Dortmund wins the title! After only going .500 in their first 6 matches, they’re now on a 26 match unbeaten streak and deservedly win their 8th German championship, their 5th in the Bundesliga.
1. FSV Mainz 05 - VfL Wolfsburg 0:0 (0:0) 31,069
1899 Hoffenheim - Bayer Leverkusen 0:1 (0:0) 28,150
0:1 Schürrle (79., Kadlec)
Werder Bremen - Bayern München 1:2 (0:0) 42,100
1:0 Naldo (51., Pizarro)
1:1 Naldo (75., own goal, Ribery)
1:2 Ribery (90., Kroos)
1. FC Nürnberg - Hamburger SV 1:1 (0:0) 40,000
0:1 Son (59., Berg)
1:1 Didavi (64., Simons)
Hertha BSC - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1:2 (0:2) 51,461
0:1 Kirch (27., Linksschuss, Sahan)
0:2 Wooten (38., Linksschuss, Fortounis)
1:2 Niemeyer (60., Kopfball, Ebert)
1. FC Köln - VfB Stuttgart 1:1 (0:0) 51,000
1:0 Peszko (50., Podolski)
1:1 Cacau (71., Ibisevic)
Borussia Dortmund - Borussia M'gladbach 2:0 (1:0) 80,720
1:0 Perisic (23., Schmelzer)
2:0 Kagawa (59., Lewandowski)
Sunday:
FC Augsburg - FC Schalke 04 1:1 (1:1) 30,660
1:0 S. Langkamp (6., M. Ndjeng)
1:1 Huntelaar (38., Matip)
Hannover 96 - SC Freiburg 0:0 (0:0) 48,000
1 Borussia Dortmund (M) 32 23 6 3 71:23 +48 75
2 Bayern München 32 21 4 7 71:21 +50 67
3 FC Schalke 04 (P) 32 18 4 10 67:42 +25 58
4 Borussia M'gladbach 32 16 8 8 46:24 +22 56
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5 VfB Stuttgart 32 14 8 10 60:42 +18 50
6 Bayer Leverkusen 32 13 9 10 47:43 +4 48
7 Hannover 96 32 11 12 9 39:43 -4 45
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8 Werder Bremen 32 11 9 12 46:52 -6 42
9 1899 Hoffenheim 32 10 11 11 38:41 -3 41
10 VfL Wolfsburg 32 12 5 15 42:56 -14 41
11 1. FC Nürnberg 32 11 6 15 34:43 -9 39
12 1. FSV Mainz 05 32 9 11 12 47:48 -1 38
13 SC Freiburg 32 9 10 13 41:56 -15 37
14 Hamburger SV 32 8 11 13 35:56 -21 35
15 FC Augsburg (N) 32 7 13 12 35:49 -14 34
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16 1. FC Köln 32 8 6 18 37:67 -30 30
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17 Hertha BSC Berlin (N) 32 6 10 16 35:59 -24 28
18 1. FC Kaiserslautern 32 4 11 17 21:47 -26 23
Snoozer Friday night in Mainz. The hosts mathematically avoid relegation, and the VWs probably blow their Euro-liga chance. Actually, you could say that either occurence was pretty unlikely.
Dortmund wrapped up the back-to-back Bundesliga title in style. For a few minutes they were champions, but Frank Ribery’s late goal in Bremen meant that they needed a result to secure the title today. Gladbach started out OK, but soon the Neons took control of the match. The visitors remained dangerous on their counters, but mainly because of some lackadaisical defending by the champs after the goal by Perisic giving them the lead. Marco Reus almost had an equalizer as Marcel Schmelzer cleared off the line. That served as a wakeup, and the Neons went to business. Lewandowski played Kagawa in, who dribbled around the keeper for a tap-in. Gladbach was beaten, and was lucky they didn’t get a hiding. Borussia basically had a half-hour of celebration with their fans until the final whistle…
Hoffenheim outplayed Leverkusen for the whole match, but Aspirin GK Bernd Leno was sharp and stopped everything – including a penalty from Salihovic with 5 minutes left. With peformances like this all season, Leno has probably won the starting job over German international Rene Adler. (Just recovered from a season long injury, Adler is playing in the II squad, but obviously isn’t going to want that. I’d expect Bayer to offer him for transfer…) The Alka-Seltzers stole all the points on a rare counterattack, leaving the Hoppers wondering what happened.
Bayern coming to town always means the home side is motivated, especially Bremen. For long periods, Werder was dominant, as Bayern left many regulars on the bench. It looked like a loss for Bayern, but I guess Jupp Heynckes couldn’t take it any longer, so with about 25 minute left, he brought on Ribery, Kroos and Gomez. This was enough for Bayern to turn the match and win, leaving Bremen high and dry with seven straight winless matches.
After a horrible first half, the fans probably wanted their money back. Nürnberg and HSV looked pathetic, although I suppose Hamburg was a bit worse, as Son missed an open net from about 8 yards. After the restart, FCN played better, but got kicked in the balls as ironically Son banged the Hamburgers into the lead. Der Club then furiously pressured Hamburg, grabbing a tie 5 minutes later. However, they couldn’t get any more, and HSV weathered the storm for a somewhat fortunate point.
Already relegated, with nothing to play for. Well, I guess the pressure is off, and Kaisersalutern finally played a decent match. Berlin was all excited about the relegation battle, but Hertha was overly nervous and pathetic. FCK showed confidence heretofore lacking all season and ran rings around their hosts.
Köln has been sucking wind the last few rounds, looking like the relegation fodder they are. Stuttgart has been kicking asses, so you’d expect a severe hiding behind the shed for the lame Kölners. Nothing could be further from the truth. FCK came out motivated and with purpose, Stuttgart was pressed into the defensive. A perfect Podolski cross gave Köln the lead, and Stuttgart realized they could lose this match. Oldtimer Cacau got an equalizer, but even so, the hosts were probably closer to a win. A somewhat fortunate point for Stuttgart.
On Sunday, Augsburg was in the drivers seat. The Fuggers hosted Schalke, and were clearly the motivated team. They played hard and controlled the match, pressing the Blues into defense. A win would just about clinch safety, but it was not to be. Schalke was too clever and countered ice-cold to grab an equalizer. Despite the superior talent, Schalke only did enough not to lose, which still keeps their hold on 3rd place tenuous.
Hannover and Freiburg played a scoreless draw. The 96ers had the better chances, but Freiburg was equal to the task and was never really under much of a threat. For SCF, this mathematically ensures another season in the Bundesliga, for Hannover, they’ve got one foot in Europe, but have Bremen and even Hoffenheim hoping they’ll still stumble.