More of the same as Bayern München keeps rolling along. Having got a last minute win midweek in a 2-1 make-up win at Stuttgart, the champs destroyed Frankfurt at home. Nothing to see here, move along…
Schalke is one of the big winners so far. The Blues won their second in row and have climbed into the top 4. This was a win against direct rivals Wolfsburg, so it was important. The team also got better by dumping Jermaine Jones off to Besiktas in Turkey just before the transfer window closed. Jones was a promising player, but often played too much like a thug, thus missing his chance to rise. And obviously his career was going nowhere, as evidenced by the fact he decided to play for the US national team since he wasn’t good enough for Germany. Oh well, the number of fouls that Schalke commits should go way down. Wolfsburg also made a bold move, as they dealt playmaker Diego to Atletico Madrid. He’s been excellent ever since the VWs had dumped Felix Magath as coach, but perhaps it’s an indication that Wolfsburg intends to rebuild. As for the match itself, Schalke was the better team, but Wolfsburg made them struggle for the win.
Dortmund was clearly technically superior in Braunschweig, but they had a hard time as the hosts were imposing their physical play on the match. BVB did end up with a deserved win, but Braunschweig did a good job. The Neons are obviously going nowhere, not only since Bayern has run away, but alos their injury list almost has them half-strength. They are just concentrating on holding a Champions League spot. It’s pretty hopeless for Braunschweig, but I think everybody – including their fans – knew they weren’t strong enough. Nevertheless, they give 100% every match, and are likely to return the the top-flight soon.
Leverkusen had a difficult match with Stuttgart, but were able to get the win. Stefan Kießling has had “Ladehemmung” (sort of Constipation, hehehehe), having not scored in months. But he finally let it go, and eventually the Aspirins came out on top.
Hannover has also gotten on track inn the restart, as under new coach Tayfun Korkut, they got another win, this time over Gladbach.
Mainz had little trouble with a lame Freiburg squad that was taking the afternoon off. The Mainzers didn’t do much, but it was enough. Their Korean imports got the goals as the get closer to challenging for a Euro spot. Freiburg slumps into the relegation playoff.
In a critical relegation battle, Hoffenehim kicked Hamburg’s ass. HSV was horrifyingly inept, and the Hoppers did whatever they wanted. You’d think with the worst defense in the league that the hosts would have given up something, but their defense was barely threatened, and HSV took over the title as the worst. After the match HSV star Rafael van der Vaart tried to protect the coach (Bert Marwijk), saying it was all on the players, and they lacked “class”. Nice of him to say, but although yes the players sucked, certainly when they look like disorganized “Lumpen”, the coach bears some responsibility? And Marwijk’s record so far is worse than he predecessor, Torsten Frings. Obviously HSV, somewhat affectionally called the “Dino” (dinosaur) by the press and fans is in trouble of breaking their record: They are the only club that has played every Bundesliga season since the start in 1963 – never relegated. (Bayern’s never been relegated either, but they were a 2nd division club when the Bundesliga started).
Der Club can’t stop winning! FCN has perhaps decided that streaks are better if you win rather than not win. They ddn’t win for a record 17 straight, but now have bounced back for back-to-back threes. Visiting Berlin, Nürnberg was usually on their back foot, as Hertha controlled the match and pressed. But unlike in 2013, the 2014 edition of der Club kept their head in the game, defended well and patiently waited their opportunities. A huge win that actually lifts them out of relegation spots. Hertha was perhaps a bit unlucky, but they’ve had a hard time against Nürnberg recently – no wins in last 6 tries.
Augsburg is a team that is on the verge of establishing themselves. The Fuggers were everybody’s first pick for relegation when they came up two seasons ago, but miraculously survived. Same for last year. Now this season is so far the best in club history and their latest win even allows them to dream of a Euro challenge. FCA has been doing it with blood and seat, fighting for every ball. The difference was pretty clear as they faced the somewhat diletante laden Werder Bremen side. They even spotted them a goal before delivering the beat-down.
Eintracht Braunschweig - Borussia Dortmund 1:2 (0:1) 23,325 *
0:1 Aubameyang (31., Lewandowski)
1:1 Kessel (54., Hochscheidt)
1:2 Aubameyang (65., Reus)
FC Schalke 04 - VfL Wolfsburg 2:1 (1:0) 61,142
1:0 Felipe Santana (9., K.P. Boateng)
1:1 Arnold (65., Perisic)
2:1 K.-P. Boateng (81., Neustädter)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen - VfB Stuttgart 2:1 (1:1) 28,714
0:1 Leitner (12.)
1:1 Kießling (26., Rolfes)
2:1 Derdiyok (84., Sam)
1899 Hoffenheim - Hamburger SV 3:0 (2:0) 25,603
1:0 Roberto Firmino (4., Volland)
2:0 Süle (44., Salihovic)
3:0 Beck (60., Roberto Firmino)
1. FSV Mainz 05 - SC Freiburg 2:0 (1:0) 27,247
1:0 Park (24., Moritz)
2:0 Koo (86., Geis)
FC Augsburg - Werder Bremen 3:1 (1:1) 28,313
0:1 Callsen-Bracker (3., own goal, Junuzovic)
1:1 To. Werner (11.)
2:1 Halil Altintop (49., Hahn)
3:1 Hahn (55.)
Hannover 96 - Bor. Möncheng'bach 3:1 (0:0) 47,000
1:0 Rudnevs (57., Huszti)
2:0 M. Diouf (82., Huszti)
2:1 Mlapa (84., Younes)
3:1 M. Diouf (90., Schlaudraff)
Sunday:
Hertha BSC - 1. FC Nürnberg 1:3 (1:1) 37,438
1:0 Ramos (4., Ronny)
1:1 Feulner (20.)
1:2 Drmic (68., Ginczek)
1:3 Drmic (90. + 4, penalty, Ginczek)
Bayern München - Eintracht Frankfurt 5:0 (2:0) 71,000 *
1:0 M. Götze (12., Mandzukic)
2:0 Ribery (44., Mandzukic)
3:0 Robben (67., M. Götze)
4:0 Dante (69., Ribery)
5:0 Mandzukic (89., Robben)
1 Bayern München (M, P) 19 17 2 0 51:9 +42 53
2 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 19 13 1 5 36:20 +16 40
3 Borussia Dortmund 19 11 3 5 42:23 +19 36
4 FC Schalke 04 19 10 4 5 37:29 +8 34
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5 Bor. Mönchengladbach 19 10 3 6 36:24 +12 33
6 VfL Wolfsburg 19 9 3 7 30:24 +6 30
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7 1. FSV Mainz 05 19 9 3 7 29:32 -3 30
8 Hertha BSC Berlin (N) 19 8 4 7 28:24 +4 28
9 FC Augsburg 19 8 4 7 26:28 -2 28
10 Hannover 96 19 7 3 9 29:33 -4 24
11 1899 Hoffenheim 19 5 6 8 39:42 -3 21
12 Werder Bremen 19 5 5 9 23:40 -17 20
13 VfB Stuttgart 19 5 4 10 32:37 -5 19
14 Eintracht Frankfurt 19 4 6 9 21:34 -13 18
15 1. FC Nürnberg 19 2 11 6 24:34 -10 17
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16 SC Freiburg 19 4 5 10 19:35 -16 17
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17 Hamburger SV 19 4 4 11 33:44 -11 16
18 Eintracht Braunschweig (N) 19 3 3 13 11:34 -23 12
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