2.Liga, Round 8: Sensation in Heidenheim

A sensational result in Heidenheim, where Bochum visited. VfL has been one of the more impressive sides early, looking to live up to their favorite status, and generally playing quite well. Newly promoted Heidenheim has been quite good, but most pundits figured they would be happy with a point against their famous opponent. Instead, the visiting side was stunned by FCH’s high tempo attack, and despite being one of the better road teams, were completely overrun in a brilliant display. Heidenheim jumped on Bochum and didn’t let up, wrapping up the match in 40 minutes of brilliant football. The 2nd half was a continued show, although the stunned Bochumers perhaps did benefit from their hosts pegging back a gear.

Ingolstadt has been one of the early season surprises. Over the past couple of season, they’ve proven to be an unpleasant opponent, especially at home, always ready to give you a tough match. But the Schanzer would often leave points on the table. This season they are grabbing thos points, and have been challenging at the top. Karlsruhe looked to have gotten on board with their promotion challenge, but seems to have stepped back. A tense match that they could never get control of, and FCI probably deserves all the points.

Promoted side Darmstadt is living the dream, only one season removed from potential 4th division, they’re now a contender for the Bundesliga. Union expected to challenge, but has hit a rough start. The visitors showed confidence and got increasingly better as the match went on. In fact, when they grabbed a lead, it looked like they might actually get a huge road win. But teh Berliners roused themselves and fought back to get a point.

Exciting match in Düsseldorf, as Fortuna battled Leipzig. The hosts were the pressing side, but wasted some early chances to gain a clear advantage. Leipzig was compact and clever, and constantly had Fortuna chasing their tail. Overall, a draw is the correct result, obviously better for the visiting side.

The relegated Bundesligist Braunschweig has found the 2.Liga return to be pretty rough, and their opponent Sandhausen has been grinding out results recently, so it was hard to say what would happen. Braunschweig did manage to keep the game under control, although the visitors threatened at various times to break up the match. In the end the Lions held on to get an important win to steady the ship.

The Bavarian derby between 1860 and Greuther Fürth deserves bigger attendance, but it was mostly 1860 fans that couldn’t get into the Lowenbrau tent at the Oktoberfest. The home side had just fired their caoch Ricardo Minz and installed Markus von Ahlen, and it showed up positively. 1860 was engaged and wanted the win. Greuther Fürth on the other hand, well, they wanted to be at the Oktoberfest. They were shockingly weak, so 1860 had an easy time getting the points. So instead of a statement match against a contender, the win is kinda ho-hum.

After their crap start, Aue desperately needs points, and they continued their mini-revival with a critical win against Aalen. This is the type of club they *have* to beat if they want to stay up, and they got the job done, but it wasn’t easy. Not that Aalen played very well, but Erzgebirge was overly nervous and struggled. But they got their 3rd positive in a row, so it’s been a great “English” week for the Easterners.

A wild match in Bornheim. FSV Frankfurt and St.Pauli looked to be locked into a drab relegation battle, and when the Paulistas took teh lead, it looked like FSV was cooked. But the hosts re-organized and threw everything into attack, and pulled things back to take the lead. St.Pauli was however to shift gears as well just in time and salvage a draw in what turned out to be a riveting match.

Monday night was an abosultely critical match as Nürnberg hosted Kaiserslautern. A defeat for FCN would have been disastrous. Der Club did however do enough to get the points. Kaiserslautern wasted chances, and FCN used counters to build up a huge lead. Since they are still crap, they weren’t able to sail home though. Kaiserslautern got back into the match and there were nervous minutes until the final whistle.


Eintr. Braunschweig  -   SV Sandhausen	        2:1 (1:0)   20,680

                    1:0  Kessel (38., R. Korte)
                    2:0  Bakenga (54., R. Korte)
                    2:1  Wooten (90. + 2, Hand penalty)

1860 München	     -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth	2:0 (1:0)   18,300

                    1:0  Okotie (6., Adlung)
                    2:0  Sanchez (74., Rodri)

Erzgebirge Aue	     -   VfR Aalen	        1:0 (0:0)    7,000

                    1:0  Fa. Müller (77., Kortzorg)

Karlsruher SC	     -   FC Ingolstadt 04	0:1 (0:1)   12,000

                    0:1  Gordon (40., own goal, P. Groß)

1. FC Union Berlin   -   SV Darmstadt 98	1:1 (0:0)   18,124

                    0:1  Heller (73., Kempe)
                    1:1  Quiring (85., Schönheim)

 	
Fortuna Düsseldorf   -  RB Leipzig	        2:2 (0:1)   30,477

                    0:1  Teigl (18., Morys)
                    1:1  Pohjanpalo (60., Tah)
                    1:2  Teigl (61., Demme)
                    2:2  Benschop (86., Bolly)
 
FSV Frankfurt	     -  FC St. Pauli	        3:3 (1:2)    8,106

                    0:1  Nöthe (32., penalty, L. Sobiech)
                    0:2  Rzatkowski (35., Daube)
                    1:2  Kauko (44., oshi)
                    2:2  Ziereis (58., own goal, Huber)
                    3:2  Grifo (62.)
                    3:3  Daube (86., Maier)

1. FC Heidenheim     -  VfL Bochum	        5:0 (4:0)   11,500

                    1:0  Mayer (9., Schnatterer)
                    2:0  Schnatterer (20., penalty, Mayer)
                    3:0  Schnatterer (28., Niederlechner)
                    4:0  Niederlechner (39., K. Kraus)
                    5:0  Leipertz (77., Heise)

1. FC Nürnberg	     -  1. FC Kaiserslautern	3:2 (2:0)   25,130

                    1:0  Candeias (24., Schöpf)
                    2:0  Schöpf (41.)
                    3:0  Schöpf (51.)
                    3:1  Ring (62., Löwe)
                    3:2  Löwe (71., Zimmer)
	


 1  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	8    4 	4  0 	  15:6 	 +9 	  16 
 2  SV Darmstadt 98 (N)	  	8    4 	3  1 	  13:6 	 +7 	  15
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  RasenBallsport Leipzig (N) 	8    4 	3  1 	  13:6 	 +7 	  15
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  1. FC Heidenheim (N) 	8    4 	2  2 	  18:11  +7 	  14 
 5  1. FC Kaiserslautern        8    4 	2  2 	  13:11  +2 	  14 
 6  VfL Bochum 	  	        8    3 	4  1 	  16:12  +4 	  13 
 7  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	  	8    3 	4  1 	  14:10  +4 	  13  
 8  Karlsruher SC 	  	8    3 	3  2 	  11:8 	 +3 	  12 
 9  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	8    3 	2  3 	  12:9 	 +3 	  11 
10  Eintracht Braunschweig (A) 	8    3 	1  4 	  12:11  +1 	  10 
11  SV Sandhausen 	  	8    3 	1  4 	   6:9 	 -3 	  10 
12  1860 München 	  	8    2 	3  3   	  10:12  -2 	  9 
13  1. FC Nürnberg (A) 	  	8    3 	0  5 	   9:16  -7 	  9 
14  FC St. Pauli 	  	8    2 	2  4 	   8:15  -7 	  8 
15  1. FC Union Berlin 	  	8    1 	4  3 	   6:12  -6 	  7 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	8    2 	1  5 	   6:13  -7 	  7
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  VfR Aalen 	  	        8    1 	3  4 	   6:11  -5 	  6
18  FSV Frankfurt	  	8    1 	2  5 	   8:18  -10 	  5



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 6: Bayern in control

So it took 5-6 games, but it looks like Bayern is back in control of the league. Obviously there’s a lot to play, but since Bayern had not been overly impressive early, maybe some were thinking there’s some possibility for a race. Well, yes, the champs haven’t overly exerted themselves, but really nobody else has stepped up to the plate. Instead, I think we’re already seeing that nobody really is serious about challenging Bayern, so probably they’ll have another title wrapped up by mid-season.

Köln did all sorts of yapping (especially their coach Stöger) about “breaking the knot”, getting a result, and fighting off champions Bayern München. Blah-blah-blah, you sound like one of those annoying Chihuahuas. Shut up and get the job done, then you can yap all you want. Instead Köln was timid and harmless, and Bayern dominated from start to finish. Under Heynckes, they probably would have banged in 6-7 goals and been the rude guest. But under Guardiola, they seem content to put everybody to sleep with tiki-taka and score enough to get a comfortable win. Köln were clearly shown their limits, but that was expected. Staying up will mean grinding points against other clubs.

The big match this round was the Revier-derby, and it was a tense exciting affair. Schalke had started horribly, but just recently got back on track. Dortmund has looked crap, except for a Champions League thrashing of Arsenal. So both teams needed this one, which was theoretically a sell-out, but some sections were closed for “security”. Schalke started brightly and jumped over the Neons, who looked a but chaotic in defense. Dortmund got hold of themselves and got back in. In the 2nd half, they started to press, pushing Schalke back, but the Blues stood firm to hold on. Aside from the obvious bragging rights, this win is critical for Schalke, since it would appear to stabilize their season. Dortmund is in crisis, at least from a medical standpoint, and it threatens to ruin their season. They’re already 7 points back of Bayern, so the title challenge is basically over.

Gladbach showed up at Paderborn and showed the promoted side who’s boss. They dominated the start and quickly decided the match. However then they took their foot off the pedal. That allowed SCP back into the match, and they got back to their hard charging style and pressured MG, and with some luck might have salvaged a point.

No surprises in Mainz, who hosted Hoffenheim in a regional clash. The hosts were without their top scorer Shinji Okazaki, and the Hoppers didn’t seem too interested in pressing the matter, so it was basically a quiet clash and split of the points. Both sides remain unbeaten.

Freiburg and Leverkusen figured to see lots of goals, but nada. The match itself was pretty exciting in the beginning, both clubs aggressively pressing, but then the Aspirins went down early, as Spahic managed to collect a double yellow in half an hour. But the Breisgauer didn’t take advantage – instead surprisingly the guests sezied control and SCF responded only timidly. Leverkusen wasted chances, and then the game petered out – ironically when Freiburg’s Krmas got his ass toss to even the playing field.

Stuttgart needed someone like Hannover. The 96ers showed up ultra defensively, despite VfB’s troubles. the hosts woke up and played hard, controlling the game and eventually getting a big win that might help stabilize their season.

The Norderby between Wolfsburg and Bremen was disappointing: neither side really succeeded in accomplishing what they set out to do. Werder wanted to play defensively – they did achieve that – but they were sloppy. And they were lame going forward. The VWs wanted to attck – they did. But they wasted chances and only ended up winning perhaps because Werder was crappier. Considering that Wolfsburg is doing OK in the table and Werder has yet to win a match and sits in the relegation zone, I’m sure that the VWs feel a lot better.

Hamburg broke the record of not scoring to start the Bundesliga. Basically about 510 minutes, beating the 1979 VfL Bochum squad.
HSV was the better squad, but Frankfurt was luckier. The hosts pressed in the 1st half, but were stunned to fall behind. They fought back and continued to press, and finally scored a goal after 5 2/3 matches. But cruel fate revealed itself and they were undone by a last second goal. Frankfurt has to be happy stealing the points, as they really didn’t play all that well. HSV is left with nothing except energetic performances, which is nice, but not really translating into points. Since Bremen and Freiburg also remain winless, they’re not that far behind, but coach Zinnbauer is going to need some results quickly.

Augsburg had a rather boring win over Hertha Berlin, where neither side showed much initiative. The Fuggers just did enough to win, and Hertha obviously didn’t want to be there. Oddly enough, it was Hertha coach Jos Luhukay who brought up Augsburg and instilled their “fight,fight,fight” mentality, and has attempted to do the same in Berlin. But neither side showed it in this match.

Total attendance 323,571 (avg 35,952), sellouts in Gelsenkirchen, Köln and Paderborn

 	
1. FSV Mainz 05	  -   TSG Hoffenheim	     0:0 (0:0)   28,729

FC Schalke 04	  -   Borussia Dortmund	     2:1 (2:1)   61,000 (*)

                 1:0  Matip (10., Kopfball, Aogo)
                 2:0  Choupo-Moting (23., Linksschuss)
                 2:1  Aubameyang (26., Rechtsschuss, Ramos)

SC Freiburg	  -   Bayer 04 Leverkusen    0:0 (0:0)   23,000

VfB Stuttgart	  -   Hannover 96	     1:0 (0:0)   40,500

                 1:0  Schwaab (69., Gentner)

1. FC Köln	  -   Bayern München	     0:2 (0:1)   50,000 *

                 0:1  M. Götze (19., T. Müller)
                 0:2  D. Halfar (66., own goal, M. Götze)

SC Paderborn 07	  -   Bor. Mönchengladbach   1:2 (0:2)   15,000 *

                 0:1  Herrmann (8., Hrgota)
                 0:2  Raffael (14.)
                 1:2  Wemmer (70., Stoppelkamp)

VfL Wolfsburg	  -   Werder Bremen	     2:1 (1:1)   29,117

                 1:0  Rodriguez (15., De Bruyne)
                 1:1  Busch (37., Bartels)
                 2:1  Olic (57., Vieirinha)

FC Augsburg	  -   Hertha BSC	     1:0 (1:0)   28,582

                 1:0  Verhaegh (27., penalty, Bobadilla)
 
Hamburger SV	  -   Eintracht Frankfurt    1:2 (0:1)   47,643

                 0:1  Seferovic (44., Chandler)
                 1:1  N. Müller (58., Holtby)
                 1:2  Piazon (90., direct free kick)




 1  Bayern München (M, P) 	6    4 	2  0 	 11:2 	+9 	  14 
 2  Bor. Mönchengladbach 	6    3 	3  0 	  8:3 	+5 	  12 
 3  Bayer 04 Leverkusen 	6    3 	2  1 	 11:9 	+2 	  11
 4  TSG Hoffenheim 	  	6    2 	4  0 	  9:5 	+4 	  10
--------------------------------------------------------------------		
 5  1. FSV Mainz 05 	  	6    2 	4  0 	  9:5 	+4 	  10 
 6  Hannover 96 	  	6    3 	1  2 	  5:4 	+1 	  10
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  Eintracht Frankfurt 	6    2 	3  1 	  9:8 	+1 	  9 
 8  FC Augsburg 	  	6    3 	0  3 	  8:8 	 0 	  9 
 9  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	6    2 	2  2 	 10:8 	+2 	  8 
10  FC Schalke 04 	  	6    2 	2  2 	 10:10 	 0 	  8 
11  SC Paderborn 07 (N) 	6    2 	2  2 	  8:8 	 0 	  8 
12  Borussia Dortmund 	  	6    2 	1  3 	  9:11 	-2 	  7 
13  1. FC Köln (N) 	  	6    1 	3  2 	  2:3 	-1 	  6 
14  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	6    1 	2  3 	  8:12 	-4 	  5 
15  VfB Stuttgart 	  	6    1 	2  3 	  4:9 	-5 	  5
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  SC Freiburg 	  	6    0 	4  2 	  6:9 	-3 	  4
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Werder Bremen 	  	6    0 	3  3 	  9:15 	-6 	  3 
18  Hamburger SV 	  	6    0 	2  4 	  1:8 	-7 	  2


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 12: Dresden goes top

The big match was in Dresden, as Dynamo faced off against Chemnitz. 1 vs 2, an ex-GDR derby, sold out stadium. The match itself didn’t live up to the hype, as it was tense, but rather sedate, with both sides doing little. Basically just a kickabout, but near the end there was some reward for the home fans. Sylvan Cornvalius rose up for a header that the CFC keeper misjudged and headed in off the cross bar, the winning goal. He ripped off his shirt and and climbed up the fan area. Yellow card, but since he already had one, off he went. But it was the win for Dynamo and first place, so he probably didn’t care too much.

Duisburg showed strength as they overpowered Rostock away. Despite being behind at half-time, the Zebras didn’t panic and eventually Hansa cracked under pressure and MSV got the deserved win. This solid win should end any doubts that Duisburg is ready to challenge seriously for promotion.

Wehen wasn’t exactly impressive, but they did what was needed to dump Regensburg deeper into a hole.

Bielefeld grabbed a point at always tough Cottbus. Both sides hope to challenage for promotion, and both gave no quarter in a gritty match.

The “B” squads usually get squat in attendance, but the Revier derby between BVB and Schalke meant that few people bothered for BVB-IIs match. Usually it’s family and friends for the players, but apparently this week they’re all orphaned hermits. Or maybe the visiting Stuttgarter Kickers brought travelling fans…not. Anyway, the few folks that did show were treated to an entertaining match. BVB-II usually plays pretty well, but the results don’t always reward them. Stuttgart is often all over the place, but generally things have gone their way and they’re in the top half. But this one was even and ended fairly.

A wild shoot-out in Haching, and Osnabrück almost threw away a hard fought win. Despite a man advantage, they gave away the lead, but a last second strike got them an important road win. They’re still trying to establish whether they can challenge or be irrelevant. Haching is already trending listlessly, and would be good to keep an eye on the relegation zone.

Preußen Münster stopped the road wonders Halle, getting an important win. The Westfalen remain in touch with the large group of contenders.

Total attendance 65,998 (avg 6,600), sellout in Dresden

 	
Hansa Rostock	      -   MSV Duisburg	        1:3 (1:0)   6,700
Borussia Dortmund II  -   Stuttgarter Kickers	1:1 (0:0)     439
SpVgg Unterhaching    -   VfL Osnabrück	        3:4 (0:1)   1,750
SV Wehen Wiesbaden    -   Jahn Regensburg	2:0 (1:0)   3,500
Holstein Kiel	      -   SG Sonhf. Großaspach	3:1 (2:0)   3,698
Rot-Weiß Erfurt	      -   1. FSV Mainz 05 II	1:0 (1:0)   3,975
Dynamo Dresden	      -   Chemnitzer FC	        1:0 (0:0)  29,652 *
VfB Stuttgart II      -   Fortuna Köln	        3:1 (2:0)     680
Preußen Münster	      -   Hallescher FC	        2:0 (0:0)   7,553
Energie Cottbus	      -   Arminia Bielefeld	1:1 (0:0)   8,051	


 1  Dynamo Dresden (A) 	  	12    7  3  2 	  21:13  +8 	  24 
 2  MSV Duisburg 	  	12    6  5  1 	  20:12  +8 	  23
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	  	12    7  2  3 	  21:14  +7 	  23
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Chemnitzer FC 	  	12    6  3  3 	  14:6 	 +8 	  21 
 5  Stuttgarter Kickers 	12    6  3  3 	  20:13  +7 	  21 
 6  Arminia Bielefeld (A) 	12    6  3  3 	  23:17  +6 	  21 
 7  Preußen Münster 	  	12    6  3  3 	  20:17  +3 	  21 
 8  Energie Cottbus (A) 	12    5  5  2 	  13:8 	 +5 	  20 
 9  Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	  	12    5  4  3 	  18:15  +3 	  19 
10  VfL Osnabrück 	  	12    5  2  5 	  17:21  -4 	  17 
11  Holstein Kiel	  	12    4  4  4 	  15:12  +3 	  16 
12  Hallescher FC 	  	12    4  3  5 	  15:15   0 	  15 
13  VfB Stuttgart II 	  	12    4  2  6 	  14:21  -7 	  14
14  Fortuna Köln (N) 	  	12    4  1  7 	  12:15  -3 	  13 
15  SpVgg Unterhaching 	  	12    3  3  6 	  18:24  -6 	  12 
16  Hansa Rostock 	  	12    3  2  7 	  17:23  -6 	  11 
17  SG Sonnenhof Großaspach (N) 12    2  5  5 	  15:22  -7 	  11 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  Borussia Dortmund II 	12    2  4  6 	  13:19  -6 	  10 
19  1. FSV Mainz 05 II (N) 	12    2  3  7 	  15:21  -6 	  9 
20  Jahn Regensburg 	  	12    2  2  8 	  13:26  -13 	  8

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

2.Liga, Round 7: Midweek results

Midweek action in the 2.Liga saw a few minor surprises, although the biggest is that none of the favorites have really established any authority in the league. Bochum probably comes closest, but they’re dropped points left and right and haven’t established any control. Kaiserslautern has eeked out results, but hardly impressed. The others, such as Fürth and Braunschweig have been disappointing, and St.Pauli and Nürnberg have stunk.

Thig match was a traditional derby between Bochum and Düsseldorf. The winner could have taken the lead, so it’s only fitting it ended square. The hosts started off stronger, but Fortuna got back in the 2nd half. Both sides had decent chances to win, but the draw is a fair result.

The new leader is quite stunning: Darmdtadt! The Lilies had a crunching win in a Hessenderby with FSV Frankfurt, as they spanked the bornheimer silly. The vistors actually started brightly, but it only last a quarter of an hour. Then the 98ers grabbed a lead and dominated from then on. Basically they kicked their guests all over the place

The Rasenballsportler had one of their better matches of the season as they eventually overran Karlsruhe. Despite falling behind, Leipzig kept up the pressure and KSC cracked.

Kaiserslautern had to struggle, but held the win against Union. FCK was dominant early and looked ready to sail home with a win, but Union made it tough in the 2nd period as the hosts were losing control of the match.

Greuther Fürth was lazy against Aalen, and even though a man up, were unable to win.

Ingolstadt dominated against Aue, but wasted all their chances. They should have won easily, but couldn’t hit the side of a barn. Erzgebirge has shown recent improvement, but this one also due to luck.

A crap match in Hamburg, but St.Pauli will take the win over Braunschweig. Neither side seemed to know what they were doing, which is perplexing considering both were pre-season favorites to contend. Instead they’ve sucked, but at least the home side is happy to get out of the drop zone.

Nürnberg was horrible in Heidenheim, and deservedly got their ass kicked. Der Club better fire somebody, because they really stink and could be a relegation candidate. Heidenheim jumped on their guests right at the start and was firmly in the saddle for a somewhat historic win.

Sandhausen outplayed 1860 in a surprisingly decent match. They wanted it more and were rewarded in injury time.

Total attendance 145,540 (avg 16,171), sell-out in Heidenheim


SpVgg Greuther Fürth  -   VfR Aalen	        1:1 (0:1)    9,045

                     0:1  Ludwig (38.)
                     1:1  Weilandt (69., Gießelmann)

FC St. Pauli	      -   Eintr. Braunschweig	1:0 (1:0)   27,013

                     1:0  L. Sobiech (15., Kringe)

FC Ingolstadt 04      -   Erzgebirge Aue	1:1 (1:1)    4,814

                     0:1  Löning (20., Kortzorg)
                     1:1  Hinterseer (22., da Costa)

SV Sandhausen	      -   1860 München	        1:0 (0:0)    5,083

                     1:0  Wooten (90. + 2, Thiede)

1. FC Kaiserslautern  -   1. FC Union Berlin	1:0 (1:0)   31,384

                     1:0  Ring (42., Matmour)

1. FC Heidenheim      -   1. FC Nürnberg	3:0 (2:0)   13,000 *

                     1:0  Schnatterer (3., Leipertz)
                     2:0  K. Kraus (9., Schnatterer)
                     3:0  Mayer (59., penalty, Niederlechner)

RB Leipzig	      -   Karlsruher SC	        3:1 (1:1)   18,235

                     0:1  Micanski (33., Yabo)
                     1:1  D. Kaiser (37., direct freekick)
                     2:1  Poulsen (48., D. Kaiser)
                     3:1  Poulsen (58., D. Kaiser)

SV Darmstadt 98	      -   FSV Frankfurt	        4:0 (3:0)   12,500

                     1:0  Bregerie (16., Kempe)
                     2:0  Sulu (32., Kempe)
                     3:0  Gondorf (34., Sulu)
                     4:0  Sulu (85., Jungwirth)


VfL Bochum	      -   Fortuna Düsseldorf	1:1 (1:0)   24,466

                     1:0  Gregoritsch (14., Perthel)
                     1:1  Pohjanpalo (67., Schauerte)
	


 1  SV Darmstadt 98 (N) 	7    4 	2  1 	  12:5 	 +7 	  14 
 2  RasenBallsport Leipzig (N) 	7    4 	2  1 	  11:4 	 +7 	  14
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  1. FC Kaiserslautern	7    4 	2  1 	  11:8 	 +3 	  14
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  VfL Bochum 	  	        7    3 	4  0 	  16:7 	 +9 	  13 
 5  FC Ingolstadt 04 	  	7    3 	4  0 	  14:6 	 +8 	  13 
 6  Karlsruher SC 	  	7    3 	3  1 	  11:7 	 +4 	  12 
 7  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	7    3 	2  2 	  12:7 	 +5 	  11 
 8  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	  	7    3 	3  1 	  12:8 	 +4 	  12 
 9  1. FC Heidenheim (N) 	7    3 	2  2 	  13:11  +2 	  11 
10  SV Sandhausen 	  	7    3 	1  3 	   5:7 	 -2 	  10 
11  Eintracht Braunschweig (A) 	7    2 	1  4 	  10:10   0 	  7 
12  FC St. Pauli	  	7    2 	1  4 	   5:12  -7 	  7 
13  1860 München 	  	7    1 	3  3 	   8:12  -4 	  6 
14  VfR Aalen 	  	        7    1 	3  3 	   6:10  -4 	  6 
15  1. FC Union Berlin 	  	7    1 	3  3 	   5:11  -6 	  6
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  1. FC Nürnberg (A) 	  	7    2 	0  5 	   6:14  -8 	  6
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	7    1 	1  5 	   5:13  -8 	  4 
18  FSV Frankfurt 	  	7    1 	1  5 	   5:15  -10 	  4



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 5: Midweek results

Paderborn came into teh match at teh Allianz riding high, as the stunning leader and darling of eth fans and media. But they were clearly shown their limits by champions Bayern München, who easily shoved the upstarts aside. It didn’t take long for bayern to decide the match, and they really didn’t press the issue, as they could have scored a boat load of goals. Paderborn tried hard and created a few chances of their own. They have to be happy overall that they didn’t give up at least half a dozen, and gave a good account of themselves.

Schalke finally got into the win column with an efficient win at Bremen. Werder ran around a lot, and didn’t play badly, but at critical stages they were caught dicking around, and Schalke pounced. With this defeat Bremen drops into the danger zone.

Hoffenheim and Freiburg had a wild shoot-out, and the Briesgauers are probably kicking themselves for not getting a road win. Hoffenheim wasstruggling, and SCF took control, only to see the hosts fight back. Then when it looked like they were going to get the win, Freiburg conceded an injury time goal and let the Hoppers off the hook.

Frankfurt had a huge comeback to escape with a point in a regional match-up against Mainz. The visitors looked the better side, but Eintracht veteran Alex Meier pulled one back just before the half-time whistle. They were still chasing the game, but a late goal allowed them to salvage a point. Mainz remains unbeaten and have to be happy with the way they’re playing.

Stuttgart figured it was too early to fire their coach Armin Veh (even though VfB had sucked out of the block already), but they were in crisis. So they fired Sportsdirector Fredi Bobic, a VfB hero from his playing days. Well, it had some effect, as the Stuttgarters roused themselves in the name of Crispian (a somehwat obscure reference, I know) and battled Dortund to a draw. It was a good performance, as VfB showed discipline here-to-fore lacking, despite Neon dominance. Dortmund did battle back to salvage a point, but clearly BVB is not firing on all cylinders.

Hamburg under Zinnbauer. In his 2nd game in charge, it again was evident that HSV runs around a lot. They try hard. The will is there. But a minor detail is lacking: they still can’t score. So it was pretty ho-hum for hosts Gladbach to win this one. They created a few chances, and only had to use one. HSV basically was worthless in front of goal, so after Kruse scored for Gladbach, it was pretty sure they were going to lose. So if you look at teh bottom of the table, you now see three legendary traditionals all win-less, quite amazing when you think about it.

After getting bitch-slapped in Wolfsburg, how would Luserkusen react when facing revived Augsburg. Clearly the Aspirins had taken some Alka-Seltzer, but they were hardly impressive. The Fuggers were relatively harmless, so Bayer opted to “just win” and not really show much improvement.

Hertha fought a rearguard action all night against Wolfsburg, and ended up with the lead. The VWs dominated and kept Berlin pinned back, but Hertha held on doggedly. They only managed 3 shots in the match, but one was a goal, and they were able to make it standup, as Wolfsburg was disappointing that they did nothing with their control.

Hannover played like crap, but an early goal stood up against Köln, probably because the promoted side didn’t believe that they could win this. If they want to survive in the Bundesliga, they really need to win games like this, but the 96ers were willing to give it up.

Total attendance 401,679 (avg 44,631), sell out in München.

 	
Bayern München	     -   SC Paderborn 07     4:0 (2:0)   71,000 *

                    1:0  M. Götze (8., T. Müller)
                    2:0  Lewandowski (14., Lahm)
                    3:0  M. Götze (78., T. Müller)
                    4:0  T. Müller (85., Robben)

TSG Hoffenheim	     -   SC Freiburg	     3:3 (1:2)   24,872

                    0:1  Frantz (31., Philipp)
                    0:2  Frantz (33., Schmid)
                    1:2  Elyounoussi (44., Volland)
                    2:2  Rudy (63., direct freekick)
                    2:3  Darida (75., penalty, Schmid)
                    3:3  Vestergaard (90. + 3, Strobl)

Werder Bremen	     -   FC Schalke 04	     0:3 (0:0)   40,139
 
                    0:1  M. Meyer (48., Huntelaar)
                    0:2  Neustädter (51., Fuchs)
                    0:3  Barnetta (85., Huntelaar)

Eintracht Frankfurt  -   1. FSV Mainz 05     2:2 (1:2)   44,100

                    0:1  Hofmann (41., Brosinski)
                    0:2  Okazaki (44.)
                    1:2  Meier (45. + 1, Hasebe)
                    2:2  Seferovic (82., Stendera)

 	
Borussia Dortmund    -  	VfB Stuttgart	2:2 (0:0)   79,500

                    0:1  Didavi (48., Gentner)
                    0:2  Didavi (68., Ti. Werner)
                    1:2  Aubameyang (73., Piszczek)
                    2:2  Immobile (86., Schmelzer)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen  -  	FC Augsburg	1:0 (1:0)   23,081

                    1:0  Son (33., Hilbert)

Bor. Mönchengladbach -  	Hamburger SV	1:0 (1:0)   44,100

                    1:0  M. Kruse (25., Hahn)

Hannover 96	     -  	1. FC Köln	1:0 (1:0)   39,400

                    1:0  Joselu (6., 
Briand)

Hertha BSC	     -  	VfL Wolfsburg	1:0 (1:0)   35,847
	
                    1:0  Kalou (35., M. Ndjeng)


 1  Bayern München (M, P) 	5    3 	2  0 	   9:2 	 +7 	  11 
 2  Bayer 04 Leverkusen 	5    3 	1  1 	  11:9 	 +2 	  10 
 3  Hannover 96 	  	5    3 	1  1 	   5:3 	 +2 	  10
 4  TSG Hoffenheim	  	5    2 	3  0 	   9:5 	 +4 	  9
--------------------------------------------------------------------		
 5  1. FSV Mainz 05 	  	5    2 	3  0 	   9:5 	 +4 	  9 
 6  Bor. Mönchengladbach 	5    2 	3  0 	   6:2 	 +4 	  9
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  SC Paderborn 07 (N) 	5    2 	2  1 	   7:6 	 +1 	  8 
 8  Borussia Dortmund 	  	5    2 	1  2 	   8:9 	 -1 	  7 
 9  1. FC Köln (N)	  	5    1 	3  1 	   2:1 	 +1 	  6 
10  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	5    1 	3  1 	   7:7 	  0 	  6 
11  FC Augsburg 	  	5    2 	0  3 	   7:8 	 -1 	  6 
12  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	5    1 	2  2 	   8:7 	 +1 	  5 
13  FC Schalke 04 	  	5    1 	2  2 	   8:9 	 -1 	  5 
14  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	5    1 	2  2 	   8:11  -3 	  5 
15  SC Freiburg 	  	5    0 	3  2 	   6:9 	 -3 	  3
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Werder Bremen 	  	5    0 	3  2 	   8:13  -5 	  3
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  VfB Stuttgart	  	5    0 	2  3 	   3:9 	 -6 	  2 
18  Hamburger SV 	  	5    0 	2  3 	   0:6 	 -6 	  2

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 11: Midweek results

The top match was in Chemnitz, and Energie Cottbus rained on the parade with a stubborn away win.
Drama in Osnabrück: Wehen scored twice in injury time to win the match. The home side was pressuring for most of the game, but the visitors held firm and then ended up stealing the points in what probably should have been a draw.

Münster was probably the big loser of the round, as they got embarassed at Mainz-II. They had been looking like they were going places, but were rudely slapped silly by one of the league’s doormats.

A big eastern derby in Halle, the first in over a decade with Dresden, so a pretty decent crowd for HFC. It was a tense match that ended with a fair division of points.

Fortuna Köln continues their improvement, getting their third win in a row, and giving themselves a small cushion. Rostock is right back into trouble.

Speaking of trouble, Regensburg seems to be the worst off. Jahn was outplayed at home by Kiel in a match that has relegation implications, since both sides have looked vulnerable. As a result, Holstein should be quite happy with the points.

VfL Osnabrück	     -   SV Wehen Wiesbaden	1:3 (0:1)    7,132
1. FSV Mainz 05 II   -   Preußen Münster	4:0 (0:0)      774
Stuttgarter Kickers  -   SpVgg Unterhaching	3:0 (2:0)    2,200
Chemnitzer FC	     -   Energie Cottbus	0:1 (0:1)    6,285
SG S-hof Großaspach  -   Rot-Weiß Erfurt	1:1 (1:0)    1,202
Jahn Regensburg	     -   Holstein Kiel	        0:2 (0:0)    2,615
MSV Duisburg	     -   Borussia Dortmund II	2:1 (0:0)   11,080
Fortuna Köln	     -   Hansa Rostock	        1:0 (1:0)    2,293
Arminia Bielefeld    -   VfB Stuttgart II	3:0 (1:0)    8,635
Hallescher FC	     -   Dynamo Dresden	        1:1 (1:1)   12,466	


 1  Chemnitzer FC	  	11    6  3  2 	  14:5 	 +9 	  21 
 2  Dynamo Dresden (A) 	  	11    6  3  2 	  20:13  +7 	  21
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Stuttgarter Kickers 	11    6  2  3 	  19:12  +7 	  20
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Arminia Bielefeld (A) 	11    6  2  3 	  22:16  +6 	  20 
 5  MSV Duisburg 	  	11    5  5  1 	  17:11  +6 	  20 
 6  SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	  	11    6  2  3 	  19:14  +5 	  20 
 7  Energie Cottbus (A)	  	11    5  4  2 	  12:7 	 +5 	  19 
 8  Preußen Münster 	  	11    5  3  3 	  18:17  +1 	  18 
 9  Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	  	11    4  4  3 	  17:15  +2 	  16 
10  Hallescher FC 	  	11    4  3  4 	  15:13  +2 	  15 
11  VfL Osnabrück	  	11    4  2  5 	  13:18  -5 	  14 
12  Holstein Kiel 	  	11    3  4  4 	  12:11  +1 	  13 
13  Fortuna Köln (N)	  	11    4  1  6 	  11:12  -1 	  13 
14  SpVgg Unterhaching 	  	11    3  3  5 	  15:20  -5 	  12 
15  Hansa Rostock 	  	11    3  2  6 	  16:20  -4 	  11 
16  SG Sonnenhof Großaspach (N) 11    2  5  4 	  14:19  -5 	  11 
17  VfB Stuttgart II 	  	11    3  2  6 	  11:20  -9 	  11
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  1. FSV Mainz 05 II (N) 	11    2  3  6 	  15:20  -5 	  9 
19  Borussia Dortmund II 	11    2  3  6 	  12:18  -6 	  9 
20  Jahn Regensburg 	  	11    2  2  7 	  13:24  -11 	  8


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

BUNDESLIGA, Round 4: Life signs in Hamburg?

All-hail the Zinn-mann! HSV’s interim coach Joe Zinnbauer made his debut, against Bayern München, couldn’t be worse. But despite being dominated by the champs, Hamburg showed fight and determination that has been absent for almost two years and managed to hold on for a scoreless draw. Perhaps if Bayern had been a little more exacting, it still would have been a loss, but overall, you can’t say that HSV didn’t deserve a point. München still seems a bit uninterested in the league and it doesn’t seem like Guardiola has added anything. In fact, even the fired HSV coach Mirko Slomka could be doing fine at Bayern, with the squad that they have.

Leverkusen went down in flames at Wolfsburg. Things started out badly, as Donati committed a stupid foul and got sent off, so the VWs basically had a man advantage for the whole match. Although the Aspirins were OK for about 30 minutes, eventually the Wolfsburg pressure took over and Luserkusen got over-run.

Paderborn is the early sensation as they continue their nice start. I’m sure it will come crashing to end at some point, but every point now is one critical one against relegation. That said, they were an equal against Hannover, and Stoppelkamp ended up scoring a Bundesliga record goal-of-a-career: In the closing minutes, with SCP clinging to a lead, a 96er free kick into teh box was headed out. Near teh top of the box, Stoppelkamp chested down, then booted the ball downfield: 83 meters into the net!!

Dortmund was flat at Mainz, and have to worry about their injury list, which just receoved another member: Henrikh Mkhitaryan went down, and the Neons will be missing their Armenian playmaker for weeks. The team was rather lame and tentative against an active Mainz squad, and the hosts won the “Shinji” battle: Mainz’ Okazaki was one of the deicding players, whereas Dortmund’s Kagawa was largely lame like the rest of Dortmund. Forward Adrian Ramos missed a couple of sitters, and Ciro Immobile missed a penalty, so what do you expect? Mainz took their chances and run out deserved winners.

Freiburg must be kicking themselves for letting the hardfought match against Berlin end in a draw. Their problem was they had no defense against Ronny, as the Brazilian seems to be back in favor at Hertha, and he answered with two direct freekicks, the second coming 6 minutes into injury time.

Augsburg has righted their shaky start with another win, a hard fought duel with Bremen. The Fuggers were on their back foot, but eventually they gained the upper hand and pressed Werder back.

Schalke seemed to be undoing everything they gained midweek at Chelski. They were falling apart at home to Frankfurt, and looked for yet another crap result. But they gathered things in the 2nd half and fought back to get a point, and had some winning chances as well.

Stuttgart is definitely in criis, as they were outplayed at home by Hoffenheim, who really didn;t have to work that hard for the win, as they just waited for the incompetent VfB side to fall over.

Gladbach dominated most of the action in the Rheinderby, but Köln did enough to hold them off, and the game ended scoreless.

Total attendance 342,253 (avg 38,028), sellouts in Hamburg, Paderborn and Köln

 	
SC Freiburg	  -   Hertha BSC	     2:2 (1:1)   23,600

                 1:0  Kempf (30., Schmid)
                 1:1  Ronny (36., direct freekick)
                 2:1  Klaus (79., Guedé)
                 2:2  Ronny (90. + 6, direct freekick)

FC Schalke 04	  -   Eintracht Frankfurt    2:2 (1:2)   61,798

                 0:1  Meier (15.)
                 0:2  Russ (24.)
                 1:2  Choupo-Moting (40., Hand penalty)
                 2:2  Draxler (50., Choupo-Moting)

FC Augsburg	  -   Werder Bremen	     4:2 (2:1)   29,044

                 0:1  Selke (3., Garcia)
                 1:1  Baier (14., Halil Altintop)
                 2:1  Verhaegh (45. + 3, penalty, Bobadilla)
                 2:2  di Santo (56., penalty Bartels)
                 3:2  To. Werner (77., Caiuby)
                 4:2  Matavz (90. + 3, To. Werner)

VfB Stuttgart	  -   TSG Hoffenheim	     0:2 (0:1)   44,000

                 0:1  Modeste (15., Rudy)
                 0:2  Elyounoussi (84., Volland)

Hamburger SV	  -   Bayern München	     0:0 (0:0)   57,000 *

SC Paderborn 07	  -   Hannover 96            2:0 (0:0)   15,000 *

                 1:0  Kachunga (71., Hünemeier)
                 2:0  Stoppelkamp (90. + 3, Hünemeier)

1. FSV Mainz 05	  -   Borussia Dortmund	     2:0 (0:0)   34,000

                 1:0  Okazaki (66., Jairo)
                 2:0  Ginter (74., own goal, Jairo)

Sunday
VfL Wolfsburg	  -   Bayer 04 Leverkusen    4:1 (2:1)   27,811

                 1:0  Rodriguez (8., penalty, Junior Malanda)
                 1:1  Drmic (29., Bellarabi)
                 2:1  Vieirinha (45., Rodriguez)
                 3:1  Rodriguez (63., De Bruyne)
                 4:1  Hunt (81., Junior Malanda)

1. FC Köln	  -   Bor. Mönchengladbach   0:0 (0:0)   50,000 *


 1  SC Paderborn 07 (N)	  	4    2 	2  0 	  7:2 	+5    8 
 2  1. FSV Mainz 05 	  	4    2 	2  0 	  7:3 	+4    8 
 3  TSG Hoffenheim 	  	4    2 	2  0 	  6:2 	+4    8
 4  Bayern München (M, P)	4    2 	2  0 	  5:2 	+3    8
---------------------------------------------------------------
 5  Bayer 04 Leverkusen	  	4    2 	1  1 	 10:9 	+1    7 
 6  Hannover 96 	  	4    2 	1  1 	  4:3 	+1    7
---------------------------------------------------------------
 7  Bor. Mönchengladbach 	4    1 	3  0 	  5:2 	+3    6 
 8  1. FC Köln (N) 	  	4    1 	3  0 	  2:0 	+2    6  
 9  FC Augsburg 	  	4    2 	0  2 	  7:7 	 0    6 
10  Borussia Dortmund 	  	4    2 	0  2 	  6:7 	-1    6 
11  VfL Wolfsburg 	  	4    1 	2  1 	  8:6 	+2    5 
12  Eintracht Frankfurt	  	4    1 	2  1 	  5:5 	 0    5 
13  Werder Bremen 	  	4    0 	3  1 	  8:10 	-2    3 
14  SC Freiburg 	  	4    0 	2  2 	  3:6 	-3    2 
15  Hertha BSC Berlin	  	4    0 	2  2 	  7:11 	-4    2
---------------------------------------------------------------
16  FC Schalke 04 	  	4    0 	2  2 	  5:9 	-4    2
---------------------------------------------------------------
17  Hamburger SV 	  	4    0 	2  2 	  0:5 	-5    2 
18  VfB Stuttgart 	  	4    0 	1  3 	  1:7 	-6    1


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 6

Bochum was the most impressive squad this weekend, as they ripped FSV Frankfurt away. Their win vaults them to the top, and they have to be considered one of the obvious candidates for promotion.

Ingolstadt will be kicking themselves for not getting the win at 1860. The Schanzer dominated this Bavarian clash and created enough chances to win, but were left with egg on their face as they surrendered a draw. perhaps too much time in an Oktoberfest Bierzelt…

Karlsruhe has announced their intention of returning to the Bundesliga after years in the wilderness. They crushed a horrible Nürnberg squad, who are officially in crisis now. FCN showed nothing whatsover, and KSC wrapped up the game in the 1st half, and if they hadn;t taken their foot off the gas pedal (including missing a penalty), it could have got real ugly.

In another top attraction, Greuther Fürth finally got the better of Kaiserslautern. The Cloverleafs were the better side, but they had a hard time imposing that upon the visiting Devils. In the end they got the deserved win and get back on track.

A tense match in Berlin. An old line ex-GDR club that has always bucked authority is Union Berlin, and they’ve been off to a poor start – but still with some of the most dedicated fans in the country. Facing Rasenballsport Leipzig, and artificial creation of RedBull money who have been flying high. This was obviously was going to be a tense match. It started off with a surreal environment, with Union fans all dressed in black and silent for the first 15 minutes, a protest against teh capitalist carpetbaggery of the Rasenbulls. A tense, tough match developed, and in the end Union was victorious, getting a critical win and stopping the Redballsportlers fine start.

Braunschweig brought Darmstadt their first defeat in a hard fought match. The hosts were solid defensively and some luck up front. Darmstadt was strong, but lacked some of the bite they had shown in previous matches. They might have got a point, but really needed to finish off one of their few chances to do so.

Düsseldorf upended a stubborn Heidenheim to move into contention. Fortuna could be a serious threat if they can continue to grind out points. Heidenheim gave a good account of themselves, but in the end were not rewarded with anything but a moral victory.

A critical bottom match, and Erzgebirge Aue finally jump started their season. The miners were all over St.Pauli, kicking their ass back to Hamburg. Pauli looked horrible, and although it took a while, Aue finally showed that they have some skills and that they’re not quite ready to give up this season. It’s pretty hard to understand what St.Pauli is heading for, as they expected to challenge for promotion, and already that could be impossible.

Total attendance was 145,900 (avg 16,211)

 	
Eintracht Braunschweig	-   SV Darmstadt 98	  2:0 (1:0)   21,805
 
                       1:0  Nielsen (34., Zuck)
                       2:0  Kruppke (90. + 4)

VfR Aalen	        -   SV Sandhausen	  0:1 (0:0)    5,112

Erzgebirge Aue	        -   FC St. Pauli	  3:0 (1:0)    9,400

                       1:0  Löning (41., Könnecke)
                       2:0  Benatelli (56., Löning)
                       3:0  Kortzorg (69., Benatelli)

SpVgg Greuther Fürth	-   1. FC Kaiserslautern  2:1 (0:1)   13,115

                       0:1  Ring (11., Matmour)
                       1:1  Stiepermann (57.)
                       2:1  Weilandt (82., Zulj)

1860 München	        -   FC Ingolstadt 04	  1:1 (1:1)   21,800

                       0:1  P. Groß (16., Morales)
                       1:1  Okotie (20., Rama)

FSV Frankfurt	        -   VfL Bochum	          1:5 (1:1)    5,677

                       0:1  Losilla (29.)
                       1:1  Kapllani (41., Balitsch)
                       1:2  Gregoritsch (57., Sestak)
                       1:3  Terodde (64., Hand penalty)
                       1:4  Terodde (79., Tasaka)
                       1:5  Sestak (84., Terodde)

Karlsruher SC	        -   1. FC Nürnberg	  3:0 (3:0)   19,944

                       1:0  Yamada (9., Micanski)
                       2:0  Yabo (20., G. Krebs)
                       3:0  Yabo (40., Yamada)

Fortuna Düsseldorf      -   1. FC Heidenheim      3:2 (2:1)   27,681

                       1:0  Benschop (23., Bellinghausen)
                       1:1  Niederlechner (37., Strauß)
                       2:1  Benschop (42., Liendl)
                       2:2  Niederlechner (68., Schnatterer)
                       3:2  Pohjanpalo (82., Liendl)

1. FC Union Berlin	-   RB Leipzig	          2:1 (0:0)   21,366

                       1:0  Polter (70., Köhler)
                       1:1  Poulsen (77.)
                       2:1  Polter (83., Schönheim)



 1  VfL Bochum 	  	        6    3 	3  0 	  15:6 	 +9    12 
 2  Karlsruher SC 	  	6    3 	3  0 	  10:4 	 +9    12 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 3  FC Ingolstadt 04 	  	6    3 	3  0 	  13:5 	 +8    12
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 4  RasenBallsport Leipzig (N)	6    3 	2  1 	   8:3 	 +5    11
 5  Fortuna Düsseldorf 	  	6    3 	2  1 	  11:7 	 +4    11 
 6  SV Darmstadt 98 (N) 	6    3 	2  1 	   8:5 	 +3    11 
 7  1. FC Kaiserslautern 	6    3 	2  1 	  10:8 	 +2    11 
 8  SpVgg Greuther Fürth 	6    3 	1  2 	  11:6 	 +5    10 
 9  1. FC Heidenheim (N) 	6    2 	2  2 	  10:11  -1     8 
10  Eintracht Braunschweig (A) 	6    2 	1  3 	  10:9 	 +1     7 
11  SV Sandhausen 	  	6    2 	1  3 	   4:7 	 -3     7 
12  1860 München 	  	6    1 	3  2 	   8:11  -3     6 
13  1. FC Nürnberg (A) 	  	6    2 	0  4 	   6:11  -5     6 
14  1. FC Union Berlin 	  	6    1 	3  2 	   5:10  -5     6 
15  VfR Aalen 	  	        6    1 	2  3 	   5:9 	 -4     5 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
16  FSV Frankfurt	  	6    1 	1  4 	   5:11  -6     4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
17  FC St. Pauli	  	6    1 	1  4 	   4:12  -8     4
18  Erzgebirge Aue 	  	6    1 	0  5 	   4:12  -8     3


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 10: Things tighten up

Things definitely tightened up a bit, as the favored teams generally were held in check.

Dresden missed a chance and must be kicking themselves. They dominated against Mainz-II, but wasted chances and then got kicked in the balls and surrendered a draw in injury time. A bitter result, as they had the points in the bag. But their fans deserved better: Dynamo should have put this one to bed long ago.

Unterhaching was on the verge of a needed victory, but Duisburg pulled out a point on a free kick by Janjic in the last minute.

Kickers Stuttgart and Osnabrück also battled to a hard fought draw, in a “colorful” match (7 yellow cards).

Finally a home win for Rostock, and somewhat of a surprise, as it was against Bielefeld, who have been stalking the leaders. But Hansa showed great will and organization, perhaps their best match of the season.

Fortuna Köln got an important road win against BVB-II, and have jumped out of the relegation zone.

An impressive effort by Preußen Münster, who overpowered newcomers Sonnenhof Großaspach. The home side led early, but after 25 minutes a deliberate handball not only awared the guests a penalty, but Preußen were down a man. No bother, as they controlled the match and deservedly garb the win, which leaves them in a promotion spot.

Cottbus were stunned at home by Halle, although perhaps “stun” is not correct, since HFC has established themselves as a force to be reckoned with when they visit. (Too bad for them they suck at home). So Energie was basically just beaten down and was unable to hold on to their lead.

Total attendance 64,359 (avg 6,436)

 	
SpVgg Unterhaching    -   MSV Duisburg	        1:1 (0:0)    2,200
Stuttgarter Kickers   -   VfL Osnabrück	        1:1 (0:0)    2,835
Dynamo Dresden	      -   1. FSV Mainz 05 II	1:1 (1:0)   23,211
VfB Stuttgart II      -   Chemnitzer FC	        0:0 (0:0)      720
Hansa Rostock	      -   Arminia Bielefeld	4:2 (2:0)   10,000
Borussia Dortmund II  -   Fortuna Köln	        0:2 (0:0)    1,067
Holstein Kiel	      -   SV Wehen Wiesbaden	0:0 (0:0)    3,945
Rot-Weiß Erfurt	      -   Jahn Regensburg       2:0 (0:0)    4,983
Preußen Münster	      -   SG S-hof Großaspach	3:1 (1:1)    7,385
Energie Cottbus	      -   Hallescher FC	        1:2 (1:0)    8,013


 1  Chemnitzer FC	  	10   6 	3  1 	  14:4 	 +10   21 
 2  Dynamo Dresden (A) 	  	10   6 	2  2 	  19:12  +7    20
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Preußen Münster 	  	10   5 	3  2 	  18:13  +5    18
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 4  MSV Duisburg 	  	10   4 	5  1 	  15:10  +     17
 5  Stuttgarter Kickers 	10   5 	2  3 	  16:12  +4    17 
 6  Arminia Bielefeld (A)	10   5 	2  3 	  19:16  +3    17 
 7  SV Wehen Wiesbaden 	  	10   5 	2  3 	  16:13  +3    17 
 8  Energie Cottbus (A) 	10   4 	4  2 	  11:7 	 +4    16 
 9  Rot-Weiß Erfurt 	  	10   4 	3  3 	  16:14  +2    15 
10  Hallescher FC 	  	10   4 	2  4 	  14:12  +2    14 
11  VfL Osnabrück 	  	10   4 	2  4 	  12:15  -3    14 
12  SpVgg Unterhaching 	  	10   3 	3  4 	  15:17  -2    12 
13  Hansa Rostock 	  	10   3 	2  5 	  16:19  -3    11 
14  VfB Stuttgart II	  	10   3 	2  5 	  11:17  -6    11 
15  Holstein Kiel 	  	10   2 	4  4 	  10:11  -1    10 
16  Fortuna Köln (N) 	  	10   3 	1  6 	  10:12  -2    10 
17  SG Sonnenhof Großaspach (N) 10   2 	4  4 	  13:18  -5    10
-----------------------------------------------------------------
18  Borussia Dortmund II 	10   2 	3  5 	  11:16  -5    9 
19  Jahn Regensburg 	  	10   2 	2  6 	  13:22  -9    8 
20  1. FSV Mainz 05 II (N) 	10   1 	3  6 	  11:20  -9    6


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

Euro grades

Well the first main round of Euro action, so how has the Bundesliga done?

In the Champions League, the answer has to be “Very Well”, perhaps an A- or B+. I’m still not sure how Thomas Muller managed to miss the open net from about 6 inches, but Bayern deserved their win against Man City. A tough opponent, so a good result. Also great was Schalke’s point at Chelski, which was really unexpected, since Schalke has sucked and Chelski has been on fire, so getting a point at Stamford Bridge is quite an accomplishment. Dortmund and Arsenal you could expect to be a toss-up, but the Neons dominated that match and looked quite good doing so – despite a hospital list of injuries requiring replacements. Leverkusen managed to ruin things somewhat by losing at Monaco, otherwise the overall grade would have been a solid A.

As for the Europa-League (the one nobody cares about), I suppose the grade has to be something like D-, but so what? It’s like your grade in Art class, nobody cares. Gladbach probably threw away a win in a 1-1 home draw with Villareal, and Wolfsburg got biatch-slapped at Everton. OK, I get it, this is a worthless competition, but if you are going to play in it, you might as well give a decent effort. From the season perspective, it’s an interesting conversational aspect when you can talk about somebody “in the race for a Eurospot”, but that really is only relevant to clubs like Augsburg or Wuppertal, not serious contenders. And instead of the at least palatable knockout UEFA Cup, the Euroleague now has group stages. It’s about as relevant as those old Summer leagues, I think it was called the “Totto League” where various disinterested sides played in groups just so the betting companies would have something to put up in the offseason.