Things really didn’t change dramatically this round. Köln fought Kaiserslautern to a draw that maintains their lead, and keeps the Reds out of the playoffs. Greuther Fürth and Union also battled to a draw, which allowed wins by St.Pauli and Paderborn to move them closer.

On the bottom, most everybody lost, although Cottbus did knock off Karlsruhe, getting up slight hopes of at least joining the relegation battle, instead of being just dead.

 	
VfR Aalen	      -   VfL Bochum	      0:2 (0:1)    5,911

                     0:1  Aydin (23., Fabian)
                     0:2  Butscher (90. + 2, Latza)

SC Paderborn 07	      -   Dynamo Dresden      2:1 (2:0)   10,750

                     1:0  Bakalorz (38.)
                     2:0  Wurtz (44., Hünemeier)
                     2:1  Dedic (55., Hand penalty)

FC Ingolstadt 04      -   FSV Frankfurt	      0:1 (0:1)    4,213

                     0:1  Leckie (29., Rechtsschuss, Oumari)

Energie Cottbus	      -   Karlsruher SC	      1:0 (0:0)    8,366

                     1:0  Sanogo (80.)

Erzgebirge Aue	      -   1860 München	      2:2 (0:1)    8,750

                     0:1  Wojtkowiak (2., Osako)
                     1:1  Sylvestr (49., Novikovas)
                     2:1  Benatelli (86., Novikovas)
                     2:2  Osako (90. + 2, Adlung)

Fortuna Düsseldorf    -   FC St. Pauli	      0:2 (0:1)   41,357

                     0:1  Maier (21., Nöthe)
                     0:2  Thy (90. + 4, Nöthe)

SpVgg Greuther Fürth  -   1. FC Union Berlin  1:1 (0:1)   11,545

                     0:1  Brandy (43., Mattuschka)
                     1:1  Azemi (56., B. Röcker)

SV Sandhausen	      -   Arminia Bielefeld   1:0 (1:0)    4,100

                     1:0  Adler (33., Achenbach)

1. FC Kaiserslautern  -   1. FC Köln	      0:0 (0:0)   41,351


 1  1. FC Köln	  	        25   13  9  3 	  38:15  +23 	  48 
 2  SpVgg Greuther Fürth (A)	25   13  5  7 	  44:29  +15 	  44
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  SC Paderborn 07	  	25   12  6  7 	  45:40  +5 	  42
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  FC St. Pauli	  	25   12  5  8 	  34:29  +5 	  41 
 5  Karlsruher SC (N)	  	25   10  9  6 	  34:22  +12 	  39 
 6  1. FC Kaiserslautern	25   11  5  9 	  37:26  +11 	  38 
 7  1. FC Union Berlin	  	25   10  8  7 	  37:31  +6 	  38 
 8  1860 München	  	25    9  8  8 	  27:28  -1 	  35 
 9  SV Sandhausen	  	25    9  7  9 	  21:22  -1 	  34 
10  FSV Frankfurt	  	25    9  6  10 	  36:37  -1 	  33 
11  Fortuna Düsseldorf (A)	25    8  8  9 	  26:34  -8 	  32 
12  VfR Aalen	  	        25    8  7  10 	  25:32  -7 	  31 
13  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	25    8  6  11 	  25:30  -5 	  30 
14  VfL Bochum	  	        25    8  6  11 	  23:28  -5 	  30 
15  Erzgebirge Aue	  	25    8  6  11 	  31:39  -8 	  30
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Arminia Bielefeld (N)	25    7  4  14 	  30:47  -17 	  25
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Dynamo Dresden	  	25    4  12 9 	  26:38  -12 	  24 
18  Energie Cottbus	  	25    5  5  15 	  28:40 -12 	  20


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

Several teams made big moves this round, but Schalke’s was perhaps the biggest: The Blues won at tough Augsburg, while Dortmund and Leverkusen were losing, so that was essentially a 6 pointer. Other significant results were Hamburg winning, and Freiburg getting a big away win, leaping out of auto-relegation.

Schalke got the win thanks to a double by Huntelaar, who is on fire since his injury return. Augsburg has been in form, and fought hard, but the Dutchman was the difference, letting the Knappen-fans begin to forget the Euro disaster against Madrid.

Dortmund laid an egg at home against struggling Gladbach. The Neons had some advanatge, but were stumbling around like louts, whereas Gladbach was crisp and clever. So the defeat is not out of bounds.

Bremen and Stuttgart battled to a draw, but the visitors should have had more in Huub Stevens coach debut. VfB was generally the better team, and Harnik missed a penalty that might have decided the match. But Stuttgart wasted too many chances and were eventually punished for crappy defense.

Hoffenheim seemed to have the match in hand in the regional derby with Mainz. They could even afford for Salihovic to blast a penalty over the goal. But then they fell apart to a fierce Mainz onslaught and got owned.

Hertha looked better and wasted lots of chances. So Hannover kicked them in the balls and took all the points.

In a critical relegation battle, Nürnberg tried to catenaccio away to a point. It worked for 80 minutes, but luckily they were punished and HSV broke through for a deserved victory. Anti-football should never be rewarded!

Frankfurt wasted enough chances to win two games. Freiburg on the other hand took theirs when on offer. Needeless to say, an embarassing defeat for the hot dogs.

Total attendance 416,006 (avg 46,223), sellouts in Augsburg, Dortmund, Braunscwheig and München

 	
FC Augsburg	       -   FC Schalke 04	1:2 (1:1)   30,660 *

                      1:0  To. Werner (5., Bobadilla)
                      1:1  Huntelaar (33., K.-P. Boateng)
                      1:2  Huntelaar (49., Kolasinac)

Borussia Dortmund      -   Bor. Mönchengladbach	1:2 (0:2)   80,645 *

                      0:1  Raffael (31., Herrmann)
                      0:2  M. Kruse (40., Arango)
                      1:2  Jojic (77.)

Werder Bremen	       -   VfB Stuttgart	1:1 (0:0)   41,500 *

                      0:1  Niedermeier (55., Rausch)
                      1:1  Hunt (79., direct freekick)

1899 Hoffenheim	       -   1. FSV Mainz 05	2:4 (0:0)   24,741

                      1:0  Polanski (49.)
                      2:0  Roberto Firmino (52., F. Johnson)
                      2:1  Choupo-Moting (67., Bell)
                      2:2  Saller (73.)
                      2:3  Okazaki (75., Choupo-Moting)
                      2:4  Okazaki (90. + 2, N. Müller)

Eintracht Braunschweig -   VfL Wolfsburg	1:1 (0:1)   23,150 *

                      0:1  Luiz Gustavo (36.)
                      1:1  Bellarabi (48., Kumbela)

Hertha BSC	       -   Hannover 96	        0:3 (0:0)   46,727

                      0:1  Stindl (49., Bittencourt)
                      0:2  Schlaudraff (57., Bittencourt)
                      0:3  Huszti (90. + 1, Ya Konan)

Bayern München	       -   Bayer 04 Leverkusen	2:1 (1:0)   71,000 *

                      1:0  Mandzukic (44., Schweinsteiger)
                      2:0  Schweinsteiger (52., direct free kick)
                      2:1  Kießling (90. + 1, Hilbert)

Hamburger SV	       -   1. FC Nürnberg	2:1 (0:0)   52,183

                      1:0  Calhanoglu (80.)
                      2:0  Frantz (86., own goal, Jiracek)
                      2:1  Drmic (90. + 1, Feulner)

Eintracht Frankfurt    -   SC Freiburg	        1:4 (0:1)   45,400

                      0:1  Schuster (34., Krmas)
                      0:2  Guedé (54., Mehmedi)
                      1:2  Joselu (59., Rosenthal)
                      1:3  Klaus (70., Mehmedi)
                      1:4  Guedé (90. + 3, Darida)
 	



 1  Bayern München (M, P)	25   23  2  0 	  74:12  +62 	  71 
 2  Borussia Dortmund	  	25   15  3  7 	  56:29  +27 	  48 
 3  FC Schalke 04	  	25   14  5  6 	  48:36  +12 	  47
 4  Bayer 04 Leverkusen	  	25   14  2  9 	  41:29  +12 	  44
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	25   12  5  8 	  37:38  -1 	  41 
 6  VfL Wolfsburg	  	25   12  4  9 	  42:39  +3 	  40
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  Bor. Mönchengladbach	25   11  6  8 	  43:32  +11 	  39 
 8  FC Augsburg	  	        25   11  5  9 	  38:36  +2 	  38 
 9  Hertha BSC Berlin  (N)	25   10  6  9 	  35:31  +4 	  36 
10  1899 Hoffenheim	  	25    7  8  10 	  54:56  -2 	  29 
11  Hannover 96	  	        25    8  5  12 	  34:43  -9 	  29 
12  Werder Bremen	  	25    7  8  10 	  29:47  -18 	  29 
13  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	25    6  8  11 	  28:44  -16 	  26 
14  Hamburger SV	  	25    6  5  14 	  41:54  -13 	  23 
15  1. FC Nürnberg	  	25    4  11 10 	  28:44  -16 	  23
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  SC Freiburg	  	        25    5  7  13 	  26:46  -20 	  22
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  VfB Stuttgart	  	25    5  6  14 	  39:52  -13 	  21 
18  Eintracht Braunschweig (N)	25    4  6  15 	  20:45  -25 	  18


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

Reports will be late for this week, as I am traveling.

The battle for promotion has heated up again, as two contenders dropped points, allowing chasing teams to catch up.

It seems pretty safe to bet on Köln going up. The leaders have some points, but more importantly they can win games like this. Tail-end Cottbus was totally ouyplaying them, perhaps hoping to get a desperate win in a last gasp effort to avoid the drop. Indeed, Energie deservedly took the lead, and looked like they might pull it off. But Köln asserted themselves at the end, and Cottbus sealed their own fate with an own goal.

Greuther Fürth also helped themselves out with an important away win in Bochum. This keeps them above the fierce battle for 3rd place and at the same time keeps Bochum in dangerous waters.

Karlsruhe was impressive as they bitch-slapped high-flying Paderborn. KSC was dominate throughout the match, as SCP looked bewildered and could only make lame attempts to bust out. Continued pressure eventually led to Paderborn’s collapse, and KSC leapfrogs into the promotion playoff.

St.Pauli could have benefitted from Paderborn’s slapping, but inside laid an egg. The Paulistas fell behind at FSV Frankfurt early, and despite constant pressure, were unable to score against the Bornheimer. FSV GK Patric Klandt was in top-form, and stopped several promising Pauli chances.

Kaiserslautern is back in the hunt, but they suffered in a tough battle against Sandhausen. In teh 2nd half the hosts began to assert some control, but in the end they needed help to get the win.

Union Berlin missed a good chance to sneak closer. The Berliners were stunned after 3o seconds by Ingolstadt, and then spent the whole game trying to get back in against a stubborn Schanzer defense. In the end they got a penalty in injury time, but they must be kicking themselves for the missed opportunity.

1860 showed what they are capable of as they crushed Aalen. However, it’s unlikely that the Lions will get back into the promotion race. In theory, they’re only a couple of points back, but it practice, they usually start to suck when they get close, and I fully expect that’s what we’ll see again this time.

Bielefeld dominated against a lame Aue side, and probably should have had several goals. However they got the win, which gives them some hope in the relegation battle.

Dresden dominated against Düsseldorf, needing a win to match Bielefeld. Instead they wasted chance after chance to finish the match, and then got caught with their pants down as Fortuna struck in injury time. Dynamo is not in a hopeless position, but time is running out, and they desperately needed those two extra points.

	
1. FC Kaiserslautern  -   SV Sandhausen	        2:1 (0:1)   24,584

                     0:1  D. Blum (10., Jovanovic)
                     1:1  Zoller (60., Idrissou)
                     2:1  D. Schulz (73., own goal, Dick)

1860 München	      -   VfR Aalen	        4:0 (3:0)   14,100

                     1:0  Y. Stark (20., Ludwig)
                     2:0  Osako (21., Stoppelkamp)
                     3:0  Ludwig (37., )
                     4:0  Stoppelkamp (87., Volz)

1. FC Köln	      -   Energie Cottbus	2:1 (0:0)   42,400

                     0:1  Sanogo (68., J. Buljat)
                     1:1  Hector (84., Risse)
                     2:1  Möhrle (86., own goal, Exslager)

1. FC Union Berlin    -   FC Ingolstadt 04	1:1 (0:1)   18,412

                     0:1  P. Groß (1., Cohen)
                     1:1  Mattuschka (90. + 1, penalty, Brandy)

Arminia Bielefeld     -   Erzgebirge Aue	1:0 (1:0)   13,079

                     1:0  Klos (43., Lorenz)

FSV Frankfurt	      -   FC St. Pauli	        1:0 (1:0)   11,103

                     1:0  Leckie (9., M. Görlitz)

Dynamo Dresden	      -   Fortuna Düsseldorf	1:1 (0:0)   27,530

                     1:0  Ouali (55., Grifo)
                     1:1  Latka (90. + 2, Liendl)

Karlsruher SC	      -   SC Paderborn 07	4:0 (1:0)   15,601

                     1:0  Torres (12., Hennings)
                     2:0  Nazarov (69., Kempe)
                     3:0  Nazarov (84., direct freekick)
                     4:0  van der Biezen (87., Kempe)

Monday:
VfL Bochum	      -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth	0:2 (0:1)   10,833

                     0:1  Brosinski (41., direct freekick)
                     0:2  Azemi (90. + 1, Trinks)
 			 


 1  1. FC Köln	  	        24   13  8  3 	  38:15  +23 	  47 
 2  SpVgg Greuther Fürth (A)    24   13  4  7 	  43:28  +15 	  43
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Karlsruher SC (N)	  	24   10  9  5 	  34:21  +13 	  39
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  SC Paderborn 07	  	24   11  6  7 	  43:39  +4 	  39 
 5  FC St. Pauli	  	24   11  5  8 	  32:29  +3 	  38 
 6  1. FC Kaiserslautern	24   11  4  9 	  37:26  +11 	  37 
 7  1. FC Union Berlin	  	24   10  7  7 	  36:30  +6 	  37 
 8  1860 München	  	24    9  7  8 	  25:26  -1 	  34 
 9  Fortuna Düsseldorf (A)	24    8  8  8 	  26:32  -6 	  32 
10  SV Sandhausen	  	24    8  7  9 	  20:22  -2 	  31 
11  VfR Aalen	  	        24    8  7  9 	  25:30  -5 	  31 
12  FSV Frankfurt	  	24    8  6  10 	  35:37  -2 	  30 
13  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	24    8  6  10 	  25:29  -4 	  30 
14  Erzgebirge Aue	  	24    8  5  11 	  29:37  -8 	  29 
15  VfL Bochum	  	        24    7  6  11 	  21:28  -7 	  27
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Arminia Bielefeld (N)	24    7  4  13 	  30:46  -16 	  25
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Dynamo Dresden	  	24    4  12 8 	  25:36  -11 	  24 
18  Energie Cottbus	  	24    4  5  15 	  27:40  -13 	  17


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

Darmstadt faced a stubborn Duisburg, and despite tons of pressure, the breakthrough came only in the dying minutes via a penalty.
Not surprisingly, Dominik Stroh-Engel made sure, with his 22nd goal – 10 more than the nearest rival in the league.

A huge win for Chemnitz in a relegation battle over Saarbrücken. This lifts CFC out of the drop zone, and may have condemned the revived FCS to relegation.

A last second goal gave Stuttgarter Kickers a win at Regensburg. The Kickers continue their amazing climb from the depths, their 9th straight undefeated match since the winter-break.

Kiel also got a huge win, as they kicked Wehen’s ass. The Holsteiners actually have a plus goal differential, which essentially gives them an extra point in this tight relegation battle. Wehen totally disappointed.

Unterhaching is the worst team in the second round, and the home loss to Münster drops them into the relegation zone. The ex-Bundesligist seemingly has a lot of promising youngsters, but they haven’t molded into an effective squad.

Total attendance 47,615 (avg 4,761)

 	
SV Darmstadt 98	      -   MSV Duisburg	        1:0 (0:0)   10,200
VfB Stuttgart II      -   RB Leipzig	        0:2 (0:1)    1,300
1. FC Heidenheim      -   Hallescher FC	        0:0 (0:0)    8,200
Jahn Regensburg	      -   Stuttgarter Kickers	0:1 (0:0)    3,520
Chemnitzer FC	      -   1. FC Saarbrücken	2:0 (1:0)    4,830
Holstein Kiel	      -   SV Wehen Wiesbaden	3:0 (0:0)    4,120
SV Elversberg	      -   Rot Weiß Erfurt	2:0 (2:0)    1,645
VfL Osnabrück	      -   Wacker Burghausen	2:1 (2:0)    8,089
SpVgg Unterhaching    -   Preußen Münster	1:2 (0:0)    1,650
Borussia Dortmund II  -   Hansa Rostock	        0:1 (0:1)    4,061	


 1  1. FC Heidenheim	  	28   18  8   2 	   48:18  +30 	  62 
 2  RasenBallsport Leipzig (N)	28   17  4   7 	   44:26  +18 	  55
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  SV Darmstadt 98	  	28   14  8   6 	   45:23  +22 	  50
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  VfL Osnabrück	  	28   12  7   9 	   39:30  +9 	  43 
 5  Hansa Rostock	  	28   12  7   9 	   35:38  -4 	  43
 6  Stuttgarter Kickers	  	28   11  7   10    36:33  +3 	  40 
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	28   10  9   9 	   30:35  -5 	  39 
 8  Hallescher FC	  	28   11  5   12    33:35  -2 	  38 
 9  MSV Duisburg (A)	  	28    9  10  9 	   33:34  -1 	  37 
10  Rot Weiß Erfurt	  	28   10  6   12    37:33  +4 	  36 
11  Preußen Münster	  	28    8  12  8 	   39:38  +1 	  36 
12  Jahn Regensburg (A)	  	28    9  8   11    39:39   0 	  35 
13  SV Elversberg (N)	  	28   10  5   13    27:37  -10 	  35 
14  VfB Stuttgart II	  	28    9  7   12    35:38  -3 	  34 
15  Borussia Dortmund II	28   10  4   14    36:43  -7 	  34 
16  Chemnitzer FC	  	28    8  10  10    29:37  -8 	  34 
17  Holstein Kiel (N)	  	28    7  11  10    30:27  +3 	  32
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	28    8  8   12    37:50  -13 	  32 
19  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	28    6  7   15    31:49  -18 	  25 
20  Wacker Burghausen	  	28    6  7   15    29:49  -20 	  25


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

OK, it’s a bit laughable now, the way Bayern München is just waltzing along. It looks like the opponents are actually playing their “B” squads from the 3.Liga/Regionalliga instead. The latest victim was Wolfsburg, although the score is somewhat misleading. For about 60 minutes the VWs were pretty equal, but then Bayern coach Pep Guardiola realized the current lineup wasn’t working right. So he dumped Shaqiri and Kroos and brought on Mandzukic and Thiago, and the VW collapse was almost immediate. They couldn’t adjust and were ripped to shreds in about 15 minutes. So Bayern continues on their record pace – it’s hard to see anybody beating them. For Wolfsburg, it’s a wasted match, as despite the strong effort for an hour, they probably just have sent in their Regionalliga squad.

Dortmund has strengthened their hold on runner-up with a labored win at Freiburg. The Neons were generally dominate, but they had to work to get the points.

Leverkusen continues to dick around, although at least they didn’t lose. At Hannover the Aspirins hardly looked inspired, but neither were their hosts.

Schalke looks to have recovered from their embarassing previous week. The Blues ripped apart Hoffenheim, and Klaas Huntelaar could even miss a penalty and not worry about it.

Augsburg continues on their path to glory. The Fuggers largely out-toughed Gladbach, by their usual pressing and physical running. The Gladbachers basically ran out of gas and get stuck with a deserved loss.

Mainz and Hertha battled to a hard fought draw that keeps both in the Euro hunt.

The Thomas Schneider era is over in Stuttgart, as he was finally fired when VfB failed to win against tail-end Braunschweig. The hottest rumour is that Huub Stevens is going to take over. Stuttgart looked reasonable at times, but Braunschweig found ways to get them out of shape. Although this match was a sellout, apparently a lot of the tickets were last-minute freebies, because there can’t be too many folks willing to shell out hard-earned euros to watch VfB flop around aimlessly.

HSV continues to struggle, this time against fellow worried club Frankfurt. The Hamburgers made no head way and were osing, although they eventually squared the match. This was one they really needed, since Stuttgart stubbed their toe.

Bremen was a big winner, as they got critical points at Nürnberg. Der Club looked disorganized, perhaps their mini-revival is over. It’s been a bad year for Werder, but this win gives them a nice cushion over the relegation zone, and they can probably now start thinking about rebuilding without that cloud hanging over their head.

Total attendance 391,385 (avg 43,487), sellouts in Stuttgart, Wolfsburg, Freiburg

FC Schalke 04	      -   1899 Hoffenheim	4:0 (2:0)   60,604

                     1:0  Huntelaar (6., Matip)
                     2:0  Huntelaar (28., Draxler)
                     3:0  Obasi (55., K.-P. Boateng)
                     4:0  Huntelaar (79., Draxler)
 
Bor. Mönchengladbach  -   FC Augsburg	        1:2 (1:1)   49,622

                     1:0  Raffael (5., Nordtveit)
                     1:1  Halil Altintop (35., Hahn)
                     1:2  To. Werner (81., Hahn)

VfB Stuttgart	      -   Eintr. Braunschweig	2:2 (2:1)   59,000 *

                     0:1  Hochscheidt (24., Bellarabi)
                     1:1  Maxim (30., Harnik)
                     2:1  Harnik (35., Maxim)
                     2:2  Bicakcic (82., Kumbela)

Hannover 96	      -   Bayer 04 Leverkusen	1:1 (1:1)   46,600

                     0:1  Castro (28.)
                     1:1  Rudnevs (33., Andreasen)

VfL Wolfsburg	      -   Bayern München	1:6 (1:1)   30,000 *

                     1:0  Naldo (17., de Bruyne)
                     1:1  Shaqiri (26., J. Boateng)
                     1:2  T. Müller (63., Thiago)
                     1:3  Mandzukic (66., Rafinha)
                     1:4  Ribery (71., Robben)
                     1:5  T. Müller (78., Robben)
                     1:6  Mandzukic (80., T. Müller)

Hamburger SV	      -   Eintracht Frankfurt	1:1 (0:1)   51,191

                     0:1  Madlung (29., Meier)
                     1:1  Calhanoglu (72., penalty, Zoua)

1. FC Nürnberg	      -   Werder Bremen	        0:2 (0:1)   40,608

                     0:1  di Santo (39., Hunt)
                     0:2  Bargfrede (68.)
 
SC Freiburg	      -   Borussia Dortmund	0:1 (0:0)   24,000 *

                     0:1  Kehl (58., Großkreutz)
 
1. FSV Mainz 05	      -   Hertha BSC	        1:1 (0:0)   29,760

                     0:1  Ramos (51., Skjelbred)
                     1:1  Choupo-Moting (65., penalty, Park)



 1  Bayern München (M, P)	24   22  2  0 	  72:11  +61 	  68 
 2  Borussia Dortmund	  	24   15  3  6 	  55:27  +28 	  48 
 3  Bayer 04 Leverkusen	  	24   14  2  8 	  40:27  +13 	  44
 4  FC Schalke 04	  	24   13  5  6 	  46:35  +11 	  44
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  VfL Wolfsburg	  	24   12  3  9 	  41:38  +3 	  39 
 6  FC Augsburg	  	        24   11  5  8 	  37:34  +3 	  38
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	24   11  5  8 	  33:36  -3 	  38 
 8  Bor. Mönchengladbach	24   10  6  8 	  41:31  +10 	  36 
 9  Hertha BSC Berlin (N)	24   10  6  8 	  35:28  +7 	  36 
10  1899 Hoffenheim	  	24    7  8  9 	  52:52   0 	  29 
11  Werder Bremen	  	24    7  7  10 	  28:46  -18 	  28 
12  Hannover 96	  	        24    7  5  12 	  31:43  -12 	  26 
13  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	24    6  8  10 	  27:40  -13 	  26 
14  1. FC Nürnberg	  	24    4 11  9 	  27:42  -15 	  23 
15  VfB Stuttgart	  	24    5  5  14 	  38:51  -13 	  20
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Hamburger SV	  	24    5  5  14 	  39:53  -14 	  20
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  SC Freiburg	  	        24    4  7  13 	  22:45  -23 	  19 
18  Eintracht Braunschweig (N)	24    4  5  15 	  19:44  -25 	  17

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

It’s been pretty brutal for Schalke. They got embarrassed at home midweek by Real Madrid 1-6, and in their next matchup against a real power they got owned by Bayern. In both they were hopelessly outclassed (although Huntelaar’s volley strike against Madrid was pretty neat.) It just shows that the gap between class and ho-hum is pretty big. The match itself was pretty similar to the Real fiasco, as Schalke’s defense was hopelessly out-of-synch, and Bayern ran through them without effort. Bayern now has a ridiculous 20 point lead.

Augsburg fell behind Hannover, but launched an all out assault against the 96ers after the restart. The Fuggers got the equalizer and bombarded Hannover’s goal, and the 96ers were definitely sucking wind trying to keep up. However GK Ron-Robert Zieler was superb and held the draw. Augsburg still has a chance for a Euro spot, and their best season ever continues. They probably should have won this, but just ran into a goalkeeper in superb form.

A rare occurence in Braunschweig: both GKs made own goals and hat was that. Neither Eintracht nor visiting Gladbach could be too happy with the result, but frankly neither deserved to win. Gladbach is dicking around aimlessly, after looking so promising at the end of 2013. Braunschweig missed a chance to sneak back into the relegation battle.

Hertha and Freiburg battled to a drab draw. Each side had some play, SCF in the 1st half, Berlin got stronger as the match wore on. But neither team really deserved much and thats what they eventually ended up with. Freiburg should be happy with a point, all things considered. They at least pull equal on points with HSV and Stuttgart, and not too far back in goal difference.

The 100th Nordderby between Bremen and HSV was a fierce relegation battle. Bremen took an early lead and were generally the better side. HSV had some sustained pressure in the early 2nd half, but eventually it petered out and Werder was back in control. HSV Mirko Slomka might have outsmarted himself as he left captain Rafael van der Vaart on the becnh in the 1st half, when HSV was totally outplayed. The Dutchman came in after the re-start, when Hamburg out together their best period. But it came to nothing and Werder eventually took contol and gets the critical points.

Leverkusen continues to suck and ruin what could have been a good season. The Aspirins didn’t know what they were doing against Mainz, who just seemed more clever and patient. Mainz is a team that most overlook, but they’re quietly holding down a Euro spot. Leverkusen is a mess right now, but of course they could easily regain form, and in any case it would be a major surprise if they don’t qualify for the Champions League.

Dortmund moved back into 2nd with a thumping win over Nürnberg. FCN showed little of their recent spark, and the Neons dominated the 1st half, wasting several chances. However it didn’t really matter, as the 2nd half continued the trend, except this time BVB did score a few. Der Club hardly mounted counterattacks, so they could actually thank their hosts for not running up the score.

Hoffenheim pulled out all the stops as they overran Wolfsburg, who could have leaped over Schalke with a win. Instead the VWs had no answer to the Hoppers attack, and went down in flames. Hoffenheim has now tied Dortmund for the 2nd best Bundesliga attack, and this team of nobodies plays some pretty exciting football when they are on. Wolfsburg will need to regroup after getting plastered like this, which was hardly expected, as they had been playing quite well.

The fierce relegation battle has “traditionals” struggling for air, and Frankfurt hosted Stuttgart in a critical battle. It wasn’t pretty – both teams are struggling way from their talent levels – but it was exciting. Stuttgart had the lead in the back and forth, but the final 10 minutes raised the level a notch. First VfB missed a chance to win the game” Maxim missed an open net from 1 meter! Then Eintracht struck to equalize and Alex Meier hit the winner in the last minute. a huge win for Frankfurt, giving them some breathing space. Meanwhile things couldn’t be hotter in Stuttgart, as they are ahead of Hamburg by a measly single goal.

Total attendance was 376,398 (avg 41,822) sellouts in Dortmund, Bremen, Braunschweig and München

 	
Hertha BSC	        -   SC Freiburg	        0:0 (0:0)   37,920

Borussia Dortmund	-   1. FC Nürnberg	3:0 (0:0)   80,645 *

                       1:0  Hummels (51., Lewandowski)
                       2:0  Lewandowski (64., H. Mkhitaryan)
                       3:0  H. Mkhitaryan (83., Hofmann)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen     -   1. FSV Mainz 05	0:1 (0:1)   25,503

                       0:1  Choupo-Moting (37., Bell)


Werder Bremen	        -   Hamburger SV	1:0 (1:0)   42,100 *

                       1:0  Junuzovic (19., Hunt)

FC Augsburg	        -   Hannover 96	        1:1 (0:1)   28,311

                       0:1  M. Diouf (21., Schmiedebach)
                       1:1  Klavan (55., To. Werner)

Eintracht Braunschweig  -   Bor. M'gladbach	1:1 (0:1)   23,200 *

                       0:1  Davari (25., own goal, Raffael)
                       1:1  ter Stegen (52., own goal)

Bayern München	        -   FC Schalke 04	5:1 (4:0)   71,000 *

                       1:0  Alaba (3., direct freekick)
                       2:0  Robben (15., Mandzukic)
                       3:0  Mandzukic (24., Alaba)
                       4:0  Robben (28., Rafinha)
                       4:1  Rafinha (64., own goal, Farfan)
                       5:1  Robben (77., penalty, Mandzukic)

1899 Hoffenheim	        -   VfL Wolfsburg	6:2 (4:1)   24,519

                       1:0  Roberto Firmino (4., Modeste)
                       1:1  Dost (15., Perisic)
                       2:1  Süle (37., Salihovic)
                       3:1  Modeste (39., Rudy)
                       4:1  Modeste (43., Rudy)
                       4:2  Perisic (76., de Bruyne)
                       5:2  Salihovic (82., penalty, Volland)
                       6:2  Schipplock (86., Salihovic)

Eintracht Frankfurt     -   VfB Stuttgart	2:1 (0:1)   43,200
	
                       0:1  Harnik (31., Maxim)
                       1:1  Rosenthal (80., Russ)
                       2:1  Meier (89., Flum)



 1  Bayern München (M, P)	23   21  2  0 	  66:10  +56 	  65 
 2  Borussia Dortmund	  	23   14  3  6 	  54:27  +27 	  45 
 3  Bayer 04 Leverkusen	  	23   14  1  8 	  39:26  +13 	  43
 4  FC Schalke 04	  	23   12  5  6 	  42:35  +7 	  41
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  VfL Wolfsburg	  	23   12  3  8 	  40:32  +8 	  39 
 6  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	23   11  4  8 	  32:35  -3 	  37
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  Bor. Mönchengladbach	23   10  6  7 	  40:29  +11 	  36 
 8  Hertha BSC Berlin (N)	23   10  5  8 	  34:27  +7 	  35 
 9  FC Augsburg	  	        23   10  5  8 	  35:33  +2 	  35 
10  1899 Hoffenheim	  	23    7  8  8 	  54:48  +4 	  29 
11  Hannover 96	  	        23    7  4  12 	  30:42  -12 	  25 
12  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	23    6  7  10 	  26:39  -13 	  25 
13  Werder Bremen	  	23    6  7  10 	  26:46  -20 	  25 
14  1. FC Nürnberg	  	23    4  11  8 	  27:40  -13 	  23 
15  VfB Stuttgart	  	23    5  4  14 	  36:49  -13 	  19
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Hamburger SV	  	23    5  4  14 	  38:52  -14 	  19
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  SC Freiburg	  	        23    4  7  12 	  22:44  -22 	  19 
18  Eintracht Braunschweig (N)	23    4  4  15 	  17:42  -25 	  16


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

Somebody better start giving Paderborn respect, as the Westfalen are now knocking at the Bundesliga door. SCP was impressive in wasting Bochum, despite falling behind they really didn’t get bothered. A couple of “direct path” goals by Albanian international Alban Meha (one directly from a corner kick!) put the home side on the way to victory.

Ex-Fortuna coach Nobert Meier returned with his new club Bielefeld, but although Arminia played a decent first half, they were overpowered by host Düsseldorf.

Kaiserslautern is a a major crisis, as they suffered a disastrous loss at tail-end Cottbus. Energie’s Sven Michel had a long blast to open up the match, and a battling Cottbus side made it stand up. FCK couldn’t figure out how to get back, and have really slipped in the promotion battle. They’re not far behind on points, but they’ll have a lot of bodies to climb over to get to where they want to be. Perhaps they’ve got distracted by their great Cup run.

Saturday matches had Sandhausen dominating against 1860 (how embarassing is that, Lions?). However despite controlling the match, SVS is pretty crap when in front of goal, and the 1860 GK, veteran Gabor Kiraly, was pretty sharp.

Leaders Köln had their hands full at Aue, as Erzgebirge went all out to get critical relegation points. However Köln showed some mettle, as they came roaring back in an end spurt to claim a point. Aue looks to have fought their way to safety.

Greuther Fürth stunk against FSV Frankfurt and was lucky to get a win. The hosts struggled to corral their relegation threatened guests, and even found themselves trailing at half. They did manage to get back in and win it at the end, but they hardly deserved it. Nevertheless, critical points for Greuther Fürth in the promotion race.

Karlsruhe was stunned in Aalen, having their 12 game undefeated streak stopped. The KSC fans were beginning to dream of a return to the Bundesliga before getting slapped in the face. Aalen needed a result in the relegation battle, and never let the visitors get their game going.

Ingolstadt missed a golden opportunity against Dresden. The Schanzer got off to a dream start, but then largely dicked around.
This allowed Dynamo back into the game, and they equalized. FCI was incapable of restarting their engine, and the visitors at least wanted to secure a point.

The Monday night clash between St.Pauli and Union turned out to be quite the match. The Paulistas had lost their last three against Union at home, and even failed to score. But in front of a sold-out crowd the “Kiez-kicker” raised their game when they needed and knocked off the Berliners. After Union started well, St.Pauli began to assert control, but were unable to break through. After the restart, the guests once again were dominate, and they managed to take the lead. Pauli struck back quickly, and then the two sides neutralized each other in midfield, until both opened up for a last gasp assault. It looked like Union would win, but they wasted very good chances. Instead the Hamburgers took their shot, and get the huge win. They’ve now vaulted into 4th place, leading the pack of chasing clubs.

Total attendance 129,165 (avg 14,352), sellout in Hamburg

	
Fortuna Düsseldorf    -   Arminia Bielefeld	2:0 (1:0)   33,478

                     1:0  Benschop (41., Hoffer)
                     2:0  Hoffer (74., Benschop)

Energie Cottbus	      -   1. FC Kaiserslautern	1:0 (1:0)    8,522

                     1:0  Michel (3., Bittroff)

SC Paderborn 07	      -   VfL Bochum	        4:1 (0:1)   12,135

                     0:1  Latza (40.)
                     1:1  Meha (48., direct freekick)
                     2:1  Meha (69., direct corner)
                     3:1  Vrancic (71., Kachunga)
                     4:1  Saglik (80., penalty, Wemmer)

SV Sandhausen	      -   1860 München	        0:0 (0:0)    5,030

Erzgebirge Aue	      -   1. FC Köln	        2:2 (1:0)   13,050

                     1:0  Sylvestr (13., Kocer)
                     2:0  Löning (69., penalty, Sylvestr)
                     2:1  D. Halfar (83., Finne)
                     2:2  D. Halfar (89.)

SpVgg Greuther Fürth  -   FSV Frankfurt	        3:2 (1:2)   10,055

                     1:0  Gießelmann (10., direct freekick)
                     1:1  Epstein (35., penalty, Kapllani)
                     1:2  Kapllani (44., Leckie)
                     2:2  Fürstner (73., penalty, B. Röcker)
                     3:2  Mavraj (87., Stieber)

VfR Aalen	      -   Karlsruher SC	        1:0 (0:0)    8,729

                     1:0  B. Hübner (51., Lechleiter)

FC Ingolstadt 04      -   Dynamo Dresden	1:1 (1:1)    8,533

                     1:0  Caiuby (1., Morales)
                     1:1  Koch (43., Ouali)

Monday:
FC St. Pauli	      -   1. FC Union Berlin	2:1 (0:0)   29,633 *

                     0:1  Terodde (58., Kreilach)
                     1:1  Schachten (61., Halstenberg)
                     2:1  Bartels (88., Halstenberg)

 1  1. FC Köln	  	        23   12  8  3 	  36:14 	22 	  	44 
 2  SpVgg Greuther Fürth (A)	23   12  4  7 	  41:28  +13 	  40
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  SC Paderborn 07	  	23   11  6  6 	  43:35  +8 	  39
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  FC St. Pauli	  	23   11  5  7 	  32:28  +4 	  38 
 5  Karlsruher SC (N)	  	23    9  9  5 	  30:21  +9 	  36 
 6  1. FC Union Berlin	  	23   10  6  7 	  35:29  +6 	  36 
 7  1. FC Kaiserslautern	23   10  4  9 	  35:25  +10 	  34 
 8  VfR Aalen	  	        23    8  7  8 	  25:26  -1 	  31 
 9  SV Sandhausen	  	23    8  7  8 	  19:20  -1 	  31 
10  1860 München	  	23    8  7  8 	  21:26  -5 	  31 
11  Fortuna Düsseldorf (A)	23    8  7  8 	  25:31  -6 	  31 
12  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	23    8  5  10 	  24:28  -4 	  29 
13  Erzgebirge Aue	  	23    8  5  10 	  29:36  -7 	  29 
14  FSV Frankfurt	  	23    7  6  10 	  34:37  -3 	  27 
15  VfL Bochum	  	        23    7  6  10 	  21:26  -5 	  27
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Dynamo Dresden	  	23    4  11  8 	  24:35  -11 	  23
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Arminia Bielefeld (N)	23    6  4  13 	  29:46  -17 	  22 
18  Energie Cottbus	  	23    4  5  14 	  26:38  -12 	  17

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

The promotion battle now favors the leaders substantially. Rostock lost, and Osnabrück and Wehen dropped points, so a gap has opened to the leaders that will be hard to make up. They would have to start tumbling first, and they haven’t given much indication of that.

Heidenheim showed why they deserve top billing, as they visited a revived Stuttgarter Kickers. The hosts had been total crap, but have mounted a strong push since the winterbreak. And they were all over the leaders, and looked to break the 15 game unbeaten streak as they were up 3-0 in the 2nd half. But Heidenheim decided to show who was boss and came roaring back to tie. I think that pretty much showed the league that they can do whatever they want. However, a decent result for Kickers, although they are obvisouly disappointed they didn’t get the upset.

Leipzig dominated Elversberg, but didn’t seem too interested in doing anything but winning, which they did. This gives the RasenBulls a solid 5 point edge in the automatic promotion race. Things remain hot for Elversberg, but they probably weren’t expecting anything against the RedBallsportler.

Darmstadt dominated against Dortmund B and won easily. The 98ers are hoping for the Rasenballsportler to slip up, but can seriously think about a promotion chance regardless. Domink Stroh-Engel notched another two goals to bring his Germany leading total to 21. (1-2-3 ligas at least)

Rostock laid an egg in a eastern derby against Chemnitz. They really needed this to stay in touch at the top, so basically it looks over. On the other hand, CFC desperately needed a result in their relegation, so the win is a huge success. They probably deserved it as well, taking full advantage of Hansa’s dicking around aimlessly and grabbing the match when they had a chance.

A hard fought Westfalen derby in Münster, with both sides desperately wanting full points. It took them a while to get going, but after equalizing Osnabrück was clearly the stronger side and pressed hard for the win. But now they’re 7 points behind Darmstadt, which is going to be hard to make up.

Halle downed Unterhaching to keep the Bavarians looking nervously over their shoulder. HFC has steared to calm waters and have nothing to worry about.

Saarbrücken may have decided on a last gasp drive to avoid relegation, and came up with a deserved win in a hard fought match against Regensburg. This at least lifts them off the bottom.

Total attendance 87,122 (avg 8,712)

Rot Weiß Erfurt	     -   Holstein Kiel	       0:0 (0:0)    5,552
Hallescher FC	     -   SpVgg Unterhaching    4:2 (1:0)    6,909
Preußen Münster	     -   VfL Osnabrück	       1:1 (1:0)   14,228
Wacker Burghausen    -   VfB Stuttgart II      2:2 (0:2)    1,870
MSV Duisburg	     -   SV Wehen Wiesbaden    0:0 (0:0)   10,352
SV Darmstadt 98	     -   Borussia Dortmund II  3:0 (2:0)    7,100
Hansa Rostock	     -   Chemnitzer FC	       1:2 (1:1)   12,000
1. FC Saarbrücken    -   Jahn Regensburg       3:2 (1:1)    4,273
Stuttgarter Kickers  -   1. FC Heidenheim      3:3 (1:0)    6,360 

Sunday:	
RB Leipzig	     -   SV Elversberg         2:0 (1:0)   18,478    



 1  1. FC Heidenheim	  	27   18  7   2 	  48:18  +30 	  61 
 2  RasenBallsport Leipzig (N)	27   16  4   7 	  42:26  +16 	  52
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  SV Darmstadt 98	  	27   13  8   6 	  44:23  +21 	  47
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  VfL Osnabrück	  	27   11  7   9 	  37:29  +8 	  40 
 5  Hansa Rostock	  	27   11  7   9 	  34:38  -4 	  40 
 6  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	27   10  9   8 	  30:32  -2 	  39 
 7  Stuttgarter Kickers	  	27   10  7  10 	  35:33  +2 	  37 
 8  MSV Duisburg (A)	  	27    9  10  8 	  33:33   0 	  37 
 9  Hallescher FC	  	27   11  4  12 	  33:35  -2 	  37 
10  Rot Weiß Erfurt	  	27   10  6  11 	  37:31  +6 	  36 
11  Jahn Regensburg (A)	  	27    9  8  10 	  39:38  +1 	  35 
12  VfB Stuttgart II	  	27    9  7  11 	  35:36  -1 	  34 
13  Borussia Dortmund II	27   10  4  13 	  36:42  -6 	  34 
14  Preußen Münster	  	27    7  12  8 	  37:37   0 	  33 
15  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	27    8  8  11 	  36:48  -12 	  32 
16  SV Elversberg (N)	  	27    9  5  13 	  25:37  -12 	  32 
17  Chemnitzer FC	  	27    7  10 10 	  27:37  -10 	  31
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  Holstein Kiel (N)	  	27    6  11 10 	  27:27   0 	  29 
19  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	27    6  7  14 	  31:47  -16 	  25 
20  Wacker Burghausen	  	27    6  7  14 	  28:47  -19 	  25


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