(More details after Sunday matches)
Nürnberg was hoping that their recent good form would carry them to an upset over Bayern in a Bavarian derby, and they started out brightly. However things turned into a nightmare quickly, as within 20 minutes starters Chandler and Ginczek had to subbed out and hauled to the hospital with injuries. This lack of concentration allowed Bayern to grab the lead, and despite a good fighting effort by FCN, the champions were just too clever and were not about to let the points disappear.
Dortmund may be back on track, despite their injuries. But it’s somewhat hard to tell, as they faced a stuttering Werder squad. Bremen ran arounda lot, but had no clue on offense. The Neons on the other hand were deadly and they ripped their hosts to shreds.
Gladbach is coming back to earth as they were stopped at home by Leverkusen in a tight match. They ran around a lot, but the visitors made better use of their possesion and ended up with a somewhat deserved victory.
Wolfsburg got back on track as they spanked Mainz. Kevin de Bruyne, the major winter signing to replace Diego looked pretty decent. It wasn’t an easy match, and the sole highlight of the 1st half was when Luiz Gustavo kicked Moritz in head with a Bruce Lee-esque flying leap. The Mainzer was sent to the hospital in blood soaked bandages (and somehow Luiz Gustavo avoided red). The VWs got things going in the 2nd half, including a rare goal by heretofore invisible Bas Dost. Kinda shows how Wolfsburg lost their thread. They used to have as forwards Grafite, Edin Dzeko, Mandzukic and even Helmes. Now they’ve got nobodies like Dost. But at least he did get a goal and the VWs hold a Euro spot. Mainz might as well forget this one…
Hamburg looks like they’re done. Another horrible outing as they got their balls kicked by Hertha at home. A desolate performance that leaves them firmly in a relegation spot. After the match, enraged fans attacked the HSV players, throwing anything they could find. Forward Jacques Zoua was hit in the head with something and had to be carted off to the hospital. Fans blocked the club house and demanded to “speak” to the players. Actually, Captain Rafael van der Vaart and German international Heiko Westermann actually came out and tried to reason. Basically Westermann admitted that “we suck” and I imagine van der Vaart pleaded that he isn’t the same since Sophie dumped him. GK Rene Adler was out there too, but don’t know what he could do, since he even stopped a penalty to prevent things from being even worse. After vandalizing some of the players cars, the fans were dispersed by security. With “fans” like these, certainly the squad doesn’t need enemies. HSV’s sorry-ass performance overshadows a confident Hertha effort, Berlin remaining in challenge for a Euro spot.
Frankfurt was a big winner this weekend, as they thumped Braunschweig in a relegation battle and gave themselves some breathing room. They were pretty much in control from start to finish in this “battle of the Eintrachts”.
Freiburg was largely outplayed at home by Hoffenheim, another relegation battle. Neither side was very good though, and a draw is a fair result.
On Sunday, Augsburg continued their fine season with a stunning away rout at Stuttgart. The Fuggers continue their best season in club history, setting a new Bundesliga record with 9 wins. They were in control for most of the game, and turned things into a rout when VfB’s Vedad Ibisevic got his ass tossed early in the 2nd half. Stuttgart is a disaster, sounds like they need to fire their coach again (which they do on a regular basis. Maybe the problem isn’t their coach, it’s their “talent”, which is considerable on paper.) On the other hand, Augsburg may be short on the techincal skills, but they have great team spirit and fight for every ball.
Schalke continued their good form as they dominated Hannover, pretty much doing whatever they want. The Blues need to be more efficient in front of goal, but this one was never in doubt, as the 96ers couldn’t even mount counterattacks.
Total attendance was 381,899 (avg 42,433) ,sellouts in Gladbach, Bremen, Nürnberg
Bor. Mönchengladbach - Bayer 04 Leverkusen 0:1 (0:0) 53,379 *
0:1 Son (62., Sam)
VfL Wolfsburg - 1. FSV Mainz 05 3:0 (0:0) 23,520
1:0 Rodriguez (59., penalty, Dost)
2:0 Dost (66., Olic)
3:0 Luiz Gustavo (75., Knoche)
Werder Bremen - Borussia Dortmund 1:5 (0:2) 42,100 *
0:1 Lewandowski (26., Schmelzer)
0:2 H. Mkhitaryan (41., Lewandowski)
0:3 M. Friedrich (48., Reus)
0:4 H. Mkhitaryan (62., Reus)
0:5 Lewandowski (85., Hofmann)
1:5 Aycicek (89.)
1. FC Nürnberg - Bayern München 0:2 (0:1) 50,000 *
0:1 Mandzukic (18., Alaba)
0:2 Lahm (49., Mandzukic)
SC Freiburg - 1899 Hoffenheim 1:1 (0:0) 22,300
1:0 Schmid (68., Mehmedi)
1:1 Modeste (85., Schipplock)
Eintracht Frankfurt - Eintr. Braunschweig 3:0 (3:0) 40,500
1:0 Flum (7., S. Jung)
2:0 Meier (43., Flum)
3:0 Aigner (44., S. Jung)
Hamburger SV - Hertha BSC 0:3 (0:3) 48,593
0:1 Allagui (15., Ramos)
0:2 Ramos (23., Cigerci)
0:3 Ramos (38., J. van den Bergh)
Sunday:
VfB Stuttgart - FC Augsburg 1:4 (0:2) 40,200
0:1 Milik (35., To. Werner)
0:2 Hahn (43., Halil Altintop)
0:3 Hahn (56., Ostrzolek)
1:3 Rausch (62., Leitner)
1:4 To. Werner (64., Ostrzolek)
FC Schalke 04 - Hannover 96 2:0 (2:0) 61,307
1:0 Farfan (39., Kolasinac)
2:0 M. Meyer (44., Uchida)
1 Bayern München (M, P) 20 18 2 0 53:9 +44 56
2 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 20 14 1 5 37:20 +17 43
3 Borussia Dortmund 20 12 3 5 47:24 +23 39
4 FC Schalke 04 20 11 4 5 39:29 +10 37
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5 Bor. Mönchengladbach 20 10 3 7 36:25 +11 33
6 VfL Wolfsburg 20 10 3 7 33:24 +9 33
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7 Hertha BSC Berlin (N) 20 9 4 7 31:24 +7 31
8 FC Augsburg 20 9 4 7 30:29 +1 31
9 1. FSV Mainz 05 20 9 3 8 29:35 -6 30
10 Hannover 96 20 7 3 10 29:35 -6 24
11 1899 Hoffenheim 20 5 7 8 40:43 -3 22
12 Eintracht Frankfurt 20 5 6 9 24:34 -10 21
13 Werder Bremen 20 5 5 10 24:45 -21 20
14 VfB Stuttgart 20 5 4 11 33:41 -8 19
15 SC Freiburg 20 4 6 10 20:36 -16 18
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16 1. FC Nürnberg 20 2 11 7 24:36 -12 17
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17 Hamburger SV 20 4 4 12 33:47 -14 16
18 Eintracht Braunschweig (N) 20 3 3 14 11:37 -26 12
M = Meister, defending Champion
P = Pokal, defending Cup winner
N = Neuling, newly promoted
1st line: Champions League
2nd line: Europaliga (+ Cup winner)
3rd line: Playoff with 2.Liga 3rd place
4th line: Relegation to 2.Liga