Biatch-slap! Bayern says “Guten Tag” and then kicks Düsseldorf in the nuts. This was never in doubt, as Bayern showed they were vastly superior from the start. All Fortuna could offer was fight, and they did run around a lot. However the leaders weren’t in any hurry, and toyed around before Mandzukic opened the scoring after about half an hour. I don’t think anyone in the stadium felt then that Fortuna had the slightest chance anymore. And a few minutes later Bayern slammed the door. In the second half, it was more of the same, expect the visitors got a bit more vicious and turned it into a rout. All in all, Düsseldorf really can’t complain, as they could have been beaten by 10 goals…
There will be no “3-peat” for the champions. The massive Revier-derby against Schalke showed that Dortmund is not on track this season. Schalke has had a rough time, getting owned by the Neons in the last few, but this was a different Blues. The Schalkers controlled the game from the start, Dortmund looking not prepared for the upcoming derby fight. So Schalke took the lead and dominated, Dortmund showing that their injury list (Hummels, Kuba, Goetze etc.) is perhaps taking some edge off their knife. In the second half it was more of the same, and Schalke doubled their lead. A somewhat fortunate attack let Dortmund back in the match, and the champions finally woke up and launched an all out assault. But Schalke was disciplined and well organized, beat back the Neons and launched threatening counters of their own. In the end, they leave as deserved winners, and Dortmund’s title hopes are surely in tatters…
Promoted Frankfurt continues to impress, their 4th win from five home matches. Grabbing points is what they need, and they beat down a strong Hannover side. In reality, Eintracht looked the better team throughout the match, so it’s not an unexpected result. This season could be something special and perhaps the springboard into a more permanent stay in the upper regions of the Bundesliga. Hannover can’t really complain, as they were outplayed, although they gave a fair effort. The 96ers have tentatively established themselves as a decent squad, but need to be careful that they don’t over-exert themselves in Europe and forget the meat-and-potatoes of the Bundesliga…
A thrilling match on Friday night between Hoffenheim and Greuther Fürth. What?! Are you reading this right? But it’s true. Both clubs came out slugging in a wild match where Hoffenheim desperately tried to put down the rabid Greuthers. The Hoppers would knock them down, but everytime the visitors bounced back. A stunning finish looked to have Hoffenheim finally get the win, but in injury time, Fürth got the point. A perfect ending to an exciting match. The Greuther are likely going down, but seemingly not without a fight. Hoffenheim could still be in serious trouble, but they gave indications that they’re improving. BTW, this was the 15,000th match in the history of the Bundesliga.
An exciting match in Leverkusen. The Aspirins showed some attractive attacking football, but Mainz was ruthlessly effective, and looked on verge of stealing all the points. It took a blast by Castro to save the match for Bayer. Good effort and point for Mainz; Leverkusen needs to go back to the drawing board.
Bremen ripped Gladbach’s ass, leaving them no chance. Werder attacked from the beginning, and Borussia basically rolled over and played dead. Both clubs are somewhat in a rebuilding pahase – Werder after cleaning house, and Gladbach is always rebuilding. Judging from this match, Werder is on the right track, and Gladbach needs to revisit their plan.
Toothless wolves, or perhaps a VW with a blown gasket. In any case, Wolfsburg sucked bigtime against Freiburg in what could have been a decisive relegation battle. The VWS are stuck on the bottom, and you have to wonder if madman Felix “Maggot” survives. Clearly he has no clue on what to do, and the players have seemingly turned off his ranting and raving. Brazilian midifielders Diego and Josue were benched, and now Wolfsburg looked even worse, unable to string any passes together and just hoofing worthless long balls that the Freiburgers easily disposed of. In fact, when SCF realized this game was winnable, they attacked, and it was only some superb saves by Wolf keeper Diego Benaglio that prevented a total rout. Huge points for Freiburg.
1899 Hoffenheim - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 3:3 (1:1) 22,150
1:0 Roberto Firmino (8., Rudy)
1:1 Stieber (39., Prib)
2:1 Joselu (67., Volland)
2:2 Prib (84., Nöthe)
3:2 Joselu (89., Volland)
3:3 Sobiech (90. + 3, Prib)
Borussia Dortmund - FC Schalke 04 1:2 (0:1) 80,645
0:1 Afellay (14.)
0:2 Höger (48., Holtby)
1:2 Lewandowski (55., Reus)
Bayer Leverkusen - 1. FSV Mainz 05 2:2 (1:0) 28,077
1:0 Kießling (43., Carvajal)
1:1 Szalai (58., Pospech)
1:2 Risse (76., Szalai)
2:2 Castro (87.)
VfL Wolfsburg - SC Freiburg 0:2 (0:1) 25,080
0:1 D. Caligiuri (40., penalty, Jendrisek)
0:2 Schuster (84., Schmid)
Eintracht Frankfurt - Hannover 96 3:1 (2:1) 50,000
1:0 Matmour (5., Rode)
2:0 S. Jung (18., Aigner)
2:1 Abdellaoue (43., Stindl)
3:1 Meier (82., Celozzi)
Fortuna Düsseldorf - Bayern München 0:5 (0:2) 54,000
0:1 Mandzukic (28., Ribery)
0:2 Luiz Gustavo (36., T. Müller)
0:3 T. Müller (55., Ribery)
0:4 T. Müller (86., Alaba)
0:5 Rafinha (87., Ribery)
Werder Bremen - Borussia M'gladbach 4:0 (2:0) 42,100
1:0 Petersen (37., de Bruyne)
2:0 Arnautovic (45., Hunt)
3:0 Füllkrug (76., Arnautovic)
4:0 Junuzovic (86., Rechtsschuss)
Sunday:
1. FC Nürnberg - FC Augsburg -:- (-:-)
Hamburger SV - VfB Stuttgart -:- (-:-)
1 Bayern München 8 8 0 0 26:2 +24 24
2 Eintracht Frankfurt (N) 8 6 1 1 19:11 +8 19
3 FC Schalke 04 8 5 2 1 17:8 +9 17
4 Borussia Dortmund (M, P) 8 3 3 2 18:11 +7 12
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5 Bayer Leverkusen 8 3 3 2 13:11 +2 12
6 Hannover 96 8 3 2 3 16:13 +3 11
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7 SC Freiburg 8 3 2 3 13:10 +3 11
8 1. FSV Mainz 05 8 3 2 3 9:10 -1 11
9 Werder Bremen 8 3 1 4 14:13 +1 10
10 Hamburger SV 7 3 1 3 9:10 -1 10
11 Fortuna Düsseldorf (N) 8 2 4 2 6:8 -2 10
12 Borussia M'gladbach 8 2 3 3 9:16 -7 9
13 1899 Hoffenheim 8 2 2 4 13:17 -4 8
14 1. FC Nürnberg 7 2 1 4 7:14 -7 7
15 VfB Stuttgart 7 1 3 3 7:14 -7 6
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16 FC Augsburg 7 1 2 4 5:11 -6 5
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17 SpVgg Greuther Fürth (N) 8 1 2 5 5:14 -9 5
18 VfL Wolfsburg 8 1 2 5 2:15 -13 5
M = Meister, defending Champion
P = Pokal, defending Cup winner
N = Neuling, newly promoted
1st line: Champions League
2nd line: Europaliga (+ Cup winner)
3rd line: Playoff with 2.Liga 3rd place
4th line: Releghation to 2.Liga