May 30, 2010
2.Liga Report card
1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 34 19 10 5 56:28 +28 67 GRADE: A I actually debated whether to give them an A- or not. FCK was hardly impressive, but they got the job done, and I suppose by winning the title, that merits a top grade. But they were hardly spectacular. They belong in the Bundesliga with their massive fan support, but it was certainly a good laugh watching them get relegated a few years back. 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 34 20 4 10 72:37 +35 64 GRADE: A I seriously doubt even rabid Paulista fans (and yes, you should have your innoculations up-to-date before hanging out with them) expected them to pull off the coup and get promoted. But the fact is that the Hamburgers played the most attractive football and stunned the pundits by marching back into the Bundesliga. I would be surprised if they survive, but their fans won't care, since they'll be partying all the time and won't even notice. 3. (3.) FC Augsburg 34 17 11 6 60:40 +20 62 GRADE: A- FCA came so far, yet the DFL conspired against them by coming up with that dumbass playoff, which of course ended up saving Nürnberg's ass. But the the Fuggers choked when they had the opportunity, what a fugging disappointment. That's too bad, because FCA really did have a good season, and in most other years would have been rewarded with a Bundesliga sojourn. 4. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 34 17 8 9 48:31 +17 59 GRADE: A- I also don't think anybody thought much of Fortuna before the season, and they surprised everybody. Having decent football in Düsseldorf is probably good for German football, and in their return to the 2.Liga, Fortuna exceeded expectations. If they keep things up, they should be rewarded with some massive attendance next season. 5. (6.) SC Paderborn 07 34 14 9 11 49:49 0 51 GRADE: A- Another surprise, because I seriously doubt that they're that good. But Paderborn proved to be a solid and consistent squad throughout the season. 6. (5.) MSV Duisburg 34 14 8 12 51:46 +5 50 GRADE: B- The Zebras certainly expected to contend for promotion, but they were really never in it. Unfortunately they'll be back. 7. (7.) Arminia Bielefeld 34 16 5 13 48:41 +7 49 GRADE: B- Bielefeld was expected to challenge seriously for immediate return to the Bundesliga, but they dicked around, never really getting into the race. Then of course their sleazeball management lied on their financials to the DFB, so they got their ass slapped with a four point deduction and it was all over. 8. (9.) TSV 1860 München 34 14 6 14 43:45 -2 48 Grade: C- They should be a contender but they mostly sucked. They have huge potential fan support, but they been dicking around for a few years and have managed to alienate their loyal following. I think public hangings of those responsible would be merited, but I haven't really paid attention to pass judgement. However, if you suck for several seasons, then top management is probably the guilty party... 9. (10.) FC Energie Cottbus 34 13 8 13 55:49 +6 47 Grade: C I don't think anyone seriously expected Cottbus to challenge for promotion, despite only dropping out of the Bundesliga last season. The team is too weak, especially financially. Now instead of bargain basement players from Bulgaria, they get cheaper ones from China or whatever. Maybe they should just sign a few German players and build up slowly. But one thing about these guys, they're like a bad rash that never goes away, so expect them to be back. 10. (8.) Karlsruher SC 34 13 7 14 43:45 -2 46 GRADE: C- They sucked most season, relegation took everything out and they need to rebuild from scratch. As long as they don't do something stupid, they should be back contending in a couple of seasons. 11. (12.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 34 12 8 14 51:50 +1 44 GRADE: D Fürth is one of those annoying clubs that is often threatening to get promoted and ruin the Bundesliga. I think even they expected to be at least in contention, but they fell off and basically sucked. So if you were to rate them on where they deserve to be, maybe they did fine, but based on the squad and their own goals, they sucked. 12. (11.) 1. FC Union Berlin 34 11 11 12 42:45 -3 44 GRADE: B- As a newly promoted club, Union was mostly concerned with not going back down. And they started off brilliantly, grabbing points and riding the top. But down the stretch they really fell off, so although they were never in any danger, you have to wonder about their true strength. 13. (13.) Alemannia Aachen 34 11 10 13 37:41 -4 43 GRADE: D Alemannia really sucked most of the time, hard to believe they were in the Bundesliga two years ago. They should have done much, much better. 14. (14.) Rot-Weiss Oberhausen 34 12 5 17 38:52 -14 41 GRADE: C+ A relegation candidate, they were tough enough when they needed to be. They are annoying enough that most folks would like to see them relegated and gone, but I bet many have recurring nightmares that someday RWO will have a dream year and get back in the Bundesliga... 15. (15.) FSV Frankfurt 34 9 11 14 29:50 -21 38 GRADE: B Everyone expected FSV to drop. And they certainly looked it, once again, by sucking in the first half. But like last season, they sensationally got their act together and climbed out of the pit. For that amazing effort, they deserve a good grade, although this season they needed some help. 16. (16.) Hansa Rostock 34 10 6 18 33:45 -12 36 GRADE: F ...And here comes the help. As one of the flagships of ex-GDR football, you need to do better. And Rostock sucked and disastrously got their ass kicked by Ingolstadt in the playoff, so now are dropping down to the 3.Liga. Their fans are rioting, as well they should. 17. (17.) TuS Koblenz 34 7 10 17 35:60 -25 31 GRADE: D- They're not very good, so it's not too much of a surprise. They really didn't exhibit enough fight, so how can you expect to stay up? 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 34 5 7 22 19:55 -36 22 GRADE: A OK, in reality they probably should get a D-, but they suck, and even their own fans would rather watch Lena conduct war crimes against the English language at Eurovision. However, in view of the fact that they suck and nobody wants to watch them, they did everybody a favor by conveniently bending over and taking it up the rear, allowing some more deserving club replace them in the 2.Liga. So for that they deserve a pat on the back. And I guess since Lena won the whole shebang, even the Ahlen fans are happy.
Bundesliga Report card
BUNDESLIGA 1. (1.) FC Bayern München 34 20 10 4 72:31 +41 70 GRADE: A It's pretty hard to argue that Bayern doesn't deserve top marks. It took a while for new coach Louis Van Gaal to impose his will on the squad, but once everyone understood his vision, they clicked like a machine. Bayern fought off a challenge from various contenders, won the Cup and surprised me at least by making the Champions League final. The key was the addition of Arjen Robben, who quickly established himself as the class of the Bundesliga, and when paired with Franck Ribery. Bayern's attack is virtually unstoppable. A nice revelation was youngster Thomas Müller, who made the jump from Bayern II into a starter-role and even the World Cup squad. The only real negative was that Mario Gomez was essentially a flop, and Miroslav Klose has been relegated to kitchen duty. 2. (2.) FC Schalke 04 34 19 8 7 53:31 +22 65 GRADE: A Schalke ended up with "nothing", but given the usual mess, there's no argument that new coach Felix Magath did an amazing job in getting the most out of this motley collection of underachievers. Keeping Schalke in contention until the end was quite a surprise, and qualifying for the Champions League is huge. Given Schalke's financial problems, one might expect some retrenching, but Magath is clearly laying the foundation for revival of the club. 3. (3.) SV Werder Bremen (P) 34 17 10 7 71:40 +31 61 GRADE: A- I struggle with the rating of Werder, because they sucked over long stretches, and then turned on the afterburners at times to kick ass. They qualify for Champions League, and were runner up in the Cup. However, when they really needed to step up and claim the glory, they choked. Overall, a good squad, but lacking consistency. 4. (4.) Bayer Leverkusen 34 15 14 5 65:38 +27 59 GRADE: B Leverkusen got off to a great start, but seriously, did anyone actually think that they would not revert to Luserkusen? A good, solid, young squad. They will probably end up losing key players like Kiessling and Helmes when they decide they want trophies or a hell-of-a-lot more money. 5. (5.) Borussia Dortmund 34 16 9 9 54:42 +12 57 GRADE: A- Dortmund has been on a rebuilding phase since their near financial meltdown a few years ago. I think they're back on track, and coach Jürgen Klopp has done a fine job with what frankly is mediocre talent. They run around and fight hard for 90 minutes, which is not enough for the next level. However they qualify for Europe, and are clearly moving in the right direction. 6. (6.) VfB Stuttgart 34 15 10 9 51:41 +10 55 GRADE: B Basically the same comments as Bremen, except Stuttgart sucked even more early before they straightened things out and started kicking ass. Somewhat of a surprise to me, since Swiss coach Christian Gross has generally sucked on the big stage (e.g. Tottenham a few years ago), but he did a fine job. Perhaps it was natural in that they had relied on Mario Gomez too much, and when he schedaddled off to Bayern (to suck), it took a while to find their bearings. However, Cacau merged as a competant replacement, and no team was better after the Winterbreak. And they sneak into Europe as well. 7. (7.) Hamburger SV 34 13 13 8 56:41 +15 52 GRADE: B HSV started out well, and then basically dicked around aimlessly. New coach Bruno Labbadia was worthless, and eventually fired. But it would be unfair to blame it all on him. Management has stripped the club of assets and in all cases replaced strong players with cheaper-yet-overpriced-and-inferior products. Then they all get injured, and what is the coach supposed to do except act as a convenient scapegoat to hide upper management incompetance? So check that, Labbadia did exactly what he was supposed to do, get fired. 8. (8.) VfL Wolfsburg (M) 34 14 8 12 64:58 +6 50 GRADE: B- OK, a defending champ finishing 8th and way out of contention for anything surely merits "F" or something. But c'mon, everybody knew the jig was up. First, Felix Magath created the miracle and jumped ship for Schalke. He knew the rest of the league would come gunning, and didn't want to be around when they started getting stuffed. Replacement Armin Veh wasn't as crappy as folks make out. Wolfsburg's attack was decent, even though Grafite only showed up once in a while. Edin Dzeko is still the best finisher in league, newcomer Obafemi Martins was very effective until injury, and the midfield is good at creating chances. Of course, the defense was kind of like the Italian Army in WWII. I just think Wolfsburg has reverted back to their natural state. They're a good team with holes, capable of better than 8th, but there was no way they were going to even come close to defending the title. 9. (10.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 (N) 34 12 11 11 36:42 -6 47 GRADE: A Sometimes you have to grade based on expectations. I expected Mainz to suck and get relegated. I'm off by a year, so wait till next season :). However, this year, they did a great job by getting points where possible, especially at home. Considering the resources at their disposal, they got maximum return, and that merits a top score. 10. (9.) Eintracht Frankfurt 34 12 10 12 47:54 -7 46 GRADE: C It's the same old story with Frankfurt, kind of like dancing Brazilian forro two step "dois pra la, dois pra ca", back-and-forth, ya-de-ya-da. Good/suck. You get the picture. They are going nowhere, and just need to be sure that they don't have an extended streak of suckitude so they don't get relegated. 11. (11.) 1899 Hoffenheim 34 11 9 14 44:42 +2 42 GRADE: C Hoffenheim has money and young talent, but the league figured them out quickly and there you have it. The talent and money is probably enough to keep them up, but all those fans who were constantly protesting "moneybags Hopp" must feel pretty stupid now. 12. (13.) Borussia M'gladbach 34 10 9 15 43:60 -17 39 GRADE: C Basically a young team with good fight, in general an acceptable season, as they collected points early enough to generally float above relegation. The worry has to be that their talent will end up paying off for some wealthier club. Gladbach in my opinion is a better team than Köln, but their grade is lower, because frankly they're capable of slightly better, whereas Köln sucks. 13. (12.) 1. FC Köln 34 9 11 14 33:42 -9 38 GRADE: B A strange season for Köln. Early on, they had one of the best defenses ever. Of course, the problem was they also had the worst offense. Then they switched to open gates on both ends. In either case, this team is weak, but they got points when they needed, and managed to stay above the relegation zone consistently, which merits a decent grade. 14. (14.) SC Freiburg (N) 34 9 8 17 35:59 -24 35 GRADE: C+ A worthless team, but at least they tried to play some attractive football at times. No talent to speak of. Somewhat of a surprise they stayed up, but obviously there were some teams that really sucked... 15. (15.) Hannover 96 34 9 6 19 43:67 -24 33 GRADE: D- Wow. They were OK to mediocre, and then when GK Robert Enke committed suicide, they totally went off the deep end. They looked a sure relegation candidate, but at the last minute rallied and saved their asses. It could be very difficult next year unless they hire a psychologist. 16. (16.) 1. FC Nürnberg (N) 34 8 7 19 32:58 -26 31 GRADE: D- They sucked most of the time. Luckily, they pulled things together and thumped Augsburg to save their ass. Frankly, I dislike the playoff, so der Club should be going down. They deserve it. 17. (17.) VfL Bochum 34 6 10 18 33:64 -31 28 GRADE: D- No real talent, only fight. And it wasn't enough, but at key times they phoned it in too, and that was fatal. 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 34 5 9 20 34:56 -22 24 GRADE: F They really merit a "G" or "H". The management of this club should be tried for Crimes against Humanity. If this were Balanco Geral in Goiania, it would be "CARTAO VERMELHO PARA OS INCOMPETANTES!!!". Basically, they sucked at a level that raises suckitude to new heights. From a (semi) contender last season to hopeless last? Only the legendary 1969 Nürnberg (from champ to relegation!!) matches this crap. All players and management should be executed. I can't remember if other Germans like Berliners or not, but even if they're arrogant bastards like Müncheners, surely they deserve better?!
OK, I'm back from Brazil, so I'll soon put together my season wrap up. For the moment, a few comments...
This was definitely a season of triumph for Bayern, although they had to work pretty hard for it. Although they fell short in the Champions League, they have to be pretty happy the way things turned out, with yet another double. To me, the main surprises was that Schalke did well; obviously Felix Magath makes a huge difference, and if they can sort out their financial limitations, I'll bet he turns them into a formidable opponent for Bayern. The other potential contenders, such as Bremen, Stuttgart, HSV and Dortmund did about as expected, and everyone knew Luserkusen would choke. Mainz doing so well was a minor suprise, but often promoted teams do well before collapsing. The big surprise was how badly Hertha sucked, although it's a logical progression of continued managerial incomptetance.
The biggest story in the 2.Liga has to be St.Pauli, who weren't really on the radar, and lo and behold, they're back in the Bundesliga with attractive attacking football no less.
For the 3.Liga, it was one of unending bitterness for my Wuppertaler SV, which reached new heights of suckitude and disgracefully finished last place and relegation into oblivion. Which of course means that loyal readers will be subjected to reports from the lower regions next season, which may serve as incentive for you to learn German so you can just read "kicker" on your own, hehehehe...
Note: I'll probably have to follow up later, since I'm in Goiania, Brazil right now to follow up on Atletico Goias..,Yes, they did beat Vitoria 1-0 in the first leg of the semifinals of the Copa Brasil. But due to the sudden chill and lack of interest, nobody showed up at the Serra Dourada to watch...
Anyway, I'll just leave the bare bones and fill in the details with the season recaps later...
Hannover kicked Bochum's ass to save themselves, and der Club had to playoff to survive..
As it was, Nürnberg did defeat Augsburg by a combined 3-0 to keep their spot. However, for the 2.Liga, Ingolstadt upended Rostock by the same total, sending Hansa down into the despair of the 3.Liga. More details when I'm back from Brazil...
Hertha BSC Berlin - FC Bayern München 1:3 (0:1) 1899 Hoffenheim - VfB Stuttgart 1:1 (1:1) SV Werder Bremen - Hamburger SV 1:1 (0:0) SC Freiburg - Borussia Dortmund 3:1 (0:0) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - FC Schalke 04 0:0 (0:0) Borussia M'gladbach - Bayer Leverkusen 1:1 (0:1) VfL Bochum - Hannover 96 0:3 (0:3) 1. FC Nürnberg - 1. FC Köln 1:0 (0:0) VfL Wolfsburg - Eintracht Frankfurt 3:1 (3:0) 1. (1.) FC Bayern München 34 20 10 4 72:31 +41 70 2. (2.) FC Schalke 04 34 19 8 7 53:31 +22 65 3. (3.) SV Werder Bremen 34 17 10 7 71:40 +31 61 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Bayer Leverkusen 34 15 14 5 65:38 +27 59 5. (5.) Borussia Dortmund 34 16 9 9 54:42 +12 57 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) VfB Stuttgart 34 15 10 9 51:41 +10 55 7. (7.) Hamburger SV 34 13 13 8 56:41 +15 52 8. (8.) VfL Wolfsburg 34 14 8 12 64:58 +6 50 9. (10.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 34 12 11 11 36:42 -6 47 10. (9.) Eintracht Frankfurt 34 12 10 12 47:54 -7 46 11. (11.) 1899 Hoffenheim 34 11 9 14 44:42 +2 42 12. (13.) Borussia M'gladbach 34 10 9 15 43:60 -17 39 13. (12.) 1. FC Köln 34 9 11 14 33:42 -9 38 14. (14.) SC Freiburg 34 9 8 17 35:59 -24 35 15. (15.) Hannover 96 34 9 6 19 43:67 -24 33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) 1. FC Nürnberg 34 8 7 19 32:58 -26 31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) VfL Bochum 34 6 10 18 33:64 -31 28 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 34 5 9 20 34:56 -22 24 Nürnberg to playoff against Augsburg 2.Liga: Karlsruher SC - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1:1 (1:1) Alemannia Aachen - MSV Duisburg 1:1 (0:1) Arminia Bielefeld - Rot-Weiss Oberhausen 2:1 (0:1) FC Energie Cottbus - Rot Weiss Ahlen 4:1 (1:0) 1. FC K'lautern - FC Augsburg 1:1 (0:0) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Hansa Rostock 3:1 (2:0) FSV Frankfurt - TuS Koblenz 1:1 (0:1) TSV 1860 München - 1. FC Union Berlin 2:0 (1:0) FC St. Pauli - SC Paderborn 07 1:2 (1:1) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 34 19 10 5 56:28 +28 67 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 34 20 4 10 72:37 +35 64 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Augsburg 34 17 11 6 60:40 +20 62 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 34 17 8 9 48:31 +17 59 5. (6.) SC Paderborn 07 34 14 9 11 49:49 0 51 6. (5.) MSV Duisburg 34 14 8 12 51:46 +5 50 7. (7.) Arminia Bielefeld 34 16 5 13 48:41 +7 49 8. (9.) TSV 1860 München 34 14 6 14 43:45 -2 48 9. (10.) FC Energie Cottbus 34 13 8 13 55:49 +6 47 10. (8.) Karlsruher SC 34 13 7 14 43:45 -2 46 11. (12.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 34 12 8 14 51:50 +1 44 12. (11.) 1. FC Union Berlin 34 11 11 12 42:45 -3 44 13. (13.) Alemannia Aachen 34 11 10 13 37:41 -4 43 14. (14.) Rot-Weiss Oberhausen 34 12 5 17 38:52 -14 41 15. (15.) FSV Frankfurt 34 9 11 14 29:50 -21 38 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) Hansa Rostock 34 10 6 18 33:45 -12 36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) TuS Koblenz 34 7 10 17 35:60 -25 31 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 34 5 7 22 19:55 -36 22 Rostock to playoff against Ingolstadt 3.Liga Holstein Kiel - Borussia Dortmund II 4:3 (3:0) Wacker Burghausen - VfL Osnabrück 0:1 (0:1) Eintracht Braunschweig - FC Rot-Weiss Erfurt 1:1 (1:1) SV Werder Bremen II - FC Erzgebirge Aue 2:1 (1:0) Kickers Offenbach - FC Bayern München II 4:1 (1:1) FC Ingolstadt 04 - SV 1916 Sandhausen 1:1 (0:0) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - VfB Stuttgart II 1:2 (1:0) SpVgg Unterhaching - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 4:3 (1:1) Dynamo Dresden - Wuppertaler SV 3:2 (3:0) Jahn Regensburg - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 2:2 (0:0) 1. (2.) VfL Osnabrück 38 20 9 9 55:37 +18 69 2. (1.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 38 20 8 10 57:41 +16 68 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Ingolstadt 04 38 18 10 10 72:46 +26 64 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Eintracht Braunschweig 38 17 11 10 55:37 +18 62 5. (5.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 38 16 12 10 54:44 +10 60 6. (6.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 38 17 8 13 66:56 +10 59 7. (7.) Kickers Offenbach 38 15 12 11 55:35 +20 57 8. (8.) FC Bayern München II 38 15 9 14 55:65 -10 54 9. (9.) FC Rot-Weiss Erfurt 38 14 11 13 41:41 0 53 10. (10.) VfB Stuttgart II 38 16 4 18 53:50 +3 52 11. (11.) SpVgg Unterhaching 38 13 11 14 52:52 0 50 12. (12.) Dynamo Dresden 38 14 8 16 39:46 -7 50 13. (17.) SV Werder Bremen II 38 13 8 17 49:54 -5 47 14. (14.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 38 11 14 13 54:63 -9 47 15. (13.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 38 13 8 17 52:64 -12 47 16. (16.) Jahn Regensburg 38 11 13 14 43:48 -5 46 17. (15.) Wacker Burghausen 38 13 7 18 45:64 -19 46 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) Borussia Dortmund II 38 11 6 21 43:58 -15 39 19. (20.) Holstein Kiel 38 9 11 18 43:61 -18 38 20. (19.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 38 10 8 20 40:61 -21 38
Bundesliga, Round 33
Bayern München is the champion once again, as Schalke lays an egg. Well, actually, since Bayern beat Bochum, that pretty much ended it all, no matter what the Blues would do, since the goal difference is essentially worth another point.
Bayern really had no trouble with worthless Bochum, whose main achievement was to keep the scoreline respectable. With Schalke losing, it's Bayern's 22nd title and has to be quite satisfying for management and especially coach Louis Van Gaal. A few months ago he was on the verge of being canned, but he stuck to his guns and put together a squad that would play his style, and lo and behold, they could actually end up with a triple. From the match itself, there isn't that much to say, except that youngster Thomas Müller nailed a hattrick, and looks to be the next great Müller in German soccer (Think Gerd, Dieter and Hansi in recent years). Last season he was making a name for himself in Bayern II, and now he's probably headed to South Africa. For Bochum, they were never going to get anything in this match. It's all or nothing for them next week as they host Hannover, so perhaps it's good they didn't go all out here.
Schalke was probably somewhat unlucky to get beaten by Bremen, but Werder took advantage of their chances in the 2nd half, and the Blues didn't. They might rightly complain they were denied a clear penalty in the first half, but this was always gonig to be a difficult assignment. Former Schalke youth player Mesut Özil stabbed the home side in the heart, and Hugo Almeida made sure that the title race ended. For Werder, a huge win, as they hold on to 3rd place going into next week's Nord-derby with HSV.
Leverkusen missed an opportunity to gain an edge in their battle with Bremen. This may go down as yet another disgraceful collapse for Luserkusen, who earlier blew their title shot with some wishy-washy play, and now on on the verge of losing out the Chmapions League as well. Bayer struggled at home against Hertha, hoping for at least the possibility of having something to play for. They needed a win, but couldn't hold on to their lead, and are now officially relegated.
Dortmund missed an opportunity to keep in the CL race as well. They were in a battle against a tough Wolfsburg side, and could only eek out a point. The defending champions basically dug themselves a hole early in the season, but have been pretty decent since.
Hamburg at least showed some signs of life as they ripped a desolate Nürnberg side. It's too late to do anything, but I figure the players at least needed to make a statement that their crap performances were due to ex-coach Bruno Labbadia, and not them. For Nürnberg to roll over like a dog however was quite disgraceful. They need to try and redeem themselves next week at home to Köln, where only a win will do. Freiburg put in a heroic effort and achieved a draw at Köln. The precious point means that SCF is safe from relegation, a fine achievement. I think most pundits would have picked Frieburg to go down when they were struggling, but to their credit, they realized that others were playing like crap, so with a little effort, they could save themselves, and they did.
Hannover started the week in a crappy position, and decided to do something about it. Gladbach was just what the doctor ordered, since they had nothing to play for. So the 96ers stunned everybody, including themselves, as they stormed out and ripped Gladbach's ass. It also means that they're in a decent position as they travel to Bochum next week for the decider. Gladbach should be embarrassed for bending over like this, but perhaps they feel that they've already done their job and just want to go on vacation.
Stuttgart was surprised by an aggressive Mainz side, and had to fight off their visitors to get a draw.
Not that anybody really cares, but Hoffenheim surprised their hosts Farnkfurt in a regional derby.
Borussia Dortmund - VfL Wolfsburg 1:1 (0:0) 80,000 (Stiepermann - Dzeko) Bayer Leverkusen - Hertha BSC Berlin 1:1 (0:1) 30,210 (Friedrich - Raffael) Eintracht Frankfurt - 1899 Hoffenheim 1:2 (1:0) 50,500 (Schwegler - Tagoe 2) FC Schalke 04 - SV Werder Bremen 0:2 (0:0) 61,673 (Özil, Hugo Almeida) FC Bayern München - VfL Bochum 3:1 (2:0) 69,000 (T.Müller 3 - Fuchs) Hannover 96 - Borussia M'gladbach 6:1 (4:0) 49,000 (Haggui, Pinto, Ya Konan, Hanke, Chahed, Bruggink - Hermann) 1. FC Köln - SC Freiburg 2:2 (1:1) 49,200 (Tosic, Freis - Idrissou 2) VfB Stuttgart - 1. FSV Mainz 05 2:2 (0:0) 41,600 (Marica 2 - Fathi, Schürrle) Hamburger SV - 1. FC Nürnberg 4:0 (3:0) 53,727 (Pitriopa, Petric 2, Van Nistelrooy) Attendance: 484,910 (avg 53,879) 1. (1.) FC Bayern München 33 19 10 4 69:30 +39 67 Champions League 2. (2.) FC Schalke 04 33 19 7 7 53:31 +22 64 Champions League 3. (3.) SV Werder Bremen 33 17 9 7 70:39 +31 60 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Bayer Leverkusen 33 15 13 5 64:37 +27 58 5. (5.) Borussia Dortmund 33 16 9 8 53:39 +14 57 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) VfB Stuttgart 33 15 9 9 50:40 +10 54 7. (7.) Hamburger SV 33 13 12 8 55:40 +15 51 8. (8.) VfL Wolfsburg 33 13 8 12 61:57 +4 47 9. (9.) Eintracht Frankfurt 33 12 10 11 46:51 -5 46 10. (10.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 33 12 10 11 36:42 -6 46 11. (11.) 1899 Hoffenheim 33 11 8 14 43:41 +2 41 12. (13.) 1. FC Köln 33 9 11 13 33:41 -8 38 13. (12.) Borussia M'gladbach 33 10 8 15 42:59 -17 38 14. (14.) SC Freiburg 33 8 8 17 32:58 -26 32 15. (17.) Hannover 96 33 8 6 19 40:67 -27 30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (15.) 1. FC Nürnberg 33 7 7 19 31:58 -27 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (16.) VfL Bochum 33 6 10 17 33:61 -28 28 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 33 5 9 19 33:53 -20 24 relegated Goal scorers: Games Goals Assists 1. Edin Dzeko VfL Wolfsburg 33 21 8 2. Stefan Kießling Bayer Leverkusen 32 21 7 3. Kevin Kuranyi FC Schalke 04 32 18 8 4. Lucas Barrios Borussia Dortmund 32 18 5 5. Claudio Pizarro SV Werder Bremen 25 15 3 6. Arjen Robben FC Bayern München 23 14 6 7. Thomas Müller FC Bayern München 33 13 9 8. Cacau VfB Stuttgart 24 12 5 9. Vedad Ibisevic 1899 Hoffenheim 33 12 4 10. Albert Bunjaku 1. FC Nürnberg 27 12 0
2.Liga - 33rd round
It's basically decided at the top: St.Pauli joins Kaiserslautern in returning to the Bundesliga! Pauli travelled to Fürth, where the home side was expected to be a tough nut to crack: In 15 2.Liga matches, St.Pauli has only won twice. The Playmobil-stadion in Fürth was sold out for the first time this season, mostly thanks to the travelling Pauli support. In the 1st half, Greuther was an equal opponent, and even held the lead. However, SP raised their game in the 2nd half and steamrollered their hosts.
Augsburg needed a St.Pauli loss for any realistic chance of grabbing 2nd. As it was, they had a tough time in an evenly matched Bayern derby against 1860. They eventually got a goal after about an hour, and made that one stand up for the win. The Fugger fans will basically now watch their TV screens next week to find out which Bundesliga squad (Bochum, Hannover or Nürnberg) will face them in the playoff.
So the only remaining race is who goes into the relegation playoff. Hansa Rostock had a packed house in an eastern clash against Cottbus, but despite dominating the game, were unable to break down the disciplined Energie defense. Failure to win means that Hansa will likely be in the playoff. FSV Frankfurt was crap against relegated Ahlen, but didn't have too much trouble holding a draw. The Frankfurters face relegated Koblenz next week at home, whereas Rostock travels to Düsseldorf, where it will definitely be tough to win.
Kopblenz said goodbye to the 2.Liga with their home fans with a decent effort in a southwest derby against leaders Kaiserslautern. FCK could still theoretically get caught by St.Pauli for the 2.Liga title, but the Reds fans probably don't care that much, since they're going up anyway.
The other matches didn't really have much going for them. Düsseldorf continued their surprise season with a derby win at Oberhausen. Duisburg gave their fans another dose of suckitude losing to Karlsruhe.
Hansa Rostock - FC Energie Cottbus 0:0 (0:0) 25,000 MSV Duisburg - Karlsruher SC 0:1 (0:0) 13,301 (Fink) 1. FC Union Berlin - Arminia Bielefeld 3:0 (1:0) 17,024 (Brunnemann 2, Dogan) SC Paderborn 07 - Alemannia Aachen 2:1 (0:1) 9,220 (Brückner, Saglik - Stehle) TuS Koblenz - 1. FC K'lautern 2:2 (2:1) 15,000 (Everson, Mavric - Lakic 2) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - FC St. Pauli 1:4 (1:0) 15,200 (Nöthe - Naki, Ebbers, Takyi, Hennings) FC Augsburg - TSV 1860 München 1:0 (0:0) 30,660 (Hegeler) Rot Weiss Ahlen - FSV Frankfurt 0:0 (0:0) 2,920 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:1 (0:1) 14,948 (Kaya o.g.) Attendance: 143,273 (avg 15,919) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 33 19 9 5 55:27 +28 66 promoted 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 33 20 4 9 71:35 +36 64 promoted -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Augsburg 33 17 10 6 59:39 +20 61 promotion playoff -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 33 16 8 9 45:30 +15 56 5. (5.) MSV Duisburg 33 14 7 12 50:45 +5 49 6. (7.) SC Paderborn 07 33 13 9 11 47:48 -1 48 7. (6.) Arminia Bielefeld 33 15 5 13 46:40 +6 46 8. (11.) Karlsruher SC 33 13 6 14 42:44 -2 45 9. (8.) TSV 1860 München 33 13 6 14 41:45 -4 45 10. (10.) FC Energie Cottbus 33 12 8 13 51:48 +3 44 11. (13.) 1. FC Union Berlin 33 11 11 11 42:43 -1 44 12. (9.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 33 12 7 14 50:49 +1 43 13. (12.) Alemannia Aachen 33 11 9 13 36:40 -4 42 14. (14.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 33 12 5 16 37:50 -13 41 15. (15.) FSV Frankfurt 33 9 10 14 28:49 -21 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) Hansa Rostock 33 10 6 17 32:42 -10 36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) TuS Koblenz 33 7 9 17 34:59 -25 30 relegated 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 33 5 7 21 18:51 -33 22 relegated Goal scorers: Games Goals Assists 1. Michael Thurk FC Augsburg 29 23 3 2. Marius Ebbers FC St. Pauli 32 18 7 3. Mahir Saglik SC Paderborn 07 25 14 8 4. Erik Jendrisek 1. FC K'lautern 29 14 2 5. Christopher Nöthe SpVgg Greuther Fürth 32 13 5 6. Benjamin Auer Alemannia Aachen 29 13 3 7. Giovanni Federico Arminia Bielefeld 31 12 10 8. Sami Allagui SpVgg Greuther Fürth 30 12 7 9. Martin Harnik Fortuna Düsseldorf 28 12 3 10. Emil Jula FC Energie Cottbus 31 11 11
3.Liga - 37th round
It all comes down to next week for the last promotion issues to get settled. If Osnabrück doesn't lose at Burghausen, they're promoted. If Ingolstadt doesn't lose at home to Sandhausen, they are in the promotion playoff. Both of those scenarios are very likely, so I wouldn't expect much of change.
Erzgebirge Aue assured promotion to the 2.Liga in a hard fought win over Braunschweig. The visitors still have a minimal chance of sneaking into a playoff, but that's almost as likely as Schalke still winning the Bundesliga title.
Jena had their last hopes for promotion eliminated as they struggled to a draw at relegated Wuppertal.
Borussia Dortmund II - Jahn Regensburg 2:0 (2:0) 956 (Boztepe, Hünemeier) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - Dynamo Dresden 3:0 (3:0) 8,214 (Spann 2, Mayer) Wuppertaler SV - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 1:1 (1:0) 1,954 (Fischer - Amrhein) VfB Stuttgart II - SpVgg Unterhaching 3:1 (2:0) 700 (Schipplock 2, Didavi - Leandro) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - FC Ingolstadt 04 1:5 (1:3) 5,100 (Ziemer - Ruprecht, Keidel, Leitl, Gerber 2) SV 1916 Sandhausen - Kickers Offenbach 1:1 (1:0) 1,600 (Jungwirth - Tosunoglu) FC Bayern München II - SV Werder Bremen II 2:1 (1:0) 690 (Yilmaz, Sene - Feldhahn) FC Erzgebirge Aue - Eintracht Braunschweig 2:1 (0:0) 15,000 (Hensel, le Beau - Boland) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Wacker Burghausen 1:1 (1:1) 4,331 (Malura - El Haj Ali) VfL Osnabrück - Holstein Kiel 3:1 (0:1) 15,200 (Schmidt 2, Lindemann - Heider) Attendance: 53,745 (avg 5,375) 1. (1.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 37 20 8 9 56:39 +17 68 promoted 2. (2.) VfL Osnabrück 37 19 9 9 54:37 +17 66 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (4.) FC Ingolstadt 04 37 18 9 10 71:45 +26 63 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) Eintracht Braunschweig 37 17 10 10 54:36 +18 61 5. (5.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 37 16 12 9 53:42 +11 60 6. (6.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 37 17 7 13 64:54 +10 58 7. (7.) Kickers Offenbach 37 14 12 11 51:34 +17 54 8. (9.) FC Bayern München II 37 15 9 13 54:61 -7 54 9. (8.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 37 14 10 13 40:40 0 52 10. (13.) VfB Stuttgart II 37 15 4 18 51:49 +2 49 11. (10.) SpVgg Unterhaching 37 12 11 14 48:49 -1 47 12. (11.) Dynamo Dresden 37 13 8 16 36:44 -8 47 13. (12.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 37 13 8 16 49:60 -11 47 14. (15.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 37 11 13 13 53:62 -9 46 15. (16.) Wacker Burghausen 37 13 7 17 45:63 -18 46 16. (14.) Jahn Regensburg 37 11 12 14 41:46 -5 45 17. (17.) SV Werder Bremen II 37 12 8 17 47:53 -6 44 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (19.) Borussia Dortmund II 37 11 6 20 40:54 -14 39 relegated 19. (18.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 37 10 8 19 38:58 -20 38 relegated 20. (20.) Holstein Kiel 37 8 11 18 39:58 -19 35 relegated Goal scorers: Games Goals 1. Regis Dorn SV 1916 Sandhausen 33 21 2. Moritz Hartmann FC Ingolstadt 04 35 20 3. Orlando Smeekes FC Carl Zeiss Jena 36 17 4. Dennis Kruppke Eintracht Braunschweig 35 15 5. Andreas Spann 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 34 15 6. Michael Holt Holstein Kiel 32 14 7. Sven Schipplock VfB Stuttgart II 31 13 8. Tobias Schweinsteiger SpVgg Unterhaching 34 13 9. Deniz Yilmaz FC Bayern München II 28 13 10. Eric Agyemang FC Erzgebirge Aue 23 12
Bayern advances to Champions League final
Bayern München gave a suprisingly strong performance, or more accurately, host Olympique Lyon was crap. In anay case, Ivica Olic scored a hat-trick with a great effort, and Bayern waltzed to a 3-0 away win to go along with their 1-0 from München. Since Inter Milan held off Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate, Arjen Robben is set for a triumphant return to the Bernabeu in Madrid for the final, assuming he doesn't stub his toe on the sidewalk and miss due to injury.
Bochum makes bold move
Well, actually, it's pretty pathetic. The board fired coach Heiko Herrlich with two matches remaining, as if HH is responsible for the complete lack of talent. Well, maybe he is, but in any case, now his assistant, Bochum legend Darius Wosz, has two games to save the club. And the first assignment is an away match at Bayern München, oh what fun. The only issue with this whole mess is that if they were going to fire Herrlich, they should have done it weeks ago so the new guy would have a chance to make a difference. Or they should fire him at the season end so they have a scapegoat to hide their own incompetance.
Kuranyi to the Russian Front?
Apparently Schalke star Kevin Kuranyi may be signing with Dynamo Moscow, a famous but mediocre club of the Russian League. At least that is what "kicker" is reporting. Kuranyi contract runs out at the end of the season, so he is free to go wherever he can get a contract offer. Apparently the Russkis are offering big euros. Still, this would be about the dumbest thing for his career that he could do. The Russian League? It would be pretty clear he would only be showing up for a paycheck. I would think Kuranyi could find some crappy team in Italy, Spain or England for greater challenge. However, rumours are that he's demanding big money, so anybody financially prudent is apparently not interested. I'm somewhat on the fence regarding Kuranyi. This season he's proven to be a beast up front for Schalke, and here are lots of clubs around Europe that could use his skills. There is a lot of clamour for Joachim Löw to allow him back in the national team, but I'm not sure it's going to happen. Yes, he is probably the in form striker in the Bundesliga (along with Stefan Kiessling), and certainly has a better record than worthless Mario Gomez, but Löw will pick the players he's comfortable with, and Kuranyi ain't on that list. And since the German team is all about the sum being greater than the individual parts, Kuranyi will probably be watching South Africa 2010 on HDTV...
Scalke coach Felix Magath hasn't commented, but has been making moves indicating he's not serious about getting Kuranyi stick around. Defender Christoph Metzelder has apparently agreed to terms. The German international has had an unhappy stay at Real Madrid, largely due to the "Bankholzsplinterimarschverletzung" injury he suffered. The Spaniards are only to happy to dump his ass, despite the fact their own defense is easily confused with circus-clowns. My guess is that Metzelder settles in nicely with Schalke, and helps strengthen an already tight defense. Magath has also signed up Slovak forward Ervin Jendrisek from Kaiserslautern. Jendrisek has had a nice season as FCK waltzed through the 2.Liga, and could be a nice bargain if he pans out. Also in the running is Mainz forward Aristide Bancé. The Burkina-Fasso international has been very effective as the main threat in Mainz successful return to the Bundesliga. Bancé is supposedly courted by various EPL clubs, but only Schalke could offer Champions League play.
Bundesliga, Round 32
Things are coming down to the wire. Leaders Bayern München controlled the match at Gladbach, but were unable to break down a disciplined home side. Indeed, the hosts counterattacked effectively and took the lead, and had Bayern on the ropes. It took a nice header by the forgotten man, Miro Klose, to save Bayern's ass. And it needed saving, as near the end of the match, Schalke took the win in Berlin against Hertha, and have now tied for the lead. Bayern still has the inside track due to superior goal difference, but they can't afford to slip up. A good result for Gladbach, showing excellent fighting spirit. Meanwhile, Hertha's defeat was their 15th straight home match without a win, which passes the record of a true Bundesliga legend, another Berlin club: the 1966 Tasmania 1900 Berlin, the worst squad ever. Although mathematically Hertha could still make the relegation playoff, that doesn't seem likely, since they have another home game. If management had any sense of honor, they would kill themselves to avoid the dishonor they have brought upon the club. Schalke is still doing it with mirrors, and are keeping the pressure on Bayern. Seems like another Coach of the Year award is in store for Felix Magath.
Werder Bremen has been charging hard, but had to rely on luck to crack a tough Köln nut. Köln gave a debut to GK Harry Kessler, deputizing for the injured Faryd Mondragon. Kessler was brilliant, and Bremen was exasperated, until an injury time handball gave them a penalty and the win. And they needed all the points, as their Champions League spot is under assault from other clubs. A tough break for Köln, as most pundits expected them to get their asses reamed against a rampant Bremen, yet hard work saw them only seconds from a point.
Leverkusen seems to have gotten back on track, as they made short shrift of worthless Hannover. Stefan Kiessling is scoring again, and the world is good, with a CL qualification still within reach. The Aspirins need to pad their goal difference, so they missed some opportunity against the 96ers. Hannover was looking up after dumping Schalke a couple of weeks ago, but it's pretty clear they blew their entire wad in that match. They've been pounded silly since, so their fans have to hope they haven't suffered further psychological damage.
Borussia Dortmund is keeping their hope alive, thanks to the great form of Argie striker Lucas Barrios. He dropped host Nürnberg into the toilet with his hat-trick, and keeps the Neons in the running for what would be a sensational CL qualifier. This is a horrible loss for Nürnberg, who are now barely above water.
Stuttgart had no problems at Bochum. They wrapped up the match in about 20 minutes and then coasted home, preserving energy against a hapless VfL squad. Bochum appears to lack talent to stay up, and perhaps should concentrate on holding onto the relegation playoff spot.
Freiburg managed to score and then desperately hold on. They were partially fortunate that Wolfsburg is going nowhere, so the VWs were taking a nap in the 1st half. However, in the second period they pressured Freiburg, who was on the verge of conceding, but somehow managed to stave off the strike. As a result, a massive win for SCF, which gives them an ideal position to avoid relegation.
It's pretty clear the wheels have fallen off Hamburg, and they proved it by getting mauled in Hoffenheim. The Hopp-ers have been pretty crap most of the season, but showed they can bare some fangs once in a while, and they kicked HSV's ass all over the place. Not a pretty site, and unless HSV pull off a (unlikely) win at Fulham in Europa-liga, I think coach Bruno Labbadia's ass is grass. Of course, it's not completely his fault, the Hertha comment about discovering Japanese traditions applies to Hamburg as well. The players are of course not completely blameless either, as several observors have pointed out they were playing like they were on strike...
NEWS FLASH: Bruno Labbadia got his ass fired on Monday!! His replacement is Frankie Muniz, the famed child actor who starred in the TV series "Malcolm in the Middle" and brilliant feature films like "My Dog Skip" in 2000. Evidently HSV management figured that this was the best way forward "to bring HSV to the next level". It seems a bit strange, but perhaps beneath the wimpy exterior displayed by Muniz in his TV role lies a Vinnie Jones type hardness. If so, this could certainly be the move necessary to turn things around in Hamburg, a bold move by HSV directors. I have to admit, I probably wouldn't have gone to a 25 year old ex-child actor who still looks about 12, but that's why I just have this useless blog and am not at the top of the HSV leadership!
Another news flash: Oops, I got that wrong. Labbadia's ass is grass, but his replacement is co-trainer Ricardo Moniz, not Frankie Muniz. Evidently HSV management's bold move was scuppered by the fact that the Hollywood star was unable to get out of his commitment to the future Oscar candidate film "Pizza Man". This endeth the HSV leadership's daring out-of-the-box effort to outdo Bayern as the new "FC Hollywood"...
Mainz was alseep early, and visitors Frankfurt pounced like a pack of hyenas in local derby. The hosts did come roaring back, and the fans were treated to a wildly entertaining shootout. Two clubs going nowhere, but admirable pride saw to it that they weren't just going through the motions.
VfL Bochum - VfB Stuttgart 0:2 (0:2) 25,341 (Cacau, Marica) Borussia M'gladbach - FC Bayern München 1:1 (0:0) 54,057 (Reus - Klose) 1. FC Nürnberg - Borussia Dortmund 2:3 (1:1) 48,548 (Frantz, Eigler - Barrios 3) Hertha BSC Berlin - FC Schalke 04 0:1 (0:0) 61,902 (Westermann) Bayer Leverkusen - Hannover 96 3:0 (1:0) 30,210 (Kiessling 2, Kaplan) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - Eintracht Frankfurt 3:3 (1:2) 20,300 (Bancé 2, Simak - Meier 2, Korkmaz) SV Werder Bremen - 1. FC Köln 1:0 (0:0) 37,900 (Frings) 1899 Hoffenheim - Hamburger SV 5:1 (3:0) 30,150 (Ibisevic 2, Obasi 2, Salihovic - Tesche) SC Freiburg - VfL Wolfsburg 1:0 (1:0) 22,700 (Makiadi) Attendance: 331,108 (avg 36,790) 1. (1.) FC Bayern München 32 18 10 4 66:29 +37 64 Champions League 2. (2.) FC Schalke 04 32 19 7 6 53:29 +24 64 Champions League 3. (3.) SV Werder Bremen 32 16 9 7 68:39 +29 57 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Bayer Leverkusen 32 15 12 5 63:36 +27 57 5. (5.) Borussia Dortmund 32 16 8 8 52:38 +14 56 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) VfB Stuttgart 32 15 8 9 48:38 +10 53 7. (7.) Hamburger SV 32 12 12 8 51:40 +11 48 8. (8.) VfL Wolfsburg 32 13 7 12 60:56 +4 46 9. (9.) Eintracht Frankfurt 32 12 10 10 45:49 -4 46 10. (10.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 32 12 9 11 34:40 -6 45 11. (13.) 1899 Hoffenheim 32 10 8 14 41:40 +1 38 12. (12.) Borussia M'gladbach 32 10 8 14 41:53 -12 38 13. (11.) 1. FC Köln 32 9 10 13 31:39 -8 37 14. (16.) SC Freiburg 32 8 7 17 30:56 -26 31 15. (14.) 1. FC Nürnberg 32 7 7 18 31:54 -23 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (15.) VfL Bochum 32 6 10 16 32:58 -26 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) Hannover 96 32 7 6 19 34:66 -32 27 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 32 5 8 19 32:52 -20 23 Goal scorers: Games Goals Assists 1. Stefan Kießling Bayer Leverkusen 31 21 7 2. Edin Dzeko VfL Wolfsburg 32 20 8 3. Kevin Kuranyi FC Schalke 04 31 18 8 4. Lucas Barrios Borussia Dortmund 31 18 5 5. Claudio Pizarro SV Werder Bremen 24 15 3 6. Arjen Robben FC Bayern München 22 14 6 7. Cacau VfB Stuttgart 23 12 4 8. Vedad Ibisevic 1899 Hoffenheim 32 12 4 9. Albert Bunjaku 1. FC Nürnberg 26 12 0 10. Eren Derdiyok Bayer Leverkusen 31 11 5
2.Liga - 32nd round
There was a promotion party scheduled in Kaiserslautern as the largest crowd ever showed up at Fritz-Walter-Stadion to celebrate the Reds return to the Bundesliga after several seasons of 2.Liga wilderness. However, Hansa Rostock was the guest that dropped a turd in the punchbowl, as the desperate easterners grabbed crucial points in their relegation battle. FCK dominated the match, but Rostock defended valiantly to grab the crucial win. In the end, the home side really only saw their celebration delayed, as Augsburg was unable to win in at Frankfurt. FCA needed to win to prevent Lautern from assuring promotion, but they had their hands full with battling FSV Frankfurt. The hosts fell behind but pressured Augsburg throughout the match, and eventually knotted the score, gaining a critical point. The battle between Rostock and Frankfurt to avoid the relegation playoff is the only race that's really left.
St.Pauli had a rough time with Koblenz early on, as the vistors were battling to maintain at least a tiny chance of avoiding relegation. The Paulistas looked to wrap thinsg up early, but missed two penalties before a double-strike prior to the half-time whistle ended the match. In the 2nd period, SP was unstoppable and could have had more. As it was, the rout ensures that they'll at least be in a promtoion playoff, and their now 4 point lead over Augsburg almost looks good enough for the assured jump. Koblenz is going down, as only a fantasy or science-fiction writer could come up with a scenario of their salvation.
Virtually all the other matches were of the "ho-hum" variety, as nobody has anything to play for. Düsseldorf still has a mathematical chance of catching Augsburg, but that's about it.
Karlsruher SC - Rot Weiss Ahlen 1:0 (1:0) 15,904 (Langkamp) 1. FC K'lautern - Hansa Rostock 0:1 (0:1) 50,000 (Bülow) FC St. Pauli - TuS Koblenz 6:1 (2:0) 19,686 (Takyi 2, Naki, Ebbers, Hennings, Lehmann - Pourie) Alemannia Aachen - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 2:2 (1:0) 18,429 (Özgen, Gueye - Allagui, Herzig o.g.) MSV Duisburg - SC Paderborn 07 2:3 (0:1) 11,765 (Exslager, Vidosic - Saglik 2, Brandy) TSV 1860 München - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 2:2 (2:2) 16,900 (Lauth, Mlapa - Schmidtgal, König) FSV Frankfurt - FC Augsburg 1:1 (0:0) 6,382 (Cidimar - Thurk) Arminia Bielefeld - Fortuna Düsseldorf 1:1 (0:1) 13,900 (Fort - Heidinger) FC Energie Cottbus - 1. FC Union Berlin 4:2 (2:1) 15,940 (Petersen 2, Jula, Rivic - Peitz, Mattuschka) Attendance: 168,906 (avg 18,767) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 32 19 8 5 53:25 +28 65 promoted 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 32 19 4 9 67:34 +33 61 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Augsburg 32 16 10 6 58:39 +19 58 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 32 15 8 9 44:30 +14 53 5. (5.) MSV Duisburg 32 14 7 11 50:44 +6 49 6. (6.) Arminia Bielefeld 32 15 5 12 46:37 +9 46 (* -4 pts) 7. (9.) SC Paderborn 07 32 12 9 11 45:47 -2 45 8. (7.) TSV 1860 München 32 13 6 13 41:44 -3 45 9. (8.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 32 12 7 13 49:45 +4 43 10. (12.) FC Energie Cottbus 32 12 7 13 51:48 +3 43 11. (14.) Karlsruher SC 32 12 6 14 41:44 -3 42 12. (11.) Alemannia Aachen 32 11 9 12 35:38 -3 42 13. (10.) 1. FC Union Berlin 32 10 11 11 39:43 -4 41 14. (13.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 32 12 5 15 37:49 -12 41 15. (15.) FSV Frankfurt 32 9 9 14 28:49 -21 36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) Hansa Rostock 32 10 5 17 32:42 -10 35 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) TuS Koblenz 32 7 8 17 32:57 -25 29 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 32 5 6 21 18:51 -33 21 relegated * - Bielefeld subtracted 4 points for being wankers
3.Liga - 36th round
Things are remaining exciting in the promotion race. Aue continues on top, as they handled Burghausen easily enough. Osnabrück brought a bunch of fans to Dortmund, who probably had their largest crowd ever. Not only did the vistors keep their hold on 2nd, but they did the league a favor by dumping Dortmund. Braunschweig holds the last promotion chance, as two of the trailing clubs suffered reverses. Ingolstadt couldn't win against Stuttgart-II, and Jena suffered a calamitous loss at home, in injury time, to Heidenheim. Although Carl-Zeiss is not out of it, they severely damaged their chances.
The sucking sound you heard was the death throes of Wuppertal, as WSV was completely crap and lost deservedly at Unterhaching. The players were listless, and couldn't even generate a single half-decent chance. Now 7 points off the pace, this great club is all but mathematically relegated. Under normal circumstances you'd expect some massive changes in the offseason, although it will be more of the same crap next year. Just for once you wish management would follow the Japanese samurai tradition and commit seppuku.
Kickers Offenbach - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 3:0 (2:0) 6,200 (Mesic, Zinnow, Ulm) Dynamo Dresden - Jahn Regensburg 0:2 (0:1) 11,400 (Schlauderer, Stoilov) Borussia Dortmund II - VfL Osnabrück 1:2 (1:1) 8,603 (Tyrala - Kotuljac, Pinheiro) Holstein Kiel - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:2 (0:1) 2,681 (Holt - Kammlott, Rockenbach da Silva) Wacker Burghausen - FC Erzgebirge Aue 0:2 (0:2) 3,400 (Klingbeil, Agyemang) Eintracht Braunschweig - FC Bayern München II 3:1 (1:1) 16,420 (Calamita, Dogan, Boland - Sene) SV Werder Bremen II - SV 1916 Sandhausen 3:0 (0:0) 1,420 (Perthel, Wagner, Ayik) SpVgg Unterhaching - Wuppertaler SV 1:0 (1:0) 3,000 (Steegmann) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 1:2 (1:1) 9,664 (Smeekes - Spann, Schnatterer) FC Ingolstadt 04 - VfB Stuttgart II 1:1 (1:1) 3,502 (Schwarz - Rupprecht) Attendance: 66,290 (avg 6,629) 1. (1.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 35 19 7 9 52:36 +16 64 2. (2.) VfL Osnabrück 36 18 9 9 51:36 +15 63 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (4.) Eintracht Braunschweig 36 17 10 9 53:34 +19 61 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) FC Ingolstadt 04 36 17 9 10 66:44 +22 60 5. (5.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 35 15 11 9 49:39 +10 56 6. (6.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 36 16 7 13 61:54 +7 55 7. (7.) Kickers Offenbach 36 14 11 11 50:33 +17 53 8. (8.) FC Bayern München II 35 14 8 13 50:58 -8 50 9. (12.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 35 13 9 13 36:39 -3 48 10. (14.) SpVgg Unterhaching 36 12 11 13 47:46 +1 47 11. (9.) Dynamo Dresden 35 13 8 14 36:40 -4 47 12. (11.) VfB Stuttgart II 36 14 4 18 48:48 0 46 13. (10.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 35 13 7 15 46:53 -7 46 14. (16.) Jahn Regensburg 36 11 12 13 41:44 -3 45 15. (13.) Wacker Burghausen 35 13 6 16 42:59 -17 45 16. (17.) SV Werder Bremen II 36 12 8 16 46:51 -5 44 17. (15.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 35 11 11 13 50:59 -9 44 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 35 10 7 18 37:54 -17 37 19. (19.) Borussia Dortmund II 36 10 6 20 38:54 -16 36 relegated 20. (20.) Holstein Kiel 35 7 11 17 37:55 -18 32 relegated
Euro play
Bayern München managed to sneak by Olympique Lyon 1-0 in the Champions League semi-final. Once again, it was Arjen Robben who gave Bayern the advantage. In general, Bayern clearly controlled the match, although they were in potential trouble when Franck Ribery got his ass tossed in the 37th minute for a nasty fould on Lisandro Lopez. Luckily for the home side, Lyon's Jeremy Toulalan went psycho and got double carded in the 54th. This win at least puts them on track for a trip to the final, although it will be a tough match in Lyon. Last time (2001) Bayern visited, they were bitchslapped 0-3, although the squads are quite a bit different today.
3.Liga, Makeup games
The only big surprise here is that Kiel fought it out with Braunschweig, who could have jumped into a promotion spot with the expected win. However the Holsteiners were desperately trying to salvage their last hope and wouldn't give up. Unfortunately for them, the other results conspire against them, so this was probably their last hurrah. They're going down. Braunschweig has quietly moved up, but faltered at the opportunity to capitalize. Jena was also held away, so they don't move either.
Wuppertal kept their slight chances alive, as once again they proved to be tough on the road (They ranked 6th in the away table). WSV outplayed the youngsters from VfB Stuttgart II to bring home the bacon. Unfortunately for WSV, they still have to play another two games at home, so their chances of getting enough points are slim. One of the reasons is that Werder Bremen II easily rolled Regensburg to keep their heads above the relegation zoners. Dortmund II was snakebitten, as they suffered a late injury time goal to rob them of what could have been a crucial win.
FC Bayern München II - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 0:0 (0:0) 1,300 Holstein Kiel - Eintracht Braunschweig 1:1 (0:1) 3,880 (Wulff - Dannenberg) VfB Stuttgart II - Wuppertaler SV 1:3 (1:2) 350 (Schipplock - Neunaber, Formento 2) SV Werder Bremen II - Jahn Regensburg 4:1 (0:1) 855 (Wagner, Futacs 3 - Stoilov) Borussia Dortmund II - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 1:1 (1:0) 904 (Boztepe - Jarosch) 1. (1.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 34 18 7 9 50:36 +14 61 2. (2.) VfL Osnabrück 35 17 9 9 49:35 +14 60 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Ingolstadt 04 35 17 8 10 65:43 +22 59 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Eintracht Braunschweig 35 16 10 9 50:33 +17 58 5. (5.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 34 15 11 8 48:37 +11 56 6. (6.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 35 15 7 13 59:53 +6 52 7. (7.) Kickers Offenbach 35 13 11 11 47:33 +14 50 8. (8.) FC Bayern München II 34 14 8 12 49:55 -6 50 9. (9.) Dynamo Dresden 34 13 8 13 36:38 -2 47 10. (10.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 34 13 7 14 46:50 -4 46 11. (11.) VfB Stuttgart II 35 14 3 18 47:47 0 45 12. (12.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 34 12 9 13 34:38 -4 45 13. (13.) Wacker Burghausen 34 13 6 15 42:57 -15 45 14. (14.) SpVgg Unterhaching 35 11 11 13 46:46 0 44 15. (15.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 34 11 11 12 50:56 -6 44 16. (16.) Jahn Regensburg 35 10 12 13 39:44 -5 42 17. (17.) SV Werder Bremen II 35 11 8 16 43:51 -8 41 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 34 10 7 17 37:53 -16 37 19. (19.) Borussia Dortmund II 35 10 6 19 37:52 -15 36 20. (20.) Holstein Kiel 34 7 11 16 36:53 -17 32
Bundesliga, Round 31
Arjen Robben is a wild-man. He was superb at Chelski when he wasn't in the hospital, and then was dumb enough to go to Madrid. But he recognized his mistake and got the hell out, and now is playing like off the planet. Bayern you would think would be nice to Hannover, as the 96ers may have handed them the title by stunning Schalke last week. So the 96ers waltzed into the Allianz perhaps thinking the hosts would take it easy on them. No chance, as they were slapped silly by rabid Robben and the rest of the ingrates.
Schalke hasn't given up, but they'll need lots of luck and some big help from somebody. Still, the Blues got back on track and dumped stubborn Gladbach in a hotly contested regional clash.
Luserkusen is living up to their name. This time, Tranquilo Barnetta was anything but his name, as he managed to get his ass tossed only a few minutes after Stefan Kiessling's early lead. To their credit the Pepto-Bismols put up a good fight and still created several chances, but Cacau has been on fire in the last month, and he dispatched the Aspirins. Stuttgart has been the best club since the winterbreak by far, more than doubling(!) their point total from the 1st half.
Werder Bremen continues to charge up the table, and have now kicked the Alka-Seltzers out of a Champions League spot. (I hereby formally apologize to Luserkusen for calling them Pepto-Bismols, since the club would have to be named Proctor-Gamble Leverkusen instead of Bayer...). Bremen met up at Wolfsburg for a revived Nordderby. (Previously nobody outside of the Kraftdurchfreudestadt even cared about the Volkswagens, but since they won the title, they've been packing them in like 60s college students cramming into a VW bug). The Wolfsburgers were up to the challenge at the start with their deadly strikers, but gradually Werder took over the match and beat down their hosts with a club. Actually it was started by Torsten Frings, he is a bit of a thug, so it's appropriate he delivers the beat-down. In a bit of a surprise, the VWs announced that their new coach for the upcoming season is none other than Gerard Houllier! GM Dieter Hoeness made the announcement stating that the Frenchie was the dream candidate, even though most speculation was that Markus Babbel was actually the frontrunner and he turned it down. Supposedly Christian Ziege was also in the running. And interim coach Köstner, who has done a pretty nice job? "No team for you!" It will be interesting to see how Houllier does in Germany, as he does seem a bit of an underachiever.
Dortmund hurt themselves with a lame performance, they could barely string two passes together. Of course, they were hurt with the early injuries of Mohamad Zidan and Nuri Sahin, who got socked in the nose. Still, you'd have expected more against a struggling Hoffenheim. But the Hoppers kept plugging away as the Neons basically started phoning it in after they took the lead, and were rewarded with a late goal. Both teams did lots of running around. Dortmund fans spent most of the game whistling whenever the Hoppers touched the ball. I guess it's their lame protest against Hoffenheim sugar-daddy Dietmar Hopp and his money. They should have been protesting the Neon's proclivity to kick the ball to a blue shirt every 5 seconds instead.
Hamburg is falling apart. They sucked at home against Mainz, who probably hoped to sneak a point given HSV's recent struggles. That wasn't a bad idea, considering Mainz was the league's worst road team. But as HSV came out running around aimlessly, the guests realized that this emperor had no clothes, so they kicked Hamburg in the balls and took home all the bacon. I think Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia is now officially the Emperor... Well, actually it's upper management, but I can't remember who those bozos are. Poor Bruno can probably only save his ass if HSV win the Europaliga now.
Freiburg and Nürnberg clashed in a desperation battle, and the hosts came away with a deserved win. They really controlled most of the match, and in some cases were their own worst enemy. Nürnberg never looked like they could win this one, and miss a chance to give themselves some breathing room. Instead, they got a big whiff of sulfur and could be headed for a derby in Fürth...
Bochum continues in free fall. They basically sucked, so host Köln had little trouble in dispatching them. With 9 points and a superior goal difference, Köln is now virtually mathematically safe. Bochum is only holding on by goal difference now.
Hertha is running out of time. They managed to get a point at Frankfurt, but they had their hosts down twice and needed all the marbles. They're not mathematically dead yet, but this is a big step forward to their future Berlin derby with Union. Frankfurt is back to their dicking around. Although their comeback effort was decent, they should have slapped the Berliners if they wanted to demonstrate any ambition.
1. FC Köln - VfL Bochum 2:0 (1:0) 46,000 (Tosic 2) VfB Stuttgart - Bayer Leverkusen 2:1 (1:1) 41,500 (Cacau 2 - Kiessling) VfL Wolfsburg - SV Werder Bremen 2:4 (2:1) 30,000 (Dzeko, Grafite - Frings 2, Pizarro, Hugo Almeida) FC Schalke 04 - Borussia M'gladbach 3:1 (2:1) 61,673 (Rakitic 2, Farfan - Bobadilla) Hamburger SV - 1. FSV Mainz 05 0:1 (0:1) 55,292 (Bancé) SC Freiburg - 1. FC Nürnberg 2:1 (1:0) 22,800 (Maroh 2 - Cissé o.g.) FC Bayern München - Hannover 96 7:0 (3:0) 69,000 (Olic 2, T. Müller 2, Robben 3) Borussia Dortmund - 1899 Hoffenheim 1:1 (0:0) 80,100 (Valdez - Ibisevic) Eintracht Frankfurt - Hertha BSC Berlin 2:2 (1:2) 49,800 (Korkmaz, Russ - Kacar, Raffael) Attendance: 456,165 (avg 50,685) 1. (1.) FC Bayern München 31 18 9 4 65:28 +37 63 2. (2.) FC Schalke 04 31 18 7 6 52:29 +23 61 3. (5.) SV Werder Bremen 31 15 9 7 67:39 +28 54 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) Bayer Leverkusen 31 14 12 5 60:36 +24 54 5. (4.) Borussia Dortmund 31 15 8 8 49:36 +13 53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (7.) VfB Stuttgart 31 14 8 9 46:38 +8 50 7. (6.) Hamburger SV 31 12 12 7 50:35 +15 48 8. (8.) VfL Wolfsburg 31 13 7 11 60:55 +5 46 9. (9.) Eintracht Frankfurt 31 12 9 10 42:46 -4 45 10. (10.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 31 12 8 11 31:37 -6 44 11. (13.) 1. FC Köln 31 9 10 12 31:38 -7 37 12. (11.) Borussia M'gladbach 31 10 7 14 40:52 -12 37 13. (12.) 1899 Hoffenheim 31 9 8 14 36:39 -3 35 14. (14.) 1. FC Nürnberg 31 7 7 17 29:51 -22 28 15. (15.) VfL Bochum 31 6 10 15 32:56 -24 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (17.) SC Freiburg 31 7 7 17 29:56 -27 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (16.) Hannover 96 31 7 6 18 34:63 -29 27 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 31 5 8 18 32:51 -19 23 Goal scorers: Games Goals Assists 1. Edin Dzeko VfL Wolfsburg 31 20 8 2. Stefan Kießling Bayer Leverkusen 30 19 7 3. Kevin Kuranyi FC Schalke 04 30 18 8 4. Lucas Barrios Borussia Dortmund 30 15 5 5. Claudio Pizarro SV Werder Bremen 23 15 3 6. Arjen Robben FC Bayern München 21 14 6 7. Albert Bunjaku 1. FC Nürnberg 25 12 0 8. Eren Derdiyok Bayer Leverkusen 30 11 5 9. Grafite VfL Wolfsburg 28 11 4 10. Cacau VfB Stuttgart 22 11 3
2.Liga - 31st round
St.Pauli did themselves an anti-favor as they got dumped away by Union. In an even battle between two "Kult" clubs, the Berliners managed to pull out a win with a late win. Union has had a decent season as a newcomer. They got off to an early good start this campaign, and those points gathered has allowed them to have no relegation worries, despite the slow drain down the table.
Augsburg is back in the race for auto-promotion. The Fuggerstädter beat down the Zebras from Duisburg, and climb right back on Pauli's ass. I have to admit that this is a fair surprise for me, since I figured they would probably be a worthless, ho-hum club that I could safely ignore all season, aside from some comic relief by calling them the "Fuggers" now and then. After their hiding at St.Pauli last week, one might have expected them to lick their wounds and concentrate on holding 3rd. Both FCA and St.Pauli will likely be having something to do with promotion, but since 3rd place has to playoff with the Bundesliga 16th, you really want to finish second. The Paulistas will kick themselves for letting a point slip away. As for Duisburg, this has been a disappointing season. They've flattered to deceive, always holding out the possibility for a concerted push which never really materialized.
Düsseldorf kept their slim promotion chance alive as they handled 1860. For their first season back in the upper leagues of German football, it's been a nice run for Fortuna. They seem to have started to win over the snotty Düsseldorf fans, who always gave lukewarm support in the old days when the club was actually a successful Bundesliga fixture. The prospect of massive western derbies with the likes of Köln, Gladbach, Dortmund, Schalke and Düsseldorf is a treasurer's wetdream. Even mini clubs like Luserkusen and Bochum would like a piece of that action. Fortuna is probably not going to make it this season, but restablishing themselves as a fixture in german football is good for the game. The same could be said for 1860, but their management has been incredibly dumb, and no Arab sheiks are on teh horizon to waste zillions of euros a la their Sky-Blue cousins, Man City. (Especially when viewed against Bayern/ManU's red...)
The "relegation final" in Rostock saw a large crowd of Hansa followers fall into despair with an injury time disaster. Facing FSV Frankfurt in a direct battle to avoid relegation, Hansa was out to an early lead, but couldn't figure out how to make it stick. They tried to press for the win, and FSV launched a rare, last second counter and stole the win. The fans sat in stunned disbelief and then probably went out and rioted. It's not over for Hansa by any means, but the prospect of them going down is a disturbing symptom of eastern club flopping. FSV has almost pulled off yet another miracle comeback from the dead. This must be disturbing to many, as nobody even in Frankfurt wants to watch them, yet they keep popping up like herpes to ruin the party. Well, maybe they are like my family dog, desperate for love. I promise if I am ever in Frankfurt, I'll make a point to go watch them instead of crappy Eintracht...
Oberhausen showed Rostock how it's done. Facing Cottbus in a critical match, they went out and bitchslapped the visitors, and this result just about ends any relegation worries for RWO. Cottbus was pretty pathetic, but given their home strength, they should remain a solid 2.Liga fixture for some time.
Ahlen were officially relegated as they were beaten at home by Aachen. It was a lame effort, but pretty mcuh what could be expected from two disappointing sides. The Ahleners only showed brief moments of a pulse all season, and nobody watches their games anyway, so most 2.Liga treasurers are probably not too unhappy to see them go. (In Germany, visiting teams are entitled to a percentage of the gate.) Aachen was crap, but have ended any relegation thoughts.
Fürth and Paderborn is this week's "who cares?" match. Actually, just about every match with those teams fits that bill.
TuS Koblenz - Karlsruher SC 2:2 (1:1) 9,255 (Kapllani, Mavric - Stindl, Staffeldt) FC Augsburg - MSV Duisburg 2:0 (1:0) 20,348 (Hain, Traore) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - SC Paderborn 07 1:1 (1:1) 5,450 (Fürstner - Krause) 1. FC Union Berlin - FC St. Pauli 2:1 (1:1) 19,000 (Mattuschka, Benyamina - Takyi) Hansa Rostock - FSV Frankfurt 1:2 (1:0) 18,000 (Schöneberg - Mölders, Cidimar) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - FC Energie Cottbus 4:1 (1:1) 5,258 (Schmidtgal 2, König, Gordon - Miletic o.g.) Rot Weiss Ahlen - Alemannia Aachen 0:1 (0:1) 3,500 (Demai) Fortuna Düsseldorf - TSV 1860 München 2:0 (1:0) 26,500 (Langeneke 2) Arminia Bielefeld - 1. FC K'lautern 1:2 (1:0) 12,700 (Katongo - Sam, Lakic) Attendance: 120,011 (avg 13,334) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 31 19 8 4 53:24 +29 65 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 31 18 4 9 61:33 +28 58 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Augsburg 31 16 9 6 57:38 +19 57 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 31 15 7 9 43:29 +14 52 5. (5.) MSV Duisburg 31 14 7 10 48:41 +7 49 6. (6.) Arminia Bielefeld 31 15 4 12 45:36 +9 45 (*) 7. (7.) TSV 1860 München 31 13 5 13 39:42 -3 44 8. (8.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 31 12 6 13 47:43 +4 42 9. (9.) SC Paderborn 07 31 11 9 11 42:45 -3 42 10. (11.) 1. FC Union Berlin 31 10 11 10 37:39 -2 41 11. (13.) Alemannia Aachen 31 11 8 12 33:36 -3 41 12. (10.) FC Energie Cottbus 31 11 7 13 47:46 +1 40 13. (14.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 31 12 4 15 35:47 -12 40 14. (12.) Karlsruher SC 31 11 6 14 40:44 -4 39 15. (16.) FSV Frankfurt 31 9 8 14 27:48 -21 35 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (15.) Hansa Rostock 31 9 5 17 31:42 -11 32 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) TuS Koblenz 31 7 8 16 31:51 -20 29 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 31 5 6 20 18:50 -32 21 relegated (*) Bielefeld deducted 4 points for financial incompetance Goal scorers: Games Goals Assists 1. Michael Thurk FC Augsburg 28 22 3 2. Marius Ebbers FC St. Pauli 31 17 7 3. Erik Jendrisek 1. FC K'lautern 27 14 2 4. Christopher Nöthe SpVgg Greuther Fürth 31 13 5 5. Benjamin Auer Alemannia Aachen 28 13 4 6. Giovanni Federico Arminia Bielefeld 29 12 10 7. Mahir Saglik SC Paderborn 07 24 12 7 8. Martin Harnik Fortuna Düsseldorf 27 12 3 9. Sami Allagui SpVgg Greuther Fürth 29 11 7 10. Emil Jula FC Energie Cottbus 30 10 11
3.Liga - 35th round
Aue has climbed into 1st place, as they overcame stubborn resistance from tailend Kiel. The easterners have been charging hard over the past few weeks, and are getting close to the 2.Liga. For Holstein, that just about does it. The newly promoted club could still save themselves, but that looks an almost impossible task. Osnabrück may end up regretting this day as well, as they let a two goal lead slip at Regensburg. With the promotion race so tightly packed, they could end up missing out on the prize, despite leading the pack for several weeks.
Dresden's Rudolf-Harbig stadion was packed like in best DDR-Oberliga days, as Dynamo faced off against rivals Jena. The visitors cleverly counterattacked and ran up a big win, one that keeps them in the hunt for a promotion spot. Dresden had got themselves out of relegation with 8 straight home wins, but get thumped. One thing that it does show is that the former GDR is really hungry for decent football among the traditional strongholds. A sold out stadium in the 3.Liga, in a match that really meant nothing for the home team.
Braunschweig didn't help themselves very much with a draw at Sandhausen. They met surprisingly strong resistance, and were unable to move closer to the top.
After the midweek burst of optimism, Wuppertal returned back to earth. They were crap at home to Ingolstadt, proving once again why they are the 3.Liga's worst home team. FCI is the best road team, and that fact may be what allows them a quick return to the 2.Liga.
Jahn Regensburg - VfL Osnabrück 2:2 (1:2) 2,347 (Haller, Stoilov - Lindemann, Hansen) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - SpVgg Unterhaching 2:4 (1:2) 4,350 (Weil, Heidenfelder - Hain, Rathgeber 2, Steegmann) Wuppertaler SV - FC Ingolstadt 04 0:2 (0:1) 3,013 (Wohlfahrt, Bambara) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - SV Werder Bremen II 2:0 (2:0) 3,160 (Öztürk, Stroh-Engel SV 1916 Sandhausen - Eintracht Braunschweig 1:1 (1:0) 2,580 (Dorn - Kruppke) FC Bayern München II - Wacker Burghausen 2:0 (1:0) 1,500 (Knasmüllner, Yilmaz) FC Erzgebirge Aue - Holstein Kiel 3:1 (0:0) 10,500 (Agyemang, Glasner, Sykora - Schyrba o.g.) Dynamo Dresden - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 0:3 (0:0) 29,000 (Hähnge, Truckenbrod, Amrhein) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Borussia Dortmund II 1:0 (1:0) 5,300 (Kammlott) VfB Stuttgart II - Kickers Offenbach 2:0 (2:0) 800 (schipplock, Schieber) Attendance: 62,550 (avg 6,255) 1. (2.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 34 18 7 9 50:36 +14 61 2. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 35 17 9 9 49:35 +14 60 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Ingolstadt 04 35 17 8 10 65:43 +22 59 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Eintracht Braunschweig 34 16 9 9 49:32 +17 57 5. (5.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 33 15 10 8 48:37 +11 55 6. (6.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 34 15 6 13 58:52 +6 51 7. (7.) Kickers Offenbach 35 13 11 11 47:33 +14 50 8. (9.) FC Bayern München II 33 14 7 12 49:55 -6 49 9. (8.) Dynamo Dresden 34 13 8 13 36:38 -2 47 10. (12.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 34 13 7 14 46:50 -4 46 11. (13.) VfB Stuttgart II 34 14 3 17 46:44 +2 45 12. (14.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 34 12 9 13 34:38 -4 45 13. (10.) Wacker Burghausen 34 13 6 15 42:57 -15 45 14. (15.) SpVgg Unterhaching 35 11 11 13 46:46 0 44 15. (11.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 34 11 11 12 50:56 -6 44 16. (16.) Jahn Regensburg 34 10 12 12 38:40 -2 42 17. (17.) SV Werder Bremen II 34 10 8 16 39:50 -11 38 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) Borussia Dortmund II 34 10 5 19 36:51 -15 35 19. (19.) Wuppertaler SV Bor 33 9 7 17 34:52 -18 34 20. (20.) Holstein Kiel 33 7 10 16 35:52 -17 31 Goal Scorers: Games Goals 1. Regis Dorn SV 1916 Sandhausen 31 21 2. Moritz Hartmann FC Ingolstadt 04 33 20 3. Dennis Kruppke Eintracht Braunschweig 32 15 4. Orlando Smeekes FC Carl Zeiss Jena 33 15 5. Michael Holt Holstein Kiel 28 13 6. Tobias Schweinsteiger SpVgg Unterhaching 33 13 7. Mehmet Ekici FC Bayern München II 28 12 8. Halil Savran Dynamo Dresden 33 12 9. Andreas Spann 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 31 12 10. Najeh Braham FC Erzgebirge Aue 25 11
Wuppertal legend passes on
Sad news out of Wuppertal. Manfred "Manni" Reichert passed away after a long illness last weekend, he was 69 years old. Reichert was captain of the legendary WSV squad that dominated the Regionalliga West and then gained promotion into the Bundesliga in 1972. He led the team to a sensational 4th place finish and UEFA Cup. Overall, he played some 370 official matches for the club. Although he started as a defensive midfielder, in WSV's glory years he was basically a defender. He was a short little player, basically a less talented version of Berti Vogts, hehehe. You could never argue that he didn't have heart, as he would fight until the last drop and then some.
I'd like to think that the current squad's excellent performance at Offenbach was in honor of his memory, but fat chance...
3.Liga, Round 34
Midweek action heightens the excitement in the endgame. Most of the contenders managed to win, but there was a key drop out. Offenbach had managed to sneak back into the race, but were rudely knocked out by struggling Wuppertaler SV. The visitors actually looked the better team, coming out strong, hitting the wood a couple of times, and generally running circles around the Kickers. Offenbach did a bit better in the 2nd half, but it wasn't until WSV went down a man after 65 minutes that the hosts began to exert serious pressure. WSV fought a desperate rear-guard action, and then stole all the points on a last minute counterattack. Great win for WSV, and perhaps gives them miniscule hope that they can avoid relegation. Things still look almost hopeless, but at least the door hasn't been slammed shut yet. They'll probably wait to suck at home and slam the door in front of their own fans. Offenach, well, is "KO", and have to spend another season in the 3.Liga
Ingolstadt managed to hold onto 3rd by dumping Heidenheim on an injury time penalty. This pretty much kills Heidenheim's chances as well, as they've completely fallen off the wagon. Only a month ago, they were looking good for a sensational promotion, but now it's over.
Osnabrück perhaps had the hardest time, but a strong effort downed Erfurt. Aue waltzed easily home in Dortmund and are still potentially ready to take 1st from Osnabrück. Braunschweig defeated a stubborn Wehen, and Jena kept on track with a win over Regensburg. Interestingly, these four matches all ended 3-1 to the better team.
FC Carl Zeiss Jena - Jahn Regensburg 3:1 (1:1) 6,246 (Truckenbrod, Gardawski, Smeekes - Kreis) SpVgg Unterhaching - Dynamo Dresden 0:0 (0:0) 3,500 Holstein Kiel - FC Bayern München II 2:2 (1:0) 4,754 (Sembolo, Wulff - Lamprecht o.g., Hajdarovic) SV Werder Bremen II - VfB Stuttgart II 0:3 (0:2) 670 (Rathgeb, Schieber, Schipplock) VfL Osnabrück - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 3:1 (1:1) 12,000 (Bencik 2, Kotuljac - Kammlott) Borussia Dortmund II - FC Erzgebirge Aue 1:3 (1:2) 1,406 (Ginczek - Agyemang, Hochscheidt, Curri) Wacker Burghausen - SV 1916 Sandhausen 5:2 (2:2) 2,050 (Cappek, Schmidt 2, Holzer, Hertl - Dorn, Mintzel) Eintracht Braunschweig - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 3:1 (1:1) 15,500 (Kumblea, Henn, Onuegbu - Türker) Kickers Offenbach - Wuppertaler SV 0:1 (0:0) 7,181 (Müller) FC Ingolstadt 04 - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 4:3 (1:0) 3,508 (Hartmann, Wohlfarth, Bambara, Ruprecht - Spann, Göhlert, Klarer) Attendance: 56,815 (avg 5,681) 1. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 34 17 8 9 47:33 +14 59 2. (2.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 33 17 7 9 47:35 +12 58 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Ingolstadt 04 34 16 8 10 63:43 +20 56 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Eintracht Braunschweig 33 16 8 9 48:31 +17 56 5. (7.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 32 14 10 8 45:37 +8 52 6. (5.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 33 15 6 12 56:48 +8 51 7. (6.) Kickers Offenbach 34 13 11 10 47:31 +16 50 8. (8.) Dynamo Dresden 33 13 8 12 36:35 +1 47 9. (9.) FC Bayern München II 32 13 7 12 47:55 -8 46 10. (13.) Wacker Burghausen 33 13 6 14 42:55 -13 45 11. (10.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 33 11 10 12 49:55 -6 43 12. (11.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 33 12 7 14 44:50 -6 43 13. (16.) VfB Stuttgart II 33 13 3 17 44:44 0 42 14. (12.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 33 11 9 13 33:38 -5 42 15. (15.) SpVgg Unterhaching 34 10 11 13 42:44 -2 41 16. (14.) Jahn Regensburg 33 10 11 12 36:38 -2 41 17. (17.) SV Werder Bremen II 33 10 8 15 39:48 -9 38 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) Borussia Dortmund II 33 10 5 18 36:50 -14 35 19. (19.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 32 9 7 16 34:50 -16 34 20. (20.) Holstein Kiel 32 7 10 15 34:49 -15 31
Bundesliga, Round 30
Was this the decisive round for the title? Bayern held on against a direct challenger, and Schalke laid an egg.
Leaders Bayern were in a tough encounter at Luserkusen, and struggled against the Aspririn's pressure. Franck Ribery won a penalty, which Arjen Robben dispatched clinically, but Leverkusen continued to make things difficult, and a few minutes later were equal. Overall, the hosts had a clear edge in the match, but probably not enough to justify a win. This probably gives Bayern the title, as their remaining matches are against Hannover, Gladbach, Bochum and Hertha, so it's hard to see them losing any of those. Leverkusen needed a win here to make a grab for the title, so now it's basically over.
Schalke was stunned by an aggressive Hannover. They did fight back from the deficit, but the 96ers came on again strong in an end spurt to gain an important victory against relegation. Overall, this was probably Hannover's best match of the season. For Schalke, it seems unlikely that they could have a chance to still catch Bayern, so their goal should be to simply hang on to a Champions League spot.
Dortmund was stopped by Mainz, as Jürgen Klopp's return was unfortunate for the Neons. This would have been a good opportunity to make their move against Leverkusen, but now they just need to make sure they hold onto 4th against a hard charging Bremen. For Mainz, another excellent result. They were the technically inferior side, but held onto their lead with admirable doggedness.
Bremen keeps up the pressure, as they blasted Freiburg. The Freiburgers probably didn't expect to gain much in this match, but getting your ass whipped is hardly a way to prepare for the relegation battle home stretch. Werder could sneak into 3rd if Luserkusen isn't careful.
Stuttgart continues their fine post-winterbreak form and may have put the final nail in Berlin's coffin. While VfB is looking for a way to sneak into Europe, Hertha's options are looking quite bleak at this point, especially given Hannover's desperation win. Hertha's nincompoop management has been reduced to blaming the referee for bad calls. Apparently the match ref was born in Hannover or something. GM Michael Preetz complained about that and how the refs are constantly disadvantaging Hertha with bad calls. For example, forward Thomas Gekas was flagged for offside in a promising position. What a wanker, shut up already!!. (Preetz, not Gekas). At least head coach Friedhelm Funkel hasn't said much, but he's probably looking for a new job soon and doesn't want to bad-mouth anybody. Hertha has some decent players, and frankly, they haven't had much luck this year. But if you're in last place, it's because you suck, not because the refs are cheating. And usually you suck because management are wankers without a clue.
Köln is probably finally out of the woods, as they recovered from last week's embarassment to bring home the bacon against a listless Hoffenheim. Funny how all the fans were bent out of shape last season with Hoffenheim "buying the title." Next year, they probably struggle to keep their head above water, and their young talent begins to realize that if they want to win silverware, it's time to move. Köln has really been all over the map this season, on the balance sucking, but seem to have come up with the goods with their backs to the wall.
Bochum is in dire straights and are seriously threatened. They have been relying on fight rather than skill, but luck has been in short supply. This time they ruined a point with an injury time own-goal. HSV was the beneficiary of this largesse, and desperately hold on to their Euro ambitions. Despite a difficult injury filled season, my guess is that if HSV don't make it, coach Bruno Labbadia gets his walking papers.
Nürnberg remains in crisis. Der Club ran into an ice-cold killer and were coldy dispatched. Edin Dzeko and Grafite notched goals for the hot defending champion. It may be too late for Wolfsburg to get back into Europe (they were dumped out with a disgraceful home loss against Fulham), but they can ruin your day. Given the fact that Nürnberg has a history of failing with their backs to the wall, they really need to be concerned about going down.
Gladbach essentially ended Frankfurt's European aspirations with a solid win. Good result for the home side, secure midtable is about all they can hope for, but in general it's a young team, so they can grow. Unless of course they sell their talent, like they did last year. (Players like Marin and Baumjohann). Frankfurt is up and down, and probably where they belong, upper mid table.
Borussia M'gladbach - Eintracht Frankfurt 2:0 (1:0) 48,553 (Reus, Dante) Hertha BSC Berlin - VfB Stuttgart 0:1 (0:0) 26,851 (Cacau) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - Borussia Dortmund 1:0 (1:0) 20,300 (Szalai) Hannover 96 - FC Schalke 04 4:2 (2:0) 49,000 (Ya Konan 2, Balitsch, Westermann o.g. - Edu, Rakitic) 1899 Hoffenheim - 1. FC Köln 0:2 (0:0) 26,950 (Matuschyk 2) SV Werder Bremen - SC Freiburg 4:0 (1:0) 37,000 (Pizarro 2, Hunt, Özil) Bayer Leverkusen - FC Bayern München 1:1 (0:0) 30,210 (Vidal - Robben) VfL Bochum - Hamburger SV 1:2 (1:1) 25,780 (Dedic - Tesche, Johansson o.g.) 1. FC Nürnberg - VfL Wolfsburg 0:2 (0:0) 40,593 (Dzeko, Grafite) Attendance: 305,237 (avg 33,915) 1. (1.) FC Bayern München 30 17 9 4 58:28 +30 60 2. (2.) FC Schalke 04 30 17 7 6 49:28 +21 58 3. (3.) Bayer Leverkusen 30 14 12 4 59:34 +25 54 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Borussia Dortmund 30 15 7 8 48:35 +13 52 5. (5.) SV Werder Bremen 30 14 9 7 63:37 +26 51 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) Hamburger SV 30 12 12 6 50:34 +16 48 7. (7.) VfB Stuttgart 30 13 8 9 44:37 +7 47 8. (9.) VfL Wolfsburg 30 13 7 10 58:51 +7 46 9. (8.) Eintracht Frankfurt 30 12 8 10 40:44 -4 44 10. (10.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 30 11 8 11 30:37 -7 41 11. (12.) Borussia M'gladbach 30 10 7 13 39:49 -10 37 12. (11.) 1899 Hoffenheim 30 9 7 14 35:38 -3 34 13. (13.) 1. FC Köln 30 8 10 12 29:38 -9 34 14. (14.) 1. FC Nürnberg 30 7 7 16 28:49 -21 28 15. (15.) VfL Bochum 30 6 10 14 32:54 -22 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (17.) Hannover 96 30 7 6 17 34:56 -22 27 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (16.) SC Freiburg 30 6 7 17 27:55 -28 25 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 30 5 7 18 30:49 -19 22 Top scorers: Games Goals Assists 1. Edin Dzeko VfL Wolfsburg 30 19 8 2. Stefan Kießling Bayer Leverkusen 29 18 7 3. Kevin Kuranyi FC Schalke 04 29 18 7 4. Lucas Barrios Borussia Dortmund 29 15 5 5. Claudio Pizarro SV Werder Bremen 22 14 2 6. Albert Bunjaku 1. FC Nürnberg 24 12 0 7. Eren Derdiyok Bayer Leverkusen 29 11 5 8. Arjen Robben FC Bayern München 20 11 5 9. Mario Gomez FC Bayern München 27 10 5 10. Grafite VfL Wolfsburg 27 10 4
2.Liga - 30th round
The relegation struggle remains tight. FSV Frankfurt has caught Rostock once again, as Hansa were dumped by fellow struggler Karlsruhe at the whistle. Frankfurt basically willed themselves to victory, as they were down a man. Koblenz has not given up completely, but despite a decent performance, they were unable to get all the points when visiting struggling Aachen. If they don't pick up a win next week, that just about shuts the door in Koblenz. Aachen has basically sucked all season, but they probably don't have to worry about relegation. My gut feeling is that Hansa sneaks by and Frankfurt ends up in the playoff. But given the fact that they're in decent form, I wouldn't downplay their chances against the 3.Liga 3rd place club.
No worries in Kaiserslautern, as they waltz towards the Bundesliga. FCK was pushed by upstart Berlin, but the leaders can afford to drop points now. I never liked Kaiserslautern, I find them and their fans too annoying. But I respect them and they deserve to be in the Bundesliga, so I guess that's in order.
All eyes were really on the clash in Hamburg between St.Pauli and Augsburg. The Paulistas dominated the match and eventually overwhelmed the feeble Augsburger resistance. This win basically means that St.Pauli is returning to the Bundesliga, which is absolutely amazing given the fact that they were dicking around in the 3rd division only 3 or so years ago. So 10 years after relegation from the top flight, they're back like a bad rash. It's not impossible that Augsburg could still catch them, but it seems unlikely.
TSV 1860 München - Arminia Bielefeld 3:1 (1:1) 17,400 (Mlapa, Aigner, Rakic - Rukavina o.g.) SC Paderborn 07 - Rot Weiss Ahlen 2:0 (1:0) 6,451 (Krause, Brückner) Alemannia Aachen - TuS Koblenz 1:1 (1:0) 19,313 (Auer - Dzaka) 1. FC K'lautern - 1. FC Union Berlin 1:1 (0:0) 41,144 (Rodnei - Lakic o.g.) FC Energie Cottbus - Fortuna Düsseldorf 4:2 (0:0) 10,215 (Rivic, Petersen, Shao, Jula - Oehrl, Gaus) MSV Duisburg - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1:1 (1:0) 13,341 (Caiuby - Nöthe) FSV Frankfurt - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 1:0 (0:0) 4,235 (Mölders) Karlsruher SC - Hansa Rostock 2:1 (0:1) 17,089 (Fink, Matip - Johannsson) FC St. Pauli - FC Augsburg 3:0 (0:0) 23,201 (Lehmann, Ebbers 2) Attendance: 152,389 (avg 16,932) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 30 18 8 4 51:23 +28 62 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 30 18 4 8 60:31 +29 58 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Augsburg 30 15 9 6 55:38 +17 54 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 30 14 7 9 41:29 +12 49 5. (5.) MSV Duisburg 30 14 7 9 48:39 +9 49 6. (6.) Arminia Bielefeld 30 15 4 11 44:34 +10 45 (-4) 7. (7.) TSV 1860 München 30 13 5 12 39:40 -1 44 8. (8.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 30 12 5 13 46:42 +4 41 9. (9.) SC Paderborn 07 30 11 8 11 41:44 -3 41 10. (10.) FC Energie Cottbus 30 11 7 12 46:42 +4 40 11. (11.) 1. FC Union Berlin 30 9 11 10 35:38 -3 38 12. (14.) Karlsruher SC 30 11 5 14 38:42 -4 38 13. (12.) Alemannia Aachen 30 10 8 12 32:36 -4 38 14. (13.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 30 11 4 15 31:46 -15 37 15. (15.) Hansa Rostock 30 9 5 16 30:40 -10 32 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) FSV Frankfurt 30 8 8 14 25:47 -22 32 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) TuS Koblenz 30 7 7 16 29:49 -20 28 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 30 5 6 19 18:49 -31 21 Bielefeld minus 4 points for being wankers
3.Liga - 33rd round
Things have gotten amazingly exciting in the 3.Liga. The top clash was in Aue, where Erzgebirge made a strong statement in bitch-slapping leaders Osnabrück. Ghanian striker Eric Agyemang had a field day with a hattrick. This means that Aue could leapfrog into 1st with a win in their makeup game. The other matches also brought significant results. Dresden has been on recovery since flirting with relegation, and demonstrated their form with a solid win over Ingolstadt. And Heidenheim could not win the biggest match so far, and got dumped at home by Offenbach. This critical away win allows Offenbach to sneak back into the promotion race, as they are now only a win away from 3rd place. The primary benficiary of the weekend though was Braunschweig, who have been plodding along quietly and suddenly find themselves trailing only on goal difference.
At the bottom, Unterhaching got a good result with their draw in Jena. They're not clear yet, but in a good positon. Jena could have used the win, but they've got a couple of makeup matches still to play. If they win both, they're back in the midst of the promotion tussle.
Of course all eyes were on the Zoo-Stadion in Wuppertal, as WSV met Bremen-II in a crucial relegation battle. To make it short, another lame WSV performance, and they were perhaps lucky to escape with a draw. The boat is sailing and Wuppertal doesn't even have a rudder, let alone an outboard motor. Seven points down seems hopeless. Obviously management is a problem. President Friedhelm Runge bears the brunt. But he has reached into his own pocket on several occasions to save the club over the years. His heart is in the right place, but he has no clue. He needs to step down and let some competant folks run the club. But fat chance. WSV is going down disgracefully as yet another sordid chapter is written in the joke that is Wuppertaler football.
FC Bayern München II - Borussia Dortmund II 3:0 (3:0) 650 (Sene, Yilmaz, Schütz) FC Erzgebirge Aue - VfL Osnabrück 3:0 (1:0) 10,900 (Agyemang 3) Jahn Regensburg - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 0:2 (0:0) 2,180 (Hauswald, Kammlott) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - SpVgg Unterhaching 1:1 (1:0) 7,165 (Gardawski - Bischoff) Dynamo Dresden - FC Ingolstadt 04 2:0 (1:0) 12,801 (Röttger, Wagefeld) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - Kickers Offenbach 0:2 (0:0) 5,740 (Mesic, Zinnow) Wuppertaler SV - SV Werder Bremen II 1:1 (0:0) 2,476 (Celikovic - Wagner) VfB Stuttgart II - Eintracht Braunschweig 1:2 (1:2) 800 (Pala - Dogan, Kruppke) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Wacker Burghausen 3:1 (1:0) 3,112 (Bohl 2, Stroh-Engel - Boskovic o.g.) SV 1916 Sandhausen - Holstein Kiel 1:1 (0:0) 1,370 (Dorn - Cannizzaro) Attendance: 47,194 (avg 4,719) 1. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 33 16 8 9 44:32 +12 56 2. (3.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 32 16 7 9 44:34 +10 55 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (2.) FC Ingolstadt 04 33 15 8 10 59:40 +19 53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (5.) Eintracht Braunschweig 32 15 8 9 45:30 +15 53 5. (4.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 32 15 6 11 53:44 +9 51 6. (7.) Kickers Offenbach 33 13 11 9 47:30 +17 50 7. (6.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 31 13 10 8 42:36 +6 49 8. (8.) Dynamo Dresden 32 13 7 12 36:35 +1 46 9. (10.) FC Bayern München II 31 13 6 12 45:53 -8 45 10. (9.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 32 11 10 11 47:50 -3 43 11. (13.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 32 12 7 13 43:47 -4 43 12. (16.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 32 11 9 12 32:35 -3 42 13. (11.) Wacker Burghausen 32 12 6 14 37:53 -16 42 14. (12.) Jahn Regensburg 32 10 11 11 35:35 0 41 15. (14.) SpVgg Unterhaching 33 10 10 13 42:44 -2 40 16. (15.) VfB Stuttgart II 32 12 3 17 41:44 -3 39 17. (17.) SV Werder Bremen II 32 10 8 14 39:45 -6 38 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) Borussia Dortmund II 32 10 5 17 35:47 -12 35 19. (19.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 31 8 7 16 33:50 -17 31 20. (20.) Holstein Kiel 31 7 9 15 32:47 -15 30
Bundesliga, Round 29
The title may have been decided in Gelsenkirchen this week. Schalke hosted Bayern München, and went down in miserable fashion. The match was even early on, but a brilliant piece of control saw Frank Ribery knock the the ball at the top of the box and hammer the ball into the net for the bayern leave. Schalke was still stunned, and Rafinha lost the ball, Altintop (ex-Schalker) passed through to Olic and Thomas Müller had an open net. But the Schalke response was quick as Kuranyi turned a nice header to the far post to breing the Blues back. Things really looked to be heating heating when the ref tossed Altintop's ass on a 2nd yellow for what looked to be a routine foul. Schalke pressured hard till the end of the half, and everyone expected a major home offensive in the 2nd half, with bayern desperately fighting a rearguard action. But nada. Basically Schalke looked crap in the 2nd half, despite the man advantage, and dicked around aimlessly. Bayern had no problem whithering away the clock and end up with a deserved road win. It truly goes back to Bayern president Uli Hoeness famous saying "The other clubs are too dumb to win the title." It's perhaps too early to give the title to Bayern, because they've been shaky in the league. But this was the golden opportunity for the Schalkers, and they couldn't do it. Their main problem is that they lack a real inventive playmaker (their last decent one was Lincoln from a few years ago) and they need somebody to partner Kuranyi. Kuranyi was impressive, fighting for every ball, but he was largely alone, since his strike partner Edu was basically worthless, at least when he wasn't losing the ball or shooting at the corner flag.
Well, certainly dumbness could be applied to the other contender, Luserkusen. The Aspirins were in a difficult match at Frankfurt, mainly because their up/down hosts are currently on an up. But Stefan Kiessling notched two goals and Leverkusen seemed in good shape. But then one of their players got his ass tossed, and Frankfurt came roaring back and won the match. After several decent games, it's about time for Frankfurt to start playing crap, but they've taken a couple of good scalps. Is it good enough to sneak into Europe? Probably not, as the opposition such as Stuttgart seems a lot stronger. Is Bayer going to justify their Luserkusen moniker once more? Seems likely, although they do get a crack at Bayern, so although the train is ready to leave the station, they could still jump on.
Dortmund has had a quiet, but very effective campaign. They faced off against Bremen, very strong recently, and held the win. This means that the Neons are now threatening to sneak into the Champions League, which would be quite an accomplishment. Werder's loss means that the CL is now likely beyond their reach, but they're already assured of Euroliga play next season. This is turning out ot be quite a fine season for Dortmund boss Jürgen Klopp. The Neons don't have too much talent to work with, but they seem to have bought into the Klopp rah-rah.
The relegation battle remains exciting. Just when we wanted to write of Hertha BSC, the Berliners go on the road and spank the monkey. They blasted Köln 3-0, and their last two away games also were lopsided wins (5-1 Wolfsburg, 3-0 Freiburg). I think they've found the formula: play only away games. Their away record is much better, perhaps since they don't worry about putting their fans asleep. Köln was crap, probably figured they can phone it in for the rest of the season. That is a risky strategy.
Freiburg attacked furiously against a massed Bochum defensive, but could only get a draw. This certainly hurts SCF, and only keeps Bochum's head barely above water.
Nürnberg got a helping hand from the visitors, as a Mainzer got his ass tossed in about the 1st minute. This allowed der Club to pick up a critical win. They're barely floating above relegation, and still have a lot a suffering ahead for their fans. Mainz is going nowhere, enjoying this season with surprisingly good performances.
Hannover massed everybody in the their box at hamburg, and HSV was too incompetant to break them down. A nice point for the desperate 96ers, and yet another waste from HSV, who will likely blow their Euro chances. Hannonver seems to realized that they're in desperate straits, so there's a chance that they could save themselves. HSV has been on a slow burn...
Stuttgart continues to make their move, although they had a tough time of it against Gladbach. VfB has been the best team in the return round, and it seems unlikely that Hamburg can hold them off. Gladbach is safe, so really has nothing to play for. You can't really tell how they're going to play, but they gave a decent effort this time.
In the ho-hum game, defending champ Wolfsburg easily blasted Hoffenheim, perhaps the Hoppers worst showing in the two Bundesliga seasons. Wolfsburg has seemingly hit their stride, but their best chance for glory seems to be their current Europaliga campaign. Still, the VWs have their formidable offense back in gear, so sloppy play is likely to be severely punished. Hoffenheim is like a ship without a rudder. They're going nowhere, and the most interesting aspect to them should be the offseason. If they decide to shell out some more of Dietmar Hopp's cash, they could move back into the upper half. But if they stand pat, I expect them to start falling off and perhaps struggle next season.
FC Schalke 04 - FC Bayern München 1:2 (1:2) 61,673 (Kuranyi - Ribery, T. Müller) Eintracht Frankfurt - Bayer Leverkusen 3:2 (1:1) 50,900 (Teber, Caio, Franz - Kießling 2) Borussia Dortmund - SV Werder Bremen 2:1 (2:0) 80,552 (Großkreutz, Subotic - Hunt) SC Freiburg - VfL Bochum 1:1 (1:1) 21,500 (Cissé - Dabrowski) VfB Stuttgart - Borussia M'gladbach 2:1 (0:1) 42,000 (Marica, Kuzmanovic - Reus) 1. FC Nürnberg - 1. FSV Mainz 05 2:0 (2:0) 40,000 (Frantz, Choupo-Moting) 1. FC Köln - Hertha BSC Berlin 0:3 (0:2) 46,000 (Raffael 2, Cicero) VfL Wolfsburg - 1899 Hoffenheim 4:0 (1:0) 28,107 (Dzeko 2, Barzagli, Misimovic) Hamburger SV - Hannover 96 0:0 (0:0) 57,000 Attendance: 387,782 (avg 43,081) 1. (2.) FC Bayern München 29 17 8 4 57:27 +30 59 2. (1.) FC Schalke 04 29 17 7 5 47:24 +23 58 3. (3.) Bayer Leverkusen 29 14 11 4 58:33 +25 53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Borussia Dortmund 29 15 7 7 48:34 +14 52 5. (5.) SV Werder Bremen 29 13 9 7 59:37 +22 48 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) Hamburger SV 29 11 12 6 48:33 +15 45 7. (7.) VfB Stuttgart 29 12 8 9 43:37 +6 44 8. (8.) Eintracht Frankfurt 29 12 8 9 40:42 -2 44 9. (9.) VfL Wolfsburg 29 12 7 10 56:51 +5 43 10. (10.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 29 10 8 11 29:37 -8 38 11. (11.) 1899 Hoffenheim 29 9 7 13 35:36 -1 34 12. (12.) Borussia M'gladbach 29 9 7 13 37:49 -12 34 13. (13.) 1. FC Köln 29 7 10 12 27:38 -11 31 14. (15.) 1. FC Nürnberg 29 7 7 15 28:47 -19 28 15. (14.) VfL Bochum 29 6 10 13 31:52 -21 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) SC Freiburg 29 6 7 16 27:51 -24 25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) Hannover 96 29 6 6 17 30:54 -24 24 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 29 5 7 17 30:48 -18 22 Top scorers: Games Goals Assists 1. Edin Dzeko VfL Wolfsburg 29 18 8 2. Stefan Kießling Bayer Leverkusen 28 18 6 3. Kevin Kuranyi FC Schalke 04 28 18 6 4. Lucas Barrios Borussia Dortmund 28 15 5 5. Claudio Pizarro SV Werder Bremen 21 12 1 6. Albert Bunjaku 1. FC Nürnberg 23 12 0 7. Eren Derdiyok Bayer Leverkusen 28 11 5 8. Mario Gomez FC Bayern München 26 10 5 9. Arjen Robben FC Bayern München 19 10 5 10. Zvjezdan Misimovic VfL Wolfsburg 27 9 9
2.Liga - 29th round
No real decisive games this week. Oberhausen really helped their cause, toppling leaders Kaiserslautern in a surprise. That just about makes RWO safe. Rostock was nervous, but were able to hold off Aachen at home. The Easterners got a helping hand from Bielefeld, who won a difficult match against FSV Frankfurt. Hansa is still barely above water, but with a better goals difference, it will still take FSV at least two games to pass them, and time is running out.
Augsburg had a difficult task in a Bayern derby against unpredictable Fürth. However, they came out ahead, as St.Pauli was toppled by Düsseldorf in the Monday Night matchup. Fortuna kept their slim hope alive, in front of a sold-out stadium.
1. FC Union Berlin - Karlsruher SC 1:1 (1:1) 12,500 (Mattuschka - Fink) Rot Weiss Ahlen - MSV Duisburg 0:1 (0:0) 3,953 (Adler) TSV 1860 München - FC Energie Cottbus 1:2 (1:2) 17,800 (Rösler - Petersen, Angelov) Hansa Rostock - Alemannia Aachen 2:0 (1:0) 14,500 (Johannsson 2) FC Augsburg - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1:1 (0:1) 16,000 (Thurk - Nöthe) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - 1. FC K'lautern 2:1 (0:1) 10,800 (Stoppelkamp, Kaya - Jendrisek) Arminia Bielefeld - FSV Frankfurt 2:1 (0:0) 9,500 (Lamey, Fort - Klitzpera) TuS Koblenz - SC Paderborn 07 2:1 (0:1) 6,712 (Kapllani, Gunkel - Krause) Fortuna Düsseldorf - FC St. Pauli 1:0 (0:0) 48,200 (Heidinger) Attendance: 139,965 (avg 15,552) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 29 18 7 4 50:22 +28 61 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 29 17 4 8 57:31 +26 55 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Augsburg 29 15 9 5 55:35 +20 54 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 29 14 7 8 39:25 +14 49 5. (5.) MSV Duisburg 29 14 6 9 47:38 +9 48 6. (6.) Arminia Bielefeld 29 15 4 10 43:31 +12 45 (-4) 7. (7.) TSV 1860 München 29 12 5 12 36:39 -3 41 8. (8.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 29 12 4 13 45:41 +4 40 9. (9.) SC Paderborn 07 29 10 8 11 39:44 -5 38 10. (12.) FC Energie Cottbus 29 10 7 12 42:40 +2 37 11. (11.) 1. FC Union Berlin 29 9 10 10 34:37 -3 37 12. (10.) Alemannia Aachen 29 10 7 12 31:35 -4 37 13. (14.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 29 11 4 14 31:45 -14 37 14. (13.) Karlsruher SC 29 10 5 14 36:41 -5 35 15. (15.) Hansa Rostock 29 9 5 15 29:38 -9 32 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) FSV Frankfurt 29 7 8 14 24:47 -23 29 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) TuS Koblenz 29 7 6 16 28:48 -20 27 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 29 5 6 18 18:47 -29 21 Bielefeld deducted 4 points for financial shenanigans Top scorers: Games Goals Assists 1. Michael Thurk FC Augsburg 26 22 2 2. Marius Ebbers FC St. Pauli 28 15 7 3. Erik Jendrisek 1. FC K'lautern 26 14 2 4. Giovanni Federico Arminia Bielefeld 28 12 10 5. Mahir Saglik SC Paderborn 07 24 12 7 6. Christopher Nöthe SpVgg Greuther Fürth 29 12 5 7. Benjamin Auer Alemannia Aachen 26 12 3 8. Martin Harnik Fortuna Düsseldorf 24 12 2 9. Sami Allagui SpVgg Greuther Fürth 27 11 6 10. Emil Jula FC Energie Cottbus 28 9 10
3.Liga - 32nd round
While the race for promotion remains tight, the relegation battle is just about over. WSV stunk up the joint in Braunschweig, suffering a debacle that basically sends them down. management had reacted earlier in the week by firing coach Uwe Fuchs. His replacement, assistant Thomas Stickroth, refused the promotion "out of loyalty to Fuchs", although it was probably more like he din't want his first head coach job to be relegation. Anyway, they found some dude in the club pub, Peter Radojewski, to take over. No matter. After desperately holding on for one half, WSV was overrun and Wuppertal most now contemplate relegation. Braunschweig keeps their slim chances for promotion alive, although they'll need to win both their makeup games. Kiel probably blew their last chance as well, as they could only draw at home to Wehen. Only Dortmund II got a result, although judging from the attendance, nobody cares. Unterhaching stopped the rot with an important win, but remain threatened.
At the top, everything is wide open. Osnabrück had been dicking around, but they made short work of Bayern München II. Ingolstadt was unable to beat Jena at home, and Heidenheim got the same result in Bremen. An eatern derby saw Erfurt frustrate Aue, but the Erzgebirgers remain in contention.
SpVgg Unterhaching - Jahn Regensburg 2:0 (1:0) 2,500 (Rathgeber, Schweinsteiger) FC Ingolstadt 04 - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 2:2 (1:0) 5,353 (Wohlfahrt 2 - Smeekes 2) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - FC Erzgebirge Aue 0:0 (0:0) 6,688 VfL Osnabrück - FC Bayern München II 4:1 (3:1) 11,400 (Stang 2, Lindemann, Krük - Hajdarovic) Holstein Kiel - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 1:1 (0:0) 2,847 (Guscinas - Stroh-Engel) Wacker Burghausen - VfB Stuttgart II 3:0 (1:0) 2,450 (Cappek, Gorka, Kurz) Eintracht Braunschweig - Wuppertaler SV 3:0 (0:0) 11,540 (Calamita 2, Kruppke) SV Werder Bremen II - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 1:1 (1:0) 320 (Ayik - Spann) Kickers Offenbach - Dynamo Dresden 1:0 (0:0) 8,288 (Mesic) Borussia Dortmund II - SV 1916 Sandhausen 2:1 (2:0) 250 (Hille 2 - Pokar) Attendance: 51,636 (avg 5,164) 1. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 32 16 8 8 44:29 +15 56 2. (2.) FC Ingolstadt 04 31 15 8 8 59:37 +22 53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 31 15 6 10 53:42 +11 51 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 30 14 7 9 39:33 +6 49 5. (5.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 30 13 9 8 41:35 +6 48 6. (6.) Kickers Offenbach 32 12 11 9 45:30 +15 47 7. (7.) Eintracht Braunschweig 30 13 8 9 40:29 +11 47 8. (8.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 31 11 9 11 46:49 -3 42 9. (9.) Jahn Regensburg 30 10 11 9 35:30 +5 41 10. (14.) Wacker Burghausen 30 12 5 13 35:49 -14 41 11. (10.) Dynamo Dresden 30 11 7 12 31:33 -2 40 12. (11.) VfB Stuttgart II 30 12 3 15 39:40 -1 39 13. (13.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 31 10 9 12 30:35 -5 39 14. (12.) FC Bayern München II 29 11 6 12 41:53 -12 39 15. (17.) SpVgg Unterhaching 31 10 8 13 40:42 -2 38 16. (15.) SV Werder Bremen II 30 10 7 13 38:41 -3 37 17. (16.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 30 10 7 13 37:46 -9 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) Borussia Dortmund II 30 10 5 15 33:41 -8 35 19. (19.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 30 8 6 16 32:49 -17 30 20. (20.) Holstein Kiel 30 7 8 15 31:46 -15 29 Goal scorers: Games Goals 1. Moritz Hartmann FC Ingolstadt 04 30 19 2. Regis Dorn SV 1916 Sandhausen 28 18 3. Orlando Smeekes FC Carl Zeiss Jena 30 14 4. Michael Holt Holstein Kiel 28 13 5. Dennis Kruppke Eintracht Braunschweig 29 13 6. Tobias Schweinsteiger SpVgg Unterhaching 29 12 7. Najeh Braham FC Erzgebirge Aue 25 11 8. Mehmet Ekici FC Bayern München II 25 11 9. Stefan Leitl FC Ingolstadt 04 30 11 10. Andreas Spann 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 28 11
3.Liga - Round 31
A midweek round ended up with one clear victor: Ingolstadt benefits from their rivals tripping and moves into 2nd and within a draw of 1st. FCI spoiled new Unterhaching coach Klaus Augenthaler in his home debut - with a goal in the last second. Leaders Osnabrück were stunned in Sandhausen, as they were coasting along up two goals, and then got reemed. Braunschweig ambushed high flying Heidenheim away, keeping their slim promotion hopes alive. Offenbach managed to hold a point at Jena, which under normal circumstances would be a decent result, but the Kickers have played more games than anybody, so they're just about of of the race. Hard charging Aue was stopped in Regensburg, so they'll have to rely on their makeup matches to vault into a promotion spot.
It was a black day for the bottom clubs. Wuppertal, Kiel and Dortmund all lost. The most grevious was WSV's home loss against worthless Burghausen. What an outrage, how can you go out and lose against a crap team like that? Hope is truly slipping away. Wehen got the win against Dortmund in an important relegation battle, and certainly improve their chances of staying up.
Jahn Regensburg - FC Erzgebirge Aue 2:1 (1:0) 2,913 (Reichwein, Erfen - Curri) SpVgg Unterhaching - FC Ingolstadt 04 1:2 (0:0) 3,200 (Konrad - Leitl, Metzelder) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - Eintracht Braunschweig 0:1 (0:1) 5,640 (Kruppke) FC Bayern München II - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:0 (1:0) 734 (Ekici) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - Kickers Offenbach 0:0 (0:0) 9,431 Dynamo Dresden - SV Werder Bremen II 1:0 (0:0) 13,594 (Koch) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Borussia Dortmund II 2:0 (1:0) 3,529 (Barg, Stroh-Engel) SV 1916 Sandhausen - VfL Osnabrück 3:2 (0:2) 1,650 (Jungwirth, Dorn, Aygün - Tauer, Kotuljac) Wuppertaler SV - Wacker Burghausen 1:2 (0:2) 2,956 (Dressler - Kurz 2) VfB Stuttgart II - Holstein Kiel 1:0 (1:0) 400 (Pischorn) Attendance: 44,047 (avg 4,405) 1. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 31 15 8 8 40:28 +12 53 2. (3.) FC Ingolstadt 04 30 15 7 8 57:35 +22 52 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (2.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 30 15 5 10 52:41 +11 50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 29 14 6 9 39:33 +6 48 5. (5.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 29 13 8 8 39:33 +6 47 6. (6.) Kickers Offenbach 31 11 11 9 44:30 +14 44 7. (7.) Eintracht Braunschweig 29 12 8 9 37:29 +8 44 8. (8.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 30 11 9 10 45:47 -2 42 9. (9.) Jahn Regensburg 29 10 11 8 35:28 +7 41 10. (11.) Dynamo Dresden 29 11 7 11 31:32 -1 40 11. (12.) VfB Stuttgart II 29 12 3 14 39:37 +2 39 12. (14.) FC Bayern München II 28 11 6 11 40:49 -9 39 13. (10.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 30 10 8 12 30:35 -5 38 14. (16.) Wacker Burghausen 29 11 5 13 32:49 -17 38 15. (13.) SV Werder Bremen II 29 10 6 13 37:40 -3 36 16. (17.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 29 10 6 13 36:45 -9 36 17. (15.) SpVgg Unterhaching 30 9 8 13 38:42 -4 35 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) Borussia Dortmund II 29 9 5 15 31:40 -9 32 19. (19.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 29 8 6 15 32:46 -14 30 20. (20.) Holstein Kiel 29 7 7 15 30:45 -15 28
Misc
Jens Lehmann set to retire. 40 year old VfB Stuttgart GK Jens Lehmann has announced that he will retire at the end of the season. With 61 caps for the DFB squad and many a league match, he certainly has had a good run both on all fronts. We like to make fun of him because he is a wanker and a goof, but the fact is that he has been a pretty good keeper even by Germany's very high standards. If he had perhaps applied more effort to consistency instead of excentricity he probably would have gone down in history as one of the greatest.
When he wasn't urinating on the field or otherwise running around like a chicken with his head cut off at Highbury to exasperate Arsene Wenger and Arsenal fans, good ol' Jens was feuding with Olli Kahn over who should be Germany's no.1. The record shows that Kahn won that one hands-down, because although Kahn was also a wanker, he was consistently brilliant; Jens remained brilliantly inconsistent. When Kahn was finally getting pensioned off, Jens seized his opportunity and became a solid keeper for the national team, culminating in the World Cup 2006. With Germany now having several young keepers making their mark, Lehmann's position in the national team has since be eased out.
Apparently he will be making the trip to the World Cup in South Africa - but as a commentator for Sky TV.
Lehmann started his career with Schalke, spending 10 years with the Blues. After a short stint with AC Milan, he returned to Germany with Dortmund, helping them win titles. He then became the biggest German GK in England since Bert Trautmann and endeared himself to Arsenal fans (and opposing fans due to his giveaways) with generally string performances. The last couple of years he's been pissing fans off in Stuttgart, hehehe.
Bundesliga, Round 28
Bayern München was flat at home against a revived Stuttgart, who have often given Bayern problems. The Stuttgarters simply wanted the game more, and hosts suffered their first home defeat in 17 matches. Whether this is one-off or a sign of things to come remains to be seen. But Bayern fans who figured they had this title in the bag have been shocked back into reality. For Stuttgart, since Bayern and Bremen are already heading into Europe via qualification or the Cup, it's a fine time to continue their form. 6th place could be enough, and VfB is hard-charging.
With Bayern falling, the spotlight shifted to Leverkusen's BayArena, where the Aspirins took on Schalke. Since the match was played in the evening, both clubs knew that win would take them to the top. To the surprise of many, it was Schalke who were up to the task. The outstanding figure for the Blues was striker Kevin Kuranyi, who bagged both goals for Schalke. Kuranyi has consistently been one of the better players for Schalke this season, with 17 league strikes. Pressure is rising on national team coach Joachim Löw to include him back in World Cup plans. Leverkusen showed once again that they can't win when they need to, and coach Jupp Heynckes might blow one of his remaining fuses. Of course, Schalke has a history of failing to bring home the bacon as well, so odds are that they won't be standing on top at the end.
Hertha BSC will undoubtedly complain loudly about getting cheated by the ref, as they had a likely goal disallowed. The Berliners didn't do much, but were more active than a comatose Dortmund squad that was lucky to escape with a draw. After their explosion at Wolfsburg last week, Hertha and their fans sensed the last chance to save themselves, and the nice crowd has to be going home disappointed. The train may have finally left the station, and Hertha is staring relegation in the face. Dortmund basically took the weekend off, but they didn't hurt themselves.
Werder Bremen is another club that has been hard charging, and a strong 1st half was enough to club visitors Nürnberg into submission. The Bremers blizted der Club, and tried to coast home. Nürnberg is in a desperate relegation battle, and fought their way back in the 2nd half, only for Werder to finish them off ruthlessly.
While some teams are streaking for Europe, others are slacking off. Count Hamburg among the latter. HSV has been handed a lifeline with the Bayern and Werder show, but unlike Stuttgart, they're letting the cat out of the bag. HSV failed to impress and went down to a miserable defeat at Gladbach, who basically sealed their Bundesliga status for another year. HSV still holds on to 6th, but their fans and management are beginning to panic in the face of some hard-charging opposition. The sports media seems to think that coach Bruno Labbadia gets his ass fired, although it's not clear that it's his fault. HSV suffered many injuries, and they've essentially been a selling club recently. And when they go buy players, like strikers Guerrero and Van Nistelrooy, they get some fine talent, but if someone looks at them sideways, they end up on the physio's bench. I think the odds are that HSV mucks it up and fail to hold on.
Mainz had been entertaining some slight hopes of perhaps sneaking into Europe, but the last couple of games end that. They dominated the match against a shell-shocked VW squad, but couldn't hit the target. Instead, it was the Wolfsburgers who cold-bloodedly struck late in the match to steal all the points. Tough for Mainz, but they should be happy they don't suck and enjoy the rest of a fine season.
A critical match in Hannover ended with 96er fans booing their team off the pitch. The fans certainly expected a strong effort and a win against fellow strugglers Köln. Instead, they were slapped in the face as Köln ran rings around the hapless 96ers, who probably had their worst home display of the season. A greatful Köln simply kicked Hannover in the balls and ran up a huge lead to bring home the bacon. This win just about saves Köln from relegation, whereas Hannover remains in the dumps.
Bochum is losing the script. A few weeks ago they were fighting hard and gaining a point here and there. They're still doing the fighting part, but forgetting to grab the points. Frankfurt is unpredictable as ever, but played a clever match. They let the hosts run around like chickens with their heads cut off in the first half, then struck late to grab an equalizer. Perhaps Bochum was shellshocked, but Frankfurt then proceeded to control the 2nd half, and came away with a not undeserved victory.
Nobody really cares about Hoffenheim anymore. Last season, all the fans were up in arms about the "moneybags" squad bought with Dietmar Hopp's donations. But really what has been revealed is that the Hoppers are a young, talented team, but are basically Bundesliga midlevel - hardly anything worth protesting. Against Freiburg, the hosts looked better, but were hardly convincing. Freiburg sensed the chance to grab a critical away point, and brought it home for a deserved draw. They're still in the heat of the relegation battle, but after their long dry spell, they seem to be ready for the last gasp push.
VfL Bochum - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:2 (1:1) 24,221 (Holtby - Russ, Caio) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - VfL Wolfsburg 0:2 (0:0) 19,700 (Dzeko 2) FC Bayern München - VfB Stuttgart 1:2 (1:1) 69,000 (Olic - Träsch, Marica) Hertha BSC Berlin - Borussia Dortmund 0:0 (0:0) 60,441 Hannover 96 - 1. FC Köln 1:4 (0:3) 43,218 (Cherundolo - Tosic 2, Petit, Novakovic) SV Werder Bremen - 1. FC Nürnberg 4:2 (3:0) 36,123 (Mertesacker 2, Borowski, Fritz - Frantz, Choupo-Moting) Bayer Leverkusen - FC Schalke 04 0:2 (0:2) 30,210 (Kuranyi 2) 1899 Hoffenheim - SC Freiburg 1:1 (0:0) 30,150 (Simunic - Idrissou) Borussia M'gladbach - Hamburger SV 1:0 (1:0) 52,269 (Brouwers) Attendance: 365,332 (avg 40,592) 1. (2.) FC Schalke 04 28 17 7 4 46:22 +24 58 2. (1.) FC Bayern München 28 16 8 4 55:26 +29 56 3. (3.) Bayer Leverkusen 28 14 11 3 56:30 +26 53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Borussia Dortmund 28 14 7 7 46:33 +13 49 5. (5.) SV Werder Bremen 28 13 9 6 58:35 +23 48 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) Hamburger SV 28 11 11 6 48:33 +15 44 7. (7.) VfB Stuttgart 28 11 8 9 41:36 +5 41 8. (8.) Eintracht Frankfurt 28 11 8 9 37:40 -3 41 9. (10.) VfL Wolfsburg 28 11 7 10 52:51 +1 40 10. (9.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 28 10 8 10 29:35 -6 38 11. (11.) 1899 Hoffenheim 28 9 7 12 35:32 +3 34 12. (12.) Borussia M'gladbach 28 9 7 12 36:47 -11 34 13. (13.) 1. FC Köln 28 7 10 11 27:35 -8 31 14. (14.) VfL Bochum 28 6 9 13 30:51 -21 27 15. (15.) 1. FC Nürnberg 28 6 7 15 26:47 -21 25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (17.) SC Freiburg 28 6 6 16 26:50 -24 24 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (16.) Hannover 96 28 6 5 17 30:54 -24 23 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 28 4 7 17 27:48 -21 19
2.Liga - 28th round
The 2.Liga remains quite fascinating. Highflying Augsburg got taken down a peg as they got bitch-slapped in Aachen. The Fuggers actually came out strong, but Aachen was too clever and once Alemannia started scoring goals against the early run of play, FCA folded up let themselves get steamrolled. St.Pauli seized the opportunity to pass them up, as they overcame stubborn Rostock resistance to post a win.
The relegation battle has probably ended for Koblenz and Ahlen. Both were thoroughly clubbed over the weekend, and their travel agents are now looking for 3.Liga train schedules. Thank you for playing, goodbye. FSV Frankfurt however is like the bad rash that refuses to go away. The Bornheimers managed to eek out a win over Union, and have drawn level with Rostock on points. This promises to be a bitter struggle to the end. Meanwhile, Oberhausen took advantage and came up with a nice away win in Paderborn, which may be enough to keep them out of the fray. Cottbus had a decisive thumping of a demoralized Bielefeld, and Karlruhe was disappointed to settle for a point against Düsseldorf. But with RWO, EC and KSC all at 34 points, they've got a 5 point cushion above Frankfurt and Rostock - it should be enough to stay safe.
There are a bunch of clubs in the middle with nothing to play for, so we'll ignore them for now.
SC Paderborn 07 - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 1:2 (0:1) 5,460 (Brandy - Landers, Pappas) MSV Duisburg - TuS Koblenz 4:1 (1:0) 11,684 (Baljak, Sahan, Fahrenhorst, Caiuby - Mavric) FSV Frankfurt - 1. FC Union Berlin 2:1 (1:1) 3,542 (Cidimar, Mölders - Benyamina) FC Energie Cottbus - Arminia Bielefeld 4:1 (2:1) 7,990 (Angelov, Jula, Rivic 2 - Risgard) Karlsruher SC - Fortuna Düsseldorf 1:1 (0:0) 16,473 (Weber - Gaus) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Rot Weiss Ahlen 3:1 (2:0) 5,100 (N. Müller, Allagui, Nöthe - Kittner) Alemannia Aachen - FC Augsburg 4:0 (2:0) 20,027 (Nemeth, Adlung, Herzig, Achenbach) FC St. Pauli - Hansa Rostock 2:0 (1:0) 19,146 (Ebbers, Naki) 1. FC K'lautern - TSV 1860 München 4:0 (2:0) 39,690 (Steinhofer, Jendrisek 2, Ilicevic) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 28 18 7 3 49:20 +29 61 2. (3.) FC St. Pauli 28 17 4 7 57:30 +27 55 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (2.) FC Augsburg 28 15 8 5 54:34 +20 53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 28 13 7 8 38:25 +13 46 5. (6.) MSV Duisburg 28 13 6 9 46:38 +8 45 6. (5.) Arminia Bielefeld 28 14 4 10 41:30 +11 42 7. (7.) TSV 1860 München 28 12 5 11 35:37 -2 41 8. (9.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 28 12 3 13 44:40 +4 39 9. (8.) SC Paderborn 07 28 10 8 10 38:42 -4 38 10. (11.) Alemannia Aachen 28 10 7 11 31:33 -2 37 11. (10.) 1. FC Union Berlin 28 9 9 10 33:36 -3 36 12. (13.) FC Energie Cottbus 28 9 7 12 40:39 +1 34 13. (12.) Karlsruher SC 28 10 4 14 35:40 -5 34 14. (14.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 28 10 4 14 29:44 -15 34 15. (15.) Hansa Rostock 28 8 5 15 27:38 -11 29 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) FSV Frankfurt 28 7 8 13 23:45 -22 29 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) TuS Koblenz 28 6 6 16 26:47 -21 24 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 28 5 6 17 18:46 -28 21 Arminia Bielefeld deducted 4 points for financial shenanigans
3.Liga - 30th round
An important round on both sides of the table. Leaders Osnabrück were unable to make any headway against Wehen at home, and their control of the top remains precarious. Wehen of course is in course in the fierce relegation battle, so this was a precious point for them. Ingolstadt also was short, as they could not defeat Regensburg at home. The main beneficiaries were Heidenheim, whose victory in Burghausen allowed them to hop back into 2nd, and Aue, keeping pace with the leaders, and still with two matches in hand.
That sucking sound you heard was the wind going out of Braunschweig and Offenbach. Both clubs still had hopes for promotion, and were hosting troubled teams, Dresden and Unterhaching respectively. These were "must win" matches for all the clubs, and surprsingly enough, the underdogs won on the road. Offenbach can now definitely say goodnight, and Braunschweig will need to win both makeup games to even stay close. Looks like both these "traditionals" will be gracing the 3.Liga next year for sure. For Dresden, a 5 point gap above relegation, so while they're not yet out of the woods, they're in a good position. For Unterhaching, they had been in free fall, so the win in Offenbach is a definite surprise.
At the bottom was the Mother-of-all-relegation-battles, as Kiel hosted Wuppertal. The hosts desperately needed a win, but WSV was equal to the task and held a point. The draw doesn't really help either club though, as each team needed the win. However, they remain close, although they're running out of games.
FC Ingolstadt 04 - Jahn Regensburg 2:2 (1:1) 3,304 (Hartmann, Pisot - Reichwein 2) Eintracht Braunschweig - Dynamo Dresden 0:1 (0:0) 14,750 (Koch) Kickers Offenbach - SpVgg Unterhaching 1:3 (1:2) 6,391 (Hesse - Goldschmidt o.g., Schweinsteiger, Leandro) FC Erzgebirge Aue - FC Bayern München II 2:0 (1:0) 7,300 (Glasner, Ramaj) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - SV 1916 Sandhausen 1:0 (0:0) 3,051 (Rockenbach da Silva) VfL Osnabrück - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 0:0 (0:0) 10,000 Borussia Dortmund II - VfB Stuttgart II 1:2 (1:1) 433 (Ginczek - Rathgeb, Pischorn) Wacker Burghausen - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 1:3 (0:2) 2,350 (Burkhard - Bagceci, Heidenfelder, Spann) SV Werder Bremen II - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 1:2 (1:0) 950 (Artmann - Smeekes, Hotwijn) Holstein Kiel - Wuppertaler SV 1:1 (1:1) 3,671 (Heider - Weikl) Attendance: 52,200 (avg 5,220) 1. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 30 15 8 7 38:25 +13 53 2. (3.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 29 15 5 9 52:40 +12 50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (2.) FC Ingolstadt 04 29 14 7 8 55:34 +21 49 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 28 14 6 8 38:31 +7 48 5. (6.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 28 13 7 8 39:33 +6 46 6. (5.) Kickers Offenbach 30 11 10 9 44:30 +14 43 7. (7.) Eintracht Braunschweig 28 11 8 9 36:29 +7 41 8. (8.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 29 10 9 10 42:45 -3 39 9. (9.) Jahn Regensburg 28 9 11 8 33:27 +6 38 10. (12.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 29 10 8 11 30:34 -4 38 11. (14.) Dynamo Dresden 28 10 7 11 30:32 -2 37 12. (15.) VfB Stuttgart II 28 11 3 14 38:37 +1 36 13. (10.) SV Werder Bremen II 28 10 6 12 37:39 -2 36 14. (11.) FC Bayern München II 27 10 6 11 39:49 -10 36 15. (16.) SpVgg Unterhaching 29 9 8 12 37:40 -3 35 16. (13.) Wacker Burghausen 28 10 5 13 30:48 -18 35 17. (18.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 28 9 6 13 34:45 -11 33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (17.) Borussia Dortmund II 28 9 5 14 31:38 -7 32 19. (19.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 28 8 6 14 31:44 -13 30 20. (20.) Holstein Kiel 28 7 7 14 30:44 -14 28
DFB Cup
The Cup final is set, and it's Bayern München and Werder Bremen, who have been in the Cup final zillions of times. I think they've won it about 20 times combined, although obviously Bayern München has a lot more (14). Bayern München defeated host Schalke 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen on a brilliant Arjen Robben effort in overtime. All-in-all, it was probably deserved, as the hosts were way too defensively oriented, despite the support of 62,000 fans. Bremen was better than Augsburg 2-0 , and although the 2.Liga club had some decent moments, Werder was never in much danger. Marko Marin and Claudio Pizarro notched the goals that send them to Berlin. This does mean that Werder is basically automatically qualified for the Europaliga, since Bayern will obviously be playing in the Champions League next season. I think it does mean that 6th place in the Bundesliga is now also in line for a European spot.
3.Liga - makeup round
Makeup games in the 3.Liga saw some significant results as teams jockey desperately for position.
The most important match was in Wuppertal, where WSV snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a desperate end run against Bayern München II. WSV jumped out to a 2-0 lead and seemed coasting to a critical victory, but Bayern came out in the 2nd half and the spirit went out of the hosts like hot air from a right-wing radio talk show host. The visitors kept chipping away, and before you knew it, WSV was actually losing 3-2 and seemed doomed. Fortunately, the Wuppertalers roused themselves in the name of Crispian and banged in 3 goals in the last 5 minutes to claim the win. Things still look bleak for WSV, but at least there is faint hope for revival.
Ingolstadt struggled, but put away the points to move into 2nd. Good thing for FCI, as lurking in the shadows is Erzgebirge Aue, who still have a couple of games in hand. The Auer beat down Dresden in front of a large crowd to remain hot. Dresden can't seem to break out of the doldrums and aren't out of relegation worries yet. Another big east German match saw Jena thump hosts Erfurt. Jena could also still make a move, but they will have to definitely win their two makeup matches. Braunschweig is in a similar, albeit worse, situation. The Lions need to win out and hope for some stumbling, but at least they kept their faint hope alive with a win over Regensburg.
Kiel was close to victory against collapsing Unterhaching, but they ended up surrendering a point in a heated relegation battle.
Wacker Burghausen - SV Werder Bremen II 1:1 (1:0) 2,200 (Holzer - Thy) FC Erzgebirge Aue - Dynamo Dresden 2:0 (2:0) 13,200 (Agyemang, Hochscheidt) Eintracht Braunschweig - Jahn Regensburg 1:0 (0:0) 10,800 (Kumbela) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 0:3 (0:2) 12,435 (Smeekes, Hähnge, Benyamina) Borussia Dortmund II - FC Ingolstadt 04 0:1 (0:0) 1,031 (Gerber) Wuppertaler SV - FC Bayern München II 5:3 (2:0) 2,566 (Lorenz, Damm 2, Celikovic, Formento - Ekici, Sene, Sikorski) VfB Stuttgart II - SV 1916 Sandhausen 3:0 (1:0) 450 (Schipplock, Vier, Schieber) Holstein Kiel - SpVgg Unterhaching 2:2 (1:1) 3,096 (Holt, Wulff - Rathgeber, Mützel) 1. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 29 15 7 7 38:25 +13 52 2. (2.) FC Ingolstadt 04 28 14 6 8 53:32 +21 48 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 28 14 5 9 49:39 +10 47 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 27 13 6 8 36:31 +5 45 5. (5.) Kickers Offenbach 29 11 10 8 43:27 +16 43 6. (6.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 27 12 7 8 37:32 +5 43 7. (7.) Eintracht Braunschweig 27 11 8 8 36:28 +8 41 8. (8.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 28 10 9 9 42:44 -2 39 9. (9.) Jahn Regensburg 27 9 10 8 31:25 +6 37 10. (10.) SV Werder Bremen II 27 10 6 11 36:37 -1 36 11. (11.) FC Bayern München II 26 10 6 10 39:47 -8 36 12. (12.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 28 9 8 11 29:34 -5 35 13. (13.) Wacker Burghausen 27 10 5 12 29:45 -16 35 14. (14.) Dynamo Dresden 27 9 7 11 29:32 -3 34 15. (15.) VfB Stuttgart II 27 10 3 14 36:36 0 33 16. (16.) SpVgg Unterhaching 28 8 8 12 34:39 -5 32 17. (17.) Borussia Dortmund II 27 9 5 13 30:36 -6 32 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 27 9 5 13 34:45 -11 32 19. (19.) Wuppertaler SV 27 8 5 14 30:43 -13 29 20. (20.) Holstein Kiel 27 7 6 14 29:43 -14 27
Bundesliga, Round 27
Missed opportunities at the top, as the leaders struggled for the points.
Bayern München played lackadaisically, but looked to be bringing home the bacon against an energetic Eintracht Frankfurt. The hosts had controlled the game, but were unable to break through and looked condemned to an undeserved loss. However, they managed to score twice in the last two minutes and stun Bayern. They now faced the possibilty of losing the leadership. Frankfurt I would have expected to suck and lose, but of course as has been mentioned many a time, you never know which Eintracht team is going to show up. This time, they showed up determined, and it showed, as they pushed around a lackluster Bayern squad. A nice win for Frankfurt.
Bayer Leverksuen was not able to take advantage of the leaders slip. Instead, they got bitch-slapped by Borussia Dortmund. Although they had some control of the game, the Aspirins always looked a step slower than the Neons, who energetically fought for every ball and launched blitz counterattacks. The game deciding figure was Argentine striker Lucas Barrios, who has been in top form. He scored twice to sink the Pepto-Bismols, but his best action wiouldn't show on the scoreboard. On a counter, Barrios lifted the ball 50 meters towards the goal, and only a great save by GK Rene Adler to tip the ball over the bar prevented the Goal of the Year. As it was, when Barrios left, his replacement, ex-Cottbus saviour Dimitar Rangelov banged in a 3rd to complete the rout.
So it was left to Schalke to take the top, although they would need an unlikely away win. Schalke was in a tough battle at Hamburg, but were close to winning in a hard fought battle. HSV was equal to the task, and managed to score late to split the points. The match could have gone either way, so a draw is a fair result. Schalke continues to surprise me, coach Felix Magath is doing it with mirrors. Hamburg is a decent squad, but not ready to threaten at the top.
Werder Bremen continues their match upwards, but they had their hands full with a desperate and determined Bochum squad. Werder probably expected an easy win, but sometimes the prospect relegation causes clubs to raise their game, and Bochum gave Bremen all they could handle. In the end, superior talent won out as the Bremers clubbed the Bochumers into submission.
Stuttgart didn't have too much trouble with Hannover. They were brought back down to earth as they got bitchslapped midweek in Barcelona, so it's not that surprising they didn't look too sharp. Still, they did enough for the win. Hannover has improved imensely over the last couple of weeks, but they're still not very good and couldn't really match up to their hosts.
After several weeks of impressive performances, defending champion Wolfsburg laid an egg. Ironically, it was against the league laughing stock, Hertha BSC, who delivered a stunning 5-1 defeat to the VWs. Most pundits are writing off Wolfsburg's lame display, chalking it off to the VWs tough overtime win over Kazan in the Europaliga on Thursday. If they suck again next week, then it will be of concern. For Hertha, obviously a great win, and something they haven't done all season, namely take advantage when an opponent is down. Despite the screaming headlines that "Hertha is back", they're still at least 5 points from any chance of avoiding relegation.
Nürnberg was fortunate to hold a draw at home against a more talented Hoffenheim. The guests dominated the game, often putting FCN's defense in chaos, and the hosts attack was completely lame. However, the Hopp-ers were somewhat unlucky as well, and the result was an important point for Nürnberg.
Freiburg hung on grimly to get their win against Mainz. After an early lead, the hosts watched helplessly as the visitors grabbed control and pressed for the equalizer. Lucky for Freiburg, Mainz isn't much of an offensive force, so SCF was able to withstand the pressure and get a crucial win.
Köln disappointed their fans with a rather lame display in a normally heated derby with Gladbach. A draw was a fair result here, and probably is better for Gladbach, as it just about puts them out of any relegation reach. Köln still is on the bubble, as that 5 point cushion could disappear quickly.
1. FC Köln - Borussia M'gladbach 1:1 (0:0) 50,000 (Maniche - Reus) Eintracht Frankfurt - FC Bayern München 2:1 (0:1) 51,500 (Tsourmou, Fenin - Klose) 1. FC Nürnberg - 1899 Hoffenheim 0:0 (0:0) 40,421 VfB Stuttgart - Hannover 96 2:0 (1:0) 41,000 (Marica 2) SV Werder Bremen - VfL Bochum 3:2 (0:1) 36,197 (Pizarro, Marin, Frings - Sestak, Dedic) SC Freiburg - 1. FSV Mainz 05 1:0 (1:0) 20,000 (Flum) Borussia Dortmund - Bayer Leverkusen 3:0 (0:0) 80,100 (Barrios 2, Rangelov) Hamburger SV - FC Schalke 04 2:2 (1:0) 57,100 (van Nistelrooy, Pitriopa - Kuranyi, Rakitic) VfL Wolfsburg - Hertha BSC Berlin 1:5 (1:3) 29,353 (Grafite - Gekas 3, Ramos 2) Attendance: 405,661 (avg 45,073) 1. (1.) FC Bayern München 27 16 8 3 54:24 +30 56 2. (2.) FC Schalke 04 27 16 7 4 44:22 +22 55 3. (3.) Bayer Leverkusen 27 14 11 2 56:28 +28 53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Borussia Dortmund 27 14 6 7 46:33 +13 48 5. (6.) SV Werder Bremen 27 12 9 6 54:33 +21 45 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (5.) Hamburger SV 27 11 11 5 48:32 +16 44 7. (9.) VfB Stuttgart 27 10 8 9 39:35 +4 38 8. (10.) Eintracht Frankfurt 27 10 8 9 35:39 -4 38 9. (7.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 27 10 8 9 29:33 -4 38 10. (8.) VfL Wolfsburg 27 10 7 10 50:51 -1 37 11. (11.) 1899 Hoffenheim 27 9 6 12 34:31 +3 33 12. (12.) Borussia M'gladbach 27 8 7 12 35:47 -12 31 13. (13.) 1. FC Köln 27 6 10 11 23:34 -11 28 14. (14.) VfL Bochum 27 6 9 12 29:49 -20 27 15. (15.) 1. FC Nürnberg 27 6 7 14 24:43 -19 25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) Hannover 96 27 6 5 16 29:50 -21 23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) SC Freiburg 27 6 5 16 25:49 -24 23 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 27 4 6 17 27:48 -21 18 Top Goalscorers: Gms Goals Assists 1. Stefan Kießling Bayer Leverkusen 27 16 6 2. Kevin Kuranyi FC Schalke 04 26 15 6 3. Lucas Barrios Borussia Dortmund 26 15 5 4. Edin Dzeko VfL Wolfsburg 27 14 7 5. Claudio Pizarro SV Werder Bremen 19 12 1 6. Albert Bunjaku 1. FC Nürnberg 21 12 0 7. Eren Derdiyok Bayer Leverkusen 26 11 4 8. Mario Gomez FC Bayern München 25 10 5 9. Arjen Robben FC Bayern München 18 10 5 10. Toni Kroos Bayer Leverkusen 26 9 7
2.Liga - 27th round
The pretenders solidify their positions. Augsburg was struggling against last place Ahlen, but a late surge got them the win and kept them above St.Pauli for the crucial automatic promotion spot. The Paulistas managed a tough away win in always difficult Cottbus.
Düsseldorf needed a win against leaders Kaiserslautern. Despite pressing, Fortuna was unable to break down the vistors, and the resulting draw basically ends any serious thought about promotion. FCK on the other hand is waltzing home to promotion. After a couple of years in the wildnerness, the return of the Red Devils to the top flight is pretty much a drawn conclusion. They should see some large crowds in their few remaining home games as they celebrate. Bielefeld seems to have weathered their season-ending point deduction as they easily bitch-slapped Paderborn in a Westfalen derby.
Two clubs fighting to stay above relegation had big wins. Oberhausen had been in freefall, but they get a critical win over Karlsruhe. And Hansa Rostock got an impressive win over Duisburg to open a little room between themselves and the charging relegation teams. 1860 continued their improvement as they stopped FSV Frankfurt, who have been sneaking up from the dregs. The Bornheimers still hope to catch Rostock or Oberhausen, but the revival of those clubs isn't coming at a good time for them. Koblenz got a nice win, perhaps making their last gasp attempt to avoid the drop. I think it's probably too late, but they can still easily catch Frankfurt and then go into the relegation playoff.
TuS Koblenz - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 2:0 (1:0) 6,796 (Kontriris, Fürstner o.g.) Hansa Rostock - MSV Duisburg 3:1 (1:0) 10,500 (Dahlén, Orestes, Jänicke - Baljak) FC Energie Cottbus - FC St. Pauli 0:1 (0:0) 12,930 (Takyi) FC Augsburg - Rot Weiss Ahlen 3:1 (1:1) 21,850 (Brinkmann, Thurk, Traore - Lartey) Arminia Bielefeld - SC Paderborn 07 3:0 (1:0) 19,300 (Katongo, Feick, Risgard) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - Karlsruher SC 1:0 (0:0) 4,768 (König) 1. FC Union Berlin - Alemannia Aachen 0:0 (0:0) 12,057 TSV 1860 München - FSV Frankfurt 2:1 (1:0) 13,300 (Rakic, Ludwig - Mehic) Fortuna Düsseldorf - 1. FC K'lautern 0:0 (0:0) 31,500 Attendance: 133,001 (avg 14,778) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 27 17 7 3 45:20 +25 58 2. (2.) FC Augsburg 27 15 8 4 54:30 +24 53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC St. Pauli 27 16 4 7 55:30 +25 52 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 27 13 6 8 37:24 +13 45 5. (6.) Arminia Bielefeld 27 14 4 9 40:26 +14 42 6. (5.) MSV Duisburg 27 12 6 9 42:37 +5 42 7. (7.) TSV 1860 München 27 12 5 10 35:33 +2 41 8. (8.) SC Paderborn 07 27 10 8 9 37:40 -3 38 9. (9.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 27 11 3 13 41:39 +2 36 10. (10.) 1. FC Union Berlin 27 9 9 9 32:34 -2 36 11. (12.) Alemannia Aachen 27 9 7 11 27:33 -6 34 12. (11.) Karlsruher SC 27 10 3 14 34:39 -5 33 13. (13.) FC Energie Cottbus 27 8 7 12 36:38 -2 31 14. (14.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 27 9 4 14 27:43 -16 31 15. (15.) Hansa Rostock 27 8 5 14 27:36 -9 29 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) FSV Frankfurt 27 6 8 13 21:44 -23 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) TuS Koblenz 27 6 6 15 25:43 -18 24 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 27 5 6 16 17:43 -26 21 Bielefeld subtracted 4 points for cheating Top Goalscorers: Gms Goals Assists 1. Michael Thurk FC Augsburg 25 21 2 2. Marius Ebbers FC St. Pauli 27 14 7 3. Giovanni Federico Arminia Bielefeld 26 12 10 4. Mahir Saglik SC Paderborn 07 23 12 7 5. Benjamin Auer Alemannia Aachen 23 12 2 6. Martin Harnik Fortuna Düsseldorf 22 12 2 7. Erik Jendrisek 1. FC K'lautern 23 11 2 8. Sami Allagui SpVgg Greuther Fürth 25 10 6 9. Christopher Nöthe SpVgg Greuther Fürth 27 10 5 10. Sidney Sam 1. FC K'lautern 26 9 6
3.Liga - 29th round
The big news is that Wuppertal has gotten slapped in the face and is now facing relegation head-on. WSV had some critical matches recently, and they came up with goose eggs. This disaster should call for rioting in the streets and perhaps burning of one of the Schwebebahn cars, but apparently all 5 remaining WSV fans decided to have an extra round at the pub. A sad state of affairs for Germany's greatest football club...
OK, back to reality. Joining WSV in the dumps is Holstein Kiel. Once again the province will only be noted for it's cows rather than football. They look pretty helpless as they showed absolutely nada when getting milked by Heidenheim, which most people can't even find on a map.
Osnabrück continues to eek out results, and looks in a solid position. However, they shouldn't celebrate too much. Ingolstadt has a couple of make up matches, and their tight win over Offenbach has probably sunk the Kickers from any promotion hopes. Eastern clubs Aue and Jena have outside prospects, although they'd have to win all their postponed matches to still stay in the hunt. Jena did effectively end Braunschweig's hopes with a win.
On the bottom, Dresden got a big "W" against Burghausen, which gives them some breathing room. However, it is still a dogfight for the last Regionalliga spot. Wehen got a huge win against Erfurt, and Unterhaching continues in crisis.
VfB Stuttgart II - VfL Osnabrück 0:1 (0:0) 750 (Engel) Wuppertaler SV - Borussia Dortmund II 0:2 (0:0) 3,177 (Nottbeck, Grosskreutz) SV 1916 Sandhausen - FC Erzgebirge Aue 0:0 (0:0) 1,810 Jahn Regensburg - FC Bayern München II 1:1 (0:0) 3,300 (Hagmann - Yilmaz) FC Ingolstadt 04 - Kickers Offenbach 1:0 (0:0) 3,405 (Gerber) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - Eintracht Braunschweig 2:1 (2:1) 7,249 (Benyamina, Gardawski - Banser) Dynamo Dresden - Wacker Burghausen 1:0 (0:0) 12,034 (Savran) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - Holstein Kiel 3:0 (1:0) 4,260 (Mayer, Göhlert, Heidenfelder) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 2:0 (1:0) 3,113 (Ziemer, Barg) SpVgg Unterhaching - SV Werder Bremen II 0:1 (0:0) 1,500 (Feldhahn) Attendance: 40,598 (avg 4,060) 1. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 29 15 7 7 38:25 +13 52 2. (2.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 28 14 5 9 49:39 +10 47 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (4.) FC Ingolstadt 04 27 13 6 8 52:32 +20 45 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) Kickers Offenbach 29 11 10 8 43:27 +16 43 5. (5.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 26 12 6 8 34:31 +3 42 6. (8.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 26 11 7 8 34:32 +2 40 7. (7.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 27 10 9 8 42:41 +1 39 8. (6.) Eintracht Braunschweig 26 10 8 8 35:28 +7 38 9. (9.) Jahn Regensburg 26 9 10 7 31:24 +7 37 10. (11.) FC Bayern München II 25 10 6 9 36:42 -6 36 11. (13.) SV Werder Bremen II 26 10 5 11 35:36 -1 35 12. (10.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 27 9 8 10 29:31 -2 35 13. (14.) Dynamo Dresden 26 9 7 10 29:30 -1 34 14. (12.) Wacker Burghausen 26 10 4 12 28:44 -16 34 15. (17.) Borussia Dortmund II 26 9 5 12 30:35 -5 32 16. (18.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 27 9 5 13 34:45 -11 32 17. (15.) SpVgg Unterhaching 27 8 7 12 32:37 -5 31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (16.) VfB Stuttgart II 26 9 3 14 33:36 -3 30 19. (19.) Holstein Kiel 26 7 5 14 27:41 -14 26 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 26 7 5 14 25:40 -15 26 Top Goalscorers: Gms Goals 1. Moritz Hartmann FC Ingolstadt 04 26 18 2. Regis Dorn SV 1916 Sandhausen 26 17 3. Michael Holt Holstein Kiel 24 12 4. Najeh Braham FC Erzgebirge Aue 25 11 5. Dennis Kruppke Eintracht Braunschweig 25 11 6. Tobias Schweinsteiger SpVgg Unterhaching 25 11 7. Stefan Leitl FC Ingolstadt 04 26 10 8 Patrick Mayer 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 25 10 9 Halil Savran Dynamo Dresden 25 10 10. Orlando Smeekes FC Carl Zeiss Jena 26 10
Bielefeld punished
This came out of left field, but Arminia Bielefeld just took a big one in the shorts. The governing board of the DFL (Deutscher Fussball-Liga, which governs the Bundesliga and 2.Liga) has announced that Bielefeld will be subtracted 4 points and fined 50,000 euros. This is for "violations against the license agreement". From what I can gather, Arminia announced in February that they would have a 2.5 million euro budget shortfall for the current season. Since the DFB requires that all accounts be balanced, the DFL gave Arminia until March 5 to come up with the funds. What is not clear is whether Arminia lied about having everything in place (apparently they do now, but they may have missed the date). In any case, for violating the rules, they got a point deduction and fine. The Arminia board has accepted the verdict and the matter seems closed.
This does throw a wrench into the 2.Liga race. At 43 points, Bielfeld held down 5th place, and were 6 points off St.Pauli for the promotion playoff spot. Not a great position, but certainly it was possible to make up the gap. They were sandwiched between Düsseldorf and Duisburg. Now they drop to 39 pts and 7th place, and a 10 point deficit is realistically speaking too great to make up. So Arminia's season - the only goal was promotion back to the Bundesliga - is essentially down the drain now.
Just another example on how the German federation keeps a much tighter leash on the clubs, compared for example with the English FA.
Bundesliga, Round 26
An interesting round that may have finally doomed Hertha to oblivion.
Schalke continues to pile on the pressure. In a tough game with in form Stuttgart, the Blues managed to pull out the win with a strong second half effort. Stuttgart might feel a bit hard done by, but they didn't take advantage of their opportunities and have nobody to blame but themselves. Schalke meanwhile raised their game and enjoyed the leadership of the table for about 24 hours.
Faced with potentially losing first place, Bayern München struggled mightily at home to Freiburg before finally prevailing. The visitors were hardly impressive, but were well organized and with Bayern going through the motions, they managed to grab the lead. It took a fine effort by Arjen Robben to finally give the leaders the win. Not a very impressive performance by Bayern, but they eventually got the job done. For Freiburg, they hardly could have expected any points in this encounter, so they can't be too disappointed. But with relegation staring them in the face, the house is not only on fire, but the fire department is on strike...
Leverkusen has been floundering the last couple of weeks, but faced with a difficult Hamburg, they got their act together. The win sees the Aspirins stay in striking distance of the top in this fierce title race. HSV is in a dogfight to hold onto a Euro spot.
Hertha looks like they are now down for the count. They would have to pick up three quick wins to even get back into the race. I can't see that happening. Hertha needed a win, but they really didn't give the impression that they are committed to saving their butts. The Berliners hosted Nürnberg and basically did only one half's worth of work. Nürnberg didn't do much more, but they at least kept at it and were rewarded with a huge win as Charisteas scored the winner in injury time. After the match, enraged Hertha fans stormed onto the field apparently attempting to discuss the finer points of football strategy with their heroes. Berlin police joined in the discussion using their full riot gear. Hilarity ensued.
Hannover has stopped the rot, but it remains to be seen if they can extracate themselves from the rather deep hole they've dug for themselves. They managed to beat down Frankfurt, although it was hardly an impressive performance. Basically Frankfurt was crap, but at least the 96ers took advantage. They're back in the race, and shouldn't be counted out. Frankfurt is back to their usual pattern of two steps forward, two steps backward, let's go nowhere.
Werder Bremen remains hot. The Bremers won an even match at Hoffenheim, thanks to Claudio Pizzaro's late strike. It was the Peruvian's 100th match for Werder, a nice signing for the northerners. Hoffenheim was a equal opponent, but they lacked some luck and perhaps a little grit.
Dortmund continues their fight for Euro qualification. In a hotly contested derby at Bochum, the Neons took advantage of the hosts getting cut down to 10, and ruthlessly finished off the Blues. An excellent result, and given their recent financial nightmare, the potential of some Europaliga cash is a nice reward for an organization that appears to be back on track. For Bochum, despite all the hard work they've recently put in, they're not that far ahead of the drop zone, so this loss hurts.
Mainz was forced to play with only 10 for an hour after Aristide Bance got his ass tossed. However the vistors Köln were completely incompetant going forward (a bit of a surprise, since Köln has been fairly aggressive in attack since winterbreak). As a result, Mainz gathered a goal and a win, boosting their hopes of perhaps sneaking into Europe. They would need some help, but there are a few scenarios where they could sneak in. For Köln, this one hurts. If you are up a man for an hour, you should at least not lose. They have only a small cushion above the drop zone, basically 5 points if you consider their goal difference advantage. That could disappear in two weeks, so they need to pay attention.
In a ho-hum game, Wolfsburg savaged their hosts Gladbach with a clinical display. Particularily in the 2nd half, as Gladbach was throwing everything forward in a desperate attempt to get back in the game, the VWs countered ruthlessly. Actually, you might argue that the visitors showed some mercy, because if they had been a bit more clinical in their finishing, they easily could have had 6-7 goals. Wolfsburg is back on track, but the defending champions had been derailed for so long, they're basically going nowhere. But look for them to be a tough opponent for the rest of the season. Gladbach probably has done just enough to float above the drop zone, but they should probably plan on getting a couple more results before phoning it in.
FC Schalke 04 - VfB Stuttgart 2:1 (0:0) 61,673 (Edu, Kuranyi - Tasci) Borussia M'gladbach - VfL Wolfsburg 0:4 (0:1) 39,128 (Misimovic, Dzeko 2, Gentner) VfL Bochum - Borussia Dortmund 1:4 (0:2) 30,748 (Holtby - Maltritz o.g., Zidan, Barrios 2) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - 1. FC Köln 1:0 (0:0) 20,300 (Schürrle) Hannover 96 - Eintracht Frankfurt 2:1 (1:1) 38,847 (Andreasen, Pinto - Halil Altintop) Hertha BSC Berlin - 1. FC Nürnberg 1:2 (1:0) 57,761 (Gekas - Bunjaku, Charisteas) FC Bayern München - SC Freiburg 2:1 (0:1) 69,000 (Robben 2 - Makiadi) 1899 Hoffenheim - SV Werder Bremen 0:1 (0:0) 30,150 (Pizarro) Bayer Leverkusen - Hamburger SV 4:2 (1:1) 30,210 (Kiessling 2, Derdiyok, Castro - Ze Roberto, Rozhenal) Attendance: 377,817 (avg 41,980) 1. (1.) FC Bayern München 26 16 8 2 53:22 +31 56 2. (2.) FC Schalke 04 26 16 6 4 42:20 +22 54 3. (3.) Bayer Leverkusen 26 14 11 1 56:25 +31 53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (5.) Borussia Dortmund 26 13 6 7 43:33 +10 45 5. (4.) Hamburger SV 26 11 10 5 46:30 +16 43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) SV Werder Bremen 26 11 9 6 51:31 +20 42 7. (9.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 26 10 8 8 29:32 -3 38 8. (10.) VfL Wolfsburg 26 10 7 9 49:46 +3 37 9. (7.) VfB Stuttgart 26 9 8 9 37:35 +2 35 10. (8.) Eintracht Frankfurt 26 9 8 9 33:38 -5 35 11. (11.) 1899 Hoffenheim 26 9 5 12 34:31 +3 32 12. (12.) Borussia M'gladbach 26 8 6 12 34:46 -12 30 13. (13.) 1. FC Köln 26 6 9 11 22:33 -11 27 14. (14.) VfL Bochum 26 6 9 11 27:46 -19 27 15. (15.) 1. FC Nürnberg 26 6 6 14 24:43 -19 24 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) Hannover 96 26 6 5 15 29:48 -19 23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) SC Freiburg 26 5 5 16 24:49 -25 20 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 26 3 6 17 22:47 -25 15 Goal scorers: 1 Kießling, Stefan Bayer Leverkusen 26 16 2 Dzeko, Edin VfL Wolfsburg 26 14 3 Kuranyi, Kevin FC Schalke 04 25 14 4 Barrios, Lucas Borussia Dortmund 25 13 5 Bunjaku, Albert 1. FC Nürnberg 21 12 6 Derdiyok, Eren Bayer Leverkusen 25 12
2.Liga - 26th round
St.Pauli is back, although they had a rough time with a stubborn Oberhausen. Nevertheless, since Augsburg got stopped cold in Karlsruhe and Düsseldorf, Duisburg and Bielefeld went down in flames, the Paulistas have strengthened their position. (Plus Bielefeld basically got zapped out of the race due to a points penalty, see news of March 16)
Leaders Kaiserslautern is looking like a champion, and although they had some anxious moments against Cottbus, they eventually dispatched the East German dwarfs.
The relegation struggle has heated up. FSV Frankfurt knocked off Düsseldorf and momentarily moved out of the drop zone. It took a good effort by Hansa Rostock to hold a point in Paderborn and regain the 15th spot. FSV seems determined (like last season), so I wouldn't write them off. Rostock and Oberhausen look vulnerable and could easily get caught. And of course, the 16th position is a playoff spot, facing the 3rd position of the 3.Liga, so even then not all is lost. Koblenz seized their last opportunity, as a loss in Ahlen would have essentially doomed them. Instead, they came away with a nice win. However, things still look grim for both those clubs.
Alemannia Aachen - Arminia Bielefeld 2:1 (2:1) 19,123 (Auer 2 - Fort) Rot Weiss Ahlen - TuS Koblenz 0:2 (0:1) 4,103 (Kontriris, Glockner) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - 1. FC Union Berlin 0:0 (0:0) 5,450 Karlsruher SC - FC Augsburg 1:0 (1:0) 15,705 (Stindl) FSV Frankfurt - Fortuna Düsseldorf 2:0 (1:0) 7,034 (Cidimar 2) 1. FC K'lautern - FC Energie Cottbus 4:1 (3:0) 33,405 (Rodnei, Sam 2, Jendrisek - Kruska) FC St. Pauli - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 5:3 (2:2) 19,901 (Ebbers, Lehmann, Oczipka, Bruns, Boll - Stoppelkamp, Gordon, Miletic) SC Paderborn 07 - Hansa Rostock 2:2 (1:2) 9,373 (Löning, Krause - Bartels, Dahlen) MSV Duisburg - TSV 1860 München 0:1 (0:0) 12,254 (Rakic) Attendance: 126,348 (avg 14,439) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 26 17 6 3 45:20 +25 57 2. (2.) FC Augsburg 26 14 8 4 51:29 +22 50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC St. Pauli 26 15 4 7 54:30 +24 49 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 26 13 5 8 37:24 +13 44 5. (5.) Arminia Bielefeld 26 13 4 9 37:26 +11 43 6. (6.) MSV Duisburg 26 12 6 8 41:34 +7 42 7. (9.) TSV 1860 München 26 11 5 10 33:32 +1 38 8. (7.) SC Paderborn 07 26 10 8 8 37:37 0 38 9. (8.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 26 11 3 12 41:37 +4 36 10. (10.) 1. FC Union Berlin 26 9 8 9 32:34 -2 35 11. (12.) Karlsruher SC 26 10 3 13 34:38 -4 33 12. (13.) Alemannia Aachen 26 9 6 11 27:33 -6 33 13. (11.) FC Energie Cottbus 26 8 7 11 36:37 -1 31 14. (14.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 26 8 4 14 26:43 -17 28 15. (15.) Hansa Rostock 26 7 5 14 24:35 -11 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) FSV Frankfurt 26 6 8 12 20:42 -22 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (18.) TuS Koblenz 26 5 6 15 23:43 -20 21 18. (17.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 26 5 6 15 16:40 -24 21
3.Liga - 28th round
Snow once again is the main story, but of the matches played, there were some interesting results. Leaders Osnabrück faced last place Wuppertal at home, seemingly an easy task. But the 3.Liga is very balanced this season, and the hosts had to settle for a point against a determined WSV. Braunschweig downed Unterhaching to keep their slim promotion hopes alive, and Unterhaching has to be careful they don't slip any further. Ingolstadt has been dicking around and look precarious in their promotion position. They struggled to hold a draw at Bremen. However, they did get a bit of a boost since Offenbach was unable to get the win against Regensburg.
Kickers Offenbach - Jahn Regensburg 0:0 (0:0) 7,203 Eintracht Braunschweig - SpVgg Unterhaching 1:0 (1:0) 10,800 (Kumbela) SV Werder Bremen II - FC Ingolstadt 04 0:0 (0:0) 370 VfL Osnabrück - Wuppertaler SV 1:1 (1:1) 10,500 (Hansen - Fischer) postponed: Holstein Kiel - Dynamo Dresden Wacker Burghausen - FC Carl Zeiss Jena FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - VfB Stuttgart II FC Bayern München II - SV 1916 Sandhausen FC Erzgebirge Aue - SV Wehen Wiesbaden Borussia Dortmund II - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 1. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 27 13 7 7 36:25 +11 46 2. (2.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 26 13 5 8 44:35 +9 44 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Ingolstadt 04 26 12 6 8 51:32 +19 42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Kickers Offenbach 27 11 9 7 43:26 +17 42 5. (5.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 25 12 5 8 34:31 +3 41 6. (7.) Eintracht Braunschweig 25 10 8 7 34:26 +8 38 7. (6.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 25 10 7 8 42:41 +1 37 8. (9.) Jahn Regensburg 24 9 8 7 29:22 +7 35 9. (8.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 25 9 8 8 29:28 +1 35 10. (10.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 24 9 7 8 29:31 -2 34 11. (11.) Wacker Burghausen 24 10 3 11 27:42 -15 33 12. (13.) SV Werder Bremen II 24 9 5 10 34:35 -1 32 13. (12.) FC Bayern München II 23 9 5 9 31:39 -8 32 14. (14.) SpVgg Unterhaching 26 8 7 11 32:36 -4 31 15. (15.) Dynamo Dresden 24 8 6 10 28:30 -2 30 16. (16.) Borussia Dortmund II 24 8 5 11 28:32 -4 29 17. (17.) VfB Stuttgart II 24 8 3 13 32:35 -3 27 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 24 7 5 12 25:36 -11 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19. (18.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 25 7 5 13 30:45 -15 26 20. (19.) Holstein Kiel 24 7 4 13 27:38 -11 25
3.Liga makeup matches
Some matches were made up midweek, mostly from round 22. Ingolstadt lost an important match in Erfurt, and this allowed Aue to pull equal on points. The battle for 3rd place (and a playoff promotion spot) has heated up, despite the cold weather. In the bottom zone, Bremen gets an important win at fellow strugglers Dortmund, while threatened Kiel got hammered.
FC Erzgebirge Aue - SpVgg Unterhaching 2:0 (0:0) 6,100 (Braham, Glasner) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - FC Ingolstadt 04 2:1 (1:1) 3,289 (Rockenbach da Silna, Kammlott - Metzelder) Borussia Dortmund II - SV Werder Bremen II 1:2 (0:0) 1,139 (Hünemeier - Kempe 2) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - Holstein Kiel 3:0 (2:0) 5,205 (Lukimya, Smeekes, Hähnge) 1. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 26 13 6 7 35:24 +11 45 2. (2.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 26 13 5 8 44:35 +9 44 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Ingolstadt 04 25 12 5 8 51:32 +19 41 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Kickers Offenbach 26 11 8 7 43:26 +17 41 5. (5.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 25 12 5 8 34:31 +3 41 6. (6.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 25 10 7 8 42:41 +1 37 7. (7.) Eintracht Braunschweig 24 9 8 7 33:26 +7 35 8. (8.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 25 9 8 8 29:28 +1 35 9. (9.) Jahn Regensburg 23 9 7 7 29:22 +7 34 10. (10.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 24 9 7 8 29:31 -2 34 11. (11.) Wacker Burghausen 24 10 3 11 27:42 -15 33 12. (12.) FC Bayern München II 23 9 5 9 31:39 -8 32 13. (13.) SV Werder Bremen II 23 9 4 10 34:35 -1 31 14. (14.) SpVgg Unterhaching 25 8 7 10 32:35 -3 31 15. (15.) Dynamo Dresden 24 8 6 10 28:30 -2 30 16. (16.) Borussia Dortmund II 24 8 5 11 28:32 -4 29 17. (17.) VfB Stuttgart II 24 8 3 13 32:35 -3 27 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 25 7 5 13 30:45 -15 26 19. (19.) Holstein Kiel 24 7 4 13 27:38 -11 25 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 23 7 4 12 24:35 -11 25
Bankruptcy for Zwickau
FSV Zwickau has apparently gone into administration, for the second time in 10 years. The successor club of the DDR-Oberliga stalwart Sachsenring Zwickau has seen a rapid drop in fortune from the post reunification years, which saw them play in the 2.Liga in the mid 1990s. After exhausting themselves trying to maintain 2.Liga status, by the end of the 1990s, they collapsed into bankruptcy. They are currently playing in the 5th division Oberliga NOFV-Süd, in mid-table. Not sure if all their results will be annulled, but that is usually the case, along with forcible relegation.
This is just yet another case of the bankrupt methods of former GDR football. Most of the ex-GDR clubs have a respectable fanbase that could probably support at least 2.Liga football, but financial mismanagement has basically ruined it for all clubs. A few like Energie Cottbus punch above their weight, and ironically were never a factor in GDR football. The small Lausitz region club has managed to stay on in the 2.Liga and occasionally pop up in the top flight. Hansa Rostock, which was also a lightweight, seems to be falling to the same malaise as the bigger ex-GDR clubs, and are the verge ofcollapse. Heavyweights like Dynamo Dresden are struggling to stay above water, and the Leipzig clubs have already drowned.
The moral of the story is that you have to live within your means. Even if some moneybags shows up, the experience in eastern Germany gives you the following takeaway: say Dankeschön, take the money, put it in the bank and keep doing what you were doing. Do not spend it on players. If you do, once the money goes away (and it will), then you'll be left with unaffordable player contracts and other obligations, and oblivion beckons.
Bundesliga, Round 25
First loss for Luserkusen and they tumble from the top. One more mistep from the Aspirins, and it's all over no doubt.
Lukas Podolski came back to haunt Bayern, as he finally scored to give battling Köln the lead. But he evidently doesn't harbor too much rancor against his former club, as he missed a sitter that might have won the match. On the other hand, after falling behind, the leaders furiously assaulted Köln's net, hitting the woodwork a couple of times. All in all, an exciting match and probably a fair result, given Köln's enthusiastic energy.
Bayer Leverkusen could have regained the lead with a win, but they will need a serious dose of Alka-Seltzer after this performance. They came out like a limp rag against a Nürnberg squad fighting for it's life. Bad idea. The Nürnbergers took advantage and came out attacking against a seemingly bored Pepto-Bismol team, and by early second half, seemingly had everything wrapped up. Then the drugs must have kicked in, as Bayer woke up and came storming back. However, in the end, FCN was able to hang on for the deserved win and the precious points. Meanwhile, I bet you could get wonderful odds on Leverkusen winning the title, as I'm sure everyone has now written them off as the chokers that they are. Needless to say, this is a massive win for Nürnberg. Every point is crucial right now, as it looks like 3 clubs are battling for the 2 painful spots, 16th and 17th.
Schalke meanwhile is like a bad rash that won't go away. Despite everything supposedly falling apart, especially on the financial side, the Blues have managed to remain in the race. They whipped their hosts Frankfurt silly, although the result was probably a bit unfair to Eintracht. Coach Felix Magath continues to get the maximum out of his squad, and although the odds of sneaking the title are almost less than zero, Champions League beckons.
Hamburg had a less than impressive performance against Berlin, but luckily Hertha is back to their old tricks and sucking. HSV made a single goal stand up for the win, which keeps them in the driver seat for a Europaliga spot. A couple of weeks ago, it looked like Hertha might rouse themselves from their slumber, but it's looking more like lights out for Berlin.
Dortmund is the other club that is holding on to guaranteed European play next season, and they handled Gladbach easily. The visitors have already laid the groundwork for staying up, so they didn't have much to play for; it's no surprise they get their asses kicked. The Neons might be on a positive run again. Their objective should be to hold on to 5th place, which is certain to come under pressure from Bremen.
Two clubs that have recently been making waves met in Bremen, and it was the hosts who had to have been happy in escaping with a point. Visitors Stuttgart looked the better team for most of the match. By fending off defeat, Werder remains in striking distance of a Euro spot. Without this win, it's hard to envision Stuttgart moving up much higher in the table.
Hannover has not forgotten what they show up for. The 96ers had dropped 9 straight, but showed up with purpose in a crucial match in Freiburg. The game was frazzled, but the visitors managed to do enough to get the win. For Hannover, this is obviously a huge result. They haven't completely forgotten how to play football, and there is enough time left in the season that they can climb out of the drop. This is also a huge (non)result for Freiburg. They really needed to win this game. This match might be the one that takes the wind out of their sails and sinks the ship.
Mainz edged Hoffenheim in a southwestern derby, only the 2nd road result for the Mainzers. Hoffenheim remains pretty inconsistent, whereas Mainz gives a good effort every match. The difference is that the Hoppers have talent, and Mainz doesn't, but in this case, effort won out. Obviously a good result for Mainz, who continue to impress in their return to the Bundesliga. However, their fans should enjoy the run, because next season it's probably back to grim reality.
In the ho-hum match, Wolfsburg slapped Bochum silly. The Bochumers have been fighting hard these last few weeks to get a few points and float above the drop zone. So perhaps they figured they could vacation in that prime destination resort Kraftdurchfreudestadt. The VWs have been playing decently in the last few weeks, and had little trouble making mincemeat of their guests. It's undoubtedly too late for the defending champs to mount any sort of campaign, but they should be an uncomfortable opponent if they keep their form. Now that they're at least respectable in the Bundesliga, perhaps they'll concentrate on the Europaliga competition, where they will have to win it if they want to play in Europe next season.
1. FC Köln - FC Bayern München 1:1 (1:0) 50,000 (Podolski - Schweinsteiger) SV Werder Bremen - VfB Stuttgart 2:2 (0:2) 38,000 (Hugo Almeida, Frings - Pogrebnyak, Khedira) Hamburger SV - Hertha BSC Berlin 1:0 (1:0) 53,905 (Jansen) Eintracht Frankfurt - FC Schalke 04 1:4 (0:2) 51,500 (Meier - Matip, Höwedes, Rakitic, Kuranyi) SC Freiburg - Hannover 96 1:2 (0:0) 19,100 (Abdessadki - Elson, Bruggink) VfL Wolfsburg - VfL Bochum 4:1 (0:1) 27,152 (Dzeko 2, Martins, Santana - Freier) Borussia Dortmund - Borussia M'gladbach 3:0 (1:0) 79,800 (Grosskreutz, Zidan 2) 1. FC Nürnberg - Bayer Leverkusen 3:2 (2:0) 40,329 (Choupo-Moting 2, Tavares - Kiessling, Helmes) 1899 Hoffenheim - 1. FSV Mainz 05 0:1 (0:0) 30,150 (Bancé) Attendance: 389,936 (avg 43,326) 1. (1.) FC Bayern München 25 15 8 2 51:21 +30 53 2. (3.) FC Schalke 04 25 15 6 4 40:19 +21 51 3. (2.) Bayer Leverkusen 25 13 11 1 52:23 +29 50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Hamburger SV 25 11 10 4 44:26 +18 43 5. (5.) Borussia Dortmund 25 12 6 7 39:32 +7 42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) SV Werder Bremen 25 10 9 6 50:31 +19 39 7. (8.) VfB Stuttgart 25 9 8 8 36:33 +3 35 8. (7.) Eintracht Frankfurt 25 9 8 8 32:36 -4 35 9. (10.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 25 9 8 8 28:32 -4 35 10. (11.) VfL Wolfsburg 25 9 7 9 45:46 -1 34 11. (9.) 1899 Hoffenheim 25 9 5 11 34:30 +4 32 12. (12.) Borussia M'gladbach 25 8 6 11 34:42 -8 30 13. (14.) 1. FC Köln 25 6 9 10 22:32 -10 27 14. (13.) VfL Bochum 25 6 9 10 26:42 -16 27 15. (16.) 1. FC Nürnberg 25 5 6 14 22:42 -20 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (17.) Hannover 96 25 5 5 15 27:47 -20 20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (15.) SC Freiburg 25 5 5 15 23:47 -24 20 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 25 3 6 16 21:45 -24 15
2.Liga - 25th round
St.Pauli has fallen apart, and what looked like a sure Bundesliga campaign is now in tatters. The loss at 1860 hurts big-time.
Augsburg has been the main beneficiary of St.Pauli's stumble. FCA has now strengthened their hold on 2nd place, and large crowds are now showing up in anticipation of a historic Bundesliga push. The Fuggers made short work of a decent Paderborn team, who only managed to hold off the hosts for the first half.
Ready to pounce if St.Pauli continue to falter are the trio of Düsseldorf, Bielefeld and Duisburg. Düsseldorf was unable to gain the points against Greuther Fürth, but Duisburg had a tough win in Berlin. Bielefled laid an egg at home to Karlsruhe, and fail to make any headway. (But an important result for KSC, as they had been drifting uncomfortably clsoe to the drop zone.)
Leaders Kaiserslautern are comfortable in front, but they felt some of the uprising of the relegation teams. FSV Frankfurt came into the match with a defensive plan, and executed to perfection. They closed down the FCK attack and broke out in counters that the Red Devils struggled to contain. In the end, a draw was a fair result. Frankfurt sucked most of the season, but recently have been causing lots of problems for their opponents. This is the same pattern from last season, when they looked dead and buried, but an amazing second half run allowed them to save their butts. This season, it looked even bleaker, with even fewer prospects. But FSV has become very competitive, and they're basically one win from climbing out of the drop zone.
Another bottom dweller has woken up as well: Ahlen has climbed out of the basement! They stunned Rostock away, and unbelievably the red-whites now have prospects of saving themselves as well. Meanwhile hosts Hansa are facing a grim reality that they could be in the drop zone as early as next week. That should unleash rioting in the streets of Rostock, perhaps the first real riots since the worker's uprising of 1953 or so. At least Cottbus won, so that means no rioting in the Lausitz region...
Hansa Rostock - Rot Weiss Ahlen 0:1 (0:1) 7,500 (Jenner) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - TuS Koblenz 2:0 (1:0) 5,913 (Stoppelkamp) Fortuna Düsseldorf - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 0:0 (0:0) 22,850 FC Energie Cottbus - Alemannia Aachen 3:1 (2:0) 7,181 (Petersen 2, Rivic - Demai) 1. FC K'lautern - FSV Frankfurt 1:1 (1:1) 28,224 (Sam - Ledgerwood) 1. FC Union Berlin - MSV Duisburg 0:1 (0:0) 13,357 (Schlicke) TSV 1860 München - FC St. Pauli 2:1 (1:0) 27,700 (Aigner 2 - Ebbers) FC Augsburg - SC Paderborn 07 3:0 (0:0) 27,825 (Raffael 2, da Costa) Arminia Bielefeld - Karlsruher SC 0:1 (0:1) 12,500 (Krebs) Attendance: 153,050 (avg 17,006) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 25 16 6 3 41:19 +22 54 2. (2.) FC Augsburg 25 14 8 3 51:28 +23 50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC St. Pauli 25 14 4 7 49:27 +22 46 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 25 13 5 7 37:22 +15 44 5. (5.) Arminia Bielefeld 25 13 4 8 36:24 +12 43 6. (6.) MSV Duisburg 25 12 6 7 41:33 +8 42 7. (7.) SC Paderborn 07 25 10 7 8 35:35 0 37 8. (8.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 25 11 2 12 41:37 +4 35 9. (10.) TSV 1860 München 25 10 5 10 32:32 0 35 10. (9.) 1. FC Union Berlin 25 9 7 9 32:34 -2 34 11. (12.) FC Energie Cottbus 25 8 7 10 35:33 +2 31 12. (13.) Karlsruher SC 25 9 3 13 33:38 -5 30 13. (11.) Alemannia Aachen 25 8 6 11 25:32 -7 30 14. (15.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 25 8 4 13 23:38 -15 28 15. (14.) Hansa Rostock 25 7 4 14 22:33 -11 25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) FSV Frankfurt 25 5 8 12 18:42 -24 23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 25 5 6 14 16:38 -22 21 18. (17.) TuS Koblenz 25 4 6 15 21:43 -22 18
3.Liga - 27th round
Weather once again raised it's head to mess up play in the 3rd division. Almost all teams are facing some fixture congestion, and the schedule has certainly made things difficult. Wuppertal hasn't had a home match in 3 months! Teams like Bremen face 5 makeup games.
Despite the cancellations, there were some major results. Heidenheim is turning into the the sensational story, as they upend leaders Osnabrück in a hard fought match. The newly promoted side has legitimate aspirations of jumping right into the 2.Liga. If they don't get promoted, Ingolstadt may well look back on their match against Braunschweig as a key date. The home club got a blitz start and basically had the match wrapped up by halftime. But the visitors perhaps relaized a defeat would just about end their own campaign, and came roaring back in the 2nd half. They actually came close to winning, and overall, the draw is a fair result. Offenbach hasn't been severely effected by the weather postponements, but they are at least doing what they can to stay relevant. They bitchslapped Werder Bremen II to at least remain within striking distance.
1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - VfL Osnabrück 1:0 (0:0) 6,660 (Weil) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - FC Bayern München II 1:2 (1:1) 3,303 (Bohl - Yilmaz 2) Jahn Regensburg - SV 1916 Sandhausen 1:1 (0:0) 1,500 (Haller - Fiesser) Kickers Offenbach - SV Werder Bremen II 4:0 (2:0) 6,409 (Hesse, Haas 2, Pfingsten) FC Ingolstadt 04 - Eintracht Braunschweig 3:3 (3:0) 2,342 (Hartmann 2, Leitl - Henn 2, Kumbela) postponed matches: Dynamo Dresden - Borussia Dortmund II Wuppertaler SV - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt VfB Stuttgart II - FC Erzgebirge Aue SpVgg Unterhaching - Wacker Burghausen FC Carl Zeiss Jena - Holstein Kiel 1. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 26 13 6 7 35:24 +11 45 2. (2.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 26 13 5 8 44:35 +9 44 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Ingolstadt 04 24 12 5 7 50:30 +20 41 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Kickers Offenbach 26 11 8 7 43:26 +17 41 5. (5.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 24 11 5 8 32:31 +1 38 6. (6.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 25 10 7 8 42:41 +1 37 7. (7.) Eintracht Braunschweig 24 9 8 7 33:26 +7 35 8. (8.) Jahn Regensburg 23 9 7 7 29:22 +7 34 9. (9.) Wacker Burghausen 24 10 3 11 27:42 -15 33 10. (10.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 24 8 8 8 27:27 0 32 11. (15.) FC Bayern München II 23 9 5 9 31:39 -8 32 12. (11.) SpVgg Unterhaching 24 8 7 9 32:33 -1 31 13. (12.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 23 8 7 8 26:31 -5 31 14. (13.) Dynamo Dresden 24 8 6 10 28:30 -2 30 15. (14.) Borussia Dortmund II 23 8 5 10 27:30 -3 29 16. (16.) SV Werder Bremen II 22 8 4 10 32:34 -2 28 17. (17.) VfB Stuttgart II 24 8 3 13 32:35 -3 27 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 25 7 5 13 30:45 -15 26 19. (19.) Holstein Kiel 23 7 4 12 27:35 -8 25 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 23 7 4 12 24:35 -11 25
Germany crap in World Cup tuneup
The national team put in a rather lame performance, losing 0-1 to Argentina. Most upsetting was the haphazard play of newly annointed Goalkeeper no.1, Rene Adler, who seemed to be all over the place except in goal. Also disturbing, although less upsetting given the circumstances, was the play of national squad stalwarts like Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose. What circumstances you might ask? Well, they have basically sucked all season long for their clubs, so how could a continuation of that theme be upsetting? OK, lame logic...
Although coach Joachim Löw has been making headlines for the wrong reasons (his contract squabble with the DFB), it's clearly his squad: he's making the decisions. If Germany sucks in South Africa, his ass is grass. He doesn't seem very popular among the fans, so my guess is that unless Germany plays real sylish (not going to happen) or goes very deep (at least the semis), he'll get canned.
Now, before the sky starts falling on our collective heads, we should consider that Germany usually plays well below par in friendlies. In that context, it could just be the normal state of being. Chances are that the DFB squad will muddle through in South Africa, and, if they have their usual luck, will advance far. Unlike previous teams, this edition seems to be bringing along young talent fairly nicely, so there should be an upside. Old war horses like Michael Ballack may have to provide a last hurra before they are taken out behind the barn and shot, but if they can come through, Germany will be OK. Probably not good enough to save Löw's ass though...
As far as Argentina, it's hard to say, but they obviously have enough talent to do well. Again, it's hard to rate them based on this performance against an unmotivated German squad. Plus Diego Maradona seems pretty incompetant as a manager, but given the talent he's got to play with, just submitting a lineup gives him a decent chance.
Bundesliga, Round 24
Well, it had to happen, the evil empire is on top...and bottom clubs are flop
Bayern München once again is on top of the Bundesliga, after the Müncheners defeated a stubborn HSV at home. It took a great run by Franck Ribery to sink the Hamburgers, who had a a couple of good opportunities to score themselves. Overall, probably a deserved Bayern win, and coach Louis Van Gaal is probably riding high, as his system has started delivering the promised results.
Erstwhile leaders Leverkusen set a record with their 24 straight match without defeat in a season start, but could not break through against a desperately defending Köln defense in a hotly contested Rheinderby. In theory, the Aspirins could now finish the season undefeated and still not take the title. An excellent point for Köln.
Another huge derby, the famed "Revier" between Schalke and Dortmund was another tough battle. The first half was somewhat quiet, but Schalke was more energetic in the 2nd half, and ultimately deserve their win. This keeps the Blues close to the top, and more importantly, keeps open the door for a potentially lucrative Champions League run next season. Dortmund let Schalke control the match and were duly punished.
Werder Bremen is now nipping at the heals of HSV and Dortmund. They became the first club to win in Mainz this season, although the hosts contributed by getting one of their players tossed early. It was a hard fought match, and Mainz almost pulled off a superhuman effort, but in the end, Bremen is good for their win.
Stuttgart is another club that is fast charging, and Cacau is living the dream. 4 strikes last week, a beautiful headed goal midweek in the Champions League against Barcelona, and then both goals this week, giving VfB the win over Frankfurt.
Freiburg has been in freefall, and really looked like they were going to lose at Gladbach. But the hosts flatter to deceive, and never got around to grabbing the winning goal. As a reslut, a somewhat lucky point for SCF, a very precious one at that. Gladbach has built up more than enough cushion from relegation, so I guess they feel they can be cavalier about points.
Bochum and Nürnberg was never going to compared with Barcelona vs. Arsenal, at least when it comes to stylish play. They kicked the ball around for 90 minutes, occasionally kicking each other, then called it a day and retired for beer and bratwurst. Obviously FCN is probably happier with an away point, but Bochum figures to scrap a few more anyway, and have a little leeway.
Hertha looked to show some real signs of hope last week, but at home they were rudely slapped in the face. Or rather their fans were slapped in the face, or perhaps kicked in the nuts is more accurate. The Berliners were lame and sucked across the board, and visitors Hoffenheim did whatever was necessary (very little in fact) to run circles around Hapless Hertha and bring home the bacon.
Hannover suffered their 9th straight loss. Now there is some advertising going saying that "Mirko Slomka and Hasseröder (the beer sponsor, yeah!) want YOU!". Well, I guess the beer part is OK, but I don't think anyone wants Slomka. The press was saying things like "The only way for Hannover to save themselves is to find their 4th coach of the season." Well, actually, maybe the players and fans should just drink lots of Hasseröder, it should lessen the pain. That said, in facing off against another club that longs for yesterday, when all their troubles seemed so far way, the 96ers played a pretty solid match. Defending champ Wolfsburg showed some signs of life when they thrashed Villareal midweek in Euroliga, but didn't seem to be making much headway against an improved Hannover side. But in the end, they managed to score and finally dump the 96ers into an automatic relegation spot.
FC Schalke 04 - Borussia Dortmund 2:1 (0:0) 61,673 (Höwedes, Rakitic - Sahin) Hertha BSC Berlin - 1899 Hoffenheim 0:2 (0:1) 37,391 (Ba, Ibisevic) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - SV Werder Bremen 1:2 (1:1) 20,300 (Bancé - Borowski, Prödl) VfB Stuttgart - Eintracht Frankfurt 2:1 (2:1) 41,000 (Cacau 2 - Köhler) Borussia M'gladbach - SC Freiburg 1:1 (0:0) 40,419 (Brouwers - Cissé) VfL Bochum - 1. FC Nürnberg 0:0 (0:0) 24,780 Bayer Leverkusen - 1. FC Köln 0:0 (0:0) 30,210 Hannover 96 - VfL Wolfsburg 0:1 (0:0) 34,312 (Misimovic) FC Bayern München - Hamburger SV 1:0 (0:0) 69,000 (Ribery) Attendance: 359,085 (avg 39,898) 1. (2.) FC Bayern München 24 15 7 2 50:20 +30 52 2. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 24 13 11 0 50:20 +30 50 3. (3.) FC Schalke 04 24 14 6 4 36:18 +18 48 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Hamburger SV 24 10 10 4 43:26 +17 40 5. (5.) Borussia Dortmund 24 11 6 7 36:32 +4 39 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) SV Werder Bremen 24 10 8 6 48:29 +19 38 7. (7.) Eintracht Frankfurt 24 9 8 7 31:32 -1 35 8. (9.) VfB Stuttgart 24 9 7 8 34:31 +3 34 9. (10.) 1899 Hoffenheim 24 9 5 10 34:29 +5 32 10. (8.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 24 8 8 8 27:32 -5 32 11. (12.) VfL Wolfsburg 24 8 7 9 41:45 -4 31 12. (11.) Borussia M'gladbach 24 8 6 10 34:39 -5 30 13. (13.) VfL Bochum 24 6 9 9 25:38 -13 27 14. (14.) 1. FC Köln 24 6 8 10 21:31 -10 26 15. (15.) SC Freiburg 24 5 5 14 22:45 -23 20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (17.) 1. FC Nürnberg 24 4 6 14 19:40 -21 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (16.) Hannover 96 24 4 5 15 25:46 -21 17 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 24 3 6 15 21:44 -23 15
2.Liga - 24th round
Kaiserslautern is in control of the board, and St.Pauli is beginning to slip. Augsburg remains relentless and have moved into the 2nd spot with a workman-like win in Koblenz. The Paulistas meanwhile were dumped at home in a tight match with Bielefeld. For the past few matches Pauli has been running around aimlessly, and Bielefeld, who have been struggling themselves, struck just in time to prevent their boat from sinking. A loss would have pretty much done in their promotion hopes, but now they're back in. Bielefeld needed the win to keep pace with surprising Düsseldorf, who had a somewhat "fortunate" win away to Aachen in a regional derby. Austrian international Martin Harnik decided the game for Fortuna with a leaping volley from about 12 yards out. In their first season back in the 2nd division, Düsseldorf is already knocking on the door to a sensational promotion opportunity.
Leaders FCK played a great 2nd half to get the win in Karlsruhe, who actually had a full house for the first time in years. It's pretty hard to envision FCK collapsing and not returning to the Bundesliga. I don't think they're very good, but they seem solid enough for the 2.Liga, and should have no problem bringing it home.
Not too much else worth reporting. A nice turnout in Duisburg for a local derby with Oberhausen, who have been pretty crap. The red and whites put up a good show and got a deserved point. Ahlen also got a win, which brins them level on points with Koblenz. Not that it matters, since they're both going down unless something drastic happens soon.
FSV Frankfurt - FC Energie Cottbus 0:0 (0:0) 3,124 MSV Duisburg - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 2:2 (2:2) 17,844 (Caiuby, Baljak - Stoppelkamp 2) SC Paderborn 07 - TSV 1860 München 3:1 (1:0) 7,081 (Saglik, Brückner, Alushi - Aigner) TuS Koblenz - FC Augsburg 0:1 (0:0) 6,585 (Traore) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Hansa Rostock 1:0 (1:0) 6,050 (Haas) FC St. Pauli - Arminia Bielefeld 0:1 (0:1) 19,901 (Federico) Karlsruher SC - 1. FC K'lautern 1:3 (1:0) 28,765 (Chrisantus - Jendrisek, Lakic 2) Rot Weiss Ahlen - 1. FC Union Berlin 3:2 (1:1) 3,820 (Ollé Ollé, di Gregorio, Book - Mattuschka, Dogan) Alemannia Aachen - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:1 (0:1) 27,031 (Harnik) Attendance: 120,201 (avg 13,356) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 24 16 5 3 40:18 +22 53 2. (3.) FC Augsburg 24 13 8 3 48:28 +20 47 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (2.) FC St. Pauli 24 14 4 6 48:25 +23 46 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 24 13 4 7 37:22 +15 43 5. (5.) Arminia Bielefeld 24 13 4 7 36:23 +13 43 6. (6.) MSV Duisburg 24 11 6 7 40:33 +7 39 7. (7.) SC Paderborn 07 24 10 7 7 35:32 +3 37 8. (10.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 24 11 1 12 41:37 +4 34 9. (8.) 1. FC Union Berlin 24 9 7 8 32:33 -1 34 10. (9.) TSV 1860 München 24 9 5 10 30:31 -1 32 11. (11.) Alemannia Aachen 24 8 6 10 24:29 -5 30 12. (12.) FC Energie Cottbus 24 7 7 10 32:32 0 28 13. (13.) Karlsruher SC 24 8 3 13 32:38 -6 27 14. (14.) Hansa Rostock 24 7 4 13 22:32 -10 25 15. (15.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 24 7 4 13 21:38 -17 25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) FSV Frankfurt 24 5 7 12 17:41 -24 22 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) TuS Koblenz 24 4 6 14 21:41 -20 18 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 24 4 6 14 15:38 -23 18
3.Liga - 26th round
Leaders Osnabrück were unable to make a single goal standup against an improved Dresden side. As a result, they've been caught at the top by a hardcharging Heidenheim. The newly promoted side could make the jump straight into the 2.Liga, whoch would be pretty impressive for a club that nobody has ever heard of. Ingolstadt has a couple of games in hand, but they got biatch-slap-pe-ded by "Wacked" Burghausen, which has been all over the map this season.
Haven't heard much about Braunschweig recently, basically since they've been burried under snow. They dug out, but could not win over Offenbach. The Lions have a couple of makeup games when things thaw out, so they could move up the table.
At the bottom, Wuppertal had a brilliant midweek win in Sandhausen, but could not follow up in Aue. Instead, Erzgebirge continues their promotion push as they pressed the desperately defending WSV. The brave Wuppertalers held out until late, but finally gave up a goal.
VfL Osnabrück - Dynamo Dresden 1:1 (1:0) 12,100 (Schmidt - Jungnickel) Wacker Burghausen - FC Ingolstadt 04 4:2 (2:1) 2,700 (Burkhard, Gorka, Grübl, Cappek - Leitl, Gerber) Eintracht Braunschweig - Kickers Offenbach 0:0 (0:0) 12,000 SV 1916 Sandhausen - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 2:1 (0:0) 1,850 (Dorn, E. Öztürk - Ziemer) FC Bayern München II - VfB Stuttgart II 2:0 (1:0) 796 (Knasmüllner, Sene) FC Erzgebirge Aue - Wuppertaler SV 1:0 (0:0) 7,300 (Agyemang) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 1:2 (1:1) 4,778 (Rockenbach da Silva - Spann, Schnatterer) postponed matches: SV Werder Bremen II - Jahn Regensburg Borussia Dortmund II - FC Carl Zeiss Jena Holstein Kiel - SpVgg Unterhaching Attendance: 41,524 (avg 4,785) 1. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 25 13 6 6 35:23 +12 45 2. (3.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 25 12 5 8 43:35 +8 41 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (2.) FC Ingolstadt 04 23 12 4 7 47:27 +20 40 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Kickers Offenbach 25 10 8 7 39:26 +13 38 5. (5.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 24 11 5 8 32:31 +1 38 6. (8.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 24 10 6 8 41:40 +1 36 7. (6.) Eintracht Braunschweig 23 9 7 7 30:23 +7 34 8. (7.) Jahn Regensburg 22 9 6 7 28:21 +7 33 9. (12.) Wacker Burghausen 24 10 3 11 27:42 -15 33 10. (9.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 24 8 8 8 27:27 0 32 11. (10.) SpVgg Unterhaching 24 8 7 9 32:33 -1 31 12. (11.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 23 8 7 8 26:31 -5 31 13. (13.) Dynamo Dresden 24 8 6 10 28:30 -2 30 14. (14.) Borussia Dortmund II 23 8 5 10 27:30 -3 29 15. (16.) FC Bayern München II 22 8 5 9 29:38 -9 29 16. (15.) VfB Stuttgart II 24 8 3 13 32:35 -3 27 17. (17.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 24 7 5 12 29:43 -14 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) SV Werder Bremen II 20 7 4 9 26:29 -3 25 19. (18.) Holstein Kiel 22 7 4 11 26:29 -3 25 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 23 7 4 12 24:35 -11 25
Bundesliga, Round 23
This was a week of missed opportunities at the top, and perhaps the birth of an inprobable comeback.
First at the top. One would have expected Bayern München to rape and pillage hapless Nürnberg, but the favorites never really got moving. Nürnberg didn't have any skill on offer, but they fought hard for every ball, and in the end were rewarded with a precious point. Considering the way things have been going for both teams, a great result for FCN, and Bayern can't be too happy.
On the other hand, leaders Bayer Leverkusen were unable to take advantage. The Aspirins had a tough draw at Werder Bremen, who have found some sort of form again. Leverkusen looked to be the cleverer and luckier team, but an injury time goal gave Werder a deserved draw. Thus the difference at the top remains a single goal.
Schalke could have made a big leap and closed the gap, but instead Felix Magath got a rude awakening, ironically at Wolfsburg. The VWs have beens struggling mightily since Felix left the champions, but they managed to put it together and spoil Magath's return. Schalke managed to grab the lead through in-form Kevin Kuranyi, but two Grafite goals sunk the Blues.
The Hamburgers and Frankfurters battled to a sterile fast-food draw. HSV is back to it's old tricks apparently, as their superman from last week, Rude Van Injured-boy was missing, something about his ankle. (Like his cousin at Arsenal, Robbing Van Sicklie, he has trouble staying fit. It's amazing that Arsene Wenger didn't sign him up!). Anyway, after some pressure in the first half, HSV decided it wasn't worth the effort and phoned the rest in. Frankfurt was quite happy to take a nap as well, so aside from the fans, everybody was content.
The inprobable comeback could be from die alte Dame, Hertha BSC. The Berliners went into a do-or-die match at Freiburg and came out smelling like roses. Well, perhaps the Freiburgers were smelling like something less pleasant. The match itself was somewhta even, and looked pretty crappy. But Hertha wanted it more, and showed at least some semblance of individual skill. The result is a crushing win for Hertha, and now they're only 5 points from out of the relegation zone - and after next week, they might even be the relegation playoff spot (16th), which more than they could have hoped for at winterbreak. Personally, I would still like to see Hertha relegated, mainly because I'd like to see a real Berlin derby next year. Meanwhile, the alarm bells should be ringing for the Breisgauer, as Freiburg is now in real danger of going in the dumps. They're only two points ahead of Hannover and Nürnberg. And their schedule looks to be getting tough. On the plus side, they probably don't have to worry about the 96ers, who need therapy. But der Club seems capable of fighting for a point here and there, and even though they're crap, they could catch a falling SCF. So Hertha's not out of the woods yet.
Hertha's campaign got continued help from Hannover's incompetance. The 96ers got reamed by Borussia Dortmund, who had been struggling of late. But a dose of 96 was just what the doctor ordered, and the Neons proceeded to whip the hapless Hannoveraners. Already the media has decided that coach Mirko Slomka needs to be fired, so Hannover can get their 4th coach.
Mainz remains unbeaten at home a large reason for their excellent campaign. Bochum held on grimly to fight themselves another point. Now floating 9 points above relegation, the Bochumers have just about secured their Bundesliga spot. Mainz was the better team, but lack the talent to break down a determined visitor.
Köln got their ass reamed at home by a rampant Stuttgart, led by Cacau bagging four goals. Meanwhile Köln star Lukas Podolski continues with his bad case of constipataion ("Ladehemmung") and hasn't scored in something like 1,300 minutes. The Kölners were savaged in their worst home effort, and can be thankful that some of the hard work done earlier should be enough to see them through.
Hoffenheim and Gladbach battled to an entertaining draw, and you have to wonder about where the Gladbachers are headed. Once again, they got a two goal lead, but were unable to bring home the bacon. It's perhaps just an indication that Gladbach is still basically a young and inexperienced squad. You could say the same thing about Hoffenheim, except of course the Hoppers are more talented, given that a lot of money was splurged to acquire the squad. At this point, both clubs look like mid-table squads at best.
1899 Hoffenheim - Borussia M'gladbach 2:2 (0:1) 30,150 (Ibisevic, Carlos Eduardo - Daems, Colautti) 1. FC Nürnberg - FC Bayern München 1:1 (0:1) 48,548 (Gündogan - T. Müller) 1. FC Köln - VfB Stuttgart 1:5 (1:3) 45,500 (Schorch - Cacau 4, Pogrebnyak) Borussia Dortmund - Hannover 96 4:1 (1:0) 73,700 (Subotic, Eggimann o.g., Valdez, Grosskreutz - A. Koné) Hamburger SV - Eintracht Frankfurt 0:0 (0:0) 56,196 1. FSV Mainz 05 - VfL Bochum 0:0 (0:0) 19,000 SC Freiburg - Hertha BSC Berlin 0:3 (0:2) 21,600 (Ramos, Cicero 2) VfL Wolfsburg - FC Schalke 04 2:1 (0:1) 30,000 (Grafite 2 - Kuranyi) SV Werder Bremen - Bayer Leverkusen 2:2 (1:1) 37,500 (Pizarro, Mertesacker - Derdiyok, Kroos) Attendance: 362,194 (avg 40,244) 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 23 13 10 0 50:20 +30 49 2. (2.) FC Bayern München 23 14 7 2 49:20 +29 49 3. (3.) FC Schalke 04 23 13 6 4 34:17 +17 45 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Hamburger SV 23 10 10 3 43:25 +18 40 5. (5.) Borussia Dortmund 23 11 6 6 35:30 +5 39 6. (6.) SV Werder Bremen 23 9 8 6 46:28 +18 35 7. (7.) Eintracht Frankfurt 23 9 8 6 30:30 0 35 8. (8.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 23 8 8 7 26:30 -4 32 9. (10.) VfB Stuttgart 23 8 7 8 32:30 +2 31 10. (9.) 1899 Hoffenheim 23 8 5 10 32:29 +3 29 11. (11.) Borussia M'gladbach 23 8 5 10 33:38 -5 29 12. (12.) VfL Wolfsburg 23 7 7 9 40:45 -5 28 13. (14.) VfL Bochum 23 6 8 9 25:38 -13 26 14. (13.) 1. FC Köln 23 6 7 10 21:31 -10 25 15. (15.) SC Freiburg 23 5 4 14 21:44 -23 19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) Hannover 96 23 4 5 14 25:45 -20 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) 1. FC Nürnberg 23 4 5 14 19:40 -21 17 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 23 3 6 14 21:42 -21 15
2.Liga - 23rd round
Kaiserslautern is definitely Bundesliga bound. The Red Devils kicked upstart St.Pauli in the balls and decisively won the top table clash. Unless they start dicking around, it's hard to imagine FCK not returning to top flight. The loss is not disastrous for the Hamburgers, but the wind has been taken out of their sails. They need to get on their horse quickly, since Augsburg is yapping at their heels.
An excellent result for Augsburg, as it's not easy to win in Rostock. Bad news for the Hansa coach, Andreas Zachuber, as his ass was fired after the loss. The Augsburgers solidify their hold on 3rd place, getting a helping hand from Duisburg, who won a critical match in Bielefeld. Arminia has been struggling somewhat, and cannot be considered a clear favorite for promotion anymore. Duisburg on the other needed that win, as a loss would have dropped them out of contention. Düsseldorf crushes Ahlen, and keeps their hopes burning.
On the bottom, we might be witnessing another episode of The Great Escape?! Last season, FSV Frankfurt was beaten down and dead by winterbreak, basically relegated. But the Bornheimers put in a superhuman effort and saved themselves. This season looked like more of the same, except with no recovery in sight. But lo and behold, with their win over Karslruhe, FSV is now within striking distance of salvation again. This will certainly be an interesting race to watch over the next couple of weeks, to see if they have in fact found some hidden reserves.
Arminia Bielefeld - MSV Duisburg 1:2 (0:1) 13,400 (Mijatovic - Baljak, Feick o.g.) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Rot Weiss Ahlen 4:0 (3:0) 18,500 (Anderson, Oehrl, Harnik, Heidinger) 1. FC Union Berlin - TuS Koblenz 3:2 (2:1) 10,046 (Dogan 2, Stuff - Kapllani, Hartmann) TSV 1860 München - Alemannia Aachen 3:2 (1:1) 16,250 (Pappas, Rösler, Holebas - Kratz, Fiel) Hansa Rostock - FC Augsburg 0:1 (0:1) 8,000 (Rafael) FSV Frankfurt - Karlsruher SC 2:1 (1:1) 4,568 (Klitzpera, Gjasula - Stindl) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 0:1 (0:0) 4,124 (Allagui) FC Energie Cottbus - SC Paderborn 07 1:2 (1:0) 8,940 (Jula - Saglik, Brückner) 1. FC K'lautern - FC St. Pauli 3:0 (1:0) 43,687 (Sam, Steinhofer, Lakic) Attendance: 127,515 (avg 14,168) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 23 15 5 3 37:17 +20 50 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 23 14 4 5 48:24 +24 46 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Augsburg 23 12 8 3 47:28 +19 44 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (5.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 23 12 4 7 36:22 +14 40 5. (4.) Arminia Bielefeld 23 12 4 7 35:23 +12 40 6. (6.) MSV Duisburg 23 11 5 7 38:31 +7 38 7. (7.) SC Paderborn 07 23 9 7 7 32:31 +1 34 8. (8.) 1. FC Union Berlin 22 9 6 7 30:30 0 33 9. (10.) TSV 1860 München 23 9 5 9 29:28 +1 32 10. (11.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 23 10 1 12 40:37 +3 31 11. (9.) Alemannia Aachen 23 8 6 9 24:28 -4 30 12. (12.) FC Energie Cottbus 23 7 6 10 32:32 0 27 13. (13.) Karlsruher SC 23 8 3 12 31:35 -4 27 14. (14.) Hansa Rostock 22 7 3 12 22:31 -9 24 15. (15.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 23 7 3 13 19:36 -17 24 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (17.) FSV Frankfurt 23 5 6 12 17:41 -24 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (16.) TuS Koblenz 23 4 6 13 21:40 -19 18 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 23 3 6 14 12:36 -24 15
3.Liga - 25th round
Winter is still effecting the 3.Liga schedule, although for the first time since the restart, more games were finished rather than cancelled. Significant was that Ingolstadt grabbed a win, to strengthen their position. Leaders Osnabrück had to give up an injury time goal in Jena that prevented them from keeping their pace. On the bottom end, Dresden wins a huge eastern derby against Erfurt, and have now at least given themselves some room. Dynamo had been struggling mightily this season, but they've started to play better and have good prospects of staying up.
Dynamo Dresden - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:0 (0:0) 18,937 (Gundersen) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - FC Erzgebirge Aue 0:0 (0:0) 5,080 Kickers Offenbach - Wacker Burghausen 3:0 (2:0) 6,900 (Kopilas, Mesic, Ulm) FC Ingolstadt 04 - Holstein Kiel 1:0 (0:0) 2,357 (Neuendorf) SpVgg Unterhaching - Borussia Dortmund II 1:1 (1:0) 2,000 (Rathgeber - Nottbeck) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - VfL Osnabrück 1:1 (0:0) 5,694 (Nulle - Barletta) postponed: Wuppertaler SV - FC Bayern München II VfB Stuttgart II - SV 1916 Sandhausen Jahn Regensburg - SV Wehen Wiesbaden SV Werder Bremen II - Eintracht Braunschweig 1. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 24 13 5 6 34:22 +12 44 2. (2.) FC Ingolstadt 04 22 12 4 6 45:23 +22 40 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 24 11 5 8 41:34 +7 38 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Kickers Offenbach 24 10 7 7 39:26 +13 37 5. (5.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 23 10 5 8 31:31 0 35 6. (6.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 22 9 6 7 38:36 +2 33 7. (7.) Jahn Regensburg 21 9 5 7 28:21 +7 32 8. (8.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 23 8 8 7 26:25 +1 32 9. (10.) SpVgg Unterhaching 24 8 7 9 32:33 -1 31 10. (11.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 23 8 7 8 26:31 -5 31 11. (9.) Eintracht Braunschweig 21 8 6 7 29:23 +6 30 12. (12.) Wacker Burghausen 22 9 3 10 23:39 -16 30 13. (15.) Dynamo Dresden 23 8 5 10 27:29 -2 29 14. (13.) Borussia Dortmund II 23 8 5 10 27:30 -3 29 15. (14.) VfB Stuttgart II 22 8 2 12 32:33 -1 26 16. (16.) FC Bayern München II 21 7 5 9 27:38 -11 26 17. (17.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 23 7 5 11 28:41 -13 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (19.) SV Werder Bremen II 20 7 4 9 26:29 -3 25 19. (18.) Holstein Kiel 22 7 4 11 26:29 -3 25 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 21 6 4 11 21:33 -12 22
Euro Competition
German results in Europe were certainly uneven. Depends on whether you're one of those positive "glass full" or negative "glass empty" guys.
In the Champions League, Bayern München needed an offside goal by Miro Klose to pull out a 2-1 win over Fiorentina. This is incredibly disappointing, especially if you read some of the pre-game hypre where some pundits we're saying Bayern could win as much as 6-0. Haha. I'll see your six and raise you another half-dozen. Well, actually, Bayern should be good enough to go down to Italy and slap the Fiorentiners.
The worthless Europa-Liga also gave the Bundesliga some ho-hummmers. Hertha BSC actually got a respectable result, 1-1 at home to Benfica. Respectable in the sense if you're last place, you're probably too crap to win, so anything that isn't a loss is OK. They will probably crash out in the return. Hamburger SV struggled to a 1-0 win over PSV Eindhoven. Again, not bad, and HSV has a decent chance in the return. Werder Bremen lost 0-1 at Dutch leaders FC Twente, and you would have to say that they have an decent possibility to advance. Finally, VfL Wolfsburg might have had the best performance, drawing 2-2 at Villareal.
Bundesliga, Round 22
Things get even tighter at the top, and it's now down to a single goal. Definitely get the feeling that Leverkusen will come out as Luserkusen down the road.
The Aspirins needed some uninspired goalkeeping from Wolfsburg to secure the win against the defending champs. In reality, Leverkusen dominated the match, but was unable to really translate said domination into goals. Wolfsburg is a sorry squad right now, although I hear that interim coach Köstner is going to stay through the end of the year.
Borussia Dortmund managed to play Bayern München evenly for a half, and created some decent chances. But eventually Bayern realized that they were better and should be putting the Neons away, and that's what they did. Some Dortmunders, especially their coach Jürgen Klopp, felt that the Neons could have won this game. However, they are demented, as Dortmund has fallen apart in the last few weeks, undoing most of the good work they did before winterbreak. I'd say the bettors are putting money on Werder to catch them. Meanwhile, Bayern continue to pressure Leverkusen, inching closer and setting the Aspirins up for yet another choke.
Schalke remains close to the leaders. Köln gave them some difficulty, but the Blues eventually were able to strangle their opponents. They seem like they may have the steel to hold onto 3rd, which would be a major accomplishment, seeing how things are rather precarious over in Gelsenkirchen. Köln didn't enough to merit a point, but probably is not too worried at this point.
Stuttgart had won 5 in a row and was looking like a dangerous club. Against Hamburg, they once again took the game to their opponent, and generally looked the better team. But HSV had the supreme "joker" - recent signing Ruud Van Nistelrooy. The Dutchman came on midway through the second half, and decided the game with two strikes. Needless to say, HSV and their fans are ecstatic. RVN was brought in to score goals, and if this is any indication, it could be a massive signing. (Basically, he came on a free from Madrid.) In reality, Stuttgart really didn't deserve to lose, but they fall to the moment of Van der Mann...
Gladbach got a somewhat fortunate win against Nürnberg. They really didn't show enough tp get the win, but the hosts were able to pull it out. Der Club might well complain about some dodgy refereeing that led to the winning goal, but if all that's left is to complain about some wanker ref, then you didn't do your job well enough in the first place. That's too bad for them, since they could have used the point.
Hannover once again disgraced themselves, getting absolutely savaged at home by Bremen. GK Fromlowitz was terrible, 96ers might as well just put Robert Enke's coffin out there. OK, poor taste joke, but Hannover sucked. It's stunning to watch how a somewhat decent team has just fallen apart. They were never more than midtable material, but certainly better than what they've shown. Werder is terribly inconsistent, but if you catch them hungry and in form, they'll kick your ass.
Hertha BSC has been given a lifeline of many their opponents playing crap, and a relatively easy schedule against crap teams to start the new year. Well, the verdict seems to be in, and despite a general improvement, they haven't taken advantage. Yeah, they've got as many points now as they did the whole first half, but they almost have got through the easy part of the schedule. At home, you have to beat teams like Mainz if you expect to stick around. As it was, they shoudl consider themselves somewhat fortunate to hold a point. Mainz was clearly the better team early, and if they had been a bit bolder, they probably could have taken the whole match. Hertha was better later in the match, but only to salvage a point. Mainz obviously is staying up, and if Hertha loses at Freiburg next week, they're toast.
Frankfurt struggled against Freiburg, but pulled it out with a late goal. The Freiburgers probably deserved a point, but they don't appear to have much luck these days. Relegation is staring them in the face, but they have two things going for them: 1) An upcoming critical match with Hertha and 2) Hannover's continued suckitude. The latter appears to be more important, but SCF should really be doing a Bochum (or Köln or Gladbach) and try to help themselves. Since Frankfurt has had a couple of good results, they should suck next week.
One team that has fought their way out from the dregs is Bochum. This (s)crappy squad was a clear relegation candidate a few weeks ago, but given themselves a little cushion with their fighting play. Hoffenheim is a young squad that has a bit of dilettante to them, so it's really not a suprise when their yuppy SAP asses got kicked by Bochum's proletarian thump and run and thump approach. The Hoppers have the talent, but look like they're going nowhere. That is somewhat of a disappointment. Bochum on the other hand, is quite happy to be going nowhere.
Borussia M'gladbach - 1. FC Nürnberg 2:1 (1:0) 34,297 (Colautti, Friend - Bunjaku) Bayer Leverkusen - VfL Wolfsburg 2:1 (0:0) 30,000 (Reinartz, Derdiyok - Dzeko) VfB Stuttgart - Hamburger SV 1:3 (0:1) 41,500 (Träsch - Berg, van Nistelrooy 2) VfL Bochum - 1899 Hoffenheim 2:1 (1:0) 17,104 (Sestic, Dedic - Ibisevic) Hannover 96 - SV Werder Bremen 1:5 (0:4) 44,379 (Schulz - Niemeyer, Naldo, Andreasen, Hunt, Pizarro) Hertha BSC Berlin - 1. FSV Mainz 05 1:1 (0:1) 36,715 (Ramos - Bancé) FC Bayern München - Borussia Dortmund 3:1 (1:1) 69,000 (van Bommel, Robben, Gomez - Zidan) FC Schalke 04 - 1. FC Köln 2:0 (1:0) 61,673 (Matip, Farfan) Eintracht Frankfurt - SC Freiburg 2:1 (1:1) 34,900 (Cissé, Halil Altintop - Köhler) Attendance: 369,568 (avg 41,063) 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 22 13 9 0 48:18 +30 48 2. (2.) FC Bayern München 22 14 6 2 48:19 +29 48 3. (3.) FC Schalke 04 22 13 6 3 33:15 +18 45 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Hamburger SV 22 10 9 3 43:25 +18 39 5. (5.) Borussia Dortmund 22 10 6 6 31:29 +2 36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) SV Werder Bremen 22 9 7 6 44:26 +18 34 7. (7.) Eintracht Frankfurt 22 9 7 6 30:30 0 34 8. (8.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 22 8 7 7 26:30 -4 31 9. (9.) 1899 Hoffenheim 22 8 4 10 30:27 +3 28 10. (10.) VfB Stuttgart 22 7 7 8 27:29 -2 28 11. (13.) Borussia M'gladbach 22 8 4 10 31:36 -5 28 12. (12.) VfL Wolfsburg 22 6 7 9 38:44 -6 25 13. (11.) 1. FC Köln 22 6 7 9 20:26 -6 25 14. (14.) VfL Bochum 22 6 7 9 25:38 -13 25 15. (15.) SC Freiburg 22 5 4 13 21:41 -20 19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) Hannover 96 22 4 5 13 24:41 -17 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) 1. FC Nürnberg 22 4 4 14 18:39 -21 16 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 22 2 6 14 18:42 -24 12 Top "Scorers" ------------ Games Goals Assists Total 1 Kießling, Stefan (Leverkusen) 22 13 6 19 2 Özil, Mesut (Bremen) 20 7 12 19 3 Dzeko, Edin (Wolfsburg) 22 10 7 17 4 Kroos, Toni (Leverkusen) 22 8 8 16 5 Kuranyi, Kevin (Schalke) 21 11 5 16 6 Barrios, Lucas (Dortmund) 22 11 3 14 7 Derdiyok, Eren (Leverkusen) 21 10 4 14 8 Gomez, Mario (Bayern) 22 10 4 14 9 Barnetta, Tranquillo (Leverkusen) 22 4 9 13 10 Farfan, Jefferson (Schalke) 22 7 6 13 11 Ibisevic, Vedad (Hoffenheim) 22 7 6 13 12 Ivanschitz, Andreas (Mainz) 19 6 7 13 13 Müller, Thomas (Bayern) 22 6 7 13 14 Robben, Arjen (Bayern) 14 8 5 13
2.Liga - 21st round
Lowly FSV Frankfurt stunned St.Pauli, holding the high flying Paulistas to a draw in the fast-food derby (Hamburgers vs. Frankfurters). Surely that's FSV's best away result in a dismal campaign. Despite the disappointment, the Paulistas didn't lose ground. Leaders Kaiserslautern had a hard fought draw in Duisburg. Bielefeld was extemely lucky in a lame Westfalen derby. (Must have been the weather, since nobody showed up). In reality, Arminia was outplayed by crap Ahlen, who were on the verge of a historic win. But the fates can be cruel, and a Bielefeld couterattack made them pay.
Augsburg continues to hold on. They fought off the challenge of Düsseldorf, with Michael Thurk notching his 20th strike.
Paderborn bitch-slapped Union, ending and remaining thoughts the Berliners may have had of sneaking into a promotion spot. They are just preparing to face Hertha BSC next season in a legendary Berlin derby.
Rot Weiss Ahlen - Arminia Bielefeld 0:1 (0:0) 5,212 (Federico) FC St. Pauli - FSV Frankfurt 0:0 (0:0) 19,901 SC Paderborn 07 - 1. FC Union Berlin 3:0 (0:0) 5,237 (Saglik, Glinker, Löning) Karlsruher SC - FC Energie Cottbus 0:2 (0:0) 13,672 (Petersen, Jula) Alemannia Aachen - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 2:1 (1:1) 19,115 (Auer 2 - Schlieter) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - TSV 1860 München 1:2 (0:1) 7,850 (Nöthe - Rösler 2) TuS Koblenz - Hansa Rostock 0:0 (0:0) 6,556 FC Augsburg - Fortuna Düsseldorf 2:0 (1:0) 15,486 (Thurk, Rafael) MSV Duisburg - 1. FC K'lautern 1:1 (0:0) 14,000 (Rodnei o.g. - Jendrisek) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 22 14 5 3 34:17 +17 47 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 22 14 4 4 48:21 +27 46 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Augsburg 22 11 8 3 46:28 +18 41 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Arminia Bielefeld 22 12 4 6 34:21 +13 40 5. (5.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 22 11 4 7 32:22 +10 37 6. (6.) MSV Duisburg 22 10 5 7 36:30 +6 35 7. (9.) SC Paderborn 07 22 8 7 7 30:30 0 31 8. (7.) 1. FC Union Berlin 21 8 6 7 27:28 -1 30 9. (10.) Alemannia Aachen 22 8 6 8 22:25 -3 30 10. (11.) TSV 1860 München 21 8 5 8 26:24 +2 29 11. (8.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 22 9 1 12 39:37 +2 28 12. (12.) FC Energie Cottbus 22 7 6 9 31:30 +1 27 13. (13.) Karlsruher SC 21 7 3 11 28:33 -5 24 14. (15.) Hansa Rostock 21 7 3 11 22:30 -8 24 15. (14.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 22 7 3 12 19:35 -16 24 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) TuS Koblenz 22 4 6 12 19:37 -18 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) FSV Frankfurt 22 4 6 12 15:40 -25 18 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 22 3 6 13 12:32 -20 15 Top "Scorers" ------------ Games Goals Assists Total 1 Ebbers, Marius (St. Pauli) 22 12 9 21 2 Thurk, Michael (Augsburg) 21 20 1 21 3 Federico, Giovanni (Bielefeld) 21 11 8 19 4 Allagui, Sami (Greuther Fürth) 22 9 7 16 5 Jula, Emil (Cottbus 22 7 8 15 6 Saglik, Mahir (Paderborn) 18 10 5 15 7 Nöthe, Christopher (Greuther Fürth) 22 10 4 14 8 Harnik, Martin (Düsseldorf) 18 10 3 13 9 Tiffert, Christian (Duisburg) 20 4 9 13 10 Traore, Ibrahima (Augsburg) 19 4 9 13
3.Liga - 24th round
Weather destroyed most of the schedule once again. Significant is that leaders Osnabrück win, and strengthen their promotion position. Earlier in the week, in makeup games from the 21st round, there were important relegation battles. Wuppertal fought hard, but went down in Regensburg to remain last. The hosts still have aspirations for a promotion spot, so this was an key win for them. In the other match, Holstein Kiel had a huge victory, which puts them in position to move out of the zone with another makeup win.
SV Wehen Wiesbaden - VfB Stuttgart II 1:4 (0:4) 2,232 (A. Öztürk - Walch, Schipplock, Funk, Vier) VfL Osnabrück - SpVgg Unterhaching 1:0 (1:0) 8,500 (Lindemann) all other matches postponed due to weather: Eintracht Braunschweig - Jahn Regensburg FC Erzgebirge Aue - Dynamo Dresden FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - FC Carl Zeiss Jena Borussia Dortmund II - FC Ingolstadt 04 Holstein Kiel - Kickers Offenbach Wacker Burghausen - SV Werder Bremen II SV 1916 Sandhausen - Wuppertaler SV FC Bayern München II - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 Makeup matches during last week (21st round): Jahn Regensburg - Wuppertaler SV 1:0 (1:0) 2,063 (Reichwein) Wacker Burghausen - Holstein Kiel 0:3 (0:0) 2,500 (Canizzarro, Guscinas, Schüßler) 1. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 23 13 4 6 33:21 +12 43 2. (2.) FC Ingolstadt 04 21 11 4 6 44:23 +21 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 23 11 4 8 41:34 +7 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Kickers Offenbach 23 9 7 7 36:26 +10 34 5. (5.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 22 10 4 8 31:31 0 34 6. (6.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 22 9 6 7 38:36 +2 33 7. (7.) Jahn Regensburg 21 9 5 7 28:21 +7 32 8. (8.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 22 8 8 6 26:24 +2 32 9. (9.) Eintracht Braunschweig 21 8 6 7 29:23 +6 30 10. (10.) SpVgg Unterhaching 23 8 6 9 31:32 -1 30 11. (11.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 22 8 6 8 25:30 -5 30 12. (12.) Wacker Burghausen 21 9 3 9 23:36 -13 30 13. (13.) Borussia Dortmund II 22 8 4 10 26:29 -3 28 14. (19.) VfB Stuttgart II 22 8 2 12 32:33 -1 26 15. (14.) Dynamo Dresden 22 7 5 10 26:29 -3 26 16. (16.) FC Bayern München II 21 7 5 9 27:38 -11 26 17. (15.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 23 7 5 11 28:41 -13 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (17.) Holstein Kiel 21 7 4 10 26:28 -2 25 19. (18.) SV Werder Bremen II 20 7 4 9 26:29 -3 25 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 21 6 4 11 21:33 -12 22
DFB Cup, Quarterfinals
No real shockers in the DFB Cup. The only surprise might be Augsburg over Köln, but since FCA is currently holding down a promotion spot in the 2.Liga, it's not that great of a shock.
Bayern München was somewhat lackluster in the 1st half, and found themselves behind at half, being completely outhusteled. Obviously Louis Van Gaal wasn't interested in a reprise of one of Germany's greatest Cup games, in 1995 when tiny TSV Vestenbergsgreuth (which later merged with Fürth, hence the "Greuther") stunned Bayern 1-0. Anyway, after a somewhat dodgy penalty, Bayern had enough and kicked Fürth's ass. A good effort by Greuther, at least for one half, but seriously, with bayern running rampant these days, the result was never really in question.
Referee Thorsten Kinhöfer was the main figure as Augsburg stunned Köln, as he tossed 3 Kölners. After Chihi was dismissed in the first half for a dirty foul, in the 69th minute Lukas Podolski made a thorough ass of himself. He got a yellow card for applauding the referee, and then compounded it by giving a thumbs-up to get another yellow immediately after. What a wanker. Petit completed the disgrace by not being able to keep his yap shut and got his ass tossed near the end. What is it with these idiots? This is not to take anything away from Augsburg, who put in a great effort. They are the only non-Bundesliga side in the semifinals.
Schalke was ho-hum against giant killer VfL Osnabrück, but Kevin Kuranyi grabbed a goal that was enough to send the Blues through. Werder Bremen managed to defeat Hoffenheim, not that anyone really cares. Bremen probably should have finished off their injury-ravaged opponents early, but instead ran around aimlessly annoying their fans.
VfL Osnabrück - FC Schalke 04 0:1 (0:0) 16,130 (Kuranyi) Bayern München - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 6:2 (1:2) 53,500 (T. Müller 2, Robben, Ribery, Lahm, Allagui o.g. - Allagui, Nöthe) FC Augsburg - 1.FC Köln 2:0 (1:0) 30,660 (Thurk, Rafael) Werder Bremen - TSG Hoffenheim 2:1 (1:0) 25,753 (Naldo, Hugo Almeida - Tagoe)
Bundesliga, Round 21
It's a two way race for the title, which really shouldn't surprise anybody. Bayern München is red hot, and they returned to last season's Waterloo, Kraftdurchfreudestadt. The unheralded Wolfsburgers displayed brilliant attacking skill in dismantling Bayern in a historic match, and cemented their sensational championship. However, this season was different. The VWs did play with an attacking style, but this is a disciplined Bayern squad now, and they ruthlessly exploited their hosts defensive lapses and ripped them up and down.
Meanwhile, leaders Leverkusen have seen their lead disappear from Bayern's pressure. Despite dominating against hosts Bochum, the Alka-Seltzers were unable to serve up the beaqtdown. The Bochumers fought like rabid chihuahuas, and their yipping and yapping was rewarded by a surprise goal and an even more surprising point. The Bochumers are veterans of many a relegation battle, and by picking up points here and there, they seem a good bet to survive this season. Leverkusen boss Jupp Heynckes has to be furious, as they really should have won this. Now they're equal with Bayern except for a tiny goal difference, so they are probably are headed to yet another Luserkusen scenario.
Werder struggled to break down the defensively oriented Berliners. Especially Hertha GK Jaroslav Drobny was up to the task, holding off the Bremen assault. In the end, Claudio Pizarro managed to get the winner and break their own crap run of something like seven matches without a win. Werder might be on the upswing again, so teams might be nervous about playing them now. A decent effort by Hertha, but they really didn't deserve a point in this one.
Hamburg has been holding on, and is hoping for some firepower reinforcements with the signing of Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Oddly enough, they were involved in a shootout with stunning Köln, whose late goal prevented HSV stealing all the points. As you know, in the 1st half of the season, Köln was catenaccio-central. Now they seem to have decided to go to all out attack. They've already scored as many times as they did in those first 17 matches of the pre-winter break! Certainly the fans seem to be enjoying it. Their effort was rewarded with this late draw against HSV, and solidifies their midtable standing.
Last week we mentioned that Frankfurt was on their "suck" track, and sure enough, this week they totally turn things around by travelling to fotress Dortmund and stunning the Neons. Dortmund had been flying high, but have gotten slapped in their last two. The hosts seemed to have a slight edge, but Frankfurt was quick on the counter, and usually had the Neons defense in chaotic state. Good win for Eintracht, although I guess it's time to suck next week. Jürgen Klopp needs to figure out something quick so Dortmund doesn't start to drift aimlessly. They've got 5 points on clubs chasing them, so he has some leeway, but indifferent performances have been the bane of the Neons over the last few seasons, so perhaps something like electrical shocks applied to the players' testicles might be a clever management move.
Stuttgart is the latest red hot team, although they really didn't deserve this one. Nürnberg was their equal except that they suck when it really counts, namely putting the ball in the net. VfB managed to play down to der Club's level, but made their chances count.
Hoffenheim had been sliding down the table, so having Hannover show up was a nice change. The Hoppers dominated the game, which is no real news, since the 96ers have been so crap. But the hosts basically phoned it in during the 2nd half, and allowed Hannover some dignity.
Mainz was somewhat fortunate to get the win against Gladbach, as the match was basically even and nobody deserved all the points.
SV Werder Bremen - Hertha BSC Berlin 2:1 (0:0) 35,600 (Marin, Pizarro - Gekas) VfL Wolfsburg - FC Bayern München 1:3 (0:2) 30,000 (Grafite - Robben, Van Buyten, Barzagli o.g.) 1. FC Köln - Hamburger SV 3:3 (1:2) 50,000 (Mohamad, Novakovic, Chihi - Jansen, Petric 2) SC Freiburg - FC Schalke 04 0:0 (0:0) 24,000 VfL Bochum - Bayer Leverkusen 1:1 (0:1) 22,176 (Dedic - Derdiyok) 1899 Hoffenheim - Hannover 96 2:1 (2:0) 28,100 (Carlos Eduardo, Salihovic - Kone) 1. FC Nürnberg - VfB Stuttgart 1:2 (0:1) 40,384 (Bunjaku - Gebhardt, Hilbert) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - Borussia M'gladbach 1:0 (1:0) 20,300 (Svensson) Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt 2:3 (1:1) 70,400 (Hummels, Barrios - Köhler, Jung, Meier) Attendance: 320,960 (avg 35,662) 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 21 12 9 0 46:17 +29 45 2. (2.) FC Bayern München 21 13 6 2 45:18 +27 45 3. (3.) FC Schalke 04 21 12 6 3 31:15 +16 42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (5.) Hamburger SV 21 9 9 3 40:24 +16 36 5. (4.) Borussia Dortmund 21 10 6 5 30:26 +4 36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) SV Werder Bremen 21 8 7 6 39:25 +14 31 7. (7.) Eintracht Frankfurt 21 8 7 6 28:29 -1 31 8. (8.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 21 8 6 7 25:29 -4 30 9. (9.) 1899 Hoffenheim 21 8 4 9 29:25 +4 28 10. (10.) VfB Stuttgart 21 7 7 7 26:26 0 28 11. (13.) 1. FC Köln 21 6 7 8 20:24 -4 25 12. (11.) VfL Wolfsburg 21 6 7 8 37:42 -5 25 13. (12.) Borussia M'gladbach 21 7 4 10 29:35 -6 25 14. (14.) VfL Bochum 21 5 7 9 23:37 -14 22 15. (15.) SC Freiburg 21 5 4 12 20:39 -19 19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) Hannover 96 21 4 5 12 23:36 -13 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) 1. FC Nürnberg 21 4 4 13 17:37 -20 16 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 21 2 5 14 17:41 -24 11
2.Liga - 21st round
The leaders took advantage to build out their advantage. Kaiserslautern woke up in the second half and blasted Paderborn, and despite the final scoreline, St.Pauli dominated Karlsruhe. Since the chasing teams had indifferent resuolts, the top two are sitting pretty and looking at Bundesliga city train schedules. Augsburg holds on to the coveted 3rd spot, but they were challenged in Berlin. Union is having a fine season and look to finish somewhere in the middle. Bielefeld struggled against Fürth, but managed to get through and gain a crucial win. Promotion is required for Arminia, as reports of financial insolvency have been leaking out. Failure to regain Bundesliga status could mean financial collapse and forcible relegation! This is a story to keep our eyes on. Meanwhile, there was "Bundesligastimmung" in Düsseldorf, something not seen often in the last several tears. Fortuna faced off against Duisburg in a Rheinderby, and a packed house was the reward. To top things off, a strong Düsseldorf performance keeps them in the hunt. Duisbrug is by no means out, but the Zebras have some work to do.
At the bottom, all 3 relegees did well, grabbing points. The most stunning was Ahlen's win at 1860. (They should fire their coach like Oberhausen did.) Two in a row for Ahlen! Firing their coach last week did Oberhausen some good, as their win over Rostock probably gives them enough cushion to be sure of not going down.
FC St. Pauli - Karlsruher SC 2:1 (2:1) 19,793 (Hennings 2 - Chrisantus) Arminia Bielefeld - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 2:1 (0:1) 11,100 (Allagui, Guela - Fort) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - Hansa Rostock 2:1 (0:1) 4,546 (Schmidtgal, Terranova - Bartels) 1. FC Union Berlin - FC Augsburg 0:0 (0:0) 12,168 FC Energie Cottbus - TuS Koblenz 1:1 (0:1) 8,210 (Petersen - Kapllani) FSV Frankfurt - Alemannia Aachen 1:1 (0:0) 3,168 (Voigt - Auer) Fortuna Düsseldorf - MSV Duisburg 2:0 (2:0) 48,250 (Lambertz, Harnik) 1. FC K'lautern - SC Paderborn 07 3:0 (0:0) 25,880 (Jendrisek 2, Hornig) TSV 1860 München - Rot Weiss Ahlen 0:1 (0:1) 14,800 (Kern) Attendance: 147,915 (avg 16,435) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 21 14 4 3 33:16 +17 46 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 21 14 3 4 48:21 +27 45 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Augsburg 21 10 8 3 44:28 +16 38 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Arminia Bielefeld 21 11 4 6 33:21 +12 37 5. (5.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 21 11 4 6 32:20 +12 37 6. (6.) MSV Duisburg 21 10 4 7 35:29 +6 34 7. (7.) 1. FC Union Berlin 20 8 6 6 27:25 +2 30 8. (8.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 21 9 1 11 38:35 +3 28 9. (9.) SC Paderborn 07 21 7 7 7 27:30 -3 28 10. (11.) Alemannia Aachen 21 7 6 8 20:24 -4 27 11. (10.) TSV 1860 München 20 7 5 8 24:23 +1 26 12. (13.) FC Energie Cottbus 21 6 6 9 29:30 -1 24 13. (12.) Karlsruher SC 20 7 3 10 28:31 -3 24 14. (15.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 21 7 3 11 18:33 -15 24 15. (14.) Hansa Rostock 20 7 2 11 22:30 -8 23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) TuS Koblenz 21 4 5 12 19:37 -18 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) FSV Frankfurt 21 4 5 12 15:40 -25 17 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 21 3 6 12 12:31 -19 15
3.Liga - 23rd round
Snow continues to wreak havoc, although the next couple of weeks do have some scheduling of postponed matches. Freezing weather meant that the top clash between Ingolstadt and Osnabrück was played like one of those Serie A matches where the audience gets banned. Significant was Heidenheim continuing their good run, and Kickers Offenbach laying an egg at home against mini-Dortmund.
FC Ingolstadt 04 - VfL Osnabrück 0:0 (0:0) 2,852 FC Carl Zeiss Jena - FC Erzgebirge Aue 1:0 (0:0) 7,206 (Hähnge) Dynamo Dresden - FC Bayern München II 2:0 (1:0) 10,757 (G. Müller, Gundersen) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - SV 1916 Sandhausen 1:0 (1:0) 4,125 (Mayer) Kickers Offenbach - Borussia Dortmund II 1:2 (0:2) 6,820 (Mesic - Hünemeier, Piossek) SpVgg Unterhaching - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:1 (0:1) 2,000 (Konrad - Kammlott) postponed matches: Wuppertaler SV - SV Wehen Wiesbaden Jahn Regensburg - VfB Stuttgart II Eintracht Braunschweig - Wacker Burghausen SV Werder Bremen II - Holstein Kiel 1. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 22 12 4 6 32:21 +11 40 2. (2.) FC Ingolstadt 04 21 11 4 6 44:23 +21 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (4.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 23 11 4 8 41:34 +7 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) Kickers Offenbach 23 9 7 7 36:26 +10 34 5. (5.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 22 10 4 8 31:31 0 34 6. (6.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 22 9 6 7 38:36 +2 33 7. (7.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 22 8 8 6 26:24 +2 32 8. (8.) Eintracht Braunschweig 21 8 6 7 29:23 +6 30 9. (11.) SpVgg Unterhaching 22 8 6 8 31:31 0 30 10. (12.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 22 8 6 8 25:30 -5 30 11. (9.) Wacker Burghausen 20 9 3 8 23:33 -10 30 12. (10.) Jahn Regensburg 20 8 5 7 27:21 +6 29 13. (16.) Borussia Dortmund II 22 8 4 10 26:29 -3 28 14. (18.) Dynamo Dresden 22 7 5 10 26:29 -3 26 15. (14.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 22 7 5 10 27:37 -10 26 16. (13.) FC Bayern München II 21 7 5 9 27:38 -11 26 17. (15.) SV Werder Bremen II 20 7 4 9 26:29 -3 25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (17.) VfB Stuttgart II 21 7 2 12 28:32 -4 23 19. (19.) Holstein Kiel 20 6 4 10 23:28 -5 22 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 20 6 4 10 21:32 -11 22
Bundesliga, Round 20
This week was good for the very top, and decent for the bottom. If you had ambitions of moving in (or out) of one of those zones, it wasn't particularily good though.
Leaders Bayer Leverkusen had a workman-like win over Freiburg. The Aspirins basically put everything together before half, and then took their foot off the gas pedal. SCF showed up with an open mentality, but really were no match, so the outcome was never really in doubt. They did improve their game as Bayer let up, but clearly their expectations weren't very much. However, the Breisgauer have been relatively unsuccessful recently, and have dropped back into the danger zone. They need some positive results soon or things could get pretty hot. For Bayer, they remain under pressure as the leaders, but so far have been equal to the task.
In reality, Bayern München's win over Mainz was similar to Leverkusen's triumph, except it took Bayern longer to break down their opponents. The main reason was that Mainz, unlike Freiburg, came in with defense from the start, but I would venture nobody expected them to hold out. Basically, after the half, they got rolled. Bayern keeps up the pressure on the Alka-Seltzers, and Arjen Robben has become the dominant player in the Bundesliga. (Franck Ribery is still slowed by his injury). Much ado about nothing for Mainz, who weren't expecting anything here anyway.
Somewhat of a surprise team is Schalke. Despite all their well publicized financial difficulties, the Blues are hanging tough, a tribute to coach Felix Magath's ability to get the most out of his squads. In form Kevin Kuranyi once again opened the door with another goal, and the Hoffenheimers really had nothing left to put against their hosts. A deserved win for Schalke, who remain in the race. Hoffenheim seems to have fallen off and basically aspire for midtable.
Dortmund has been one of the hottest teams in the Bundesliga, but they ran into a buzzsaw in the form of a recovered VfB Stuttgart. Contrary to expectations, Swiss journeyman coach Christian Gross seems to have found the formula to motivate the Swabians, and they kicked Dortmund's ass. Stuttgart is once again a team to be feared. Dortmund should regroup, but still look a decent squad.
HSV had a rough time in the northern derby against Wolfsburg. The Hamburgers controlled the match against the VWs, whose interim coach Lorenz-Günther Köstner decided on a very defensive game plan. The defending champions have been leaking goals, so perhaps it wasn't a bad strategy to try and hold down the opponents. As the game progressed, it looked like the defending champions might pull it off. Only a last minute injury time goal by Piotr Trochowski saved a point for HSV.
Another team struggling defensively recently is Werder Bremen. Werder obviously needs to go back to "Defending for Dummies". Well, OK, they got the "dummies" part down cold. In fact, Gladbach overran them with 3 goals in before 20 minutes were passed. The outstanding player was the Argentine Raul Bobadilla, who scored twice and assisted on Gladbach's other two goals. Huge win for "die Fohlen", who now float comfortably above relegation.
Frankfurt was the next mid-level club to suffer. Eintracht fully expected a win against Köln, but frankly did little to earn the points. They were somewhat in control (what the Germans like to call "optisch überlegen", i.e. "optically superior"), but in reality in was all a sham. No surprise that a more determined Köln side walks away with a win, gaining crucial points in the relegation battle. Not only that, when you consider that Köln had only managed 10 goals in the first half of the season, their 7 strikes in 3 matches is almost like a tsunami into the desert. Frankfurt continues to be one of the most frustrating teams for their fans, as they are now back on their "suck" track. But rest assured, they will probably put in a couple of good efforts soon, just enough to raise expectations before shattering those illusions with more turds...
Hannover continues to suck, something like 8 crap results in a row. Nürnberg has been struggling, and all of a sudden they were tossed a lifeline by their generous hosts. This rare road win (or rare any win) all of a sudden lifts der Club into a decent jumping point, where they can wrestle at least the playoff spot from the 96ers. And even struggling Freiburg and safety is only a spot away. Of course, this is Nürnberg we're talking about, so at least have some doubt about their ability to put together anything decent. On the other hand, I'm not sure what Hannover can do at this point. They really look like a team that has forgotten how to play decent football.
Last place Hertha BSC continues a decent restart, but they were unable to turn their domination into a full 3 points against a desperately defending Bochum. A lost opportunity to almost gain some ground to where they could at least see the rear ends of the teams above them. Hopefully it's too late, because I really want a Berlin derby next season. Plus they deserve to be relegated to put their idiotic management in it's proper place. Bochum is of course a veteran of many a relegation battle, and as has been their mantra all season, when they fight hard, they usually get something out of the match.
Hamburger SV - VfL Wolfsburg 1:1 (0:1) 51,584 (Trochowski - Dzeko) Borussia M'gladbach - SV Werder Bremen 4:3 (4:2) 47,458 (Bobadilla 2, Reus, Collautti - Özil, Pizarro, Frings) Eintracht Frankfurt - 1. FC Köln 1:2 (0:0) 45,100 (Chris - Maniche, Russ o.g.) Hertha BSC Berlin - VfL Bochum 0:0 (0:0) 38,127 FC Bayern München - 1. FSV Mainz 05 3:0 (0:0) 69,000 (van Buyten, Gomez, Robben) Hannover 96 - 1. FC Nürnberg 1:3 (0:1) 26,722 (Stajner - Bunjaku 3) FC Schalke 04 - 1899 Hoffenheim 2:0 (1:0) 60,402 (Kuranyi, Schmitz) VfB Stuttgart - Borussia Dortmund 4:1 (1:0) 42,000 (Felipe Santana, Kuzmanovic, Marica, Träsch - Barrios) Bayer Leverkusen - SC Freiburg 3:1 (3:0) 26,000 (Kiessling, Derdiyok, Hyypiä - Bastians) Attendance: 406,393 (avg 45,155) 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 20 12 8 0 45:16 +29 44 2. (2.) FC Bayern München 20 12 6 2 42:17 +25 42 3. (3.) FC Schalke 04 20 12 5 3 31:15 +16 41 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Borussia Dortmund 20 10 6 4 28:23 +5 36 5. (5.) Hamburger SV 20 9 8 3 37:21 +16 35 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) SV Werder Bremen 20 7 7 6 37:24 +13 28 7. (7.) Eintracht Frankfurt 20 7 7 6 25:27 -2 28 8. (8.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 20 7 6 7 24:29 -5 27 9. (9.) 1899 Hoffenheim 20 7 4 9 27:24 +3 25 10. (11.) VfB Stuttgart 20 6 7 7 24:25 -1 25 11. (10.) VfL Wolfsburg 20 6 7 7 36:39 -3 25 12. (12.) Borussia M'gladbach 20 7 4 9 29:34 -5 25 13. (13.) 1. FC Köln 20 6 6 8 17:21 -4 24 14. (14.) VfL Bochum 20 5 6 9 22:36 -14 21 15. (15.) SC Freiburg 20 5 3 12 20:39 -19 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) Hannover 96 20 4 5 11 22:34 -12 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) 1. FC Nürnberg 20 4 4 12 16:35 -19 16 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 20 2 5 13 16:39 -23 11
2.Liga - 20th round
Weather took it's course on a couple of games, but this was like the Bundesliga: good for the top, good for the bottom, and bad for all pretenders.
Kaiserslautern impressed by breaking out of their funk and Sidney Sam's hattrick allowed them a big win in Aachen. FCK had been struggling a bit, so this win comes at a good time. The reason is that chasing St.Pauli is playing with supreme confidence. The Paulistas dominated against host Duisburg, and if it wasn't for some nifty goalkeeping, might have scored a half-dozen. As it was, the Hamburgers overran the Zebras, and the result was never in doubt.
There was a huge match in Augsburg, where the Fuggers took on Bielefeld. The result was that Arminia got all fugged up. FCA has been a silent pretender for a while, but they have now firmly staked their claim. Bielefeld put up a decent fight, but they were no match for the 2.Liga top scorer Michael Thurk. Augsburg now seizes sole possesion of 3rd place. Düsseldorf was the other contender to go down in flames. Fortuna was without meaning (hehehe) as they struggled in the mud of Koblenz, and end up taking a dump. Nice result for struggling Koblenz, who are at least trying to hold on the the relegation-playoff spot. Perhaps even closer than Düsseldorf's near prostate exam was Paderborn getting ambushed at home by hapless FSV Frankfurt. FSV keeps the pressure on Koblenz, and SCP must now surely give up any hope of contending for anything. Finally, Ahlen managed their first home win of the season (!) as they upended Oberhausen. RWO reacted the only way acceptable: they fired their coach right after...
SpVgg Greuther Fürth - FC Energie Cottbus 1:0 (0:0) 5,150 (Nöthe) MSV Duisburg - FC St. Pauli 0:2 (0:2) 16,446 (Ebbers, Naki) TuS Koblenz - Fortuna Düsseldorf 1:0 (0:0) 8,309 (Mavric) FC Augsburg - Arminia Bielefeld 3:1 (1:0) 15,477 (Thurk 2, Torghelle - Federico) Rot Weiss Ahlen - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 1:0 (1:0) 4,127 (N'Diaye) SC Paderborn 07 - FSV Frankfurt 0:2 (0:1) 5,321 (Cidimar 2) Alemannia Aachen - 1. FC K'lautern 0:3 (0:1) 21,152 (Sam 3) Postponed: Karlsruher SC - TSV 1860 München Hansa Rostock - 1. FC Union Berlin 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 20 13 4 3 30:16 +14 43 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 20 13 3 4 46:20 +26 42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Augsburg 20 10 7 3 44:28 +16 37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Arminia Bielefeld 20 10 4 6 31:20 +11 34 5. (5.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 20 10 4 6 30:20 +10 34 6. (6.) MSV Duisburg 20 10 4 6 35:27 +8 34 7. (7.) 1. FC Union Berlin 19 8 5 6 27:25 +2 29 8. (11.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 20 9 1 10 37:33 +4 28 9. (8.) SC Paderborn 07 20 7 7 6 27:27 0 28 10. (9.) TSV 1860 München 19 7 5 7 24:22 +2 26 11. (10.) Alemannia Aachen 20 7 5 8 19:23 -4 26 12. (12.) Karlsruher SC 19 7 3 9 27:29 -2 24 13. (13.) FC Energie Cottbus 20 6 5 9 28:29 -1 23 14. (14.) Hansa Rostock 19 7 2 10 21:28 -7 23 15. (15.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 20 6 3 11 16:32 -16 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) TuS Koblenz 20 4 4 12 18:36 -18 16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) FSV Frankfurt 20 4 4 12 14:39 -25 16 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 20 2 6 12 11:31 -20 12
3.Liga - 22nd round
Everybody pretty much got snowed in, but Osnabrück goes to the top by defeating Offenbach. Also worth mentioning is that newcomer Heidenheim has become a legit contender for the playoff. With all the postponements the table looks like the goofy EPL wankers are in charge of the schedule, since the games played are all over the place.
SV Wehen Wiesbaden - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 1:2 (1:0) 2,395 (Ziegenbein - Göhlert, Mayer) VfL Osnabrück - Kickers Offenbach 1:0 (0:0) 11,300 (Stang) All other matches cancelled due to weather: Wacker Burghausen - Jahn Regensburg SV 1916 Sandhausen - Dynamo Dresden FC Bayern München II - FC Carl Zeiss Jena FC Erzgebirge Aue - SpVgg Unterhaching FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - FC Ingolstadt 04 Borussia Dortmund II - SV Werder Bremen II Holstein Kiel - Eintracht Braunschweig VfB Stuttgart II - Wuppertaler SV 1. (2.) VfL Osnabrück 21 12 3 6 32:21 +11 39 2. (1.) FC Ingolstadt 04 20 11 3 6 44:23 +21 36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) Kickers Offenbach 22 9 7 6 35:24 +11 34 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (6.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 22 10 4 8 40:34 +6 34 5. (4.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 21 10 4 7 31:30 +1 34 6. (5.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 21 9 6 6 38:35 +3 33 7. (7.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 21 8 7 6 25:23 +2 31 8. (8.) Eintracht Braunschweig 21 8 6 7 29:23 +6 30 9. (9.) Wacker Burghausen 20 9 3 8 23:33 -10 30 10. (10.) Jahn Regensburg 20 8 5 7 27:21 +6 29 11. (11.) SpVgg Unterhaching 21 8 5 8 30:30 0 29 12. (12.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 21 7 6 8 24:30 -6 27 13. (13.) FC Bayern München II 20 7 5 8 27:36 -9 26 14. (14.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 22 7 5 10 27:37 -10 26 15. (15.) SV Werder Bremen II 20 7 4 9 26:29 -3 25 16. (16.) Borussia Dortmund II 21 7 4 10 24:28 -4 25 17. (17.) VfB Stuttgart II 21 7 2 12 28:32 -4 23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) Dynamo Dresden 21 6 5 10 24:29 -5 23 19. (19.) Holstein Kiel 20 6 4 10 23:28 -5 22 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV 20 6 4 10 21:32 -11 22
Bundesliga, Round 19
An exciting weekend sees the Bundesliga move closer to a two horse race...with a pretender joining the fray for the Champions League.
The match of the weekend saw an exciting, wild shootout in Bremen with incredible goals. Bayern München prevailed, but only by the skin of their teeth against a highly motivated Werder squad. Bremen played well, and perhaps are a bit hard done by, but they're too inconsistent these days. Bayern got a strong performance from their squad, and they seem to have finally got in line with Van Gaal's decisions. I still think they are the team to beat, but they still have some work to do.
Leaders Leverkusen answered Bayern's challenge with an emphatic road thumping of Hoffenheim. The Aspirins seem hot to show that they're not the Luserkusen of old. Coach Jupp Heynckes has his squad performing at a very high level, and they can beat anybody, including Bayern. Leading the charge of Bayer is one of Germany's top midfield talents, Toni Kroos. Ironically, Kroos is on loan from Bayern München, but he almost never got to play there. He has blossomed at Leverkusen, and has formed a potent midifield duo with Swiss international Tranquilo Barnetta.
Schalke will likely point to the last 10 minutes at Bochum for the start of their slow burn. The Blues seemingly had the game wrapped up, but the fighting Bochumers roared back with two late goals to salvage a point. I'm sure Schalke coach Felix Magath couldn't have been too happy about the lost points.
Dortmund is the new pretender, at least in the race for Europe spots. The Neons clearly outplayed Hamburg for most of the match, but were unable to finish off HSV. As a result, there was plenty of nervous defending towards the end of the game, as the visitors threw caution into the wind. HSV deserved to lose, as they let the hosts control the proceedings for too long, and even towards the end when they were pushing forward, they had trouble with Dortmund's counterattack. Actually, the big news for Hamburg this weekend is that they have signed Real Madrid's Ruud Van Nistelrooy on a free. Given the fact that HSV has had trouble keeping forwards healthy, if RVN can recover some of his old form, this could be a great boon to HSV.
Mainz continues their great season, and defeated Hannover, who hoped that new coach Miro Slomka would light a fire. Mainz hardly was overly impressive, but easily brought the win to the final whistle, as the 96ers were unable to show much enthusiasm for a true fightback. Slomka certainly has his work cut out for him. The only positive is that things are packed at the bottom. Meanheil Mainz has a nice 10 point cushion, and should be pretty safe, even this early in the season.
Hertha remains stuck at the bottom, but their performances have improved. They dominated against Gladbach, but were unable to score. In fact, in the end they were lucky as well, as GK Drobny stopped a penalty by Arango, preventing what would have been a terrible loss for Berlin. Gladbach didn't show much, but have to be happy with a nice away point.
Bookies seem to watching Wolfsburg's Armin Veh going down in flames. The odds are certainly not in his favor - if some results don't do VW's way in the next coupkle of matches, he get canned. Then he can look back on being fired by two clubs (Stuttgart and Wolfsburg) following their championship years. (BLITZ NEWS: He got his ass fired on Monday!) The defending champs have been leaking goals at the back, and the attack, while still potent, is not in full stride. And given the fact they gave up 3 to Köln, the worst attack, hardly bodes well. A huge win for the Kölners, keeping their heads above water.
Stuttgart has almost steadied the ship. They won a tough regional southwest derby in Freiburg, a very tough match. This is something they would have tanked earlier, but they look back in the saddle. A tough loss for Freiburg, who are in danger of falling into a relegation spot.
Nürnberg was salivating at the prospect of a win, but instead gave up a late goal to Frankfurt. This is probably a fair reflection of the match, but for der Club, this was critical loss of points. They need to be making up ground with Hannover's freefall and Freiburg's inability to get back into rhythym. Lame home draws isn't going to impress anybody.
SC Freiburg - VfB Stuttgart 0:1 (0:1) 23,900 (Marica) SV Werder Bremen - FC Bayern München 2:3 (1:2) 39,100 (Hunt, Hugo Almeida - T. Müller, Olic, Robben) VfL Bochum - FC Schalke 04 2:2 (0:2) 29,008 (Hashemian, Sestak - Sanchez, Kuranyi) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - Hannover 96 1:0 (1:0) 19,300 (Schürrle) 1. FC Nürnberg - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:1 (1:1) 37,464 (Eigler - Köhler) Hertha BSC Berlin - Borussia M'gladbach 0:0 (0:0) 46,090 Borussia Dortmund - Hamburger SV 1:0 (1:0) 80,552 (Valdez) VfL Wolfsburg - 1. FC Köln 2:3 (1:1) 27,471 (Gentner, Ricardo Costa - Pezzoni, Freis, Chihi) 1899 Hoffenheim - Bayer Leverkusen 0:3 (0:1) 29,500 (Hyypiä, Kroos, Barnetta) Attendance: 332,385 (avg 36,932) 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 19 11 8 0 42:15 +27 41 2. (3.) FC Bayern München 19 11 6 2 39:17 +22 39 3. (2.) FC Schalke 04 19 11 5 3 29:15 +14 38 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (5.) Borussia Dortmund 19 10 6 3 27:19 +8 36 5. (4.) Hamburger SV 19 9 7 3 36:20 +16 34 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) SV Werder Bremen 19 7 7 5 34:20 +14 28 7. (7.) Eintracht Frankfurt 19 7 7 5 24:25 -1 28 8. (10.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 19 7 6 6 24:26 -2 27 9. (8.) 1899 Hoffenheim 19 7 4 8 27:22 +5 25 10. (9.) VfL Wolfsburg 19 6 6 7 35:38 -3 24 11. (12.) VfB Stuttgart 19 5 7 7 20:24 -4 22 12. (11.) Borussia M'gladbach 19 6 4 9 25:31 -6 22 13. (14.) 1. FC Köln 19 5 6 8 15:20 -5 21 14. (13.) VfL Bochum 19 5 5 9 22:36 -14 20 15. (15.) SC Freiburg 19 5 3 11 19:36 -17 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) Hannover 96 19 4 5 10 21:31 -10 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) 1. FC Nürnberg 19 3 4 12 13:34 -21 13 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 19 2 4 13 16:39 -23 10 Top goalscorers: 1 Kießling, Stefan (Leverkusen) 12 2 Kuranyi, Kevin (Schalke) 10 3 Barrios, Lucas (Dortmund) 9 4 Dzeko, Edin (Wolfsburg) 8 5 Gomez, Mario (Bayern) 8 6 Kroos, Toni (Leverkusen) 8 7 Derdiyok, Eren (Leverkusen) 7 7 Olic, Ivica (Bayern) 7
2.Liga - 19th round
St.Pauli is the story of this round, as the Hamburgers creep closer to the top and a shocking Bundesliga return. The Paulistas pressed Alemannia Aachen, finally breaking through an important victory. Meanwhile, leaders Kaiserslautern struggled at home to last place Ahlen. FCK dominated, but was unable to score. Perhaps the Red Devils feels St.Pauli breathing down their neck. However, they still have a comfortable lead over 3rd place, so it's too early foe their fans to get nervous.
Bielefeld finally got back into the win column, although beating somebody like Koblenz is hardly headline news. Still, Arminia is happy to get full points and stop the bleeding. However, the Westfalen are faced with a strong challenge from an unlikely source, Augsburg. The Bavarians made short work of a hapless Oberhausen, and continue to hold down the playoff spot. But 3rd place is has lots of pretenders. Düsseldorf is one of those pretenders, and their win against Union Berlin probably finally ended the Berliners hopes of somehow sneaking into the top. Duisburg got a last second win in Cottbus and have also joined the battle for promotion.
A couple of disappointing squads seem to have straightened things out and established themselves in solid midfield. 1860 slapped Rostock, and Greuther Fürth blasted a crap FSV Frankfurt. The Frankfurters are done, you can stick a fork in them. I suppose they could still survive by nipping 16th and surviving the playoff, but in truth FSV hasn't shown much of a life line.
FSV Frankfurt - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 0:5 (0:2) 3,045 (Nehrig, Allagui, Schröck, N. Müller, Nöthe) TSV 1860 München - Hansa Rostock 3:0 (1:0) 16,800 (Lauth, Schöneberg o.g., Aigner) Fortuna Düsseldorf - 1. FC Union Berlin 1:0 (0:0) 25,300 (Anderson) FC St. Pauli - Alemannia Aachen 1:0 (1:0) 19,630 (Kruse) 1. FC K'lautern - Rot Weiss Ahlen 0:0 (0:0) 24,272 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - FC Augsburg 0:3 (0:3) 3,896 (Thurk 2, Torghelle) Arminia Bielefeld - TuS Koblenz 4:2 (2:0) 10,600 (Fort 2, Kirch, Delura - Lense, Hartmann) Karlsruher SC - SC Paderborn 07 1:2 (0:2) 14,571 (Schäfer - Saglik 2) FC Energie Cottbus - MSV Duisburg 0:1 (0:0) 6,188 (Baljak) Attendance: 124,302 (avg 13,811) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 19 12 4 3 27:16 +11 40 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 19 12 3 4 44:20 +24 39 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC Augsburg 19 9 7 3 41:27 +14 34 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Arminia Bielefeld 19 10 4 5 30:17 +13 34 5. (5.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 19 10 4 5 30:19 +11 34 6. (6.) MSV Duisburg 19 10 4 5 35:25 +10 34 7. (7.) 1. FC Union Berlin 19 8 5 6 27:25 +2 29 8. (9.) SC Paderborn 07 19 7 7 5 27:25 +2 28 9. (12.) TSV 1860 München 19 7 5 7 24:22 +2 26 10. (8.) Alemannia Aachen 19 7 5 7 19:20 -1 26 11. (14.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 19 8 1 10 36:33 +3 25 12. (10.) Karlsruher SC 19 7 3 9 27:29 -2 24 13. (11.) FC Energie Cottbus 19 6 6 7 28:28 0 23 14. (13.) Hansa Rostock 19 7 2 10 21:28 -7 23 15. (15.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 19 6 3 10 16:31 -15 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) TuS Koblenz 19 3 4 12 17:36 -19 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) FSV Frankfurt 19 3 4 12 12:39 -27 13 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 19 1 6 12 10:31 -21 9
3.Liga
The 3rd division is still in winterbreak, although there are a few makeup games that are taking place from earlier weather postponements. That assumes that the snow gets cleared off, since most 3.Liga clubs don't have undersoil heating. Can't remember who's playing. I think Jena lost at home against Sandhausen, but I can't remember, which is probably the same for Jena and Sandhausen fans.
Misc News
Torsten Frings is finished, at least with the national squad. DFB-coach Joachim Löw announced that he will no longer be picking the 33-yr old defensive midfielder, whose thuggish play has been a fixture with Germany since 2001. Although still in decent club form with Bremen, Frings is being dropped to allow younger players their chance, at least according to Löw. Fact is however that the Bundestrainer was never really sold on Frings, maybe he wasn't metrosexual enough, hehehe. Anyway, Frings ends up representing Germany 79 times, scoring 10 goals.
Mirko Slomka new boss of Hannover. Is this guy is like foot fungus, he never goes away, or what? Anyway, 3rd time lucky perhaps for Hannover, as they fired Dieter Hecking and Andreas Bergmann already. If Slomka can stop Hannover's freefall, he'll do a lot to refurbish his tainted image.
Haiti efforts. German soccer has also got into the international rescue efforts for victims of the horrible earthquake in Haiti. The national squad announced a donation of 150,000 euros. Miroslav Klose has been key in organizing a friendly between Bayern München and VfL Wolfsburg, all proceeds going to the effort. This could turn out to be a nice sum. Borussia M'gladbach announced a weird promotion. They will donate one day of remaining ticket sales from one of their matches that isn't yet sold out, I forget which one. There were about 10,000 unsold seats, so all told, this could add up to another 200,000 euros, we'll have to see. Meanwhile, financially troubled Schalke still reached into the kitty, giving 100,000 euros from their community fund. I'm sure other clubs have gotten into the act as well, but I haven't seen any details.
Bundesliga, Round 18
Despite the ominous bad weather in Germany during the winterbreak, the top leagues have started up again. Better facilities combined with a break in the snow allowed all matches to take off. The winterbreak had none of the blockbuster player moves that filled up the gossip columns. There are still some moves that will undoubtedly be made, but most clubs started back with similar squads that they had finished off with.
Bayern München started off the round on Friday night, and proceeded to easily handle an injury riddled Hoffenheim squad. The win put München in 1st, at least until the Saturday games. Seems like an indication that Bayern is on target to win another title. Getting rid of Luca Toni seems to have have had a positive effect, since Van Gaal obviously feels his position is strengthened, and he wasn't going to use the Italian anyway. (Although, I believe he notched two goals this weekend with Roma).
Leaders Leverkusen continued where they had left off, beating down a competitive Mainz squad to hold onto 1st. When will they choke and hand the title to Bayern? So far, no indication that they want to do that just yet. Mainz put up a good fight, an indication that they still intend to play over their head the rest of the season.
Schalke struggled against a well-organized Nürnberg team. There were few chances for the dominant home side, but they finally got the win on a Kevin Kuranyi strike. This keeps Schalke in 2nd place, as they continue to collect points. A lot of players are rumoured to be sold, especially Höwedes and Rafinha. Often mentioned in Wolfsburg, which is struggling defensively and can afford to plunk down considerable cash. Obviously this would be a blow to Schalke's squad - the best defense - but much needed cash for the accountants. Actually, Rafinha they might as well dump, since he has become a malcontent and wants to leave. Too bad for Nürnberg, as they desperately could have used a point. But we'll have to see in the next few matches, especially their home ties, as to whether they have a chance for survival.
Hamburg dominated against Freiburg and keep all the points. HSV, like Schalke, is hoping to hold on. However, unlike the Schalkers, HSV isn't under any financial pressure, so if they consolidate their position, they can expect reinforcements, if not immediately, at least for next season. Freiburg will have to concentrate on grabbing points against fellow strugglers.
Dortmund has continued their good form, but it wasn't easy. They were sailing along, holding off a furious Köln attack, when at the very end they gave up two goals to seemingly settle for a draw. But perhaps Köln was too busy celebrating, as in injury time the Neons struck for the winner to keep up their climb up the table. Dortmund seems to be doing everything right. Too bad for Köln, but
Bremen is floundering. Werder was dominating the match against Frankfurt, but was unable to put the ball into the net. Instead, the hosts managed to launch a counterattack and grab the only goal, giving Eintracht a huge victory.
Stuttgart had a solid performance, but weak finishing made sure that there were plenty of nervous moments against Wolfsburg. However, the bottom line is they've started on the right foot, and with that form, they should move into midtable safety relatively soon. The VWs are still floundering, and Armin Veh better do something otherwise he'll end up getting his ass fired. Not that he's a bad coach or even doing a bad job, but as defending champ, Wolfsburg in 9th place is pretty disgraceful.
Bochum had a huge fighting victory at Gladbach, lifting them above Hannover. A loss would have been deadly, but the Blues rose to the occasion. This loss hurts Gladbach, who are not yet that far removed from danger, and this is a match where they expected points.
At very the bottom, one has to wonder whether the Hertha fightback has begun. Clearly the Berliners cannot stink as badly as they did in the first half. They couldn't have planned a better start, as they travelled to Hannover, who have basically totally collapsed. Hertha kicked their ass and at least start off the 2nd half with a bang. No matter what they do, it seems inevitable that they're going down, but they could certainly salvage some respect. I suppose if Hannover continues their freefall, they could maybe catch them and enter the relegation playoff.
Objectively, if you look at the bottom, Hertha is going down no matter what. I think they can be a tough opponent in the return rounds, but they dug themselves too deep a hole. At this point they're merely playing for pride, so we'll see if they are gutless or not. Nürnberg is just about dead as well. It's been a combo of lame ass performances and bad luck, and they're in deep Scheisse. As much as I have sympathy for "der Club", I think 2.Liga looms once again. Now there are several contenders for the relegation playoff spot, but Hannover is the joker in the deck. On paper, the 96ers are string enough to climb out, and they're only a point behind. But they seemingly have comepletly fallen apart, and unless they get a new team psychiatrist, things look grim. But what do you expect from a club that has official colors of green and black, and yet for most of their history shows up in red and black?
FC Bayern München - 1899 Hoffenheim 2:0 (1:0) 69,000 (Demichelis, Klose) Hannover 96 - Hertha BSC Berlin 0:3 (0:2) 28,712 (Piszczek, Raffael, Gekas) Eintracht Frankfurt - SV Werder Bremen 1:0 (0:0) 45,600 (Russ) Borussia M'gladbach - VfL Bochum 1:2 (0:2) 36,245 (Bäcker - Sestak, Dedic) Hamburger SV - SC Freiburg 2:0 (1:0) 51,448 (Jansen, Petric) Bayer Leverkusen - 1. FSV Mainz 05 4:2 (3:1) 28,000 (Kadlec, Barnetta, Kroos, Derdiyok - Hoogland, Bungert) VfB Stuttgart - VfL Wolfsburg 3:1 (1:0) 37,000 (Hilbert, Pogrebnyak, Gebhardt - Dzeko) FC Schalke 04 - 1. FC Nürnberg 1:0 (0:0) 61,515 (Kuranyi) 1. FC Köln - Borussia Dortmund 2:3 (0:2) 50,000 (McKenna, Mohamad - Hummels 2, Grosskreutz) Attendance: 407,520 (avg 45,280) 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 18 10 8 0 39:15 +24 38 2. (2.) FC Schalke 04 18 11 4 3 27:13 +14 37 3. (3.) FC Bayern München 18 10 6 2 36:15 +21 36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Hamburger SV 18 9 7 2 36:19 +17 34 5. (5.) Borussia Dortmund 18 9 6 3 26:19 +7 33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) SV Werder Bremen 18 7 7 4 32:17 +15 28 7. (10.) Eintracht Frankfurt 18 7 6 5 23:24 -1 27 8. (7.) 1899 Hoffenheim 18 7 4 7 27:19 +8 25 9. (8.) VfL Wolfsburg 18 6 6 6 33:35 -2 24 10. (9.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 18 6 6 6 23:26 -3 24 11. (11.) Borussia M'gladbach 18 6 3 9 25:31 -6 21 12. (15.) VfB Stuttgart 18 4 7 7 19:24 -5 19 13. (16.) VfL Bochum 18 5 4 9 20:34 -14 19 14. (12.) 1. FC Köln 18 4 6 8 12:18 -6 18 15. (13.) SC Freiburg 18 5 3 10 19:35 -16 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (14.) Hannover 96 18 4 5 9 21:30 -9 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) 1. FC Nürnberg 18 3 3 12 12:33 -21 12 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 18 2 3 13 16:39 -23 9
2.Liga - 18th round
Some good re-starts for some clubs in the 2.Liga. Greuther Fürth was one of the disappointments of the first half, but they botchslapped leaders Kaiserslautern. St.Pauli dominated in Ahlen and could have had a few more, and strengthen their hold on 2nd. Actually, the almost already relegated Ahleners played pretty well, but they were simply outclassed. Aachen is another team that sucked in the 1st half, so win over Karlsruhe is a statement of sorts. Also flashing their teeth was Duisburg, making mincemeat of another soon-to-be-3.Liga squad, FSV Frankfurt. Other than that, Augsburg has quietly become a contender for promotion, an impressive win over Cottbus. Bielefeld missed a chance to pass them when they gave up an injury time goal in Rostock.
Alemannia Aachen - Karlsruher SC 3:1 (1:0) 19,225 (Adlung, Auer, Drpic o.g. - Tarvajärvi) 1. FC Union Berlin - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 1:0 (0:0) 9,118 (Mosquera) SC Paderborn 07 - Fortuna Düsseldorf 1:1 (1:0) 8,980 (Brückner - Harnik) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - 1. FC K'lautern 3:0 (2:0) 7,350 (N. Müller, Nehrig 2) Rot Weiss Ahlen - FC St. Pauli 0:2 (0:0) 6,322 (Ebbers, Sukuta-Pasa) FC Augsburg - FC Energie Cottbus 3:1 (2:0) 12,228 (Torghelle 2, Ndjeng - Shao) TuS Koblenz - TSV 1860 München 2:2 (1:1) 6,128 (Hartmann, Glockner - Aigner, Ludwig) MSV Duisburg - FSV Frankfurt 5:0 (2:0) 10,107 (Baljak, Grlic, Sahan, Adler, Tiffert) Hansa Rostock - Arminia Bielefeld 1:1 (0:0) 7,000 (Schroeder - Kirch) Attendance: 86,458 (avg 9,606) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 18 12 3 3 27:16 +11 39 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 18 11 3 4 43:20 +23 36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (5.) FC Augsburg 18 8 7 3 38:27 +11 31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) Arminia Bielefeld 18 9 4 5 26:15 +11 31 5. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 18 9 4 5 29:19 +10 31 6. (6.) MSV Duisburg 18 9 4 5 34:25 +9 31 7. (7.) 1. FC Union Berlin 18 8 5 5 27:24 +3 29 8. (11.) Alemannia Aachen 18 7 5 6 19:19 0 26 9. (9.) SC Paderborn 07 18 6 7 5 25:24 +1 25 10. (8.) Karlsruher SC 18 7 3 8 26:27 -1 24 11. (10.) FC Energie Cottbus 18 6 5 7 28:27 +1 23 12. (12.) TSV 1860 München 18 6 5 7 21:22 -1 23 13. (13.) Hansa Rostock 18 7 2 9 21:25 -4 23 14. (15.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 18 7 1 10 31:33 -2 22 15. (14.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 18 6 3 9 16:28 -12 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (17.) TuS Koblenz 18 3 4 11 15:32 -17 13 17. (16.) FSV Frankfurt 18 3 4 11 12:34 -22 13 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 18 1 5 12 10:31 -21 8 Top scorers: 1 Michael Thurk (Augsburg) 15 2 Marius Ebbers (St. Pauli) 11 3 Giovanni Federico (Bielefeld) 9 4 Martin Harnik (Düsseldorf) 9
Mid season report cards
Here are the midway reportcards for the Bundesliga (using American grade system A-F. Hey, what happened to the "E"?)
BUNDESLIGA 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 17 9 8 0 35:13 +22 35 Grade: A It's hard to argue that the Aspirins deserve anything less than a top grade. They're the only unbeaten squad in the German professional ranks, and they've been deadly finishing off opponents. The one negative is that Leverkusen hasn't been able to shake off their rivals, and so the likely end result is that they'll choke again and not win the title. On the other hand, coach Jupp Heynckes is a notorious hardass, so he is certainly not to take it lightly when the Aspirins start to falter. 2. (2.) FC Schalke 04 17 10 4 3 26:13 +13 34 Grade: A- Considering that Schalke is teetering on the verge of financial meltdown, their performance has been pretty solid. New coach Felix Magath has gotten maximum gain out of a traditionally underachieving squad. However, they've really played pretty crap. Unfortunately for Schalke, a likely fire-sale is looming for the transfer window. Magath is almost certain to dump a lot of high priced talent, and despite some solid youth coming in, S04 is likely to start slipping down the table. 3. (3.) FC Bayern München 17 9 6 2 34:15 +19 33 Grade: B What a difference a couple of weeks makes. New coach Louis Van Gaal was on the verge of getting his ass tossed, as Bayern was really stinking, despite all the cash. The club was reverting to FC Hollywood, but the last few matches have seen a disciplined aggressive Bayern come full circle. They look hungry and ruthless, and are only a couple of points off the pace. A likely outcome is another title. 4. (5.) Hamburger SV 17 8 7 2 34:19 +15 31 Grade: A- Most fans felt that incoming coach Bruno Labbadia would be a disaster. That and the fact that the squad hasn't really strengthened itself in a couple of seasons. Then add on that they've suffered a lot of injuries. You'd expect HSV to be struggling mightily. And yet, they have held on and gotten maximum results. Given the fact that they've hung on, HSV can probably expect more of the same in the 2nd half. Not sure whether they can hang on to Europe, but they should be in the hunt. 5. (6.) Borussia Dortmund 17 8 6 3 23:17 +6 30 Grade: A- Dortmund really started out lame, and coach Jürgen Klopp might have been losing some of the support from the huge fan base. But he's managed to turn things around and maximize the Neons potential. They're playing well, and have a decent chance of qualifying for Europe, which would be a tremendous plus. The club management has weathered the financial meltdown, and although money is still tight, they seem solid enough now. 6. (4.) SV Werder Bremen 17 7 7 3 32:16 +16 28 Grade: B Bremen is going in the wrong direction, almost a flip of Bayern. Werder was flying high, looking as a contender, and then the wheels fell off. Obviously they've got some talent, and they seem likely to put together another streak, but that seems to be their MO, streak in either direction. They'll undoubtedly kick some ass along the way, but I'm not certain they can get back into contention. 7. (7.) 1899 Hoffenheim 17 7 4 6 27:17 +10 25 Grade: B As many predicted, Hoffenheim is catching nobody with their pants down this year. But as many fail to give them credit, Dietmar Hopp's money has assembled some decent young talent, and they've become a pretty decent squad. Coach Ralf Rangnick has done a decent job in building something that was just a pile of money. They're unlikely to move up the table much, but are too good to drop much lower either. 8. (9.) VfL Wolfsburg 17 6 6 5 32:32 0 24 Grade: C The defending champs in 8th place, that's crap. But I wouldn't rate it that bad. First, Magath recognized that VW had reached it's potential with their sensational title, so he bolted and left the scraps for Armin Veh. Wolfsburg catches no one off guard anymore. They're still a good team, but it seems that Veh hasn't done a good job in containing egos, and that disharmony is hurting the squad. The defense is leaking goals. I can't see the VWs making Europe. 9. (8.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 17 6 6 5 21:22 -1 24 Grade: B+ Mainz has almost no talent. Plus they fired their coach (BEFORE the season!!) and replaced him with their youth coach, who is young enough to be in the squad. They just got promoted and everybody predicted them to drop immediately. But they've been a surprise and have held it together. They grab points here and there and barring an unbelievable calamity, should only be relegated in the 2010-11 season. 10. (10.) Eintracht Frankfurt 17 6 6 5 22:24 -2 24 Grade: C Frankfurt is one of those teams where you just give them a C and move on. Seems the same every year. They should do better, but I think the only way that happens is if they bring back Heynckes. Some talented players like Alex Meier should move elsewhere, that might give them a chance to move to the next level. 11. (11.) Borussia M'gladbach 17 6 3 8 24:29 -5 21 Grade: B- Gladbach has raised their game and grade a full notch in the last few weeks. They looked crap, but have started grabbing points and building themselves some dstance. Solid base of youth players bodes well, assuming they can hold on the talent (unlikely). They look a good bet to stay up though. 12. (14.) 1. FC Köln 17 4 6 7 10:15 -5 18 Grade: C They're on track to be the worst offense ever, but their defense has been outstanding. Catenaccio 1-2-3 I guess. Not a very good squad. Other teams look worse, so they have a good chance to survive. 13. (12.) SC Freiburg 17 5 3 9 19:33 -14 18 Grade: C+ Very inconsistent, when they suck, they get their ass pounded. But that's what one would expect. No talent, but good heart. My guess is they survive, but a lot depends on other squads. 14. (13.) Hannover 96 17 4 5 8 21:27 -6 17 Grade: D The 96ers were doing their usual ho-hum season and then Robert Enke committed suicide. This tragic event seems to destroyed the morale of the 96ers, and now they're in free-fall. The winterbreak comes at a good time, because they need to regroup. If they can re-focus, they are strong enough to stop the rot and float above the drop. 15. (15.) VfB Stuttgart 17 3 7 7 16:23 -7 16 Grade: F VfB certainly expected to challenge for Europe, if not even the title. Instead they have their fans rioting and threatening players and club officials. How can you not give them an F? On the plus side, they've got the talent and a new coach, Christian Gross. His track record is crap for any club larger than FC Podunk, but even he should be able to straighten things out by kicking a few asses. So I expect Stuttgart to recover and move up in the 2nd half. Although it would be amusing to see them relegated. 16. (16.) VfL Bochum 17 4 4 9 18:33 -15 16 Grade: C- Going in, we knew Bochum had no talent. We knew they would run around like chickens, sometimes with their heads cut off. It's been pretty acurrate. But they've been here before and that's worth something. Not sure if it's enough to keep them up, but they're only a couple of points behind Freiburg, who have less talent. Plus Hannover needs therapy, so that's a possibility. 17. (17.) 1. FC Nürnberg 17 3 3 11 12:32 -20 12 Grade: F They stink. It's clear they have no clue on how to play in the Bundesliga. The fans should enjoy it and hope that they're not playing teams like Sandhausen next year and they can reorganize in the 2.Liga 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 17 1 3 13 13:39 -26 6 Grade: F- OK, there is no "F-", but I had to invent one just for Hertha. They are a disgrace! The club management should be executed. The players should be sent to the Russian front! They need a Hitler "Downfall" parody on Youtube like yesterday!! It's beyond amazing what the idiotic club management has been thinking. At least when that dolt Dieter Hoeness was in charge, you could at least say he had some type of "Grossenwahnsinn" (Delusion of grandeur), if that is even a word. (One of the few positives about German is that you can invent vocabulary left and right just by combining things). Basically Hoeness hoped to emulate his smarter brother Uli from Bayern and build a great powerful club. Of course, he had no clue how to do it and eventually got his ass fired. But their current clowns make fans clamor for the good old days under Hoeness. Meanwhile, Dieter has moved on to Wolfsburg, so sell your Jetta and buy a Toyota. VW would have been better off with the Dieter from "Sprockets". Obviously, Hertha is going down, hard. A total regrouping in the 2.Liga is needed. Meanwhile, maybe they can use the 2nd half to find out which players they can start to rebuild with. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.LIGA 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 17 12 3 2 27:13 +14 39 Grade: A FCK is making the right moves to get back to the Bundesliga. They've dicked around in the 2.Liga for a bit, and they appear ready to return to the big time. The squad doesn't seem that strong though, so although they seem destined for promotion, they'll need to start thinking about moves for the future. 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 17 10 3 4 41:20 +21 33 Grade: A I don't think anyone expected St.Pauli to be this strong. Their offense is the best in the league, and they obviously are one of the more popular clubs. The idea of St.Pauli bouncing back to the Bundesliga is pretty amazing, as this club jumps up and down the league elevator like hotel room service. 3. (4.) Arminia Bielefeld 17 9 3 5 25:14 +11 30 Grade: B Bielefeld started off and looked like they were a lock for an automatic promotion spot, but then they ran out of gas and have looked winded. The winterbreak comes at a good time. I expect them to be in the promotion hunt, and strictly speaking they should be one of the favorites. But they seem a bit shaky, so it will be interesting to see how it pans out. 4. (3.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 17 9 3 5 28:18 +10 30 Grade: A- Fortuna has been a pleasant surprise. Not too much was expected from this promoted squad, despite a favorable Bundesliga pedigree. It would take a lot of luck to make the jump into the top this season, but if they can continue to play well, this could be a tremendous block upon which to build. 5. (6.) FC Augsburg 17 7 7 3 35:26 +9 28 Grade: B Augsburg doesn't get much respect, but they are a decent squad with decent home support. Considering that acceptable football has by-passed this town for about 50 years, they're doing quite well. I don't think they're strong enough for a Bundesliga push, but they're a solid 2.Liga club, capable to beating top teams. 6. (5.) MSV Duisburg 17 8 4 5 29:25 +4 28 Grade: B- Duisburg has been very streaky. They sucked at the start, then got their act together. They can certainly make a push for promotion - anything else would have to be considered borderline failure. 6. (7.) 1. FC Union Berlin 17 7 5 5 26:24 +2 26 Grade: B+ I didn't expect much from the promoted East Berliners, but they came out of the blocks fast and have grabbed critical points. No relegation worries, and the prospect of Hertha joining them next season for some great Berlin derbies is the likely reward for this campaign. 8. (10.) Karlsruher SC 17 7 3 7 25:24 +1 24 Grade: C+ KSC has underachieved, although recently perhaps started showing some life. You'd expect them to be floating nearer the top, so thus far it's a poor season. 9. (8.) SC Paderborn 07 17 6 6 5 24:23 +1 24 Grade: B Paderborn is another team that gets little respect, and one expects that they are punching above their weight. But they appear to be quite solid, and should be happy with their performance so far. 10. (11.) FC Energie Cottbus 17 6 5 6 27:24 +3 23 Grade: C Cottbus is a bit hard to figure out. I wouldn't be surprised to see them challenge for promotion, but not this season. Given their minimal resources, their bargain basement foreigner strategy has worked well. They have been too inconsistent this season to go anywhere. 11. (12.) Alemannia Aachen 17 6 5 6 16:18 -2 23 Grade: C I expected more from Aachen, and they've struggled. They have good fan support, but their Bundesliga sojurn a couple of seasons ago seems to have sapped their strength. They are bumbling along, but you don't want to play them when they have their act together. 12. (9.) TSV 1860 München 17 6 4 7 19:20 -1 22 Grade: C 1860 is one ofthe great disappointments of the 2.Liga. München can not only support, but needs two Bundesliga clubs. But 1860 has sucked pretty much since they got relegated a few years ago, and has totally disappointed their considerable fanbase - to the point that their attendance has dropped off. Recently they have shown some signs of life, but obviously this season is already over for them. Some needs to be executed. 13. (15.) Hansa Rostock 17 7 1 9 20:24 -4 22 Grade: C Rostock has had many problems, especially with the cash register. It keeps on ringing up "empty". As a result, you'd expect them to struggle a bit. They seem to have straightened things out, so perhaps things will start looking up - for next season. 14. (13.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 17 6 3 8 16:27 -11 21 Grade: C- RWO has been falling fast. They were off to a good start, but their lack of talent is showing. Nobody really cares though. 15. (14.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 17 6 1 10 28:33 -5 19 Grade: D- Greuther Fürth expected to at least challenge for a promotion spot once again. Instead, they have bled points and this first half is pretty much a dsaster. From the attendance standpoint, they are a discredit to the 2.Liga, but from a field perspective, it's a decent squad. I would expect them to do better and certainly not have any relegation worries. 16. (17.) FSV Frankfurt 17 3 4 10 12:29 -17 13 Grade: D OK, last season took a superhuman second half for FSV to survive, and they were unable to strengthen the squad. The fact is, Frankfurt seemingly only supports one team, and it ain't FSV. Despite a weak squad, their goal should be to hold onto 16th, and perhaps win out the playoff with the 3.Liga pretender. Their battle seems to be with Koblenz, anything else is A Bridge Too Far. 17. (16.) TuS Koblenz 17 3 3 11 13:30 -17 12 Grade: F Koblenz survived a point deduction last season, but that seems to have sapped their strength. They've been weak and it's over, unless they manage to win out the playoff. They need to focus on beating out FSV for 16th. 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 17 1 5 11 10:29 -19 8 Grade: F They suck. And they have no fans, so everybody will be happy to see them go. However, they probably have the meddle to be a decent 3.Liga club, if they straighten themselves out. That's where they'll be next year, unless they collapse financially. I'd rather see them than those crap "II" squads from the Bundesliga. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3.LIGA I was toying wityh the idea of giving the whole league a "C" and be done with it, since it's so tightly packed... 1. (3.) FC Ingolstadt 04 20 11 3 6 44:23 +21 36 Grade: A I didn't expect Ingolstadt to be the leaders, or even a contender. But they've been solid and have really only played one poor match (losing at home to last place Wuppertal!). Who knows where they'll end up, but you can basically say that for every 3.Liga squad. 2. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 20 11 3 6 31:21 +10 36 Grade: B Osnabrück was clearly on everybody's favorite list for promotion, and after a shaky start, they are in the hunt. 3. (4.) Kickers Offenbach 21 9 7 5 35:23 +12 34 Grade: B- Offenbach was in a good position, but they really tanked in the last few matches and have hurt themselves. Obviously they will remain a promotion contender 4. (2.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 21 10 4 7 31:30 +1 34 Grade: B+ Eastern teams have fans, but lots of problems, both at the register and...with their fans. Aue seems to have resolved these issues satisfactorily, and seem likely to continue to challenge. 5. (11.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 21 9 4 8 38:33 +5 31 Grade: B+ As a promoted small club, not much has been expected from Heidenheim, but they've been a solid squad, punching above their weight. 6. (7.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 21 8 7 6 25:23 +2 31 Grade: B Pretty much the same comments as Aue. 7. (5.) Eintracht Braunschweig 21 8 6 7 29:23 +6 30 Grade: B- Eintracht have the largest fan base in the league, except perhaps Dresden or Osnabrück. The team however is very inconsistent, and I just don't think they will be there at the end. 8. (6.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 20 8 6 6 37:35 +2 30 Grade: B Nobody even knows where this village is, but they've played some decent football. Being midpack is a good result. 9. (8.) Wacker Burghausen 20 9 3 8 23:33 -10 30 Grade: B- Similar to Sandhausen, except crappier. They actually suck, but have been focused on grabbing points in winnable matches. 10. (9.) Jahn Regensburg 20 8 5 7 27:21 +6 29 Grade: C+ Seem solid, but they could be better. 11. (10.) SpVgg Unterhaching 20 8 5 7 30:29 +1 29 Grade: C- Because of their pedigree, you expect more from Unterhaching, but they just aren't that good. 12. (12.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 20 7 6 7 24:29 -5 27 Grade: C- Disappointing 13. (13.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 21 7 5 9 26:35 -9 26 Grade: C I think many expected Wehen to collapse into a pile of steaming you-know-what. Well, at least they're not steaming. They were clearly out of their league in the 2.Liga, and seem just about right as a struggling 3.Liga squad. 14. (14.) SV Werder Bremen II 20 7 4 9 26:29 -3 25 Grade: C They're OK, but they need to be relegated. 15. (18.) Borussia Dortmund II 21 7 4 10 24:28 -4 25 Grade: C They're OK, but they need to be relegated. 16. (15.) VfB Stuttgart II 21 7 2 12 28:32 -4 23 Grade: C They're OK, but they need to be relegated. 17. (20.) Dynamo Dresden 21 6 5 10 24:29 -5 23 Grade: D Dresden needs to get their act together. They need to be at least a 2.Liga team, and instead they dick around and insult their large fanbase. 18. (16.) FC Bayern München II 19 6 5 8 26:36 -10 23 Grade: C They're OK, but they need to be relegated. 19. (17.) Holstein Kiel 20 6 4 10 23:28 -5 22 Grade: C- Kiel was going to struggle, but there still is all to play for. 20. (19.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 20 6 4 10 21:32 -11 22 Grade: F Disgrace! The table should be upside down!! WSV needs to be returning to their rightful place in the Bundesliga! Unfortunately with the clowns that have run the show for years, I fear that a drop back to the 4th division is the most likely result of this season. The squad sucked early, but then started playing well. However, points are so hard to come by in the balanced 3.Liga, it will take some hard work not to drop. And I fear that is not forthcoming. I must admit that the only reason this website even exists is because of WSV, so if they drop, the raison d'etre gets relegated as well. Unless of course I decide to inflict Regionalliga updates upon you, the suffering readers. A much better solution would be for all clubs that have Roman numerals in their name get automatic relegation.
Bundesliga - 17th round
The Bundesliga now goes into winterbreak, and despite heavy snow and freezing cold throughout Germany, the Bundesliga at least had packed stadiums.
Leverkusen had a rough time with Gladbach, but in the end they were able to beat them down and seize the "Herbstmeisterschaft". Of course, it's a worthless honor, but nice to have. Gladbach hasn't been able to beat the Aspirins in 25 tries, but they put up a decent fight this time.
Schalke is playing minimalist football, but they've gotten a lot out of it. They really didn't play that well against Mainz, but they did enough to get the win. The most interesting aspect is whether there is an exodus of players when the transfer window opens. Schalke is in dire economic straits, and boss Felix Magath has stated that he will shake up the club.
Bayern is back in form, and had little problem with Hertha, basically taking the Berliners out to the woodshed and serving up a beating.
Hamburg is doing it with mirrors, and they scraped out a win in the Nordderby against Bremen. A few weeks ago Werder looked unbeatable, and now they're struggling again. Excellent win for injury riddled HSV.
Dortmund has been red hot since a ho-hum start, and their 100th birthday saw anothyer packed house in "Europe's greatest stadium". Freiburg are hot and cold, and obviously cold this week. Dortmund failed to bring a good performance, but did enough to merit the win.
Frankfurt and Wolfsburg fought to an entertaining draw, capping off a disappointing half for the defending champs. The first casualty is already set, as none other than Dieter Hoeness will be taking over as sporting director in January. Considering what a great job he did with Hertha Berlin, the wish of many fans to see FC Volkswagen may now be realized, hehehe. Frankfurt has been all over the place this season, so no surprise that they can still bring it on occasion. a just result.
Stuttgart was literally falling apart at the seems, but firing your coach often has a mini-benefit. VfB played some solid football (their first in ages) and came up winners against a disappointing Hoffenheim, who continue to show that they're not ready to break into the top echelons.
A huge match in Hannover, and if there is any more evidence that the 96ers are in permanent shock from the Enke suicide, his should be it. A critical match saw them coasting along on a couple of Jens Schlaudraff strikes, but they not only could not hold the lead, they ended up losing. A great result for Bochum, who fought their way out of the hole and come up with a stunning success. They still suck, but with Hannover basically falling apart, they certainly have some chances of staying up now.
Another huge relegation battle saw Köln win decisively. Opponents Nürnberg were crap from the start, and basically got their ass kicked. It must be embarassing, as Köln increased their season scoring output by 43% in just one game. In fact, 30% of all their goals this year come against Nürnberg. I think that's a fair indication of how crap der Club was.
FC Schalke 04 - 1. FSV Mainz 05 1:0 (1:0) 60,852 (Farfan) FC Bayern München - Hertha BSC Berlin 5:2 (3:0) 69,000 (Van Buyten, Gomez, Robben, T. Müller, Olic - Ramos, Raffael) Borussia Dortmund - SC Freiburg 1:0 (1:0) 80,100 (Barrios) Bayer Leverkusen - Borussia M'gladbach 3:2 (1:1) 30,210 (Kroos 2, Derdiyok - Brouwers, Dante) Hannover 96 - VfL Bochum 2:3 (2:0) 33,875 (Schlaudraff 2 - Freier, Epallé, Fuchs) Eintracht Frankfurt - VfL Wolfsburg 2:2 (1:1) 41,700 (Franz, Meier - Dzeko, Josué) VfB Stuttgart - 1899 Hoffenheim 3:1 (1:1) 41,000 (Marica, Cacau, Khedira - Maicosuel) Hamburger SV - SV Werder Bremen 2:1 (2:0) 57,000 (Mathijsen, Jansen - Naldo) 1. FC Köln - 1. FC Nürnberg 3:0 (1:0) 44,500 (Geromel, Novakovic 2) Attendance: 458,237 (avg 50,915) 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 17 9 8 0 35:13 +22 35 2. (2.) FC Schalke 04 17 10 4 3 26:13 +13 34 3. (3.) FC Bayern München 17 9 6 2 34:15 +19 33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (5.) Hamburger SV 17 8 7 2 34:19 +15 31 5. (6.) Borussia Dortmund 17 8 6 3 23:17 +6 30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (4.) SV Werder Bremen 17 7 7 3 32:16 +16 28 7. (7.) 1899 Hoffenheim 17 7 4 6 27:17 +10 25 8. (9.) VfL Wolfsburg 17 6 6 5 32:32 0 24 9. (8.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 17 6 6 5 21:22 -1 24 10. (10.) Eintracht Frankfurt 17 6 6 5 22:24 -2 24 11. (11.) Borussia M'gladbach 17 6 3 8 24:29 -5 21 12. (14.) 1. FC Köln 17 4 6 7 10:15 -5 18 13. (12.) SC Freiburg 17 5 3 9 19:33 -14 18 14. (13.) Hannover 96 17 4 5 8 21:27 -6 17 15. (15.) VfB Stuttgart 17 3 7 7 16:23 -7 16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) VfL Bochum 17 4 4 9 18:33 -15 16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) 1. FC Nürnberg 17 3 3 11 12:32 -20 12 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 17 1 3 13 13:39 -26 6
2.Liga - 17th round
There were a few pre-Xmas surprises under the tree. Leaders Kaiserslautern were thoroughly bitch-slapped in Augsburg, but had already clinched the half-way title. Duisburg had been flying high, but Aachen showed up and took a dump in their punch bowl. A win could have seen MSV move into a promotion spot. Good win for struggling Alemannia though.
Paderborn put in a solid performance and even had a few fans show up. The result was a win over redhot St.Pauli.
Düsseldorf were beginning to entertain thoughts of moving up as well, but a defeat in Rostock brings them back to earth.
On the bottom, FSV Frankfurt gets the win in Koblenz. Too little, too late, but they move into the relegation playoff spot, so that's better than where they used to be. Koblenz really looks out of gas.
The collapse of Greuther Fürth has been another surprise this season. They were savaged at home by Karlsruhe. As usual, nobody was watching, but news must have gotten back to the directorate, as they then fired coach Benno Möhlmann, who has largely been responsible for putting these clowns on the map.
MSV Duisburg - Alemannia Aachen 0:2 (0:1) 16,288 (Gueye 2) Rot Weiss Ahlen - FC Energie Cottbus 0:4 (0:2) 2,912 (Shao, Kruska, Kweuke, Petersen) TuS Koblenz - FSV Frankfurt 0:1 (0:1) 5,833 (Gjasula) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Karlsruher SC 1:4 (0:2) 4,650 (N. Müller - Stindl, Iashvili, Tarvajärvi) Hansa Rostock - Fortuna Düsseldorf 2:1 (1:0) 13,000 (Bülow, Schlitte - Harnik) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - Arminia Bielefeld 0:0 (0:0) 4,629 1. FC Union Berlin - TSV 1860 München 1:1 (1:1) 15,467 (Brunnemann - Pappas) SC Paderborn 07 - FC St. Pauli 2:1 (0:0) 13,041 (Saglik, Brandy - Sako) FC Augsburg - 1. FC K'lautern 4:1 (2:0) 23,134 (Hain, Ndjeng, Thurk, Torghelle - Jendrisek) Attendance: 98,954 (avg 10,995) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 17 12 3 2 27:13 +14 39 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 17 10 3 4 41:20 +21 33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (4.) Arminia Bielefeld 17 9 3 5 25:14 +11 30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 17 9 3 5 28:18 +10 30 5. (6.) FC Augsburg 17 7 7 3 35:26 +9 28 6. (5.) MSV Duisburg 17 8 4 5 29:25 +4 28 6. (7.) 1. FC Union Berlin 17 7 5 5 26:24 +2 26 8. (10.) Karlsruher SC 17 7 3 7 25:24 +1 24 9. (8.) SC Paderborn 07 17 6 6 5 24:23 +1 24 10. (11.) FC Energie Cottbus 17 6 5 6 27:24 +3 23 11. (12.) Alemannia Aachen 17 6 5 6 16:18 -2 23 12. (9.) TSV 1860 München 17 6 4 7 19:20 -1 22 13. (15.) Hansa Rostock 17 7 1 9 20:24 -4 22 14. (13.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 17 6 3 8 16:27 -11 21 15. (14.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 17 6 1 10 28:33 -5 19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (17.) FSV Frankfurt 17 3 4 10 12:29 -17 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (16.) TuS Koblenz 17 3 3 11 13:30 -17 12 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 17 1 5 11 10:29 -19 8
3.Liga - Round 21
Weather conditions forced cancelation of half the matches, as most 3.Liga clubs don't have resources to keep their fields clear. The most impressive result was Ingolstadt ripping Aue, thereby seizing the table. Offenbach is still constipated, and was unable to defeat Erfurt, whereas Braunschweig completely laid an egg, losing at home to Dortmund's B squad. A huge win in Dresden though for Dynamo.
The 3.Liga is the tightest league. Consider that there are only 14 points separating 1st from last. (29 in the Bundesliga, 31 in the 2.Liga). So basically, if Wuppertal could put up 4 wins, they could get promoted instead of relegated. Expect a fierce dogfight after the winter hibernation.
Kickers Offenbach - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 0:0 (0:0) 6,743 Eintracht Braunschweig - Borussia Dortmund II 1:2 (0:1) 10,925 (Kruppke - Tyrala, Koch) FC Ingolstadt 04 - FC Erzgebirge Aue 5:1 (1:0) 3,502 (Buchner, Hartmann 2, Leitl 2 - Agyemang) Dynamo Dresden - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 3:1 (2:0) 11,502 (Kegel, Röttger 2 - Reinert) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - VfB Stuttgart II 2:1 (0:1) 4,060 (Schnatterer, Spann - Schipplock) SV Werder Bremen II - VfL Osnabrück postponed SpVgg Unterhaching - FC Bayern München II postponed FC Carl Zeiss Jena - SV 1916 Sandhausen postponed Jahn Regensburg - Wuppertaler SV postponed Wacker Burghausen - Holstein Kiel postponed Attendance: 36,732 (avg 7,346) 1. (3.) FC Ingolstadt 04 20 11 3 6 44:23 +21 36 2. (1.) VfL Osnabrück 20 11 3 6 31:21 +10 36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (4.) Kickers Offenbach 21 9 7 5 35:23 +12 34 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (2.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 21 10 4 7 31:30 +1 34 5. (11.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 21 9 4 8 38:33 +5 31 6. (7.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 21 8 7 6 25:23 +2 31 7. (5.) Eintracht Braunschweig 21 8 6 7 29:23 +6 30 8. (6.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 20 8 6 6 37:35 +2 30 9. (8.) Wacker Burghausen 20 9 3 8 23:33 -10 30 10. (9.) Jahn Regensburg 20 8 5 7 27:21 +6 29 11. (10.) SpVgg Unterhaching 20 8 5 7 30:29 +1 29 12. (12.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 20 7 6 7 24:29 -5 27 13. (13.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 21 7 5 9 26:35 -9 26 14. (14.) SV Werder Bremen II 20 7 4 9 26:29 -3 25 15. (18.) Borussia Dortmund II 21 7 4 10 24:28 -4 25 16. (15.) VfB Stuttgart II 21 7 2 12 28:32 -4 23 17. (20.) Dynamo Dresden 21 6 5 10 24:29 -5 23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (16.) FC Bayern München II 19 6 5 8 26:36 -10 23 19. (17.) Holstein Kiel 20 6 4 10 23:28 -5 22 20. (19.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 20 6 4 10 21:32 -11 22
Bundesliga - 16th round
With one week left in the fall season, all bets are off for the leader of the winterbreak.
Bayer Leverkusen remains unbeaten, but were in for a shock in Berlin. Hertha has been the creme de la crap, but they put up a good fight against the Aspirins. After an early deficit, Leverkusen began to strangle Hertha with their superior skills and finally looked to have the fighting Berliners down for the count. But a last desperate effort gave Hertha an injury time goal and a deserved point. Of course they still look helpless, although at least now they look less hapless. For Leverkusen, they must already be feeling Bayern's bad breath on their back, and I would expect them to do their usual choke.
Schalke has been unimpressive most of the season - except in the result department. Coach Felix Magath seems to be getting a lot out of this basically worthless bunch of overpaid malcontents. In Bremen, they showed a very discplined defensive oraganization, with blitz counterattacks. Werder has been the high-flyer recently, but were befuddled by Schalke's strength, and basically the Muhamad Ali type 'rope-a-dope' strategy of Schalke paid off comepletely. A deserved win for the Blues, perhaps their best effort of the season. Werder had been unbeaten in ages, I forget which, 20 something games in all cometitions.
Bayern München had been really sucking under coach Van Gaal, and just when rumours were beginning to fly that his ass was on the line, the last 2-3 weeks have been very impressive. This time Bayern savaged host Bochum, who should be happy they were only thumped this bad. After a really poor fall season, it's not impossible that Bayern actually end up leading at winterbreak. Bochum, whose fans traditionally were one of the few non-anti Bayern contingents (indeed in the past they had trumpeted "Fanfreundschaft" with Bayern, what an unusual concept), was thoroughly thrashed and embarrassed. They might want to re-think that philosphy, hehehe. Of course, they could have hardly expected a point, so I guess it doesn't really matter.
Hamburg has been struggling to get full points, not to mention get out of the hospital. But a weekend vacation in Nürnberg was apparently just what the doctor ordered. Rest and rehabilitation and kicking some Nürnberg ass. Yes, the world is good again. While HSV ran rampant, der Club merely ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. Obviously, a totally crap performance, and they need to get their act together unless they want a return to the Frankenderby with Greuther Fürth next season. I think HSV isn't going anywhere, but the socialized medicine system does seem to be working, all things considered.
Dortmund has quietly become red-hot. The Neons showed up in Volkswagenstadt and stunned the defending Champions. VfL Kraftdurchfreudestadt has been struggling most of the season, perhaps under the weight of expectations. I think Felix Magath knew what to expect when he jumped ship. Armin Veh took over because he didn't want to become Hartz IV. (Bad joke, German unemployment insurance politics). Veh has tried to impose a combination short passing style, but it doesn't seem to be working. Last year's dream attack duo of Dzeko/Grafite has rarely clicked. Wolfsburg is still a good squad, capable of beating anybody, but they can look very ordinary at times as well. Dortmund has really raised their game. Short on talent, but quite efficient.
The regional derby between Hoffenheim and Frankfurt piddled out to a draw. Frankfurt actually had somewhat of an edge early, and then had to raise their game in order to get a point. You'd have to say that this is a better result for Frankfurt, since they're so bloody inconsistent. We've come to expect more from the Hopp-truppe, even though money obviously can't buy everything.
God, is there a greater wanker than Jens Lehmann? The guy was crap at Arsenal, and wouldn't even have been a starter if it wasn't for Manuel Almunia, the worst goalkeeper in history. Wenger is just a stubborn Frenchie who refuses to beleive that. Arse is going nowhere until they get a real GK. Oops, wrong league commentary. Anyway, back to the wanker. He managed to kick a Mainz player, get red carded, give up the penalty and cost Stuttgart a needed win. (Admittedly, the Mainz player, Aristide Bance, is also a wanker, rolling on the ground clutching his head after Lehmann stomped his foot. That asshole should have been redcarded as well.) You already know about his exploits against the Romanians earlier in the week. Plus he has a big mouth. Anyway, Stuttgart had to withstand Mainz desperate attempts to salvage a point, but Lehmann came through, so they still remain unbeaten at home. Seems like Stuttgart is getting their act together somewhat, and in any case, it's hard to believe they're crappier than Nürnberg, Bochum and Hertha, so as long as their wanker fans don't riot anymore and get the team penalized points, they'll probably be able to survive and write off this season as "I don't remember or I refuse to incriminate myself."
Köln is really a crap team, but you have to admire their defensive discipline. They set some Bundesliga record for most shutouts, I forget what exactly, most away consecutive or something only Bill von James could love. Obviously they must be setting an offensive record for most shutouts too. But they held off Freiburg away, so that's not a bad point for them. SCF meanwhile continues a decent season, looking to have a slight cushion into winter.
Hannover is going overboard over Robert Enke's death. They can't even figure out which goal to kick in. So they banged 3 (yes, three) into their own net. Gladbach said thanks and added a couple of their own. An excellent win for the hosts, who seem strong enough to stay up without too much difficulty. Things looked a little bleaker about a month ago, but the youngsters seem to have responded. Hannover looks like in free fall and need to catch themselves.
Hertha BSC Berlin - Bayer Leverkusen 2:2 (1:0) 40,474 (Ramos 2 - Kroos, Kaplan) 1899 Hoffenheim - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:1 (1:0) 30,165 (Salihovic - Schwegler) VfL Bochum - FC Bayern München 1:5 (0:3) 30,748 (Fuchs - Gomez, Mavraj o.g., Olic 2, Pranjic) Borussia M'gladbach - Hannover 96 5:3 (2:1) 43,528 (Haggui 2 o.g., Djakpa o.g., Bradley, Friend - Ya Konan 2, Schultz) SC Freiburg - 1. FC Köln 0:0 (0:0) 24,000 1. FC Nürnberg - Hamburger SV 0:4 (0:0) 44,865 (Elia 2, Jansen, Torun) SV Werder Bremen - FC Schalke 04 0:2 (0:0) 37,000 (Kuranyi, Moravek) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - VfB Stuttgart 1:1 (0:1) 20,300 (Polanski - Pogrebnyak) VfL Wolfsburg - Borussia Dortmund 1:3 (0:3) 30,000 (Grafite - Barrios 2, Owomoyela) Attendance: 301,080 (avg 33,453) 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 16 8 8 0 32:11 +21 32 2. (3.) FC Schalke 04 16 9 4 3 25:13 +12 31 3. (4.) FC Bayern München 16 8 6 2 29:13 +16 30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (2.) SV Werder Bremen 16 7 7 2 31:14 +17 28 5. (5.) Hamburger SV 16 7 7 2 32:18 +14 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (7.) Borussia Dortmund 16 7 6 3 22:17 +5 27 7. (6.) 1899 Hoffenheim 16 7 4 5 26:14 +12 25 8. (9.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 16 6 6 4 21:21 0 24 9. (8.) VfL Wolfsburg 16 6 5 5 30:30 0 23 10. (10.) Eintracht Frankfurt 16 6 5 5 20:22 -2 23 11. (11.) Borussia M'gladbach 16 6 3 7 22:26 -4 21 12. (13.) SC Freiburg 16 5 3 8 19:32 -13 18 13. (12.) Hannover 96 16 4 5 7 19:24 -5 17 14. (14.) 1. FC Köln 16 3 6 7 7:15 -8 15 15. (16.) VfB Stuttgart 16 2 7 7 13:22 -9 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (15.) VfL Bochum 16 3 4 9 15:31 -16 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) 1. FC Nürnberg 16 3 3 10 12:29 -17 12 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 16 1 3 12 11:34 -23 6
2.Liga - 16th round
Kaiserslautern has already clinched the 2.Liga "Herbstmeisterschaft", the fall season title. Of course, that gets you nothing, this ain't Argentina or Mexico. Nevertheless, an important milestone for FCK, as it would likely take a choke of monumental proportions (like signing Jens Lehmann, hehehe) to not gain promotion. And in all fairness, even though I can't stand them, the Reds belong in the top. They had no problem in a regional matchup with Koblenz, easily kicking their ass.
St.Pauli was held at home by Fürth, and they have to be kicking themselves, as they were up 2-0 with only about 5 minutes left. The big winner this week is Düsseldorf, who have now climbed over Bielefeld, who were unable to win once again. Normally I would say that Arminia should get their act together and bounce up, but things have gotten complicated. Lurking in the wings is MSV Duisburg, who have moved into contention. They have just as much elevator repair experience as Arminia, so they need to be considered a serious contender as well.
One club that has moved from "complete suckitude" to "marginal incompetance" is 1860. A win in a Bayernderby and some respectable performances of late have moved the Müncheners in semi-respectability. I can't really see them making a serious move into contention, but considering what their fans have had to put up with since relegation, I guess it counts as an improvement.
Meanwhile, the relegation battle might already be decided. Koblenz looks crap, and FSV Frankfurt and Ahlen are almost already gone. There is no way any of these clowns can catch up to Fürth or Rostock, although I suppose Oberhausen is crappy enough to give them a lifeline.
Karlsruher SC - MSV Duisburg 0:1 (0:1) 16,904 (Grlic) Alemannia Aachen - SC Paderborn 07 1:1 (1:0) 21,128 (Casper - Manno) 1. FC K'lautern - TuS Koblenz 3:0 (1:0) 35,789 (Nemec, Jendrisek, Lakic) TSV 1860 München - FC Augsburg 1:0 (1:0) 37,100 (Ludwig) FSV Frankfurt - Rot Weiss Ahlen 0:0 (0:0) 4,134 Arminia Bielefeld - 1. FC Union Berlin 1:1 (0:0) 16,900 (Kucera - Peitz) FC St. Pauli - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 2:2 (1:0) 19,417 (Takyi, Hennings - Allagui, Ghasemi-Nobakht) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 2:0 (2:0) 32,495 (Heidinger, Harnik) FC Energie Cottbus - Hansa Rostock 0:0 (0:0) 13,311 Attendance: 196,368 (avg 21,819) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 16 12 3 1 26:9 +17 39 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 16 10 3 3 40:18 +22 33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 16 9 3 4 27:16 +11 30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) Arminia Bielefeld 16 9 2 5 25:14 +11 29 5. (6.) MSV Duisburg 16 8 4 4 29:23 +6 28 6. (5.) FC Augsburg 16 6 7 3 31:25 +6 25 7. (7.) 1. FC Union Berlin 16 7 4 5 25:23 +2 25 8. (9.) SC Paderborn 07 16 5 6 5 22:22 0 21 9. (14.) TSV 1860 München 16 6 3 7 18:19 -1 21 10. (8.) Karlsruher SC 16 6 3 7 21:23 -2 21 11. (12.) Alemannia Aachen 16 5 5 6 14:18 -4 20 12. (11.) FC Energie Cottbus 16 5 5 6 23:24 -1 20 13. (10.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 16 6 2 8 16:27 -11 20 14. (13.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 16 6 1 9 27:29 -2 19 15. (15.) Hansa Rostock 16 6 1 9 18:23 -5 19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) TuS Koblenz 16 3 3 10 13:29 -16 12 17. (17.) FSV Frankfurt 16 2 4 10 11:29 -18 10 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 16 1 5 10 10:25 -15 8
3.Liga - Round 20
The big winner this week was Osnabrück, who won the Nordderby against Braunschweig. Honorable mention goes to Aue, who overran Offenbach with a great second half. The race at the top is wide open, and the only certainty is that teams will move around.
Wuppertal suffered a stab in the heart from Heidenheim. WSV seemed to have the edge, taking the game to their opponents, but were caught with sucker punches. This means they're back in the relegation zone in this vicious survival battle.
SV Wehen Wiesbaden - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 1:1 (0:0) 3,386 (Schönheim - Hähnge) Holstein Kiel - Jahn Regensburg 1:0 (0:0) 3,189 (Schnyder o.g.) VfB Stuttgart II - Dynamo Dresden 2:2 (1:1) 1,800 (Schipplock, Fischer - Savran 2) SV 1916 Sandhausen - SpVgg Unterhaching 3:1 (1:1) 1,300 (Pinto, Dorn, Öztürk - Zillner) FC Erzgebirge Aue - Kickers Offenbach 4:2 (0:2) 7,700 (Klotz, Braham 2, Glasner - Glasner o.g., Zinnow) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - SV Werder Bremen II 1:1 (0:1) 4,883 (Smisek - Ayik) VfL Osnabrück - Eintracht Braunschweig 1:0 (1:0) 11,000 (Siegert) Borussia Dortmund II - Wacker Burghausen 3:0 (2:0) 1,016 (Ginczek 3) Wuppertaler SV - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 1:2 (0:1) 2,671 (Formento - Mayer, Gül) FC Bayern München II - FC Ingolstadt 04 postponed Attendance: 36,945 (avg 4,105) 1. (3.) VfL Osnabrück 20 11 3 6 31:21 +10 36 2. (4.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 20 10 4 6 30:25 +5 34 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (1.) FC Ingolstadt 04 19 10 3 6 39:22 +17 33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (2.) Kickers Offenbach 20 9 6 5 35:23 +12 33 5. (5.) Eintracht Braunschweig 20 8 6 6 28:21 +7 30 6. (10.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 20 8 6 6 37:35 +2 30 7. (9.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 20 8 6 6 25:23 +2 30 8. (6.) Wacker Burghausen 20 9 3 8 23:33 -10 30 9. (7.) Jahn Regensburg 20 8 5 7 27:21 +6 29 10. (8.) SpVgg Unterhaching 20 8 5 7 30:29 +1 29 11. (12.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 20 8 4 8 36:32 +4 28 12. (11.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 20 7 6 7 24:29 -5 27 13. (13.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 20 7 5 8 25:32 -7 26 14. (14.) SV Werder Bremen II 20 7 4 9 26:29 -3 25 15. (16.) VfB Stuttgart II 20 7 2 11 27:30 -3 23 16. (15.) FC Bayern München II 19 6 5 8 26:36 -10 23 17. (18.) Holstein Kiel 20 6 4 10 23:28 -5 22 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (20.) Borussia Dortmund II 20 6 4 10 22:27 -5 22 19. (17.) Wuppertaler SV 20 6 4 10 21:32 -11 22 20. (19.) Dynamo Dresden 20 5 5 10 21:28 -7 20
Euro competition
A mixed bag for the German clubs. Bayern München showed further evidence that they may be on the upswing, as they bitch-slapped Juventus Turin 4-1 down in Italy. Impressive win for the Müncheners, who thereby qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League. Meanwhile, VfL Wolfsburg took it up the rear against Manchester United, losing 1-3 against what was essentially a B squad. I vaguely remember hearing something about Wolfsburg protesting, but I'm not sure what that's about. Their own fans should protest them sucking, and perhaps the club should protest having to play on in the Eurocrap-liga. On the other hand, VfB Stuttgart has something to cheer about. They got off to a blitzstart 3-0 lead after 10 minutes, and waltzed home 3-1 over Romania's Unirea Urziceni. This means that VfB can still win the Champions League and get relegated in the same year (that would be way cool!!), as they advance to the knockout stage. Of course, leave it to that moron Jens Lehmann to put a damper on things. The most overrated German GK decided he needed to relieve himself on the field behind the goal. What a class act.
Bribery scandal
As you've probably heard, the recent betting scandal involving some 200 matches in europe, including many 2.Liga and lower, is being investigated by Bochum police. Among games being investigated is one where Oberhausen lost on an own goal from a defender, but I believe that one has been cleared. Nevertheless, some of the sordid details are now beginning to come out. It's quite amazing on how this comes to pass. Marcel Schuon, a 24 year old once promising player, is the first to speak out. Schuon came out of the VfB Stuttgart academy and was on the verge of a jump into the pro team. Couldn't quite make it, but transferred to VfL Osnabrück in the 2.Liga. He was making about 12,000 euros a month. It's pretty common (so he says) that players bet on sports, the only limitation is they can't bet on their own games. (A bit harder in the US, as players caught betting often get banned for life or go to jail, etc.) So Schuon was soon betting 1,500 euros a day, and was falling into heavy debt with the local bookie. He was then told to throw a game against Augsburg and his debts would be cleared. (Now some 40,000 euros). He was told "You guys are going to lose 0-3 anyway". Schoun eventually agreed to do it, but as it turns out, before the game, he was switched from defender to midfielder and really didn't have any impact on the game. (His coach at the time, Claus-Dieter Wollitz has since stated that he was suspicious because "Schuon once kicked the ball towards his own net." OK, that's what I call overwhelming evidence. Book 'em, Dano. True, Osnabrück DID lose 0-3, but I wonder if it wasn't because Wollitz is a crap coach. But in any case, the bookies were happy and Schuon's debts were cleared. But the wanker wasn't satisfied and kept on betting, getting himself in debt again. This time he got lucky though, and in the last weekend, he won 30,000 euros and had a clean slate. He then left Osnabrück and signed with Sandhausen. The relegation was of course a disaster for Osnabrück, as they lost about 7.5 million euros just in TV revenue, several employees had to be laid off, and are battling in the fiercely comeptitive 3.Liga for redemption. Again, it's not clear whether the team and coaching just sucked, or whether there were others in on the action. Schuon obviously is guilty, but based on performance, you can't really say that it made any difference. He has since been fired by Sandhausen and will have hard time signing on anywhere until all the details are out.
Bundesliga - 15th round
This week saw some interesting results, but nothing earth shattering. Bayern seems to be back from the brink. Attendance was pretty good, over 50,000 average.
Actually, the biggest event was down in Stuttgart. VfB was struggling against Bochum, but looked all set to win, when the visitors equalized in the dying minutes. Great point for Bochum, but it set off some mentally challenged Stuttgart fans. Estimates of up to 1,000 fans rioted, attacked the team bus and occupied the team offices, demanding everybody and their cousin get the sack. The board reacted by firing coach Markus Babbel. No surprise, but of course just last season Babbel was toast of the town as he led a stirring second half season for VfB. But now he's just toast. However, in a move sure to incite non-retarded VfB fans, the board appaointed Swiss retread Christian Gross as the new head coach. Gross is perhaps best known outside German speaking areas for being the twat that almost sunk Tottenham. His reputation is somewhat better in Germany, so we'll have to see. Babbel's dismissal was inevitable, because the team had basically stopped playing for him. He doesn't appear to have been unpopular among the players, so who knows. As for the match itself, Stuttgart dominated, but looked nervous and unsure, despite the lead. Bochum didn't have much a clue, but kept on running around and were rewarded with a point. Good for them.
Leaders Leverkusen had a surprsingly lame outing at Hannover. The Aspirins were hardly bothered to even play the game, so a struggling Hannover possibly could have taken all the points if they had been bolder.
Bremen keeps their unbeaten run, but they hardly could have been happy in Köln. Despite a huge disparity in talent, they were outplayed by their hosts, in probably should have lost. Of course, we know that Köln has Ladehemmung, of which I think in this case a fair translation would be "constipation", hehehe. So Köln wasn't up to the task to grab a nice victory, but all things considered, a point is not bad for them, since gthey've been playing crap recently.
Schalke really struggled against Hertha, not because of the opponent, but mainly due to their own incompetance. The Blues dominated the whole match, but perhaps take shooting lessons from Köln. Kevin Kuranyi finally broke through, and they got a meaningless penalty near the end. All-in-all, an unnecessary struggle, but Schalke gets the points that actually allow them to move closer, since Bayer and Werder only drew. Hertha is of course pathetic, so there isn't much to say there.
Bayern München seemed on the verge of canning coach Van Gaal, but since then, they've limped through a couple of wins, and certainly things are looking up. Winterbreak is coming, and they should be getting "Robbery" (Ribery and Robben) back from injury, and then start making a serious run. Gladbach showed Bayern too much respect in the first half, and perhaps should have held a lead with more ambitious play. However, like a boa constrictor, Bayern applied the squeeze in the 2nd period, and eventually the pressure was too much. A deserved victory for Bayern, but Gladbach can't be too unhappy with their effort.
Hamburg and Hoffenheim delivered a snoozer even put folks in neighboring countries asleep.
Dortmund has quietly got their act together. After a ho-hum start, the Neons have been playing well, and they kicked a hapless Nürnberg in the ass. Jürgen Klopp seems to have his troops playing at their potential, so European competition seems a realistic goal. However, frankly, they don't have the talent yet to do anything else except perhaps sneak into that worthless Eurocrap cup. But given the fact that they're coming out of financial crisis, I'm sure they would be more than satisfied. Nürnberg was surprisingly lame, looking like they miss the derby with Fürth and doing everything possible to make that a reality next season.
Wolfsburg looks like they're going nowhere. Lots of talent and firepower, but unlike last season, they seem to lack harmony, and it seems that players are itching to cash in on last season. Striker Obafemi Martins is basically out until after winterbreak, and the old Dzeko/Grafite combo hasn't gotten off track. The Brazilian doesn't seem to like the new coach Armin Veh, and Dzeko looks to want out to a big time club and contract in the EPL or Italy. Meanwhile, Freiburg is a Dr.Jeckyl and Mr.Hyde, and they popped up with a good performance, forcing a draw.
The regional derby in Frankfurt saw Eintracht handle Mainz comfortably. Both clubs look like they'll finish somewhere midtable, probably on the lower end, but no relegation worries.
FC Bayern München - Borussia M'gladbach 2:1 (1:1) 69,000 (Gomez, Badstuber - Brouwers) VfL Wolfsburg - SC Freiburg 2:2 (1:1) 27,822 (Bastians, Johnson - Idrissou, Banovic) VfB Stuttgart - VfL Bochum 1:1 (0:0) 40,000 (Tasci - Fuchs) Hamburger SV - 1899 Hoffenheim 0:0 (0:0) 52,725 Borussia Dortmund - 1. FC Nürnberg 4:0 (3:0) 72,100 (Grosskreutz, Barrios, Zidan, Hummels) Hannover 96 - Bayer Leverkusen 0:0 (0:0) 34,341 Eintracht Frankfurt - 1. FSV Mainz 05 2:0 (1:0) 51,500 (Franz, Meier) 1. FC Köln - SV Werder Bremen 0:0 (0:0) 50,000 FC Schalke 04 - Hertha BSC Berlin 2:0 (0:0) 60,801 (Kuranyi, Rafinha) Attendance: 458,289 (avg 50,921) 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 15 8 7 0 30:9 +21 31 2. (2.) SV Werder Bremen 15 7 7 1 31:12 +19 28 3. (3.) FC Schalke 04 15 8 4 3 23:13 +10 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) FC Bayern München 15 7 6 2 24:12 +12 27 5. (5.) Hamburger SV 15 6 7 2 28:18 +10 25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) 1899 Hoffenheim 15 7 3 5 25:13 +12 24 7. (9.) Borussia Dortmund 15 6 6 3 19:16 +3 24 8. (8.) VfL Wolfsburg 15 6 5 4 29:27 +2 23 9. (7.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 15 6 5 4 20:20 0 23 10. (10.) Eintracht Frankfurt 15 6 4 5 19:21 -2 22 11. (11.) Borussia M'gladbach 15 5 3 7 17:23 -6 18 12. (12.) Hannover 96 15 4 5 6 16:19 -3 17 13. (13.) SC Freiburg 15 5 2 8 19:32 -13 17 14. (14.) 1. FC Köln 15 3 5 7 7:15 -8 14 15. (16.) VfL Bochum 15 3 4 8 14:26 -12 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (17.) VfB Stuttgart 15 2 6 7 12:21 -9 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (15.) 1. FC Nürnberg 15 3 3 9 12:25 -13 12 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 15 1 2 12 9:32 -23 5
2.Liga - 15th round
Kaiserslautern looks serious about returning to the Bundesliga. An important tough win in Rostock keeps them on top. St.Pauli meanwhile ran rampant in Koblenz, totally destroying their hapless hosts. A Bundesliga return for the Paulistas would be sensational, and they are certainly playing the most attractive attacking football in the 2.Liga. Meanwhile, the wheels have fallen off Bielefeld, which only a few weeks ago seemed to be strolling nicely towards promotion. This week they were beaten down by a fighting Düsseldorf, who have been in the wilderness for ages. But now Fortuna is looking like they've awakened from their slumber, and if they continue, we could see some impressive crowds. (Although I must say, that Düsseldorf fans are basically pansies that only show up for a winner, hehehe).
Augsburg is a quiet team that nobody notices. I don't think they're good enough to challenge, but they will certainly trip some folks up. Also, almost via stealth tactics, ex-Bundesligists Duisburg and Karlsruhe have recovered from crap starts and at least warrant some attention. They have lots of experience in elevator repair, and with a good run, I could still see them pushing the "up" button.
Don't know that I can say much about the race to the bottom. It appears to me that the bottom 3 are definitely the "crap of league". Teams like Rostock, 1860 and Aachen are really struggling again, but I can't see them being worse then the trifecta of Koblenz, FSV Frankfurt and Ahlen, who all lost again this week.
FC Augsburg - FSV Frankfurt 2:0 (2:0) 10,097 (Thurk, de Roeck) 1. FC Union Berlin - FC Energie Cottbus 1:1 (1:0) 18,212 (Mattuschka - Kweuke) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Arminia Bielefeld 3:2 (2:0) 30,300 (Harnik, Jovanovic, Langeneke - Fort, Risgard) Hansa Rostock - 1. FC K'lautern 0:1 (0:0) 13,000 (Nemec) TuS Koblenz - FC St. Pauli 1:5 (0:2) 8,555 (N.Kuqi - Ebbers, Kruse 2, Bruns, Hennings) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - TSV 1860 München 0:1 (0:0) 4,368 (Miletic o.g.) Rot Weiss Ahlen - Karlsruher SC 1:3 (0:2) 5,126 (Bröker - Stindl 2, Iashvili) SC Paderborn 07 - MSV Duisburg 1:3 (1:1) 10,048 (Saglik - Grlic 3) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Alemannia Aachen 0:2 (0:1) 4,750 (Milchraum, Auer) Attendance: 104,456 (avg 11,606) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 15 11 3 1 23:9 +14 36 2. (2.) FC St. Pauli 15 10 2 3 38:16 +22 32 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) Arminia Bielefeld 15 9 1 5 24:13 +11 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 15 8 3 4 25:16 +9 27 5. (6.) FC Augsburg 15 6 7 2 31:24 +7 25 6. (7.) MSV Duisburg 15 7 4 4 28:23 +5 25 7. (5.) 1. FC Union Berlin 15 7 3 5 24:22 +2 24 8. (12.) Karlsruher SC 15 6 3 6 21:22 -1 21 9. (8.) SC Paderborn 07 15 5 5 5 21:21 0 20 10. (9.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 15 6 2 7 16:25 -9 20 11. (11.) FC Energie Cottbus 15 5 4 6 23:24 -1 19 12. (14.) Alemannia Aachen 15 5 4 6 13:17 -4 19 13. (10.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 15 6 0 9 25:27 -2 18 14. (15.) TSV 1860 München 15 5 3 7 17:19 -2 18 15. (13.) Hansa Rostock 15 6 0 9 18:23 -5 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) TuS Koblenz 15 3 3 9 13:26 -13 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) FSV Frankfurt 15 2 3 10 11:29 -18 9 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 15 1 4 10 10:25 -15 7
3.Liga - Round 19
The 3.Liga has reached the halfway point, and it's a dogfight. Ingolstadt has moved into the apparently uneviable 1st spot, but notice they've been beaten 6 times already (Compare with upper leagues, Leverkusen 0 losses, and Kaiserslautern only 1). I'm sure the last word hasn't been said here. My hunch is that one of the "big" clubs, such as Offenbach, Osnabrück or Braunschweig will manage to grab a promotion spot, but there are a whole slew of contenders. As long as someone crappy like Burghausen doesn't make it, I guess it's OK.
The bottom continues to be a fierce struggle. In a huge match, Wuppertal defeated Dresden on a late goal from a sub who had just come on. (Germans like to call this the "joker". And you thought that was the nickname for Sascha Burchardt, Hertha's goalkeeper!)
VfB Stuttgart II - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 0:1 (0:0) 680 (Smeekes) VfL Osnabrück - Wacker Burghausen 2:1 (2:1) 10,300 (Bencik, Kotuljac - Gorka) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Eintracht Braunschweig 2:1 (0:0) 5,423 (Kammlot, Bölstler - Calamita) FC Erzgebirge Aue - SV Werder Bremen II 2:1 (2:0) 6,300 (Glasner, Hochscheidt - Oehrl) FC Bayern München II - Kickers Offenbach 2:1 (0:1) 1,400 (Sene, Yilmaz - Huber) SV 1916 Sandhausen - FC Ingolstadt 04 1:2 (1:1) 1,600 (Pinto - Pisot, Demir) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - SpVgg Unterhaching 2:1 (2:0) 2,693 (Ziegenbein, Boskovic - Rathgeber) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - Jahn Regensburg 3:2 (1:0) 4,820 (Weil 2, Heidenfelder - Zellner, Berger) Borussia Dortmund II - Holstein Kiel 1:0 (0:0) 903 (Hünemeier) Wuppertaler SV - Dynamo Dresden 1:0 (0:0) 4,260 (Dressler) Attendance: 38,379 (3,838) 1. (2.) FC Ingolstadt 04 19 10 3 6 39:22 +17 33 2. (1.) Kickers Offenbach 19 9 6 4 33:19 +14 33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (4.) VfL Osnabrück 19 10 3 6 30:21 +9 33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (8.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 19 9 4 6 26:23 +3 31 5. (3.) Eintracht Braunschweig 19 8 6 5 28:20 +8 30 6. (5.) Wacker Burghausen 19 9 3 7 23:30 -7 30 7. (6.) Jahn Regensburg 19 8 5 6 27:20 +7 29 8. (7.) SpVgg Unterhaching 19 8 5 6 29:26 +3 29 9. (10.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 19 8 5 6 24:22 +2 29 10. (9.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 19 7 6 6 34:34 0 27 11. (12.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 19 7 5 7 23:28 -5 26 12. (13.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 19 7 4 8 34:31 +3 25 13. (15.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 19 7 4 8 24:31 -7 25 14. (11.) SV Werder Bremen II 19 7 3 9 25:28 -3 24 15. (16.) FC Bayern München II 19 6 5 8 26:36 -10 23 16. (14.) VfB Stuttgart II 19 7 1 11 25:28 -3 22 17. (19.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 19 6 4 9 20:30 -10 22 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (17.) Holstein Kiel 19 5 4 10 22:28 -6 19 19. (18.) Dynamo Dresden 19 5 4 10 19:26 -7 19 20. (20.) Borussia Dortmund II 19 5 4 10 19:27 -8 19
Return of Fat Boy!!
Back by popular demand! The great Ronaldo is perhaps less known now as Ronaldo Fenomeno than as Ronaldo Gordinho but is still kicking away and scoring goals with Corinthians in Brazil. (BTW, that guy that now plays for Real Madrid is just a wanker. And he's not "Ronaldo" anyway.) But what of the orginal Fat-Boy, Ailton? He's back!! Yes!! The 36 year old has just signed on with 6th Division Niederrhein-Liga KFC Uerdingen! Yeah!
Hard to believe that in 2004 Ailton was on top of the World, 28 goals topping the Bundesliga, Player-of-the-Year etc. Then he got too fat and the problems started. He pissed off to Turkey when Werder canceled his free-pass at Der Hometown Buffet. He traveled the globe in search of the perfect meal. His last club was China's Chongqing. Overall, he's played over 200 games in the Bundesliga, scoring 106 times for clubs like Bremen, HSV, Schalke and lastly MSV Duisburg. Unfortunately, Abseits doesn't beleive that he will be staying in Krefeld too long. This whole new contract is due to a misunderstanding. Ailton apparently believed that he was signing on with the local franchise of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Won't he be in for a shock when he finds out it's Krefelder Fussball Club! They'll actually want him to run around and score goals. Perhaps another Untergang episode "Hitler finds out Ailton signs for Uerdingen" is in order...
Bundesliga - 14th round
There are a couple of significant events this week, mainly Leverkusen's continued strong form, and perhaps Bayern München is back on track.
Leaders Leverkusen had an impressive performance as they annihilated a hapless Stuttgart squad which is sinking fast. The Aspirins demonstrating aggressive attacking football along with deadly finishing. Stefan Kiessling bagged 3, and is establishing himself as Germany's in-form striker. It is going to be hard to ignore him for the World Cup squad, given that the favorites are all dicking around with lame performances.
Werder Bremen may have been riding high, but champions Wolfsburg showed that they're not a spent force yet. The VWs took the game to Werder, and Bremen was not able to dominate with their usual offensive pressure. Instead, they found themselves chansing their tails and the lead for most of the match.
Schalke has a way to go before they are taken seriously. You can't lose against teams like Gladbach and not expect to be mentioned in the same sentence with Rodney Dangerfield or some chump from American Idol. Obviously a great win for Gladbach, which has been showing signs of life and are fighting their way up. Magath's Schalke is obviously still a work in progress, as he needs to remove the loser attitude from the squad, while at the same time figure out how to save a ton of money. If he pulls that off, maybe he can become California's next governor; we're already used to the accent.
It was a changing of the guard at Bayern. Franz Beckenbauer has achieved just about everything possible in football, both from the field, as a coach and from the boardroom. So this week he stepped down as President of Bayern München and handed over to his former teammate and right-hand man, Uli Hoeness. Of course, Hoeness has probably been most responsible for Bayern's impressive financial rise, matching Beckenbauer's field achievements. It was also significant is that Hoeness so far as been a big backer of coach Van Gaal, to the point of fining anyone that criticizes him. (Of course, Hoeness will not hestitate to stab Van Gaal in the back if things don't go well.) In any case, Van gaal's Bayern looked sharp and completely dominated hosts Hannover. The 96ers may be riding a wave of goodwill following Robert Enke's demise, but they still appear shell-shocked, and teams may show empathy, but they'll still kick your ass. Bayern was ruthless slapped Hannover around. For Van Gaal, the return of Ivica Olic was a blessing, as the Croat striker fits nicely in the Dutchman's scheme. Van Gaal faced down disgruntled striker Luca Toni, who is now firmly in the dog house. My bet is that Toni is out, probably to somebody like Napoli, in the winterbreak. I'd be pretty surprised if he ever plays for Bayern again. He was very effective his first couple of seasons, but once he got competition for his spot, he basically tanked. Seems like one of these guys that needs to be starter and feel secure. Anyway, his time at Bayern is bascially over.
Hoffenheim had been showing signs of moving in the top spots, but they were derailed at home by Dortmund, who blunted the Hopp-ers usual passing game and fought their way to a nice away win.
Mainz continued their nice Bundesliga return, remaining unbeaten at home. Hamburg can't buy a win anymore, so they might as well be happy they didn't lose.
A crucial battle between promoted teams saw Freiburg steal the points in Nürnberg. Freiburg has showed an ability to bounce back from getting their asses royally kicked (0-6 at home last week), and that should stand them well in the relegation battle. Live to fight another day. Nürnberg was objectively speaking the better team in the match, but they were hapless in front of Freiburg's goal, so they take a bitter loss.
Bochum and Köln squared off in another relegation battle, and neither team did much except run around and kick each other and the ball occasionally as well. Köln probably could have stolen a win, as they had a few decent chances, so Bochum is probably happier about splitting the points. But then again, an away point was probably all Köln had planned for, so they're not going to be too upset.
Hertha Berlin remains a disaster. Friedhlem Funkel certainly figured they could beat his old club, but instead they sucked again and...Well, there really isn't much to say. Obviously it's time for one of a "Hitler finds out Hertha sucks" aka Der Untergang/Downfall parodies on Youtube: "Well, just put Pantelic back in the lineup, he'll score us some goals."..."Mein Führer, err...", "We dumped Pantelic and he now plays for Ajax, and he just scored a hattrick this weekend". (Hitler takes off glasses and mumbles "Everyone that already doesn't have a Union Berlin seasonpass leave the room...") Etc., etc, you get the idea... (If you don't, try Youtube and "Hitler finds out Avatar trailer sucks" for a good example) For Frankfurt, obviously a dose of Hertha was just what the doctor ordered. Full points, and Alles in Ordnung.
VfL Bochum - 1. FC Köln 0:0 (0:0) 29,012 Hertha BSC Berlin - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:3 (0:1) 48,253 (Ramos - Ochs, Franz, Meier) 1899 Hoffenheim - Borussia Dortmund 1:2 (0:1) 30,150 (Ba - Blaszczykowski, Sahin) SV Werder Bremen - VfL Wolfsburg 2:2 (0:1) 34,523 (Hugo Almeida, Mertesacker - Dzeko 2) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - Hamburger SV 1:1 (0:1) 20,300 (Hoogland - Torun) 1. FC Nürnberg - SC Freiburg 0:1 (0:1) 40,824 (Reisinger) Borussia M'gladbach - FC Schalke 04 1:0 (1:0) 54,057 (Reus) Bayer Leverkusen - VfB Stuttgart 4:0 (2:0) 30,210 (Kiesling 3, Derdiyok) Hannover 96 - FC Bayern München 0:3 (0:1) 49,000 (T. Müller, Olic, Gomez) Attendance: 336,329 (avg 37,370) 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 14 8 6 0 30:9 +21 30 2. (2.) SV Werder Bremen 14 7 6 1 31:12 +19 27 3. (3.) FC Schalke 04 14 7 4 3 21:13 +8 25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (7.) FC Bayern München 14 6 6 2 22:11 +11 24 5. (5.) Hamburger SV 14 6 6 2 28:18 +10 24 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (4.) 1899 Hoffenheim 14 7 2 5 25:13 +12 23 7. (6.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 14 6 5 3 20:18 +2 23 8. (8.) VfL Wolfsburg 14 6 4 4 27:25 +2 22 9. (9.) Borussia Dortmund 14 5 6 3 15:16 -1 21 10. (11.) Eintracht Frankfurt 14 5 4 5 17:21 -4 19 11. (12.) Borussia M'gladbach 14 5 3 6 16:21 -5 18 12. (10.) Hannover 96 14 4 4 6 16:19 -3 16 13. (13.) SC Freiburg 14 5 1 8 17:30 -13 16 14. (15.) 1. FC Köln 14 3 4 7 7:15 -8 13 15. (14.) 1. FC Nürnberg 14 3 3 8 12:21 -9 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (17.) VfL Bochum 14 3 3 8 13:25 -12 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (16.) VfB Stuttgart 14 2 5 7 11:20 -9 11 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 14 1 2 11 9:30 -21 5
2.Liga - 14th round
The top clash thos week decided the leader, and Kaiserslautern is currently ruling the roost. FCK hosted Bielefeld in front of a sold-out house, and managed to squeeze out a win. The hosts were the dominant squad, but oddly enough, it was Bielefeld that had the better chances, especially in the first half. However, FCK kept up the pressure, and a too defensively oriented Arminia gave up a goal. With the win, FCK now stands alone at the top, whereas Bielefeld must regroup. They haven't scored in 3 outings, and whereas a month ago they seemed in control of the league, now they've fallen back into the pack. They're still in good shape, but need to wake up before they get into a dogfight.
St.Pauli is quickly becoming a 2.Liga subplot. The Paulistas blasted Union and are seriously challenging for promotion. Considering how they were on the verge of collapse only a few seasons ago, this is an impressive turnaround. A return to the Bundesliga would be quite sensational. Union Berlin has done quite well floating near the top, but their limits have been clearly demonstrated.
Aachen is in total disarray, and became the first team to lose to crap Ahlen, at home no less. Their season is basically over, and now they really need to make sure they don't get drawn into the relegation quagmire. Meanwhile, Frankfyrt lost at home to Rostock, cementing their position in the dregs. Rostock needed those points, and have now acquired a light cushion from the drop zone.
Karlsruher SC - TuS Koblenz 2:1 (0:0) 15,318 (Stindl, Fink - N.Kuqi) Alemannia Aachen - Rot Weiss Ahlen 0:2 (0:2) 21,010 (Wiemann, Gorschlüter) FSV Frankfurt - Hansa Rostock 0:1 (0:1) 4,086 (Fillinger) MSV Duisburg - FC Augsburg 2:2 (0:1) 10,160 (Tiffert 2 - Brinkmann, Traore) SC Paderborn 07 - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1:0 (1:0) 6,054 (Saglik) FC Energie Cottbus - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 3:0 (1:0) 9,160 (Straith, Jula, Bittroff) FC St. Pauli - 1. FC Union Berlin 3:0 (3:0) 19,901 (Ebbers, Kalla, Kruse) TSV 1860 München - Fortuna Düsseldorf 2:2 (1:0) 22,400 (Ludwig, Hoffmann - Jovanovic, Zoundi) 1. FC K'lautern - Arminia Bielefeld 1:0 (0:0) 35,042 (Sam) Attendance: 143,131 (avg 15,903) 1. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 14 10 3 1 22:9 +13 33 2. (3.) FC St. Pauli 14 9 2 3 33:15 +18 29 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (2.) Arminia Bielefeld 14 9 1 4 22:10 +12 28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 14 7 3 4 22:14 +8 24 5. (5.) 1. FC Union Berlin 14 7 2 5 23:21 +2 23 6. (6.) FC Augsburg 14 5 7 2 29:24 +5 22 7. (7.) MSV Duisburg 14 6 4 4 25:22 +3 22 8. (10.) SC Paderborn 07 14 5 5 4 20:18 +2 20 9. (8.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 14 6 2 6 16:24 -8 20 10. (9.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 14 6 0 8 25:25 0 18 11. (12.) FC Energie Cottbus 14 5 3 6 22:23 -1 18 12. (13.) Karlsruher SC 14 5 3 6 18:21 -3 18 13. (14.) Hansa Rostock 14 6 0 8 18:22 -4 18 14. (11.) Alemannia Aachen 14 4 4 6 11:17 -6 16 15. (15.) TSV 1860 München 14 4 3 7 16:19 -3 15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) TuS Koblenz 14 3 3 8 12:21 -9 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) FSV Frankfurt 14 2 3 9 11:27 -16 9 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 14 1 4 9 9:22 -13 7
3.Liga - Round 18
The 3.Liga continues to be a wild shootout. Even 9th place Sandhausen is basically one win away from promotion, and everybody is jockeying for promotion. Ingolstadt had the most impressive performance this week, and they have seized spot, although Braunschweig's thumping of Aue deserves honorable mention. Leaders Offenbach were unable to hold off Sandhausen, and had to settle for a draw in their wild shootout.
Wuppertal tasted defeat as they lost at Jena. The ref tossed WSV GK Christian Maly after only 6 minutes for an alleged handball. WSV battled bravely, but in the end, Jena managed to score and hold of the Wuppertalers. So they slip back into relegation. Dynamo Dresden climbed off the bottom with a hardfought win over Heidenheim.
Jahn Regensburg - Borussia Dortmund II 2:0 (0:0) 3,820 (Haller, Jarosch) Dynamo Dresden - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 4:3 (3:2) 11,437 (Savran 3, Oppitz - Mayer 2, Spann) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - Wuppertaler SV 1:0 (1:0) 5,076 (Hähnge) SpVgg Unterhaching - VfB Stuttgart II 1:0 (0:0) 2,000 (Schweinsteiger) FC Ingolstadt 04 - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 5:1 (3:1) 4,400 (Karl, Fink, Hartmann, Keidel, Buchner - Ziemer) Kickers Offenbach - SV 1916 Sandhausen 3:3 (2:1) 7,252 (Huber, Ulm, Zinnow - Dorn 2, Eberlein) Eintracht Braunschweig - FC Erzgebirge Aue 3:0 (3:0) 13,500 (Boland, Onuegbu 2) Wacker Burghausen - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:3 (0:1) 4,050 (Kokocinski - Rockenback da Silva 2, Möcke) Holstein Kiel - VfL Osnabrück 1:1 (0:0) 5,038 (Wulff - Barletta) SV Werder Bremen II - FC Bayern München II 0:3 (0:2) 1,100 (Ekici 2, Sene) Attendance: 57,673 (avg 5,767) 1. (1.) Kickers Offenbach 18 9 6 3 32:17 +15 33 2. (5.) FC Ingolstadt 04 18 9 3 6 37:21 +16 30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (6.) Eintracht Braunschweig 18 8 6 4 27:18 +9 30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) VfL Osnabrück 18 9 3 6 28:20 +8 30 5. (2.) Wacker Burghausen 18 9 3 6 22:28 -6 30 6. (7.) Jahn Regensburg 18 8 5 5 25:17 +8 29 7. (8.) SpVgg Unterhaching 18 8 5 5 28:24 +4 29 8. (4.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 18 8 4 6 24:22 +2 28 9. (9.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 18 7 6 5 33:32 +1 27 10. (11.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 18 7 5 6 22:21 +1 26 11. (10.) SV Werder Bremen II 18 7 3 8 24:26 -2 24 12. (15.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 18 6 5 7 22:28 -6 23 13. (12.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 18 6 4 8 31:29 +2 22 14. (13.) VfB Stuttgart II 18 7 1 10 25:27 -2 22 15. (14.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 18 6 4 8 22:30 -8 22 16. (18.) FC Bayern München II 18 5 5 8 24:35 -11 20 17. (17.) Holstein Kiel 18 5 4 9 22:27 -5 19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (20.) Dynamo Dresden 18 5 4 9 19:25 -6 19 19. (16.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 18 5 4 9 19:30 -11 19 20. (19.) Borussia Dortmund II 18 4 4 10 18:27 -9 16
Bundesliga - 13th round
Leverkusen reamins on top, the only unbeaten team, as they drew FC Hollywood 1-1. Bayern is still struggling to impose their will on the Bundesliga this season, and it doesn't appear they'll be getting much cooperation from the other clubs. They weren't worth more than the draw in this match, and if they start dropping points at home, they'll have a rough time climbing over everybody. For Leverkusen, they usually only choke at the end of the season, so at this juncture they really don't have to worry about that :)
Werder Bremen has shown they mean business. They absolutely demolished their hosts Freiburg, with a merciless display of attacking football, and more decisively, deadly finishing. Freiburg has shown some bright performances this season, but they basically ran around helplessly while getting their ass kicked by rampant Bremers running amok. After a tentative start, Werder is firing on all cylinders and a team to be feared. For Freiburg, they should just lick their wounds and sweep this one under the rug.
Hannover 96 is riding a wave a good-will in visiting stadiums in the aftermath of Robert Enke's death. And aside from a warm greeting from teh Gelsenkirchen fans, the Schalke squad also tried to demonstrate solidarity by giving the 96ers lots of first half opportunities to score. However, like a lover spurned, the Schalkers apparently felt insulted their offers weren't taken up, or perhaps coach Felix Magath is just a mean, unsentimental SOB. Anyway, Schalke came out in the 2nd half with Magath's boot firmly implanted on their collective asses. The Blues then dominated the match, but Enke's heir, Florian Fromlowitz, showed some sharp skills. It finally took an unstoppable rocket header by Peruvian Jefferson Farfan to give Schalke the lead and set them on the path of a deserved win.
Hoffenheim completely dominated Köln and romped home to an easy away win. The "Hopp-ers" had their young offensive talent run wild, as they all scored (Ibisevic, Ba, Obasi and Eduardo). Köln was completely lame, and their fans must de disappointed after some decent results.
Hamburg has announced that they will no longer play any more matches at the stadium, but will instead defer to the halls of the local hospital. HSV is decimated with injuries, and their promising start is in danger of petering out as their squad is never at full strength. They dominated the match against Bochum, but unlike their recent efforts, the Bochumers held firm. Then they struck a demoralized HSV with a sneak attack goal and came away with a massive result.
A surprise defeat for champions Wolfsburg, as were constantly running behind a determined Nürnberg squad. The VWs pressure seemed to indicate that Nürnberg would soon collapse under the strain, but instead on counterattacks der Club was able to hold off their hosts. And in the end, a stunning breakaway with tired Wolfsburgers lazily tracking back led to basically a 4-1 Nürnberg advantage, and they put away the final goal for a heroic win.
Mostly, we like reading about "in-form" teams. The match between Stuttgart and Hertha was essentially one between "in-crap" squads, both have stunk up the league with some pathetic efforts recently. Stuttgart dominated the match, but their finishing incompetance allowed Hertha to stay around, and then sneak an inprobable counter goal. VfB furiously threw everything forward, and eventually were rewarded with a draw, but they certainly could have easily grabbed 3 points if they had taken earlier chances. Obviously, not losing is a huge improvement for Hertha, so they are undoubtably happy with the point.
Dortmund was hosting coach Jürgen Klopp's old team, and perhaps Jürgen is sentimental for the place were he made his name. In any case, although the match was hard fought, Dortmund never really got it in grip, and Mainz gets a nice point away.
Gladbach gets a nice away win at Frankfurt, who apparently can't make up their mind if they want to just be mediocre or suck completely.
VfL Wolfsburg - 1. FC Nürnberg 2:3 (0:0) 28,736 (Dejagah, Grafite - Bunjaku 2, Kluge) VfB Stuttgart - Hertha BSC Berlin 1:1 (0:0) 39,000 (Kuzmanovic - Ramos) FC Schalke 04 - Hannover 96 2:0 (0:0) 61,505 (Farfan, Moravek) 1. FC Köln - 1899 Hoffenheim 0:4 (0:2) 45,000 (Carlos Eduardo, Obasi, Ba, Ibisevic) Eintracht Frankfurt - Borussia M'gladbach 1:2 (0:0) 50,000 (Schwegler - Nikolov o.g., Brouwers) SC Freiburg - Werder Bremen 0:6 (0:1) 24,000 (Hugo Almeida 2, Marin, Özil, Naldo, Rosenberg) Borussia Dortmund - 1. FSV Mainz 05 0:0 (0:0) 74,600 Bayern München - Bayer Leverkusen 1:1 (1:1) 69,000 (Gomez - Kiessling) Hamburger SV - VfL Bochum 0:1 (0:0) 53,838 (Grote) Attendance: 445,679 (avg 49,520) 1 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 13 7 6 0 26:9 17 27 2 Werder Bremen 13 7 5 1 29:10 19 26 3 FC Schalke 04 13 7 4 2 21:12 9 25 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 13 7 2 4 24:11 13 23 5 Hamburger SV 13 6 5 2 27:17 10 23 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 1.FSV Mainz 05 13 6 4 3 19:17 2 22 7 FC Bayern München 13 5 6 2 19:11 8 21 8 VfL Wolfsburg 13 6 3 4 25:23 2 21 9 Borussia Dortmund 13 4 6 3 13:15 -2 18 10 Hannover 96 13 4 4 5 16:16 0 16 11 Eintracht Frankfurt 13 4 4 5 14:20 -6 16 12 Borussia M'gladbach 13 4 3 6 15:21 -6 15 13 SC Freiburg 13 4 1 8 16:30 -14 13 14 1.FC Nürnberg 13 3 3 7 12:20 -8 12 15 1.FC Köln 13 3 3 7 7:15 -8 12 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 VfB Stuttgart 13 2 5 6 11:16 -5 11 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 VfL Bochum 13 3 2 8 13:25 -12 11 18 Hertha BSC 13 1 2 10 8:27 -19 5
2.Liga - 13th round
Bielefeld was having an easy life, but 2.Liga reality has slapped them in the face. Certainly they expected a feast as struggling 1860 came to town, and instead they are left with gruel. Huge win for 1860, as a loss would actually have dumped them into relegation. I'm not sure why the Müncheners are so crap, but it would be a tragedy for the club, their fans and the 2.Liga treasurers if they were relegated an instead replaced by some lame club like Burghausen. Kaiserslautern took advantage, leaping into 1st place with a nice win at Union Berlin. The small Alte Försterei stadium was completely sold-out, but the energetic crowd was unable to spur Union onto victory. Instead, FCK overcame some recent ho-hum performances and exhibited excellent form.
Bottom clubs showed some signs of life. Ahlen managed not to lose in a local derby, so that's a plus. FSV Frankfurt may have decided they need to wake up before winterbreak. Last season it took a super post-winter break effort to save their ass. They have given some indication that they might want to start earlier this year. The result was a nice win at Oberhausen. And Koblenz crept closer to the pack with an important win over Aachen. Actually, the most interesting thing about Koblenz is that this week they unveiled their "Coochie-Coochie" attack, as the Kosovan-Finnish brothers Shefki and Njazi Kuqi paired up as strikers. Rostock seems like they're always in crisis, so a win over Karlsruhe comes at a good time.
Rot Weiss Ahlen - SC Paderborn 07 0:0 (0:0) 5,245 Fortuna Düsseldorf - Energie Cottbus 2:1 (0:0) 20,100 (Harnik 2 - Jula) Arminia Bielefeld - 1860 München 0:1 (0:0) 18,100 (Pappas) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - FSV Frankfurt 1:3 (0:2) 7,183 (Gordon - Cidimar 2, Kujabi) Hansa Rostock - Karlsruher SC 2:1 (1:0) 12,000 (Fillinger, Kern - Blum) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - MSV Duisburg 0:1 (0:0) 5,650 (Adler) FC Augsburg - FC St. Pauli 3:2 (0:1) 22,272 (Thurk, Morena o.g., Sinkala - Ebbers 2) TuS Koblenz - Alemannia Aachen 1:0 (0:0) 7,599 (Mavric) 1. FC Union Berlin - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 0:2 (0:1) 18,955 (Amedick, Jendrisek) Attendance: 117,104 (avg 13,012) 1 1.FC Kaiserslautern 13 9 3 1 21:9 12 30 2 Arminia Bielefeld 13 9 1 3 22:9 13 28 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 FC St. Pauli 13 8 2 3 30:15 15 26 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 13 7 2 4 20:12 8 23 5 1.FC Union Berlin 13 7 2 4 23:18 5 23 6 FC Augsburg 13 5 6 2 27:22 5 21 7 MSV Duisburg 13 6 3 4 23:20 3 21 8 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 13 6 2 5 16:21 -5 20 9 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 13 6 0 7 25:24 1 18 10 SC Paderborn 07 13 4 5 4 19:18 1 17 11 Alemannia Aachen 13 4 4 5 11:15 -4 16 12 FC Energie Cottbus 13 4 3 6 19:23 -4 15 13 Karlsruher SC 13 4 3 6 16:20 -4 15 14 FC Hansa Rostock 13 5 0 8 17:22 -5 15 15 TSV 1860 München 13 4 2 7 14:17 -3 14 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 TuS Koblenz 13 3 3 7 11:19 -8 12 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 FSV Frankfurt 13 2 3 8 11:26 -15 9 18 Rot Weiss Ahlen 13 0 4 9 7:22 -15 4
3.Liga - Round 17
Things continue to remain tight in the 3.Liga. Leaders Offenbach barely hung on in a Hessen-derby against Wehen, and Burghausen got spanked in Aue. The latter along with Osnabrück looked poised to pounce on a promotion spot. Ingolstadt also had a good win in Stuttgart, and should be considered a contender as well.
Wuppertal continues their recovery from the dead. WSV dominated at home against favored Unterhaching, and were not only rewarded with a deserved win, but their first venture out of a relegation spot. While WSV has at least recovered some of their pride, Dynamo Dresden is in crisis mode. Dynamo has sunk to the bottom, their loss in Regensburg the heavy blow. Of course, the bottom of the table is tightly packed, so a few wins will see them out of the deadzone.
VfB Stuttgart II - FC Ingolstadt 04 2:4 (1:2) 450 (Didavi, Schipplock - Leitl 2, Hartmann, Neuendorf) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Kickers Offenbach 3:3 (2:1) 8,596 (Ziemer, Gehring, A. Öztürk - Mesic, Ulm 2) Jahn Regensburg - Dynamo Dresden 2:0 (1:0) 3,500 (Haller, Beigang) VfL Osnabrück - Borussia Dortmund II 4:1 (1:1) 9,700 (Lindemann, Heidrich, Kotuljac 2 - Sobiech) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Holstein Kiel 0:0 (0:0) 4,757 FC Erzgebirge Aue - Wacker Burghausen 3:0 (2:0) 7,500 (Braham, Glasner, Ramaj) FC Bayern München II - Eintracht Braunschweig 1:1 (0:0) 1,500 (Hajdarovic - Onuegbu) SV 1916 Sandhausen - SV Werder Bremen II 2:2 (0:0) 1,400 (Hosiner, Dorn - Menga 2) Wuppertaler SV - SpVgg Unterhaching 1:0 (0:0) 3,000 (Damm) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 3:1 (0:1) 5,000 (Lukimya, Mayer, Weil - Truckenbrod) Attendance: 45,403 (avg 4,540) 1. (1.) Kickers Offenbach 17 9 5 3 29:14 +15 32 2. (2.) Wacker Burghausen 17 9 3 5 21:25 -4 30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (4.) VfL Osnabrück 17 9 2 6 27:19 +8 29 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (6.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 17 8 4 5 24:19 +5 28 5. (8.) FC Ingolstadt 04 17 8 3 6 32:20 +12 27 6. (3.) Eintracht Braunschweig 17 7 6 4 24:18 +6 27 7. (9.) Jahn Regensburg 17 7 5 5 23:17 +6 26 8. (5.) SpVgg Unterhaching 17 7 5 5 27:24 +3 26 9. (7.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 17 7 5 5 30:29 +1 26 10. (10.) SV Werder Bremen II 17 7 3 7 24:23 +1 24 11. (12.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 17 6 5 6 19:20 -1 23 12. (15.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 17 6 4 7 28:25 +3 22 13. (11.) VfB Stuttgart II 17 7 1 9 25:26 -1 22 14. (13.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 17 6 4 7 21:25 -4 22 15. (14.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 17 5 5 7 21:28 -7 20 16. (19.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 17 5 4 8 19:29 -10 19 17. (16.) Holstein Kiel 17 5 3 9 21:26 -5 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (20.) FC Bayern München II 17 4 5 8 21:35 -14 17 19. (17.) Borussia Dortmund II 17 4 4 9 18:25 -7 16 20. (18.) Dynamo Dresden 17 4 4 9 15:22 -7 16
Tough struggle for national team
The DFB squad is still somewhat stunned by the suicide of Roert Enke, but took to the field against the talented Ivory Coast squad. This proved to be a very challenging match. After a strong first half, the Germans were overrun by the Africans in the second half, and looked to be heading for a historic defeat. But in the end, Lukas Podolski netted the equalizer at the end for a deserved draw. This was probably what Prinz Poldi needed, as he scored the opening goal as well, which means he's probably already scored more for the national squad this season than for his club.
Most pundits rate the Ivory Coast as the strongest African challenger in the World Cup, so it's not necessarily a bad result for the national team, but obviously coach Löw has a lot of work to if Germany is not to struggle in South Africa next year.
World Cup qualifiers
Normally, I stick to strictly German football commentary, but given all the news of World Cup qualifiers, I'd like to make a couple of observations. By and large, there weren't a ton of surprises, and the teams that deserve to be there made the cut. Certainly a squad like New Zealand has no business there, since they wouldn't even finish in the running if they played in CONCACAF, but they followed the rules and hats off to them. Actually, I would love FIFA to keep one spot in hand and have a random draw, a "World Cup lottery", where they just pull a random country out of the hat and let them in. Now that would be exciting, you'd get to see nations that normally will never qualify, perhaps American Samoa, Guatemala, Equatorial Guinea, Bhutan or Scotland. And they could have Diego Maradona pull the winner, sort of a "Hand of God II - The Sequel".
Certainly the Irish were hard done by a blatant handball, although suggesting that robbed them of qualification is a bit much, since the game wasn't over, and still needed to be decided. Still, rotten call. But on the other hand, I'd rather see France in the World Cup, since the Irish always play negative boring football, and France is pretty entertaining, even when they suck. (Seems the latter is a good possibility as long as that clown Domenech is in charge. He must have pictures of French football officials with underage Thai boys, seems a pretty common occurence there.) I'm also somewhat surprised that Russia choked on Slovenia, but Russian fans are used to disappointment. Ukraine had a golden opportunity, but if you lose at home to Greece, you don't deserve to go. In the Americas playoff, good for Costa Rica that they made a game of it in Uruguay, coming close. But the Ticos and their fans must be kicking themselves, since they should have long been qualified through the CONCACAF rounds. Also, too bad for Egypt, but they were obviously evenly matched with Algeria.
Enke funeral
Football in Germany was pretty much at a standstill this weekend, with very little on tap. Obviously, this was partially due to the fact it was a "FIFA day", with several World Cup qualifying playoffs and friendlies. But of course, in Germany, the main reason was the stunning suicide of national GK Robert Enke. Memorial services were held in his Hannover 96 club stadium, attended by some 45,000. His casket was carried by members of the German national team. They had been scheduled to face Chile in a friendly, but the match was canceled.
Stefan Beinlich retirement
Sunday saw a less traumatic going-away ceremony. Veteran midfielder Stefan Beinlich, who played about 5 times for the national team with Bayer Leverkusen, officially hung up his boots. He was given a testamonial at Hansa Rostock, his current club, and almost 19,000 showed up. Beinlich was injured last season, and his recovery was just not going the way he hoped, so he decided to throw in the towel. Born in East Berlin, Beinlich was a catalyst in the rise of Hansa Rostock, as he helped get them promoted to the Bundesliga. He then transferred to Bayer Leverkusen, and continued a successful Bundesliga career with Hertha BSC and Hamburg. He returned to Rostock in 2006 to finish out a fine career, finally giving up at 37.
Stunning late breaking news!!
Stunning news out of Hannover: GK Robert Enke is dead. The reports are not clear, but he was run over by a train. Apparently this was a suicide, as witnesses said he threw himself under the 100-mph train. Enke has battled some health problems this season, with some mysterious stomach ailment. He certainly has had his share of bad luck, as his young daughter, who was born with a heart defect, died in 2006/07.
Enke was one of the top goalies in the Bundesliga, and had half-a-dozen caps with the national team. He was originally viewed as the likely German keeper for 2010, although recently Leverkusen's Rene Adler seems to have moved into no.1. Nevertheless, he was certain to be part of Germany's South Africa squad. Not only was he Hannover 96's highest paid player, but with his contract expiring, the 32 year old was certain to receive a salary increase from the club, or a lucrative transfer.
50+1 intact
The 36 clubs of the DFL (who officially run the Bundesliga and 2.Liga) have sided with their fans and overwhelmingly voted to keep the current financial control rules in place. Basically, this prevents anyone from having more than 50% of the ownership of a club. This prevents robber barons from buying up clubs like in England. Originally, all German clubs were just extensions of a general sports club, so the membership was the only method of controlling the club. This is still generally the case, although many of the bigger clubs have spun off their professional squad into a seperate entity, and in some cases (like Dortmund) floated shares on the stockmarket. However, the members still basically call the shots due to this "50+1" rule.
Some clubs, most notably Hannover 96 and it's president Martin Kind, wanted to abolish this rule so German soccer fans could be raped like their counterparts in England. The argument was that more money would mean that the German clubs would be able to compete better in Europe, presumably because they too could find sugardaddies or get swallowed up by corporations. Hundreds of thousands of fans signed petitions opposing this sellout, and the clubs overwhelmingly agreed, defeating the proposal and even some compromises.
So while one could hardly argue that the soul of German football is pure, at least in it's essence, the game still belongs to the fans in Germany. That's certainly more than you can say of the other major countries.
Bundesliga - 12th round
Nothing really shocking, mostly a continuation of what we've been seeing all season. Leaders Leverkusen blitzed hapless Frankfurt with a 3-0 lead after 11 minutes, so the match was over. Can they actually win the title? That would certainly be against all that is holy in German soccer (namely that Luserkusen will choke at the defining moment), but right now the Alka-Seltzers are looking very solid.
Bremen had a rough time with Dortmund, unable to get the expected win. Instead, the Neons fought the whole way and held on to a valuable point. Good for them, but Werder was obviously expecting more so they could stay close to the Aspirins.
Hamburg seemed to have 3 points within their grasp, but Hannover came back to spoil the party. The surprising thing is that HSV is constantly complaining about lack of offensive firepower, exacerbated by injury, but they actually lead the Bundesliga in scoring.
Bayern München remains in crisis. They failed to impress, and indeed were largely outplayed by Schalke, who might have taken all the points with more luck. Bayern took the lead against the run of play, but was lethargic and unorganized. Schalke continued to apply pressure and were eventually rewarded by an equalizer from Josep Matip, who not that long ago was playing in the youth squad. Bayern management is rumored to have given van Gaal until Xmas (i.e. the winterbreak) to get things sorted out. On the one hand, they look listless and uninterested, but on the other hand...well, on the other hand they're also listless and uninterested. Star defender Philip Lahm criticized the club for just buying folks with no plan, but he will be disciplined, and the club retorted that they actually did have a plan, just that nobody could find it. Lahm himself has only been above average since moving from the left side, where he used to be world class. So one plan might be to move him back to the left side and take their chances on the right. Nevertheless, the problems seem to be more in midfield and attack. Obviously, for Bayern things could get a lot better quickly if Franck Ribery comes back. Meanwhile, on the Schalke side, Felix Magath seems to be getting the most out of his squad, but he too has until winterbreak. Not that he'll be fired, but half his squad could disappear in fire sales as Schalke tries to cut costs dramatically. Expect more youth players like Matip to start making their debuts...
Champions Wolfsburg seem to be back on track. They won a tough match at Hoffenheim. The hosts had the lead and the control of the match in the first half, but the VWs came out strong after the break and seized control. In the end, a game winner by returning Grafite, who obviously enjoyed his Brazilian vacation.
Gladbach and Stuttgart delivered a ho-hum match that probably statisfies nobody. But you could argue that since both teams have been struggling, perhaps not losing is a step in the right direction.
Mainz is staying up this season, unless they totally collapse. That will be a major achievement, since most pundits had written them off even before the season started. They were somewhat lucky against Nürnberg, but they made the single goal standup for the win. Der Club should have forced a draw, but were too incompetant in attack to bring home the bacon.
Bochum actually showed signs of life, back to their fighting ways. However, they were not blessed by luck, and visiting Freiburg continued their surprising season and stole all the points. Obviously a great result for SCF, and another disaster for Bochum, one where they truly expected at least a point.
Hertha looks finished. They were a toothless lion at home against Köln, who once again exhibited a tight catenaccio defense. Obviously Berlin had no clue on how to break it down, so it comes as no surprise that eventually one of the Köln counterattacks was successful, and they pull off a huge away win. Hertha needs to do something, like fire their GM or coach. Wait, they've already done that. Maybe they should get rid of some players. Wait, they've done that too. I suppose they could get rid of their fans; they're obviously working on that too! It's sad, since Berlin has massive potential, and Hertha's management has driven this club into the ground.
Bayer Leverkusen - Eintracht Frankfurt 4:0 (3:0) 30,000 (Kiessling, Reinartz, Kroos, Bender) FC Bayern München - FC Schalke 04 1:1 (1:1) 69,000 (Van Buyten - Matip) 1899 Hoffenheim - VfL Wolfsburg 1:2 (1:0) 29,400 (Ibisevic - Misimovic, Grafite) VfL Bochum - SC Freiburg 1:2 (0:1) 20,403 (Klimowicz - Butscher, Reisinger) Borussia M'gladbach - VfB Stuttgart 0:0 (0:0) 47,053 1. FSV Mainz 05 - 1. FC Nürnberg 1:0 (1:0) 20,000 (Soto) Hannover 96 - Hamburger SV 2:2 (1:2) 49,000 (Ya Konan, Stajner - Jansen, Elia) Hertha BSC Berlin - 1. FC Köln 0:1 (0:0) 48,623 (Novakovic) SV Werder Bremen - Borussia Dortmund 1:1 (1:0) 34,000 (Özil - Barrios) Attendance: 347,479 (avg 38,609) 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 12 7 5 0 25:8 +17 26 2. (2.) SV Werder Bremen 12 6 5 1 23:10 +13 23 3. (3.) Hamburger SV 12 6 5 1 27:16 +11 23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) FC Schalke 04 12 6 4 2 19:12 +7 22 5. (7.) VfL Wolfsburg 12 6 3 3 23:20 +3 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (8.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 12 6 3 3 19:17 +2 21 7. (5.) 1899 Hoffenheim 12 6 2 4 20:11 +9 20 8. (6.) FC Bayern München 12 5 5 2 18:10 +8 20 9. (10.) Borussia Dortmund 12 4 5 3 13:15 -2 17 10. (11.) Hannover 96 12 4 4 4 16:14 +2 16 11. (9.) Eintracht Frankfurt 12 4 4 4 13:18 -5 16 12. (13.) SC Freiburg 12 4 1 7 16:24 -8 13 13. (15.) 1. FC Köln 12 3 3 6 7:11 -4 12 14. (12.) Borussia M'gladbach 12 3 3 6 13:20 -7 12 15. (14.) VfB Stuttgart 12 2 4 6 10:15 -5 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) 1. FC Nürnberg 12 2 3 7 9:18 -9 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) VfL Bochum 12 2 2 8 12:25 -13 8 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 12 1 1 10 7:26 -19 4
2.Liga - 12th round
Bielefeld saw their 8 game win streak stopped by...FSV Frankfurt! The leaders had a rough time with a determined FSV squad, which recently has shown some signs of life. (Previously, they had been exhibiting an ineffectual "rope-a-dope" tactic. They missed some of Muhammad Ali subtleties, namely that you're not supposed to let the opponent bludgeon you senseless, you're supposed to lull them into a false sense of security and...never mind. They sucked.) I doubt that FSV will survive this season, and certainly Arminia won't be put out too much.
Kaiserslautern is back on track with a nice win over a tough Oberhausen squad. St.Pauli had a huge win against a surprising Düsseldorf, so they remain in a playoff spot. Union Berlin was dumped in Karlsruhe, so we'll see of they begin a slow descent in the table. Another loss by 1860, things must really suck in München these days. Perhaps they're all in hangovers from OKtoberfest. Aachen, on the other hand, ended their crisis with a deserved win over another struggler, Hansa Rostock. And nobody can figure out Duisburg, who blew a lead against hapless Ahlen.
1. FC K'lautern - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 3:1 (2:0) 26,546 (Nemec, Amedick, Rodnei - König) FC St. Pauli - Fortuna Düsseldorf 2:1 (1:1) 23,254 (Kruse, Hennings - Langeneke) SC Paderborn 07 - TuS Koblenz 2:1 (2:1) 6,176 (Alushi, Brückner - Hartmann) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - FC Augsburg 4:5 (1:2) 6,350 (N. Müller, Nöthe, Biliskov, Allagui - Thurk 2, Ndjeng 2, Torghelle ) FSV Frankfurt - Arminia Bielefeld 0:0 (0:0) 4,134 FC Energie Cottbus - TSV 1860 München 1:0 (0:0) 10,900 (Radu) Karlsruher SC - 1. FC Union Berlin 3:2 (3:0) 17,235 (Blum, Fink 2 - Mattuschka, Sahin) MSV Duisburg - Rot Weiss Ahlen 2:2 (2:0) 11,288 (Caiuby, Fahrenhorst - Busch, Döring) Alemannia Aachen - Hansa Rostock 1:0 (1:0) 21,274 (Demai) Attendance: 127,247 (avg 14,139) 1. (1.) Arminia Bielefeld 12 9 1 2 22:8 +14 28 2. (2.) 1. FC K'lautern 12 8 3 1 19:9 +10 27 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC St. Pauli 12 8 2 2 28:12 +16 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) 1. FC Union Berlin 12 7 2 3 23:16 +7 23 5. (5.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 12 6 2 4 18:11 +7 20 6. (6.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 12 6 2 4 15:18 -3 20 7. (9.) FC Augsburg 12 4 6 2 24:20 +4 18 8. (7.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 12 6 0 6 25:23 +2 18 9. (8.) MSV Duisburg 12 5 3 4 22:20 +2 18 10. (10.) SC Paderborn 07 12 4 4 4 19:18 +1 16 11. (11.) Alemannia Aachen 12 4 4 4 11:14 -3 16 12. (12.) FC Energie Cottbus 12 4 3 5 18:21 -3 15 13. (13.) Karlsruher SC 12 4 3 5 15:18 -3 15 14. (14.) Hansa Rostock 12 4 0 8 15:21 -6 12 15. (15.) TSV 1860 München 12 3 2 7 13:17 -4 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) TuS Koblenz 12 2 3 7 10:19 -9 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) FSV Frankfurt 12 1 3 8 8:25 -17 6 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 12 0 3 9 7:22 -15 3
3.Liga - 16th round
The 3.Liga remains tightly packed. Offenbach remain in control with a solid win, and Burghausen continues to do it with mirrors, how do they grind out the wins? However, Braunschweig came out roaring and destroyed Sandhausen, probably the Lions best display in a couple of years. The leapt 6 spots into the playoff spot, and if they manage to continue, should see some large 3.Liga crowds. Unterhaching was stunned at home by Heidenheim, completing the miserable München weekend.
The bottom teams are revolting against their fate. Wuppertal travelled to Ingolstadt and stunned their hosts, and actually controlled the match. WSV has shown signs of revival in their fight against relegation, and look to be a fairly tough opponent now. On the other hand, the management remains chaotic, as some supposed investors never materialized. But other bottom clubs also had nice results. Dresden destroyed rivals Jena away, Dortmund got a victory, as did Kiel.
Borussia Dortmund II - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:0 (1:0) 2,233 (Hille) VfL Osnabrück - Jahn Regensburg 1:0 (0:0) 10,700 (Lindemann) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - Dynamo Dresden 0:4 (0:3) 9,846 (Röttger 2, Kühne o.g., G. Müller) SpVgg Unterhaching - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 0:2 (0:1) 2,600 (Spann, Mayer) Kickers Offenbach - VfB Stuttgart II 2:0 (1:0) 6,637 (Laux, Mesic) SV Werder Bremen II - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 5:0 (4:0) 370 (Testroet, Ronneburg, Ayik, Menga 2) Eintracht Braunschweig - SV 1916 Sandhausen 6:0 (2:0) 11,490 (Kruppke, Onuegbu 3, Pfitzner, Eberlein o.g.) Wacker Burghausen - FC Bayern München II 2:1 (2:1) 3,700 (Grübl, Kresin - Yilmaz) Holstein Kiel - FC Erzgebirge Aue 2:1 (1:0) 4,011 (Holt, Wulff - Glasner) FC Ingolstadt 04 - Wuppertaler SV 0:2 (0:1) 2,306 (Celikovic, Vata) Attendance: 53,893 (avg 5,390) 1. (1.) Kickers Offenbach 16 9 4 3 26:11 +15 31 2. (2.) Wacker Burghausen 16 9 3 4 21:22 -1 30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (9.) Eintracht Braunschweig 16 7 5 4 23:17 +6 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (8.) VfL Osnabrück 16 8 2 6 23:18 +5 26 5. (3.) SpVgg Unterhaching 16 7 5 4 27:23 +4 26 6. (5.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 16 7 4 5 21:19 +2 25 7. (4.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 16 7 4 5 28:27 +1 25 8. (6.) FC Ingolstadt 04 16 7 3 6 28:18 +10 24 9. (7.) Jahn Regensburg 16 6 5 5 21:17 +4 23 10. (14.) SV Werder Bremen II 16 7 2 7 22:21 +1 23 11. (10.) VfB Stuttgart II 16 7 1 8 23:22 +1 22 12. (11.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 16 6 4 6 19:20 -1 22 13. (12.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 16 6 3 7 18:22 -4 21 14. (13.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 16 5 5 6 20:25 -5 20 15. (15.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 16 5 4 7 25:24 +1 19 16. (17.) Holstein Kiel 16 5 2 9 21:26 -5 17 17. (18.) Borussia Dortmund II 16 4 4 8 17:21 -4 16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (19.) Dynamo Dresden 16 4 4 8 15:20 -5 16 19. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 16 4 4 8 18:29 -11 16 20. (16.) FC Bayern München II 16 4 4 8 20:34 -14 16
Euro competition
Mixed bag for the Bundesliga clubs. In the Champions League, Bayern München disgraced themselves, losing 0-2 at home to Girondins Bordeaux. The Frenchies ran rings around them. They've been pretty lame all season under Van Gaal, and an early exit from Europe will certainly turn up the heat. At least Jürgen Klinsmann had Bayern doing well in Europe until they ran into the Barcelona juggernaut. Bayern is now probably eliminated. They will at least need a win at Juventus to advance. So look for Bayern to finish 3rd and "advance" to the worthless Europa-Liga, what a joke. Meanwhile, champion VfL Wolfsburg dominated Besiktas, winning handily 3-0 in Istanbul. The VWs attacked from the outset, and only a sharp Turkish GK kept the home side in the match. They still face a tough match against CSKA in Moscow, but at least they have prospects to advance to the knockout stage: a draw in Moscow is almost enough. VfB Stuttgart drew 1-1 at Sevilla. This is actually a pretty decent result for the Stuttgarters, since they have been sucking in most competition. They're probably eliminated, although if they win their remaining games that would advance. However, their strategy should be to finish last, so they don't have to move on into the Crapropa-Liga as 3rd place finisher. That way they could cut down the competitions where they have sucked.
Speaking of said Crapropa-Liga, the German clubs were passable in a worthless sort of way. Werder Bremen advances to next round, as they defeated Austria Wien 2-0. Ho-hum. Hamburger SV stumbles along, as they could only draw 0-0 hosting Celtic Glasgow. I would expect HSV to find a way to keep on going as well. Hertha BSC had a rare moment of lucidity. The Bundesliga table-prop actually managed a win, 3-2 away to Dutch club SC Heerenveen. It's probably not the game to turn their dismal season around, but of all clubs in the Crapropa-Liga, Hertha perhaps has now gained the largest benefit...if they can carry it over into the Bundesliga.
Bundesliga - 11th round
This turned out to be a tough week for the favorites. Most expected to bring home the bacon, but instead they ended up with vegetarian breakfasts...
Leaders Leverkusen seemed to have a hard fought victory in hand in Gelsenkirchen, but the new attitude of Schalke under Felix Magath seems to be making it's appearance. The Blues never gave up and continued to fight, and were rewarded with two late goals that saved a deserved point.
Hamburg has been off to a brilliant start, and seemed poised to continue their run. Afterall, they were at home to an essentially worthless-on-the-road Gladbach squad, so what could go wrong? As it turned out, Gladbach came out fighting, so HSV had to work. In fairness, HSV did control the match and hold the lead, but they seemed to lose their way after having the lead. Gladbach meanwhile realized they weren't going to get overrun, and stunned their hosts with a couple of strikes. HSV and their fans couldn't believe it, but they ended up with their first loss of the season. Obviously a huge win for Gladbach, and one that they certainly never expected.
Bremen has been red hot and is one of the title favorites, and Nürnberg has sucked. Seems pretty straight-forward: ass-kicking to come. No dice. Hosts Nürnberg pressed the whole match, fighting furiously for every ball, and beating down Werder. Only an injury time strike by Aaron Hunt saved Bremen's ass. Too bad for der Club, as it would have been a nice victory.
Stuttgart is in crisis, but at least early they looked like they wanted to change that. They came out furiously against Bayern München, but they were unable to convert their chances. Perhaps the realizationn that they've been crap recently then set in, and Bayern basically took over the match. However, Bayern has also showed high levels of suckitude, so despite continued pressure, were unable to get a goal. As a result, probably a just result, and both clubs should be satisfied with the point.
Champions Wolfsburg certainly expected some delicious treats against promoted Mainz. Indeed, Obafemi Martins continues to make his statement for a starting roll, with a double-strike. But I guess everybody forgot to explain to Mainz that they were supposed to roll over and die. The guests stormed back and before long, the VWs were in a struggle. Despite several attempts to finsh off the pesky visitors, Wolfsburg was unable to beat them down. So in the end, they had to give in and surrender a point to Mainz.
Hoffenheim had a tough match in Freiburg, so perhaps you might have figured they would be the one favorite to get dropped. Freiburg did fight hard, but the Hopp-ers were generally the better squad.
One match that pretty much did go to expectations was Borussia Dortmund's ho-hum win against Hertha. Based on last week's effort, one might have hoped the Berliners would be showing signs of life, but no dice. Once again they were crap, and Dortmund had a relatively easy time. The Neon fans probably will rue this lost opportunity to fatten up their goal difference, but apparently the players were just satisfied with a leisurely day at the office. Hertha? Try again next week, I guess.
I'm not sure if anyone really cared about Frankfurt and Bochum. I sure didn't. Not surprisingly, Frankfurt managed to eek out a victory, as Bochum continues to give lame performances, having to rely on their hosts graciousness to get on the scoreboard. Not really much to say, except that Frankfurt gets the points and look secure in their usual midtable mediocrity. Oh yeah, and new Bochum coach Heiko Herrlich is probably thinking "being on the dole actually wasn't that bad."
Borussia Dortmund - Hertha BSC Berlin 2:0 (0:0) 77,000 (Sahin, Barrios) VfL Wolfsburg - 1. FSV Mainz 05 3:3 (2:2) 28,309 (Martins 2, Misimovic - Amri, Ivanschitz, Hoogland) VfB Stuttgart - FC Bayern München 0:0 (0:0) 42,000 Hamburger SV - Borussia M'gladbach 2:3 (1:1) 57,000 (Trochowski, Ze Roberto - Reus, Dante, Friend) 1. FC Köln - Hannover 96 0:1 (0:1) 45,000 (Rosenthal) 1. FC Nürnberg - SV Werder Bremen 2:2 (2:0) 42,258 (Eigler, Bunjaku - Hunt 2) FC Schalke 04 - Bayer Leverkusen 2:2 (0:2) 61,673 (Kuranyi, Sanchez - Kroos, Kiessling) SC Freiburg - 1899 Hoffenheim 0:1 (0:1) 24,000 (Maicosuel) Eintracht Frankfurt - VfL Bochum 2:1 (1:1) 37,500 (Caio, Frank - Frank o.g.) Attendance: 414,700 (avg 46,082) 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 11 6 5 0 21:8 +13 23 2. (3.) SV Werder Bremen 11 6 4 1 22:9 +13 22 3. (2.) Hamburger SV 11 6 4 1 25:14 +11 22 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) FC Schalke 04 11 6 3 2 18:11 +7 21 5. (6.) 1899 Hoffenheim 11 6 2 3 19:9 +10 20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (5.) FC Bayern München 11 5 4 2 17:9 +8 19 7. (7.) VfL Wolfsburg 11 5 3 3 21:19 +2 18 8. (8.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 11 5 3 3 18:17 +1 18 9. (9.) Eintracht Frankfurt 11 4 4 3 13:14 -1 16 10. (10.) Borussia Dortmund 11 4 4 3 12:14 -2 16 11. (11.) Hannover 96 11 4 3 4 14:12 +2 15 12. (15.) Borussia M'gladbach 11 3 2 6 13:20 -7 11 13. (12.) SC Freiburg 11 3 1 7 14:23 -9 10 14. (14.) VfB Stuttgart 11 2 3 6 10:15 -5 9 15. (13.) 1. FC Köln 11 2 3 6 6:11 -5 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) 1. FC Nürnberg 11 2 3 6 9:17 -8 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) VfL Bochum 11 2 2 7 11:23 -12 8 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 11 1 1 9 7:25 -18 4
2.Liga - 11th round
Bielefeld keeps their gap at the top. Arminia seems to be solidly in control, and it would not be outrageous to say that a quick return to the Bundesliga is in the cards (followed by a quick return to the 2.Liga, hehehe). Kaiserslautern got a huge win in München to remain in control of 2nd. Union Berlin managed to squeeze by FSV Frankfurt. Despite their excellent start, I still question Union's ability to keep it up all season. And besides, they get to look forward to a huge Berlin derby next season. St.Pauli had an impressive away win in Rostock, and maintain their dream of returning to the Bundesliga for the umpteenth time.
Two clubs that have had decent campaigns for far are Düsseldorf and Oberhausen. Düsseldorf especially can expect some decent crowds if they keep up the pace. They were somewhat blessed by "Fortuna" as they had their backs against the wall against Karlsruhe, but the visitors were too disorganized in the finish to get a point. Meanwhile, not that anyone really cares, Oberhausen squeaked by Paderborn in a shootout.
Intriguing is the inconsistency of Duisburg, coming off an embarrassing DFB-Cup shellacking in midweek. They were all over hosts Koblenz, easily bringing home the bacon. The Zebras don't look a contender this season, which will undoubtedly anger their fans, but they are certainly capable of kicking anyone's ass in the 2.Liga. Aachen has been struggling even worse, and they had a rough time against hopeless Ahlen. Neverthless, a very welcome 3 points for Alemannia, who have been a disaster so far.
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - SC Paderborn 07 3:2 (1:2) 5,412 (Gordon, Stoppelkamp, Petersch - Gonther, Mohr) 1. FC Union Berlin - FSV Frankfurt 1:0 (1:0) 13,519 (Dogan) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Karlsruher SC 1:0 (1:0) 23,950 (Harnik) Arminia Bielefeld - FC Energie Cottbus 2:0 (1:0) 14,100 (Federico, Katongo) Rot Weiss Ahlen - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 0:1 (0:0) 2,920 (Nöthe) FC Augsburg - Alemannia Aachen 0:1 (0:0) 11,879 (Burkhardt) TSV 1860 München - 1. FC K'lautern 0:1 (0:1) 24,000 (Jendrisek) TuS Koblenz - MSV Duisburg 0:3 (0:3) 8,149 (Larsen, Bruno Soares, Caiuby) Hansa Rostock - FC St. Pauli 0:2 (0:0) 21,500 (Lehmann, Naki) Attendance: 125,429 (avg 13,937) 1. (1.) Arminia Bielefeld 11 9 0 2 22:8 +14 27 2. (2.) 1. FC K'lautern 11 7 3 1 16:8 +8 24 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC St. Pauli 11 7 2 2 26:11 +15 23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) 1. FC Union Berlin 11 7 2 2 21:13 +8 23 5. (5.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 11 6 2 3 17:9 +8 20 6. (6.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 11 6 2 3 14:15 -1 20 7. (8.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 11 6 0 5 21:18 +3 18 8. (9.) MSV Duisburg 11 5 2 4 20:18 +2 17 9. (7.) FC Augsburg 11 3 6 2 19:16 +3 15 10. (10.) SC Paderborn 07 11 3 4 4 17:17 0 13 11. (15.) Alemannia Aachen 11 3 4 4 10:14 -4 13 12. (11.) FC Energie Cottbus 11 3 3 5 17:21 -4 12 13. (13.) Karlsruher SC 11 3 3 5 12:16 -4 12 14. (12.) Hansa Rostock 11 4 0 7 15:20 -5 12 15. (14.) TSV 1860 München 11 3 2 6 13:16 -3 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) TuS Koblenz 11 2 3 6 9:17 -8 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) FSV Frankfurt 11 1 2 8 8:25 -17 5 18. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 11 0 2 9 5:20 -15 2
3.Liga - 15th round
The lower divisions can get pretty competitive. Last place Wuppertal hosted leaders Offenbach, but you would have been hard pressed to tell who was who. It was WSV that attacked the Kickers furiously, but an counterattack against the run of play gave Offenbach a lucky halftime edge. However rather than fold up, WSV came out attacking in the 2nd half as well, and eventually were rewarded with the tying goal. They'll need more performances like this if they are to crawl out from the bottom.
Burghausen remained in 2nd with a good draw in Sandhausen, not that anybody really noticed as the two villages squared off. Unterhaching had a huge win away in Dresden, moving into 3rd place. Aue also learned that the league is tough, as they were unable to win against Dortmund's II squad.
VfB Stuttgart II - SV Werder Bremen II 0:1 (0:0) 400 (Ayik) Jahn Regensburg - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 1:1 (0:1) 4,108 (Mayombo og. - Mayombo) Dynamo Dresden - SpVgg Unterhaching 0:2 (0:1) 16,015 (Steegmann, Zillner) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - VfL Osnabrück 2:0 (0:0) 5,521 (Kammlott, Semmer) FC Erzgebirge Aue - Borussia Dortmund II 2:2 (2:1) 9,000 (Curri, Braham - Vrzogic, Piossek) FC Bayern München II - Holstein Kiel 2:1 (2:1) 700 (Ekici 2 - R. Müller) SV 1916 Sandhausen - Wacker Burghausen 0:0 (0:0) 3,900 SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Eintracht Braunschweig 0:0 (0:0) 4,011 Wuppertaler SV - Kickers Offenbach 1:1 (0:1) 4,270 (Lorenz - Mesic) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - FC Ingolstadt 04 0:1 (0:0) 4,840 (Hartmann) Attendance: 52,765 (avg 5,277) 1. (1.) Kickers Offenbach 15 8 4 3 24:11 +13 28 2. (2.) Wacker Burghausen 15 8 3 4 19:21 -2 27 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (6.) SpVgg Unterhaching 15 7 5 3 27:21 +6 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 15 7 4 4 28:21 +7 25 5. (4.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 15 7 4 4 20:17 +3 25 6. (10.) FC Ingolstadt 04 15 7 3 5 28:16 +12 24 7. (7.) Jahn Regensburg 15 6 5 4 21:16 +5 23 8. (5.) VfL Osnabrück 15 7 2 6 22:18 +4 23 9. (9.) Eintracht Braunschweig 15 6 5 4 17:17 0 23 10. (8.) VfB Stuttgart II 15 7 1 7 23:20 +3 22 11. (13.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 15 6 4 5 19:19 0 22 12. (11.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 15 6 3 6 18:17 +1 21 13. (12.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 15 5 5 5 20:21 -1 20 14. (14.) SV Werder Bremen II 15 6 2 7 17:21 -4 20 15. (15.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 15 4 4 7 23:24 -1 16 16. (18.) FC Bayern München II 15 4 4 7 19:32 -13 16 17. (16.) Holstein Kiel 15 4 2 9 19:25 -6 14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (19.) Borussia Dortmund II 15 3 4 8 16:21 -5 13 19. (17.) Dynamo Dresden 15 3 4 8 11:20 -9 13 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 15 3 4 8 16:29 -13 13
DFB Pokal - Achtelfinale
Only one major upset, as 3rd division VfL Osnabrück deservedly beat down Borussia Dortmund in a hard fought match. 4th division sensation Eintracht Trier was clearly shown it's limits by Köln, who essentially strolled to an easy victory. VfB Stuttgart further disgraced themselves by a loss in Fürth, but despite rumors, the board has stated that they love coach Markus Babbel and he's their coach, at least until they decide to fire him later. All other Bundesligists had easy times with their opponents. Eintracht Frankfurt was coming off a close league away loss to Bayern, and a sold out home gave promise for some revenge. And revenge it was, as the Frankfurt players took revenge on their own fans for something or another. Eintracht gave a disugusting performance, basically bending over and holding their ankles. So even an unimpressive Bayern had an easy time. Somewhat raising eyebrows was Duisburg getting reemed in a 2.Liga duel in Augsburg; the Zebras had shown signs of life in the 2.Liga recently.
SpVgg Greuther Fürth - VfB Stuttgart 1:0 (1:0) 11,800 (Nehrig) Eintracht Trier - 1. FC Köln 0:3 (0:2) 10,800 (Novakovic, Mohamad, Maniche) VfL Osnabrück - Borussia Dortmund 3:2 (2:0) 16,130 (Barletta 2, Siegert - Sahin, Barrios) FC Augsburg - MSV Duisburg 5:0 (1:0) 12,203 (Torghelle 2, Thurk, Möhrle, Ndjeng) TSV 1860 München - FC Schalke 04 0:3 (0:1) 28,500 (Rafinha, Höwedes 2) SV Werder Bremen - 1. FC K'lautern 3:0 (2:0) 26,094 (Pasanen, Borowski, Oehrl) 1899 Hoffenheim - TuS Koblenz 4:0 (0:0) 18,050 (Salihovic, Ibisevic, Maicosuel, Compper) Eintracht Frankfurt - FC Bayern München 0:4 (0:3) 51,500 (Klose 2, T.Müller, Toni)
Bundesliga - 10th round
Things tighten up as the leaders struggled to draws; it doesn't seem like anybody is willing to seize the day and table. Also significant is that Hertha actually didn't suck.
Leverkusen tops the table, but they had a hard time with Dortmund. Largely in control early, the Aspirins found themselves behind and had to scramble back into the match against a determined Neon visitor. Certainly one of the better defensive displays by Dortmund, and Leverkusen has to be happy with a point, since they easily could have blown it.
The match of the round turned out to be in Gelsenkirchen. Hamburg was playing like a champion, and assuredly was slapping hosts Schalke around 2-0 at half. The Schalkers looked like they'd be going down in flames. However at halftime, coach Felix Magath (who made his fine playing career at HSV) rallied his troops, perhaps by placing his boot up their collective butts. In any case, the Blues came storming out and the match turned into a wild shootout. Just when it looked like the Schalke assault would perhaps yield them a famous win, HSV struck ice-cold, once again the young Swede Markus Berg finished. Berg was highly touted, and seems to be hitting his stride now. But Kevin Kuranyi also hit back with his second, so the match ended in a thrilling 3-3. Both teams could argue that they could have won, so in the end, a draw is a fair result. So HSV continues to impress in the league, but I'm not sure that Schalke should be taken seriously yet. In addition, rumours continue to abound regarding their financial meltdown.
Bremen continues to give signs that they're back as a contender. Despite falling behind with a blitz Bochum first minute goal, Werder calmly proceeded to whip their host's ass. The youngsters Marin and Özil made their mark, and VfL had nothing to resist. This crappy performance indicates that Bochum looks like a solid relegation candidate. Meanwhile, Bremen are looking sharp, with a surprisingly solid defense matched with an effective attack. Champion material? On basis of Bayern struggling and the race being wide open, you'd have to say they're actually the inside favorite!
Bayern München had a crappy performance, and even managed to fall behind against Frankfurt. However, it was pretty clear that Bayern was really just playing against themselves, as the visitors really showed nothing. In the end, Bayern eventually willed themselves to a win; it could have been easier, but given their recent lackadaisical performances, I'm sure van Gaal will take it.
Hoffenheim thumped Nürnberg, but score is somewhat misleading. For most of the match, der Club was an equal opponent to Hoffenheim, but the difference was the hosts had lethal finishing. Obviously, a nice result for the Hoppers, but not a total disaster for Nürnberg, since it wasn't a lame outing.
Stuttgart is in full blown disaster mode. Once again VfB stunk up the joint, this time another loss, in Hannover. The 96ers hardly covered themselves with glory, but they'll take the points. With Stuttgart floundering, press speculation is that coach Markus Babbel might get canned soon. He was largely responsible for Stuttgart's revival last season, so he hardly seems to be the problem, but like they say, you can't fire all the players. Hannover grinds out critical home points that will see them survive another season.
Mainz and Freiburg, two promoted clubs, delivered an entertaining and even match. But Mainz had deadly finishing, and the run out with an impressive scoreline, although undoubtedly Freiburg deserved better. Mainz continues to impress, since I think most pundits figured they would be cannon fodder. Freiburg continues to play decently as well, but their finishing obviously needs some work.
Hertha BSC had their first "non-suck" performance in a while. The Berliners came out strong against defending champion Wolfsburg, actually had the VWs back on their heals. However, their pressure and effort were not sustainable, and depite their first half edge, Hertha had nothing to show for it. (Although I suppose you could argue that not losing by half-time was positive.) In the 2nd period, Wolfsburg gradually began to exert control over the match, but despite their superiority, it wasn't enough to get the goal. So all things considered, a nice point for Hertha, a lost opportunity for Wolfsburg.
Gladbach and Köln delivered a grim Rhein derby. The visitors were content to catenaccio their way to a point, and perhaps try to steal a victory with a rare counterattack. Gladbach on the other hand was rather clueless on how to break down Köln's defense, so a scoreless final is the not surprising result. I would say this is a much better result for Köln, as the point comes away to a relegation rival.
Bayer Leverkusen - Borussia Dortmund 1:1 (0:1) 30,210 (Friedrich - Barrios) FC Bayern München - Eintracht Frankfurt 2:1 (0:0) 69,000 (Robben, van Buyten - Meier) 1899 Hoffenheim - 1. FC Nürnberg 3:0 (2:0) 30,150 (Eichner, Ibisevic, Zuculini) Hannover 96 - VfB Stuttgart 1:0 (1:0) 34,423 (Ya Konan) Borussia M'gladbach - 1. FC Köln 0:0 (0:0) 54,067 1. FSV Mainz 05 - SC Freiburg 3:0 (1:0) 20,150 (Ivanschitz, Hoogland 2) Hertha BSC Berlin - VfL Wolfsburg 0:0 (0:0) 36,799 FC Schalke 04 - Hamburger SV 3:3 (0:2) 61,673 (Kuranyi 2, Schmitz - Berg 2, Trochowski) VfL Bochum - SV Werder Bremen 1:4 (1:2) 25,703 (Sestak - Hunt, Marin, Borowski, Özil) Attendance: 362,175 (avg 40,242) 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 10 6 4 0 19:6 +13 22 2. (2.) Hamburger SV 10 6 4 0 23:11 +12 22 3. (4.) SV Werder Bremen 10 6 3 1 20:7 +13 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) FC Schalke 04 10 6 2 2 16:9 +7 20 5. (6.) FC Bayern München 10 5 3 2 17:9 +8 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (7.) 1899 Hoffenheim 10 5 2 3 18:9 +9 17 7. (5.) VfL Wolfsburg 10 5 2 3 18:16 +2 17 8. (8.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 10 5 2 3 15:14 +1 17 9. (9.) Eintracht Frankfurt 10 3 4 3 11:13 -2 13 10. (10.) Borussia Dortmund 10 3 4 3 10:14 -4 13 11. (12.) Hannover 96 10 3 3 4 13:12 +1 12 12. (11.) SC Freiburg 10 3 1 6 14:22 -8 10 13. (14.) 1. FC Köln 10 2 3 5 6:10 -4 9 14. (13.) VfB Stuttgart 10 2 2 6 10:15 -5 8 15. (17.) Borussia M'gladbach 10 2 2 6 10:18 -8 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (15.) 1. FC Nürnberg 10 2 2 6 7:15 -8 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (16.) VfL Bochum 10 2 2 6 10:21 -11 8 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 10 1 1 8 7:23 -16 4
2.Liga - 10th round
Bielefeld has seized control of the 2.Liga. Well, at least they've opened a little breathing room for themselves. Arminia dominated the Westfalen derby with Paderborn, easily winning that struggle. (Paderborn can't be too unhappy, since they experienced a rare sold-out stadium). Kaiserslautern suffers their first defeat, as a large crowd witnessed a clever Düsseldorf team grab all the points. Despite the loss, it seems pretty clear that FCK is a serious contender for a return to the Bundesliga, and after many years in the wilderness, perhaps Fortuna needs to be considered as an eventual prospect as well. FCK maintained their 2nd place, as St.Pauli could not win at home to Cottbus. Union Berlin stopped their slide with an impressive away win in Aachen, who are now in total crisis. AA has a respectable (if failed) Bundesliga campaign a couple of seasons back, and certainly expected to be a promotion contender. Instead they find themselves nervously assuring themselves that there are at least 3 crappier squads.
At the bottom, two of crap squads showed signs of life. FSV Frankfurt got their first win, against 1860, another famed club that is dicking around aimlessly. And Koblenz got an impressive away win at Greuther Fürth. The hero was oldtimer Shefki Kuqi, the Kosovan-Albanian Finnish international, whom English fans would probably recognize from his long term and popular stay with various Championship and crappy EPL clubs. (BTW, his younger brother has played in Germany for a while, but I forget his name. Probably something like Coochie Kuqi...). Anyway, the point is that Koblenz has served notice that they're not dead yet, despite my Monty-Pythonesque "Holy Grail" attempts to declare them deceased...
SpVgg Greuther Fürth - TuS Koblenz 1:2 (1:2) 5,600 (Allagui - S.Kuqi 2) 1. FC K'lautern - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:2 (0:2) 41,491 (Jovanovic 2) Rot Weiss Ahlen - FC Augsburg 1:3 (0:1) 3,458 (Reichwein - Ndjeng, Thurk, Torghelle) MSV Duisburg - Hansa Rostock 3:1 (3:0) 11,134 (Fahrenhorst, Ben Hatira, Yankov - Retov) FSV Frankfurt - TSV 1860 München 3:2 (1:0) 5,027 (Gjasula, Cenci, Cidimar - Mlapa, Aigner) Karlsruher SC - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 1:1 (0:0) 17,000 (Fink - Kaya) Alemannia Aachen - 1. FC Union Berlin 1:4 (0:2) 26,050 (Demai - Mattuschka, Mosquera 2, Stuff) FC St. Pauli - FC Energie Cottbus 1:1 (0:0) 23,254 (Kruse - Kweuke) SC Paderborn 07 - Arminia Bielefeld 0:2 (0:1) 15,000 (Mijatovic, Federico) Attendance: 148,014 (avg 16,446) 1. (1.) Arminia Bielefeld 10 8 0 2 20:8 +12 24 2. (2.) 1. FC K'lautern 10 6 3 1 15:8 +7 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) FC St. Pauli 10 6 2 2 24:11 +13 20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) 1. FC Union Berlin 10 6 2 2 20:13 +7 20 5. (7.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 10 5 2 3 16:9 +7 17 6. (5.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 10 5 2 3 11:13 -2 17 7. (9.) FC Augsburg 10 3 6 1 19:15 +4 15 8. (6.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 10 5 0 5 20:18 +2 15 9. (13.) MSV Duisburg 10 4 2 4 17:18 -1 14 10. (8.) SC Paderborn 07 10 3 4 3 15:14 +1 13 11. (12.) FC Energie Cottbus 10 3 3 4 17:19 -2 12 12. (10.) Hansa Rostock 10 4 0 6 15:18 -3 12 13. (14.) Karlsruher SC 10 3 3 4 12:15 -3 12 14. (11.) TSV 1860 München 10 3 2 5 13:15 -2 11 15. (15.) Alemannia Aachen 10 2 4 4 9:14 -5 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) TuS Koblenz 10 2 3 5 9:14 -5 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (18.) FSV Frankfurt 10 1 2 7 8:24 -16 5 18. (17.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 10 0 2 8 5:19 -14 2
3.Liga - 14th round
More of the same. Lots of clubs tightly packed together, so if you can go on a win streak, you could really make some moves.
Offenbach continues to top the table, a win over a tough newcomer, Heidenheim. So far, the Kickers look like the best team, but they haven't been able to establish any distance between them and the pack of rabid dogs chasing promotion. Burghausen certainly is crap, but they eek out wins and hold 2nd. Erstwhile runner-up Aue crashed and burned in Osnabrück, who look to be back in the race.
An important road win for Wuppertaler SV, who get the winner from new signing, Argie forward Sergio Formento. He was probably working at a Gaucho style BBQ restaurant chopping steaks when he was discovered by WSV's brilliant scouts. He and another new signing, Stefan Lorenz (who had a beer in the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg and about 27 2.Liga matches with Essen) went straight into the starting lineup before the ink on their contract was dry. Meanwhile, the press still confuses him with WSV's other Argie, midfielder Lorenzon. The victory however was largely due to the sharp saves of veteran GK Christian Maly... Well, at least Wuppertal is now within striking distance of a non-relegation spot.
FC Ingolstadt 04 - Dynamo Dresden 0:0 (0:0) 4,600 Borussia Dortmund II - FC Bayern München II 0:2 (0:1) 2,077 (Sikorski, Yilmaz) VfL Osnabrück - FC Erzgebirge Aue 3:1 (0:0) 10,400 (Heidrich, Schmidt, Lindemann - Glasner) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Jahn Regensburg 0:0 (0:0) 4,632 Kickers Offenbach - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 2:1 (1:0) 8,016 (Pospischil, St.Haas - Schnatterer) SV Werder Bremen II - Wuppertaler SV 0:1 (0:1) 750 (Formento) Eintracht Braunschweig - VfB Stuttgart II 4:3 (1:3) 10,150 (Onuegbu, Calamita, Kruppke 2 - Vier, Schwarz, Schipplock) Wacker Burghausen - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 2:0 (0:0) 2,650 (Kurz, El Haj Ali) Holstein Kiel - SV 1916 Sandhausen 0:0 (0:0) 3,915 SpVgg Unterhaching - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 3:1 (1:0) 3,300 (Steegmann 2, Kanca - Benyamina) Attendance: 50,490 (avg 5,049) 1. (1.) Kickers Offenbach 14 8 3 3 23:10 +13 27 2. (4.) Wacker Burghausen 14 8 2 4 19:21 -2 26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 14 7 3 4 28:21 +7 24 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (2.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 14 7 3 4 18:15 +3 24 5. (8.) VfL Osnabrück 14 7 2 5 22:16 +6 23 6. (10.) SpVgg Unterhaching 14 6 5 3 25:21 +4 23 7. (6.) Jahn Regensburg 14 6 4 4 20:15 +5 22 8. (5.) VfB Stuttgart II 14 7 1 6 23:19 +4 22 9. (12.) Eintracht Braunschweig 14 6 4 4 17:17 0 22 10. (7.) FC Ingolstadt 04 14 6 3 5 27:16 +11 21 11. (9.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 14 6 2 6 18:17 +1 20 12. (11.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 14 5 4 5 19:20 -1 19 13. (13.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 14 5 4 5 17:19 -2 19 14. (14.) SV Werder Bremen II 14 5 2 7 16:21 -5 17 15. (15.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 14 4 4 6 23:23 0 16 16. (16.) Holstein Kiel 14 4 2 8 18:23 -5 14 17. (18.) Dynamo Dresden 14 3 4 7 11:18 -7 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (19.) FC Bayern München II 14 3 4 7 17:31 -14 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19. (17.) Borussia Dortmund II 14 3 3 8 14:19 -5 12 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 14 3 3 8 15:28 -13 12
Euro results
Basically Germany's results in Euro competition sucked. The Champions League produced embarassment. Champs VfL Wolfsburg were held 0-0 at home by Besiktas. VfB Stuttgart crashed 1-3 at home to Sevilla, although they perhaps deserved better. And Bayern München lost 1-2 at Bordeaux. Bayern's loss was actually the most disgraceful, as they took the early lead and then essentially phoned it in. Youngster Thomas Müller responded to Uli Hoeness call to concentrate more on his club by getting red-carded, but Bayern was playing a cynical game of doing nothing anyway.
The Worthless Europa League also hardly did the Bundesliga proud. At least HSV managed a result, 1-0 away win at Celtic Glasgow. Werder Bremen had the lead, but could only draw 2-2 at Austria Wien (Vienna). And of course, Hertha BSC lost 0-1 at home to Dutch club Heerenveen. Quel surprise.
Useless info department
OK, this is pretty much summed up in the title, but it's a nice tidbit. I've argued before that "Der Bomber der Nation", Gerd Müller, is probably the greatest goal scorer in the history of the game. It's hard to envision anybody ever surpassing his Bundesliga career scoring record (I think it's around 365), although I suppose his single season record (40) might conceivably be reached, once steroids becomes popular in like that other sport that had all sorts of records broken. However, to really see where Müller shined, take a look at his international record.
The info below was taken off an internet news-group, and shows the top scorers for various national teams, based on a minimum of 40 caps. Illustrious company no doubt, and it's pretty hard to argue that Müller doesn't look pretty good. One point needing to be made is that countries play a lot more internationals these days, so players from the 50's and earlier have no chance of making the list. And even from players on the list, it's biased towards recent players. (I saw a stat that indicated that Brazil played some 150 matches from the mid-60s through 80s, and then about 230 over the next 20 years)
All players are basically forwards, although I've included a couple of midfielders in Germany's numbers...and I'll probably add some others as well once I remember some names.
Player Career Caps Goals GPC GERMANY: Müller 66-74 62 68 1.10 <--------- Der Bomber rules!! Fischer 77-82 45 32 0.71 Seeler 54-70 72 43 0.60 Walter 40-58 61 33 0.54 Bierhoff 96-02 70 37 0.53 Völler 82-94 90 47 0.52 Klose 01- 93 48 0.52 Rahn 51-60 40 21 0.52 Podolski 04- 68 35 0.51 Rummenigge 76-86 95 45 0.47 Ballack 99- 94 43 0.46 Lehner 33-42 65 30 0.46 Kirsten 92-00 51 21 0.41 Kuranyi 03-08 48 19 0.40 Möller 88-99 85 33 0.39 Riedle 88-94 42 16 0.38 Allofs 78-88 56 17 0.30 Littbarski 81-90 73 18 0.25 ARGENTINA: Batistuta 91-02 78 56 0.72 Crespo 95-07 64 36 0.56 Luque 75-81 45 22 0.49 Kempes 73-82 43 20 0.47 Maradona 77-94 91 34 0.37 Messi 04- 42 12 0.29 Tévez 04- 49 8 0.16 BRAZIL: Pelé 57-71 92 77 0.84 Romário 87-05 70 55 0.79 Zico 76-88 72 52 0.72 Ronaldo 94-06 97 62 0.64 Tostao 66-72 54 32 0.59 Adriano 05- 47 27 0.57 Bebeto 85-98 75 39 0.52 Careca 82-93 60 29 0.48 Rivaldo 93-03 74 34 0.46 Robinho 98-07 72 19 0.26 ITALY: Riva 65-74 42 35 0.83 Meazza 30-39 53 33 0.62 Baggio 88-04 56 27 0.48 Vieri 97-05 49 23 0.47 Bettega 75-83 42 19 0.45 Inzaghi 97-07 57 25 0.44 Rossi 77-86 48 20 0.42 SPAIN: Villa 05- 52 33 0.63 Morientes 98-07 47 27 0.57 Raúl 96- 102 44 0.43 Salinas 86-96 56 23 0.41 Butragueño 84-92 69 26 0.38 Torres 03- 71 23 0.32 HOLLAND: Cruijff 66-77 48 33 0.69 van Nistelrooy 98-08 64 33 0.52 Kluivert 94-04 79 40 0.51 Bergkamp 90-00 79 37 0.47 van Basten 83-92 58 24 0.41 van Hooijdonk 94-04 46 14 0.30 Rensenbrink 68-79 46 14 0.30 Rep 73-81 42 12 0.29 Makaay 96-05 43 6 0.14 ENGLAND: Greaves 59-67 57 44 0.77 Lineker 84-92 80 48 0.60 Shearer 92-00 63 30 0.48 Owen 98- 89 40 0.45 Charlton 58-70 106 49 0.46 Finney 46-58 76 30 0.39 Keegan 74-81 63 21 0.33 FRANCE: Platini 76-87 72 41 0.57 Papin 86-95 54 30 0.55 Trezeguet 98- 71 34 0.48 Henry 99- 113 51 0.45 Cantona 87-95 45 20 0.44 Zidane 94-06 108 31 0.29
Bundesliga - 9th round
No real significant moves this week. I actually feel the top story is the continued drop of Hertha BSC, who seem incapable of playing football, forget about attaching the term "decent".
The top clash in Hamburg between HSV and Leverkusen proved to be a snoozer, as neither club seemed interested in doing anything. Rather than their usual offensive orientation, Bayer was bent on shutting down their hosts, and HSV was unable to force anything. Goose eggs for everybody.
Schalke may be struggling in multiple departments, but they're not off to a bad start. They've actually been grinding out points to go with their unimpressive performances, so coach Felix Magath seems to be having a positive effect. Stuttgart on the other hand can be considered to be in crisis mode now. VfB has been sucking, falling totally out of contention for anything. But for goal difference, they would be in a relegation spot. Isn't about time they they fired their coach? VfB seems to do that on a regular basis. But if they hold tight, they'll probably be able to pull a Podolski and buy back Mario Gomez from Bayern soon enough.
Bayern München hardly looked impressive against promoted Freiburg, and it was only thanks to youngster Thomas Müller that they come out on top. Interesting that Business Manager Uli Hoeness has come out and stated that all talk about Müller being ready for the national squad is hogwash, and that Müller needs to concentrate on his club. Undoubtedly, Hoeness is correct, and although sometimes it's hard to take this blowhard seriously, he's been generally on the money. On the other hand, Van Gaal's charges look pretty clumsy, as once again the highly priced talent fails to impress. They seem unmotivated. Time to bring back Jupp Heynckes, hehehe. Freiburg was clearly overmatched, but wasn't expecting points in this one anyway. So far, they've actually managed to play some decent football, a nice accomplishment given their usual mini-budget.
Werder Bremen looks like they're truly back. They faced a tough Hoffenheim squad, but looked the better side, coming out with a deserved victory. So after a weak start, the Bremers are a team to contend with. The loss is no disaster for Hoffenheim, who show that they are a solid team, but they have to realize that contention for the title is beyond their reach.
Defending champs Wolfsburg struggled against Gladbach, but in the end, did just enough to win. Especially late in the game, the VWs seemed to have run out of gas, and were forced onto their back-heels by the visitors. But the champs defended their 1-0 lead, until scoring the decider in injury time. Gladbach came back immediately, but just for the final whistle. While Wolfsburg can only be happy about the result, for Gladbach, a somewhat ecouraging encounter, considering it was on the road against a tough opponent.
Köln comes up with a huge win, which is really somewhat embarassing. How can you consider a match against Mainz huge?! But there you have it, and the Kölners went about their business grimly, with a catenaccio tight defense meant on destroying all play. You might have wondered who was the home team. But Mainz is simply not good enough to really take it to their opponents away, so Köln's cynical play was rewarded, much to the relief of the fans, who probably would have rioted if they hadn't kept the points. Novakovic, who scored many an important goal in last year's successful campaign, got the winner. You have to wonder though when Podolski wonders if he'll ever make the right choice. I think if he had stuck at Bayern, he'd be a starter under van Gaal...
Another huge relegation battle, this time in Nürnberg. And the outcome was the same as others, as der Club totally bitch-slapped the completely demoralized Hertha BSC. The Berliners must surely face the realization that unless something drastic happens, they are doomed. Their collapse is quite swift, but not all that shocking, when you look at the terrible club management. Coach Friedhelm Funkel is probably wondering what a mess he's gotten himself into. Meanwhile, for Nürnberg, obviously a good result. If they could play Hertha 3-4 more times, salvation would be a snap.
The mini-Ruhr derby was in fact pretty lame. Dortmund wins by default, as basically Bochum was totally crap. For Borussia, welcome points, as they seem to be recovering from their early aimless drift. Most observors rate Bochum's performance as "desolate", so obviously they have some work to do. You're not expecting Brazil 1970 when you're a Bochum fan, but you do expect fight, and they clearly showed none of that.
Frankfurt got their act together and downed Hannover. Neither team was overly impressive, but Eintracht controlled the match and come out with a deserved win. This also means they're floating safely above relegation, but despite the illusion of being only 3 points away from Europe, they might as well be on Mars.
VfB Stuttgart - FC Schalke 04 1:2 (0:1) 42,000 (Cacau - Rakitic, Kuranyi) SV Werder Bremen - 1899 Hoffenheim 2:0 (2:0) 33,916 (Pizarro, Mertesacker) 1. FC Köln - 1. FSV Mainz 05 1:0 (1:0) 49,000 (Novakovic) Eintracht Frankfurt - Hannover 96 2:1 (1:0) 40,700 (Liberopoulos, Meier - Stajner) SC Freiburg - FC Bayern München 1:2 (0:1) 24,000 (Reisinger - Müller, Cha o.g.) 1. FC Nürnberg - Hertha BSC Berlin 3:0 (2:0) 38,094 (Gygax, Bunjaku 2) Hamburger SV - Bayer Leverkusen 0:0 (0:0) 57,000 VfL Wolfsburg - Borussia M'gladbach 2:1 (1:0) 30,000 (Madlung, Gentner - Bradley) Borussia Dortmund - VfL Bochum 2:0 (1:0) 72,500 (Barrios, Subotic) Attendance: 387,210 (avg 43,023) 1. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 9 6 3 0 18:5 +13 21 2. (2.) Hamburger SV 9 6 3 0 20:8 +12 21 3. (3.) FC Schalke 04 9 6 1 2 13:6 +7 19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) SV Werder Bremen 9 5 3 1 16:6 +10 18 5. (7.) VfL Wolfsburg 9 5 1 3 18:16 +2 16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (8.) FC Bayern München 9 4 3 2 15:8 +7 15 7. (5.) 1899 Hoffenheim 9 4 2 3 15:9 +6 14 8. (6.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 9 4 2 3 12:14 -2 14 9. (9.) Eintracht Frankfurt 9 3 4 2 10:11 -1 13 10. (12.) Borussia Dortmund 9 3 3 3 9:13 -4 12 11. (10.) SC Freiburg 9 3 1 5 14:19 -5 10 12. (11.) Hannover 96 9 2 3 4 12:12 0 9 13. (13.) VfB Stuttgart 9 2 2 5 10:14 -4 8 14. (16.) 1. FC Köln 9 2 2 5 6:10 -4 8 15. (17.) 1. FC Nürnberg 9 2 2 5 7:12 -5 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (14.) VfL Bochum 9 2 2 5 9:17 -8 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (15.) Borussia M'gladbach 9 2 1 6 10:18 -8 7 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 9 1 0 8 7:23 -16 3
2.Liga - 9th round
Good results for the top teams. While Bielefeld squeaked by a tough Aachen club (who have not been getting points due to their anemic "offense"), Kaiserslautern won an important away match in Cottbus, which is always a difficult fixture, even when Energie was in the Bundesliga. St.Pauli meanwhile grabbed points in Oberhausen. It's hard to determine whether the greater surprise is that RWO is off to a good start or rather that a couple of fans showed up to watch them, but any way you slice it, a good win for the visitors. Early surprise Union Berlin suffered their first home loss, and are in danger of falling behind in the promotion race. Perhaps Union is more interested in the upcoming Berlin derby with Hertha next season...
It's beginning to look like the auto-relegation spots are determined. Ahlen did manage to gain an away point against Koblenz, which undoubtedly irks the home team no end. FSV Frankfurt was happily sailing along in Düsseldorf until the hosts woke up and bitch-slapped them. Both Ahlen and FSV seem to have indicated that they're too crap, and it's beginning to look like Koblenz is too weak as well. In that case, the relegation story is all wrapped up - it's hard to imagine a scenario where any of the next 6 squads (all ex-Bundesliga clubs) would be worse than Koblenz. It's been a nice little run for Koblenz, but they're too small. As for FSV, they're too much in the shadow of Eintracht. And Ahlen? Well, their own fans are already missing in action, so why would anybody care?
Arminia Bielefeld - Alemannia Aachen 1:0 (1:0) 15,200 (Janjic) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - FC St. Pauli 1:3 (1:0) 10,124 (Stoppelkamp - Ebbers, Brune, Kruse) FC Energie Cottbus - 1. FC K'lautern 1:2 (1:1) 12,670 (Kweuke - Ilicevic, Paljic) TSV 1860 München - MSV Duisburg 3:1 (1:0) 19,200 (Holebas, Mlapa, Lauth - Larsen) Hansa Rostock - SC Paderborn 07 1:2 (0:1) 14,000 (Sebastian - Alushi, Manno) FC Augsburg - Karlsruher SC 1:1 (1:1) 17,228 (Thurk - Stindl) TuS Koblenz - Rot Weiss Ahlen 1:1 (1:0) 7,031 (Lense - Toborg) Fortuna Düsseldorf - FSV Frankfurt 4:1 (0:1) 19,100 (Harnik, Langenecke, Jovanovic, Christ - Cenci) 1. FC Union Berlin - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1:2 (0:2) 14,150 (Sahin - Mauersberger, Nehrig) Attendance: 128,703 (avg 14,300) 1. (1.) Arminia Bielefeld 9 7 0 2 18:8 +10 21 2. (2.) 1. FC K'lautern 9 6 3 0 15:6 +9 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (4.) FC St. Pauli 9 6 1 2 23:10 +13 19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) 1. FC Union Berlin 9 5 2 2 16:12 +4 17 5. (5.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 9 5 1 3 10:12 -2 16 6. (6.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 9 5 0 4 19:16 +3 15 7. (9.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 9 4 2 3 14:9 +5 14 8. (12.) SC Paderborn 07 9 3 4 2 15:12 +3 13 9. (8.) FC Augsburg 9 2 6 1 16:14 +2 12 10. (7.) Hansa Rostock 9 4 0 5 14:15 -1 12 11. (15.) TSV 1860 München 9 3 2 4 11:12 -1 11 12. (10.) FC Energie Cottbus 9 3 2 4 16:18 -2 11 13. (11.) MSV Duisburg 9 3 2 4 14:17 -3 11 14. (14.) Karlsruher SC 9 3 2 4 11:14 -3 11 15. (13.) Alemannia Aachen 9 2 4 3 8:10 -2 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) TuS Koblenz 9 1 3 5 7:13 -6 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 9 0 2 7 4:16 -12 2 18. (17.) FSV Frankfurt 9 0 2 7 5:22 -17 2
3.Liga - 13th round
Leaders Offenbach get a big win in Dresden, and Aue has really come from nowhere to grab 2nd. The 3.Liga looks wide open, although Offenbach seems like they have somewhat of an advantage, given the fact that they're a relatively "big" club here.
Wuppertal and Braunschweig battled to a draw in the Zoo-Stadion. At least it wasn't a loss, although WSV can't be overly happy with their performance, as they turned the game over to the vistors after taking the lead. But since all the other relegation battling teams lost, WSV sneaks ever closer to the pack. The next thing they should do is drop the ridiculous "Borussia" from their name, erasing all traces of that worthless merger.
Dynamo Dresden - Kickers Offenbach 2:4 (2:2) 21,182 (Savran, Dobry - St.Haas, Mesic 2, Zinnow) Jahn Regensburg - SpVgg Unterhaching 1:3 (0:3) 3,000 (Steegmann o.g. - T.Schweinsteiger 2, Mitterhuber) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - FC Ingolstadt 04 2:0 (0:0) 5,099 (Lukimya, Holwijn) FC Bayern München II - VfL Osnabrück 1:1 (0:1) 700 (Haas - Hansen) SV 1916 Sandhausen - Borussia Dortmund II 3:2 (3:0) 2,100 (Dorn 2, Ristic - Hille, Boztepe) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Holstein Kiel 2:1 (0:0) 3,148 (Ziegenbein, A. Öztürk - Holt) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - Eintracht Braunschweig 1:1 (1:0) 3,350 (Celikovic - Onuegbu) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - SV Werder Bremen II 1:2 (0:1) 4,220 (Jarosch - Testroet 2) FC Erzgebirge Aue - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 2:0 (1:0) 10,150 (Ramaj, Hochscheidt) VfB Stuttgart II - Wacker Burghausen 1:0 (1:0) 500 (Funk) Attendance: 53,449 (avg 5,345) 1. (2.) Kickers Offenbach 13 7 3 3 21:9 +12 24 2. (4.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 13 7 3 3 17:12 +5 24 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (6.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 13 7 2 4 28:21 +7 23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (1.) Wacker Burghausen 13 7 2 4 17:21 -4 23 5. (7.) VfB Stuttgart II 13 7 1 5 20:15 +5 22 6. (3.) Jahn Regensburg 13 6 3 4 20:15 +5 21 7. (5.) FC Ingolstadt 04 13 6 2 5 27:16 +11 20 8. (8.) VfL Osnabrück 13 6 2 5 19:15 +4 20 9. (11.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 13 6 2 5 18:15 +3 20 10. (12.) SpVgg Unterhaching 13 5 5 3 22:20 +2 20 11. (14.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 13 5 4 4 18:17 +1 19 12. (10.) Eintracht Braunschweig 13 5 4 4 13:14 -1 19 13. (9.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 13 5 3 5 17:19 -2 18 14. (15.) SV Werder Bremen II 13 5 2 6 16:20 -4 17 15. (13.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 13 4 4 5 22:21 +1 16 16. (16.) Holstein Kiel 13 4 1 8 18:23 -5 13 17. (17.) Borussia Dortmund II 13 3 3 7 14:17 -3 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) Dynamo Dresden 13 3 3 7 11:18 -7 12 19. (19.) FC Bayern München II 13 2 4 7 15:31 -16 10 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor 13 2 3 8 14:28 -14 9
Germany in
In the decisive World Cup qualifier, Germany defeated Russia 1-0, in front of 85,000 in Moscow's Luzhinki stadium. The Russians actually looked the better team, but Miro Klose snuck in to fire an open goal after 35 minutes, and GK Rene Adler was in top form. In fact, based on his performance, he is probably the new no.1. No more Jens Lehmann. HSV defender Jerome Boateng celebrated his debut for the DFB by getting his ass red-carded (double yellow). So Germany wins the group, even if they lay an egg against Finland in their final match. To bad for the Russkis, but they get another chance in the playoffs.
Who pays out the money?
This is an interesting list, the top earners by club. Obviously, some clubs such as Bayern München will have players that undoubtedly earn more than the top earners on other clubs, but this list is just showing who makes the most on each club.
Most of the clubs have the top earner also being a top contributor. The exceptions are obviously Bayern (although Toni was pretty good in the last couple of seasons) and Eintracht Frankfurt - Mahdavikia doesn't even play because he sucks. Also interesting are some factoids: Arne Friedrich took a 500,000 euro paycut because Hertha said they couldn't afford it anymore. In return, he gets out of his contract early. Paul Freier took a 50% paycut to move from Bayer Leverkusen to his old hometown club Bochum. I believe that Lukas Podolski also took a big paycut to leave bayern and go back to Köln. Hoffenheim's Brazilian midfielder Carlos Eduardo was the 2.Liga's highest ever transfer, costing some 8 million euros. Alex Hleb is on a free loan from Barcelona, but Stuttgart pays 100% of his salary. Kevin Kuranyi looks to be the big name looking for a new club, as indications are Schalke can't afford to sign him again. Robert Enke's contract runs out, but Hannover will likely offer him more.
009-10 Bundesliga: Top earners by Club (millions of Euros) Bayern München - Luca Toni (32) F 10.0 VfB Stuttgart - Aliaksandr Hleb (28) M 6.5 VfL Wolfsburg - Grafite (30) F 5.0 Werder Bremen - Claudio Pizarro (30) F 4.2 Schalke 04 - Kevin Kuranyi (27) F 3.8 Bor. Dortmund - Sebastian Kehl (29) M 3.5 Hamburger SV - Zé Roberto (35) M 3.5 TSG Hoffenheim - Carlos Eduardo (22) M 3.2 Bayer Leverkusen - Patrick Helmes (25) F 3.0 Hertha BSC - Arne Friedrich (30) D 3.0 1. FC Köln - Lukas Podolski (24) F 2.5 Hannover 96 - Robert Enke (32) GK 2.3 Ein. Frankfurt - Mehdi Mahdavikia (32) M 2.0 1. FC Nürnberg - Angelos Charisteas (29) F 1.8 Mönchengladbach - Juan Arango (29) M 1.8 VfL Bochum - Paul Freier (30) M 0.8 FSV Mainz - Nikolce Noveski (30) D 0.7 SC Freiburg - Heiko Buscher (29) D 0.6
Horst Szymaniak dies
Former Wuppertaler SV great Horst Szymaniak died on Friday at the age of 75. A very gifted midfielder, he was capped 43 times for Germany. He started his career with worthless SpVgg Erkenschwick, and then saw the light and transferred to Wuppertaler SV, where he was one of the squad's star players in the 1950s. Importantly, he became the first German "legionaire" to leave for Italy's Serie A when he transferred to Catania in 1962, to gain the benefits of full professiionalism. He also eventually played for Inter Milan and AS Varese, before returning to Bundesliga for a brief spell with the legendary Tasmania 1900 Berlin. He wound up playing a bit in the NASL as well. Aside from being a skilled midfielder, he was also known for his goofy quotes. He would probably be ranked 2nd among all-time favorite WSV heroes, behind Günter Pröpper, although objectively speaking, he was a better player.
Misc news
A surprise for Kickers Offenbach: the successful 3.Liga club, currently in 2nd place, has to look for a new coach. Hans-Jürgen Boysen stunned the club by resigning. To make matters worse, the rumour is that Boysen is going to take over for hopeless 2.Liga club FSV Frankfurt. Seems a bit strange, since if he waited a year, Kickers will probably be in the 2.Liga, and FSV back in the 3rd, and it would seem that Kickers has more financial resources. Bad news for Hamburg: Goal scoring forward Mladen Petric is out for the rest of first half campaign. Apparently he had to undergo surgery on some joint, I think it was an ankle. In any case, he'll be out until after winterbreak. Of course, HSV was already suffering up front, since Pablo Guerrero went down early in the season. Just the other day, there was some news that Guerrero may be back faster than expected, but for the next few weeks, HSV is definitely going to have to come up with some new ideas to score goals. Favre comes clean....sort of. Swiss coach Lucien Favre, just fired by hapless Hertha BSC, gave his side of the story at a press conference. He admitted to some mistakes, and was generally supportive of ex-general manager Dieter Hoeness. (What a lap-dog, Hoeness sucked). But he also criticized the cheapskate Hertha management. No real surprise here. Hertha's transfer policy over the last few years seems to be "get rid of good players". In fairness to Hoeness, he's obviously less talented than his borther Uli, but he did try to raise Hertha's profile. It's just that he failed across the board. Favre actually managed to get quite a bit out of the declining talent pool: last season Hertha was even a pace setter. But that's the rub with crap, boring play: once you stop grinding out the points, expect a swift ass-kick out the door once you start losing. There's nothing worse than a boring loser. Coach opening in Dresden 3.Liga strugglers Dynamo Dresden fired their coach Ruud Kaiser as they slipped into relegation. Crap preparation for national squad. The DFB team has the critical World Cup Qualifier in Moscow against Russia. A draw is all that's really needed, but a loss likely forces them into the playoffs. However coach Löw's troops aren't exactly bearing down in practice: the national team played against FSV Mainz U23 selection and lost 0-1! OK, it was only practice, but WTF?!
Bundesliga - 8th round
Leverkusen stormed to the top as they easily routed a hapless Nürnberg squad. It's hard to tell how good Bayer is, as der Club was pitiful and made it easy.
Hamburg was hardly convincing, but had no trouble with crap Hertha. The Berliners fired coach Lucien Favre and have replaced him with ex-Frankfurt boss Friedhelm Funkel. However, it was soon more of the same crap. The best part came from the teenage reserve GK, Sascha Burchert. He came in the 1st half when Berlin's starter got injured, and then proceeded to deliver a couple of howlers. Basically he ran out of his goal and headed the ball to a HSV player, who then knocked the ball into the empty net. But this may have actually been Funkel's fault, because he evidently failed to explain to the youngster that he was going in as a goalkeeper and not a fullback. But it wasn't only his gifts. Brazilian defender Kaka (not the good one, hehe) headed the ball into his own net as well. Anyway, another lame outing for last place Hertha, and HSV continue to get things done in the Bundesliga. Both Leverkusen and Hamburg have to be happy that they've opened a nice little gap at the top. Can they continue? Nope. Leverkusen is pronounced "Luserkusen" in German, and HSV will probably get run out of town once they're revealed to be emperors without clothes. (Rapid Wien, hello?!)
Perennial champ Bayern München laid an egg as they failed to score against a lame Köln. After the initial euphoria of the Arjen Robben signing, things are back to mediocre at Bayern, and fans, management and players will start grumbling unless coach Louis Van Gaal comes up with a plan. If you can't beat Köln, you have a serious problem. Maybe he should try putting Luca Toni in? So far, Olic, Gomez and Klose have been crap, so how could Toni be even worse by scoring zero goals?
Schalke continues to scrape along with their anemic offense, but overall had a solid match strangling Frankfurt. Of course, the financial clouds hanging over Schalke are of continuing concern, but if coach Felix Magath can eek out results, perhaps things will start looking up. Once again, solid defense and anemic offense seems to be the Blues problem. Frankfurt had already been exposed in their ass-whupping at the hands of Stuttgart last week, so this crap effort comes as no surprise. Lower midtable, that's all Eintracht can aspire to.
Things are not all rosy with defending champion Wolfsburg. The VWs struggled in a 1-1 draw at Bochum, and new coach Armin Veh is facing his first mutiny. Star forward Grafite was angry over being subbed out early in the 2nd half, stating that he deserves more respect for all he's done for the club, plus he's "a family man". Veh's response was simply "Hmm, he shouldn't have said those things." Grafite has also criticized his team-mates, and has generally been acting as a wanker recently. Part of the frustration appears to be that Veh has put more emphasis on short passing rather than the blitz long passing speed game from Magath, and Grafite has problems with that. Well, I guess "graphite" will be meeting "wood" in the furture, since Veh will probably bench his ass. (All the more likely, since his replacement Obafemi Martins seems to score every time he's in the game.) From Bochum's standpoint, a pretty decent result, since the VWs are obviously one of the better clubs.
Werder Bremen might be back. The Bremen squad travelled to Stuttgart and came away with a solid road victory. After a rough past season, Werder getting on track should be scary for the rest of the league. A couple more decent outings, and Werder could be serious title contenders. This should scare the top 3, since unlike them, Werder at least wins the trophy once in a while.
Mainz pulled off an upset in a southwestern derby as they outfought Hoffenheim, who had given signs that they wanted to be a contender again. Instead, Mainz beat them down, continuing their bright start. So far, they're probably team of the year, given the fact they have almost zero talent. Hoffenheim's coach Rangnick should be upset, since he seemingly had recovered last year's form recently, but they were simply outhustled in this one.
Hannover has had a few poor results, but came out firing on all cylinders against Freiburg. They let the visitors back into the game for a while, but unlike other matches, the 96ers turned up the heat again and won impressively. This comes at a good time, as they had begun to drift. Back to reality for Freiburg after a couple of good outings.
The Borussias delivered a rather drab derby, but Dortmund got a game-winner to relieve some of the pressure on coach Jürgen Klopp and his squad's poor start. The Neons have been playing poorly, or even incompetantly. No change in this match, but at least they bring home the bacon. This home defeat definitely hurts the Gladbachers. Even though Köln, Nürnberg and Hertha look crappier and have the inside track on relegation, they can't afford to get smug.
FC Schalke 04 - Eintracht Frankfurt 2:0 (0:0) 61,673 (Asamoah, Farfan) FC Bayern München - 1. FC Köln 0:0 (0:0) 69,000 Bayer Leverkusen - 1. FC Nürnberg 4:0 (3:0) 26,785 (Kroos, Rolfes, Derdiyok, Kiessling) Hannover 96 - SC Freiburg 5:2 (3:1) 28,412 (Chahed, Bruggink, Haggui, Konan, Pinto - Banovic, Schuster) VfL Bochum - VfL Wolfsburg 1:1 (0:0) 21,710 (Hashemian - Martins) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - 1899 Hoffenheim 2:1 (2:0) 20,300 (Ivanschitz, Bancé - Ibertsberger) Borussia M'gladbach - Borussia Dortmund 0:1 (0:1) 53,253 (Barrios) VfB Stuttgart - SV Werder Bremen 0:2 (0:1) 42,000 (Pizarro, Hunt) Hertha BSC Berlin - Hamburger SV 1:3 (1:3) 49,208 (Friedrich - Kaka o.g., Jarolim, Ze Roberto) Attendance: 372,341 (avg 41,371) 1. (2.) Bayer Leverkusen 8 6 2 0 18:5 +13 20 2. (1.) Hamburger SV 8 6 2 0 20:8 +12 20 3. (4.) FC Schalke 04 8 5 1 2 11:5 +6 16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (5.) SV Werder Bremen 8 4 3 1 14:6 +8 15 5. (3.) 1899 Hoffenheim 8 4 2 2 15:7 +8 14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (8.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 8 4 2 2 12:13 -1 14 7. (6.) VfL Wolfsburg 8 4 1 3 16:15 +1 13 8. (7.) FC Bayern München 8 3 3 2 13:7 +6 12 9. (9.) Eintracht Frankfurt 8 2 4 2 8:10 -2 10 10. (10.) SC Freiburg 8 3 1 4 13:17 -4 10 11. (14.) Hannover 96 8 2 3 3 11:10 +1 9 12. (15.) Borussia Dortmund 8 2 3 3 7:13 -6 9 13. (11.) VfB Stuttgart 8 2 2 4 9:12 -3 8 14. (13.) VfL Bochum 8 2 2 4 9:15 -6 8 15. (12.) Borussia M'gladbach 8 2 1 5 9:16 -7 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (17.) 1. FC Köln 8 1 2 5 5:10 -5 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (16.) 1. FC Nürnberg 8 1 2 5 4:12 -8 5 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 8 1 0 7 7:20 -13 3
2.Liga - 8th round
Relegated Bielefeld has completely recovered from their initial slow start, and their away win over fellow-relegee Karlsruhe allowed them to vault into 1st place. Arminia is probably good money for a quick return to the Bundesliga, so they can continue their battle with Nürnberg as the "mostest elevator" club. Last week's leader Kaiserslautern discovered that it ain't going to be easy, as they were held to a draw by last place FSV Frankfurt. Despite the good result, FSV's coach Timo Oral resigned after the match. FCK may have struggled, but since Union was beaten up in Duisburg, they remain in direct promotion. The Zebras are schizoid this season, so who knows what MSV club will turn up. Union has been a pleasant surprise, but promotion seems a far stretch. I don't think they have the talent. Besides, wouldn't it be nice to have a Berlin derby next season? Certainly Hertha is doing her part to make this dream a reality. St.Pauli got things rolling again, as they ran over 1860. St.Pauli is playing entertaining football, and of course their crazy fans are always a hoot. No one can figure out what the hell is wrong with 1860, who have stunk ever since they dropped from top flight a few years ago.
The other early season suprise (aside from Union) seems to be Oberhausen. Minimalist football, but bringing home the bacon, as RWO squeezed out another win, this time in Koblenz. Is this a good thing? Probably not. Last time Oberhausen was in the Bundesliga, the Skandal almost killed German football. Well, OK, this edition of RWO is undoubtedly clean as a whistle, but the only thing more minimlaist than their football is their fanbase. Koblenz has been struggling for a while, and although this season at least they don't start with points deduction, it looks to be a hard battle to stay up. Rostock seems to recovered from their recent poor form, as they notched up an away win at Ahlen, who drop to the bottom. Nobody would mind if Ahlen stayed there either. (Obviously their non-existant fans can be counted in that group as well.) It's good for German football if Cottbus and Rostock stay at least in the 2.Liga, since the ex-GDR needs representation.
Alemannia Aachen - FC Energie Cottbus 1:1 (1:0) 22,090 (Auer - Fandrich) MSV Duisburg - 1. FC Union Berlin 3:1 (1:0) 12,017 (Larsen 3 - Biran) TuS Koblenz - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 0:1 (0:0) 6,726 (König) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Fortuna Düsseldorf 2:1 (0:1) 7,850 (Allagui, N. Müller - Harnik) SC Paderborn 07 - FC Augsburg 2:2 (2:1) 8,173 (Saglik, Brückner - Thurk 2) FC St. Pauli - TSV 1860 München 3:1 (1:0) 23,188 (Rothenbach, Ebbers, Naki - Mlapa) Rot Weiss Ahlen - Hansa Rostock 0:2 (0:0) 4,550 (Sebastian 2) FSV Frankfurt - 1. FC K'lautern 1:1 (1:1) 9,664 (Kujabi - Jendrisek) Karlsruher SC - Arminia Bielefeld 0:1 (0:1) 15,673 (Fort) Attendance: 109,931 (avg 12,215) 1. (3.) Arminia Bielefeld 8 6 0 2 17:8 +9 18 2. (1.) 1. FC K'lautern 8 5 3 0 13:5 +8 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (2.) 1. FC Union Berlin 8 5 2 1 15:10 +5 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) FC St. Pauli 8 5 1 2 20:9 +11 16 5. (5.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 8 5 1 2 9:9 0 16 6. (11.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 8 4 0 4 17:15 +2 12 7. (13.) Hansa Rostock 8 4 0 4 13:13 0 12 8. (7.) FC Augsburg 8 2 5 1 15:13 +2 11 9. (6.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 8 3 2 3 10:8 +2 11 10. (8.) FC Energie Cottbus 8 3 2 3 15:16 -1 11 11. (15.) MSV Duisburg 8 3 2 3 13:14 -1 11 12. (10.) SC Paderborn 07 8 2 4 2 13:11 +2 10 13. (12.) Alemannia Aachen 8 2 4 2 8:9 -1 10 14. (9.) Karlsruher SC 8 3 1 4 10:13 -3 10 15. (14.) TSV 1860 München 8 2 2 4 8:11 -3 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) TuS Koblenz 8 1 2 5 6:12 -6 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (18.) FSV Frankfurt 8 0 2 6 4:18 -14 2 18. (17.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 8 0 1 7 3:15 -12 1
3.Liga - 12th round
Burghausen struggled at home to Wuppertal, but managed to sneak a goal in an even match. This actually vaulted Burghausen into 1st, (with a disgraceful goal difference), but more importantly, leaves WSV mired at the bottom. Wuppertal could have easily won this match, but their forwards missed a couple of sitters. Well, I guess that's why you're last...
Erstwhile leaders Regensburg went down in flames in Aue, and Kickers Offenbach took advantage to vault into 2nd as they thrashed Jena. Early pacesetters Sandhausen got thumped in Osnabrück and drop down the table. However, the 3.Liga is packed at the top, as half the table is within 5 points. The hottest team now seems to be Ingolstadt, which overpowered Unterhaching, who appear to be going nowhere.
Holstein Kiel - VfB Stuttgart II 2:0 (0:0) 4,853 (Holt 2) Borussia Dortmund II - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 1:1 (0:0) 1,065 (Le Tallec - Reinert) VfL Osnabrück - SV 1916 Sandhausen 3:1 (1:0) 8,600 (Siegert, Hansen, Bencik - Mintzel) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - FC Bayern München II 2:0 (1:0) 6,478 (Semmer, Rockenbach) FC Erzgebirge Aue - Jahn Regensburg 3:1 (1:0) 8,400 (Agyemang, Glasner, Paulus - Beigang) FC Ingolstadt 04 - SpVgg Unterhaching 2:2 (1:2) 4,047 (Buchner, Hartmann - T.Schweinsteiger 2) Kickers Offenbach - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 4:0 (2:0) 8,563 (Pospischil, Ulm, Mesic, Pfingsten) SV Werder Bremen II - Dynamo Dresden 2:0 (1:0) 1,750 (Oehrl 2) Eintracht Braunschweig - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 1:1 (0:1) 12,280 (Onuegbu - Heidenfelder) Wacker Burghausen - Wuppertaler SV 1:0 (0:0) 3,600 (Wolf) Attendance: 59,636 (avg 5,964) 1. (3.) Wacker Burghausen 12 7 2 3 17:20 -3 23 2. (6.) Kickers Offenbach 12 6 3 3 17:7 +10 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (1.) Jahn Regensburg 12 6 3 3 19:12 +7 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (7.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 12 6 3 3 15:12 +3 21 5. (4.) FC Ingolstadt 04 12 6 2 4 27:14 +13 20 6. (2.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 12 6 2 4 25:19 +6 20 7. (5.) VfB Stuttgart II 12 6 1 5 19:15 +4 19 8. (10.) VfL Osnabrück 12 6 1 5 18:14 +4 19 9. (14.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 12 5 3 4 17:17 0 18 10. (8.) Eintracht Braunschweig 12 5 3 4 12:13 -1 18 11. (10.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 12 5 2 5 16:14 +2 17 12. (12.) SpVgg Unterhaching 12 4 5 3 19:19 0 17 13. (13.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 12 4 4 4 21:19 +2 16 14. (9.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 12 4 4 4 16:17 -1 16 15. (17.) SV Werder Bremen II 12 4 2 6 14:19 -5 14 16. (18.) Holstein Kiel 12 4 1 7 17:21 -4 13 17. (16.) Borussia Dortmund II 12 3 3 6 12:14 -2 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (15.) Dynamo Dresden 12 3 3 6 9:14 -5 12 19. (19.) FC Bayern München II 12 2 3 7 14:30 -16 9 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 12 2 2 8 13:27 -14 8
Euro results
Things didn't go that well for the Bundesliga. In the Champions League, VfL Wolfsburg suffered a hard-fought 1-2 defeat at Manchester United, despite taking the lead on an Edin Dzeko header. Not all that unexpected, since the VWs have little experience in top level Euro competition. Meanwhile, Bayern München drew 0-0 with Juventus, clearly a crap result. This is most interesting from the fact that Luca Toni desperately wanted to play, perhaps with the idea of showcasing and getting a transfer back to Italy. Instead, he was completely snubbed by Bayern coach Louis Van Gaal, and didn't even make the subs-bench. Perhaps Van Gaal wanted to ensure the Italian's fitness for the crucial 3.Liga clash between Bayern München II and Erzgebirge Aue, clearly a formidable opponent. Toni is surprisingly quiet. I would hope he's not taking advice from Albert Streit...Other than that, Bayern had additional bad news. Not surprising, Arjen Robben twisted his knee and will apparently be out for 4 weeks. Franck Ribery will probably miss Bayern's next match as well. VfB Stuttgart was crap against Romanian side Unirea Urziceni. The match ended 1-1, I believe it was played somewhere in Transylvania, probably in the hayfields of some peasant.
In Europa League play, HSV somewhat redeemed itself, with a 4-2 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv. Some 25,000 showed up in Hamburg, which about half the size of a typical Bundesliga crowd, or equivalent to the line to the men's room at halftime. Best news for HSV is that Sweden U21 newcomer Markus Berg finally scored (twice in fact). But obviously you're stretching belief when you have to celebrate a win against an Israeli squad. Hertha BSC of course continues to lay eggs, as they lost 0-1 at Sporting Lisbon. Werder Bremen probably did the best, as they defeated Athletic Bilbao 3-1.
Streit about Streit
"Streit" can be translated as "conflict", and that certainly is an apt term to describe the situation between Schalke midifielder Albert Streit and the club. The 29 year old, who seemed to be a pretty decent player during his days at Eintracht Frankfurt, signed a nice contract through 2012 with Schalke in the offseason. From that point on however, things went in the toilet. First, new coach Felix Magath basically kicked Streit off the team due to "poor attitude". Streit then started playing for Schalke II in the 4th division Regionalliga, and ran into angry Schalke fans, who spent most of the game yelling obscenities at him. (You have to be pretty hardcore to show up at a "II" squad match anyway, so that gives an indication of Streit's "popularity".) Then the player gave a interview with Westdeutsche-Zeitung that was critical of the club, which management used to demonstrate their lack of humour. They slapped him with a fine and started proceedings to void the contract. Streit isn't taking this lightly though, as he retained a lawyer and is now suing the club. You might think he would rather be playing, but apparently his contract is pretty cozy financially, and he doesn't want to give that up.
Trouble for Goslar
4th division Regionalliga Nord club Goslarer SC currently props up the table, having a rough time as a newly promoted club. However, the DFB isn't making things any easier for them. Apparently the Goslar home stadium is not up to snuff for Regionalliga, so Goslar was ordered to make improvements as a condition of promotion. Unfortunately, sponsors crapped out, and the club had no money to spruce things up. So they've been living on borrowed time, and even attempted playing some home games in Braunschweig, some 50 miles away. (Which hardly has helped their box office). The DFB is now pondering whether to pull the rug, and basically kick Goslar out of the league. No decision has been made yet, and the DFB has sent observors to make recommendations on whether to give Goslar an extension or exception. Hmm, perhaps the club should look at bribing the officials, although I guess they have no money for that either.
Bundesliga - 7th round
The Bundesliga is once again looking like a free-for-all, at both ends of the table.
Hamburg stunned everybody by knocking off Bayern München in the top clash. HSV was off to a bright start in the Bundesliga, but the last week or so has clearly shown that they might be an emperor without clothes, laying stinkers in both the DFB Cup and Europe. But they were ready for Bayern, and despite being pressed back in the 1st half, HSV came out strong in the 2nd and put Bayern on the defensive. The Hamburg effort was eventually rewarded with Mladen Petric's gamewinner. Bayern has to be upset, since they usually do well in Hamburg, and it doesn't look like the rest of the league is willing to bend over and drop their trousers. Can HSV go the distance? No, but they seem focused in the league enough to make it tough for the other pretenders.
Leverkusen remains second, but the Aspirins really put on a minimalist show against a lame Köln in a Rhein derby. Köln has put in a lot of lame performances, but this one probably takes the cake, as they were totally ineffective against their neighbors. It's hard to judge Leverkusen, since they did nothing but show up, score a goal, and take home the points. After last week's excellent result, Köln coach Zvonimir Soldo is back to mass purchases of Bayer products, like Alka-Seltzer, as his Köln squad lays another egg.
Germany's biggest rivalry is probably the famed Revier-derby between Dortmund and Schalke. No matter what the standings, expect a packed house and a hard fought match. This one had another angle as well, as both the Neons and the Blues have been drifting aimlessly in the league, so a win was absolutely needed by both squads. The Blues showed more determination and discipline, whereas Dortmund mostly ran around like a chicken with it's head cut off. This allows Schalke to get back on track and into contention, although they need to do something about their pathetic offense. Meanwhile, Dortmund should be ringing the alarm bells. OK, maybe not like an air-raid siren a la 1944, but at least like a "Check Engine" light. Perhaps coach Jürgen Klopp should kick some asses instead of his usual rah-rah method.
The Hopp is back! Hoffenheim was the early sensation last year, and Vedad Ibisevic was the top revelation. Well, the Bosnian striker (via St.Louis) is back, with a hat-trick. And Hoffenheim is rolling, kicking ass against a pathetic Hertha BSC squad. SAP United looks to be a formidable opponent, so the rest of the Bundesliga is on notice. Meanwhile, things are going sour in Berlin. Coach Lucien Favre, whose minimalist football has played well with minimalist talent seems to have run out of magic. This Hertha squad has shown nothing but laughable performances this season. One has to assume that Favre will be joining Germany's unemployment lines - unless he gets deported to Switzerland. (Note: He was fired later in the day.) Furthermore, Hertha obviously needs to prepare some moves in the winter transfer/loan market. However, it would be kinda cool if Union got promoted and Hertha relegated, hehehe.
Champions Wolfsburg really wasn't overly impressive against Hannover, in what should have been a hotly contested regional derby. But despite the goals, it was a rather lame affair. That's because the VWs don't get any love from other northern fans, who view Wolfsburg has upstarts unworthy of their attention. Of course, at least Wolfsburg has a title, and the main tradition of "Traditionsverein" Hannover appears to be losing. So in that context, it was rather a ho-hum affair. Hannover is usually crap on the road, and they didn't do anything to challenge their hosts, so easy points for VW.
Werder Bremen might be on the way back. It's hard to tell, since Mainz was completely lame. They apparently managed to kick the ball in the general direction of the Werder penalty box, but that was the extent of their attacks. So Bremen basically toyed with Mainz as a cat toys with it's wounded prey. Then like a cat, they got bored with the whole affair and viciously ripped out their victim's throat.
Achtung! Achtung! Nürnberg ist krapp! I know, how unoriginal, you've already used this faux German previously to describe Nürnberg's efforts. But really, FCN has exhausted my thesaurus entries for "crap", so what is a poor blogger to do? Once again, der Club put in a pathetic performance, and this one hurts. Visitor was fellow relegation candidate VfL Bochum. The guests managed to steal a goal, and then showed disciplined defending. Or perhaps Nürnberg was confused and thought they actually had the lead, since der Club's attack looked more like "discplined defending" too. This is obviously a bad result for Nürnberg, but a great triumph for Bochum.
Freiburg has apparently realized that you only have to be less crap than maximum 3 teams to save your ass. With that in mind, the Breisgauers went out and kicked visiting Gladbach's butt. Gladbach obviously is depending on home form, but at least you would have expected more effort than just showing up. Good win for Freiburg.
If you are a Frankfurt fan, you might have been thinking that this could be a good year. After all, undefeated and off to a bright start. But perhaps it's yet another case of the emperor having no clothes. Stuttgart, who have been dicking around aimlessly, showed up and ripped Eintracht's ass. What this leads me to believe is that once again Frankfurt will be mediocre, but perhaps like in the past, whenever they look to completely soil themselves, they'll probably come up with a couple of nice wins to raise the hopes of their long suffering fans, only to viciously bash the heads of their children against some rock, or as in this case, Stuttgart. Meanwhile, it's hard to get a handle on Stuttgart. I imagine they're better than their start, but who knows?
1. FC Nürnberg - VfL Bochum 0:1 (0:1) 35,376 (Klimowicz) VfL Wolfsburg - Hannover 96 4:2 (2:1) 30,000 (Misimovic, Hasebe, Gentner, Dzeko - Balitsch, Madlung o.g.) Borussia Dortmund - FC Schalke 04 0:1 (0:1) 80,552 (Farfan) SV Werder Bremen - 1. FSV Mainz 05 3:0 (1:0) 32,875 (Hunt, Pizarro 2) 1. FC Köln - Bayer Leverkusen 0:1 (0:0) 49,300 (Rolfes) Eintracht Frankfurt - VfB Stuttgart 0:3 (0:2) 49,750 (Schieber 2, Hitzlsperger) Hamburger SV - FC Bayern München 1:0 (0:0) 57,000 (Petric) SC Freiburg - Borussia M'gladbach 3:0 (0:0) 24,000 (Idrissou, Abdessadki, Schuster) 1899 Hoffenheim - Hertha BSC Berlin 5:1 (3:1) 29,600 (Ibisevic 3, Obasi, Carlos Eduardo - Raffael) Attendance: 388,453 (avg 43,161) 1. (1.) Hamburger SV 7 5 2 0 17:7 +10 17 2. (2.) Bayer Leverkusen 7 5 2 0 14:5 +9 17 3. (4.) 1899 Hoffenheim 7 4 2 1 14:5 +9 14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (6.) FC Schalke 04 7 4 1 2 9:5 +4 13 5. (8.) SV Werder Bremen 7 3 3 1 12:6 +6 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (9.) VfL Wolfsburg 7 4 0 3 15:14 +1 12 7. (3.) FC Bayern München 7 3 2 2 13:7 +6 11 8. (5.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 7 3 2 2 10:12 -2 11 9. (6.) Eintracht Frankfurt 7 2 4 1 8:8 0 10 10. (11.) SC Freiburg 7 3 1 3 11:12 -1 10 11. (15.) VfB Stuttgart 7 2 2 3 9:10 -1 8 12. (10.) Borussia M'gladbach 7 2 1 4 9:15 -6 7 13. (17.) VfL Bochum 7 2 1 4 8:14 -6 7 14. (12.) Hannover 96 7 1 3 3 6:8 -2 6 15. (13.) Borussia Dortmund 7 1 3 3 6:13 -7 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (14.) 1. FC Nürnberg 7 1 2 4 4:8 -4 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (16.) 1. FC Köln 7 1 1 5 5:10 -5 4 18. (18.) Hertha BSC Berlin 7 1 0 6 6:17 -11 3
2.Liga - 7th round
The 2.Liga once again promises to be tight at the top. Could this be the year for Kaiserslautern's revival? The Devils now top the table after a good win against Karlsruhe, and their fans seem to think so, as they packed the stadium. Bielefeld also seems to be taking the prospect of immediate re-promotion seriously, as they eeked out a hard fought win against high-flying St.Pauli. Meanwhile, newly promoted Union Berlin continues their dream start, although they had to struggle for a win against crap Ahlen, one of the teams that is going down.
Another club going down is FSV Frankfurt. They got their ass kicked in Cottbus and continue to prop up the table. Of course, it was a similar story last year, as they looked hopelessly relegated by winter-break. But in the 2nd half, FSV mounted an incredible comeback and managed to stay up. The reward was opening this season in a refurbished stadium complete with night lighting. Unfortunately, the club may want to turn off those lights, thereby sparing the fans the view of the crap play of FSV. It really seems unlikely that they can repeat last season's miracle.
Last season Duisburg got off to a poor start and by the time they cuaght themselves, they couldn;t push for promotion. Same this season, from the looks of it. Their loss in the derby to Oberhausen (which hasn't been around in decades it seems) was yet another pathetic outing. RWO is pretty weak, and has no fans. So losing to them, well, you do the math...
Hansa Rostock has struggled once again, so their ass kicking against Greuther Fürth was a welcome respite. The visitors are usually high flyers until late in the season when they run out of gas. However this season they seem more inconsistent, so look to be going nowhere. 1860 continues to disappoint. They needed full points against Paderborn, but instead play crap and continue to waffle.
FC Energie Cottbus - FSV Frankfurt 3:0 (2:0) 8,790 (Sokolenko, Jula, Radu) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - MSV Duisburg 1:0 (1:0) 12,615 (Schmidtgal) 1. FC Union Berlin - Rot Weiss Ahlen 2:1 (2:1) 12,212 (Mattuschka, Benyamina - Reichwein) Arminia Bielefeld - FC St. Pauli 1:0 (1:0) 23,800 (Federico) 1. FC K'lautern - Karlsruher SC 2:0 (1:0) 39,774 (Rodnei, Schultz) FC Augsburg - TuS Koblenz 1:1 (0:1) 12,078 (Kuqi - Thurk) TSV 1860 München - SC Paderborn 07 0:0 (0:0) 21,500 Hansa Rostock - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 4:0 (1:0) 10,700 (Jänicke, Langen, Bartels, Schröck o.g.) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Alemannia Aachen 0:0 (0:0) 29,385 Attendance: 170,854 (avg 18,984) 1. (2.) 1. FC K'lautern 7 5 2 0 12:4 +8 17 2. (1.) 1. FC Union Berlin 7 5 2 0 14:7 +7 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (4.) Arminia Bielefeld 7 5 0 2 16:8 +8 15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) FC St. Pauli 7 4 1 2 17:8 +9 13 5. (7.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 7 4 1 2 8:9 -1 13 6. (5.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 7 3 2 2 9:6 +3 11 7. (9.) FC Augsburg 7 2 4 1 13:11 +2 10 8. (14.) FC Energie Cottbus 7 3 1 3 14:15 -1 10 9. (6.) Karlsruher SC 7 3 1 3 10:12 -2 10 10. (10.) SC Paderborn 07 7 2 3 2 11:9 +2 9 11. (8.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 7 3 0 4 15:14 +1 9 12. (11.) Alemannia Aachen 7 2 3 2 7:8 -1 9 13. (15.) Hansa Rostock 7 3 0 4 11:13 -2 9 14. (13.) TSV 1860 München 7 2 2 3 7:8 -1 8 15. (12.) MSV Duisburg 7 2 2 3 10:13 -3 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) TuS Koblenz 7 1 2 4 6:11 -5 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 7 0 1 6 3:13 -10 1 18. (18.) FSV Frankfurt 7 0 1 6 3:17 -14 1
3.Liga - 11th round
This was an interesting round. The leaders all got dumped, and Burghausen suffered a veritable rear-end violation at newcomer Heidenheim. However the most important result was that Wuppertal mananged to shoot down Kiel in a desperate relegation battle. A massive crowd showed up, mainly because the Zoo next door was overflowing and people got confused on where to buy the tickets and entered the stadium by mistake, or perhaps the lion feeding was postponed. With this heroic victory WSV is now poised to race up the charts in a sort of Drang nach Oben.
Regensburg remains on top, but they could have cemented their position as a favorite with a win. Instead, they flamed out against Ingolstadt, who have proven themselves to be a serious contender. Once again, a nice crowd indicates that Dresden has the first class stadium and 3rd class team, much like their visitors Braunschweig, who also have a large fan base. Neither team seems to be doing much though, which is a shame.
After a disastrous start, Wehen is definitely back on track, and they ripped Osnabrück. Given the overall weakness of the league, I wouldn't be surprised if they ease into contention.
Jahn Regensburg - FC Ingolstadt 04 0:2 (0:1) 7,528 (Hartmann 2) Dynamo Dresden - Eintracht Braunschweig 1:1 (0:1) 18,031 (Dobry - Banser) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - SV Werder Bremen II 2:2 (0:1) 6,062 (Smeekes, Amirante - Testroet 2) SpVgg Unterhaching - Kickers Offenbach 1:2 (1:0) 2,500 (Schweinsteiger - Pospischil, Ulm) SV 1916 Sandhausen - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:2 (0:1) 2,500 (Schauerle - Semmer, Cinaz) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - VfL Osnabrück 4:0 (2:0) 4,322 (Öztürk 2, Ziemer, Reinert) VfB Stuttgart II - Borussia Dortmund II 2:1 (0:1) 1,635 (Rudy, Didavi - Le Tallec) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - Wacker Burghausen 6:1 (2:1) 4,880 (Spann, Klarer, Schmidt o.g., Bagceci, Heidenfelder, Jarosch - El Haj Ali) FC Bayern München II - FC Erzgebirge Aue 2:3 (1:2) 1,135 (Ekici, Yilmaz - Braham, Klotz 2) Wuppertaler SV Bor - Holstein Kiel 5:3 (1:0) 2,519 (Lorenzon 2, Damm, Dressler, Celikovic - Wulff, Holt 2) Attedance: 51,112 (agv 5,111) 1. (1.) Jahn Regensburg 11 6 3 2 18:9 +9 21 2. (2.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 11 6 2 3 24:16 +8 20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) Wacker Burghausen 11 6 2 3 16:20 -4 20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (4.) FC Ingolstadt 04 11 6 1 4 25:12 +13 19 5. (6.) VfB Stuttgart II 11 6 1 4 19:13 +6 19 6. (9.) Kickers Offenbach 11 5 3 3 13:7 +6 18 7. (11.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 11 5 3 3 12:11 +1 18 8. (8.) Eintracht Braunschweig 11 5 2 4 11:12 -1 17 9. (10.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 11 4 4 3 16:13 +3 16 10. (12.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 11 5 1 5 15:13 +2 16 11. (5.) VfL Osnabrück 11 5 1 5 15:13 +2 16 12. (7.) SpVgg Unterhaching 11 4 4 3 17:17 0 16 13. (13.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 11 4 3 4 20:18 +2 15 14. (14.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 11 4 3 4 15:17 -2 15 15. (16.) Dynamo Dresden 11 3 3 5 9:12 -3 12 16. (15.) Borussia Dortmund II 11 3 2 6 11:13 -2 11 17. (18.) SV Werder Bremen II 11 3 2 6 12:19 -7 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (17.) Holstein Kiel 11 3 1 7 15:21 -6 10 19. (19.) FC Bayern München II 11 2 3 6 14:28 -14 9 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 11 2 2 7 13:26 -13 8
DFB Pokal, 2nd main round
Upsets were definitely in the Zweite Hauptrunde of the DFB-Pokal, one of Europe's best competitions, as it's pure knockout. In addition, clubs from the 3rd division or below are automatically granted home field advantage in front of their pumped up fans. (Hell, last year, Wuppertal eliminated Hertha and had Bayern on the ropes).
The greatest accomplishment was 4th division Trier throwing out Bielefeld in overtime. Of course, Trier is no stranger to cup upsets. About 10 years ago they had a legendary run when they defeated Borussia Dortmund - the Bundesliga champion and Champions League winner AND knocked off Schalke, who won the UEFA Cup.
Another huge upset was 3rd division Osnabrück dumping Bundesliga leader Hamburg out on penalties. HSV actually scored in injury time to send it into overtime, and then took the lead. But VfL came back (it's not sudden death), and eventually won 4-1 on penalties. 4th division Lübeck had Stuttgart on the ropes before finally running out of gas.
In general, the Bundesliga did poorly, as only 8 of 16 advanced. (Mainz got scalped by Lübeck in the 1st round, and Hannover got dumped on by Trier). Of course some were Bundesliga rivals facing off, but in general, the lower ranked teams did pretty well. Only Bayern München made mincemeat of a crappy Oberhausen squad, and Dortmund slapped KSC around. Bielefeld, Gladbach, Hertha, Freiburg, Leverkusen, HSV all got bitch-slapped by lower ranked opponents. And Wolfsburg can't be too happy losing in Köln, having won their Bundesliga match there a couple of weeks ago.
Eintracht Trier - Arminia Bielefeld 4:2 (2:2)ot 6,630 (Senesie 3, Risser - Janjic 2) 1. FC Nürnberg - 1899 Hoffenheim 0:1 (0:1) 26,041 (Nilsson) FC Bayern München - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 5:0 (2:0) 40,000 (Embers o.g., Gomez, Van Buyten, T.Müller) Borussia M'gladbach - MSV Duisburg 0:1 (0:0) 45,000 (Andersen) Rot Weiss Ahlen - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 2:3 (2:2)ot 1,896 (Tankulic 2 - Nöthe, Mokhtari, N.Müller) Karlsruher SC - Borussia Dortmund 0:3 (0:2) 24,864 (Zidan, Barrios 2) VfL Bochum - FC Schalke 04 0:3 (0:1) 29,592 (Westermann, Altintop, Fuchs) TuS Koblenz - FC Energie Cottbus 4:2 (2:2)ot 5,046 (Stieber, Everson 2, Geissler - Sörensen, Jula) TSV 1860 München - Hertha BSC Berlin 4-1 (2:2)p 17,000 (Bengtsson, Cooper - FC Augsburg - SC Freiburg 1:0 (0:0) 12,024 (Brinckmann) SV Werder Bremen - FC St. Pauli 2:1 (1:0) 31,824 (Hunt, Naldo - Takyi) Eintracht Frankfurt - Alemannia Aachen 6:4 (3:1) 25,450 (Liberopoulos 2, Meyer, Szukula, Teber - Gueye 2, Auer 2) VfL Osnabrück - Hamburger SV 4-2 (3:3)p 16,120 (Hansen, Siegert, Grieneisen - Petric, Trochowski, Demel) VfB Lübeck - VfB Stuttgart 1:3 (1:1)ot 16,500 (Henning - Schieber, Khedira, Cacau) 1. FC K'lautern - Bayer Leverkusen 2:1 (1:0) 33,712 (Sam, Jendrisek - Gekas) 1. FC Köln - VfL Wolfsburg 3:2 (2:0) 31,500 (Ishiaku 2, Freis - Dzeko, Riether)
More Schalke trouble
The news out of Gelsenkirchen is increasingly bleak. Things started off brightly enough under new coach Felix Magath, but now we wonder if old Felix wishes he hadn't stayed in Wolfsburg. The Blues have seemingly fallen into their usual pattern of clumsy play, and don't seem to have a clue on the field. However, it is the financial situation that is causing most concern. Schalke looks likely the next large club (after Dortmund) to suffer a meltdown. Dortmund was near total collapse a few years ago, after years of ambitious spending. Now they did experience some success, winning the title, along with the Champions League. But eventually (largely through poor management), they frittered away the income and were left with a pile of debt. When overpaid players stopped producing, they were dumped, and the cupboard was bare. The Neons are just beginning to come out from the cold, but are a long way from challenging, despite massive crowd support.
Schalke is Dortmund's biggest rival, and also enjoys huge crowds. The club invested in the beautiful "Arena Auf Schalke" stadium, at a cost of some 195 million euros. Lavish spending on players also increased the debt, but unlike Dortmund, this has never really been matched by success on the field. They've come close a couple of times, but choked or got ripped off by a ref who allowed Bayern extra time to score a goal and steal a title. But in general, they have matched Dortmund in mismanagement. Now the club faces some 135 million in debt, of which over 20 million is annual interest alone. (Note due to strict financial rules, many German clubs, such as Bayern, have zero debt.) The sponsorship deal with Russian gas giant Gazprom was hailed as salvation, but that money is already spent. Indeed, Schalke got 45 million up front from an English bank in return for the proceeds, so no more money is forthcoming. High player salaries have further pushed the club into trouble. Kevin Kuranyi and Halil Altintop are top wage earners, but their contract expire after the season, so they'll probably be dumped. But there are several players, such as Uruguayan Carlos Grossmüller or Ze Roberto (not the oldtimer with HSV) that have big contracts, have sucked, and are on loan, Schalke footing the bill. Players with re-sell value, such as Brazilian defender Rafinha were almost gone before the trade dealine, but should be expected to be sold in the winter transfer window. The club managed to sign up some of their young talent, such as GK Manuel Neuer and defender Benedikt Höwedes, but they will also have high transfer value. Felix Magath undoubtedly will be forced to gut the current squad (not necessarily a bad thing) and replace them with cheaper players and young talent. So the question seems to be not "Will Schalke fall?", but rather "How far?"
Bundesliga - 6th round
Hamburg continues to top the table, but they hardly were impressive in Frankfurt. One might have thought that their disgraceful showing in the Europa-Liga indicated that this emperor has no clothes, but to HSV credit, they did put together a decent outing, and probably had the edge. Frankfurt has been crap for about a decade, so they don't know how to play against good teams, basically being satisfied with a draw.
Bayern had a rough time with Nürnberg in a Bavarian derby. The guests fought hard and made things difficult for their hosts. In the end, Bayern's improvement in the 2nd half led to a deserved win, but it certainly wasn't the cakewalk they expected. Realistically, Nürnberg shouldn't have expected a point in this match, but they have to be encouraged by their disciplined display.
Wolfsburg is back on track after an important road win at Schalke, which basically only woke up in the last quarter of the match. The VWs thereby get one hand up on former coach Felix Magath. Schalke seems on the verge of floundering.
The highlight of the Leverkusen-Bremen match was that it was the first match in the spanking newly renovated Bayer-Arena, expaned to 30,210 and sold-out. Other than that, it there was lots of beer and bratwurst. And probably main sponsor had their Alka-Seltzer and Pepto-Bismol products on display, and lots of aspirin was available. All of which would have helped to alieviate the pain of a torturous, boring match.
Stuttgart was stunned at home by Köln. The visitors had been the crap of the league, but surprised their hosts with a well-discplined and organized defense. At the same time, it was clear that Köln coach Zvonimir Soldo had prepared his charges well for counterattack, as the ex-Stuttgart player obviously knew the defensive frailties. Indeed, it was two defensive howlers that led to Köln's goals. First defender Träsch lost the ball leading to aa quick cross and header by Freis. So VfB spent the next 65 minutes trying to equalize, and at the end, GK Jens Lehmann revealed why he is actually just crap, not the legend in his own mind. He ran and dallied, lost the ball, and gave up an empty net goal. What a wanker. Great win for Köln, who might have just indicated that they could stay up.
Achtung! Achtung! Berlin ist krap! No news actually, since Hertha has been comlpetely lame, but against Freiburg, the wheels really fell off. Unless Hertha fires all their management and most of their players, they could easily be relegated and replaced by wimpy Union as the top club in the east. Freiburg has to be thrilled, although they can't be overly impressed with anything but their finishing, as it was more "Hertha crap" rather than "Freiburg good".
Hannover was able to hold a draw at home to Dortmund, who seemed to have more of the play. Neither club can be truly happy with the result, although it was probably an accurate reflection of the match. Looks like neither team is going anywhere.
Mainz continues their great start, and it's looking less likely that they'll be in the relegation battle this season. Their win in Bochum had dire consequences, as Bochum coach Marcel Koller was fired afetrwards. Mainz had taken the precaution of firing their coach a week before the season started, thereby gaining valuable time :)
Hoffenheim put on a furious end-sprint to rip the Gladbach match out of the fire. Gladbach held a somewhat lucky lead, but in the end the Hoffenheim attack won out with 3 late goals, and and impressive win for TSG. Once again, good young talent has paid dividends for Hoffenheim, which looks to be a solid contender for a Euro spot.
FC Schalke 04 - VfL Wolfsburg 1:2 (0:0) 60,395 (Höwedes - Dzeko 2) FC Bayern München - 1. FC Nürnberg 2:1 (0:0) 69,000 (Olic, van Buyten - Choupo-Moting) VfB Stuttgart - 1. FC Köln 0:2 (0:1) 41,000 (Freis, Sanou) Hannover 96 - Borussia Dortmund 1:1 (0:1) 43,754 (Konan - Sahin) VfL Bochum - 1. FSV Mainz 05 2:3 (2:1) 16,225 (Azaouagh, Klimowicz - Ivanschitz, Schürrle 2) Borussia M'gladbach - 1899 Hoffenheim 2:4 (2:1) 46,511 (Arango, Colautti - Salihovic, Maicosuel, Obasi, Ba) Eintracht Frankfurt - Hamburger SV 1:1 (1:1) 51,500 (Russ - Ze Roberto) Hertha BSC Berlin - SC Freiburg 0:4 (0:3) 38,176 (Banovic 2, Makiadi, Idrissou) Bayer Leverkusen - SV Werder Bremen 0:0 (0:0) 30,210 Attendance: 396,771 (avg 44,086) 1. (1.) Hamburger SV 6 4 2 0 16:7 +9 14 2. (2.) Bayer Leverkusen 6 4 2 0 13:5 +8 14 3. (5.) FC Bayern München 6 3 2 1 13:6 +7 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (7.) 1899 Hoffenheim 6 3 2 1 9:4 +5 11 5. (8.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 6 3 2 1 10:9 +1 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (3.) FC Schalke 04 6 3 1 2 8:5 +3 10 7. (4.) Eintracht Frankfurt 6 2 4 0 8:5 +3 10 8. (6.) SV Werder Bremen 6 2 3 1 9:6 +3 9 9. (10.) VfL Wolfsburg 6 3 0 3 11:12 -1 9 10. (9.) Borussia M'gladbach 6 2 1 3 9:12 -3 7 11. (16.) SC Freiburg 6 2 1 3 8:12 -4 7 12. (11.) Hannover 96 6 1 3 2 4:4 0 6 13. (14.) Borussia Dortmund 6 1 3 2 6:12 -6 6 14. (13.) 1. FC Nürnberg 6 1 2 3 4:7 -3 5 15. (12.) VfB Stuttgart 6 1 2 3 6:10 -4 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (18.) 1. FC Köln 6 1 1 4 5:9 -4 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (15.) VfL Bochum 6 1 1 4 7:14 -7 4 18. (17.) Hertha BSC Berlin 6 1 0 5 5:12 -7 3
2.Liga - 6th round
The match of the round was Kaiserslautern's win at St.Pauli. FCK was pressured the whole match, but was able to steal a win. This is an indication that the Devils are for real, and their suffering fans can start dreaming of a return to the Bundesliga after the recent chaos. St.Pauli remains one of the 2.Liga most entertaining squads, and should remain in contention through the season. With St.Pauli losing, upstart Union's draw in Kolenz was enough for them to take the lead. They probably won't end up there end-of-season, but their bright start at least gives Berliners some cheer, given Hertha's crap performances.
Bielefeld thumped Duisburg as visitor, indicating that Arminia is likely to be the top Bundesliga-relegated contender. KSC remains in the race as well, although they can hardly be impressed with their win over lowly FSV. Cottbus is already out of the running, as they got thumped thoroughly, and also suffered a loss of their top player, Chinese international Shao Ji-yi. (Cottbus seems to have a longstanding "no Germans" policy, hehehe.) Fellow easterners Rostock look like an early season basketcase as well, getting thrashed in Augsburg. A nice win for Düsseldorf, away at hapless Ahlen.
Karlsruher SC - FSV Frankfurt 2:0 (0:0) 16,977 (Langkamp, Iashvili) MSV Duisburg - Arminia Bielefeld 0:3 (0:1) 14,057 (Kirch, Federico 2) TuS Koblenz - 1. FC Union Berlin 1:1 (1:0) 7,041 (Kuqi - Mattuschka) SC Paderborn 07 - FC Energie Cottbus 5:1 (3:1) 6,997 (Saglik, Manno, Brückner, Brandy, Löning - Angelov) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 4:0 (1:0) 6,250 (Prib, Nöthe 2, Mauersberger) Rot Weiss Ahlen - Fortuna Düsseldorf 1:4 (1:2) 6,612 (Bröker = Lambertz, Jovanovic, Bulykin, Gaus) Alemannia Aachen - TSV 1860 München 2:0 (1:0) 24,830 (Auer 2) FC St. Pauli - 1. FC K'lautern 1:2 (0:1) 23,161 (Bruns - Amedick, Nemec) FC Augsburg - Hansa Rostock 5:2 (2:1) 15,241 (Traore, Thurk 2, Buck, Brinkmann - Schied, Jänicke) Attendance: 100,321 (avg 11,147) 1. (2.) 1. FC Union Berlin 6 4 2 0 12:6 +6 14 2. (3.) 1. FC K'lautern 6 4 2 0 10:4 +6 14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (1.) FC St. Pauli 6 4 1 1 17:7 +10 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (5.) Arminia Bielefeld 6 4 0 2 15:8 +7 12 5. (9.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 6 3 1 2 9:6 +3 10 6. (10.) Karlsruher SC 6 3 1 2 10:10 0 10 7. (4.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 6 3 1 2 7:9 -2 10 8. (11.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 6 3 0 3 15:10 +5 9 9. (12.) FC Augsburg 6 2 3 1 12:10 +2 9 10. (14.) SC Paderborn 07 6 2 2 2 11:9 +2 8 11. (15.) Alemannia Aachen 6 2 2 2 7:8 -1 8 12. (6.) MSV Duisburg 6 2 2 2 10:12 -2 8 13. (7.) TSV 1860 München 6 2 1 3 7:8 -1 7 14. (8.) FC Energie Cottbus 6 2 1 3 11:15 -4 7 15. (13.) Hansa Rostock 6 2 0 4 7:13 -6 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (16.) TuS Koblenz 6 1 1 4 5:10 -5 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 6 0 1 5 2:11 -9 1 18. (18.) FSV Frankfurt 6 0 1 5 3:14 -11 1
3.Liga - 10th round
Another miserable defeat for Wuppertal, this time in Dortmund. WSV is so low that they need to look up to see the bottom of their shoes.
Regensburg seized the lead with an impressive 5-0 away thrashing of Bayern II. However, the most interesting aspect of this game wasn't the result, but rather that none other than Luca Toni started the match for Bayern II, playing the first half. To his credit, the Italian international actually enthusiastically joined the II squad to get some playing time and get back into shape. Obviously it didn't help the team, but it shows a professional attitude.
Wehen continues their revival, as they win in Erfurt. The villagers were scraping the bottom not long ago, but seem to have stabilized the ship. Unterhaching laid an egg as they got dumped by a weak Bremen II squad. Osnabrück hurt their chances with a crap home performance.
Jena remains in trouble. The ex-GDR great had an audit which apparently shows that they're 530,000 euros short. They need to get this gap covered, otherwide the DFB could levy penalties from fines, point deductions up to "Lizensentzug", which means withdrawal of license to operate in th league, which would mean forfit of all matches and forced relegation.
FC Bayern München II - Jahn Regensburg 0:5 (0:2) 2,900 (Binder, Schlauderer, Zellner, Stoilov, Berger) Borussia Dortmund II - Wuppertaler SV 2:0 (0:0) 1,331 (Piossek, Kandziora) VfL Osnabrück - VfB Stuttgart II 0:1 (0:0) 8,100 (Schwarz) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 1:2 (1:0) 4,401 (Bölstler - Reinert, Ziegenbein) FC Erzgebirge Aue - SV 1916 Sandhausen 3:1 (2:1) 6,500 (Ramaj 2, Klingbeil - Ristic) Kickers Offenbach - FC Ingolstadt 04 0:1 (0:1) 6,871 (Neuendorf) SV Werder Bremen II - SpVgg Unterhaching 3:1 (1:0) 450 (Feldhahn, Ayik 2 - Kanca) Wacker Burghausen - Dynamo Dresden 2:0 (1:0) 3,900 (Gorka, El Haj Ali) Holstein Kiel - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 1:0 (1:0) 3,874 (Beisel o.g.) Eintracht Braunschweig - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 2:1 (0:0) 12,200 (Kruppke, Kragl - Smeekes) (make up game 15.09) SV Werder Bremen II - Kickers Offenbach 0:1 (0:1) 400 (Ulm) Attendance: 50,527 (avg 5,053) 1. (2.) Jahn Regensburg 10 6 3 1 18:7 +11 21 2. (1.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 10 6 2 2 23:14 +9 20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) Wacker Burghausen 10 6 2 2 15:14 +1 20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (8.) FC Ingolstadt 04 10 5 1 4 23:12 +11 16 5. (4.) VfL Osnabrück 10 5 1 4 15:9 +6 16 6. (9.) VfB Stuttgart II 10 5 1 4 17:12 +5 16 7. (5.) SpVgg Unterhaching 10 4 4 2 16:15 +1 16 8. (10.) Eintracht Braunschweig 10 5 1 4 10:11 -1 16 9. (6.) Kickers Offenbach 10 4 3 3 11:6 +5 15 10. (7.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 10 4 3 3 14:11 +3 15 11. (13.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 10 4 3 3 9:9 0 15 12. (15.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 10 4 1 5 11:13 -2 13 13. (11.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 10 3 3 4 14:17 -3 12 14. (12.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 10 3 3 4 13:16 -3 12 15. (17.) Borussia Dortmund II 10 3 2 5 10:11 -1 11 16. (14.) Dynamo Dresden 10 3 2 5 8:11 -3 11 17. (18.) Holstein Kiel 10 3 1 6 12:16 -4 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (19.) SV Werder Bremen II 10 3 1 6 10:17 -7 10 19. (16.) FC Bayern München II 10 2 3 5 12:25 -13 9 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 10 1 2 7 8:23 -15 5
Euro competition
The Bundesliga started brightly in the Champions League competiton. VfL Wolfsburg defeated CSKA Moscow 3-1 in their inaugural match. The hero was Brazilian striker Grafite, who bagged a hat-trick. The VWs dominated the match and were coasting, but the Russkis conjured up a late goal that made things interesting. Grafite however delivered the knockout with his 3rd strike near time. Bayern München dropped Maccabi Haifa 3-0 in an away game, despite stiff resistance from the Israeli side. Bayern wasn't exactly impressive and left it late for a double strike by wunderkind Thomas Müller to finish off their hosts. Müller is the revelation of the Bayern squad so far. The just-turned 20 year old was already making a name for himself in the Bayern II 3.Liga squad last year, where he put in an outstanding season. Despite Bayern's star studded lineup, it looks like he will see significant playing time. Also worth remembering is that Bayern also has Toni Kroos, considered by many to be one of Germany's top midfield talents. He is currently on loan to Bayer Leverkusen, so the Müncheners are probably in good shape for the future. Meanwhile, VfB Stuttgart drew 1-1 with Glasgow Rangers. Obviously this is a horrible result for VfB, since Rangers are both "Scottish AND CRAP!" (apologies to Mike Meyers). The only positive was that Pogrebnyak scored for Stuttgart.
The new fangled Europa-Liga (formerly UEFA Cup) proved to be less of a success for the German clubs. Hamburger SV totally disgraced themselves, losing 0-3 at Rapid Wien. Almost 50,000 in a sold out Vienna Ernst-Happel-Stadion watched HSV get their ass kicked. Hertha BSC was also laughable, a 1-1 against FK Ventspils. Luckily for the Berliners, under 14,000 showed up in the Olympiastadion, so not too many saw their crapness. Finally, Werder Bremen squeaked by Nacional Funchal 3-2. For the Bremers, they obviously imbibed too heavily on local Madeira on their trip to the Portuguese island. Werder was cruising at 2-0 and then let it get away. Lucky for them, Claudio Pizarro's second strike 5 minutes from time saved the day.
This whole "Europa-Liga" is a recipe for crapful, boring, meaningless football. More worthless group stage games whose sole purpose is to generate more revenue with games that nobody cares about against teams nobody has heard of. At least in the old UEFA Cup, you'd get rid of half the boring teams each round. Oh well, maybe the winner (or even better, several qualifiers) and go into group league playoffs against the CONCACAF "Champignons Leek" clubs for even more worthless matches...
New stadium for Dresden
Dynamo Dresden has a new stadium to play in. Well, not quite. The famed Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion has undergone a complete rebuilding, and was unvealed today in a friendly against Schalke. (1-2 loss for Dynamo). The new stadium cost some 43 million euros and has an all-seater capacity of 32,400. Previous incarnations of the stadium (which was originally built in 1923 for the cost of only 500,000 Reichsmarks) had seen the park expanded up to 38,500 in the 1980s, but the facility was falling apart. An initial refurbishment had reduced the capacity to some 24,000, and for the last two years, space was limited to 10,000 as the city and club struggled to come up with funds. So now the city has a first class stadium, and a 3rd class team... Rudolf Harbig was a Dresden born middle distance runner, Olympic medalist and European champion who held 800m world record from 1938-1955. During WWII, he was drafted and killed on the Eastern Front in 1944...
Bundesliga - 5th round
Hamburg continues to impress and top the table, getting a nice home win against Stuttgart. HSV was ridiculed for hiring on coach Bruno Labbadia, but so far he has done quite well, fooling the opposition with mirrors. HSV doesn't seem to have the talent to maintain their position, but they are getting results, much like Hertha last season. They are unlikely to maintain it, but their bright start means that some form of Euro competition is likely. Stuttgart has already been shown their limits, and without Mario Gomez, they don't have the firepower to repeat last season's charge. Mid-table seems likely, although with luck, they could still sneak into Europe.
Leverkusen had a huge win at Wolfsburg, although a somewhat lame call by the ref decided the game. VW's Swiss GK Benaglio rushed out and made a ham of things, and his lunging attempted tackle outside the box caused the ref to red card his ass, apparently for "last man", even though there were probably half a dozen players in the penalty area. The Alka-Seltzers took full advantage and ran up a 3-0 lead, before holding on grimly as 10 man Wolfsburg fought back. Bayer is a sold squad, as is usually the case. Expect them to challenge and then suck enough to fall out of contention. Wolfsburg will not be retaining their title. Their offense remains potent, but their defense looks like it was slapped together in a whorehouse. They'll leak enough goals at the back to prevent them from consistently kicking ass.
Bayern had a tremendous result in Dortmund, thrashing the Neons mercilessly. Ironically, Borussia started off brightly, and controlled the early going. Bayern looked sluggish, except Schweinsteiger, who looked thuggish. But the Neons failed to make more of their edge after taking the lead, and Bayern squared things with a garbage goal by Gomez. Then in half, coach van Gaal made his move, replacing a worthless Altintop with Ribery and Gomez with youngster Thomas Müller. Ribery immediately started dominating the game, and Müller showed that he might be the next great talent of German football. Bayern were rampant and Dortmund was merely "be-Kloppt". (Sorry, couldn't resist). Bayern looks to have found their stride, so they should be kicking asses on a regular basis from now on. So despite a 5 point gap, I would say they're back to being the title favorites.
Schalke struggled, but managed to come away with a win at Köln. The Blues didn't really look good, but the hosts were without a clue for most of the match. They pressed towards the end, creating a couple of chances, but overall Schalke were good for the win. Köln looks like they're too crap to stay up. They're good enough to make it a game, but in the end will lose, so points will be hard to come by. Schalke still looks unimpressive, and continued financial problems make it likely they will be selling rather than buying. (Note that German financial rules are much stricter than other leagues, so Schalke has to be concerned they can keep a solid balance sheet.)
Frankfurt has quietly maintained their excellent start. The match in Freiburg seemed like it would be a draw, but Eintracht struck and held on, getting valuable points. They're clearly not a very good team, but this bright start should give them a serious boost so they don't have to struggle with relegation. Freiburg obviously was going to be a relegation candidate anyway, and haven't shown much to change that view.
Bremen looked listless against Hannover, who usually get slaughtered at the Weser. This time the 96ers packed the defense, and Werder couldn't figure out how to break them down. Hence, an excellent point for Hannover. They're traditionally crap on the road, and given their history in Bremen, they must be lovin' life. Bremen continues their Jeckyl and Hyde existence. They're going nowhere.
Hoffenheim are back on track as they easily bitchslapped a harmless Bochum squad. VfL usually shows some fight (which is good, since they have zero skill), but this time they were flat, so Hoffenheim had their way. SAP United (he-he) obviously is not catching anybody by surprise this season, but the "Hoppers" are aa solid team with lots of young talent. They will probably compete for a Europa-Liga (UEFA) spot throughout the season. Bochum faces a grim struggle against relegation.
Mainz is a relegation candidate, but obviously the squad hasn't been paying attention. They kept on fighting and Hertha kept on sucking, and lo and behold, Mainz pull out a win. Hertha is a disaster and needs to get their act together. Their season is already basically ruined, so they need to see they don't become a "Titanic" sequel. For Mainz, every point counts, and firing their coach just before the season started has already paid dividends.
Nürnberg is another club that will struggle, but they managed to hold on for the important inaugural win against a clueless Gladbach. Both clubs look lame, but there are plenty of weak clubs. Gladbach I think is better than FCN in the long run, but home form will be crucial for both.
VfL Wolfsburg - Bayer Leverkusen 2:3 (0:1) 30,000 (Misimovic, Grafite - Rolfes 2, Kiessling) Borussia Dortmund - FC Bayern München 1:5 (1:1) 80,552 (Hummels - Gomez, Schweinsteiger, Ribery, T. Müller 2) 1899 Hoffenheim - VfL Bochum 3:0 (1:0) 29,500 (Ba, Obasi, Compper) SC Freiburg - Eintracht Frankfurt 0:2 (0:0) 23,600 (Franz, Meier) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - Hertha BSC Berlin 2:1 (0:0) 20,300 (Ivanschitz, Bancé - Nicu) 1. FC Nürnberg - Borussia M'gladbach 1:0 (1:0) 46,780 (Kluge) Hamburger SV - VfB Stuttgart 3:1 (1:0) 57,000 (Petric, Elia, Ze Roberto - Pogrebnyak) SV Werder Bremen - Hannover 96 0:0 (0:0) 34,000 1. FC Köln - FC Schalke 04 1:2 (1:1) 50,000 (Podolski - Farfan, Kobiashvili) Attendance: 371,732 (avg 41,304) 1. (1.) Hamburger SV 5 4 1 0 15:6 +9 13 2. (2.) Bayer Leverkusen 5 4 1 0 13:5 +8 13 3. (4.) FC Schalke 04 5 3 1 1 7:3 +4 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (6.) Eintracht Frankfurt 5 2 3 0 7:4 +3 9 5. (8.) FC Bayern München 5 2 2 1 11:5 +6 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (3.) SV Werder Bremen 5 2 2 1 9:6 +3 8 7. (10.) 1899 Hoffenheim 5 2 2 1 5:2 +3 8 8. (11.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 5 2 2 1 7:7 0 8 9. (5.) Borussia M'gladbach 5 2 1 2 7:8 -1 7 10. (7.) VfL Wolfsburg 5 2 0 3 9:11 -2 6 11. (13.) Hannover 96 5 1 2 2 3:3 0 5 12. (9.) VfB Stuttgart 5 1 2 2 6:8 -2 5 13. (17.) 1. FC Nürnberg 5 1 2 2 3:5 -2 5 14. (12.) Borussia Dortmund 5 1 2 2 5:11 -6 5 15. (14.) VfL Bochum 5 1 1 3 5:11 -6 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (15.) SC Freiburg 5 1 1 3 4:12 -8 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (16.) Hertha BSC Berlin 5 1 0 4 5:8 -3 3 18. (18.) 1. FC Köln 5 0 1 4 3:9 -6 1
2.Liga - 5th round
Some wild shootouts with the leaders, with the top teams prevailing against determined opposition. St.Pauli was in a dogfight at tailender FSV Frankfurt, who put in an inspiring performance. The winless relegation candidate gave St.Pauli all they could handle, but in the end the Paulista firepower proved to be unstoppable. Even wilder was the shootout in Berlin, as promoted Union battled Paderborn. The Berliners jumped out to a 3-0 lead, only to see the guests storming back. Union remains unbeaten in their return to the 2.Liga, one of the early season surprises. Decidely more one-sided, Kaiserslautern battled old Bundesliga foe Duisburg. This was one of FCK's better 2.Liga peformances in recent years, as they thoroughly thrashed the visiting Zebras. In this form, FCK and their rabid fans are a good bet to return to the Bundesliga, their first bright spot after a few seasons of financial, management and athletic chaos. The Zebras suffered their first away defeat since Peter Neururer took over last season, but can have no complaints over their sore asses from the kicking they received.
In other important matches, 1860 won the derby against Fürth, and maybe have righted a ship that has been taking on water for a few seasons now. Rostock won an important match in their effort to stabilize and avoid slipping into relegation battles again. Bielefeld dominated the match in a derby against their smaller Westfalen neighbor Ahlen, but was almost desperate due to the great goalkeeping of the visitor's Sascha Kirschstein. But in the end Arminia finally broke through, and move up the table. Aachen are off to a crap start, as they were dumped by surprising Oberhausen. Karlsruhe got back on track with an important away win at Cottbus, always a tough place to play.
Arminia Bielefeld - Rot Weiss Ahlen 2:0 (0:0) 14,800 (Federico, Katongo) Fortuna Düsseldorf - FC Augsburg 1:1 (0:1) 20,235 (Weber - Thurk) 1. FC K'lautern - MSV Duisburg 4:1 (1:0) 31,033 (Amedick, Sam, Jendrisek, Nemec - Rodnei o.g.) TSV 1860 München - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 3:1 (0:0) 26,000 (Holebas, Lauth, Ludwig - Haas) Hansa Rostock - TuS Koblenz 2:1 (2:1) 11,500 (Retov, Schied - Kuqi) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - Alemannia Aachen 1:0 (0:0) 7,143 (Terranova) FSV Frankfurt - FC St. Pauli 2:3 (2:1) 8,577 (Cenci, Gunesch - Ebbers, Takyi, Lehmann) 1. FC Union Berlin - SC Paderborn 07 5:4 (3:2) 13,162 (Mosquera 2, Benyamina 2, Sahin - Manno, Saglik 2) FC Energie Cottbus - Karlsruher SC 2:4 (2:1) 11,000 (Shao 2 - Langkamp, Timm, Stindl, Iashvili) Attendance: 143,450 (avg 15,939) 1. (1.) FC St. Pauli 5 4 1 0 16:5 +11 13 2. (2.) 1. FC Union Berlin 5 4 1 0 11:5 +6 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (4.) 1. FC K'lautern 5 3 2 0 8:3 +5 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (6.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 5 3 1 1 7:5 +2 10 5. (8.) Arminia Bielefeld 5 3 0 2 12:8 +4 9 6. (3.) MSV Duisburg 5 2 2 1 10:9 +1 8 7. (13.) TSV 1860 München 5 2 1 2 7:6 +1 7 8. (5.) FC Energie Cottbus 5 2 1 2 10:10 0 7 9. (9.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 5 2 1 2 5:5 0 7 10. (14.) Karlsruher SC 5 2 1 2 8:10 -2 7 11. (7.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 5 2 0 3 11:10 +1 6 12. (10.) FC Augsburg 5 1 3 1 7:8 -1 6 13. (15.) Hansa Rostock 5 2 0 3 5:8 -3 6 14. (11.) SC Paderborn 07 5 1 2 2 6:8 -2 5 15. (12.) Alemannia Aachen 5 1 2 2 5:8 -3 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (15.) TuS Koblenz 5 1 0 4 4:9 -5 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (17.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 5 0 1 4 1:7 -6 1 18. (18.) FSV Frankfurt 5 0 1 4 3:12 -9 1
3.Liga - 9th round
Sandhausen maintains their lead, as Regensburg had to struggle to hold a draw with Offenbach, as Burghausen did at Jena. Unterhaching remains a contender with a solid victory over Braunschweig.
Relegated Wehen continues their recovery after their poor start, and Dresden stopped the rot with a thumping win over Kiel.
Yet another disastrous outing for Wuppertal, as they get pounded at home by a superior Osnabrück side. Things started off brightly enough, and with some luck WSV might have taken the lead. But once VfL scored, WSV were basically beaten, and the visitors toyed around, delivering a solid ass-kicking. With WSV clearly lodged at the bottom, the 3.Liga season gets grimmer by the day.
Jahn Regensburg - Kickers Offenbach 1:1 (1:1) 5,020 (Stoilov - Rode) Dynamo Dresden - Holstein Kiel 3:0 (2:0) 10,424 (Wagefeld, Dobry, Hübener) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - Wacker Burghausen 0:0 (0:0) 6,948 FC Ingolstadt 04 - SV Werder Bremen II 4:1 (1:1) 2,886 (Leitl 2, Hartmann, Braber - Oehrl) SV 1916 Sandhausen - FC Bayern München II 4:2 (2:1) 3,500 (Dorn, Fischer, Pinto, Lüttmann - Ekici, Hajdarovic) VfB Stuttgart II - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 3:1 (0:1) 650 (Didavi, Riedle, Walch - Semmer) Wuppertaler SV - VfL Osnabrück 0:4 (0:2) 3,718 (Siegert, Lejan 2, Heidrich) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - Borussia Dortmund II 2:1 (0:0) 4,360 (Meier, Heidenfelder - Kandziora) SpVgg Unterhaching - Eintracht Braunschweig 2:0 (0:0) 4,800 (Konrad, Steegmann) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - FC Erzgebirge Aue 2:0 (2:0) 3,765 (Ziegenbain, B. Hübner) Attendance: 46,071 (avg 4,607) 1. (1.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 9 6 2 1 22:11 +11 20 2. (2.) Jahn Regensburg 9 5 3 1 13:7 +6 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) Wacker Burghausen 9 5 2 2 13:14 -1 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (5.) VfL Osnabrück 9 5 1 3 15:8 +7 16 5. (6.) SpVgg Unterhaching 9 4 4 1 15:12 +3 16 6. (4.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 9 4 3 2 13:9 +4 15 7. (11.) FC Ingolstadt 04 9 4 1 4 22:12 +10 13 8. (12.) VfB Stuttgart II 9 4 1 4 16:12 +4 13 9. (7.) Eintracht Braunschweig 9 4 1 4 8:10 -2 13 10. (10.) Kickers Offenbach 8 3 3 2 10:5 +5 12 11. (13.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 9 3 3 3 14:16 -2 12 12. (8.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 9 3 3 3 12:14 -2 12 13. (9.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 9 3 3 3 6:8 -2 12 14. (16.) Dynamo Dresden 9 3 2 4 8:9 -1 11 15. (18.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 9 3 1 5 9:12 -3 10 16. (14.) FC Bayern München II 9 2 3 4 12:20 -8 9 17. (15.) Borussia Dortmund II 9 2 2 5 8:11 -3 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (17.) Holstein Kiel 9 2 1 6 11:16 -5 7 19. (19.) SV Werder Bremen II 8 2 1 5 7:15 -8 7 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 9 1 2 6 8:21 -13 5
Germany ho-hum again
This is what the Germans call a Pflichtsieg, basically a routine but mandatory win. In yet another World Cup qualifier, Germany defeated Azerbaijan 4-0. Once again, the DFB-squad was hardly impressive, playing listlessly against an inferior opponent, missing chances, but basically just doing enough to get the points. Things got a bit easier when the Azeri captain got his ass tossed for double yellows. Ballack (via penalty), Klose (twice) and Podolski got the goals.
This game really doesn't matter that much: If Germany can avoid defeat against Russia in Moscow on October 10, they will win the group. (Germany hosts Finland in the final game, Russia at Azerbaijan, so those hardly matter except for stats.) A loss means that they'll go into the playoffs.
Horrible news for HSV
Hamburg may have suffered a huge loss. Peruvian forward Paolo Guerrero appears to have suffered a tear in his cruciate ligament ("Kreuzbandriss"). This happened in the worthless World Cup qualifier against Venezuela yesterday. Guerrero was in good form with HSV's excellent start, and now it looks like he'll be out 6 months.
Germany ho-hum
A break week for the top two divisions, as FIFA had all the international squads going in either Wuorld Cup qualifiers or friendlies. Germany opened with a friendly match against South Africa, winning 2-0. It was hardly a gala peformance, as South Africa generally was able to frustrate the German game with well organized defense. For Germany, the most significant aspect was the debut of young Werder Bremen playmaker, Mesut Özil, who had an excellent debut. The young Turkish-German was probably the best player on the pitch, along with a sharp German GK, Rene Adler. Özil was invloved in both goals, and in general looked like he belonged out there. For a while, it looked as though Germany was just getting old, but recently there has been a lot of excellent young talent breaking through in the Bundesliga and national squad, which bodes well for the future of the squad. The main question seems to be whether coach Joachim Löw is up to the task. (I doubt it)
Mario Gomez scored on a tap-in, which was probably offsides. Özil finished off the guests with a nice shot after a clever combination. The South Africans created a few decent chances themselves, but young GK Rene Adler, playing in front of his home Leverksuen crowd, gave an impressive performance.
One thing that was kind of lame is that Germany played in their red uniforms, which looks completely crap. Maybe they're trying to fool the opponent that they're Spain, or perhaps lull them into a false sense of security by pretending they're ultra-crap, like Belgium (who were happily getting pounded 5-0 by Spain). C'mon, Deutschland is white jersey, black shorts, verdammt noch mal. It's bad enough that the clubs prostitute themselves with changing jersies all the time to extract yet another euro from the fans.
3.Liga - 8th round
Sandhausen got a goal 5 minutes into injury time to knock off Regensburg from the top perch. However, you can see why it's often not a good thing for village clubs to be in the pro leagues - even for such a top game, attendance is too small. Osnabrück was shocked by two early goals from promoted Heidenheim, but fought back and eventually got the winner on a late own goal. Burghausen immpressed with a solid win in a southern regional derby (although again, nobody watched it), and Jena had a huge away win in Kiel.
Another miserable defeat for Wuppertaler SV. They outplayed their hosts Erfurt the whole match, only to to give up a stupid goal in injury time and lose.
FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Wuppertaler SV 1:0 (0:0) 5,548 (Cannizzaro) VfL Osnabrück - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 3:2 (0:2) 9,400 (Bencik, Schmidt, Krebs o.g - Spann, Essig) FC Erzgebirge Aue - VfB Stuttgart II 1:0 (0:0) 6,200 (Braham) SV 1916 Sandhausen - Jahn Regensburg 2:1 (0:1) 3,240 (Fischer 2 - Schmidt) Eintracht Braunschweig - FC Ingolstadt 04 2:1 (1:1) 10,340 (Kragl, Kruppke - Hartmann) Wacker Burghausen - SpVgg Unterhaching 3:0 (2:0) 3,550 (El Haj Ali 2, Grübl) Holstein Kiel - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 0:1 (0:0) 4,511 (Kolb) Borussia Dortmund II - Dynamo Dresden 1:0 (0:0) 3,322 (Piossek) FC Bayern München II - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 0:0 (0:0) 1,000 SV Werder Bremen II - Kickers Offenbach postponed Attendance: 47,111 (avg 5,234) 1. (2.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 8 5 2 1 18:9 +9 17 2. (1.) Jahn Regensburg 8 5 2 1 12:6 +6 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (4.) Wacker Burghausen 8 5 1 2 13:14 -1 16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (6.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 8 4 2 2 13:9 +4 14 5. (9.) VfL Osnabrück 8 4 1 3 11:8 +3 13 6. (3.) SpVgg Unterhaching 8 3 4 1 13:12 +1 13 7. (10.) Eintracht Braunschweig 8 4 1 3 8:8 0 13 8. (11.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 8 3 3 2 11:11 0 12 9. (12.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 8 3 3 2 6:6 0 12 10. (5.) Kickers Offenbach 7 3 2 2 9:4 +5 11 11. (7.) FC Ingolstadt 04 8 3 1 4 18:11 +7 10 12. (8.) VfB Stuttgart II 8 3 1 4 13:11 +2 10 13. (13.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 8 2 3 3 12:15 -3 9 14. (15.) FC Bayern München II 8 2 3 3 10:16 -6 9 15. (19.) Borussia Dortmund II 8 2 2 4 7:9 -2 8 16. (14.) Dynamo Dresden 8 2 2 4 5:9 -4 8 17. (16.) Holstein Kiel 8 2 1 5 11:13 -2 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (18.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 8 2 1 5 7:12 -5 7 19. (17.) SV Werder Bremen II 7 2 1 4 6:11 -5 7 20. (20.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 8 1 2 5 8:17 -9 5
3.Liga - 7th round
No wussies in the lower divisions, instead midweek action in the 3.Liga. Regensburg becomes the new leader as erstwhile tailenders Wehen (who are a 2.Liga Absteiger) dump former top dog Sandhausen. Ex-Bundesligist Unterhaching wins an important game against Kiel, and Ingolstadt was seemingly on performance enhancing drugs as they "wacked" Wacker Burghausen. The battle of two former Bundesliga clubs ended with a resounding victory for the hosts in Offenbach, who climb up the table. Bitter defeat for Braunschweig, who seem to be waffling already.
Unfortunately, Wuppertaler SV has shrunk to last place, with a miserable home defeat to Aue in a rainstorm. Not that it really mattered, since the fans have long abandoned this historic club. And when you considered that every year is a new (or often many) coach, and that usually just about all the players are swapped also, the only conclusion one can draw is that WSV management's incompetance has reached epic proportions. Unfortunately, no Arab sheik or Russian robber baron is available to pump funds into the club. Instead, the same clowns that have run the ship into the ground for years. Well, they did manage to sign a 37 year old Albanian striker. Perhaps he has some contacts among Kosovan gangsters that could donate a few suitcases of cash. A sad state of affairs for Germany's greatest club. (Well, second greatest, as local rival ASV is in fact greater, albeit obscure). Unfortunately, WSV looks doomed to relegation already, which really would suck, since I would then have to report on the Regionalliga next season.
1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 2:2 (2:1) 5,280 (Spann, Meyer - Semmer, Cinaz) Wuppertaler SV - FC Erzgebirge Aue 0:2 (0:0) 2,496 (Braham 2) SpVgg Unterhaching - Holstein Kiel 3:1 (1:1) 3,200 (Schweinsteiger, Leandro, Steegmann - Holt) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - SV 1916 Sandhausen 2:1 (2:0) 2,567 (Ziegenbein, A. Öztürk - Pinto) VfB Stuttgart II - FC Bayern München II 2:4 (1:1) 1,150 (Vier, Broghammer - Sikorski 3, Riess) Dynamo Dresden - VfL Osnabrück 0:0 (0:0) 12,665 FC Carl Zeiss Jena - Borussia Dortmund II 2:1 (1:1) 6,983 (Lukimya, Riemer - Neumeister) Jahn Regensburg - SV Werder Bremen II 1:0 (0:0) 5,036 (Shynder) FC Ingolstadt 04 - Wacker Burghausen 6:0 (3:0) 3,625 (Metzelder, Hartmann, Leitl, Wenczel, Karl, Gerber) Kickers Offenbach - Eintracht Braunschweig 3:0 (2:0) 7,000 (St.Haas, Pospischil, Laux) Attendance: 50,002 (avg 5,000) 1. (2.) Jahn Regensburg 7 5 2 0 11:4 +7 17 2. (1.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 7 4 2 1 16:8 +8 14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (5.) SpVgg Unterhaching 7 3 4 0 13:9 +4 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) Wacker Burghausen 7 4 1 2 10:14 -4 13 5. (9.) Kickers Offenbach 7 3 2 2 9:4 +5 11 6. (8.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 7 3 2 2 12:9 +3 11 7. (12.) FC Ingolstadt 04 7 3 1 3 17:9 +8 10 8. (4.) VfB Stuttgart II 7 3 1 3 13:10 +3 10 9. (7.) VfL Osnabrück 7 3 1 3 8:6 +2 10 10. (6.) Eintracht Braunschweig 7 3 1 3 6:7 -1 10 11. (10.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 7 2 3 2 10:11 -1 9 12. (16.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 7 2 3 2 5:6 -1 9 13. (11.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 7 2 3 2 10:12 -2 9 14. (14.) Dynamo Dresden 7 2 2 3 5:8 -3 8 15. (19.) FC Bayern München II 7 2 2 3 10:16 -6 8 16. (13.) Holstein Kiel 7 2 1 4 11:12 -1 7 17. (15.) SV Werder Bremen II 7 2 1 4 6:11 -5 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (20.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 7 2 0 5 7:12 -5 6 19. (17.) Borussia Dortmund II 7 1 2 4 6:9 -3 5 20. (18.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 7 1 2 4 8:16 -8 5
Bundesliga - 4th round
Obviously, the biggest news this week is Bayern's recovery and domination of Wolfsburg. After their horrible start, Bayern made a move that only they can make - they plunked down 24 million euros and signed Real Madrid's surplus Arjen Robben. And indications are that they're not done with plinking down cash. After a strong first half, Bayern then unleashed Robben and recovered Franck Ribery. Perhaps they should name the duo "Robbery", as Ribery assisted on two goals - both to Robben. With Bayern also set to get Rafinha to fix their right back problem (Lahm has been playing out of position until they found someone), all of a sudden Bayern looks re-invigorated. Wolfsburg probably shouldn't be too worried, although their defense looks somewhat suspect. (NEWSFLASH: At the last minute, Bayern decided not to buy Rafinha.) The VWs didn't really hit stride until midseason last year, so perhaps they're still a way from top form. They did create a few chances, especially in the 2nd half, and with some luck might have scored and got back in the match. Still, Bayern's performance indicates that they are back and want to dominate the league.
Hamburg is the surprise leader, and they've been playing decent football, much to the amazement of their own fans, who were only mildly expectant for this season. Of course, they shouldn't start wetting their pants, after all, they only beat a crap Köln squad, who look like relegation material. Still, you have to grind out results and get the points, and so far HSV is doing just that. They looked vulnerable after Köln got back at 1-2, until a Trochowski penalty ended the match. HSV was heavily criticized for bringing in Bruno Labbadia as coach, but so far things are looking rosy. The addition of Bayern castoff, Ze Roberto ("too old"), has been brilliant so far. As for Köln, they look crap. Their poor start could be just enough to doom them.
Schalke looks to be falling apart already. The Blues were completely lame against tailend Freiburg, and ended up losing 0-1 at home. The guests played decently in the 1st half and stole a goal, then packed the back and let an incompetant Schalke press for the remainder of the game. Schalke dominated, created a few chances, but in general looked uninterested. This team clearly lacks a playmaker and is going nowhere fast. And the chance of getting someone like Rafael van der Vaart is nil, as financial problems have led to yet another crisis. As a result, Schalke is set to sell Brazilian defender Rafinha to Bayern. This led to an interesting aspect of the match. Instead of urging the team forward, some idiot Schalke fans spent all their time booing Rafinha; I'm sure that really inspired the players. (What will make matters worse, 5 minutes before the transfer deadline, Bayern told Schalke that they wouldn't buy Rafinha afterall. I'm sure all the Schalke fan support will encourage the Brazilian to give 100+% effort.) A nice victory for Freiburg though. Their goal was scored by Doo-Ri Cha, son of Korean legend Bum-Kun Cha, who had a fine career with Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt. Doo-Ri has bounced around with several German clubs, perhaps he's found his home.
Leverkusen should have scored a half dozen against Bochum, who offered little except fighting spirit. But Bayer continued to miss chances, undoubtedly causing coach Jupp Heynckes to gulp gallons of pepto-bismol. In the end, they managed to sneak a goal and continue their fine season start. Obviously given their history ("Luserkusen" or "Vizekusen") indicates they can't win the title, but they look like a tough team once again.
Stuttgart looked crap at home against Nürnberg, and were perhaps even lucky to get a point. FCN played defensively, but had a few counterattack chances, especially in the 1st half. Still, "der Club" looks weak, and will be lucky to avoid the drop. VfB on the other hand, failed across the board, hardly looking like a contender. Obviously they're capable of a lot more, but the loss of Mario Gomez' goals looks like they may have a harder time.
Hoffenheim got their first win, thanks to some sharp goalkeeping by Timo Hildebrand. Equally important however was the fact that Hannover apparently couldn't have hit the side of a barn, let alone the back of the net. The "Hopp- enheimers are certainly not setting the league on fire as they did last season, but they look to be a solid squad, and have signed many young players that could pay dividends down the road. Hannover was strong at home, weak on the road last season. I wouldn't expect them to be too worried about relegation, but they don't look like they can be anything but mediocre midtable.
Gladbach put in a solid home performance against Mainz, fully deserving their victory. Obviously home form is key if they are to stay up again. They've also got to be happy that their Argie forward, Raul Bobadilla, finally scored. Mainz was off to a bright season start and look to be a decent team, but will likely struggle against relegation. The worst result for them was that GK Heinz Müller, one of the heroes against Bayern, was injured, along with his backup. The upcoming pause for internationals comes at a good time for them.
Bremen got a nice win in Berlin, playing well and taking their chances. Hertha was lame for most of the match, and although they woke up in the last 20 minutes, their efforts were too late. They look like a team that may seriously have to think about fighting relegation, as their minimalist football is not scratching out results this season. Werder is still inconsistent, but grabbing points in matches they would have lost last year is certainly encouraging for them.
Frankfurt and Dortmund squared off in a hard fought draw, which is probably a fair result. As the home team, Eintracht was perhaps more active, but Dortmund looked solid and determined.
Borussia M'gladbach - 1. FSV Mainz 05 2:0 (1:0) 42,217 (Bobadilla, Reus) VfB Stuttgart - 1. FC Nürnberg 0:0 (0:0) 42,000 FC Schalke 04 - SC Freiburg 0:1 (0:1) 60,198 (Cha) Bayer Leverkusen - VfL Bochum 2:1 (1:1) 27,122 (Friedrich, Kiessling - Friedrich o.g.) Hannover 96 - 1899 Hoffenheim 0:1 (0:1) 34,257 (Carlos Eduardo) Eintracht Frankfurt - Borussia Dortmund 1:1 (0:0) 51,050 (Amanatidis - Zidan) FC Bayern München - VfL Wolfsburg 3:0 (1:0) 69,000 (Gomez, Robben 2) Hertha BSC Berlin - SV Werder Bremen 2:3 (0:0) 49,176 (Piszczek, Ebert - Özil, Borowski, Naldo) Hamburger SV - 1. FC Köln 3:1 (1:0) 54,112 (Guerrero 2, Trochowski - Chihi) Attendance: 429,132 (avg 47,681) 1. (2.) Hamburger SV 4 3 1 0 12:5 +7 10 2. (1.) Bayer Leverkusen 4 3 1 0 10:3 +7 10 3. (7.) SV Werder Bremen 4 2 1 1 9:6 +3 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) FC Schalke 04 4 2 1 1 5:2 +3 7 5. (10.) Borussia M'gladbach 4 2 1 1 7:7 0 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (6.) Eintracht Frankfurt 4 1 3 0 5:4 +1 6 7. (4.) VfL Wolfsburg 4 2 0 2 7:8 -1 6 8. (14.) FC Bayern München 4 1 2 1 6:4 +2 5 9. (9.) VfB Stuttgart 4 1 2 1 5:5 0 5 10. (15.) 1899 Hoffenheim 4 1 2 1 2:2 0 5 11. (5.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 4 1 2 1 5:6 -1 5 12. (12.) Borussia Dortmund 4 1 2 1 4:6 -2 5 13. (8.) Hannover 96 4 1 1 2 3:3 0 4 14. (11.) VfL Bochum 4 1 1 2 5:8 -3 4 15. (18.) SC Freiburg 4 1 1 2 4:10 -6 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (13.) Hertha BSC Berlin 4 1 0 3 4:6 -2 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (16.) 1. FC Nürnberg 4 0 2 2 2:5 -3 2 18. (17.) 1. FC Köln 4 0 1 3 2:7 -5 1
2.Liga - 4th round
St.Pauli has become the sensation of the 2.Liga in the early running. The Hamburgers launched a devastating assault in Karlsruhe, coming away with yet another impressive away result. Erstwhile surprise leaders Union Berlin remained unbeaten as well, with a good result in Augsburg. Relegated Bielefeld got back on course with a solid 2nd half at Fürth, a good result, since Greuther is usually a contender. Aachen righted their ship by easily shutting out FSV Frankfurt, who are off to another horrible start. Also off to a crap start is Hansa Rostock, who were stunned at home by Oberhausen. Duisburg drew a nice crowd for the revival of the regional rivalry with Düsseldorf. Fortuna had been dumping around in lower divisions for quite a while, so certainly the Zebras were happy to have the Düsseldorfers back: both financially (large crowd) and athletically (they kicked their ass).
So what is the prognosis? The usual, a desperate struggle to gain promotion or relegation. Not too much in between. It's hard to guess this early, as the only real surprises so far have been Union and St.Pauli. Kaiserslautern is a "massive" club, but they've been stuck in the 2.Liga for a few seasons now and haven't looked very impressive. But they're certainly going to contend for promotion, and my guess is that they'll achieve it this season. Bielefeld, Cottbus and Duisburg, the 3 clubs that dropped last season, would have to be considered solid bets as well. I figure at least one of them should be bouncing back. On the bottom, I think Ahlen and Frankfurt look too weak, so that leaves only 1 relegation spot open and there are a few "lucky" contenders. Since both of them are hardly fan magnets, there probably won't be too many tears shed, but expect at that at least some of the promoted teams will be even worse nobodies. Zweite Liga attendance is clearly a case between have and have-nots, and the smaller clubs just don't draw, even if they're moderately successful (e.g. Greuther Fürth). On the other hand, clubs like 1860 would have massive attendance, better than most Bundesliga clubs, if they would only win a few games.
Karlsruher SC - FC St. Pauli 0:4 (0:1) 26,300 (Lehmann 2, Hennings, Ebbers) Rot Weiss Ahlen - TSV 1860 München 0:0 (0:0) 4,025 TuS Koblenz - FC Energie Cottbus 0:2 (0:1) 7,425 (Shao, Jula) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Arminia Bielefeld 2:4 (1:0) 7,330 (Mokhtari, Nöthe - Fort 2, Katongo, Federico) Hansa Rostock - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 0:2 (0:1) 14,000 (Terranova 2) Alemannia Aachen - FSV Frankfurt 3:0 (2:0) 23,078 (Auer 2, Junglas) FC Augsburg - 1. FC Union Berlin 1:1 (0:0) 19,037 (Werner - Sahin) SC Paderborn 07 - 1. FC K'lautern 0:0 (0:0) 10,345 MSV Duisburg - Fortuna Düsseldorf 3:0 (1:0) 27,371 (Tararache, Tiffert, Wagner) Attendance: 138,911 (avg 15,435) 1. (2.) FC St. Pauli 4 3 1 0 13:3 +10 10 2. (1.) 1. FC Union Berlin 4 3 1 0 6:1 +5 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (6.) MSV Duisburg 4 2 2 0 9:5 +4 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) 1. FC K'lautern 4 2 2 0 4:2 +2 8 5. (7.) FC Energie Cottbus 4 2 1 1 8:6 +2 7 6. (10.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 4 2 1 1 6:5 +1 7 7. (4.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 4 2 0 2 10:7 +3 6 8. (5.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 4 2 0 2 4:4 0 6 9. (12.) Arminia Bielefeld 4 2 0 2 10:8 +2 6 10. (9.) FC Augsburg 4 1 2 1 6:7 -1 5 11. (11.) SC Paderborn 07 4 1 2 1 2:3 -1 5 12. (16.) Alemannia Aachen 4 1 2 1 5:7 -2 5 13. (13.) TSV 1860 München 4 1 1 2 4:5 -1 4 14. (8.) Karlsruher SC 4 1 1 2 4:8 -4 4 15. (14.) Hansa Rostock 4 1 0 3 3:7 -4 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (14.) TuS Koblenz 4 1 0 3 3:7 -4 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (18.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 4 0 1 3 1:5 -4 1 18. (17.) FSV Frankfurt 4 0 1 3 1:9 -8 1
3.Liga - 6th round
The southern clubs are currently dominating the standings, holding down the top 5 spots. Surprising Sandhausen and Regensburg top the table, with Burghausen holding down the playoff spot. Certainly this prospect is not thrilling 2.Liga treasurers, as these teams have pitiful attendance. The one club that does draw, Braunschweig, was stunned at home by Werder's B squad to drop down. Relegated Osnabrück seems to righted the ship, so expect them to challenge. All the eastern clubs (Jena, Dresden, Aue, Erfurt) are mostly slumming around midtable. The big result here was Erfurt sending down Dresden in flames.
Borussia Dortmund II - SpVgg Unterhaching 1:2 (0:2) 1,524 (Hille - Mitterhuber, Zillner) FC Erzgebirge Aue - 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 0:1 (0:1) 6,800 (Spann) VfL Osnabrück - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 2:0 (1:0) 9,800 (Lindemann, Reichenberger) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Dynamo Dresden 4:1 (2:0) 9,451 (Semmer, Humbert, Rockenback, Kammlott - Wagefeld) FC Bayern München II - Wuppertaler SV 3:1 (1:0) 1,800 (Ekici, Alaba, Duhnke - Asaeda) SV 1916 Sandhausen - VfB Stuttgart II 2:1 (0:1) 2,440 (Eberlein, Fiesser - Funk) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Jahn Regensburg 0:2 (0:0) 2,526 (Berger, Beigang) Holstein Kiel - FC Ingolstadt 04 2:2 (0:1) 4,597 (Meyer, Sykora - Hartmann 2) Eintracht Braunschweig - SV Werder Bremen II 1:2 (1:1) 14,000 (Kruppke - Testroet 2) Wacker Burghausen - Kickers Offenbach 1:0 (1:0) 3,150 (Cappek) Attendance: 56,088 (avg 5,089) 1. (1.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 6 4 2 0 15:6 +9 14 2. (2.) Jahn Regensburg 6 4 2 0 10:4 +6 14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (5.) Wacker Burghausen 6 4 1 1 10:8 +2 13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (3.) VfB Stuttgart II 6 3 1 2 11:6 +5 10 5. (8.) SpVgg Unterhaching 6 2 4 0 10:8 +2 10 6. (4.) Eintracht Braunschweig 6 3 1 2 6:4 +2 10 7. (12.) VfL Osnabrück 6 3 0 3 8:6 +2 9 8. (6.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 6 2 2 2 10:8 +2 8 9. (7.) Kickers Offenbach 6 2 2 2 6:4 +2 8 10. (17.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 6 2 2 2 8:9 -1 8 11. (15.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 6 2 2 2 8:10 -2 8 12. (10.) FC Ingolstadt 04 6 2 1 3 11:9 +2 7 13. (11.) Holstein Kiel 6 2 1 3 10:9 +1 7 14. (9.) Dynamo Dresden 6 2 1 3 5:8 -3 7 15. (18.) SV Werder Bremen II 6 2 1 3 6:10 -4 7 16. (13.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 6 1 3 2 3:6 -3 6 17. (14.) Borussia Dortmund II 6 1 2 3 5:7 -2 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18. (16.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 6 1 2 3 8:14 -6 5 19. (20.) FC Bayern München II 6 1 2 3 6:14 -8 5 20. (19.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 6 1 0 5 5:11 -6 3
Misc news
Healthy competition
Champion VfL Wolfsburg suffered their first home loss in something like 30 matches, and so things are getting a little feisty. In practice today, Edin Dzeko and Karim Ziani got into it. After a hard tackle, Dzeko apparently slapped Ziani, and the two went at it UFC style. Perhaps newcomer Ziani (from Olympique Marseille) was secretly goaded on by Obafemi Martins, who would love to crack the starting lineup, hehehe. The VWs also received some bad news though, as Brazilian captain Josue, who suffered a knee injury against HSV, will be out of action for at least 3 weeks.
Honor before profit
A surprising announcement in this day and age of money grubbing. 2.Liga newcomer Union Berlin has decided to tear up their sponsorship contract with "International Sport Promotion". The deal would have paid Union some 10 million euros through 2014. The reason is that an investigative report in "Der Spiegel" revealed that the chairman of the board of directors of ISP, Jürgen Czilinsky, was an ex-captain in the Stasi, the old GDR secret police. Czilinsky resigned his post, but Union voted to severe the relationship anyway. When the discovery was made, many Union fans protested vigorously, as Union had a reputation as an "alternative" club during the GDR years, and suffered greatly under the thumb of the Stasi and their sponsored club, BFC Dynamo Berlin. Ironically, the chairman of ISP, Dieter Fietz, is an ex-Union coach and strong supporter.
Wuppertal not crap enough
Reader Reiner Nickl pointed out that although WSV is indeed crap and likely headed back to the Regionalliga, there are in fact even crappier large cities struggling. With a population of 382,000, Wuppertal is certainly disgraceful, but there are others that deserve even more rebuke. I had forgotten about Essen (582,000), where Rot-Weiss, a long time rival of WSV, piddles around in the 4th division. And of course, in the 3.Liga, you can find Dresden (508,000). And even further down is Leipzig (511,00), where Sachsen and Lokomotiv struggle in the 5th division Oberliga. However, the 3rd Leipzig club in that division, brand-new RB Leipzig is likely to be moving up. RB stands for "Rasenballsport" ("grass ball sport"), but it really stands for "Red Bull". The theory is that the Austrian moneybags will lift them up, as they did with Austrian powerhouse RB Salzburg. Of course, they could do like RB New York in the USA MLS and make them the crappiest team...
Bundesliga - 3rd round
Early indications are that this year's Bundesliga race is once again wide open.
Champions Wolfsburg had looked good in the start, but they'll not sneak up on anyone, and their defensive achilles heel gives other clubs hope. Hamburg pounced with two quick goals in the first 7 minutes to stun their hosts, and Wolfsburg used all their energy to fight back into the match. They managed to square the game, but then were out of gas, and watched as HSV's clever counters stabbed them in the back. A great result for HSV, which is one of the "mystery" squads this season, as they could be very good or mediocre. Despite the loss, Wolfsburg probably doesn't have to worry, as they look pretty good and should challenge to defend their title. Newcomer Obafemi Martins came on as a sub and immediately scored, an indication that VW firepower is as strong as ever. Their defense looked pretty crap, as HSV created lots of decent chances.
Whenever Bayern loses, it's top news. The Louis Van Gaal era in München is off to a rough start, as the giants remain winless. Newcomers Mainz pulled off one of their best results in club history, as they dominated the first half, and then withstood sustained Bayern pressure after the restart. The outstanding play of GK Heinz Müller was key to Mainz holding on to the win, as Bayern peppered his goal with lots of shots. If Bayern don't at least win their next match, they'll have to fire van Gaal and rehire Klinsmann, hehehehe. For Mainz, it's a sensational start, and even more memorable considering that they actually fired their coach, Jorn Andersen, BEFORE the season started. And in his place, they promoted Thomas Tuchel, who was the youth team coach! But Tuchel evidentally has some talent (indeed his youth team won the German title) and Mainz defeated Bayern for the first time in 21 tries...
Schalke showed little of the decent form of their first couple of games. Instead, they showed up with a tight defensive shell and grimly held on to a draw at Hoffenheim. The hosts pressed, but were unable to break through. Don't expect Hoffenheim to surprise anyone this season. Obviously they are a solid squad, and the rest of the league is well prepared to meet them.
The new leader is Bayer Leverkusen, who thrashed newcomers Freiburg away. Despite the impressive scoreline, it wasn't as easy as one might think. Freiburg had several decent chances, but were unable to get past GK Rene Adler. Meanwhile, Leverkusen was deadly on the counterattack, and basically finished all their chances. With ass-kicker Jupp Heynckes as coach, it is likely that Bayer will likely be a tough opponent throughout the season.
Neither Dortmund nor Stuttgart was overly impressive in their match, which ended in a fair draw. Both clubs are hoping for an improvement on decent campaigns from last season, but obviously need to go back to the drawing board. For Dortmund, there are again rumours of financial problems, so there is the prospect of being forced to sell some of their better players, such as defender Subotic.
Köln was unable to gain the win against Frankfurt, despite playing the last 30+ minutes with a man advantage as Eintracht's Patrick Ochs got his ass tossed for a dirty foul. Despite the return of prodigal son Lukas Podolski, the Kölners look to be a long hard struggle to stay up this season. They've played tough in every match, but have only a single point to show for it, and their offense is, well, "offensive". Frankfurt is off to a bright start.
Nürnberg looked completely lame at home and deservedly lost. Andreas Bergmann got off to a great start as interim boss for Hannover, but in reality, FCN was harmless, so the 96ers really weren't tested. Still, they will be very happy, since their road record has traditionally been quite poor.
Hertha BSC was one of the early surprise teams last season, playing minimalist football and getting results. This season they just look minimalist. They looked totally crap away to Bochum, who got a deserved win as captain Antar Yahia blasted in a low driving freekick for the win. Hertha looked especially lame in attack, which makes you wonder why they dumped striker Marko Pantelic in the offseason, since this is just the type of game where he would have scored to save their ass. Perhaps Hertha will try and loan Andrei Voronin from Liverpool again. Bochum will have to rely on running around and booting the ball hard. They haven't been overly impressive, but it may be enough to stay up.
Werder Bremen made a decisive move during the week. They were unimpressed with their crap start, and perhaps that pushed management over the edge to pull the trigger - they signed striker Claudio Pizarro. The Peruvian had been quite decent on loan last season, but the club had waffled whether to sign him permanently. They did, and Claudio rewarded them with a double against Gladbach. The visitors were basically invisible, and if GK Heimeroth wasn't in decent form, it would have turned into a total embarassment. Still, MG probably isn't too upset, since they probably have to rely on decent home results to stay up. Bremen remains a schizoid squad, and you never know who is going to show up.
1899 Hoffenheim - FC Schalke 04 0:0 (0:0) 30,150 Borussia Dortmund - VfB Stuttgart 1:1 (1:0) 72,100 (Valdez - Niedermeyer) 1. FC Köln - Eintracht Frankfurt 0:0 (0:0) 49,200 SC Freiburg - Bayer Leverkusen 0:5 (0:1) 22,000 (Kiessling, Barnetta 2, Derdiyok 2) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - FC Bayern München 2:1 (2:0) 20,300 (Ivanschitz, Bancé - Noveski o.g.) 1. FC Nürnberg - Hannover 96 0:2 (0:1) 38,671 (Stajner 2) VfL Bochum - Hertha BSC Berlin 1:0 (0:0) 18,853 (Yahia) VfL Wolfsburg - Hamburger SV 2:4 (0:2) 30,000 (Misimovic, Martins - Guerrero, Elia, Petric, Castelen) SV Werder Bremen - Borussia M'gladbach 3:0 (2:0) 34,800 (Pizarro 2, Naldo) Attendance: 316,164 (avg 35,129) 1. (6.) Bayer Leverkusen 3 2 1 0 8:2 +6 7 2. (3.) Hamburger SV 3 2 1 0 9:4 +5 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (1.) FC Schalke 04 3 2 1 0 5:1 +4 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (1.) VfL Wolfsburg 3 2 0 1 7:5 +2 6 5. (10.) 1. FSV Mainz 05 3 1 2 0 5:4 +1 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. (5.) Eintracht Frankfurt 3 1 2 0 4:3 +1 5 7. (12.) SV Werder Bremen 3 1 1 1 6:4 +2 4 8. (14.) Hannover 96 3 1 1 1 3:2 +1 4 9. (7.) VfB Stuttgart 3 1 1 1 5:5 0 4 10. (4.) Borussia M'gladbach 3 1 1 1 5:7 -2 4 11. (17.) VfL Bochum 3 1 1 1 4:6 -2 4 12. (9.) Borussia Dortmund 3 1 1 1 3:5 -2 4 13. (8.) Hertha BSC Berlin 3 1 0 2 2:3 -1 3 14. (11.) FC Bayern München 3 0 2 1 3:4 -1 2 15. (14.) 1899 Hoffenheim 3 0 2 1 1:2 -1 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. (13.) 1. FC Nürnberg 3 0 1 2 2:5 -3 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. (18.) 1. FC Köln 3 0 1 2 1:4 -3 1 18. (16.) SC Freiburg 3 0 1 2 3:10 -7 1
2.Liga - 3rd round
The 2.Liga is always lots of fun, and this year will probably be no exception. The early surprise is undoubtedly newly promoted Union Berlin, who top the table after a quick start. It would certainly be sensational to see Union in the Bundesliga, but most likely they'll come back to earth. Avoiding relegation would be a good season for them. St.Pauli has also created somewhat of a stir. The Paulistas are among Deutschland's premier elevator clubs, fluctuating wildly between the 1st and 3rd divisions. Their stunning 5-0 win at Aachen last week served notice that perhaps they might be looking to sneak back up to the top.
Thye relegated sides (Duisburg, Cottbus, Bielefeld) have all started modestly, but you figure at least a couple might e in the promotion race as the season wears on. Among newly promoted sides, we've already mentioned Union, but Düsseldorf is very intriguing as well, a big city club that was a long-time Bundesliga mainstay that had disappeared into obscurity.
FSV Frankfurt - SC Paderborn 07 0:0 (0:0) 3,874 1. FC Union Berlin - Hansa Rostock 1:0 (1:0) 17,500 (Mosquera) Fortuna Düsseldorf - TuS Koblenz 1:0 (1:0) 20,150 (Jovanovic) Arminia Bielefeld - FC Augsburg 1:2 (0:0) 13,500 (Katongo - Thurk, Traore) FC St. Pauli - MSV Duisburg 2:2 (2:1) 22,554 (Bruns, Takyi - Kouemaha, Wagner) FC Energie Cottbus - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1:3 (1:2) 13,700 (Shao - Allagui 2, Gassem) 1. FC K'lautern - Alemannia Aachen 1:1 (0:1) 28,079 (Illicevic - Gueye) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - Rot Weiss Ahlen 2:0 (0:0) 5,045 (Stoppelkamp, Kaya) TSV 1860 München - Karlsruher SC 1:3 (1:1) 30,800 (Cooper - Timm, Krebs, Langkamp) Attendance: 155,202 (avg 17,245) 1. (2.) 1. FC Union Berlin 3 3 0 0 5:0 +5 9 2. (1.) FC St. Pauli 3 2 1 0 9:3 +6 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. (3.) 1. FC K'lautern 3 2 1 0 4:2 +2 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. (6.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth 3 2 0 1 8:3 +5 6 5. (7.) Fortuna Düsseldorf 3 2 0 1 4:1 +3 6 6. (5.) MSV Duisburg 3 1 2 0 6:5 +1 5 7. (4.) FC Energie Cottbus 3 1 1 1 6:6 0 4 8. (14.) Karlsruher SC 3 1 1 1 4:4 0 4 9. (13.) FC Augsburg 3 1 1 1 5:6 -1 4 10. (15.) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 3 1 1 1 4:5 -1 4 11. (12.) SC Paderborn 07 3 1 1 1 2:3 -1 4 12. (8.) Arminia Bielefeld 3 1 0 2 6:6 0 3 13. (9.) TSV 1860 München 2 1 0 2 4:5 -1 3 14. (10.) Hansa Rostock 3 1 0 2 3:5 -2 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15. (10.) TuS Koblenz 3 1 0 2 3:5 -2 3 16. (16.) Alemannia Aachen 3 0 2 1 2:7 -5 2 17. (18.) FSV Frankfurt 3 0 1 2 1:6 -5 1 18. (17.) Rot Weiss Ahlen 3 0 0 3 1:5 -4 0
3.Liga - 5th round
The 3.Liga looks wide open, with several clubs showing decent form early on. Sandhausen is the surprise leader, with an away win in Wuppertal. One good sign is that Bayern's II club looks crap, so perhaps they'll disappear from the league.
The 2.Liga relegated clubs, Ingolstadt and Osnabrück are off to slow starts, but should get that bearings and challenge. On the other hand, Wehen looks quite poor and is an early candidate to continue the elevator ride down. For the newcomers, Heidenheim is a welcome addition. They may struggle on the field, but if 7,000+ show up to watch a "II" squad, that's worth something.
Dresden had their first sell-out in years, as they blasted Aue in an eastern match. None of the eastern clubs are doing
particularily well, but they will continue to be big box office draws.
FC Ingolstadt 04 - Borussia Dortmund II 0:1 (0:1) 2,660 (Öztekin)
Jahn Regensburg - Eintracht Braunschweig 1:0 (1:0) 6,108 (Zellner)
Dynamo Dresden - FC Erzgebirge Aue 3:0 (1:0) 14,650 (Savran 2, Kegel)
SpVgg Unterhaching - VfL Osnabrück 1:0 (1:0) 2,300 (Balkan)
Kickers Offenbach - Holstein Kiel 2:3 (1:0) 7,587 (Kopilas, Zinnow - Zykora, Holt, Jerat)
SV Werder Bremen II - Wacker Burghausen 3:4 (2:2) 580 (Ayik, Oehrl, Testroet - Capek 2, Hertl, Kresin)
Wuppertaler SV - SV 1916 Sandhausen 0:2 (0:1) 3,528 (Dorn, Ristic)
1. FC Heidenheim 1846 - FC Bayern München II 4:2 (3:0) 7,150 (Essig, Spann, Schnatterer, Meyer - Sikorski, Sene)
FC Carl Zeiss Jena - FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 0:3 (0:2) 11,200 (Kammlot 2, Semmer)
VfB Stuttgart II - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 3:0 (1:0) 500 (Funk 2, Schipplock)
Attendance: 56,263 (avg 5,623)
1. (3.) SV 1916 Sandhausen 5 3 2 0 13:5 +8 11
2. (5.) Jahn Regensburg 5 3 2 0 8:4 +4 11
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3. (6.) VfB Stuttgart II 5 3 1 1 10:4 +6 10
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4. (1.) Eintracht Braunschweig 5 3 1 1 5:2 +3 10
5. (7.) Wacker Burghausen 5 3 1 1 9:8 +1 10
6. (2.) FC Carl Zeiss Jena 5 2 2 1 10:6 +4 8
7. (4.) Kickers Offenbach 5 2 2 1 6:3 +3 8
8. (12.) SpVgg Unterhaching 5 1 4 0 8:7 +1 7
9. (13.) Dynamo Dresden 5 2 1 2 4:4 0 7
10. (8.) FC Ingolstadt 04 5 2 0 3 9:7 +2 6
11. (15.) Holstein Kiel 5 2 0 3 8:7 +1 6
12. (9.) VfL Osnabrück 5 2 0 3 6:6 0 6
13. (10.) FC Erzgebirge Aue 5 1 3 1 3:5 -2 6
14. (17.) Borussia Dortmund II 5 1 2 2 4:5 -1 5
15. (18.) 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 5 1 2 2 7:10 -3 5
16. (11.) Wuppertaler SV Bor. 5 1 2 2 7:11 -4 5
17. (19.) FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt 5 1 2 2 4:8 -4 5
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18. (14.) SV Werder Bremen II 5 1 1 3 4:9 -5 4
19. (16.) SV Wehen Wiesbaden 5 1 0 4 5:9 -4 3
20. (20.) FC Bayern München II 5 0 2 3 3:13 -10 2
Due to (un)popular demand, I guess I will be inflicting more Bundesliga updates among the readers of this blog (all 3-4 of them). I need to get my bearings back after drinking lots of rum and Dourada Draft while climbing volcanos in Guate, so I'll have to skip some of the preseason rumours etc, and I'll skip the details of the first couple of rounds
The first coaches have gotten the boot! It's hilarious, but already you'e got coaching changes. Hannover 96 boss Dieter Hecking has decided to throw in the towel. Basically 96 has been crap in their opening matches, and I guess Hecking was too disgusted to continue, so he gave up. Hannover has been pretty inconsistent since their return to top flight a few seasons ago, although this has been consistent with the club history, so I'm not sure what they're all excited about. More disturbing is the 2.Liga Karlsruher SC fired Ede Becker. KSC started off disappointing, a draw and a loss. But the board fired Becker's ass, despite not long ago being hailed as a genius when KSC was sensational in the top flight. Hopefully, the next coach to be fired will be Bayern's Louis Van Gaal, who has yet to win. I don't think it will happen, but it would be funny. Bayern has largely sucked in their openers (1-1 draws with Hoffenheim and Werder). It's early still, but Bayern don't look to be striking fear in the rest of the league just yet...
As far as the leagues, obviously defending champ Wolfsburg intends to continue where they left off. I think the VWs pulled off somewhat of a coup by signing Newcastle's Obafemi Martins. He is a very talented striker, and gives VW extra depth so that they could probably survive even if Dzeko or Grafite went down. Schalke (under new management, i.e. ex-Wolfsburg boss Felix Magath) has also started brightly, and you can be sure that Magath will kick some asses once the Blues fall back in their usual pattern of dicking around aimlessly. Not sure it will make a difference, but it would be cool to see footprints on the traditional white Schalke shorts...(although they usually play blue shorts now).
Who knows what is going on in the 2.Liga. As usual, everybody is is a contender for promotion or relegation.
Finally, in the 3.Liga, as one reader already pointed out, this could be the year of Wuppertaler SV! And we could have universal health care in the US! Haha. Nope, I'm pretty sure that once again Wuppertal will continue in their role as the largest city (almost 400,000) without respectable football, although I suppose both Leipzig and Dresden contest them. If I recall, I did a survey last season and came up with a list, but heaven knows.
Just returned back from Guatemala, so I haven't been posting.
Haven't yet decided if I'll be doing any updates...
Season over
You can read the past season's news at the link below...
Don't know if I'll add any updates over the summer...possibly I'll just try and update some other areas