  11    50:49  +1 	   49 
 8   Energie Cottbus	  	34    12  12  10    41:36  +5 	   48 
 9   VfR Aalen (N)	  	34    12  10  12    40:39  +1 	   46 
10   FC St. Pauli	  	34    11  10  13    44:47  -3 	   43 
11   MSV Duisburg	  	34    11  10  13    37:49  -12 	   43 
12   SC Paderborn 07	  	34    11   9  14    45:45   0 	   42 
13   FC Ingolstadt 04	  	34    10  12  12    36:43  -7 	   42 
14   VfL Bochum	  	        34    10   8  16    40:52  -12 	   38 
15   Erzgebirge Aue	  	34     9  10  15    39:46  -7 	   37
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16   Dynamo Dresden	  	34     9  10  15    35:49  -14 	   37
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17   SV Sandhausen (N)	  	34     6   8  20    38:66  -28 	   26 
18   Jahn Regensburg (N)	34     4   7  23    36:65  -29 	   19


A = Absteiger just Relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

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

3.Liga, Round 38 (final)

Final round in an exiciting 3.Liga season.

The two biggest “losers” actually had non-losing results at home. But they might have well lost, because it means ultiate failure. Heidenheim was on the brink of a historic promotion opportunity. But they could not score at home against Offenbach and thus lose out. For Darmstadt, even wirse, a “relegation final” against Stuttgarter Kickers and only a draw – relegation!

Despite having nothing to really play for, Offenbach honored football and played strong defense against a furiously attacking Heidenheim, for whom a win would mean the promotion playoff. But the Kickers refused to give in and for the most part easily fended off the nervous home side. They withstood a last desperate assault in the final 10 minutes and got the deserved draw. Heidenheim looked lame for large stretches, like they didn’t realize that they needed a goal to win everything.

As a result of Heidenheim’s failure, Osnabrück stunningly takes 3rd and will play for the 2.Liga! And that after head coach Claus-Dieter Wollitz actually resigned midweek for his failure to deliver. The hosts of course had an easy time with relegated Aachen, nabged in a few goals and then tried to find out what was going on down south. Good news was the final result.

Darmstadt attacked for most of the match against Kickers Stuttgart, egged on by a large crowd. However with some luck the Kickers defended well their early lead (scored by “Dicklhuber”, certainly the source of unending jokes). The 98ers could not break through until the 84th minute, when da Costa equalized and gave the hosts hope for a desperate 10 minutes or so.
Preußen Münster finishes outside the promotion race, but 4th place has it’s own reward: auto-qualification for the main round of next year’s DFB-Cup. babelsberg needed an unlikely win to perhaps stay up, and they came out quickly in pursuit of it, jumping out on top. But Preußen sooned asserted control and kicked their ass, so the Potsdamers go down.

Nobody may have been watching, but Dortmund B saved themselves with a result at Stuttgart B. The mini-Neons had put together a fine run and with Dramstadt unable to win, they needed a point, but got the win.

Champions Karlsruhe put an exclamation point with a power win at tough Wehen. KSC started the season slow, but once they got rolling, they were marching unstoppable back to the 2.Liga.

Bielefeld was all partied out over their promotion, so they were on vacation already. Burghausen took advantage and gets a nice win to close out a decent season.

A nothing match in Chemnitz, the hosts used the opportunity to practive shooting and ripped Unterhaching’s ass, their worst loss of the season.

A somewhat boring eastern derby between Rostock and Erfurt, each side having the edge in one half.

Halle defeated Saarbrücken, but the main focus was the retirement of popular oldtimer (40) GK Darko Horvat, and a large crowd came out to say good bye.

Total attendance was 89,731 (avg 8,971), with a sellout in Heidenheim.

Preußen Münster	     -   SV Babelsberg 03	 4:1 (2:1)   13,400
Chemnitzer FC	     -   SpVgg Unterhaching	 5:0 (2:0)    2,900
SV Darmstadt 98	     -   Stuttgarter Kickers	 1:1 (0:1)   13,600
Hansa Rostock	     -   Rot-Weiß Erfurt	 0:0 (0:0)   12,000
SV Wehen Wiesbaden   -   Karlsruher SC	         2:4 (0:3)    8,947
1. FC Heidenheim     -   Kickers Offenbach	 0:0 (0:0)   10,000 *
Hallescher FC	     -   1. FC Saarbrücken	 2:1 (0:0)   11,141
VfB Stuttgart II     -   Borussia Dortmund II	 0:1 (0:0)      625
VfL Osnabrück	     -   Alemannia Aachen	 4:0 (3:0)   13,900
Wacker Burghausen    -   Arminia Bielefeld	 1:0 (0:0)    3,200


 1  Karlsruher SC (A)	  	38    23  10   5    69:27  +42 	   79 
 2  Arminia Bielefeld	  	38    22  10   6    59:32  +27 	   76
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  VfL Osnabrück	  	38    22   7   9    64:35  +29 	   73
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Preußen Münster	  	38    20  12   6    63:33  +30 	   72 
 5  1. FC Heidenheim	  	38    21   9   8    69:47  +22 	   72 
 6  Chemnitzer FC	  	38    15  10  13    56:47  +9 	   55 
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	38    11  18   9    51:51   0 	   51 
 8  Wacker Burghausen	  	38    14   9  15    45:45   0 	   51 
 9  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	38    14   9  15    48:55  -7 	   51 
10  Hallescher FC (N)	  	38    12  10  16    37:50  -13 	   46 
11  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	38    12   9  17    52:62  -10 	   45 
12  Hansa Rostock (A)	  	38    11  11  16    39:52  -13 	   44 
13  Rot-Weiß Erfurt	  	38    11  11  16    44:58  -14 	   44 
14  VfB Stuttgart II	  	38    11  10  17    35:42  -7 	   43 
15  Kickers Offenbach	  	38    11  11  16    41:44  -3 	   42 
16  Borussia Dortmund II (N)	38     9  14  15    39:58  -19 	   41 
17  Stuttgarter Kickers (N)	38    10  10  18    39:48  -9 	   40
---------------------------------------------------------------------
18  SV Darmstadt 98	  	38     8  14  16    32:46  -14 	   38 
19  SV Babelsberg 03	  	38     9  10  19    32:54  -22 	   37 
20  Alemannia Aachen (A)	38     7  10  21    40:68  -28 	   26

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

Aachen and Offenbach deducted two points for financial shenanigans
 

2.Liga, Round 33

It’s just about all decided. Kaiserslautern has secired the Bundesliga playoff spot, so now only the relegation playoff remains: Aue and Dresden will go into the last day. Aue is away, but they face Sandhausen. Dresden hosts Regensburg, so they should win that. But if Aue wins, Dresden goes into the playoff.

Aue hurt themselves more, as they could have secured their position with a win at home against Ingolstadt. Instead they played crap and deservedly lose. Dresden got thumped in Aalen, falling behind and then throwing everything up front to try and force an equalizer, and of course ended up taking more in the shorts.

Kaiserslautern had a ho-hum win at Regensburg, and it was never in doubt. FCK wasted a ton of chances to make it a rout, but evidently all they cared about was the “W”, which is understandble.

Köln needed a win against leaders Hertha, but despite a strong second half, they were never going to get it, plus news from Regensburg certainly didn’t help.

St.Pauli theoretcially could still get relegated, so they went about their business resolutely against Braunschweig, kicking their ass, inflicting EB’s worst defeat of the season. Long serving forward Marius Ebbers says goodbye to the Reeperbahn (well at least in a footballing capacity) with a late goal.

Paderborn had theoretical relegation chances, but they quickly ended those and easily defeated the toothless 1860 Lions.

FSV Frankfurt will have their best finish ever, and had a relatively easy time with recently tough Bochum. The visitoprs had done the hard work to stay up in previous weeks, and apparently were in a relaxed mood, so FSV had control for most of the match, although they never make it easy.

Cottbus thumped Sandhausen and Union Berlin finally got back on track dumping Duisburg.

 	
1. FC Köln	     -    Hertha BSC	        1:2 (0:1)   49,500

                    0:1  Kobiashvili (36., penalty, Ben-Hatira)
                    0:2  Morales (55., M. Ndjeng)
                    1:2  Clemens (68., Bigalke)

FC St. Pauli	     -    Eintr. Braunschweig	5:1 (2:0)   29,063 *

                    1:0  Ginczek (7., Rechtsschuss, Thy)
                    2:0  Ginczek (11., Rechtsschuss, Bartels)
                    3:0  Bartels (68., Rechtsschuss, Bruns)
                    4:0  Bruns (70., Linksschuss, Bartels)
                    5:0  Ebbers (87., Kopfball, Schachten)
                    5:1  G. Korte (89., Linksschuss)

SC Paderborn 07	     -    1860 München	        2:0 (1:0)    9,160

                    1:0  Saglik (4., Meha)
                    2:0  Kachunga (69., Brückner)

1. FC Union Berlin   -    MSV Duisburg	        2:1 (0:0)   19,556

                    0:1  Wolze (48.)
                    1:1  Quiring (59., Parensen)
                    2:1  Mattuschka (81., penalty, Quiring)

FSV Frankfurt	     -    VfL Bochum	        2:1 (1:0)    7,572

                    1:0  Gaus (22., Y. Stark)
                    1:1  Toski (48., Iashvili)
                    2:1  Verhoek (68., Kapllani)

Energie Cottbus	     -    SV Sandhausen	        3:0 (2:0)    9,407

                    1:0  Bickel (24., direct freekick)
                    2:0  Sanogo (41., Bittroff)
                    3:0  Adlung (77., Sanogo)

Erzgebirge Aue	     -    FC Ingolstadt 04	0:1 (0:0)   11,800

                    0:1  Caiuby (64., P. Groß)

VfR Aalen	     -    Dynamo Dresden	3:0 (1:0)   11,116

                    1:0  Kister (39., Leandro)
                    2:0  Lechleiter (79., Traut)
                    3:0  Leandro (89., penalty, Lechleiter)

Jahn Regensburg	     -    1. FC Kaiserslautern	1:3 (1:2)    8,105

                    0:1  Hoffer (12., Borysiuk)
                    0:2  Idrissou (20., Hoffer)
                    1:2  Ziereis (27.)
                    1:3  Orban (84., Baumjohann)



 1  Hertha BSC Berlin (A)	33    22   9   2     64:27  +37     75 
 2  Eintracht Braunschweig	33    19   9   5     50:32  +18     66
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  1. FC Kaiserslautern (A)	33    15  13   5     54:31  +23     58
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  FSV Frankfurt	  	33    16   5  12     53:43  +10     53 
 5  1. FC Köln (A)	  	33    13  12   8     40:33  +7 	    51 
 6  Energie Cottbus	  	33    12  11  10     40:35  +5 	    47 
 7  1860 München	  	33    11  13   9     36:31  +5 	    46 
 8  VfR Aalen (N)	  	33    12  10  11     40:36  +4 	    46 
 9  1. FC Union Berlin	  	33    12  10  11     48:48   0 	    46 
10  SC Paderborn 07	  	33    11   9  13     43:42  +1 	    42 
11  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	33    10  12  11     36:40  -4 	    42 
12  FC St. Pauli	  	33    10  10  13     42:46  -4 	    40 
13  MSV Duisburg	  	33    10  10  13     34:47  -13     40 
14  VfL Bochum	  	        33    10   8  15     39:50  -11     38 
15  Erzgebirge Aue	  	33     8  10  15     38:46  -8 	    34
----------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Dynamo Dresden	  	33     8  10  15     32:48  -16     34
----------------------------------------------------------------------
17  SV Sandhausen (N)	  	33     6   8  19     38:65  -27     26 
18  Jahn Regensburg (N)	  	33     4   7  22     35:62  -27     19


A = Absteiger just Relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

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

BUNDESLIGA, Round 33

It’s mostly over, although the last round has some interesting things going on, as Freiburg and Schalke battle for the Champions League, and the relegation spot is still open.

Bayern was ho-hum in the Bavarian derby with Augsburg, doing just what was necessary to get a comfortable win. Augsburg never really had a chance, but managed to hold out for a long period before the dam broke. However, their eyes are really on the another derby, as they face relegated Greuther Fürth next week at home where a win probably saves them.

Schalke laid a huge egg by losing at home to Stuttgart. Now the Champions League is dubious, as the Blues must travel to Freiburg next week and get a result – and their hosts qualify with a win.

Leverkusen had an easy win against Hannover, ending any 96er hope for Euro play next season.

Wild match in Wolfsburg, where Dortmund pulled out a draw in a desperate end run. Funny story is the BVB coach Jürgen Klopp gave former Dortmund player Ivan Perisic a pair of tickets to the upcoming Champions League final. Valuable present, since over 600,000 Dortmunders have tried to get these rare tickets. However that ingrate Perisic, instead of showing his gratitude by making an own goal or getting his ass sent off early, banged in two goals and had the Neons on the ropes. Exciting match where both sides had really nothing to play for. Well, I guess Perisic won’t be getting any World Cup final tickets from Klopp…

Werder Bremen got the needed result to fend off relegation. Frankfurt still has minute chance of sneaking into the Champions League, but will probably be happy to hold onto a Euroliga spot.

The 2.Liga train has left the Sinsheim station – and Hoffenheim has evidently climbed aboard. The Hoppers needed a win against HSV and instead got kicked in the balls. The home side played hard, but mostly ran around a lot like chickens with their heads cut off. Meanwhile Hamburg was ruthless on counterattack and keeps their Euro hopes alive. Now the Hoffenheimers are reduced to hoping that Jürgen Klopp gives them tickets to a whole Wembley section, as they need to win at Dortmund next week to have any chance.

Mainz has totally collapsed down the stretch and they continued their woeful performance getting reemed at home by Gladbach. Eight matches without a win, and Euro nowhere in sight. Gladbach could still sneak in, but seems unlikely. They’ve been up and down as well, but showed little sympathy with their hosts, preferring instead to kick them when they’re down.

Fürth has completed a memorable record by having no wins at home. However they were trying hard to give one for their home fans, and Freiburg was cooperating, having a hard time figuring them out. In the end SCF finally put it together and grabbed a tough win, setting up a Champions League qualifier against Schalke next week.

Düsseldorf may be going down. Fortuna was outplayed at home by Nürnberg in a suprisingly lame effort for a club that needed something. A win might have kept their Bundesliga status, but they were flat. FCN gifted Düsseldorf a goal, but eventually got things together for a deserved win. Now there’s a good chance that Fortuna has to play the relegation playoff (most likely with Kaiserslautern). They travel to Hannover next week, but they’ll likely need a win, as Augsburg probably figures to beat Fürth at home.

Total attendance 369,042 (avg 41,007), sellouts in München, Schalke, Bremen, Wolfsburg, Mainz, Hoffenheim and Düsseldorf

Bayern München	       -    FC Augsburg	          3:0 (0:0)   71,000 *

                      1:0  T. Müller (69.,Dante)
                      2:0  Shaqiri (82., Ribery)
                      3:0  Luiz Gustavo (88., Ribery)

FC Schalke 04	       -    VfB Stuttgart	  1:2 (0:1)   61,673 *

                      0:1  Ibisevic (24., Traoré)
                      0:2  Ibisevic (66., Gentner)
                      1:2  Niedermeier (90. + 2, own goal, Huntelaar)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen    -    Hannover 96	          3:1 (2:0)   29,904

                      1:0  Hegeler (6., Schürrle)
                      2:0  Kießling (28., Carvajal)
                      3:0  Hegeler (59., L. Bender)
                      3:1  Sobiech (71., H. Sakai)

VfL Wolfsburg	       -    Borussia Dortmund	  3:3 (3:1)   30,000 *

                      0:1  S. Bender (5., Sahin)
                      1:1  Perisic (14., Olic)
                      2:1  Perisic (23.)
                      3:1  Naldo (26., Polak)
                      3:2  Reus (84., Gündogan)
                      3:3  Reus (88., Piszczek)

Werder Bremen	       -    Eintracht Frankfurt	  1:1 (1:0)   42,100 *

                      1:0  de Bruyne (22., Bargfrede)
                      1:1  Lakic (51., Matmour)
 
1899 Hoffenheim	       -    Hamburger SV	  1:4 (0:2)   30,150 *

                      0:1  Son (18., Diekmeier)
                      0:2  Aogo (35., Son)
                      0:3  Jiracek (60., Jansen)
                      1:3  Volland (61., Salihovic)
                      1:4  Rudnevs (88., Badelj)

1. FSV Mainz 05	       -    Borussia M'gladbach	  2:4 (1:1)   34,000 *

                      1:0  S. Parker (12., Pospech)
                      1:1  Hrgota (39., penalty, Hanke)
                      1:2  Hrgota (59.)
                      1:3  Hanke (65., Herrmann)
                      1:4  Hrgota (80., Hanke)
                      2:4  Ivanschitz (90. + 1, penalty)

SpVgg Greuther Fürth   -    SC Freiburg	          1:2 (1:0)   16,735

                      1:0  M. Zimmermann (3., Prib)
                      1:1  Schmid (69., Rosenthal)
                      1:2  M. Kruse (78.)

Fortuna Düsseldorf     -    1. FC Nürnberg	  1:2 (1:0)   53,500 *
	
                      1:0  Balitsch (23., own goal, Lambertz)
                      1:1  Mak (58., Klose)
                      1:2  Plattenhardt (64., direct freekick)



 1  Bayern München	  	33    28   4   1     94:15  +79     88 
 2  Borussia Dortmund (M, P)	33    19   9   5     80:40  +40     66 
 3  Bayer 04 Leverkusen	  	33    18   8   7     64:39  +25     62
 4  FC Schalke 04	  	33    15   7  11     56:49  +7 	    52
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  SC Freiburg	  	        33    14   9  10     44:38  +6 	    51 
 6  Eintracht Frankfurt (N)	33    14   8  11     47:44  +3 	    50
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  Hamburger SV	  	33    14   6  13     42:52  -10     48 
 8  Borussia M'gladbach	  	33    12  11  10     42:45  -3 	    47 
 9  Hannover 96	  	        33    12   6  15     57:62  -5 	    42 
10  VfL Wolfsburg	  	33    10  12  11     45:50  -5 	    42 
11  VfB Stuttgart	  	33    12   6  15     35:53  -18     42 
12  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	33    10  11  12     40:42  -2 	    41 
13  1. FC Nürnberg	  	33    10  11  12     36:45  -9 	    41 
14  Werder Bremen	  	33     8  10  15     48:63  -15     34 
15  Fortuna Düsseldorf (N)	33     7   9  17     39:54  -15     30
----------------------------------------------------------------------
16  FC Augsburg	  	        33     7   9  17     30:50  -20     30
----------------------------------------------------------------------
17  1899 Hoffenheim	  	33     7   7  19     40:66  -26     28 
18  SpVgg Greuther Fürth (N)	33     4   9  20     25:57  -32     21


M = Meister, defending Champion
P = Pokal, defending Cup winner
N = Neuling, newly promoted

1st line: Champions League
2nd line: Europaliga (+ Cup winner)
3rd line: Playoff with 2.Liga 3rd place
4th line: Relegation to 2.Liga

3.Liga, Round 37

Promotion for the big sides, but the remaining spot and the relegation battles go to the last day.

Bielefeld gained promotion in front of a soldout crowd in a Westfalen derby against Osnabrück. A tense match, but Arminia looked to be the better side and gets the critical win.

Karlsruhe was somewhat ho-hum, but also got the point they needed to assure promotion. Visitors Rostock played a good game and they got a point that meant their immediate goal was achieved as well: safety from relegation.

Heidenheim all of a sudden is in the drivers seat for the promotion playoff. FCH managed a strong performance and an away win at Saarbrücken, and now control their own destiny,

Preußen Münster was a huge loser this weekend as they got hammered by ho-humming Unterhaching. The mini-Münchenkins had been dicking around and just playing out the season, and Preußen needed a result to remain in charge of 3rd place. haching however had other ideas, and in their final home match played up to their considerable potential (they are the youngest squad in the 3.Liga). They dominated from the start and Münster seemed shell-shocked and got their ass whupped.

Babelsberg was the other big loser this round. The Potsdamers got hammered at home by Burghausen and may have lost hope in remaining up.

Marcus Steegmann was the man-of-the-hour as his hat-trick gave Darmstadt an unexpected win at Erfurt. This allows the 98ers hope of staying up.

Kickers Offenbach finally pput in a decent display and defeated Wehen in a Hessen-derby, which also guarantees the Kickers safety from the drop.

Aachen is going down and into administration, but the squad still put in a good effort to thank their loyal fans by downing Stuttgart II.

Total attendance was 90,670, (avg 9,067), sellout in Bielefeld.

So looking ahead, Heidenheim hosts Offenbach, who now have nothing to play for. FCH win means the promotion playoff. Münster hosts Babelsberg, who need a win to possibly stay up. Probably too big a task, so likely Potsdam is down. Osnabrück gets to win at home against Aachen, but they have to hope that Heidenheim lays an egg. Huge match in Darmstadt, against Stuttgarter Kickers. A 98er win means they stay up, whereas the Kickers could go down with the loss. Should be a raging match. Dortmund II needs a win at Stuttgart II to assure their 3.Liga status, especially if Darmstadt win.

SV Babelsberg 03       -   Wacker Burghausen	 0:4 (0:1)    2,703
Arminia Bielefeld      -   VfL Osnabrück	 1:0 (0:0)   26,500 *
Alemannia Aachen       -   VfB Stuttgart II	 4:2 (1:0)    8,892
Borussia Dortmund II   -   Hallescher FC	 2:2 (1:1)    2,079
1. FC Saarbrücken      -   1. FC Heidenheim	 1:2 (1:2)    4,010
Kickers Offenbach      -   SV Wehen Wiesbaden	 1:0 (0:0)    6,310
Karlsruher SC	       -   Hansa Rostock	 1:1 (0:1)   26,175
Rot-Weiß Erfurt	       -   SV Darmstadt 98	 2:4 (2:2)    5,836
Stuttgarter Kickers    -   Chemnitzer FC	 1:1 (1:0)    5,415
SpVgg Unterhaching     -   Preußen Münster	 3:0 (1:0)    2,750


 1  Karlsruher SC (A)	  	37    22  10   5     65:25  +40     76 
 2  Arminia Bielefeld	  	37    22  10   5     59:31  +28     76
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  1. FC Heidenheim	  	37    21   8   8     69:47  +22     71
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  VfL Osnabrück	  	37    21   7   9     60:35  +25     70 
 5  Preußen Münster	  	37    19  12   6     59:32  +27     69 
 6  Chemnitzer FC	  	37    14  10  13     51:47  +4 	    52 
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	37    11  18   8     49:47  +2 	    51 
 8  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	37    14   9  14     48:50  -2 	    51 
 9  Wacker Burghausen	  	37    13   9  15     44:45  -1 	    48 
10  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	37    12   9  16     51:60  -9 	    45 
11  VfB Stuttgart II	  	37    11  10  16     35:41  -6 	    43 
12  Hansa Rostock (A)	  	37    11  10  16     39:52  -13     43 
13  Rot-Weiß Erfurt	  	37    11  10  16     44:58  -14     43 
14  Hallescher FC (N)	  	37    11  10  16     35:49  -14     43 
15  Kickers Offenbach	  	37    11  10  16     41:44  -3 	    41 
16  Stuttgarter Kickers (N)	37    10   9  18     38:47  -9 	    39 
17  Borussia Dortmund II (N)	37     8  14  15     38:58  -20     38
----------------------------------------------------------------------
18  SV Darmstadt 98	  	37     8  13  16     31:45  -14     37 
19  SV Babelsberg 03	  	37     9  10  18     31:50  -19     37 
20  Alemannia Aachen (A)	37     7  10  20     40:64  -24     29


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

Aachen and Offenbach deducted two points for financial shenanigans
 

3. Liga makeup

Borussia Dortmund II took their chance to make things even tighter at the bottom as they upended Rot-Weiss Erfurt 4-3 in a midweek 3.Liga makeup. This win gives BVB-II a decent chance of escaping, and puts heavier pressure on Darmstadt in the desperate survival battle. With only two matches left, it’s a true free-for-all.

Borussia Dortmund II   -   Rot-Weiß Erfurt    4:3 (1:1)   1,935



 1  Karlsruher SC (A)	  	36    22   9   5     64:24  +40     75
 2  Arminia Bielefeld	  	36    21  10   5     58:31  +27     73 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  VfL Osnabrück	  	36    21   7   8     60:34  +26     70
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Preußen Münster	  	36    19  12   5     59:29  +30     69 
 5  1. FC Heidenheim	  	36    20   8   8     67:46  +21     68 
 6  Chemnitzer FC	  	36    14   9  13     50:46  +4 	    51 
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	36    11  18   7     49:46  +3 	    51 
 8  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	36    13   9  14     45:50  -5 	    48 
 9  Wacker Burghausen	  	36    12   9  15     40:45  -5 	    45
10  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	36    12   9  15     50:58  -8 	    45 
11  VfB Stuttgart II	  	36    11  10  15     33:37  -4 	    43 
12  Rot-Weiß Erfurt	  	36    11  10  15     42:54  -12     43 
13  Hansa Rostock (A)	  	36    11   9  16     38:51  -13     42
14  Hallescher FC (N)	  	36    11   9  16     33:47  -14     42 
15  Kickers Offenbach	  	36    10  10  16     40:44  -4 	    38 
16  Stuttgarter Kickers (N)	36    10   8  18     37:46  -9 	    38 
17  SV Babelsberg 03	  	36     9  10  17     31:46  -15     37
----------------------------------------------------------------------
18  Borussia Dortmund II (N)	36     8  13  15     36:56  -20     37 
19  SV Darmstadt 98	  	36     7  13  16     27:43  -16     34 
20  Alemannia Aachen (A)	36     6  10  20     36:62  -26     26


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

Aachen and Offenbach deducted two points for financial shenanigans