Ouch! Werder Bremen suffered their worst home defeat in 49 Bundesliga season, a total disgrace. And Bayern München serves notice that under Guardiola not only do they intend to win everything, but expect to continue top provide severe ass-kickings to unprepared sides.

German football suffers another semi-black eye as Luserkusen wins at Dortmund. The Aspirins disgraced German football with their pathetic display against Manchester United, but by winning in Dortmund, take down the Neons a peg. So now although there is a good chance they could finish second to Bayern, the only way to recover their reputation and also of the Bundesliga as a whole would be for Luserkusen to get to the Champions League final.
(Presumably to lose against Bayern). Seems pretty far-fetched…

That being said, Leverkusen delivered a solid performance at Dortmund, holding off Neon pressure and controlling the flow when needed. The home side tried to force through the issue with constant pressure, but actually had little to show in terms of decent chances. Both teams might have been looking ahead to their midweek Champions League clashes, where road wins (for Dortmund at Marseille, Leverkusen at San Sebastian) are required to advance.

A ridiculous match in Bremen, as Bayern München did whatever they pleased against a desolate Werder. The fans in the sold out Weser must have been in stunned disbelief. Frank Ribery was back running rampant through the feeble Bremen defense and Bayern might have scored a few more if they really wanted. This was really a sad day to be a Werder fan, perhaps even worse than the 1979 relegation.

Gladbach remains one of the hottest teams, but it was tough going against Schalke. They were down and then took the lead when Höwedes got tossed for a handball. But Schalke kept fighting and the Gladbachers were often in serious trouble despite a whole half with the extra man. In the end they got the points and remain on target for a Champions spot.

Stuttgart proved to be more determined in a hard fought battle with Hannover. Both teams were resilient in battling to a half-time draw, but the hosts proved they wanted the game more as they raised their game again, and this time the 96ers had no answers.

Augsburg suprisingly outplayed Hamburg on the road. HSV had been recovering after a horrible start, but the Fuggers had this match in hand and the home side basically just ran around like chickens with their head cut off. A deserved win for Augsburg, which is looking like they’ll have nothing to do with any relegation battles.

Thinking relegation however is Eintracht frankfurt. They hosted Hoffenheim in a must win, and once again they failed. The Hoppers are a pretty entertaining club, and showed they had fire power when they needed it. Frankfurt on the other hand was rather clueless when it counted and take another loss. The only thing keeping them afloat is that their are crappier clubs doing even worse.

Apparently polls show that almost 72% of football fans feel that Nürnberg is going down. (I’m guessing the 28% that said “Nein” were the players girlfriends, wives and kids, or actually didn’t know that Nürnberg was even in the Bundesliga). Efforts like this against Mainz are part of the reason. Der Club once again failed to win, despite an early and having the match totally in control. But in the end they dicked around and Mainz equalized late to take a point. Although there is a lot to play, seems like most folks expect to see FCN in the 2.Liga next year. Actually, some good news for Nürnberg: Over in Brazil, defending champion Fluminense was relegated on the last day of the season. Of course, Nürnberg is famous for being the only Bundesliga defending champion to be relegated the next year, so now somebody else has equaled their dubious performance.

Braunschweig is also going down, but at least the fans know that the players always give 100%. But if you talent level is basically 2.Liga, even that 100% won’t be enough. Eintracht hosted Hertha in a rematch of last year’s 2.Liga battlers, and the talent difference was on display. The Berlin side has been doing quite well, although it was a bit ironic that the match decider was someone that has been pushed aside. Brazilian midfielder Ronny was perhaps the key player in the promotion campaign, but is only a spot starter now. However he set up both Hertha goals and showed that he still has some bite. The Berliners are certainly happy with another option, and it’s not unreasonable that they will challenge for a Euroliga spot.

Freiburg looks in serious trouble as they got thumped at home by Wolfsburg, mainly because they totally were unprepared for the opening whistle. The VWs jumped all over them and really decided it early. Max Arnold is another young talent to watch. The 19 year old offensive midfielder broke into the starting lineup somewhat suprisingly (considering all the high priced players that are still under contract, a hangover from the Magath Part II year). But he already has 8 goals and is doing quite well. If he keeps it up, He is certain to get a call up to the national team, although probably not until after the World Cup. The Breisgauers looked sorry, which is disappointing, as they occasionally fight hard, but other times look like they don’t know what they’re doing.

Total attendance 388,882 (avg 43,209), sellouts in Mönchengladbach, Bremen, Dortmund and Braunschweig

1. FC Nürnberg	      -   1. FSV Mainz 05	1:1 (1:0)   31,084

                     1:0  Nilsson (5., Kiyotake)
                     1:1  Okazaki (75., Park)

Bor. Mönchengladbach  -   FC Schalke 04  	2:1 (2:1)   54,010 *

                     0:1  Farfan (17., penalty, K.-P. Boateng)
                     1:1  Raffael (24., Jantschke)
                     2:1  M. Kruse (45. + 1, Hand penalty)

VfB Stuttgart	      -   Hannover 96	        4:2 (2:2)   47,630

                     1:0  Harnik (13., Ti. Werner)
                     1:1  A. Sobiech (28., Schmiedebach)
                     1:2  Sané (31., Huszti)
                     2:2  Ibisevic (33., Harnik)
                     3:2  Traoré (51., Leitner)
                     4:2  Rausch (83., Ti. Werner)

Werder Bremen	      -   Bayern München	0:7 (0:3)   42,100 *

                     0:1  Lukimya (21., own goal, Ribery)
                     0:2  van Buyten (27., T. Kroos)
                     0:3  Ribery (38., T. Müller)
                     0:4  Mandzukic (60., Ribery)
                     0:5  T. Müller (68., M. Götze)
                     0:6  Ribery (82., Alaba)
                     0:7  M. Götze (90., T. Müller)

Hamburger SV	      -   FC Augsburg	        0:1 (0:1)   46,213

                     0:1  Bobadilla (18., Halil Altintop)

Eintracht Frankfurt   -   1899 Hoffenheim	1:2 (0:0)   41,300

                     0:1  Schipplock (46., Firmino)
                     1:1  Joselu (48., Kadlec)
                     1:2  Roberto Firmino (51., Schipplock)

Borussia Dortmund     -   Bayer 04 Leverkusen	0:1 (0:1)   80,645 *

                     0:1  Son (18., Castro)

Sunday:
SC Freiburg	      -   VfL Wolfsburg	        0:3 (0:2)   22,800

                     0:1  Arnold (8., Ochs)
                     0:2  Olic (11., Luiz Gustavo)
                     0:3  M. Schäfer (90. + 1, Evseev)


Eintr. Braunschweig   -   Hertha BSC	        0:2 (0:1)   23,100 *

                     0:1  Ramos (20., Ronny)
                     0:2  Cigerci (80., Ronny)
	


 1  Bayern München (M, P)	15   13  2  0 	  39:7 	 +32 	  41 
 2  Bayer 04 Leverkusen	  	15   12  1  2 	  32:14  +18 	  37 
 3  Borussia Dortmund	  	15   10  1  4 	  35:16  +19 	  31
 4  Bor. Mönchengladbach	15   10  1  4 	  33:17  +16 	  31
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  VfL Wolfsburg	  	15    8  2  5 	  23:16  +7 	  26
 6  FC Schalke 04	  	15    7  3  5 	  30:28  +2 	  24 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  Hertha BSC Berlin (N)	15    6  4  5 	  22:17  +5 	  22 
 8  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	15    6  2  7 	  22:29  -7 	  20 
 9  FC Augsburg	  	        15    6  2  7 	  16:23  -7 	  20 
10  VfB Stuttgart	  	15    5  4  6 	  28:28   0 	  19 
11  1899 Hoffenheim	  	15    4  5  6 	  34:35  -1 	  17 
12  Hannover 96	  	        15    5  2  8 	  19:26  -7 	  17 
13  Hamburger SV	  	15    4  4  7 	  30:32  -2 	  16 
14  Werder Bremen	  	15    4  4  7 	  19:34  -15 	  16 
15  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	15    2  5  8 	  18:28  -10 	  11
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  SC Freiburg	  	        15    2  5  8 	  14:28  -14 	  11
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  1. FC Nürnberg	  	15    0  9  6 	  14:30  -16 	  9 
18  Eintracht Braunschweig (N)	15    2  2  11 	   8:28  -20 	  8


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

No real upsets, although Schalke tanking at home against Hoffenheim could be considered a minor upset, if only because you wouldn’t expect the Knappen to stink so much in front of their own fans.

There really weren’t many interesting matchups either, as most of the lower division clubs had already been eliminated. Saarbrücken was the only 3.Liga club, and they were the beneficiary of a dream matchup against Dortmund. They tried hard, but even the Dortmund second string had little difficulty getting the win. Bayern München continues to defend their triple in the Cup as well, and had a routine win against Augsburg. The main news here is that red-hot Arjen Robben scored a quick opener again, but then went off injured with a knee gash, so it could be an expensive win.

Attendance wasn’t too bad, as half the matches were sellouts. Most encouraging was perhaps in Hamburg, as it showed that there still is interest in having 1. FC Köln show up, despite their 2.Liga status.

Wolfsburg came closest to being an upset victim, but the VWs were lucky that Ingolstadt GK Özcan gifted them two goals and they escaped (nobody was watching, so another “benefit” to this crap performance). Little Sandhausen gave Eintracht Frankfurt a scare, as it took a late spurt by the favored side to get the win.

1. FC Union Berlin   -   1. FC Kaiserslautern	0:3 (0:2)   21,717 *
Hamburger SV	     -   1. FC Köln     	2:1 (1:0)   57,000 *
FC Schalke 04	     -   1899 Hoffenheim	1:3 (0:3)   51,078
1. FC Saarbrücken    -   Borussia Dortmund	0:2 (0:1)   30,931 *
SC Freiburg	     -   Bayer 04 Leverkusen	1:2 (1:1)   16,400
VfL Wolfsburg	     -   FC Ingolstadt 04	2:1 (0:1)    7,846
Eintracht Frankfurt  -   SV Sandhausen	        4:2 (1:0)   18,200
FC Augsburg	     -   Bayern München	        0:2 (0:1)   30,660 *

Köln is back on track after an impressive road win in Hamburg. The Millerntor was packed as an in-form St.Pauli attempted to overpower the visitors, but Köln was simply too clever – and ruthless in front of goal. They jumped out to a lead, and when Pauli’s Gonter got his ass tossed after an hour, it was all over. Certainly one of Köln’s best performances of the season, and it allowed them to seize the leadership again, after Lautern was upended.

Leaders Kaiserslautern wilted under the pressure, as a fired up Dresden side beat them down in an exciting match. Dynamo was actually the dominant side, although Lautern used their greater talent and efficiency to grab a lead, unlike other matches, Dynamo didn’t stop coming after the setback, and were rewarded with a well deserved victory.

Union Berlin has lost their way, and despite an energetic effort, they suffer another defeat. Visitors Aalen gave no quarter, and although they were pushed back, remained dangerous on the counters, and eventually laid their hosts bare. Great victory for them, and Union is left to regroup and examine the ruins of their campaign.

Düsseldorf remains in crisis after a dismal outing where promoted Karlsruhe ran rings around them. Fortuna has continued to struggle, and the board finally acted, firing head coach Mike Büskens after the match (The 7th coaching casualty in the 2.Liga yjis season!). KSC is having a fine season and might start having some ambitions of challenging.

Sandhausen continued their revival with a nice win at Ingolstadt, who have also shown signs of life, including winning at Köln last week. The Schanzer undoubtedly hoped to continue and leap out of the relegation zone, but SVS was ready for them and took advantage of ther chances.

This was clearly a chance for Greuther Fürth to make a statement and command respect at the top. They were facing last place Cottbus and scored early in the match. But the statement they made was certainly not to appealing to their fans, more like “who cares?!”. Instead, Energie seized control of the match in the 2nd half, and despite being a man down in the stretch run, looked very close to equalizing. Very disappointing from Greuther Fürth, although they do get the points.

Generally a crap match on display in Paderborn, facing Aue. No one really cares.

Bochum had been playing well, and 1860 is the most inconsistent team in Germany. So who knows what will happen? well, as it turns out, a pretty entertaining match. Bochum showed that their improvement seems to be lasting, and pressed. 1860 however decided that this would be a “good” performance, and showed cleverness in counterattack and solid defending. The Lions steal the points with a good outing, although Bochum might feel a bit hard done by.

Fortuna Düsseldorf  -  	Karlsruher SC         0:2 (0:1)   27,453

                   0:1  Alibaz (28., Kempe)
                   0:2  Peitz (71., Alibaz)

1. FC Union Berlin  -  	VfR Aalen	      1:3 (0:0)   17,236

                   0:1  Valentini (59., unglas)
                   1:1  Mattuschka (62., direct freekick)
                   1:2  Valentini (72., Reichwein)
                   1:3  Klauß (90. + 3, Junglas)

FC St. Pauli	    -  	1. FC Köln	      0:3 (0:2)   29,063 *

                   0:1  Wimmer (6., Helmes)
                   0:2  Helmes (28., D. Halfar)
                   0:3  Gerhardt (79., M. Lehmann)

FC Ingolstadt 04    -  	SV Sandhausen	      0:2 (0:2)    4,050

                   0:1  Adler (16., Tüting)
                   0:2  Adler (39., Schauerte)

Dynamo Dresden	    -   1. FC Kaiserslautern  3:2 (1:1)   28,368

                   1:0  Kempe (41., Ouali)
                   1:1  Occean (45., Löwe)
                   1:2  Gaus (73., Idrissou)
                   2:2  Ouali (78.)
                   3:2  Dedic (80., Ouali)

 	
SpVgg Greuther Fürth  -   Energie Cottbus	1:0 (1:0)    9,110

                     1:0  Trinks (5., Mavraj)

SC Paderborn 07	      -   Erzgebirge Aue	1:1 (1:0)    6,005

                     1:0  Wemmer (32.)
                     1:1  Novikovas (78., direct free kick)

VfL Bochum	      -   1860 München	        1:2 (1:1)   17,479

                     0:1  D. Stahl (10., Volz)
                     1:1  Tasaka (35., Tiffert)
                     1:2  Adlung (61., Stoppelkamp)


Monday:
FSV Frankfurt	      -   Arminia Bielefeld	-:- (-:-) 			 


 1  1. FC Köln	  	        16   8 	6  2 	  24:7 	 +17 	  30 
 2  SpVgg Greuther Fürth (A)	16   9 	2  5 	  30:17  +13 	  29
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  1. FC Kaiserslautern	16   8 	4  4 	  30:17  +13 	  28
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Karlsruher SC (N)	  	16   7 	5  4 	  21:14  +7 	  26 
 5  FC St. Pauli	  	16   7 	4  5 	  22:21  +1 	  25 
 6  1. FC Union Berlin	  	16   7 	4  5 	  22:22   0 	  25 
 7  1860 München	  	16   7 	3  6 	  14:16  -2 	  24 
 8  SV Sandhausen	  	16   6 	5  5 	  15:14  +1 	  23 
 9  VfR Aalen	  	        16   6 	4  6 	  16:16   0 	  22 
10  VfL Bochum	  	        16   6 	3  7 	  18:16  +2 	  21 
11  SC Paderborn 07	  	16   5 	5  6 	  26:30  -4 	  20 
12  Erzgebirge Aue	  	16   6 	2  8 	  21:27  -6 	  20 
13  FSV Frankfurt	  	15   5 	4  6 	  21:20  +1 	  19 
14  Dynamo Dresden	  	16   4 	7  5 	  18:25  -7 	  19 
15  Fortuna Düsseldorf (A)	16   5 	4  7 	  15:25  -10 	  19
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	16   5 	2  9 	  15:23  -8 	  17
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Arminia Bielefeld (N)	15   4 	2  9 	  18:29  -11 	  14 
18  Energie Cottbus	  	16   3 	4  9 	  19:26  -7 	  13


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