BUNDESLIGA, Round 23: Schalke gets owned

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
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 5  VfL Wolfsburg	  	23   12  3  8 	  40:32  +8 	  39 
 6  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	23   11  4  8 	  32:35  -3 	  37
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 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
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16  Hamburger SV	  	23    5  4  14 	  38:52  -14 	  19
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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

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