Last season archived news
(c) Abseits Guide to Germany - www.abseits-soccer.com
More misc news
Christoph Daum is leaving as head coach of 1.FC Köln. This is a shock move to Köln fans, as Daum is somewhat of a hero to the club. He led them back from the wilderness of the 2.Liga and managed to stay up in the Bundesliga, then convinced local hero Lukas Podolski to abandon Bayern and return. So where's Daum off too? Fenerbahce of Turkey, where he previously won a couple of titles. The reason is not sentiment, but cold hard cash. The Turks are apparently offering a 3 year, 11 million euro deal - after taxes. Daum was making around 2.5 million/yr before taxes with Köln.
Energie Cottbus is also dumping their coach, Bojan Prasnikar. I really don't think he's too blame for Energie's relegation; it's not as if Cottbus is the no.1 destination for talented players.
Der Club ist back!
Nürnberg was pretty much assured of re-gaining Bundesliga status after their gala 3-0 away performance in Cottbus in the promotion playoffs. So the return match in Nürnberg was a mere formality, as the 46,700 fans basically just celebrated the return of der Club. A simple 2-0 victory (goals by Eigler and Mintal) as FCN makes a somewhat improbable bounceback after just one season in the 2.Liga. Through winterbreak, Nürnberg hardly looked like a promotion threat, as they struggled with mediocrity. But then they started to grind out wins, and although hardly playing impressive football, given the tight bunching of the 2.Liga, they started climbing up the ladder. They were rewarded for their power display down the stretch with 3rd place, and they easily dispatched Energie, who had limped home to 16th in the top flight.
Paderborn stuns Osnabrück
SC Paderborn is moving up to the 2.Liga, as they came away from the Bremer Brücke with a surprise 1-0 win over VfL Osnabrück. The "Osnatel-Arena" (the new name) was sold out, with 16,250 fans for the Westfalen derby. After a somewhat lackluster first half, VfL came out strong in the 2nd. After a foul on Reichenberger, Cichon had a golden opportunity, but SCP GK Jensen stopped the penalty kick. VfL launched furious attacks, with Paderborn desperately defending. Then on a counter, Lönig gave Paderborn the lead, and the defense did the rest. Somewhat of a surprise victory, but SCP was able to ride a goal from Lönig in both matches to a deserved victory. Osnabrück had their chances, but now are relegated. There is doubt whether head coach Claus-Dieter Wollitz will continue as VfL boss...
Werder takes the Cup
Werder Bremen dominated the match against Bayer Leverkusen, the final of the DFB-Pokal. However, they only managed to win 1-0, after a goal by Mesut Özil. Like all recent finals, this was played in Berlin's Olympiastadion, in front of a sellout crowd of 79,254. Werder controlled the match against an unorganized Bayer squad, but it took an hour to finally break through. In the end, Leverkusen showed some life, but really weren't able to mount much.
Playoffs
In the 1st match of the Bundesliga promotion, 1. FC Nürnberg defeated Energie Cottbus 3-0. The match was played in front of a sold-out (22,000) Stadion-der-Freundschaft in Cottbus, so this away win essentially puts Nürnberg through to the Bundesliga. Goals were scored by Boakye (2) and Eigler. The match started out pretty even, but after Nürnberg took the lead on Boakye's 13th minute strike, they pulled back and let Energie run down their batteries. After about an hour, Eigler scored to put FCN on easy street, and Boakye again completed the rout with a last minute strike. The return match Sunday in Nürnberg figures to be relatively easy, as I don't see FCN blowing a 3 goal lead.
In the 2.Liga promotion, Paderborn edged Osnabrück 1-0. Paderborn's "Paragon-Arena" was sold out (15,000) for the first time this season, and the fans saw SCP have a clear edge in the regional derby. Nevertheless, they really didn't have much to show for it, and Osnabrück came out in the 2nd half with more energy. After veteran VfL striker Grieneisen missed a sitter, they gave the game away. Defender Omodiagbe fell down, and SCP's Lönig waltzed in to give Paderborn the lead. However, they also missed golden opportunities to settle the match. Ironically, it was their leading scorer, Güvenisik that failed. One minute before Lönig's goal, he failed on a 1-on-1 against the keeper, and later he missed an open net from about 10 feet. The rematch next Monday in Osnabrück should make the 2.Liga club a slight favorite, despite being a goal down.
Transfers?
The seats aren't even cold yet, but players and coaches are moving their asses at lightspeed. Werder Bremen loses Brazilian playmaker Diego, who is going to Juventus for something like 26 million euros. Not really a surprise, since it's been talked about for quite a while. It will be interesting to see how Bremen finds a new playmaker, as the Brazilian has been the key to Werder's success over the last few seasons. They certainly have looked crap without him. On the positive side, rumours abound that Tim Borowski, who left Bremen to join Bayern, may be headed back. He's basically got splinters in his ass from all the bench-time at Bayern, and it certainly hasn't helped his career. (Although his bank account might have liked it.) This would be a good moves for both teams, since Borowski is pretty much surplus at Bayern, and he was quite good at Werder. We'll see what happens.
In another crap Bayern move, they've apparently agreed with VfB Stuttgart to transfer Mario Gomez. The fee is supposedly a Bundesliga record 30 million euros. For Bayern, it's probably a good move in that although it's not clear that it helps them directly, it weakens their opposition. That appears to be Bayern's strategy, "Buy all the good players" and leave the scraps for others. "Super-Mario" (as he's known in the Bundesliga) or "Stupor-Mario" (as he should be known for the national squad) is only 23, so it could be the striker for the future. However, with both Klose and Toni, plus the purchase of HSV's Ivica Olic, some of these guys are going to be riding pine. Bayern is supposedly also after young Schalke GK Manuel Neuer, but new Schalke boss Felix Magath said "ix-nay".
Speaking of HSV, they've lost their best asset from the season. Head coach Martin Jol is leaving to take over Ajax, which apparently every Dutchman wants at least once in their career. Jol managed to get a bunch of talentless oafs into the Europaliga, but since Hamburg's board doesn't seem to have a clue, he's probably wise to leave.
Wolfsburg has announced the replacement for outgoing Felix Magath. It's Armin Veh, who was canned midseason by Stuttgart, who promptly went on a torrid stretch to challenge for the title. But before Veh takes all the blame for the early failure, remember that a couple of year's ago he led Stuttgart to the title. This is probably a relatively safe pick by Volkswagen, as a title defense seems unlikely anyway.
Arminia Bielefeld is still looking for a head coach. I guess they weren't too impressed with Jörg Berger's one game stint. Rumour is that they're negotiating with Germany legend Helmut Schön. He's been dead for several years, but he could just be the man to turn the club around.
Hans Meyer has apparently decided to cash in on his pension, leaving Borussia M'gladbach without a head coach. Gladbach has a young team, so perhaps the fact that Meyer is older than his "whole starting-lineup-combined" might have contributed. Or perhaps he just decided that since Gladbach barely survived and is losing two of it's main talents (Alex Baumjohann and Markus Marin), it's not worth the stress of another relegation battle.
The DFB Final could be a ball-breaker, as both Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen are desperate to salavage something out of a sucky season. Although Werder coach Thomas Schaaf is under fire, they've been a fairly decent club over the years. My feeeling is that he's still in the job unless he's tired. On the other hand, Bayer coach Bruno Labbadia has been buying Alka-Seltzer and Pepto-Bismol in mass quantities. Loyalty to Bayer products is admirable, but Leverkusen has sucked down the stretch, and embarasssed themselves by phoning it in at Cottbus. So expect him to get his ass canned if they don't win the Cup...
Bundesliga, Round 34
WOLFSBURG CHAMPS! There really wasn't much drama. The VWs only needed a draw, but they got straight to business by slapping Werder Bremen around. After only 6 minutes they had the lead, and proceeded to bang in goals left and right. Grafite was unstoppable, scoring twice and setting up another. His partner in crime Dzeko put the icing on the cake. The combo of Grafite (28) and Dzeko (26) thereby end up with a Bundesliga record 54 goals, beating the previous 1971/72 strike partnership of Gerd Müller and Uli Hoeness of 53. (Although that was a bit more one-sided, since Müller bagged the record 40). Bremen actually didn't play total crap, but clearly they weren't overly motivated.
As a result of Wolfsburg's win, the Bayern-Stuttgart match was relegated to a fight for 2nd. Stuttgart never really seemed interested in winning the match, so Bayern had it under control.
Hertha Berlin may have wanted to qualify for the Champions League, but they got bitch-slapped by relegated Karlsruhe. KSC had only a minute chance from being relegated, but they came out forceful. You'd think that Hertha would have been motivated, but they played like a wet noodle.
Hamburg on the other hand was inspired, and an injury time goal got them a win at Frankfurt, allowing them to grab a Europa spot.
Gladbach is celebrating, as the point they gained against a furious Dortmund is enough to guarantee their Bundesliga stay for another year. The Neons needed a win to qualify for Europe, and despite assaulting Gladbach's goal in the final stages, were unable to breakthrough. So it appears that their fine season (fewest losses of all teams) will leave them empty-handed. Nevertheless, the change that coach Jürgen Klopp has brought should stand them well for next season.
Cottbus seized the opportunity and finally broke down Leverkusen resistance in the 2nd half. Energie needed a win to have a chance, and unusually opened up with all-out attack. Leverkusen was just going through the motions and only held out for a half.
Bielefeld is the big loser. They needed a win and failed to get it against Hannover. Auf wiedersehn.
The remaining matches, in Köln and Gelsenkirchen (Schalke), drew massive crowds, but really didn't mean anything. Köln finishes a satisfactory return to the Bundesliga with a secure spot, and Bochum, though struggling, was already secure as well. Hoffenheim ended with another win in an exciting season, and should be happy with their performance. Schalke sucked this year, but tha fans have a new head coach coming in, Felix Magath from champions Wolfsburg.
VfL Wolfsburg - Werder Bremen 5:1 (3:1) 30,000 (Misimovic, Grafite 2, Prödl o.g., Dzeko - Diego) Eintracht Frankfurt - Hamburger SV 2:3 (0:1) 51,500 (Meier, Caio - Jarolim, Olic, Trochowski) Bayern München - VfB Stuttgart 2:1 (1:0) 69,000 (Boularouz o.g., van Bommel - Gomez) Energie Cottbus - Bayer Leverkusen 3:0 (0:0) 20,140 (Jula 2, Rivic) Arminia Bielefeld - Hannover 96 2:2 (1:0) 27,300 (Eggimann o.g., Wichniarek - Stajner, Pinto) Karlsruher SC - Hertha BSC Berlin 4:0 (2:0) 30,600 (Freis, Franz, Kennedy 2) 1. FC Köln - VfL Bochum 1:1 (1:1) 50,000 (Yahia o.g. - Klimowicz) Borussia M'gladbach - Borussia Dortmund 1:1 (0:0) 54,067 (Dante - Blaszczykowski) FC Schalke 04 - 1899 Hoffenheim 2:3 (2:1) 61,000 (Krstajic, Farfan - Ba, Carlos Eduardo 2) Attendance: 393,607 (avg 43,734) 1 VfL Wolfsburg 34 21 6 7 80:41 +39 69 CHAMPION, Champions League 2 Bayern München (M, P) 34 20 7 7 71:42 +29 67 Champions League 3 VfB Stuttgart 34 19 7 8 63:43 +20 64 Champions League ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Hertha BSC Berlin 34 19 6 9 48:41 +7 63 Europaliga 5 Hamburger SV 34 19 4 11 49:47 +2 61 Europaliga ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Borussia Dortmund 34 15 14 5 60:37 +23 59 7 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 34 15 10 9 63:49 +14 55 8 FC Schalke 04 34 14 8 12 47:35 +12 50 9 Bayer Leverkusen 34 14 7 13 59:46 +13 49 10 Werder Bremen 34 12 9 13 64:50 +14 45 11 Hannover 96 34 10 10 14 49:69 -20 40 12 1. FC Köln (N) 34 11 6 17 35:50 -15 39 13 Eintracht Frankfurt 34 8 9 17 39:60 -21 33 14 VfL Bochum 34 7 11 16 39:55 -16 32 15 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 34 8 7 19 39:62 -23 31 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Energie Cottbus 34 8 6 20 30:57 -27 30 playoff ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Karlsruher SC 34 8 5 21 30:54 -24 29 relegated 18 Arminia Bielefeld 34 4 16 14 29:56 -27 28 relegated (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga) Top scorers: 1 Grafite VfL Wolfsburg 28 2 Dzeko VfL Wolfsburg 26 3 Gomez VfB Stuttgart 24 4 Helmes Bayer Leverkusen 21 5 Ibisevic 1899 Hoffenheim 18 6 Pizarro Werder Bremen 17 7 Novakovic 1. FC Köln 16 8 Ba 1899 Hoffenheim 14 9 Toni Bayern München 14 10 Wichniarek Arminia Bielefeld 13 11 Kuranyi FC Schalke 04 13
2. Liga, Round 34
Not too much drama on the last day, as most matches went to form. Mainz routed Oberhausen to claim the 2nd promotion spot, so despite winning, Nürnberg will have to playoff for a Bundesliga spot. They'll face a tough Energie Cottbus squad, so it won't be easy.
On the bottom, Osnabrück got slapped silly in Duisburg, so they'll face a playoff against 3.Liga Paderborn for the right to stay up.
SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Hansa Rostock 1:1 (1:0) 10,203 (Stroh-Engel - Fillinger) Rot-Weiss Ahlen - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 2:4 (1:2) 4,030 (Grosskreutz, Naki - Kotujac, Allagui, Sararer, Cidimar) FC Ingolstadt 04 - TuS Koblenz 4:0 (2:0) 3,730 (Wnenczel, Demir, Neuendorf, Wohlfahrt) 1. FC Nürnberg - 1860 München 2:1 (2:0) 46,780 (Eigler, Mintal - Lauth) MSV Duisburg - VfL Osnabrück 4:1 (2:0) 17,194 (Maicon 2, Makiadi, Kouemaha - Sykora) SC Freiburg - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 4:3 (2:1) 24,000 (Jäger, Schwaab, Idrissou 2 - Jendrisek, Sam, Demai) Alemannia Aachen - FC Augsburg 4:0 (3:0) 21,800 (Lehmann, Olajenbasi, Junglas, Auer) FC St. Pauli - FSV Frankfurt 2:0 (1:0) 23,201 (Ebbers 2) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 4:0 (2:0) 20,300 (Baljak 2, Bancé 2) Attendance: 171,238 (avg 19,026) 1 SC Freiburg 34 21 5 8 60:36 +24 68 Champion, promoted 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 34 18 9 7 62:37 +25 63 promoted ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 34 16 12 6 51:29 +22 60 playoff ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Alemannia Aachen 34 16 8 10 58:38 +20 56 5 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 34 16 8 10 60:46 +14 56 6 MSV Duisburg (A) 34 14 13 7 56:36 +20 55 7 1. FC Kaiserslautern 34 15 7 12 53:48 +5 52 8 FC St. Pauli 34 14 6 14 52:59 -7 48 9 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 34 11 9 14 35:54 -19 42 10 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 34 11 8 15 38:57 -19 41 11 FC Augsburg 34 10 10 14 43:46 -3 40 12 TSV 1860 München 34 9 12 13 44:46 -2 39 13 Hansa Rostock (A) 34 8 14 12 52:53 -1 38 14 TuS Koblenz 34 11 8 15 47:57 -10 38 15 FSV Frankfurt (N) 34 9 11 14 34:47 -13 38 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 VfL Osnabrück 34 8 12 14 41:60 -19 36 playoff ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 34 7 10 17 38:54 -16 31 relegated 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 34 5 12 17 28:49 -21 27 relegated (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans Top scorers: 1 Auer Alemannia Aachen 16 2 Makiadi MSV Duisburg 16 3 Mintal 1. FC Nürnberg 16 4 Allagui SpVgg Greuther Fürth 15 5 Lauth 1860 München 15 6 Thurk FC Augsburg 14 7 Kouemaha MSV Duisburg 14 8 Jendrisek 1. FC Kaiserslautern 14 9 Bancé 1. FSV Mainz 05 14 10 Toborg Rot-Weiss Ahlen 13 11 Idrissou SC Freiburg 13
3. Liga, Round 38
Düsseldorf returns to the 2.Liga after 10 years, and the anticipation was certainly high in the Rhein city. 51,000 fans showed up, which obviously sets a 3.Liga attendance record. (In 1997, Nürnberg and Fürth drew 45,000 in the then 3rd division Regionalliga Süd derby) In fact, it's the same as the rest of the league today combined.
Fortuna Düsseldorf - Werder Bremen II 1:0 (1:0) 50,095 (Christ) SpVgg Unterhaching - VfR Aalen 2:1 (1:0) 4,250 (Susak, Fink - Bohl) SV Sandhausen - Carl Zeiss Jena 2:2 (2:0) 5,400 (Ristic, E. Öztürk - Amirante, Schembri) Jahn Regensburg - Eintracht Braunschweig 2:0 (1:0) 3,500 (Stoilov, Schlauderer) Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 2:2 (2:2) 4,000 (Hauswald, Pagenburg - Lintjens, Weikl) Kickers Emden - 1. FC Union Berlin 3:2 (2:0) 4,000 (Mayer, Zedi, Neitzel - Dogan, Gebhardt) Bayern München II - Kickers Offenbach 1:1 (1:1) 300 (Ekici - Albayrak) Wacker Burghausen - VfB Stuttgart II 2:1 (0:1) 2,000 (Mayer, Balleri - Walch) Stuttgarter Kickers - SC Paderborn 07 0:3 (0:1) 3,140 (Krause, Mohr, Güvenisik) Erzgebirge Aue - Dynamo Dresden 1:1 (0:0) 12,500 (Feick - Dobry) Attendance: 101,685 (avg 10,169) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 38 22 12 4 59:23 +36 78 Champion, promoted 2 Fortuna Düsseldorf 38 20 9 9 54:33 +21 69 promoted ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 38 20 8 10 68:38 +30 68 playoff ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Unterhaching 38 20 7 11 57:46 +11 67 5 Bayern München II 38 14 17 7 54:38 +16 59 6 Kickers Emden 38 16 11 11 45:44 +1 59 7 Kickers Offenbach (A) 38 12 16 10 40:35 +5 52 8 SV Sandhausen 38 12 14 12 58:52 +6 50 9 Dynamo Dresden 38 13 11 14 46:46 0 50 10 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 38 13 11 14 46:48 -2 50 11 VfB Stuttgart II 38 13 10 15 61:50 +11 49 12 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 38 12 12 14 43:43 0 48 13 Eintracht Braunschweig 38 12 9 17 46:51 -5 45 14 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 38 11 12 15 36:45 -9 45 15 Jahn Regensburg 38 11 12 15 37:51 -14 45 16 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 38 10 11 17 41:59 -18 41 17 Werder Bremen II 38 10 10 18 49:58 -9 40 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Wacker Burghausen 38 10 10 18 40:65 -25 40 relegated 19 VfR Aalen 38 8 15 15 38:60 -22 39 relegated 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 38 7 11 20 38:71 -33 29 relegated Kickers Stuttgart to be penalized -3 as of May 13 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Top scorers: 1 A. Fink SpVgg Unterhaching 21 2 Oehrl Werder Bremen II 17 3 Güvenisik SC Paderborn 07 17 4 Benyamina 1. FC Union Berlin 16 5 T. Müller Bayern München II 15 6 Savran Dynamo Dresden 14 7 Löning SC Paderborn 07 14 8 Sailer VfR Aalen 12 9 Cannizzaro Rot-Weiß Erfurt 12
Bremen falls in UEFA Cup final
Werder Bremen failed to win the last UEFA Cup, as they fell 1-2 to Ukraine's Shaktor Donetzk in the final. Werder was basically a lost cause, since Diego was banned due to yellow cards, and they lacked playmaking. This may mean the end of coach Thomas Schaaf, who has come under a lot of criticism for Werder's inconsistency this season. He could still get some silverware if they knock off Leverkusen in the DFB-Cup final. It seems like Werder has lost some focus when Tim Borowski went off to Bayern München. It really hasnt worked for either club. Werder lost a workhorse that contributed on both offense and defense, and at Bayern, Borowski has been suffering from the dreaded Bankholzsplinterimarschverletzung injury, coming from sitting on the bench too much.
Frontzceck raus!
Actually, it happened on Sunday after Bielefeld's 0-6 humiliation at Dortmund. Arminia head coach Michael Frontzeck was fired in a desperate attempt to stem the tide toward relegation. So dinosaur Jörg Berger was been taken off life support from the old folks home and given control for 1 match to save Arminia from relegation. Talk about desperation, firing Frontzeck's ass with one game left. I'm not sure it's really his fault, since the team has almost zero talent, but I guess you can't fire all the players. I'm sure that Berger collects a nice amount to augment his pension. Actually, he might to make sure Arminia loses, because if he pulls off the miracle and saves them, they'll probably want to offer him the full time job, which would undoubtedly lead to unneccessary stress for Berger...
Funkel raus!
Eintracht Frankfurt head coach Friedhelm Funkel will also be leaving. He has decided to resign effective end-of-season, and the board has accepted his resignation "reluctantly". Funkel was probably tired of constantly underacheiving Frankfurt always struggling just above relegation. He built his coaching reputation (he was also a decent player) as getting the most with limited resources. But for the most part, Eintracht has merely flattered to deceive, despite some talented players and strong fan support. Frankfurt is a club that basically never lives up to it's potential, except for a period in the early 1990s, when they were quite good. No word on who his successor might be...
Bundesliga, Round 33
Sensational results, and all goes down to the final day. Record crowds as the Bundesliga topped 50,000 per match, and some wild matches.
Wolfsburg's dynamic duo of Dzeko and Grafite put in another clinical performance as they put the Wolves on the verge of a sensational Bundesliga title. In what was actually a closer match, the VWs took their chances, and their northern rivals Hannover failed to make theirs count. In their meager defense, the 96ers had nothing to play for, accept pride, which they evidently don't have too much of. Outgoing VW head coach Felix Magath said midweek that his offense would carry them to the title, and he is on the verge of perhaps his greatest coaching achievement. Wolfsburg should only require a draw at home in their final match, but it's against Werder Bremen, who are the true Jeckyl and Hyde of German football this season. That's no easy task.
Bayern München is on the verge of failure, as they were held in an exciting match by upstart Hoffenheim. After taking an early lead, Bayern were stunned by Hoffenheim's quick comeback, and the match remained thrilling as both clubs went all out. A bit of wing magic by Ribery gave a perfect floating cross for Toni to head home a tie, but that was as far as Bayern could get. A draw is a fair result, as either team could have won it. Bayern hosts Stuttgart next week, but if Wolfsburg doesn't lose, it's all over. The winner could take the title, the loser might even fall out of the Champions League.
Stuttgart had to overcome stubborn resistance by desperate Cottbus, but they've set themselves up for that final in München. A win might give them the title, but it would likely dump Bayern form the Champions. They've been red-hot in the 2nd half, and if Wolfsburg stumbles, they could take everything. In any case, a nice recovery for VfB after their poor start.
Hertha's dream of their first title since 1931 is over. The Berliners hosted arch-enemy Schalke (goes back to the 60s when Schalke was relegated, but the DFB saved them by expanding the league. Then they kicked out Hertha for cheating, and the Berliners blame Schalke ever since...) Actually, Schalke had more of the play in this match, but Berlin had some decent chances. It's good that they didn't win however, since the prospect of them being the champs would have disgraced the league, hehehe. Well, OK, not so bad. Hertha however got the maximum out of their minimalist football, and seemed to have revived interest in the capital, so that's a good thing. Hertha could still sneak into the Champions League, they would need a win at Karlsruhe.
The relegation battle isn't over, but Bochum is out. Safe, that is, as their win over Frankfurt assures Bundesliga next season. I'm not sure this is a good thing though. After the Friday training session, Bochum Ultras and hooligans showed up at the field and threatened the players if they didn't perform. Well, it worked, so maybe others will look to emulate this type of "encouragement", and before you know it, you'll think you're in Italy. Still, good job by Bochum to finally nail down the points needed, although given their talent, it shouldn't have been so hard. Frankfurt is also safe, despite losing.
On the other hand, some of the other clubs are now in complete panic. Bielefeld was routed in Dortmund. Gladbach obviously partied too much from their win in Cottbus and got bitch-slapped by Leverkusen. By getting creamed, they ruined their goal difference, and it opens a slight window for their rivals. And throwing a wrench into everything is Karlsruhe, who won sensationally in Bremen. KSC obviously is "living" on fumes. They could still finish 16th, which means a relegation playoff with the 2.Liga 3rd place finisher. For the last week, it all boils down to Gladbach. If they can get a home point against Dortmund (not easy), then Bielefeld, Cottbus and KSC are in the relegation spots. Cottbus probably can't jump out, as their goal difference is too crap and they're not going to score a half dozen against Leverkusen. Bielefeld has an easier task against Hannover, but also need a big win. So it seems likely that the bottom 3 are only jockeying for that 16th spot that at least offers some hope.
Finally, Hamburg is on the verge of having their season end in failure. A home loss to Köln means that they can only qualify for Europe if they get help from Gladbach (hosting Dortmund). Of course, they really don't deserve qualifying, so that's a good thing. Head coach Martin Jol has done a superb job with minimal talent, but the 5 teams above them are clearly better.
1899 Hoffenheim - Bayern München 2:2 (2:2) 30,500 (Ba, C.Eduardo - Ribery, Toni) Hertha BSC Berlin - FC Schalke 04 0:0 (0:0) 74,200 Hannover 96 - VfL Wolfsburg 0:5 (0:3) 49,000 (Dzeko 3, Grafite 2) VfL Bochum - Eintracht Frankfurt 2:0 (1:0) 30,420 (Hashemian, Klimowicz) Werder Bremen - Karlsruher SC 1:3 (0:2) 39,119 (Hugo Almeida - Stindl 2, Iashvili) VfB Stuttgart - Energie Cottbus 2:0 (1:0) 55,500 (Hitzlsperger, Cacau) Borussia Dortmund - Arminia Bielefeld 6:0 (1:0) 80,200 (Kehl 2, Hajnal, Valdez, Tinga, Zidan) Bayer Leverkusen - Borussia M'gladbach 5:0 (2:0) 43,000 (Kiessling, Helmes, Castro, Kadlec, Dante o.g.) Hamburger SV - 1. FC Köln 0:1 (0:1) 57,000 (Ehret) Attendance: 458,939 (avg 50,993) 1 VfL Wolfsburg 33 20 6 7 75:40 +35 66 2 Bayern München (M, P) 33 19 7 7 69:41 +28 64 3 VfB Stuttgart 33 19 7 7 62:41 +21 64 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Hertha BSC Berlin 33 19 6 8 48:37 +11 63 5 Borussia Dortmund 33 15 13 5 59:36 +23 58 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Hamburger SV 33 18 4 11 46:45 +1 58 7 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 33 14 10 9 60:47 +13 52 8 FC Schalke 04 33 14 8 11 45:32 +13 50 9 Bayer Leverkusen 33 14 7 12 59:43 +16 49 10 Werder Bremen 33 12 9 12 63:45 +18 45 11 Hannover 96 33 10 9 14 47:67 -20 39 12 1. FC Köln (N) 33 11 5 17 34:49 -15 38 13 Eintracht Frankfurt 33 8 9 16 37:57 -20 33 14 VfL Bochum 33 7 10 16 38:54 -16 31 15 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 33 8 6 19 38:61 -23 30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Arminia Bielefeld 33 4 15 14 27:54 -27 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Energie Cottbus 33 7 6 20 27:57 -30 27 18 Karlsruher SC 33 7 5 21 26:54 -28 26 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 33
The top is pretty much decided now. Mainz looks to be going up, as they won a critical away match at Greuther Fürth, who once again end up with nothing. Since Nürnberg was unable to win against desperate Rostock, all Mainz needs is to avoid a loss at home to Oberhausen, and they've got 2nd place and the auto-promotion spot. Nürnberg however is secure in the 3rd spot, which means a promotion playoff match against the 16th from the Bundesliga. Kaiserslautern was officially eliminated as they lost at home to Duisburg. They were down 0-4 but struck back with 3 goals for a wild finish. But given Mainz win, they would have been eliminated anyway.
In the relegation battle, Ingolstadt was officially relegated, no big surprise. FSV Frankfurt however struggled, and really needed the victory to secure their future. Osnabrück was actually the big loser, as they failed to win at home against Ahlen. Given their crap goal difference, they need a win at Duisburg to have a chance, which is a tall order. Rostock (at Wehen) and Koblenz (at Ingolstadt) have easier tasks, and even FSV is probably safe with a point at St.Pauli. However Koblenz once again may suffer. During their match, coach Rapolder sent Kuqi onto the field as a sub. The problem was that referee Manuel Gräfe looked at his card and noticed that Kuqi was not on the list of eligible players. So he refused to allow him to enter; Rapolder noticed his mistake and sent in another player. However, by rules, Gräfe has to report Koblenz to the DFB. The likely outcome is a fine, but in the extreme case, Koblenz could be deducted points - and they already have -3 from their financial shenanigans. Needless to say several other bottom clubs may try to call in favors to lobby for the maximum penalty...
Followup: No point deduction. DFB decided it was a minor infraction and fined Koblenz 3,000 euros. Since Kuqi actually didn't play, there was no advantage gained. St.Pauli in any case declined a protest, and the general managers of both FSV Frankfurt and Osnabrück stated they were satisfied, as they didn't want any unfair advantage.
1860 is actually safe now, as their superior goal difference is enough even if Osnabrück should catch them on points. Oberhausen did even better, as they upset champions Freiburg to secure their 2.Liga spot.
Hansa Rostock - 1. FC Nürnberg 0:0 (0:0) 27,000 1. FC Kaiserslautern - MSV Duisburg 3:5 (0:3) 43,679 (Jendrisek, Fuchs, Sam - Tiffert, Wagner 2, Kouemaha, Ede) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - 1. FSV Mainz 05 0:2 (0:0) 13,300 (Feulner, Soto) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - SC Freiburg 1:0 (0:0) 6,279 (Terranova) 1860 München - Alemannia Aachen 1:1 (1:0) 33,600 (Lauth - Auer) FC Augsburg - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 1:1 (0:0) 24,113 (Sinkala - König) TuS Koblenz - FC St. Pauli 2:1 (2:1) 14,109 (Sukalo, Vata - Ebbers) VfL Osnabrück - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 2:2 (1:1) 15,300 (de Wit, Frommer - Naki, Grosskreutz) FSV Frankfurt - FC Ingolstadt 04 1:1 (0:0) 4,354 (Cenci - Demir) Attendance: 181,734 (avg 20,193) 1 SC Freiburg 33 20 5 8 56:33 +23 65 Champion, promoted 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 33 17 9 7 58:37 +21 60 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 33 15 12 6 49:28 +21 57 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Alemannia Aachen 33 15 8 10 54:38 +16 53 5 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 33 15 8 10 56:44 +12 53 6 MSV Duisburg (A) 33 13 13 7 52:35 +17 52 7 1. FC Kaiserslautern 33 15 7 11 50:44 +6 52 8 FC St. Pauli 33 13 6 14 50:59 -9 45 9 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 33 11 9 13 35:50 -15 42 10 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 33 11 8 14 36:53 -17 41 11 FC Augsburg 33 10 10 13 43:42 +1 40 12 TSV 1860 München 33 9 12 12 43:44 -1 39 13 TuS Koblenz 33 11 8 14 47:53 -6 38 14 FSV Frankfurt (N) 33 9 11 13 34:45 -11 38 15 Hansa Rostock (A) 33 8 13 12 51:52 -1 37 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 VfL Osnabrück 33 8 12 13 40:56 -16 36 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 33 6 10 17 34:54 -20 28 relegated 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 33 5 11 17 27:48 -21 26 relegated (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 37
Düsseldorf was the big winner, as they managed to win away in Aalen, while Unterhaching was beaten down by a desperate Jena battlin relegation. This drops the Hachingers into a precarious position regarding promotion. Paderborn seized the moment as they routed Burghausen and now hold the promotion-playoff spot.
On the bottom, the losses by Aalen and Burghausen were huge, and may have condemned both to relegation. Bremen II and Jena got huge wins, but are not out of the woods. Wuppertal on the other hand finally secured their 3.Liga status, as their win over Aue renders them safe. Burghausen is probably dead due to their poor goal difference, and Aalen will need a rare road victory to have any chance.
VfB Stuttgart II - Bayern München II 2:2 (1:1) 350 (Funk, Feisthammel - Sikorski 2) Kickers Offenbach - Kickers Emden 0:0 (0:0) 5,000 1. FC Union Berlin - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:1 (1:1) 6,051 (Biran - Pagenburg) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - Erzgebirge Aue 1:0 (1:0) 3,000 (Lintjens) Dynamo Dresden - Jahn Regensburg 3:1 (0:0) 13,750 (Savran 3 - Kreis) Eintracht Braunschweig - SV Sandhausen 3:3 (1:2) 11,300 (Nastase 2, Onuegbu - Boskovic, N. Müller, E. Öztürk) Carl Zeiss Jena - SpVgg Unterhaching 4:3 (3:2) 7,342 (Ziegner, Amirante, Schembri, Hähnge - Nagy, Fink, Zillner) VfR Aalen - Fortuna Düsseldorf 1:2 (1:1) 7,305 (Bohl - Lambertz, Kadah) Werder Bremen II - Stuttgarter Kickers 2:0 (0:0) 1,100 (Kruse, Kempe) SC Paderborn 07 - Wacker Burghausen 6:0 (4:0) 7,650 (Damjanovic 2, Krause, Güvenisik 2) Attendance: 62,848 (avg 6,285) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 37 22 12 3 57:20 +37 78 Champion, promoted 2 Fortuna Düsseldorf 37 19 9 9 53:33 +20 66 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 37 19 8 10 65:38 +27 65 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Unterhaching 37 19 7 11 55:45 +10 64 5 Bayern München II 37 14 16 7 53:37 +16 58 6 Kickers Emden 37 15 11 11 42:42 +0 56 7 Kickers Offenbach (A) 37 12 15 10 39:34 +5 51 8 VfB Stuttgart II 37 13 10 14 60:48 +12 49 9 SV Sandhausen 37 12 13 12 56:50 +6 49 10 Dynamo Dresden 37 13 10 14 45:45 0 49 11 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 37 13 10 14 44:46 -2 49 12 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 37 12 11 14 42:42 0 47 13 Eintracht Braunschweig 37 12 9 16 46:49 -3 45 14 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 37 11 11 15 34:43 -9 44 15 Jahn Regensburg 37 10 12 15 35:51 -16 42 16 Werder Bremen II 37 10 10 17 49:57 -8 40 17 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 37 10 10 17 39:57 -18 40 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 VfR Aalen 37 8 15 14 37:58 -21 39 19 Wacker Burghausen 37 9 10 18 38:64 -26 37 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 37 7 11 19 38:68 -30 29 relegated Kickers Stuttgart to be penalized -3 as of May 13 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Bundesliga, Round 32
Midweek action in the Bundesliga, and instead of clearing things up, the temperature gets raised again!
Leaders Wolfsburg showed that they are not done yet. They met an inform Borussia Dortmund (7 straight wins) and delivered a solid performance, with the Bosnian-Brazilian assasins finishing off the Neons. The match was somewhat even, but the VWs finishing was deadly. Dortmund is obviously just playing for Europe, but their recent in form run has at least created a huge wave of excitement for next season.
Meanwhile, Bayern München was having an easy time with Leverkusen, who in the past had given them much trouble. But this time the Bayer Aspirins played like an expired bottle of Pepto-Bismol and got thoroughly bitchslapped. After München dicked around in the 1st half, they probably got their asses kicked in the locker room by temp coach Jupp Heynckes. Well, it worked, as Bayern came out with purpose and routed the hapless Alka-Seltzers. In fact, Luca Toni missed at least one sitter that could have helped in the goal difference struggle with Wolfsburg.
Hertha Berlin continues to play anti-football, but they are lucky bastards and escape with all the points in Köln. So the Berliners maintain their title hopes alive, despite being outplayed. Solid finishing and a stout defense once again provided the means to bring home the bacon.
VfB Stuttgart is determined to keep their hat in the ring as well. Despite the absence of red-hot Mario Gomez, the Stuttgarters invaded Schalke for a tough match, as escaped with all the points. The showdown with Bayern on the last day is looming huge, and although they'll need some help, Stuttgart could decide the crown, and in their current form, it would be a risky bet against them.
Hamburg made short work of a lame Bochum squad, who are barely keeping their ass above water. HSV basically was in control from the start, and by grabbing all points, have one foot in Euro qualification. However, the title and probably Champions League are pretty much off the table, so they need to be concerned about holding off Dortmund for the last spot.
The relegation battle remains vicious, and Cottbus witnessed a massive match, as they hosted Gladbach. This may go down as "Dante's Inferno" or "Dante's Peak", as Dante scored for Gladbach in injury time to give them a gigantic win.
Karlsruhe is now finished. They blew a 2 goal lead and lost at home to Hannover, who are generally terrible on the road. Even winning their last two matches is probably not enough, so they look to be the first casualty.
Bielefeld may be joining KSC. Arminia needed a result against Hoffenheim, but instead suffer a critical defeat. After struggling for almost the whole 2nd half, seems to have recovered and may finish out the season strong.
Frankfurt looks secure, but perhaps started celebrating too early. They were embarassed by Bremen at home and ruined their goal difference. Still, they're probably safe although there is probably some twisted scenario where they could still get caught.
Bayern München - Bayer Leverkusen 3:0 (0:0) 69,000 (Toni, Ribery, Podolski) Karlsruher SC - Hannover 96 2:3 (2:2) 23,930 (Iashvili, Stindl - Pinto, Forrsell, Balitsch) 1. FC Köln - Hertha BSC Berlin 1:2 (0:1) 48,000 (Chihi - Cicero, Ebert) VfL Wolfsburg - Borussia Dortmund 3:0 (1:0) 30,000 (Dzeko 2, Grafite) Eintracht Frankfurt - Werder Bremen 0:5 (0:0) 51,400 (Frings 2, Tzioulis, Pizarro, Hugo Almeida) FC Schalke 04 - VfB Stuttgart 1:2 (1:1) 61,673 (Rakitic - Cacau, Marica) Hamburger SV - VfL Bochum 3:1 (2:0) 47,942 (Guerrero, Olic 2 - Freier) Energie Cottbus - Borussia M'gladbach 0:1 (0:0) 20,850 (Dante) Arminia Bielefeld - 1899 Hoffenheim 0:2 (0:1) 25,200 (Wellington, Salihovic) Attendance: 377,995 (avg 41,999) 1 VfL Wolfsburg 32 19 6 7 70:40 +30 63 2 Bayern München (M, P) 32 19 6 7 67:39 +28 63 3 Hertha BSC Berlin 32 19 5 8 48:37 +11 62 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 VfB Stuttgart 32 18 7 7 60:41 +19 61 5 Hamburger SV 32 18 4 10 46:44 +2 58 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Borussia Dortmund 32 14 13 5 53:36 +17 55 7 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 32 14 9 9 58:45 +13 51 8 FC Schalke 04 32 14 7 11 45:32 +13 49 9 Bayer Leverkusen 32 13 7 12 54:43 +11 46 10 Werder Bremen 32 12 9 11 62:42 +20 45 11 Hannover 96 32 10 9 13 47:62 -15 39 12 1. FC Köln (N) 32 10 5 17 33:49 -16 35 13 Eintracht Frankfurt 32 8 9 15 37:55 -18 33 14 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 32 8 6 18 38:56 -18 30 15 VfL Bochum 32 6 10 16 36:54 -18 28 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Arminia Bielefeld 32 4 15 13 27:48 -21 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Energie Cottbus 32 7 6 19 27:55 -28 27 18 Karlsruher SC 32 6 5 21 23:53 -30 23 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 32
Mainz and Nürnberg were the big winners, as they had tough wins against determined opponents. But with Greuther Fürth only drawing at champs Freiburg, and Kaiserlsautern losing at Aachen, Mainz and Nürnberg have given themselves a slight air pocket in the promotion race.
SV Wehen Wiesbaden - 1860 München 0:0 (0:0) 6,020 Alemannia Aachen - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1:0 (0:0) 21,200 (F. Müller) Hansa Rostock - FC Augsburg 3:3 (1:1) 15,000 (Kern 2, Lisztes - Thurk 2, Hain) MSV Duisburg - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 1:1 (0:1) 15,576 (Kouemaha - Nöthe) SC Freiburg - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 0:0 (0:0) 22,800 Rot-Weiss Ahlen - TuS Koblenz 1:1 (0:0) 6,105 (Naki - Mavric) 1. FC Nürnberg - VfL Osnabrück 2:0 (1:0) 33,507 (Mintal 2) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - FSV Frankfurt 2:1 (1:0) 19,000 (Bancé 2 - Bencik) FC Ingolstadt 04 - FC St. Pauli -:- (-:-) 1 SC Freiburg 32 20 5 7 56:32 +24 65 Champion, promoted 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 32 16 9 7 56:37 +19 57 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 32 15 11 6 49:28 +21 56 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 32 15 8 9 56:42 +14 53 5 Alemannia Aachen 32 15 7 10 53:37 +16 52 6 1. FC Kaiserslautern 32 15 7 10 47:39 +8 52 7 MSV Duisburg (A) 32 12 13 7 47:32 +15 49 8 FC St. Pauli 31 12 6 13 48:57 -9 42 9 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 32 11 7 14 34:51 -17 40 10 FC Augsburg 32 10 9 13 42:41 +1 39 11 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 32 10 9 13 34:50 -16 39 12 TSV 1860 München 32 9 11 12 42:43 -1 38 13 FSV Frankfurt (N) 32 9 10 13 33:44 -11 37 14 Hansa Rostock (A) 32 8 12 12 51:52 -1 36 15 TuS Koblenz 32 10 8 14 45:52 -7 35 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 VfL Osnabrück 32 8 11 13 38:54 -16 35 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 31 6 9 16 33:52 -19 27 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 32 5 10 17 26:47 -21 25 relegated (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 36
Both ends of the table continue to witness desperate battles. In fact, the lower clubs are giving as good as they get. Paderborn was stunned at home by Bremen II, putting a huge hurt on their promotion chances, while Bremen has bid to stay up. Düsseldorf struggled to beat down Jena in another top-bottom clash. The winner is Unterhaching, whose win vaults them into 2nd and the auto-promo spot.
Regensburg got a huge win against a disappointing Wuppertal, and that just about sees them safe. Aalen had a massive road win in Stuttgart, which allows them the climb, whereas Burghausen suffers defeat. Things are going down to the wire at the bottom.
But not for one team. Stuttgarter Kickers are mathemtically eliminated as they've just received a 3 point penalty. They had borrowed some 200,000 euros from a DFB emergency fund, and must pay back by Friday. Since they got bitchslapped 1-4 at home by Aalen, that pretty much sealed their relegation fate, so the club decided not to pay back immediately. The logic is that with relegation, the club budget of 1.6 million euros will be halved, so the prospect of immediate return is unlikely. Therefore, instead of paying back on time, the funds will be repaid over a longer period. Kickers claim they would have paid on Friday if they had beaten Aalen and kept their salvation hopes alive.
Erzgebirge Aue - 1. FC Union Berlin 0:1 (0:0) 8,800 (Gebhardt) SC Paderborn 07 - Werder Bremen II 0:2 (0:2) 7,171 (Kruse, Oehrl) Stuttgarter Kickers - VfR Aalen 1:4 (0:1) 3,590 (Tunjic - Alder, Bohl, Lechleiter, Sailer) Jahn Regensburg - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 2:0 (1:0) 2,650 (Schmidt, Zellner) SV Sandhausen - Dynamo Dresden 2:2 (1:1) 4,170 (Ristic 2 - Dobry, Savran) Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Kickers Offenbach 1:1 (0:1) 3,465 (Semmer - St.Haas) SpVgg Unterhaching - Eintracht Braunschweig 2:0 (2:0) 4,100 (Rathgeber, Fink) Kickers Emden - VfB Stuttgart II 2:1 (1:1) 1,200 (Meyer, Nägelein - Schipplock) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Carl Zeiss Jena 1:0 (0:0) 14,034 (Christ) Bayern München II - Wacker Burghausen 3:1 (0:0) 1,400 (Sikorski 2, Yilmaz - Bonimeier) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 36 22 11 3 56:19 +37 77 Champion, promoted 2 SpVgg Unterhaching 36 19 7 10 52:41 +11 64 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Fortuna Düsseldorf 36 18 9 9 51:32 +19 63 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 36 18 8 10 59:38 +21 62 5 Bayern München II 36 14 15 7 51:35 +16 57 6 Kickers Emden 36 15 10 11 42:42 0 55 7 Kickers Offenbach (A) 36 12 14 10 39:34 +5 50 8 VfB Stuttgart II 36 13 9 14 58:46 +12 48 9 SV Sandhausen 36 12 12 12 53:47 +6 48 10 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 36 13 9 14 43:45 -2 48 11 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 36 12 11 13 42:41 +1 47 12 Dynamo Dresden 36 12 10 14 42:44 -2 46 13 Eintracht Braunschweig 36 12 8 16 43:46 -3 44 14 Jahn Regensburg 36 10 12 14 34:48 -14 42 15 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 36 10 11 15 33:43 -10 41 16 VfR Aalen 36 8 15 13 36:56 -20 39 17 Werder Bremen II 36 9 10 17 47:57 -10 37 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 36 9 10 17 35:54 -19 37 19 Wacker Burghausen 36 9 10 17 38:58 -20 37 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 36 7 11 18 38:66 -28 32 (-3) relegated Kickers Stuttgart to be penalized -3 as of May 13 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Bundesliga, Round 31
Without looking through the stats, the Bundesliga must have been pretty close to an attendance record. And with good reason, as the races at both sides of the table remain red-hot.
Stuttgart threw the title race into chaos as they Mario-Gomez-ed the VWs 4-1. Stupor Mario netted all 4 strikes, opening his account in the 1st minute. However, despite the scoreline, it was a pretty tight match through the half, as both sides pressed. Wolfsburg remains the leader on goal difference, but their advantage is slipping away. Stuttgart was given up for dead earlier in the season, but since Markus Babbel took over, they've stormed back into contention, and actually have an excellent shot at taking the title.
Bayern München remained on-track with a win at Cottbus. Energie is very tough at home, but despite holding Bayern even in the 1st half, once Franck Ribery came in, it was only a question of time before München would pull ahead. It ain't pretty under Heynckes, but Bayern fans are just happy that they're bringing home the bacon. Cottbus at best hoped for a point, since Klinsmann wasn't in charge of Bayern, as Heynckes would be kicking asses if they flubbed this one. Energie is at a disadvantage because of their crappy goal difference, but salvation is still a possibility.
Hertha took advantage of Wolfsburg stumble to get back in the race as well. The Berliners are probably the lamest of the contenders, but have shown a remarkable ability to grind out points when they've needed. I would say they're unlikely to take the title, but just the fact they're in it so late is a fine accomplishment. Pantelic is back after long injury absence, and seems to have found form already. Bochum is a sinking ship, but so far they've been fortunate that there are women and children (like Cottbus, Bielefeld and Gladbach) that they can toss out of the lifeboat. However, if they don't grab some points, they're going down.
Dortmund has made major strides this season. Notice that they've lost far fewer matches than anyone - only four. What they had a problem with early was sticking the knife all the way through to gut their opponent, but they're learning. They clinically dispatched krap Karlsruhe, who look just about dead and buried. The Neons will probably be thrilled with a UEFA spot, although given their form, it's not impossible that they could sneak into the Champions, which would be sensational. KSC can just about thrown in the towel.
Martin Jol has finally run out of magic; you can't do it with mirrors all day long. The Stalingrad for HSV has turned out to be arch-rival Werder Bremen. They met in yet another epic battle, their fourth in only a couple of weeks (1 DFB Cup, 2 UEFA semifinals, now Bundesliga). In all of them Werder maintained the upper hand, so basically by gong "0 for Werder", HSV is now practically eliminated from everything. They are point equal with Dortmund, but they look exhausted and it will be hard to overcome the Neons for that final UEFA spot. Bremen remains a very uncomfortable opponent - you don't want to catch them when they're on. They still have the DFB and UEFA Cup finals to look forward to, so despite a crap Bundesliga season, they could still end up with silverware.
Leverkusen has basically been passing gas the past few weeks. They appeared to be a contender not too long ago, but they've fallen off the shelf. They struggled to gain a draw against a desperate Bielefeld squad. Obviously they're just playing out the season and hope to salvage a result in the DFB Cup final with Bremen. Arminia has been dropping for what seems the whole season, but this is a good result for them.
Gladbach had a huge derby win against Schalke, which allows them to vault above Bielefeld out of thye relegation zone. A frantic match, as they desperately needed a win. Schalke is back to their old tricks, so there won't be any opposition when Magath comes in next season and kicks ass. (He may not get results - it's Schalke afterall - but obviously some oots in the rear will do the Blues some good.) Can Gladbach hold on? Seems pointless, as a lot of their young talent is abandoning ship for other clubs next season.
Hannover and Frankfurt played an even draw, both clubs above relegation. If anything, Frankfurt looked the better team.
Hoffenheim finally got their first second half win, as they upended Köln. If the "Hopp"ers finish strong, it would still be an amazing season for the Bundesliga debutant. Köln are just enjoying that they're really not in any relegation drop fears.
Bayer Leverkusen - Arminia Bielefeld 2:2 (1:2) 23,150 (Kiessling, Helmes - Friedrich o.g., Tesche) Energie Cottbus - Bayern München 1:3 (1:1) 22,528 (Iliev - Sosa, Demichelis, Podolski) VfB Stuttgart - VfL Wolfsburg 4:1 (2:1) 55,700 (Gomez 4 - Dzeko) Hannover 96 - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:1 (1:1) 44,855 (Bruggink - Korkmaz) Borussia Dortmund - Karlsruher SC 4:0 (1:0) 80,100 (Blaszczykowski, Sahin, Felipe Santana, Frei) Hertha BSC Berlin - VfL Bochum 2:0 (1:0) 71,323 (Pantelic, Raffael) 1899 Hoffenheim - 1. FC Köln 2:0 (0:0) 30,150 (Salihovic, Ba) Borussia M'gladbach - FC Schalke 04 1:0 (0:0) 54,067 (Colautti) Werder Bremen - Hamburger SV 2:0 (1:0) 42,100 (Hugo Almeida 2) Attendance: 423,903 (avg 47,100) 1 VfL Wolfsburg 31 18 6 7 67:40 +27 60 2 Bayern München (M, P) 31 18 6 7 64:39 +25 60 3 Hertha BSC Berlin 31 18 5 8 46:36 +10 59 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 VfB Stuttgart 31 17 7 7 58:40 +18 58 5 Borussia Dortmund 31 14 13 4 53:33 +20 55 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Hamburger SV 31 17 4 10 43:43 0 55 7 FC Schalke 04 31 14 7 10 44:30 +14 49 8 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 31 13 9 9 56:45 +11 48 9 Bayer Leverkusen 31 13 7 11 54:40 +14 46 10 Werder Bremen 31 11 9 11 57:42 +15 42 11 Hannover 96 31 9 9 13 44:60 -16 36 12 1. FC Köln (N) 31 10 5 16 32:47 -15 35 13 Eintracht Frankfurt 31 8 9 14 37:50 -13 33 14 VfL Bochum 31 6 10 15 35:51 -16 28 15 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 31 7 6 18 37:56 -19 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Arminia Bielefeld 31 4 15 12 27:46 -19 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Energie Cottbus 31 7 6 18 27:54 -27 27 18 Karlsruher SC 31 6 5 20 21:50 -29 23 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 31
Freiburg put on the afterburners in the 2nd half of the season, and their reward is promotion as 2.Liga champions. At times they've looked shaky, but they've managed to grind out results consistently. Their fine performance in Koblenz crowns them as champs. However the battle for the 2nd auto-promotion spot is fierce. Mainz went down in flames at St.Pauli. Nürnberg and Fürth played their 285th derby to a draw (thats what the headlines said, seems like a lot), so they both inch closer. Kaiserslautern struggled but got the win against Augsburg to stay in contention. On the other hand, Aachen was stunned in Osnabrück and basically drop out. Of course, this was a massive win for VfL, as they edge out of relegation.
Despite a rare win, Wehen officially checks out. Ingolstadt ain't too far behind, as they'll likely be mathematically eliminated next week. However, the lottery continues for the 3rd spot, with several teams threatened. Koblenz currently holds the honor, they could certainly use those deducted points.
TSV 1860 München - Hansa Rostock 3:3 (1:2) 24,400 (Schäffler, Lauth, Rösler - Kern 2, Fillinger) FSV Frankfurt - MSV Duisburg 0:0 (0:0) 4,824 VfL Osnabrück - Alemannia Aachen 2:1 (1:0) 15,300 (Frommer, Peitz - Holtby) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 0:1 (0:1) 5,121 (König) 1. FC Kaiserslautern - FC Augsburg 1:0 (1:0) 30,458 (Sam) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - 1. FC Nürnberg 1:1 (0:0) 15,700 (Reisinger - Vidosic) FC St. Pauli - 1. FSV Mainz 05 2:0 (1:0) 23,201 (Ludwig 2) TuS Koblenz - SC Freiburg 2:5 (2:2) 11,305 (Stieber, Krontiris - Jäger, Butscher, Bechmann, Idrissou, Rodionov) FC Ingolstadt 04 - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 0:2 (0:0) 6,048 (Reuss, Toborg) Attendance: 136,357 (avg 15,151) 1 SC Freiburg 31 20 4 7 56:32 +24 64 Champion, promoted 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 31 15 9 7 54:36 +18 54 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 31 14 11 6 47:28 +19 53 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 31 15 7 9 56:42 +14 52 5 1. FC Kaiserslautern 31 15 7 9 47:38 +9 52 6 Alemannia Aachen 31 14 7 10 52:37 +15 49 7 MSV Duisburg (A) 31 12 12 7 46:31 +15 48 8 FC St. Pauli 31 12 6 13 48:57 -9 42 9 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 31 11 6 14 33:50 -17 39 10 FC Augsburg 31 10 8 13 39:38 +1 38 11 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 31 10 8 13 33:49 -16 38 12 TSV 1860 München 31 9 10 12 42:43 -1 37 13 FSV Frankfurt (N) 31 9 10 12 32:42 -10 37 14 Hansa Rostock (A) 31 8 11 12 48:49 -1 35 15 VfL Osnabrück 31 8 11 12 38:52 -14 35 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 TuS Koblenz 31 10 7 14 44:51 -7 34 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 31 6 9 16 33:52 -19 27 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 31 5 9 17 26:47 -21 24 relegated (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 35
Somebody obviously put something in the water (or more likely the beer) in Braunschweig. In addition to the wild shootoout, Düsseldorf GK Michael Melka also stopped two penalties. Paderborn was also involved in a wild shootout, and Unterhaching got dumped in Dresden. Seems like nobody wants to take the 2nd auto-promotion or playoff spot. The first is decided, as Union officially goes up as champion. A fine midseason streak powered the East Berliners to the title, and there really hasn't been much doubt who was boss.
The relegation battle also remains fierce. Despite hard fought draws, both Stuttgarter Kickers and Bremen B are about finished. Wuppertal got a huge win against Sandhausen, that may be just enough to sneak to safety. Jena and Burghausen held draws against desperate Kickers and Bremen respectively, and keep their head above water. Aalen held off Paderborn, which gives an indication of how strong the bottom is. (And of course, Dresden is finally safe by dumping Haching.)
Carl Zeiss Jena - Stuttgarter Kickers 0:0 (0:0) 6,548 Wacker Burghausen - Werder Bremen II 2:2 (1:2) 2,800 (Belleri, Buchner - Oehrl, Ikeng) Bayern München II - Kickers Emden 4:0 (1:0) 500 (Bopp 2, Sikorski, Riess) Kickers Offenbach - Erzgebirge Aue 0:0 (0:0) 5,105 1. FC Union Berlin - Jahn Regensburg 2:0 (0:0) 9,487 (YoungaMouhani, Benyamina) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - SV Sandhausen 1:0 (1:0) 3,330 (Damm) Dynamo Dresden - SpVgg Unterhaching 1:0 (0:0) 13,005 (Dobry) VfR Aalen - SC Paderborn 07 3:3 (1:1) 2,589 (Lechleiter, Bader, Pohl - Krause, Löning, Brandy) VfB Stuttgart II - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 3:1 (2:0) 550 (Hofmann, Schieber, Didavi - Pagenburg) Eintracht Braunschweig - Fortuna Düsseldorf 5:5 (1:2) 14,500 (Morabit, Lense 2, Boland, Banser - Christ 2, Jovanovic, Lambertz, Costa) Attendance: 58,414 (avg 5,814) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 35 21 11 3 55:19 +36 74 Champion, promoted 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 35 18 8 9 59:36 +23 62 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SpVgg Unterhaching 35 18 7 10 50:41 +9 61 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 35 17 9 9 50:32 +18 60 5 Bayern München II 35 13 15 7 48:34 +14 54 6 Kickers Emden 35 14 10 11 40:41 -1 52 7 Kickers Offenbach (A) 35 12 13 10 38:33 +5 49 8 VfB Stuttgart II 35 13 9 13 57:44 +13 48 9 SV Sandhausen 35 12 11 12 51:45 +6 47 10 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 35 12 11 12 42:40 +2 47 11 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 35 13 8 14 42:44 -2 47 12 Dynamo Dresden 35 12 9 14 40:42 -2 45 13 Eintracht Braunschweig 35 12 8 15 43:44 -1 44 14 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 35 10 11 14 33:41 -8 41 15 Jahn Regensburg 35 9 12 14 32:48 -16 39 16 Wacker Burghausen 35 9 10 16 37:55 -18 37 17 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 35 9 10 16 35:53 -18 37 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 VfR Aalen 35 7 15 13 32:55 -23 36 19 Werder Bremen II 35 8 10 17 45:57 -12 34 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 35 7 11 17 37:62 -25 32 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Magath signs with Schalke!
Probably not so shocking given what's happened in the last few days, but a big announcement nevertheless. Felix Magath will be leaving league-leaders VfL Wolfsburg and taking over as coach of Schalke. He just signed a 4 year contract with the Blues. (Germany has this annoying aspect where you can sign contracts with other clubs while still under a contract with your existing club.) Magath has apparently been at odds with the Volkswagen United board over his unwillingness to commit to a contract extension. You would think the VWs and their fan (OK, fans) would be greatful to Magath for bringing them to the verge of their greatest achievement since the invention of the VW-bug, but instead he's being villified. Instead, they should all just concentrate on the task at hand: sensationally win the Bundesliga.
Aside from the big euros, Magath was promised major dictatorial control over player policy at hapless Schalke. While he enjoyed the same at Wolfsburg, obviously Schalke is a much bigger stage and club. Magath had apparently already agreed with Schalke about a contract, but both sides agreed to keep things quiet until post-season. Hence his waffling with VW management. It sounds like some nosy press reporters found out and now the whole things has blown up.
It remains to be seen whether this will cause VfL to lose focus down the stretch, but indications are that the players are up to the task. Obviously they'll be looking for a new coach for next season, but you've got a solid club that can clearly punch above it's weight.
For Schalke, they've been in disarray for almost a decade now. Magath will undoubtedly kick ass and take names. This is obviously what Schalke needs, so expect a major house clearing in the off season.
Bundesliga, Round 30
The Bundesliga remains tight, as the leaders got back on track. Wolfsburg was in a battle with Hoffenheim in the 1st half, as both teams went all out for the win. Especially Hoff keeper Timo Hildebrand was busy, as both offenses created good chances. However, in the 2nd half, it was the Edin Dzeko show, as the Bosnian went nuts with a hattrick. Grafite also added to his lead leading tally, as the pretenders to the throne remain on track for a senstational title. There are some storm clouds however. Felix Magath is widely picked to become the new Schalke coach next season, before his coach seat is even cold in VW-land. There is some discussion among the board to kick his ass out now. That would probably be a mistake. Win the title first, then kick his ass...
Bayern München saw the debut of interim coach Jupp Heynckes, and although the champions were less than impressive, they scraped through to a win. Bayern pretty much dominated against lowly Gladbach, but the guests put up a decent fight, staying in the game and never really letting their hosts relax. Since just about any clown should have been able to pick a squad to beat Gladbach, it's not clear that there is any Heynckes effect yet.
Hamburg and Berlin have both been pretenders during the season, and were battling to reclaim the position as top challenger. So in that view, they both failed, as the draw helps neither. Hamburg had more of the play, especially early on, but Hertha deserves their point, that barely keeps them in contention for the title. HSV is basically out now, but could still sneak into a Champions League spot. But they need to be careful, as hard-charging Dortmund is coming from nowhere and threatens their UEFA spot.
Stuttgart has been red-hot, but they were in a fierce battle at relegation threatened Bielefeld. Arminia is desperate for points and fought the visitors to a draw. That probably ends any hope of VfB sneaking a title, but they remain in good position to enter the Champions League. Arminia remains in a relegation spot, and time is running out in this tight race.
Dortmund has been hot, I think they've won 6 in a row. A tough win in Frankfurt has allowed them to threaten a Europe spot, a good sign that coach Jürgen Klopp is well on his way to turning the club fortunes around. Frankfurt is probably safe from relegation, so really didn't have much to play for.
After a nice little run under interim coach Mike Büskens, Schalke stubbed their toe against Bayer Aspirin. The Alka-Seltzers remain an unpredictable squad, and controlled the first half and seemed to wrap up the match. Schalke managed to raise their game in the second half, but it wasn't enough. That pretty much settles it then, no success, no Europe, in Gelsenkirchen, and a failure of a campaign. Obviously Pepto-Bismol is going nowhere either.
Köln continued their decent season, secure from relegation fears. A lone goal by Novakovic (his 16th) was enough to upend chaotic Bremen. Werder is obviously just going through the motions. Their season comes down to the DFB Cup final, and perhaps the UEFA Cup.
Hannover is perhaps the lamest road team, but they played cleverly in Bochum to spirit the points. This loss is a disaster for VfL, as they definitely expected a result to give them a bit of cushion in their relegation battle.
Finally, the critical bottom clash in Karlsruhe saw Cottbus catenaccio their way to a point. KSC desperately needed this win, and although they dominated, they were too crap to do anything about it. It's almost time to get your early bird 2.Liga train schedules. Energie came with the hope of getting a point, and they achieved their goal. Their head remains barely above water, but not drowning is all that counts right now.
VfL Bochum - Hannover 96 0:2 (0:2) 26,072 (Bruggink, Balitsch) Arminia Bielefeld - VfB Stuttgart 2:2 (1:2) 25,800 (Katongo, Munteanu - Delpierre, Hitzlsperger) FC Schalke 04 - Bayer Leverkusen 1:2 (0:2) 61,162 (Kuranyi - Helmes, Renato Augusto) Eintracht Frankfurt - Borussia Dortmund 0:2 (0:0) 51,500 (Zidan, Bellaid) Karlsruher SC - Energie Cottbus 0:0 (0:0) 27,311 Bayern München - Borussia M'gladbach 2:1 (2:1) 69,000 (Schweinsteiger, Altintop - Daems) VfL Wolfsburg - 1899 Hoffenheim 4:0 (0:0) 30,000 (Dzeko 3, Grafite) 1. FC Köln - Werder Bremen 1:0 (0:0) 50,000 (Novakovic) Hamburger SV - Hertha BSC Berlin 1:1 (1:0) 57,000 (Jansen - Kacar) Attendance: 397,845 (avg 44,205) 1 VfL Wolfsburg 30 18 6 6 66:36 +30 60 2 Bayern München (M, P) 30 17 6 7 61:38 +23 57 3 Hertha BSC Berlin 30 17 5 8 44:36 +8 56 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 VfB Stuttgart 30 16 7 7 54:39 +15 55 5 Hamburger SV 30 17 4 9 43:41 +2 55 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Borussia Dortmund 30 13 13 4 49:33 +16 52 7 FC Schalke 04 30 14 7 9 44:29 +15 49 8 Bayer Leverkusen 30 13 6 11 52:38 +14 45 9 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 30 12 9 9 54:45 +9 45 10 Werder Bremen 30 10 9 11 55:42 +13 39 11 1. FC Köln (N) 30 10 5 15 32:45 -13 35 12 Hannover 96 30 9 8 13 43:59 -16 35 13 Eintracht Frankfurt 30 8 8 14 36:49 -13 32 14 VfL Bochum 30 6 10 14 35:49 -14 28 15 Energie Cottbus 30 7 6 17 26:51 -25 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Arminia Bielefeld 30 4 14 12 25:44 -19 26 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 30 6 6 18 36:56 -20 24 18 Karlsruher SC 30 6 5 19 21:46 -25 23 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 30
A dominant performance by leader Freiburg against a tough Frankfurt squad just about seals the title for the Breisgauer. Mathematically they could still collapse and fail to get promotion, but that would be a failure of legendary proportions. Mainz prevailed in a tough southwestern derby, and Nürnberg struggled to a minimalist win against Ingolstadt. Der Club remains a challenger, but Ingolstadt looks like they can't avoid the drop. Kaiserslautern saw their promotion hopes take a wrong turn, as they got thoroughly thumped in Rostock. (Having lost 0-6 in 'Lautern, Hansa was pumped for revenge, and put on a gala performance.) But thins remain tight at the bottom, as Osnabrück managed to win at Wehen. Ahlen had a huge win against St.Pauli to keep their head above water.
Aachen missed a chance to move closer to a promotion spot when they couldn't upend Oberhausen at home. Duisburg kept their tiny promotion hope alive, and prevented Fürth from holding onto theirs. It's still a long shot for the Zebras, as they threw away too many points with draws. Fürth doesn't like to make things easy; indeed their track record is to choke down the stretch.
FC Augsburg - 1860 München 3:0 (1:0) 28,000 (Thurk 2, da Costa) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - VfL Osnabrück 0:1 (0:0) 7,776 (Engel) Hansa Rostock - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 5:1 (2:0) 27,000 (Fillinger 2, Kern 2, Bartels - Amedick) Rot-Weiss Ahlen - FC St. Pauli 1:0 (0:0) 7,050 (Naki) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - TuS Koblenz 2:0 (1:0) 20,300 (Bancé, Karhan) SC Freiburg - FSV Frankfurt 4:1 (2:0) 20,100 (Bechmann 2, Jäger, Schwaab - Bencik) Alemannia Aachen - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 2:2 (1:1) 20,700 (Holtby, Auer - Nöthe 2) 1. FC Nürnberg - FC Ingolstadt 04 1:0 (1:0) 40,118 (Vidosic) MSV Duisburg - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 2:0 (0:0) 14,000 (Ben Hatira, Wagner) Attendance: 185,044 (avg 20,560) 1 SC Freiburg 30 19 4 7 51:30 +21 61 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 30 15 9 6 54:34 +20 54 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 30 14 10 6 46:27 +19 52 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 30 15 6 9 55:41 +14 51 5 Alemannia Aachen 30 14 7 9 51:35 +16 49 6 1. FC Kaiserslautern 30 14 7 9 46:38 +8 49 7 MSV Duisburg (A) 30 12 11 7 46:31 +15 47 8 FC St. Pauli 30 11 6 13 46:57 -11 39 9 FC Augsburg 30 10 8 12 39:37 +2 38 10 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 30 10 8 12 33:48 -15 38 11 TSV 1860 München 30 9 9 12 39:40 -1 36 12 FSV Frankfurt (N) 30 9 9 12 32:42 -10 36 13 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 30 10 6 14 31:50 -19 36 14 Hansa Rostock (A) 30 8 10 12 45:46 -1 34 15 TuS Koblenz 30 10 7 13 42:46 -4 34 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 VfL Osnabrück 30 7 11 12 36:51 -15 32 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 30 6 9 15 33:50 -17 27 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 30 4 9 17 25:47 -22 21 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 34
The race for promotion remains tight. Unterhaching had been redhot, but they were held at home by Wuppertal. Both Paderborn and Düsseldorf eeked out wins, so it's still wide open. The bottom spots haven't been decided either, as Bremen II and Stuttgarter Kickers had surprise wins to keep their minimal hopes alive.
Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Bayern München II 1:1 (0:0) 5,416 (Pohl - Fürstner) SC Paderborn 07 - Carl Zeiss Jena 2:0 (1:0) 6,238 (Mohr, Kumbela) Stuttgarter Kickers - Eintracht Braunschweig 3:1 (1:1) 3,110 (Traub, Galm, Gambo - Onuegbu) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Dynamo Dresden 1:0 (1:0) 14.024 (Lambertz) Jahn Regensburg - Kickers Offenbach 1:1 (1:1) 3,100 (Schmid - Huber) Erzgebirge Aue - VfB Stuttgart II 0:3 (0:1) 8,000 (Rudy, Schipplock, Klauss) Kickers Emden - Wacker Burghausen 1:1 (0:0) 2,878 (Unger - Glauschka) Werder Bremen II - VfR Aalen 3:1 (0:1) 350 (Oehrl 2, Kruse - Sailer) SpVgg Unterhaching - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 1:1 (1:0) 5,200 (Zillner - Neppe) SV Sandhausen - 1. FC Union Berlin 0:0 (0:0) 4,150 Attendance: 64,120 (avg 6,412) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 34 20 11 3 53:19 +34 71 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 34 18 7 9 56:33 +23 61 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SpVgg Unterhaching 34 18 7 9 50:40 +10 61 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 34 17 8 9 45:27 +18 59 5 Kickers Emden 34 14 10 10 40:37 +3 52 6 Bayern München II 34 12 15 7 44:34 +10 51 7 Kickers Offenbach (A) 34 12 12 10 38:33 +5 48 8 SV Sandhausen 34 12 11 11 51:44 +7 47 9 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 34 13 8 13 41:41 0 47 10 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 34 12 10 12 42:40 +2 46 11 VfB Stuttgart II 34 12 9 13 54:43 +11 45 12 Eintracht Braunschweig 34 12 7 15 38:39 -1 43 13 Dynamo Dresden 34 11 9 14 39:42 -3 42 14 Jahn Regensburg 34 9 12 13 32:46 -14 39 15 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 34 9 11 14 32:41 -9 38 16 Wacker Burghausen 34 9 9 16 35:53 -18 36 17 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 34 9 9 16 35:53 -18 36 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 VfR Aalen 34 7 14 13 29:52 -23 35 19 Werder Bremen II 34 8 9 17 43:55 -12 33 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 34 7 10 17 37:62 -25 31 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Historical Reflections 5
April 26, 2009
Bundesliga, Round 29
Some surprising results keep the Bundesliga red hot into the closing stretch.
First, Bayern München looked slow and ordinary as they were dumped 0-1 at home by a recovered Schalke. The guests took the lead on a powerful headed by Altintop, and their well organized defense did the rest. Bayern couldn't really get a consistent attack going, so Schalke deserves the points. The Blues recovery is their fourth shutout in a row, and they keep their slim hopes of European competition alive. Meanwhile, Bayern is still in the title race, thanks to some help from the far east. However, the management decided to take decisive action: head coach Jürgen Klinsmann was fired on Sunday. Supposedly Jupp Heynckes will take over to finish out the season. It's not really much of a surprise, as it's been speculated almost after every game for weeks. The bottom line consensus is that although Bayern has almost impossible expectations, Klinsmann seems more of a fit for the national team, where his ra-ra enthusiasm is more effective in short term situations rather than a grinding campaign. It will be interesting to see if Heynckes can pull the chesnuts out of the fire and save the title. He has a reputation as a major hard-ass, which will probably not go over very well with the players, but with only 5 games, maybe it will work. If he succeeds, he's the saviour, if he doesn't, Klinsmann gets the blame. From what I've seen so far though, the Bayern defense has been total crap, guys like Lell, Ottl and Oddo are basically deadweight, only Philip Lahm is decent. Van Buyten is often missing in action, and Lucio has lost a step. But perhaps the firmness of Heynckes boot up their ass will stimulate the players long enough to salvage the title before it all blows up in his face...
Leaders Wolfsburg had a golden opportunity to put one hand on the trophy, but were stunned by Cottbus. The VWs had most of the play, but were unable to take their chances. Desperate Cottbus got bolder as the game progressed, and got two late goals for the not underserved victory. This breaks Wolfsburg's 10 game win streak, and leaves the title race wide open. For Energie, 3 critical points lift them above relegation in their desperate struggle.
Berlin took advantage of the top club slips to sneak back into contention. They were overrun by hosts Hoffenheim, but their defense held firm, as the hosts wasted their chances. A deadly counterattack was enough for Hertha to grab all 3 points, as Hoffenheim continues their incredible streak of not winning since the winterbreak.
With the VWs stopped, Stuttgart has now become the sensation of the post-winter. After a crap start, VfB has been red-hot, and they dispatched Frankfurt in a lively match. They now have ot be considered a legit title threat, which seems unbelievable, but here you are. Once again Mario Gomez hits the target.
Dortmund upended a tired HSV squad in front of a packed house. Hamburg has been doing it with mirrors for a while, but there are definite cracks in the glass. After their midweek defeat in the DFB Cup and their UEFA Cup heroics, Martin Jol's troop seems out of gas. Meanwhile, Dortmund has been in good form, and still has hopes to sneak into Europe.
The relegation battle remains scorching, and Karlsruhe suprised many by not throwing in the towel. A solid thumping at Leverkusen was undoubtedly expected by most, but KSC rose to the occasion (or perhaps the Alka-Seltzer overflowed for Bayer) and came away with a huge victory. Although this is probably too late, with their rivals still stumbling around, if KSC can pick up a win next week, they might still hope to stay afloat.
In a huge relegation battle, Gladbach and Bielefeld split the points, which does neither team a favor. They remain in relegation spots, as they got leapfrogged by Cottbus. Bochum had a huge chance to give themselves some breathing room, and they had a tired Bremen squad on the ropes. But lead by an outstanding Diego (who has carried the club in recent weeks), Werder came roaring back to down the Bochumers. They may be going nowhere in the league, but with the DFB-Cup final and a possible UEFA Cup final looming, there is still some fight left in Bremen. Bochum needs to learn to finish off their wounded prey, as they could be sitting clear of relegation. But as it stands, they're still in a dogfight.
One club that has probably finally silenced the fears of the drop is Hannover, who road their good home form to a win over Köln. Both teams look to be safe.
1899 Hoffenheim - Hertha BSC 0:1 (0:1) 30,150 (Ebert) Bayern München - FC Schalke 04 0:1 (0:1) 69,000 (Altintop) Borussia Dortmund - Hamburger SV 2:0 (1:0) 80,552 (Kehl, Frei) VfB Stuttgart - Eintracht Frankfurt 2:0 (1:0) 55,000 (Cacau, Gomez) Bayer Leverkusen - Karlsruher SC 0:1 (0:0) 23,500 (Langkamp) Werder Bremen - VfL Bochum 3:2 (0:2) 39,303 (Almeida, Naldo, Diego - Sestak 2) Hannover 96 - 1. FC Köln 2:1 (2:0) 47,208 (Andreasen 2 - Novakovic) Energie Cottbus - VfL Wolfsburg 2:0 (0:0) 15,750 (Rangelov, Skela) Borussia M'gladbach - Arminia Bielefeld 1:1 (1:1) 50,108 (Matmour - Tesche) Attendance: 410,571 (avg 45,619) 1 VfL Wolfsburg 29 17 6 6 62:36 +26 57 2 Hertha BSC Berlin 29 17 4 8 43:35 +8 55 3 Bayern München (M, P) 29 16 6 7 59:37 +22 54 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 VfB Stuttgart 29 16 6 7 52:37 +15 54 5 Hamburger SV 29 17 3 9 42:40 +2 54 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 FC Schalke 04 29 14 7 8 43:27 +16 49 7 Borussia Dortmund 29 12 13 4 47:33 +14 49 8 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 29 12 9 8 54:41 +13 45 9 Bayer Leverkusen 29 12 6 11 50:37 +13 42 10 Werder Bremen 29 10 9 10 55:41 +14 39 11 Eintracht Frankfurt 29 8 8 13 36:47 -11 32 12 1. FC Köln (N) 29 9 5 15 31:45 -14 32 13 Hannover 96 29 8 8 13 41:59 -18 32 14 VfL Bochum 29 6 10 13 35:47 -12 28 15 Energie Cottbus 29 7 5 17 26:51 -25 26 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Arminia Bielefeld 29 4 13 12 23:42 -19 25 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 29 6 6 17 35:54 -19 24 18 Karlsruher SC 29 6 4 19 21:46 -25 22 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 29
Continued upheaval in the 2.Liga. Leaders SC Freiburg however can bring out the champagne, as their victory in Hamburg against St.Pauli pretty much settles the matter. It's hard to imagine a scenario where SCF does not make a return to the Bundesliga, as their 7 point lead is huge. However, for everybody else, it's a dogfight. High flying Nürnberg ran into another club that has turned things around, FSV Frankfurt. In what must be one of their biggest crowds ever, the Bornehimers (their district of Frankfurt), once a clear relegation candidate, upended the mighty Club and knocked them off the promotion perch. That's because Mainz won a wild shootout in Ingolstadt, and Greuther Fürth also won, so both clubs leapfrog over FCN. kaiserslautern also moved closer, although it required an injury time goal to dump luckless Wehen, on their 2.Liga farewell tour. Alemannia Aachen has quietly moved into contention as well, as they prevailed in a tough win at Koblenz.
On the bottom, the desperate relegation clash between Osnabrück and Rostock was indecisive. Ingolstadt and Wehen are almost sure to go down, but the privilege of joining them is still open. Ahlen could still get themselves dumped if they're not careful, but Osnabrück has the edge over Rostock.
Rot-Weiss Ahlen - MSV Duisburg 0:2 (0:2) 4,532 (Tararache, Adler) FC St. Pauli - SC Freiburg 1:2 (1:0) 23,201 (Brunnemann - Butscher, Idrissou) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - FC Augsburg 2:1 (2:0) 9,100 (Biliskov, Haas - Szabics) FSV Frankfurt - 1. FC Nürnberg 2:1 (1:1) 16,112 (Barletta, Mikolajczak - Eigler) FC Ingolstadt 04 - 1. FSV Mainz 05 3:4 (1:1) 5,217 (Wenczel, Neuendorf, Lokvenc - Noveski, Baljak 2, Bancé) TuS Koblenz - Alemannia Aachen 0:2 (0:0) 12,670 (Oussalé, Lehmann) 1. FC Kaiserslautern - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 1:0 (0:0) 31,054 (Jendrisek) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - 1860 München 1:1 (1:1) 5,502 (Nöthe - Hoffmann) VfL Osnabrück - Hansa Rostock 0:0 (0:0) 15,300 Attendance: 122,688 (avg 13,632) 1 SC Freiburg 29 18 4 7 47:29 +18 58 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 29 14 9 6 52:34 +18 51 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 29 15 6 8 55:39 +16 51 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 29 13 10 6 45:27 +18 49 5 1. FC Kaiserslautern 29 14 7 8 45:33 +12 49 6 Alemannia Aachen 29 14 6 9 49:33 +16 48 7 MSV Duisburg (A) 29 11 11 7 44:31 +13 44 8 FC St. Pauli 29 11 6 12 46:56 -10 39 9 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 29 10 7 12 31:46 -15 37 10 TSV 1860 München 29 9 9 11 39:37 +2 36 11 FSV Frankfurt (N) 29 9 9 11 31:38 -7 36 12 FC Augsburg 29 9 8 12 36:37 -1 35 13 TuS Koblenz 29 10 7 12 42:44 -2 34 14 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 29 9 6 14 30:50 -20 33 15 Hansa Rostock (A) 29 7 10 12 40:45 -5 31 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 VfL Osnabrück 29 6 11 12 35:51 -16 29 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 29 6 9 14 33:49 -16 27 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 29 4 9 16 25:46 -21 21 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 33
Unterhaching is the inform team, as they seize sole possesion of 2nd. It took a tough win at champions-to-be Union, so it seems like the once Bundesligists will be going up, especially if their form holds. Paderborn was dumped by a solid Braunschweig club, who are quite strong with their solid home support. And in a western derby, Wuppertal held Düsseldorf to a scoreless draw.
The relegation battle remains intense. Burghausen won a huge match against Aalen, and Jena picked up a critical win over Bremen II. The Werder B loss pretty much sinks them out of the league. Joining them are tailenders Stuttgarter Kickers, who got a nice win in Dresden, but it's too late.
Wuppertaler SV Bor. - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:0 (0:0) 13,098 VfB Stuttgart II - Jahn Regensburg 1:2 (1:1) 350 (Hofmann - Bambara, Kreis) Carl Zeiss Jena - Werder Bremen II 3:1 (0:1) 6,102 (Amirante 2, Schembri - Schmidt) Wacker Burghausen - VfR Aalen 1:0 (0:0) 2,700 (Belleri) Kickers Emden - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:0 (1:0) 1,813 (Ramaj) Kickers Offenbach - SV Sandhausen 0:3 (0:1) 5,315 (Müller 2, Öztürk) 1. FC Union Berlin - SpVgg Unterhaching 0:1 (0:1) 10,052 (Tyce) Dynamo Dresden - Stuttgarter Kickers 1:2 (1:1) 13,253 (Savran - Galm, Tunjic) Eintracht Braunschweig - SC Paderborn 07 2:0 (1:0) 12,200 (Kruppke, Pfitzner) Bayern München II - Erzgebirge Aue 2:3 (0:3) 1,330 (Bopp, Badstuber - Hochscheidt, Curri, Feick) Attendance: 66,213 (avg 6,621) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 33 20 10 3 53:19 +34 70 2 SpVgg Unterhaching 33 18 6 9 49:39 +10 60 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 33 17 7 9 54:33 +21 58 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 33 16 8 9 44:27 +17 56 5 Kickers Emden 33 14 9 10 39:36 +3 51 6 Bayern München II 33 12 14 7 43:33 +10 50 7 Kickers Offenbach (A) 33 12 11 10 37:32 +5 47 8 SV Sandhausen 33 12 10 11 51:44 +7 46 9 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 33 12 10 11 42:37 +5 46 10 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 33 13 7 13 40:40 0 46 11 Eintracht Braunschweig 33 12 7 14 37:36 +1 43 12 VfB Stuttgart II 33 11 9 13 51:43 +8 42 13 Dynamo Dresden 33 11 9 13 39:41 -2 42 14 Jahn Regensburg 33 9 11 13 31:45 -14 38 15 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 33 9 10 14 31:40 -9 37 16 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 33 9 9 15 35:51 -16 36 17 Wacker Burghausen 33 9 8 16 34:52 -18 35 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 VfR Aalen 33 7 14 12 28:49 -21 35 19 Werder Bremen II 33 7 9 17 40:54 -14 30 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 33 6 10 17 34:61 -27 28 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Bundesliga, Round 28
Leaders Wolfsburg struggled at home against Leverkusen. The Aspirins looked the better team over long periods, and had decent chances. But the VWs have Grafite, and the Brazilian pulled his squad out of the fire with his doublestrike. Actually, this is the first time in a while that his strike partner Edin Dzeko hasn't been in the scoreline, but the leagues best offense continues to role. Head coach Felix Magath still denies Wolfsburg can win the title, but they're still holding on. The VWs clearly lack the experience in a title race, but given their torrid form in the 2nd half of the season, they're also the best squad right now.
Bayern had their hands full at Bielefeld. Arminia couldn't do much but run around, but Bayern seemed clueless on how to break down their hosts. Increasing pressure finally led to a late Luca Toni goal, which keeps Bayern in the hunt or the title. Arminia was able to hold off the record-champs in the 1st half, as Bayern was somewhat disorganized. But lack of offensive relief basically meant that it was only a matter of time before they were breached. For Bielefeld, they've really been crap, and I find it hard to believe they're not in a relegation spot yet.
Schalke finally gave a decent performance, as they killed Cottbus. Actually, perhaps because it was so easy for the Blues, they took the foot off the gas pedal, and missed an opportunity to truly rout their opponents. Interim coach Mike Büskens at least is beginning to get the expected results. It's not clear whether he would be a candidate for permanent replacement, as originally he stated that he wouldn't want the job. But if somehow the revived Blues were to get back into Europe, there would certainly be a lot of acclaim for him.
Hamburg remains in the hunt, although they had their hands full with Hannover in a northern derby. HSV seemed a but lethargic given their midweek UEFA advance at the expense of Manhester City.
Berlin had a critical match against Bremen, who seem slowly to be coming into decent form. Luckily for Hertha, Werder had a midweek struggle with Udinese in the UEFA Cup, so they were certainly a bit tired. Hertha fell behind, but was able to use the extra reserve strength to force through a critical victory. Realistically, their drop in form means that they are no longer a serious title candidate, but Champions League qualification is still an achievable goal.
If it weren't for the Volkswagens, we'd be talking about Daimler. Stuttgart has been redhot and came up with another thumping victory in what has been a remarkable recovery. And the man of the hour is none other than Mario Gomez, who nailed a hattrick. In the national squad, his nickname has surely become "Stupor Mario" due to his horrible finishing, but in the league, he has been quite deadly. Köln really had no answer, and as the season winds down, have to be happy with continued nice attendance and a decent campaign - they shouldn't have to worry about relegation.
Dortmund has been making a move to try and sneak into Europe, which would be a nice achievement for the sleeping (and indebted) giants. They faced Bochum in a tough Ruhr-derby, and the match was actually more in favor of the home side, pressing forward with support of the sold-out stadium. However, Jürgen Klopp's troops demonstrated more cleverness, and took their chances, while Bochum wasted theirs.
A thumping win for Eintracht Frankfurt over Gladbach basically ends any worry the Hotdogs might have had about relegation. Gladbach was shockingly lame and were thoroughly pummeled.
Finally, a southwestern "derby" that had "losers" written all over it. First, the idea that Hoffenheim would be in a derby with anybody seems a bit far fetched, since nobody even heard of them a couple of years ago. But, they have upset the regional applecart, so there's lots of interest these days. They were the toast of the league by Xmas, but injuries and the likely fact that the others have figured them out have made them almost as spectaculary UNsuccessful in the post winterbreak - they've failed to win a single match. And Karlsruhe has pretty much been crap all season, although more so in the latter stages as well. So it was fitting that this hard-fought and entertaining match should end in a draw. If Hopp-en-heim can return to some semblance of form, they still have a chance to sneak into Europe, which would be quite an accomplishment. I don't see how KSC can avoid relegation at this point.
FC Schalke 04 - Energie Cottbus 4:0 (2:0) 60,315 (Pander, Altintop, Jones, Kuranyi) Arminia Bielefeld - Bayern München 0:1 (0:0) 27,300 (Toni) 1. FC Köln - VfB Stuttgart 0:3 (0:1) 50,000 (Gomez 3) VfL Wolfsburg - Bayer Leverkusen 2:1 (1:0) 29,500 (Grafite 2 - Kroos) VfL Bochum - Borussia Dortmund 0:2 (0:1) 31,328 (Owomoyela, Valdez) Eintracht Frankfurt - Borussia M'gladbach 4:1 (1:0) 51,500 (Meier, Liberopoulos, Russ, Fink - Daems) Karlsruher SC - 1899 Hoffenheim 2:2 (1:1) 29,054 (Freis, Federico - Salihovic, Teber) Hertha BSC Berlin - Werder Bremen 2:1 (0:1) 68,022 (Simunic, Raffael - Mertesacker) Hamburger SV - Hannover 96 2:1 (1:0) 56,554 (Petric 2 - Forssell) Attendance: 403,573 (avg 44,841) 1 VfL Wolfsburg 28 17 6 5 62:34 +28 57 2 Bayern München (M, P) 28 16 6 6 59:36 +23 54 3 Hamburger SV 28 17 3 8 42:38 +4 54 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Hertha BSC Berlin 28 16 4 8 42:35 +7 52 5 VfB Stuttgart 28 15 6 7 50:37 +13 51 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 FC Schalke 04 28 13 7 8 42:27 +15 46 7 Borussia Dortmund 28 11 13 4 45:33 +12 46 8 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 28 12 9 7 54:40 +14 45 9 Bayer Leverkusen 28 12 6 10 50:36 +14 42 10 Werder Bremen 28 9 9 10 52:39 +13 36 11 Eintracht Frankfurt 28 8 8 12 36:45 -9 32 12 1. FC Köln (N) 28 9 5 14 30:43 -13 32 13 Hannover 96 28 7 8 13 39:58 -19 29 14 VfL Bochum 28 6 10 12 33:44 -11 28 15 Arminia Bielefeld 28 4 12 12 22:41 -19 24 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 28 6 5 17 34:53 -19 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Energie Cottbus 28 6 5 17 24:51 -27 23 18 Karlsruher SC 28 5 4 19 20:46 -26 19 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga) Scoring: 1 Grafite VfL Wolfsburg 22 2 Ibisevic 1899 Hoffenheim 18 (injured after 17 games!) 3 Helmes Bayer Leverkusen 18 4 Gomez VfB Stuttgart 18 5 Pizarro Werder Bremen 16 6 Dzeko VfL Wolfsburg 16 7 Novakovic 1. FC Köln 14
2. Liga, Round 28
Important results kee the races redhot. Leaders Freiburg however have probably secured their return to the Bundesliga. They were dominating against crap Ingolstadt, but then inexplicably gave up a coupple of goals. But they got their act together in another onslaught to get all the points, and it's hard to see them collapsing and not gaining promotion.
Nürnberg faced a tough St.Pauli squad, and passed the test, in a packed Frankenstadion. Given how crap FCN started the season, it's quite surprising to see their bumbling season take them into 2nd, but they certainly have their fans believing now. Mainz blew a chance to cling to 2nd, as they were held by a desperate Ahlen. The visitors have been sinking, so they desperately asked their new coach (who was only supposed to start next season) to begin early. Can't remember his name, but like his players, it's somebody nobody ever heard of I'm sure. A precious point for Ahlen.
Greuther Fürth was on the verge of promotion, and are still a hot candidate. But their performance in Wehen was hardly impressive. They got the win, but were completely outplayed by last-place Wehen, and should have gotten their ass kicked. Still, it's 3 points and a continued march. It's pretty much "Gute Nacht" for Wehen.
Aachen took their last chance to stay in contention, a tough win against FSV Frankfurt. Meanwhile, a stunning home loss to Koblenz pretty much ends Duisburg's season. The Zebras have generally been mediocre, so they really can't complain about their train to nowheresville.
At the bottom, the sudden wakeup of Hansa Rostock continues. Another win for Hansa pulls them above relegation, and they appear to have caught themselves before it was too late. Although they're not out of the woods yet, they appear to recovered their potential, so they should be an unpleasant opponent in the remaining weeks.
FC Augsburg - VfL Osnabrück 3:0 (2:0) 12,437 (Thurk 3) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 0:0 (0:0) 18,500 Hansa Rostock - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 3:1 (2:1) 18,000 (Fillinger, Schindler, Kern - Reichert) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 0:1 (0:1) 6,650 (Cidimar) 1. FC Nürnberg - FC St. Pauli 2:0 (1:0) 46,780 (Bieler, Mintal) MSV Duisburg - TuS Koblenz 2:3 (1:1) 14,096 (Wagner, Makiadi - Stieber, Fischer, Cha) Alemannia Aachen - FSV Frankfurt 2:0 (0:0) 20,077 (Auer, Lehmann) SC Freiburg - FC Ingolstadt 04 3:2 (2:0) 16,800 (Schuster, Idrissou, Banovic - Jungwirth, Wohlfarth) TSV 1860 München - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1:1 (1:1 25,100 (Schock = Jendrissek) Attendance: 178,440 (avg 19,823) 1 SC Freiburg 28 17 4 7 45:28 +17 55 2 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 28 13 10 5 44:25 +19 49 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FSV Mainz 05 28 13 9 6 48:31 +17 48 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 28 14 6 8 53:38 +15 48 5 1. FC Kaiserslautern 28 13 7 8 44:33 +11 46 6 Alemannia Aachen 28 13 6 9 47:33 +14 45 7 MSV Duisburg (A) 28 10 11 7 42:31 +11 41 8 FC St. Pauli 28 11 6 11 45:54 -9 39 9 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 28 10 6 12 30:45 -15 36 10 TSV 1860 München 28 9 8 11 38:36 +2 35 11 FC Augsburg 28 9 8 11 35:35 0 35 12 TuS Koblenz 28 10 7 11 42:42 0 34 13 FSV Frankfurt (N) 28 8 9 11 29:37 -8 33 14 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 28 9 6 13 30:48 -18 33 15 Hansa Rostock (A) 28 7 9 12 40:45 -5 30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 VfL Osnabrück 28 6 10 12 35:51 -16 28 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 28 6 9 13 30:45 -15 27 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 28 4 9 15 25:45 -20 21 Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans Scoring: 1 Makiadi MSV Duisburg 15 2 Allagui SpVgg Greuther Fürth 14 3 Auer Alemannia Aachen 13 4 Mintal 1. FC Nürnberg 13 5 Toborg Rot-Weiss Ahlen 12 6 Lakic 1. FC Kaiserslautern 12 7 Lauth 1860 München 12
3. Liga, Round 32
The champ is definitely not phoning it in. A big crowd watched an entertaining match in Düsseldorf, but once again, Union leaves as the winner. The Berliners have turned what was a tight 3.Liga race into a rout, and are sailing into the 2.Liga. But who goes with them is wide open. Paderborn hoped to keep their edge, but it is a slim 1 point, as they were stunned at home by Dresden. The ex-GDR great has recovered their swagger a bit (previously it was just a drunken swagger) and have pulled themselves into mid table after flirting with disaster. Unterhaching was the primary benefactor of Fortuna and SCP's slipup, grabbing 3rd and threatening. That's it for promotion, as previously interested clubs such as Emden and Offenbach both lost, and are basically out of the running.
At the bottom, some critical results as well. Wuppertal won in Stuttgart, keeping their head above water. Aalen won a huge battle against Jena to give themselves some flotation as well. The shocker was Burghausen showing life and routing Erfurt away. This assures that the battle against relegation will remain fierce.
SV Sandhausen - VfB Stuttgart II 1:1 (0:0) 920 (Fiesser - Schwabe) Erzgebirge Aue - Kickers Emden 3:0 (1:0) 6,600 (Agyemang, Stark, Curri) VfR Aalen - Carl Zeiss Jena 3:2 (2:0) 2,975 (Stegmayer, Sailer 2 - Holzner, Amirante) Werder Bremen II - Eintracht Braunschweig 1:1 (1:1) 2,000 (Oehrl - Onuegbu) SC Paderborn 07 - Dynamo Dresden 1:2 (0:1) 7,696 (Löning - Bröker, Truckenbrod) Stuttgarter Kickers - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 0:1 (0:1) 2,600 (Damm) SpVgg Unterhaching - Kickers Offenbach 1:0 (0:0) 3,500 (Villar) Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Wacker Burghausen 0:3 (0:0) 4,500 (Belleri 2, Calamita) Jahn Regensburg - Bayern München II 1:2 (1:1) 6,200 (Zellner - Badstuber, Müller) Fortuna Düsseldorf - 1. FC Union Berlin 0:1 (0:0) 27,375 (Benyamina) Attendance: 64,366 (avg 6,437) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 32 20 10 2 53:18 +35 70 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 32 17 7 8 54:31 +23 58 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SpVgg Unterhaching 32 17 6 9 48:39 +9 57 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 32 16 7 9 44:27 +17 55 5 Bayern München II 32 12 14 6 41:30 +11 50 6 Kickers Emden 32 13 9 10 38:36 +2 48 7 Kickers Offenbach (A) 32 12 11 9 37:29 +8 47 8 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 32 13 7 12 40:39 +1 46 9 SV Sandhausen 32 11 10 11 48:44 +4 43 10 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 32 11 10 11 39:35 +4 43 11 VfB Stuttgart II 32 11 9 12 50:41 +9 42 12 Dynamo Dresden 32 11 9 12 38:39 -1 42 13 Eintracht Braunschweig 32 11 7 14 35:36 -1 40 14 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 32 9 9 14 31:40 -9 36 15 Jahn Regensburg 32 8 11 13 29:44 -15 35 16 VfR Aalen 32 7 14 11 28:48 -20 35 17 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 32 8 9 15 32:50 -18 33 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Wacker Burghausen 32 8 8 16 33:52 -19 32 19 Werder Bremen II 32 7 9 16 39:51 -12 30 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 32 5 10 17 32:60 -28 25 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Scoring: 1 A. Fink SpVgg Unterhaching 18 2 Benyamina 1. FC Union Berlin 15 3 T. Müller Bayern München II 15 4 Güvenisik SC Paderborn 07 14 5 Oehrl Werder Bremen II 13 6 Löning SC Paderborn 07 13 7 Cannizzaro Rot-Weiß Erfurt 12
Bundesliga, Round 27
Things remain tight at both ends of the table. And the fans are loving it, with very nice attendance figures. Leaders Wolfsburg had a hard time, at least in the 1st half, against hosts Gladbach. It was hard to tell who was the top and who was the bottom club. The VWs took one of their few chances for a rather undeserved lead. However, in the 2nd half, they were much better, and in the end deserved the full points.
Bayern München partually recovered from their recent bitch-slappings in Wolfsburg and Barcelona. A dose of Eintracht Frankfurt apparently does wonders for your health, as Bayern easily overran a crap Eintracht. But I fully expect coach Jürgen Klinsmann to get the boot after the season. Although directors Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummennigge are still backing Klinsi, legend Franz Beckenbauer has been griping, and recently pundit (and also former great) Günter Netzer ripped Klinsi in his column.
Hamburg lost out as an injury time goal by "Liga Yes, DFB No" striker Mario Gomez. His strike has moved Stuttgart solidly into Euro contention, and they remain red-hot since Markus Babbel took over. HSV had a nice midweek UEFA win over Manchester City, but coach Martin Jol has largely been doing everything with mirrors. HSV remains a tough opponent, but don't have the firepower to win it all.
It appears that Hertha's "15 minutes of fame" is just about over. They've had a fine season, but getting dumped in Hannover clearly shows they don't have the Right Stuff. For a change, Hertha was the one taking the initiative, and it was Hannover that played "rope-a-dope". The Berliners didn't really know what to do, and completely frustrated themselves with a serving of their own medicine. Hannover gleefully grabbed a couple of goals and may have just done enough to avoid any relegation threats.
The bottom has fallen out of early season sensation Hoffenheim. They led at winterbreak, but the injury to leading scorer Vedad Ibisevic has proven itself to be disastrous. Ralf Rangnick's troop has failed to win since! And this time, they were embarrasingly bitchslapped at home (they have yet to win in their spanking new Rhein-Neckat Arena) by of all teams...Bochum. Actually, although Bochum played well, Hoffenheim apparently ran themselves onto the sword. After falling behind, they assaulted Bochum's goal. Since that didn't bring success, they tried just plain assault, and as a result, two of their players got their asses tossed, and Bochum gleefully picked up the scraps and banged in a couple more. All the Hopp's money and all the Hopp's men, couldn't put Hoffy together again. Hard to imagine them recovering and making it in to Europe, so perhaps all the hullabaloo about Dietmar Hopp's money was just jealousy. For Bochum, a huge win, giving them a tiny bit of breathing room at the bottom.
Schalke was boring as usual, and was hardly impressive against tailender Karlsruhe. But at least they got the business done to maintain a faint hope of sneaking into Europe. For KSC, this seems like the last straw. It's hard to conceive a scenario of them avoiding relegation now, as their pathetic "offense" (OK, it is offensive) couldn't possibly score enough goals to make up the 7 points they'd need to overcome.
Another two inconsistent clubs, Bayer Aspirin and Werder played to a draw. Neither team is going anywhere, but you really don't want to face them if they're "on".
A huge relegation battle in Cottbus saw Energie defeat Bielefeld and renew hope for salvation. Cottbus remains that annoying fly that won't go away. For Arminia, they're lucky that Gladbach lost, otherwise they'd be in the relegation zone.
As far as the table, it was a ho-hum affair, but Dortmund's win over Köln maintained the fan interest in this western derby. Dortmund was the better team, and deserve their win, but Köln looks pretty secure above any relegation thoughts. An interesting note is that Dortmund actually has the fewest losses of any team in the Bundesliga.
Borussia M'gladbach - VfL Wolfsburg 1:2 (0:1) 49,152 (Dante - Dzeko, Riether) Bayern München - Eintracht Frankfurt 4:0 (3:0) 69,000 (Ribery, Toni, Lucio, Schweinsteiger) Hannover 96 - Hertha BSC 2:0 (1:0) 47,187 (Hanke, Bruggink) FC Schalke 04 - Karlsruher SC 2:0 (1:0) 61,397 (Kuranyi, Farfan) 1899 Hoffenheim - VfL Bochum 0:3 (0:1) 30,150 (Sestak 3) Energie Cottbus - Arminia Bielefeld 2:1 (1:0) 17,150 (Rangelov, Angelov - Munteanu) Borussia Dortmund - 1. FC Köln 3:1 (1:1) 80,552 (Subotic, Hajnal, Geromel o.g. - Vucicevic) Bayer Leverkusen - Werder Bremen 1:1 (1:1) 43,900 (Barnetta - Pizarro) VfB Stuttgart - Hamburger SV 1:0 (0:0) 55,700 (Gomez) Attendance: 454,188 (avg 50,465) 1 VfL Wolfsburg 27 16 6 5 60:33 +27 54 2 Bayern München (M, P) 27 15 6 6 58:36 +22 51 3 Hamburger SV 27 16 3 8 40:37 +3 51 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Hertha BSC Berlin 27 15 4 8 40:34 +6 49 5 VfB Stuttgart 27 14 6 7 47:37 +10 48 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 27 12 8 7 52:38 +14 44 7 FC Schalke 04 27 12 7 8 38:27 +11 43 8 Borussia Dortmund 27 10 13 4 43:33 +10 43 9 Bayer Leverkusen 27 12 6 9 49:34 +15 42 10 Werder Bremen 27 9 9 9 51:37 +14 36 11 1. FC Köln (N) 27 9 5 13 30:40 -10 32 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 27 7 8 12 32:44 -12 29 13 Hannover 96 27 7 8 12 38:56 -18 29 14 VfL Bochum 27 6 10 11 33:42 -9 28 15 Arminia Bielefeld 27 4 12 11 22:40 -18 24 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 27 6 5 16 33:49 -16 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Energie Cottbus 27 6 5 16 24:47 -23 23 18 Karlsruher SC 27 5 3 19 18:44 -26 18 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 27
The huge news in the 2.Liga has Bundesliga finance directors licking their chops, as Nürnberg has quietly moved into a promotion spot. A return of der Club to top-flight means bigger crowds, certainly of more interest than any of the other contenders. A nice away win coupled with Greuther Fürth's shocking home defeat to Rostock vaulted FCN into 3rd. Rostock's win was huge in their attempt to avoid relegation, and perhaps a sign that Hansa might just put together enough to avoid the drop.
Meanwhile, the top of the table clash turned out to be an even handed, hard fought affair. With their win, Freiburg has given itself one foot in the Bundesliga. Kaiserslautern is another club "lauering" in striking distance of promotion. They had a tough in Osnabrück, a must win for both sides. MSV Duisburg on the other hand appears to be running out of gas, as they gave up a last second penalty to St.Pauli, and may just have given up too much.
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - 1. FC Nürnberg 0:3 (0:2) 8,774 (Mintal, Kluge, Eigler) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Hansa Rostock 0:1 (0:0) 9,000 (Fillinger) FC Ingolstadt 04 - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 0:0 (0:0) 8,500 FC St. Pauli - MSV Duisburg 2:2 (1:0) 23,201 (Sako, Ludwig - Kouemaha, Brzenska) Rot-Weiss Ahlen - Alemannia Aachen 0:2 (0:2) 4,585 (Auer, Holtby) TuS Koblenz - 1860 München 3:2 (2:0) 10,991 (Maletic, Taylor 2 - Lauth, Hartmann o.g.) VfL Osnabrück - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 0:2 (0:2) 16,250 (Lakic, Dick) FSV Frankfurt - FC Augsburg 2:1 (1:0) 4,021 (Mikolajczak, Mokhtari - Thurk) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - SC Freiburg 1:2 (1:0) 20,100 (Noveski - Idrissou, Banovic) Attendance: 105,422 (avg 11,714) 1 SC Freiburg 27 16 4 7 42:26 +16 52 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 27 13 8 6 48:31 +17 47 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 27 12 10 5 42:25 +17 46 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 27 13 6 8 52:38 +14 45 5 1. FC Kaiserslautern 27 13 6 8 43:32 +11 45 6 Alemannia Aachen 27 12 6 9 45:33 +12 42 7 MSV Duisburg (A) 27 10 11 6 40:28 +12 41 8 FC St. Pauli 27 11 6 10 45:52 -7 39 9 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 27 10 6 11 29:42 -13 36 10 1860 München 27 9 7 11 37:35 +2 34 11 FSV Frankfurt (N) 27 8 9 10 29:35 -6 33 12 FC Augsburg 27 8 8 11 32:35 -3 32 13 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 27 9 5 13 30:48 -18 32 14 TuS Koblenz 27 9 7 11 39:40 -1 31 15 VfL Osnabrück 27 6 10 11 35:48 -13 28 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Hansa Rostock (A) 27 6 9 12 37:44 -7 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 27 6 9 12 28:42 -14 27 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 27 4 9 14 25:44 -19 21 Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 31
All the top clubs win, with Union Berlin gliding home to a thumping win over bottom Stuttgart. Paderborn struggled in a desperate battle in Wuppertal, but bring home the bacon. A massive win for Düsseldorf in Offenbach, which allows Fortuna to keep pace, and pretty much sinks the Kickers. Also winning was Unterhaching, who have been in fine form recently and remain ready to pounce on a promotion opportunity if Paderborn or Düsseldorf slip.
On the bottom, a huge win for Jena in Burgshausen.
Dynamo Dresden - Werder Bremen II 2:1 (1:1) 13,034 (Bröker 2 - Oehrl) Eintracht Braunschweig - VfR Aalen 2:0 (0:0) 12,000 (Dogan, Banser) Wacker Burghausen - Carl Zeiss Jena 0:2 (0:1) 2,500 (Hähnge, Sträßer) Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Erzgebirge Aue 2:0 (1:0) 7,000 (Cinaz, Semmer) Kickers Emden - Jahn Regensburg 0:0 (0:0) 3,000 VfB Stuttgart II - SpVgg Unterhaching 1:3 (0:1) 600 (Rudy - Fink 2, Kovacevic o.g.) Kickers Offenbach - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:2 (0:0) 10,000 (Heidinger, Jovanovic) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - SC Paderborn 07 0:1 (0:1) 4,844 (Güvenisik) Bayern München II - SV Sandhausen 2:1 (0:0) 800 (Badestuber, Müller - Ristic) 1. FC Union Berlin - Stuttgarter Kickers 5:1 (2:0) 6,004 (Biran, Dogan, Sahin, Gebhardt, Benyamina - Gambo) Attendance: 59,782 (avg 5,978) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 31 19 10 2 52:18 +34 67 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 31 17 7 7 53:29 +24 58 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Fortuna Düsseldorf 31 16 7 8 44:26 +18 55 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Unterhaching 31 16 6 9 47:39 +8 54 5 Kickers Offenbach (A) 31 12 11 8 37:28 +9 47 6 Kickers Emden 30 13 8 9 38:33 +5 47 7 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 31 13 7 11 40:36 +4 46 8 Bayern München II 30 10 14 6 37:29 +8 44 9 SV Sandhausen 31 11 9 11 47:43 +4 42 10 VfB Stuttgart II 31 11 8 12 49:40 +9 41 11 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 31 10 10 11 36:35 +1 40 12 Eintracht Braunschweig 31 11 6 14 34:35 -1 39 13 Dynamo Dresden 31 10 9 12 36:38 -2 39 14 Jahn Regensburg 30 8 10 12 27:41 -14 34 15 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 30 8 9 13 30:38 -8 33 16 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 31 8 9 14 30:47 -17 33 17 VfR Aalen 30 6 13 11 25:46 -21 31 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Werder Bremen II 31 7 8 16 38:50 -12 29 19 Wacker Burghausen 31 7 8 16 30:52 -22 29 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 30 5 9 16 31:58 -27 24 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
April 08, 2009
Bayern bitchslapped in Euro play
Bayern München was rolled by a rampant FC Barcelona 0-4 in the Champions League quarters. Some 96,000 showed up in the massive Nou Camp, expecting to see an interesting match. Instead, they saw a crap Bayern that was lucky they weren't down 5 by half, and amused that Barcelona took the foot off the gas in the 2nd half. They should have gone for blood, as they could have scored a good 7-8 goals and totally embarass the Müncheners. Since Bayern was totally dominated, it could have been a memorable score. The re-match is next Tuesday, and then Barcelona advances to the semi-finals, likely to face some English club.
Coach Jürgen Klinsmann does face somewhat of a dilemna towards what steps to take for Bayern. They sucked across the board, and unlike the recent ass-whupping that Wolfsburg laid on them, this time Bayern wasn't even in the game at half. In fact, it was over after Barcelona's Thierry Henry missed a sitter, although they did open up the socring after 9 minutes. The whole game was played in Münchens half, so they can't complain. Klinsmann replaced GK Michael Rensing, who seems like a bit of a wanker, after the disaster in Wolfsburg. Veteran Hans-Jörg Butt got the start, and played OK. But since the Bayern defense was like a sieve and the midfield non-existant, he didn't stand a chance. Plus when you have psychos like Mark Van Bommel running around without a dogchain, you're bound to end up with something stupid. Supposedly Klinsmann put in his "defensive" oriented unit, with Altintop replacing Podolski, but obviously that didn't work. So unless they put on a gala performance to at least erase the shame (no way they win by 5 against Barcelona), they're done in Europe. And if they get an emabrassing Ohrfeige at home in the Allianz, expect Klinsi to be collecting unemployment....
April 07, 2009
3. Liga, Round 30
The second half of the 3.Liga round featured mostly critical relegation battles. Regensburg and Aalen picked up huge wins, while Bremen and Wuppertal split the points. Jena also stopped the rot with an important win. The big loser is Stuttgart in the battle of the Kickers. Their loss to Offenbach may have just sunk them. Unless they immediately rebound with a couple of wins on the trot, they're toast. Offenbach
Jahn Regensburg - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:0 (0:0) 3,200 (Schmid) Carl Zeiss Jena - Eintracht Braunschweig 2:0 (0:0) 6,943 (Ziegner, Hähnge) VfR Aalen - Dynamo Dresden 4:3 (3:3) 4,800 (Lechleiter, Stegmayer, Sailer, Bader - Bröker, Dobry 2) Werder Bremen II - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 1:1 (0:0) 850 (Oehrl - Heinzmann) Stuttgarter Kickers - Kickers Offenbach 0:1 (0:0) 4,030 (Mesic) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 30 18 10 2 47:17 +30 64 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 30 16 7 7 52:29 +23 55 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Fortuna Düsseldorf 30 15 7 8 42:26 +16 52 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Unterhaching 30 15 6 9 44:38 +6 51 5 Kickers Offenbach (A) 30 12 11 7 37:26 +11 47 6 Kickers Emden 29 13 7 9 38:33 +5 46 7 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 30 12 7 11 38:36 +2 43 8 SV Sandhausen 30 11 9 10 46:41 +5 42 9 VfB Stuttgart II 30 11 8 11 48:37 +11 41 10 Bayern München II 29 9 14 6 35:28 +7 41 11 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 30 10 10 10 36:33 +3 40 12 Dynamo Dresden 30 9 9 12 34:37 -3 36 13 Eintracht Braunschweig 30 10 6 14 32:35 -3 36 14 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 29 8 9 12 30:37 -7 33 15 Jahn Regensburg 29 8 9 12 27:41 -14 33 16 VfR Aalen 29 6 13 10 25:44 -19 31 17 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 30 7 9 14 28:47 -19 30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Werder Bremen II 30 7 8 15 37:48 -11 29 19 Wacker Burghausen 30 7 8 15 30:50 -20 29 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 29 5 9 15 30:53 -23 24 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Bundesliga, Round 26
Stunning day in the Bundesliga, as it's a fairly rare day when you see Bayern dismantled (although it happened earlier against Bremen). But VfL Wolfsburg has been the hottest team since the restart, and coach Felix Magath must have thoroughly enjoyed this one, as he was fired unceremoniously from Bayern despite winning a couple of doubles. The first half was roughly even, but after the break, the VWs revved up their engines, banging in one goal after another. It was capped off by a marvelous strike from Grafite, who dribbled through the whole Bayern defense, around the goalie and backheeled past desperate Bayern defenders into the net. The Brazilian now has 20 league goals on the season, and his strike partner Edin Dzeko has 14, for the best combo in the league. How good is that? It's better than almost half the teams! There seems little question that Wolfsburg is the best team in the Bundesliga right now, and top the table. However, it's hard to believe for long time fans that they will be there when it's all over, but the race is wide open...
Hertha seems to have lost some momentum as they were stunned at home by Dortmund. The Olympiastadion had been a stronghold for Hertha, but they were really outplayed by Dortmund. The Neons played clever defense and conuterattack, and the usual plodding Hertha could never really get into position to bore their opponents to death. That's too bad, because they missed a chance to impress the sold-out stadium, which for Berlin has been a rare occasion if the opponent wasn't Bayern.
Minimalist football reigns supreme in Hamburg, and HSV got a huge win over Hoffenheim, which has vanished from the headlines. The match itself was pretty even, but HSV was a bit lucky to get all points. Hoffenheim was pretty flat until they fell behind, and they did press strongly down the stretch to try and salvo a point. One thing that is becoming clear is that it takes more than Hopp's millions. Like many high-flying promoted clubs, they are discovering that the other teams have now figured them out, so they'll need to adjust. They've now even fallen out of a European spot, so they need to pick things up and finally get a victory. For HSV, they are equal on top, but their lame goal difference means they're essentially a point back of any other squad.
Stuttgart has been playing well lately, and they had a tough win in Bochum. The hosts were not ambitious enough, and VfB seemed content to sit and wait for their opportunities. After some lackluster play prior to winterbreak, coach Markus Babbel has the Stuttgarters on target for Euro qualification.
Leverkusen easily won the Rhein-derby against Köln. The Aspirins pretty much dominated, and it took some solid play from Colombian GK Faryd Mondragon to keep Köln level. But eventually Bayer's dominance paid off, and the Aspirins bring home the points.
Schalke got back on track with a win against a harmless Bielefeld squad. Schalke is going nowhere, and Bielefeld actually hope they go nowhere as well. Arminia's loss keeps them on the precipice of relegation.
Werder Bremen once again demonstrated they they can be a buzz-saw on the right day. They completely dominated against Hannover, and probably coudl have scored around 10 goals. As it was, Peruvian striker Claudio Pizzaro nailed a hat-trick, raising further contraversy over whether he should stay with Werder or not. Hannover looked pretty lame, although GK Robert Enke saved another penalty to prevent an even worse ass-kicking.
A critical relegation battle saw Frankfurt prevail over Cottbus. They had a hard time getting going, but deserved the win, since Energie really showed no initiative in attack at all. For Frankfurt, this just about puts them clear of any relegation worries. Meanwhile, Karlsruhe and Gladbach squared off to a goal-less snoozer that probably helps neither team enough. This failure to win might have been the last straw for KSC, mired in the bottom. For Gladbach, it's a decent result, and they get a bit closer to the low hanging fruit like Bielefeld, Bochum and possibly Hannover.
Arminia Bielefeld - FC Schalke 04 0:2 (0:1) 27,300 (Farfan, Kuranyi) VfL Wolfsburg - Bayern München 5:1 (1:1) 30,000 (Gentner, Dzeko 2, Grafite 2 - Toni) VfL Bochum - VfB Stuttgart 1:2 (0:0) 24,718 (Epallé - Cacau, Tasci) Hertha BSC Berlin - Borussia Dortmund 1:3 (0:1) 74,244 (Raffael - Frei, Kehl, Valdez) Eintracht Frankfurt - Energie Cottbus 2:1 (1:1) 44,800 (Liberopoulos, Steinhöfer - Rangelov) Hamburger SV - 1899 Hoffenheim 1:0 (1:0) 57,000 (Pitroipa) 1. FC Köln - Bayer Leverkusen 0:2 (0:0) 49,800 (Helmes, Kiessling) Werder Bremen - Hannover 96 4:1 (1:0) 42,100 (Diego, Pizzaro 3 - Krzynowek) Karlsruher SC - Borussia M'gladbach 0:0 (0:0) 29,380 Attendance: 379,342 (avg 42,149) 1 VfL Wolfsburg 26 15 6 5 58:32 +26 51 2 Hamburger SV 26 16 3 7 40:36 +4 51 3 Hertha BSC Berlin 26 15 4 7 40:32 +8 49 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Bayern München (M, P) 26 14 6 6 54:36 +18 48 5 VfB Stuttgart 26 13 6 7 46:37 +9 45 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 26 12 8 6 52:35 +17 44 7 Bayer Leverkusen 26 12 5 9 48:33 +15 41 8 FC Schalke 04 26 11 7 8 36:27 +9 40 9 Borussia Dortmund 26 9 13 4 40:32 +8 40 10 Werder Bremen 26 9 8 9 50:36 +14 35 11 1. FC Köln (N) 26 9 5 12 29:37 -8 32 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 26 7 8 11 32:40 -8 29 13 Hannover 96 26 6 8 12 36:56 -20 26 14 VfL Bochum 26 5 10 11 30:42 -12 25 15 Arminia Bielefeld 26 4 12 10 21:38 -17 24 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 26 6 5 15 32:47 -15 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Energie Cottbus 26 5 5 16 22:46 -24 20 18 Karlsruher SC 26 5 3 18 18:42 -24 18 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 26
This was apparently "last-chance express" week in the 2.Liga, as a few clubs perhaps took the last chance to get back in business.
Starting at the bottom, both Wehen and Rostock had huge victories. For Wehen, it's probably too late, but at least they can still pretend. For Rostock, a huge win (although I'm sure prior to the season, if you had told Rostock fans that defeating nobodies FSV Frankfurt would be "huge", they would have just laughed.) Hansa has a chance to save themselves if they can gather some momentum. On the other hand, St.Pauli's embarassing loss in Wehen pretty much ends any dreams they mave been entertaining.
Obviously, Mainz away win at Duisburg is a huge stick-poke-in-the-eye to the Zebras chances. And of course Mainz holds the coveted 2nd spot, as Greuther Fürth got dumped by Aachen. Last chance for Alemannia, although it's still a longshot for them. Nobody seems to know what Greuther Fürth team will show up. We'll probably be writing about a thumping win next week. They hold 3rd, but are under pressure. The team of the week is probably Nürnberg, who have a horrible start have quietly, almost invisibly, moved up the table...and they haven't really played that well either. They are now a serious threat for a promotion spot. Another storied ex-Bundesliga squad, Kaiserslautern, missed a chance to move up. They had to settle for a crap draw with Oberhausen. The Red Devils have the worst goal difference of other contending clubs, so they really needed the full 3.
Leaders Freiburg dominated against Ahlen, but were unable to turn that into much of an advantage against the defensively oriented visitors. As a result, a disappointing draw, and they fail to build out their lead.
MSV Duisburg - 1. FSV Mainz 05 0:1 (0:1) 21,069 (Karhan) 1. FC Nürnberg - TuS Koblenz 2:0 (1:0) 33,696 (Mintal 2) FC Augsburg - FC Ingolstadt 04 1:1 (0:1) 14,033 (da Costa - Lokvenc) Alemannia Aachen - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1:0 (0:0) 19,563 (Oussalé) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - FC St. Pauli 3:1 (1:1) 9,588 (Simac 2, Öztürk - Ebbers) 1860 München - VfL Osnabrück 1:1 (0:1) 35,800 (Lauth - Heidrich) Hansa Rostock - FSV Frankfurt 2:0 (1:0) 17,000 (Kern, Retov) 1. FC Kaiserslautern - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 1:1 (1:0) 32,270 (Lakic - Terranova) SC Freiburg - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 1:1 (0:0) 15,500 (Krmas - Busch) Attendance: 198,519 (avg 22,058) 1 SC Freiburg 26 15 4 7 40:25 +15 49 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 26 13 8 5 47:29 +18 47 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 26 13 6 7 52:37 +15 45 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 26 11 10 5 39:25 +14 43 5 1. FC Kaiserslautern 26 12 6 8 41:32 +9 42 6 MSV Duisburg (A) 26 10 10 6 38:26 +12 40 7 Alemannia Aachen 26 11 6 9 43:33 +10 39 8 FC St. Pauli 26 11 5 10 43:50 -7 38 9 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 26 10 6 10 29:39 -10 36 10 TSV 1860 München 26 9 7 10 35:32 +3 34 11 FC Augsburg 26 8 8 10 31:33 -2 32 12 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 26 9 5 12 30:46 -16 32 13 FSV Frankfurt (N) 26 7 9 10 27:34 -7 30 14 TuS Koblenz 26 8 7 11 36:38 -2 28 15 VfL Osnabrück 26 6 10 10 35:46 -11 28 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 26 6 8 12 28:42 -14 26 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Hansa Rostock (A) 26 5 9 12 36:44 -8 24 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 26 4 8 14 25:44 -19 20 (A) Absteiger (relegated from Bundesliga) (N) Neuling (promoted from Regionalliga) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 30
A split schedule, as half the matches will be held later in the week. There were a couple significant results. Union remains untouchable, as they drew at Paderborn, who can't shake off the chasing clubs. Düsseldorf missed a chance to edge closer, but Unterhaching seems to be playing well enough to move up. They were lackluster most of the season, but appear to be in form now. On the other hand, Emden's loss at Sandhausen just about sinks their ship, especially considering their recent lame form.
SpVgg Unterhaching - Bayern München II 2:1 (1:0) 4,500 (Zillner, Rathgeber - Sikorski) Fortuna Düsseldorf - VfB Stuttgart II 1:1 (1:0) 10,010 (Kastrati - Walch) Erzgebirge Aue - Wacker Burghausen 2:0 (0:0) 7,400 (Hensel, Bouhaddouz) SV Sandhausen - Kickers Emden 2:1 (1:1) 1,900 (Fiessner, Müller - Rauw) SC Paderborn 07 - 1. FC Union Berlin 0:0 (0:0) 12,597 Jahn Regensburg - Rot-Weiß Erfurt -:- (-:-) Carl Zeiss Jena - Eintracht Braunschweig -:- (-:-) VfR Aalen - Dynamo Dresden -:- (-:-) Werder Bremen II - Wuppertaler SV Bor. -:- (-:-) Stuttgarter Kickers - Kickers Offenbach -:- (-:-) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 30 18 10 2 47:17 +30 64 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 30 16 7 7 52:29 +23 55 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Fortuna Düsseldorf 30 15 7 8 42:26 +16 52 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Unterhaching 30 15 6 9 44:38 +6 51 5 Kickers Emden 29 13 7 9 38:33 +5 46 6 Kickers Offenbach (A) 29 11 11 7 36:26 +10 44 7 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 29 12 7 10 38:35 +3 43 8 SV Sandhausen 30 11 9 10 46:41 +5 42 9 VfB Stuttgart II 30 11 8 11 48:37 +11 41 10 Bayern München II 29 9 14 6 35:28 +7 41 11 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 30 10 10 10 36:33 +3 40 12 Eintracht Braunschweig 29 10 6 13 32:33 -1 36 13 Dynamo Dresden 29 9 9 11 31:33 -2 36 14 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 28 8 8 12 29:36 -7 32 15 Jahn Regensburg 28 7 9 12 26:41 -15 30 16 Wacker Burghausen 30 7 8 15 30:50 -20 29 17 Werder Bremen II 29 7 7 15 36:47 -11 28 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 VfR Aalen 28 5 13 10 21:41 -20 28 19 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 29 6 9 14 26:47 -21 27 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 28 5 9 14 30:52 -22 24 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
The Bizzaro case of Pizzaro
Lately there has been a lot of contraversy about Werder Bremen's Peruvian striker Claudio Pizzaro, although you generally have to look into the gutter rags to find out, hehehe. Of course, in the interest of scholarly research that Abseits is famous for, we have held our noses and dived enthusiastically into the archives of Bild-Zeitung and others to bring you the story...
On the field, Pizzaro seemingly has been quiet productive. He has scored fairly regularily, and has been especially effective in Werder's UEFA Cup run. Previously, he had been an effective forward at Bayern München, leading to a big contract with money-bags Chelsea. Since he was only riding the pine at Chelski, getting loaned out to Werder was good move - and based on performance there was a good chance that Bremen would want to excercise their option to make the move permanent. However, the latest info is that the Werder board is against retaining his services since he "doesn't reflect what Werder is all about." Apparently only sporting director Klaus Allofs is in favor of keeping the Peruvian, not too surprising, since Allofs main job is to worry about fielding a successful squad on the field.
So what's the story? As far as we can tell, it starts with some repeated drunk driving convictions that has apparently led to some 150,000 euros in fines. But that would just be par for the course for some of these wingnuts. Witness England, where players go around and crash Lamborghinis and assault ethnic minorities in pubs and on the street. But apparently there are some other bizzaro ghosts in Pizzaro's closet.
It appears that 2-3 years ago, the player set up the "Claudio Pizzaro Foundation" to raise money for medical bills for needy Peruvians. A laudable goal, launched with all sorts of fanfare in München, certainly a way for Pizzaro to clean up his image. I suppose if it was just that, things might have been bad enough. However, aside from the fact that apparently nobody in the München non-profit office has ever heard of this, accusations have come out of Peru that the foundation is being used for tax-evasion and money laundering. And the parents of one of the sick kids that Claudio posed with have stated that when we asked for the money to pay for his surgery, "Claudio just laughed at us." Of course, some of the most damaging accusations coming from Peru are by way of a young lady who now seems to be enjoying her photo opps and perhaps will be gracing the editions of South American Playboys.
Hey, it's a difficult story, but somebody has got to do it :)
Historical Reflections 4
Ho-hum: Wales - Germany 0:2
Germany continued their leisurely stroll to South Africa, as they easily handled a lame Wales squad in Cardiff's Millenium stadium. Hardly impressive, but overall more bang for your euro than they showed earlier against Liechtenstein.
Things started out pretty decently as after about 12 minutes Michael Ballack unleashed a rocket from almost 30 meters into the top of the Welsh net. Ballack may be past-sell-date, but he certainly hammered that one. Germany was in complete control of the match, and a rout looked possible. But as usual, they failed to press their advantage to the extreme, and the Welsh were unlucky not to get an equalizing chance. Serdar Tasci made a total doofus of himself on one occasion, saved by only the blind ref intervening to deny a clear penalty. One of the Welsh attackers was making a run to the box, and the backpedaling Tasci ended up slipping and falling flat on his face. The Welsh player, like his compatriots lacking any modicum of skill as is the requirement for lower league English football, was too oafish to make a move and stumbled over the sprawled Tasci. A good case for obstruction and a penalty. But Tasci seemingly compounded the case by handling the ball as well. Luckily the ref was blind, so Germany escaped.
Most of the half clearly showed that Germany was superior, and they created a few decent chances that of course Mario Gomez managed to waste. His best was heading the ball off target from about two yards. In the 2nd half, Stupor-Mario finally got on the scoreboard, sort of with an assist. He crossed the ball into the front and some Welsh guy booted it into his own net.
Overall, aside from Tasci's crap instance, Germany had this match firmly in the grip, and some decent finishers probably would have banged in 2-3 more goals. As mentioned, the Welsh showed plenty of hustle and enthusiasm, but their tactics were limited to thumping the ball 50 yards and hoping to run under it. German GK Robert Enke was solid when called upon, but basically had not much to do. The defenders (even Tasci) were solid, the midfield controlled the ball. Sometimes however they seemed to lose their thoughts, breaking out fast, then holding around and passing the ball aimlessly until they lost it. The forwards were crap, and the squad really failed to utilize ample space down the wings. But it's another 3 points in the bag.
BTW, the other team that will advance from this group, Russia, hardly covered themselves with glory either. They struggled to win 1-0 away to Liechtenstein...
3. Liga, Round 29
The 3.Liga had midweek action, and there were some fairly significant results. Kickers Emden, who had been one of the early leaders in the promotion race, got bitch-slapped at home by Unterhaching. This actually puts the Kickers on the verge of dropping out of the race. They will definitely need several wins in a row to get back in. Unterhaching however has quietly got their act together, and are now a promotion threat. Since Paderborn was held at Offenbach (those Kickers basically losing their last chance to gain ground), Düsseldorf crept closer to 2nd. No doubt that 2.Liga clubs would prefer Fortuna to sneak in over Paderborn, since Düsseldorf promises to bring some decent crowds, whereas attendance is probably higher at your local church bingo than in Paderborn.
The relegation battle continues to be intense. Unfortunately, Werder Bremen II is the club that has made the most progress, climbing off the bottom. It would be better if all "II" clubs were forcibly relegated into their own league that nobody could watch in peace and quiet. But Werder held leaders Union, who remain unbeaten in 15. A significant result in Wuppertal, as WSV met relegation rival Aalen and delivered a severe ass-kicking. Dresden also faced off struggling Jena in an eastern derby. Dynamo's win pretty much ends any relegation fear for Dresden, but Jena continues in their free-fall.
Dynamo Dresden - Carl Zeiss Jena 2:0 (0:0) 13,493 (Dobry, Pergl) Wacker Burghausen - Eintracht Braunschweig 0:2 (0:1) 2,400 (Danneberg, Pfitzer) Erzgebirge Aue - Jahn Regensburg 1:0 (1:0) 7,100 (Feick) Rot-Weiß Erfurt - SV Sandhausen 1:1 (0:0) 4,876 (Fiessner o.g. - Bindnagel) Kickers Emden - SpVgg Unterhaching 0:4 (0:3) 3,282 (Rathgeber 3, Zilner) Bayern München II - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:1 (0:0) 1,500 (Heidinger) VfB Stuttgart II - Stuttgarter Kickers 3:0 (2:0) 3,050 (Fiesthammer, Gentner o.g., Schipplock) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - VfR Aalen 5:0 (4:0) 3,715 (Lintjens, Jerat, Reichwein, Damm, Hammes) Kickers Offenbach - SC Paderborn 07 0:0 (0:0) 8,274 1. FC Union Berlin - Werder Bremen II 0:0 (0:0) 5,572 Attendance: 53,260 (avg 5,326) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 29 18 9 2 47:17 +30 63 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 29 16 6 7 52:29 +23 54 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Fortuna Düsseldorf 29 15 6 8 41:25 +16 51 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Unterhaching 29 14 6 9 42:37 +5 48 5 Kickers Emden 28 13 7 8 37:31 +6 46 6 Kickers Offenbach (A) 29 11 11 7 36:26 +10 44 7 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 29 12 7 10 38:35 +3 43 8 Bayern München II 28 9 14 5 34:26 +8 41 9 VfB Stuttgart II 29 11 7 11 47:36 +11 40 10 SV Sandhausen 29 10 9 10 44:40 +4 39 11 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 29 9 10 10 34:33 +1 37 12 Eintracht Braunschweig 29 10 6 13 32:33 -1 36 13 Dynamo Dresden 29 9 9 11 31:33 -2 36 14 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 28 8 8 12 29:36 -7 32 15 Jahn Regensburg 28 7 9 12 26:41 -15 30 16 Wacker Burghausen 29 7 8 14 30:48 -18 29 17 Werder Bremen II 29 7 7 15 36:47 -11 28 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 VfR Aalen 28 5 13 10 21:41 -20 28 19 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 29 6 9 14 26:47 -21 27 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 28 5 9 14 30:52 -22 24 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Another disgraceful national team outing: Germany - Liechtenstein 4:0
OK, when Germany faces off with Liechtenstein, it goes as follows: 5-0 would be a somewhat lame but acceptable result. 6-0 would be OK, 7-0 better. 8-0 would be good. So when you only score 4, you'd have to say you sucked.
Things started out quickly as Michael Ballack put in a Knaller from outside after only 4 minutes. Then Marcel Jansen pounced on a rebound after Liechtenstein's GK Peter Jehle blocked Podolski's blast. That was only 5 minutes, later, so things looked good for a nice rout. But then the team goofed around and enraged the fans with lack-luster effort. They decided to play a bit more and quickly banged in a couple more after half, (although the goals themselves were pretty lame) but then were in cruise control. And as usual, Mario Gomez, with his big chance to be number 1 striker (now that Miro Klose is injured), sucked once again. The guy simply can't play for the national team. If I recall, he did manage to hit the post though, but otherwise was a waste of space.
The defense really didn't have much to do. GK Robert Enke made a nice save on Liechtenstein's only real chance. Their most famous player, Italy based Mario Frick of Siena, faked a defender and cut in from the left, unleashing a vicious shot which Enke handled nicely. Other than that, it was mostly Jehle and defenders trying to get themselves between the goal and ball.
Again, if you can't score at least a half dozen against these guys (most of whom actually play in Liechtenstein), you'd have to say, "job NOT well done."
3. Liga, Round 28
Pretty much business as usual for leaders Union, as they travelled to Aalen and put down the hammer. Paderborn missed a golden opportunity to solidify their hold on 2nd, but were lucky to even get a draw at home to Stuttgart II. The feature match in Düsseldorf featured Fortuna and visiting Emden, but this was undecisive as well. A Fortuna win would have given them some breathing room, but Emden was well worth their point.
On the bottom, all clubs were getting points. Jena debuted their new coach, and managed to stop the rot, but only a draw at home to Wuppertal. Bremen II stunned Offenbach, and Stuttgarter Kickers got a home against Bayern's B. So what a few weeks ago looked like a finished relegation struggle is now well heated up.
SC Paderborn 07 - VfB Stuttgart II 1:1 (0:0) 6,011 (Krause - Didavi) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Kickers Emden 1:1 (0:1) 18,496 (Cebe - Neitzel) SpVgg Unterhaching - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 4:0 (2:0) 3,000 (Fink 2, Rathgeber, Villar) SV Sandhausen - Erzgebirge Aue 0:2 (0:2) 1,670 (Müller, Agyemang) Eintracht Braunschweig - Dynamo Dresden 0:1 (0:0) 15,150 (Savran) Carl Zeiss Jena - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 0:0 (0:0) 5,535 Werder Bremen II - Kickers Offenbach 3:1 (1:0) 700 (Oehrl, Feldhahn, Andersen - Morys) Jahn Regensburg - Wacker Burghausen 1:0 (1:0) 4,250 (Schmid) Stuttgarter Kickers - Bayern München II 0:0 (0:0) 3,770 VfR Aalen - 1. FC Union Berlin 1:4 (1:2) 3,513 (Schöckel - Dogan, Biran, Mattuschka, Benyamina) Attendance: 62,095 (avg 6,201) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 28 18 8 2 47:17 +30 62 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 28 16 5 7 52:29 +23 53 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Fortuna Düsseldorf 28 14 6 8 40:25 +15 48 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Kickers Emden 27 13 7 7 37:27 +10 46 5 SpVgg Unterhaching 28 13 6 9 38:37 +1 45 6 Kickers Offenbach (A) 28 11 10 7 36:26 +10 43 7 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 28 12 6 10 37:34 +3 42 8 Bayern München II 27 9 14 4 34:25 +9 41 9 SV Sandhausen 28 10 8 10 43:39 +4 38 10 VfB Stuttgart II 28 10 7 11 44:36 +8 37 11 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 28 8 10 10 33:33 0 34 12 Eintracht Braunschweig 28 9 6 13 30:33 -3 33 13 Dynamo Dresden 28 8 9 11 29:33 -4 33 14 Jahn Regensburg 27 7 9 11 26:40 -14 30 15 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 27 7 8 12 24:36 -12 29 16 Wacker Burghausen 28 7 8 13 30:46 -16 29 17 VfR Aalen 27 5 13 9 21:36 -15 28 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Werder Bremen II 28 7 6 15 36:47 -11 27 19 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 28 6 9 13 26:45 -19 27 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 27 5 9 13 30:49 -19 24 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Schalke can Rutten
Not much of a surprise, but Schalke tossed coach Fred Rutten's ass on the street. Since GM Andreas Müller got booted out last week, it was pretty obvious that Rutten was gone. If I recall, Rutten came from Holland's FC Twente, and if rumours are to beleived, he may land on his feet back in the Netherlands quickly - supposedly struggling PSV Eindhoven wants him to take over.
Rutten's reign in Schalke was shortlived, and basically sucked. When Miro Slomka was fired last season, Schalke was in 3rd place in the Bundesliga, and had made the Qtrs of the Champions League. This season was a disaster: Schalke is currently 8th, unlikely to qualify for Europe at all, knocked out of UEFA cup in group stages, and dumped out of the DFB Cup by 2.Liga Mainz. So with an expensive squad of non-achievers, what do you do? Fire the coach, and perhaps clean house.
Ironically, Rutten promised to bring more attractive attacking football to Schalke, although in recent years, Schalke's most successful campaigns exhibited more "vigourous" tactics, such as running around and thumping the ball and opponent. Given the bozos on the current squad, that was probably a recipe for failure. They got the running around part down, like a chocken with it's head cut off. They're also good at shooting the ball into the stands. Ironically, aside from a few brain-farts, the defense has been very good, so perhaps Rutten should have opted for catenaccio...
Who will be the successor? All sorts of names are being bandied about. Oliver Kahn is being bandied about as new GM, which makes lots of sense. Not. Early indications are that Kahn may not be interested anymore. For coach, nobody knows. When Slomka was canned, ex-players Youri Mulders and Mike Büskens took over as interim trainers. No report on who is filling in now, but it seems likely the pair will be asked to fill in again. As for the permanent replacement, who knows. Undoubtedly the board will chose some other wanker. Perhaps they should just get it over with and hire someone like Heino, the legendary Schlager singer...
History lesson 3
The third German championship, 1904-05 . First upset...
History lesson 2
The second German championship, 1903-04 . Somewhat of a fiasco...
Bundesliga, Round 25
Things tightened up again in Europe's best football race. Leaders Hertha BSC were shown their limits, as they were completely dominated by VfB Stuttgart, and frankly it was surprising it wasn't over by halftime. Stuttgart controlled the match and pressed for the entire 1st half, but had woeful finishing. But since Berlin was unable to relieve the pressure in the second half, it was only a matter of time. Minimalist football can work, but it's a whole lot more helpful if you manage and score a goal. For Stuttgart, Europe qualification is now a reasonable goal, and they must certainly be happy the way rookie coach Markus Babbel has turned things around.
Bayern München did take advantage of Berlin's slip, and got the points against Karlsruhe. But it was hardly a gala performance. Bayern dominated in the 1st half, but wasted chances and failed to press their advantage to the fullest. In the second half, they were just mailing it in, and KSC was almost rewarded with a point after increasing their performance. Suprisingly, they pushed Bayern back, and Klinsmann was happy when the whistle blew in what was truly a lackluster effort. They better not put on a performance like this against Barcelona in the Champions League. Unfortuately, for KSC, this probably brings down the curtains on this campaign. They would need 2-3 straight wins just to get back into the relegation battle, so it looks like the 2.Liga train has already left the station...
Wolfsburg remains the sensation of the restart. The VWs are now even with Bayern on points and goals, after routing Bielefeld away. Grafite has now become the Bundesliga top-scorer, finally overtaking Hoffenheim's injured Vedad Ibisevic. Felix Magath has his squad playing top quality league football, and they are a threat to everybody.
Hamburg once again squeezed water out of a rock and got a great victory in Schalke. Great because HSV did nothing but watch Schalke run around aimlessly. Schalke's performance was truly breath-taking, it was so bad it takes your breath away. No ideas, no finishing, lapses in concentration. HSV basically relied upon a well organized defense and then waited for Schalke to give them a couple of opportunities, and finished off the game. For Schalke, the most interesting news is that none other than Oliver Kahn is denying rumours he's been offered the Schalke job. What?! No wonder these bozos are sucking wind. Olli Kahn indeed...
Hoffenheim as found the Rückrunde quite difficult: they've failed to win since the winterbreak. Partially this is because injuries have hit the fan. Obviously Ibisevic is the huge injury, but Obasi always seems hurt, and defenders are dropping like flies. Also, other clubs have learned to cope with the Hoffenheim all-out press, so they're no longer blown out of the water. So the Hoffers were forunate to get a late tying goal against Hannover, actually one of the worst road teams in the Bundesliga. Although they're not that far back, I think most pundits have written off Hoffenheim as a champion contender, so they should be satisfied if they make Europe. Obviously nice for Hannover, since they do crap on the road, However, apparently striker Jan Schlaudraff went down with an injury, which hardly helps.
Leverkusen is needing increasing doses of Bayer's own Alka-Seltzer product. Once again they failed to impress, this time getting outplayed by Frankfurt, and probably being lucky with a point.
Dortmund and Bremen delivered a soozer that both teams deserved to lose. Dortmund gets the points though on a penalty. Very disappointing, considering that the 75,000+ were undoubtedly expecting an entertaining match.
A critical relegation battle saw Bochum win in Gladbach, a huge result. Gladbach had been playing well recently, so this setback is massive. Kudos for Bochum in grabbing the points in this clash, keeping their head above water.
Finally, perhaps Cottbus is beginning to lose momentum as well. Energie look dead, but had put together some good results to revive the campaign. But this home loss to Köln is huge. Cottbus actually dominated most of the match, but Köln was patient with a well-organized defense, and then broke out on counters with deadly accuracy. This may be the last straw for Energie, they would need some immediate results to climb back out.
Borussia M'gladbach - VfL Bochum 0:1 (0:1) 49,282 (Grote) Borussia Dortmund - Werder Bremen 1:0 (0:0) 75,550 (Frei) Arminia Bielefeld - VfL Wolfsburg 0:3 (0:1) 20,200 (Gentner, Grafite, Dejagah) 1899 Hoffenheim - Hannover 96 2:2 (1:1) 30,150 (Teber, Wellington - Balitsch, Eggimann) Bayer Leverkusen - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:1 (1:1) 32,000 (Kadlec - Meier) VfB Stuttgart - Hertha BSC 2:0 (0:0) 50,000 (Cacau, Khedira) Bayern München - Karlsruher SC 1:0 (1:0) 69,000 (Sosa) Energie Cottbus - 1. FC Köln 0:2 (0:0) 15,650 (Novakovic 2) FC Schalke 04 - Hamburger SV 1:2 (0:0) 61,673 (Farfan - Guerrero 2) Attendance: 403,505 (avg 44,834) 1 Hertha BSC Berlin 25 15 4 6 39:29 +10 49 2 Bayern München (M, P) 25 14 6 5 53:31 +22 48 3 VfL Wolfsburg 25 14 6 5 53:31 +22 48 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Hamburger SV 25 15 3 7 39:36 +3 48 5 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 25 12 8 5 52:34 +18 44 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 VfB Stuttgart 25 12 6 7 44:36 +8 42 7 Bayer Leverkusen 25 11 5 9 46:33 +13 38 8 FC Schalke 04 25 10 7 8 34:27 +7 37 9 Borussia Dortmund 25 8 13 4 37:31 +6 37 10 Werder Bremen 25 8 8 9 46:35 +11 32 11 1. FC Köln (N) 25 9 5 11 29:35 -6 32 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 25 6 8 11 30:39 -9 26 13 Hannover 96 25 6 8 11 35:52 -17 26 14 VfL Bochum 25 5 10 10 29:40 -11 25 15 Arminia Bielefeld 25 4 12 9 21:36 -15 24 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 25 6 4 15 32:47 -15 22 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Energie Cottbus 25 5 5 15 21:44 -23 20 18 Karlsruher SC 25 5 2 18 18:42 -24 17 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 25
Very significant results at the top. Mainz was stunned at home, getting routed by Aachen. Fürth almost filled their stadium, which is in itself a sensational result. The Bayern derby with 1860 also went their way, so they find themselves in 2nd place. On Monday night, leaders Freiburg were upended at home by Nürnberg. This was a courageous performance by der Club, who seized the last opportunity to perhaps have a say in the promotion race.
In the relegation zone, some significant moves as well. FSV Frankfurt continues their amazing rebound, and defeated Wehen. For FSV, they've almost secured their spot. Wehen on the other hand is probably now sunk. Rostock actually got a decent point in Koblenz, but the emergency alarms are still blazing all out. Hansa desperately needs a couple of wins immediately, or they're toast as well. Ingolstadt got a nice point against Duisburg, but Osnabrück also got a draw at Oberhausen, they haven't gained any ground.
TuS Koblenz - Hansa Rostock 1:1 (1:1) 9,755 (Cha - Schindler) FSV Frankfurt - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 2:1 (1:0) 5,024 (Mokhtari, Junior Ross - Ziemer) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - VfL Osnabrück 0:0 (0:0) 8,275 FC Ingolstadt 04 - MSV Duisburg 0:0 (0:0) 4,300 1. FSV Mainz 05 - Alemannia Aachen 1:4 (0:2) 19,400 (Amri - Brinkmann 2, Özgen, Holtby) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - 1860 München 1:0 (0:0) 14,150 (Sararer) Rot-Weiss Ahlen - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 0:1 (0:0) 5,325 (Pinheiro) FC St. Pauli - FC Augsburg 1:1 (0:0) 22,399 (Ebbers - Werner) SC Freiburg - 1. FC Nürnberg 0:1 (0:0) 19,000 (Vidosic) Attendance: 107,628 (avg 11,959) 1 SC Freiburg 25 15 3 7 39:23 +15 48 2 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 25 13 6 6 52:36 +16 45 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FSV Mainz 05 25 12 8 5 46:29 +17 44 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 1. FC Kaiserslautern 25 12 5 8 40:31 +9 41 5 MSV Duisburg (A) 25 10 10 5 38:25 +13 40 6 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 25 10 10 5 37:25 +12 40 7 FC St. Pauli 25 11 5 9 42:47 -5 38 8 Alemannia Aachen 25 10 6 9 42:33 +9 36 9 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 25 10 5 10 28:38 -10 35 10 TSV 1860 München 25 9 6 10 34:31 +3 33 11 FC Augsburg 25 8 7 10 30:32 -2 31 12 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 25 9 4 12 29:45 -16 31 13 FSV Frankfurt (N) 25 7 9 9 27:32 -5 30 14 TuS Koblenz 25 8 7 10 36:36 0 28 15 VfL Osnabrück 25 6 9 10 34:45 -11 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 25 6 7 12 27:41 -14 25 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Hansa Rostock (A) 25 4 9 12 34:44 -10 21 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 25 3 8 14 22:43 -21 17 (A) Absteiger (relegated from Bundesliga) (N) Neuling (promoted from Regionalliga) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 27
I think we can safely say that Union Berlin has hit the up button on the elevator. The Berliners weren't impressive, but displayed enough grit to get the "W" against flailing Jena. Union now as 12 points on Düsseldorf for an auto-promotion spot, as Fortuna laid an egg in Erfurt. But all the other contenders also crapped on themselves. Paderborn stubbed their toe against Bayern's B, but at least still have a little cushion in the promotion race. Emden probably signalled an end to at least their auto-promotion goal. They stunk up the joint and lost at home to Stuttgarter Kickers, the league's worst team. The previously mentioned Erfurt and Offenbach, struggling to a win over Aalen, are the primary beneficiaries. Both teams have climbed back into the race for the playoff-promotion spot currently held by Düsseldorf.
The relegation battle continues to heat up. Dresden scored a huge away win at Burghausen, perhaps their best result of the season. Both Wuppertal and Regensburg got massive points at home. Look for a rocky relegation ride heading into the home stretch...
VfB Stuttgart II - Werder Bremen II 2:0 (2:0) 350 (Kollinger, Rahn) Kickers Offenbach - VfR Aalen 2:1 (1:0) 7,566 (Zinnow 2 - Nagorny) 1. FC Union Berlin - Carl Zeiss Jena 1:0 (0:0) 8,560 (Mattuschka) Jahn Regensburg - SV Sandhausen 2:1 (1:0) 2,100 (Würll, Schmid - Haas) Erzgebirge Aue - SpVgg Unterhaching 1:1 (1:1) 6,300 (Agyemang - Fink) Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Fortuna Düsseldorf 2:0 (2:0) 7,349 (Cannizzaro, Cinaz) Kickers Emden - Stuttgarter Kickers 0:1 (0:0) 2,928 (Schürg) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - Eintracht Braunschweig 1:0 (1:0) 4,757 (Hammes) Wacker Burghausen - Dynamo Dresden 0:3 (0:1) 4,000 (Wagefeld, Savran, Kügler) Bayern München II - SC Paderborn 07 2:1 (2:1) 1,000 (Müller, Yilmaz - Gonther) Attendance: 44,910 (avg 4,491) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 27 17 8 2 43:16 +27 59 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 27 16 4 7 51:28 +23 52 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Fortuna Düsseldorf 27 14 5 8 39:24 +15 47 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Kickers Emden 26 13 6 7 36:26 +10 45 5 Kickers Offenbach (A) 27 11 10 6 35:23 +12 43 6 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 27 12 6 9 37:30 +7 42 7 SpVgg Unterhaching 27 12 6 9 34:37 -3 42 8 SV Sandhausen 27 10 8 9 43:37 +6 38 9 Bayern München II 25 8 13 4 30:25 +5 37 10 VfB Stuttgart II 27 10 6 11 43:35 +8 36 11 Eintracht Braunschweig 27 9 6 12 30:32 -2 33 12 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 27 7 10 10 31:33 -2 31 13 Dynamo Dresden 27 7 9 11 28:33 -5 30 14 Wacker Burghausen 27 7 8 12 30:45 -15 29 15 VfR Aalen 25 5 13 7 20:28 -8 28 16 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 26 7 7 12 24:36 -12 28 17 Jahn Regensburg 26 6 9 11 25:40 -15 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 27 6 8 13 26:45 -19 26 19 Werder Bremen II 27 6 6 15 33:46 -13 24 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 26 5 8 13 30:49 -19 23 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
3. Liga, makeups
Erzgebirge Aue - Werder Bremen II 0:1 (0:0) 6,700 (Oehrl) Bayern München II - Eintracht Braunschweig 0:1 (0:1) 800 (Kruppke) VfB Stuttgart II - Dynamo Dresden 2:0 (0:0) 1,700 (Kolinger, Klauss) SV Sandhausen - Stuttgarter Kickers 2:0 (1:0) 1,720 (Pinto, Müller) Rot-Weiß Erfurt - VfR Aalen 0:0 (0:0) 1,682 Wacker Burghausen - 1. FC Union Berlin 0:0 (0:0) 2,650 Jahn Regensburg - SC Paderborn 07 0:4 (0:3) 2,220 (Güvenisik 3, Löning)
History lesson 1
I'll be adding a regular historical section in The News. These will mostly cover past championships. The first article is The first German championship, 1902-03 . I'll be working my way up from the early days.
You'll be able to look at past years in the Archive section...
Bundesliga, Round 24
An exciting weekend in the Bundesliga that served to demonstrate that Hertha is serious about challenging for the title. Could this be the year for "die Alte Dame"? At least since the glory years of 1929-31, the Berliners haven't been so close to taking the title. Against visiting Leverkusen, Hertha once again displayed minimalist football, but made a single strike from Andrei Voronin stand up. Bayer generally controlled the game, but they've hit a form crisis, and were basically unable to do anything useful.
Bayern München seems to woken up from their slumber, as they thumped Bochum on the road. The hosts started off brightly, but when they missed their early opportunities, they basically got rolled. However, this could be a very expensive win for Bayern, as Germany forward Miroslav Klose went down with an ankle injury.
VfL Wolfsburg is the hottest team since the winterbreak, and they once again prevailed. This time, a wild shootout with struggling Schalke. The VWs have a deadly strikeforce in Grafite and Dzeko, who once again banged in goals. Schalke grabbed an early, but then fell behind. By the time they woke up, it was almost over, but a furious late rush at least made things interesting.
Both Hamburg and promotion sensation Hoffenheim have struggled since the restart. At elast HSV manages to win once in a while. They really had few problems with Energie Cottbus. Meanwhile, Hoffenheim was finally back to their old offensive ways, as they attacked furiously against Frankfurt on the road. They almost delivered the knockout against their hosts, but wasted too many chances. Frankfurt regrouped at half, and got more into the game. After the equalizer, it was anyone to win, but a draw is probably the fair result.
Stuttgart has been playing very well lately, and were probably thinking of getting back into the Euro races. But they ran into the most unpredictable team, Werder Bremen, and they took a major bitch-slapping as Werder ran rampant.
Coach Jürgen Klopp has been complaining that Dortmund has had a lot of play, but is failing to score goals. His team apparently took the criticism to heart, and started putting the ball into the net. They wre dominating host Hannover, and looked well on the way to nice win. Meanwhile, the 96ers are one of the better home teams. And after halftime, they came out guns blazing. The final result was a wild 4-4 shootout.
There were some major relegation battles this week. Bielefeld was totally outplayed. Karlsruhe controlled the match. But as often is the case, KSC dicked around and failed to score. So at teh end of the match, Arminia launched their only assault, scored a goal, and stole the match. That might be "auf wiedersehen" for KSC...Meanwhile traditional rivals Köln and Gladbach came to blows in a Rhein-derby. Both clubs traded blows, but Gladbach perhaps had a bit more luck, as their outstanding individualists trumped over the team oriented Kölners. A huge win for Gladbach, which has desperately seized their last opportunities to get off the bottom.
VfL Wolfsburg - FC Schalke 04 4:3 (2:1) 30,000 (Grafite 3, Dezeko - Westermann, Jones, Kuranyi) VfL Bochum - Bayern München 0:3 (0:1) 31,328 (Zé Roberto, Lahm, Demichelis) Hertha BSC Berlin - Bayer Leverkusen 1:0 (0:0) 58,753 (Voronin) Hannover 96 - Borussia Dortmund 4:4 (1:2) 49,000 (Stajner, Bruggink, Hanke, Forsell - Frei 2, Kringe 2) Karlsruher SC - Arminia Bielefeld 0:1 (0:0) 24,621 (Jajic) 1. FC Köln - Borussia M'gladbach 2:4 (0:2) 50,000 (Brecko 2 - Bradley 2, Matmour, Friend) Eintracht Frankfurt - 1899 Hoffenheim 1:1 (0:1) 51,500 (Fink - Carlos Eduardo) Werder Bremen - VfB Stuttgart 4:0 (1:0) 39,272 (Diego, Pizarro, Rosenberg 2) Hamburger SV - Energie Cottbus 2:0 (2:0) 50,121 (Olic, Trochowski) Attendance: 384,595 (avg 42,733) 1 Hertha BSC Berlin 24 15 4 5 39:27 +12 49 2 Bayern München (M, P) 24 13 6 5 52:31 +21 45 3 VfL Wolfsburg 24 13 6 5 50:31 +19 45 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Hamburger SV 24 14 3 7 37:35 +2 45 5 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 24 12 7 5 50:32 +18 43 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 VfB Stuttgart 24 11 6 7 42:36 +6 39 7 Bayer Leverkusen 24 11 4 9 45:32 +13 37 8 FC Schalke 04 24 10 7 7 33:25 +8 37 9 Borussia Dortmund 24 7 13 4 36:31 +5 34 10 Werder Bremen 24 8 8 8 46:34 +12 32 11 1. FC Köln (N) 24 8 5 11 27:35 -8 29 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 24 6 7 11 29:38 -9 25 13 Hannover 96 24 6 7 11 33:50 -17 25 14 Arminia Bielefeld 24 4 12 8 21:33 -12 24 15 VfL Bochum 24 4 10 10 28:40 -12 22 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 24 6 4 14 32:46 -14 22 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Energie Cottbus 24 5 5 14 21:42 -21 20 18 Karlsruher SC 24 5 2 17 18:41 -23 17 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 24
The competition in the 2.Liga may be heating up, as clubs are entering the home stretch and trying to grab the last train out of town. MSV Duisburg had a key win over leaders Freiburg, and have climbed into striking range on promotion. The Zebras have been pretty solid since Peter Neururer took over, and should be considered a serious threat. Despite the loss, Freiburg is still in the drivers seat. However, faith has certainly been shaken in high flying Fürth. The Greuther had been on a hot run, but got severely bitch-slapped by a desperate VfL Osnabrück. The Osnabrückers are struggling in relegation, but put together a gala performance and overran Fürth. Mainz was the primary benfeiciary. The ex-Bundesliga club faced off in Wiesbaden against last place Wehen in a southwestern clash. Wehen, in last place, looks like they're definitely going down, had to be at least happy that they benefited from a rare sell-out. And they played pretty well too, missing a golden opportunity early by screwing up on a penalty. But Mainz eventually ground out the win to vault into 2nd, leaving Wehen to check out 3.Liga train schedules for next season.
Probably grabbing the last available seats on the promotion airplane were struggling Kaiserslautern, Nürnberg and St.Pauli. FCK finally got the points in a southwestern derby, a tough struggle against a revitalized Koblenz. Nürnberg had an easy time with a hapless Ahlen squad, and St.Pauli had an impressive away win in Aachen. By winning these critical matches, they maintain the promotion spots within striking distance, although frankly, none of them look capable of grabbing a spot on their own strength.
At the bottom, Rostock's season looks to culminate in a bitter ending. Hansa failed to win against Ingolstadt in a hugely important relegation battle.
FSV Frankfurt continued their amazing recovery, this time with a hard-fought 1-1 draw in München against 1860. Oberhausen gets a nice win in Augsburg, and kills off any thoughts of relegation.
1. FC Kaiserslautern - TuS Koblenz 2:1 (1:1) 32,196 (Jendrisek, Dzaka - Kuqi) 1. FC Nürnberg - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 4:0 (2:0) 25,277 (Boakye, Mintal 3) TSV 1860 München - FSV Frankfurt 1:1 (0:1) 21,100 (Lauth - Husterer) MSV Duisburg - SC Freiburg 2:0 (0:0) 18,146 (Makiadi 2) VfL Osnabrück - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 5:1 (1:1) 13,000 (Reichenberger 2, Grieneisen, Cichon, Peitz - Nehrig) Alemannia Aachen - FC St. Pauli 1:3 (0:1) 21,200 (F. Müller - Hoilett 2, Ludwig) FC Augsburg - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 1:2 (0:1) 10,425 (Torghelle - Nöthe, Kruse) Hansa Rostock - FC Ingolstadt 04 1:1 (1:1) 13,000 (Orestes - Wohlfahrt) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - 1. FSV Mainz 05 0:2 (0:1) 11,721 (Soto, Baljak) Attendance: 166,065 (avg 18,452) 1 SC Freiburg 24 15 3 6 39:23 +16 48 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 24 12 8 4 45:25 +20 44 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 24 12 6 6 51:36 +15 42 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 MSV Duisburg (A) 24 10 9 5 38:25 +13 39 5 1. FC Kaiserslautern 24 11 5 8 39:31 +8 38 6 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 24 9 10 5 36:25 +11 37 7 FC St. Pauli 24 11 4 9 41:46 -5 37 8 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 24 10 4 10 28:38 -10 34 9 Alemannia Aachen 24 9 6 9 38:32 +6 33 10 TSV 1860 München 24 9 6 9 34:30 +4 33 11 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 24 9 4 11 29:44 -15 31 12 FC Augsburg 24 8 6 10 29:31 -2 30 13 TuS Koblenz 24 8 6 10 35:35 0 27 14 FSV Frankfurt (N) 24 6 9 9 25:31 -6 27 15 VfL Osnabrück 24 6 8 10 34:45 -11 26 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 24 6 6 12 27:41 -14 24 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Hansa Rostock (A) 24 4 8 12 33:43 -10 20 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 24 3 8 13 21:41 -20 17 (A) Absteiger (relegated from Bundesliga) (N) Neuling (promoted from Regionalliga) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 26
Union Berlin remains the story, as they continue to dominate, winning a difficult road match in Braunschweig. The are probably the only ex-GDR success story of the year (assuming Cottbus doesn't survive in the Bundesliga). However, the biggest match was Paderborn defeating Emden, and holding 2nd. Düsseldorf missed a good chance to move into a tie, but were unable to defeat Aue.
Both Unterhaching and Offenbach got back on track, but it's looking too late for them to challenge for promotion. Inconsistent play after the restart has probably sunk both their ships.
Wuppertal was outplaying Dresden on the road, but a stupid red card from defender Neppe forced WSV into a desperate rearguard action as Dynamo threw everything forward. In the end, a fair draw a a critical point for both. Dresden was probably more happy to learn that apparently one of their main sponsors has decided to kick in some extra money, so that should haelp avoid insolvency.
Werder Bremen II - Bayern München II 0:0 (0:0) 750 Stuttgarter Kickers - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:2 (1:1) 3,690 (Deigendesch - Pagenburg, Semmer) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Erzgebirge Aue 0:0 (0:0) 12,099 SpVgg Unterhaching - Jahn Regensburg 1:0 (0:0) 2,400 (Konrad) Dynamo Dresden - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 1:1 (0:1) 10,766 (Savran - Damm) Eintracht Braunschweig - 1. FC Union Berlin 0:2 (0:0) 15,000 (Dogan, Biran) VfR Aalen - VfB Stuttgart II 2:1 (0:1) 2,793 (Sailer, Bohl - Rahn) SV Sandhausen - Wacker Burghausen 1:1 (0:0) 1,450 (Öztürk - Cappek) SC Paderborn 07 - Kickers Emden 2:0 (0:0) 8,457 (Mohr, Lindemann) Carl Zeiss Jena - Kickers Offenbach 0:2 (0:1) 4,621 (Türker, Zinnow) Attendance: 62,036 (avg 6,204) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 25 16 7 2 42:16 +26 55 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 25 15 4 6 46:26 +20 49 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Fortuna Düsseldorf 26 14 5 7 39:22 +17 47 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Kickers Emden 25 13 6 6 36:25 +11 45 5 SpVgg Unterhaching 26 12 5 9 33:36 -3 41 6 Kickers Offenbach (A) 26 10 10 6 33:22 +11 40 7 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 25 11 5 9 35:30 +5 38 8 SV Sandhausen 25 9 8 8 40:35 +5 35 9 Bayern München II 23 7 13 3 28:23 +5 34 10 VfB Stuttgart II 25 8 6 11 39:35 +4 30 11 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 25 7 9 9 30:31 -1 30 12 Eintracht Braunschweig 25 8 6 11 29:31 -2 30 13 Wacker Burghausen 25 7 7 11 30:42 -12 28 14 Dynamo Dresden 25 6 9 10 25:31 -6 27 15 VfR Aalen 23 5 12 6 19:26 -7 27 16 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 26 6 8 12 26:44 -18 26 17 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 25 6 7 12 23:36 -13 25 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Jahn Regensburg 24 5 9 10 23:35 -12 24 19 Werder Bremen II 25 5 6 14 32:44 -12 21 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 24 4 8 12 29:47 -18 20 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Bayern advance in Europe
Bayern München has had a season of suckitude for most of the Bundesliga and certainly the DFB Cup - at least by their standards and fan expectations. But one area where Jürgen Klinsmann's club has done reasonably well so far is in the Champions League. Bayern had a jolly old time demolishing Portugal's Sporting in Lisbon 5-0. The return match in München was expected to be a snoozer, but instead Bayern came out for blood and kicked even more ass, winning 7-1. This reminds of us of the good old days in European competition, when it was real champions playing in the European Cup and not this bastard of boring snoozers. Yep, in the good old days, you'd have the champs of Luxembourg facing off against someone like Manchester United and losing 12-0. Good times.
Anyway, some 65,000 showed up in the Allianz, to watch the Portuguese receive a good bitch-slapping. Getting in on the fun were Podolski (2), Schweinsteiger, van Bommel, Klose and Thomas Müller. Sporting's Anderson Polga was so embarassed, he tried to pretend he was a Bayern player too, and kicked the ball in his own net. Perhaps the most significant aspect from Bayern's side is that Hans-Jörg Butt replaced Michael Rensing in goal. (His first this season). Rensing is arguably the worst GK in the Bundesliga (we're taking nominations). Butt used to be fairly decent with Hamburg and Leverkusen. But it doesn't appear to be a trend, since Klinsmann obviously likes Rensing.
More 3.Liga makeup matches
The 3.Liga was in midweek action, with more makeup games from previous weather related cancellations. As you can tell from the attendance numbers, nobody gave a crap. Germans are obviously front-runners, and only really come out for Bundesliga clubs. Perhaps the most significant result was that Stuttgarter Kickers continue their mini revival, and although still last, actually could avoid relegation with a few more good results. A huge win for Wuppertal as well, allowing WSV to at least keep the shores of salvation within sight.
Werder Bremen II - Jahn Regensburg 2:2 (1:0) 200 (Menga, Oehrl - Zellner, Grassow) Wacker Burghausen - Kickers Offenbach 0:0 (0:0) 2,100 VfR Aalen - Erzgebirge Aue 0:0 (0:0) 2,300 Stuttgarter Kickers - SpVgg Unterhaching 2:1 (1:1) 2,660 (Gambo, Landeka - Fink) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - VfB Stuttgart II 2:0 (1:0) 2,589 (Jerat, Damm)More "Eastern Promises"
This was a heart warming movie about Russian mafia in London. Or maybe it was about Chelski Futbolski Klube. Can't remember. Highlights include Viggo Mortensen chopping off fingers of a corpse and knifing a couple of thugs (ex-Millwall fans?) in a bathhouse. However, it could also be a recurring theme of football in the ex-GDR, and certainly would have a lot of drama and comedy.
This instance is all the crap surrounding Dynamo Dresden. Now apparently the club has been trying to renovate their decrepit Rudolf-Harbig stadium. Some construction company has been been doing the work (slowly, as you'd expect), and apparently demanded some 2.8 Million euros additionally for cost overruns or changes. The club attempted to get the city involved, but in a rare display of political fortitude, the city told them to pound sand. So apparently it's just a big hole in the ground right now, and the threat is that Dynamo may have to move to Leipzig's Zentralstadion to play. And what do the fans think of this? Some 3,000 that traveled up to Berlin for the recent match with Union apparently think the idea stinks and protested against it.
I'm not sure who is really the villian here, as there are two sides to every story. Only in this one, both of them stink. So perhaps the solution would be to unleash the fans in a riot at the next club/construction company negotiation, pummeling all parties. It wouldn't solve anything, but it would make some hilarious reading in Bild-Zeitung...
Bundesliga, Round 23
An interesting round in the Bundesliga. Hertha BSC showed that they are a force to contend with, as they not only defended, but extended their lead at the top. The Berliners travelled to always difficult Cottbus, and came away with a tough road win. Energie had one of their rare sellouts in the Stadion der Freundschaft, and played fairly well. However, the difference was that Hertha took their chances, or rather Andrei Voronin dead. The Ukrainian nailed a hat-trick to get Berlin the win.
While Hertha was up to the task, contrast that with Hamburg. A top team faces a bottom feeder, you'd expect a bitch-slapping. And you got one too, but not the way you might have expected. Tailenders Gladbach seized their opportunity and kicked Hamburg's ass. After an even 1st half, the Gladbachers realized the emperor HSV had no clothes, and simply overran the northerners. This sign of life allows Gladbach to hope that perhaps salvation might not be impossible. For HSV, it's really back to the drawing board. You realize with a goal differential of +/- 0, but tied for 2nd place, they've obviously got their ass kicked a few times. Coach Martin Jol has gotten maximum results from minimalist talent. Previously, it looked like Ralf Rangnick of Hoffenheim was runnaway winner of coach of the Year, but Hertha's Favre and Jol certainly have indicated that they've done decent jobs as well.
Bayern got dumped in the Cup pressure is mounting on coach Jürgen Klinsmann. But a dose of Hannover is just what the doctor ordered, as Bayern thumped the hapless 96ers to get back on track. After a slow start, the Bayern-express got rolling, and they really should have banged in a few more.
Hoffenheim clearly misses goalscorer Vedad Ibisevic (out for season), and everyone knows Dr.Jeckyl and Mr. Werder is the epitomy of inconsistency. So it stands to reason that the first round 5-4 shootout would not be repeated, and instead a goalless draw would result. Both teams had reasonable chances to win, but the draw is a fair outcome. Hoffenheim has yet to win in their new stadium, maybe they should move back to Mannheim.
Wolfsburg continues to silently sneak up the table. All of a sudden, the VWs are out of 2nd only on goals scored. They struggled somewhat against Karlsruhe, missing opportunities to bang in a few more and seize 2nd all by themselves. But they remain the best post-winterbreak squad, and sure to be a tough nut to crack. KSC sinks to the bottom, and desperately need a couple of results quick, or they become the first relegated squad.
Stuttgart continues their good recovery under Markus Babbel, I think it's something like 9 matches without defeat. They were in control against Dortmund, but let it slip from their grasp. The visitors were close to grabbing a point, but in the end, a deserved VfB win.
A critical match in Schalke, who stuttered to a minimalist win against Köln. Odds were that a Schalke defeat would have led to the firing of director Andreas Müller and coach Fred Rutten. Based on the performance, the board might want to do that anyway. Schalke had no clue, and played like Angsthasen ("Scared rabbits"). They got their usual first half goal (Jermaine Jones first of the year), and then dicked around as usual. Lucky for them, Köln was not ambitious enough, or just incompetant, since the points were there for the taking. Instead, the Blues managed to hang on an ponder whether they can make a late run at a UEFA spot. And as it turns out, they fired Andreas Müller anyway. Not too surprising. Müller had put in 21 years with Schalke as a player and in management, and it was pretty obvious he was a better player. Plus he had big shoes to fill in Schalke legend Rudi Assauer. Assauer was a bombastic cigar smoking manager, and in reality didn't have much success on his resume (except they did win the UEFA Cup once), plus he got the stadium built. Müller had nothing to show except silly transfers and trying to service Assauer's stadium debt...
Leverkusen continues to require a stiff dose of sponsor Bayer's products. The Aspirins looked crap against a weak Bochum side, that sensed that a valuable point was on the table. Luserkusen had plenty of opportunities, but they just plopped and fizzed away like Alka-Seltzer tablets. A good result for Bochum, in a desperate relegation battle.
Finally, in the "who cares?" department, Frankfurt and Bielefeld played a drab draw.
FC Schalke 04 - 1. FC Köln 1:0 (1:0) 61,673 (Jones) 1899 Hoffenheim - Werder Bremen 0:0 (0:0) 30,150 Borussia M'gladbach - Hamburger SV 4:1 (2:1) 50,273 (Friend, Levels, Brouwers, Marin - Petric) Bayern München - Hannover 96 5:1 (3:1) 69,000 (vanBuyten, Klose, Altintop, Podolski, Demichelis - Stajner) Energie Cottbus - Hertha BSC 1:3 (1:2) 22,500 (Cagdas - Voronin 3) VfL Wolfsburg - Karlsruher SC 1:0 (1:0) 24,449 (Dzeko) VfB Stuttgart - Borussia Dortmund 2:1 (1:0) 55,750 (Elson, Gomez - Valdez) Arminia Bielefeld - Eintracht Frankfurt 0:0 (0:0) 21,500 Bayer Leverkusen - VfL Bochum 1:1 (0:1) 26,000 (Helmes - Dabrowski) Attendance: 361,295 (avg 40,143) 1 Hertha BSC Berlin 23 14 4 5 38:27 +11 46 2 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 23 12 6 5 49:31 +18 42 3 Bayern München (M, P) 23 12 6 5 49:31 +18 42 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 VfL Wolfsburg 23 12 6 5 46:28 +18 42 5 Hamburger SV 23 13 3 7 35:35 0 42 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 VfB Stuttgart 23 11 6 6 42:32 +10 39 7 Bayer Leverkusen 23 11 4 8 45:31 +14 37 8 FC Schalke 04 23 10 7 6 30:21 +9 37 9 Borussia Dortmund 23 7 12 4 32:27 +5 33 10 Werder Bremen 23 7 8 8 42:34 +8 29 11 1. FC Köln (N) 23 8 5 10 25:31 -6 29 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 23 6 6 11 28:37 -9 24 13 Hannover 96 23 6 6 11 29:46 -17 24 14 VfL Bochum 23 4 10 9 28:37 -9 22 15 Arminia Bielefeld 23 3 12 8 20:33 -13 21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Energie Cottbus 23 5 5 13 21:40 -19 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 23 5 4 14 28:44 -16 19 18 Karlsruher SC 23 5 2 16 18:40 -22 17 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 23
Freiburg is looking like they've got one foot in the Bundesliga. They won a tough match against Aachen and remain undefeated in the post winterbreak season. SCF has been in the Bundesliga on a couple of occasions, but this would be the first time without legendary coach Volker Finke. Mainz stubbed their toe against Augsburg. They can whine about a poor ref decision that gave Ausgburg their goal, but frankly, if you can only score once at home, you don't deserve to win. Greuther Fürth was the primary beneficiary, vaulting into 2nd place. (This raises the interesting question of whether Fürth, in the advent of Bundesliga promotion, opt to play in nearby Nürnberg, since their own stadium is probably too small to take advantage of the undoubted attendance windfall. Now that would certainly be rubbing it in the noses of der Club...)
Whereas Freiburg has shone, Kaiserslautern has stunk in the restart. In fact, FCK might have dropped out of the promotion race. They faced minnows FSV Frankfurt, and the match had a regional attraction. This led to a rare sellout for FSV, and given that they've turned around their season (they looked dead and buried at winterbreak), it promised a hot match. And in fact, FSV gave the favoured Lautern all they could handle, coming up with an upset win. Lautern could still make a run at promotion, but judging from their recent form, that's beginning to look unlikely. Frankfurt isn't out of the woods yet, but a remarkable turnaround has made another 2.Liga season a reasonble goal.
Unreasonable for Wehen however. The villagers lost a critical relegation battle in Ahlen (judging from attendance, nobody cares). That pretty much means that Wehen can book their 3.Liga train tickets for next season. They had a nice cup run, so I guess thye can enjoy their moment in the spotlight.
Another team in total crisis is Hansa Rostock. The massive clash at St.Pauli was deemed a "critical match" by the board. Given the problems Pauli always has with (usually right-wing) eastern fans, a great combative match was expected. Indeed, the match was sold out, and constant firebombs lept a steady flow of smoke over the pitch. Hansa jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, but Pauli came roaring back in the 2nd half, and turned the game. Rostock promptly fired coach Dieter Eilts after the match. Meanwhile, their fans scuffled with Hamburg police, and were rewarded with close encounters with a rubber hose.
Another squad that looked dead and buried is Koblenz. They seemed depressed at winter, down in the dumps, and a -3 point penalty loomed heavy. They even managed to lose 9-0 in Rostock (now that seems like a million years ago). But they've got their act together, and by bitch-slapping Osnabrück, pretty much have assured they'll be around.
Also finally banishing any relegation ghosts is 1860. They won a hot regional match in Ingolstadt, and seemed have stabilized the leaky ship. Of course, they expected to challenge for promotion, and that ain't happening.
FC St. Pauli - Hansa Rostock 3:2 (0:2) 22,138 (Sako, Hoilett 2 - Myntti, Bartels) TuS Koblenz - VfL Osnabrück 3:0 (2:0) 7,908 (Stieber, Krontiris, Ziehl) FSV Frankfurt - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1:0 (0:0) 10,177 (Cenci) SC Freiburg - Alemannia Aachen 2:1 (1:0) 18,800 (Toprak, Bechmann - Szukala) Rot-Weiss Ahlen - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 1:0 (1:0) 2,824 (Reus) FC Ingolstadt 04 - 1860 München 2:3 (2:3) 10,500 (Jungwirth, Wohlfahrt - Lauth, Thorandt, Bender) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - FC Augsburg 1:1 (0:1) 18,300 (Bancé - Prettenthaler) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 3:1 (0:1) 7,500 (Haas, Allagui, Cidimar - Terranova) MSV Duisburg - 1. FC Nürnberg 2:2 (0:0) 15,054 (Makiadi, Kouemaha - Boakye, Bunjaku) 1 SC Freiburg 23 15 3 5 39:21 +18 48 2 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 23 12 6 5 50:31 +19 42 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FSV Mainz 05 23 11 8 4 43:25 +18 41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 MSV Duisburg (A) 23 9 9 5 36:25 +11 36 5 1. FC Kaiserslautern 23 10 5 8 37:30 +7 35 6 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 23 8 10 5 32:25 +7 34 7 FC St. Pauli 23 10 4 9 38:45 -7 34 8 Alemannia Aachen 23 9 6 8 37:29 +8 33 9 TSV 1860 München 23 9 5 9 33:29 +4 32 10 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 23 9 4 10 29:40 -11 31 11 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 23 9 4 10 26:37 -11 31 12 FC Augsburg 23 8 6 9 28:29 -1 30 13 TuS Koblenz 23 8 6 9 34:33 +1 27 14 FSV Frankfurt (N) 23 6 8 9 24:30 -6 26 15 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 23 6 5 12 26:40 -14 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 VfL Osnabrück 23 5 8 10 29:44 -15 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Hansa Rostock (A) 23 4 7 12 32:42 -10 19 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 23 3 8 12 21:39 -18 17 (A) Absteiger (relegated from Bundesliga) (N) Neuling (promoted from Regionalliga) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 25
Union Berlin wins a (formerly) huge GDR derby and bumps off struggling Dresden. This firmly establishes Union in 1st, and it would probably be quite a shock if tghey don't gain promotion. They seem like a tough squad that can grind out points when they need them. Paderborn got back on track with an decisive win in Erfurt, and Emden wasn't overly impressive, but got the job done against "Bremen, The Sequel" (aka Bremen II). Düsseldorf remains in 3rd, thanks to a difficult win in Regensburg.
Unterhaching went down in flames against a motivated Sandhausen. Well, they couldn't motivate any fans to watch them, but Sandahusen's win pretty much guarantees a solid mid-table finish. Unterhaching on the other hand kisses goodbye any chance they had of moving on up. Offenbach finally got back into the win column, but their recent collapse has probably removed any chance of them contending for a promotion spot.
At the bottom, a huge win for Burghausen against Wuppertal. The match itself was pretty even, but the hosts converted their chances, while once again WSV wasted theirs. Stuttgarter Kickers got their first away win, heaping scorn upon Aue. Completing a miserable week-end for the east, Jena got bitch-slapped by "Stuttgart, Part Deux". Jena was apparently last year's Wehen, with a disastrous 2.Liga campaign coupled with a nice Cup run. They sucked early on, but then got their act together and moved into solid midtable. However, recently they've been sucking and slipping down the charts, back to where they may need to start worrying about relegation battles again.
Kickers Emden - Werder Bremen II 3:1 (2:0) 3,263 (Pfingsten-Reddig, Neitzel - Granskov-Hansen) Kickers Offenbach - Eintracht Braunschweig 2:0 (1:0) 7,268 (Pospichil, Tosunoglu) Wacker Burghausen - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 2:0 (0:0) 2,200 (Schulz, Cappek) SV Sandhausen - SpVgg Unterhaching 3:1 (2:0) 1,450 (Göttlicher, Öztürk, Pinto - Copado) Jahn Regensburg - Fortuna Düsseldorf 1:2 (0:1) 3,350 (Grassow - Christ, Lambertz) Erzgebirge Aue - Stuttgarter Kickers 0:2 (0:0) 6,800 (Traut, Tucci) Rot-Weiß Erfurt - SC Paderborn 07 1:4 (1:1) 7,276 (Pagenburg - Güvenisik, Mohr, Kumbela, Guié-Mien) VfB Stuttgart II - Carl Zeiss Jena 3:0 (1:0) 900 (Funk, Walch, Klauss) 1. FC Union Berlin - Dynamo Dresden 2:1 (1:1) 13,579 (Biran, Sahin - Dobry) Bayern München II - VfR Aalen -:- (-:-) canceled Attendance: 46,086 (avg 5,121) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 24 15 7 2 40:16 +24 52 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 24 14 4 6 44:26 +18 46 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Fortuna Düsseldorf 25 14 4 7 39:22 +17 46 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Kickers Emden 24 13 6 5 36:23 +13 45 5 SpVgg Unterhaching 24 11 5 8 31:34 -3 38 6 Kickers Offenbach (A) 24 9 9 6 31:22 +9 36 7 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 24 10 5 9 33:29 +4 35 8 SV Sandhausen 24 9 7 8 39:34 +5 34 9 Bayern München II 22 7 12 3 28:23 +5 33 10 VfB Stuttgart II 23 8 6 9 38:31 +7 30 11 Eintracht Braunschweig 24 8 6 10 29:29 0 30 12 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 23 7 7 9 30:31 -1 28 13 Dynamo Dresden 24 6 8 10 24:30 -6 26 14 Wacker Burghausen 23 7 5 11 29:41 -12 26 15 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 25 6 8 11 26:42 -16 26 16 VfR Aalen 21 4 11 6 17:25 -8 23 17 Jahn Regensburg 22 5 8 9 21:32 -11 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 23 5 6 12 20:35 -15 21 19 Werder Bremen II 23 5 4 14 30:42 -12 19 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 22 3 8 11 26:44 -18 17 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
DFB Pokal, Viertelfinale
1. FSV Mainz 05 - FC Schalke 04 1:0 (0:0) 20,100 (Bancé) VfL Wolfsburg - Werder Bremen 2:5 (2:2) 24,115 (Dzeko 2 - Diego 2, Pizarro 2, Özil) Hamburger SV - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 2:1 (2:0) 35,378 (Kopilas o.g., Petric - Schwarz) Bayer Leverkusen - Bayern München 4:2 (0:0) 50,500 (Barnetta, Vidal, Helmes, Kiessling - Lucio, Klose)Some very interesting results in the quarterfinals of the DFB Cup. Mainz pulled the upset and dumped Schalke out, and thereby reach the semifinals for the first time in club history. The match was pretty much as you would have expected: Schalke controlled the ball, but dicked around in clueless fashion, Mainz fought for every inch and generally outhustled and outmuscled the Blues. The result was that the 2.Liga club grabbed the winner with 2 minutes left. While the packed Mainz stadium was celebrating, Schalke was once again left to contemplate what is turning out to be an utter failure of a season: they will win nothing and likely fail to qualify for any Euro competition. Given their finances, this probably means selling players to service their significant debt (from the new stadium). As for the future of coach Fred Rutten and GM Andreas Müller? Let's just say the bookies are probably not taking any more bets about them getting fired...
Werder Bremen continues their Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde season with a gala performance in Wolfsburg, the in-form club in Germany. Brilliant performances by Diego and Pizzaro spearheaded a fierce Bremen attack in a wild shootout with the VWs. After an exciting first half with back-and-forth action, the Werder assault continued in the 2nd period, and Wolfsburg discovered that their fuel economy wasn't as good as they hoped - they ran out of gas.
Hamburg in theory had the easiest draw, as they faced 2.Liga tailend Wehen - at home no less. Certainly, a great cup run for the village team near Wiesbaden, but all good things come to an end. And to be sure, HSV was in control all the way, and pretty much wrapped up the match with a solid first half. They really didn't press the issue in the 2nd, and late in the game Wehen was able to pull one back to make the score respectable.
Leverkusen and Bayern usually deliver an exciting match, and this was no exception. After a hard fought first period, the Aspirins raced out to a commanding 3-0 lead, and appeared to be on their way to a rout. But Bayern struck back with two quick goals, and desperately threw everything into attack. The Alka-Seltzers managed to hold them off, and finally decide the game deep into injury time. So the crisis continues for Jürgen Klinsmann at Bayern. Out of the Cup, they could still win the Bundesliga, but certainly haven't been in form there. They're doing well in Europe, but that seems a stretch to think they could get by clubs like Manchester United or Barcelona. For Leverkusen, they must be enjoying the renovation of the Pepto-Bismol bowl (or whatever they call their little park, the BayArena I think). They've been playing in Düsseldorf, and must be enjoying the larger crowds.
3.Liga makeup matches
Erzgebirge Aue - Carl Zeiss Jena 5:0 (3:0) 10,200 (Lukunku 3, Hensel, Curri) Rot-Weiss Erfurt - Eintracht Braunschweig 2:1 (0:1) 5,264 (Cannizzaro, Hauswald - Morabit) VfB Stuttgart II - Wacker Burghausen 3:0 (2:0) 300 (Pazurek 2, Dausch) SV Sandhausen - Werder Bremen II 3:1 (3:1) 2,200 (Pinto 2, Haas - Feldhahn)The 3.Liga started to makeup some of the many cancellations of previous rounds. However, these matches were not really significant in the table. Erfurt lurks just below contention, but looks unlikely to make a real move towards challenging for promotion. Congolese striker Ali Lukunku decided the eastern derby in Aue, as he struck for a hatttick in a 6 minute span. Perhaps Burghausen sucking and losing against Stuttgart II is the most impacting match, as Wacker missed an opportunity to gulp some air in the relegattion battle.
Bundesliga, Round 22
Hertha BSC is on top again, but they had a struggle. They took their opportunities, but then let tail-end Gladbach pressure them for the rest of the match. Sometimes you had to wonder who was 1st, and who was last. Berlin held on and are rewarded with the leadership for at least this week, as their rivals all screw up. So after telling them last week not to worry about the title, perhaps I should change my tune. The title really appears up for grabs. For Gladbach, a decent effort, but of course they need points more than effort.
Erstwhile leader HSV ran into the in-form Volkswagens, and were stunned at home by Wolfsburg. They really can't complain, and even coach Martin Jol stated "We weren't smart enough." His counterpart Felix Magath has VW firing on all cylinders, and VfL has now even joined the race for a Champions League spot. Key to Wolfsburg's win was the return from injury of striker Grafite, who struck twice. The VWs are the hottest club right now, and are a threat to anyone.
Hoffenheim and Dortmund played a scoreless draw, but it was anything but drab, full of end-to-end action, and even a couple of ass-tossings (Sebsatian Kehl and Tobias Weis). Either team would have liked the win, but a draw is probably the fair result.
Werder vs. Bayern. This should have been the classic that everybody looks forward too. Both coming off brilliant Euro results, Werder eliminating AC Milan on the road, and Bayern routing Sporting Lisbon away. Both have struggled recently in the league, but certainly their form is revived. So what do we get? Two teams struggling in the league. Naldo got his ass red carded for a somewhat harsh last-man tackle, and Werder were down almost the whole game. In fairness, they outplayed Bayern for most of the first half, and Claudio Pizarro missed an open goal later in the match. Eventually, Bayern took over, but substitute GK Christian Vander was spectacular for Werder, and Bremen held the draw.
Schalke had one of their usual displays, and it almost cost them. They controlled the 1st half, taking a deserved lead. However, even in the the 2nd half, with the match firmly in their grip, they failed to press their advantage. Frankfurt sensed the possibility and threw everything into a last gasp effort, and were rewarded with a goal. Luckily for Schalke, Eintracht was too busy celebrating, and Heiko Westermann struck the winner, giving the Blues a somewhat fortunate win, given the circumstances.
Hannover administered a dose of pepto-bismol to visiting Leverkusen, steadying thei ship somewhat, while knocking Bayer out of erstwhile contention. For the 96ers, the main question they have to answer is why they suck so much on the road. They're not out of the woods yet, but it would appear that there are enough crappier teams to keep them afloat. Luserkusen is back to their old tricks, and after bitch-slapping Hoffenheim a couple of weeks ago, are now likely out of contention.
Köln pretty much dominated against Bielefeld, but unlike their sensational win at Bayern last week, they lacked finishing. So they ended up throwing away their deserved lead on a defensive error, and end up only with a point. Still, with a solid mid-table position, Köln has to be happy with their Bundesliga return. Bielefeld remains mired in the relegation struggle, but have to consider this a valuable result.
Bochum gets a huge win against Cottbus, although mainly due to a contraversial penalty. You would think this would be a major match, as it might decide Bochum's future, but attendance was disappointing. Just goes to show that although Energie Cottbus is a plucky club, nobody in Germany wants to watch them.
Things continue to get worse for Karlsruhe. They lost the south-west derby at home to Stuttgart, and are now firmly entrenched in one of the auto-relegation spots. They need some decent results to pull themselves together.
1. FC Köln - Arminia Bielefeld 1:1 (1:1) 47,500 (Petit - Katongo) Eintracht Frankfurt - FC Schalke 04 1:2 (0:1) 51,500 (Fink - Rafinha, Westermann) Hannover 96 - Bayer Leverkusen 1:0 (1:0) 32,337 (Bruggink) VfL Bochum - Energie Cottbus 3:2 (1:1) 18,103 (Epalle, Fuchs, Pfertzel - Iliev, Jula) Hertha BSC Berlin - Borussia M'gladbach 2:1 (2:0) 48,534 (Voronin, Dardai - Bradley) Borussia Dortmund - 1899 Hoffenheim 0:0 (0:0) 78,800 Werder Bremen - Bayern München 0:0 (0:0) 42,100 Hamburger SV - VfL Wolfsburg 1:3 (0:2) 57,500 (Guerrero - Grafite 2, Dzeko) Karlsruher SC - VfB Stuttgart 0:2 (0:0) 29,252 (Elson, Khedira) Attendance: 405,626 (avg 45,070) 1 Hertha BSC Berlin 22 13 4 5 35:26 +9 43 2 Hamburger SV 22 13 3 6 34:31 +3 42 3 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 22 12 5 5 49:31 +18 41 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 VfL Wolfsburg 22 11 6 5 45:28 +17 39 5 Bayern München (M, P) 22 11 6 5 44:30 +14 39 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Bayer Leverkusen 22 11 3 8 44:30 +14 36 7 VfB Stuttgart 22 10 6 6 40:31 +9 36 8 FC Schalke 04 22 9 7 6 29:21 +8 34 9 Borussia Dortmund 22 7 12 3 31:25 +6 33 10 1. FC Köln (N) 22 8 5 9 25:30 -5 29 11 Werder Bremen 22 7 7 8 42:34 +8 28 12 Hannover 96 22 6 6 10 28:41 -13 24 13 Eintracht Frankfurt 22 6 5 11 28:37 -9 23 14 VfL Bochum 22 4 9 9 27:36 -9 21 15 Arminia Bielefeld 22 3 11 8 20:33 -13 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Energie Cottbus 22 5 5 12 20:37 -17 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Karlsruher SC 22 5 2 15 18:39 -21 17 18 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 22 4 4 14 24:43 -19 16 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 22
Freiburg didn't look much like a champion, but they were able to break out with a win against Wehen, and strengthened their hold on 1st. That's because Nürnberg and Mainz had an uninspiring draw, both teams missing some sitters in their goal-less draw. Greuther Fürth had a huge away win in Kaiserslautern, solidifying their contender status and putting FCK's claim in dire straits. Duisburg had an important win at Aachen, so perhaps coach Peter Neururer can pull off the impossible and still make the Zebras a promotion contender. (Not that it would matter, as they would inevitably suck and get re-relegated).
New coach Uwe Wolf gave 1860 perhaps their first decent result of the season, as the Lions thumped St.Pauli. Koblenz gave further evidence of their form recovery and won an important match at Augsburg, pulling themselves out of the relegation zone. A critical win for Osnabrück, as they drop Ingolstadt down into the depths.
1. FC Nürnberg - 1. FSV Mainz 05 0:0 (0:0) 30,047 SV Wehen Wiesbaden - SC Freiburg 0:1 (0:1) 6,112 (Schuster) Hansa Rostock - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 0:0 (0:0) 12,000 1. FC Kaiserslautern - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1:2 (1:1) 31,196 (Jendrisek - Reisinger, Nehrig) TSV 1860 München - FC St. Pauli 5:1 (4:1) 28,500 (Bender, Schäffler, Johnson, Lauth, Hoffmann - Hoilett) FC Augsburg - TuS Koblenz 0:2 (0:2) 13,388 (Sinkala o.g., Vata) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - FSV Frankfurt 2:0 (0:0) 5,330 (Falkenberg, Kaya) VfL Osnabrück - FC Ingolstadt 04 1:0 (1:0) 12,700 (de Wit) Alemannia Aachen - MSV Duisburg 1:2 (1:1) 20,200 (Nemeth - Makiadi, Ben Hatira) 1 SC Freiburg 22 14 3 5 37:20 +17 45 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 22 11 7 4 42:24 +18 40 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 22 11 6 5 47:30 +17 39 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 MSV Duisburg (A) 22 9 8 5 34:23 +11 35 5 1. FC Kaiserslautern 22 10 5 7 37:29 +8 35 6 Alemannia Aachen 22 9 6 7 36:27 +9 33 7 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 22 8 9 5 30:23 +7 33 8 FC St. Pauli 22 9 4 9 35:43 -8 31 9 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 22 9 4 9 25:34 -9 31 10 TSV 1860 München 22 8 5 9 30:27 +3 29 11 FC Augsburg 22 8 5 9 27:28 -1 29 12 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 22 8 4 10 28:40 -12 28 13 TuS Koblenz 22 7 6 9 31:33 -2 24 14 FSV Frankfurt (N) 22 5 8 9 23:30 -7 23 15 VfL Osnabrück 22 5 8 9 29:41 -12 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 22 6 5 11 24:37 -13 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Hansa Rostock (A) 22 4 7 11 30:39 -9 19 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 22 3 8 11 21:38 -17 17 (A) Absteiger (relegated from Bundesliga) (N) Neuling (promoted from Regionalliga) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 24
Union Berlin has one leg in the 2.Liga, as they came away with a tough 1-0 away win against a desperate Wuppertal side. Paderborn failed to keep pace, and Emden's match was canceled, so Düsseldorf, despite struggling at home against nobodies Sandhausen, has moved into 2nd. Unterhaching got stuffed at home by Burghausen, and might have lost contact with the driving clubs.
Eintracht Braunschweig - VfB Stuttgart II 2:0 (2:0) 12,300 (Kruppke, Pfitzner) Werder Bremen II - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 2:1 (2:1) 400 (Perthel, Menga - Cannizzaro) SC Paderborn 07 - Erzgebirge Aue 0:0 (0:0) 4,840 Fortuna Düsseldorf - SV Sandhausen 3:2 (1:1) 9,278 (Langenecke, Kadah, Lambertz - Boskovic, Pinto) Dynamo Dresden - Kickers Offenbach 1:1 (0:0) 10,905 (Kegel - Tosunoglu) SpVgg Unterhaching - Wacker Burghausen 0:2 (0:0) 3,200 (Cappek, Mitterhuber) Carl Zeiss Jena - Bayern München II 0:2 (0:0) 6,102 (Contento, Müller) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - 1. FC Union Berlin 0:1 (0:1) 5,411 (Younga-Mohani) VfR Aalen - Kickers Emden -:- (-:-) canceled Stuttgarter Kickers - Jahn Regensburg -:- (-:-) canceled 1 1. FC Union Berlin 23 14 7 2 38:15 +23 49 2 Fortuna Düsseldorf 24 13 4 7 37:21 +16 43 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 23 13 4 6 40:25 +15 43 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Kickers Emden 23 12 6 5 33:22 +11 42 5 SpVgg Unterhaching 23 11 5 7 30:31 -1 38 6 Kickers Offenbach (A) 23 8 9 6 29:22 +7 33 7 Bayern München II 22 7 12 3 28:23 +5 33 8 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 22 9 5 8 30:24 +6 32 9 Eintracht Braunschweig 22 8 6 8 28:25 +3 30 10 SV Sandhausen 22 7 7 8 33:32 +1 28 11 Dynamo Dresden 23 6 8 9 23:28 -5 26 12 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 23 6 8 9 26:34 -8 26 13 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 21 6 7 8 25:29 -4 25 14 VfB Stuttgart II 21 6 6 9 32:31 +1 24 15 VfR Aalen 21 4 11 6 17:25 -8 23 16 Jahn Regensburg 21 5 8 8 20:30 -10 23 17 Wacker Burghausen 21 6 5 10 27:38 -11 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 22 5 6 11 20:33 -13 21 19 Werder Bremen II 21 5 4 12 28:36 -8 19 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 21 2 8 11 24:44 -20 14 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)Sachsen Leipzig collapse?
Reports are that Regionalliga club Sachsen Leipzig will be declared insolvent and be forcibly relegated. The club has just come up from the Oberliga, but apparently the debt problem remains (they went through a similar problem in 2001). The club is approximately 100,000 euros in arrears, which doesn't sound too bad, but unless they come up with the dough, they'll be put under a court appointed administrator and have this season's results annulled. In GDR days, Sachsen was known as Chemie Leipzig, so perhaps they'll end up going back to that name. (Same happened with VfB Leipzig, which has returned to Lok Leipzig). On the other hand, as reader Jim Gardner pointed out, there already is a club named BSG Chemie, made up of disgrunteled Sachsen fans. As a result, the circus that is ex-GDR football in Leipzig remains very promising, well, except on the field or at the box office...
Bundesliga, Round 21
The Bundesliga continues along it's crazy path...
Leaders Hertha BSC were ambushed by Wolfsburg, who are definitely a force at home. Hertha had an opportunity to show their win of Bayern last week wasn't fluke. Test failed. Hertha had to take a bitter loss at the Volkswagen plant, as Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko has quietly become a force for the VWs. Given the topsy-turvey Bundesliga season, I suppose it's possible that Hertha might sneak back, but perhaps their focus should be on holding a Champions League spot. Bayern and HSV have at least won titles since the Weimar Republic, and Hoffenheim knows no fear. But Hertha has been surrounded by mediocrity for such a long time, maybe they don't know how to win a title...
Hamburg rose to the occasion with an impressive win in Leverkusen. Bayer generally controlled the game, but the HSV counterattacks were always more dangerous against the somewhat clueless Asprin assaults. They spent a lot of time lobbing the ball into the box, despite HSV having a pretty good handle on clearing those crosses. Meanwhile, the Hamburg midfield was quick to transition to the forwards Olic and Guerrero, who ran rings around the Bayer defenders. And once again, GK Rene Adler was like a spastic chicken, running around all over the place. The guy was considered the next in line of superb German GKs, but he must be on drugs now, it's hard to explain.
Hoffenheim and Stuttgart had a wild shootout in a south/southwestern derby. Mario Gomez is yin and yang, his yin is being a deadly Bundesliga striker, his yang is playing like Adler in the international stage. Gomez knocked in a couple, past overrated ex-Stuttgarter Timo Hildebrand, but was outdone by Hoffenheim's Demba Ba, who nailed a hat-trick. And to top things off, Hoffenheim's Salihovic missed a penalty in injury time which would have given the upstarts the win. Stuttgart remains in form, and Hoffenheim is still a contender...
Bayern München is now officially in a mini-crisis, and although management is still backing coach Jürgen Klinsmann, it's beginning to look like he'll get canned at the end of the season. Bayern is still alive in both the title race and the Champions League, but it will probably take one or the other to save his ass, given the expectations. Plunging Bayern into crisis is none other than 1. FC Köln, who won for first time in something like 11 years against Bayern. Two first half strikes and some superb goalkeeping from Colombian Faryd Mondragon gave the Kölners an unexpected 3 points.
The huge "Revier-derby" between rivals Schalke and Dortmund remains Germany's top derby, but as is their wont this year, apparently the Blues can't be bothered. They basically just play one half of football, (the first), score a goal, and then dick around and expect their opponent to keel over. They're going nowhere this season. Dortmund is less talented, but at least appear to run around and fight.
Things continue to heat up at the bottom of the pot. Gladbach put in a fighting performance to grab all 3 points against Hannover, but it was a struggle. They're also trying to claim additional points by getting Hoffenheim disqualified because two players showed up 10 minutes late to their "doping test". The DFB will have to rule on this, seems a bit sleazy on both sides. Nevertheless, Gladbach has climbed to at least a viewing post, where they can envision the clubs ahead of them. Hannover has to be disappointed, as they fought back only to give it up late. The 96ers remain terribly inconsistent.
Cottbus continues to astound, although they will apparently be expelled from the Bundesliga because all their players are Bulgarian. But until they face Levski Sofia in the big derby, they will be content with seeing Dimitar Rangelov snatch another victory. The trip down to Lausitz Sorbenland is one every team hates, and it may be just enough for Energie to stave off relegation once again. It seems silly to point out that Werder Bremen is a basketcase. They had enough chances to win 3-4 games, but continue to suck. It's hard to explain, but perhaps they'll just have to write off this season.
Bielefeld and Bochum met in a huge relegation battle. Obviously a draw suits Bochum more than Arminia, as it's a nice point on the road against a direct rival. Both clubs remain mired in the relegation struggle.
Aside from Bayern and Werder, the big loser this round is Karlsruhe, who lost a crucial match at home to Frankfurt. Eintracht had been struggling, and KSC had shown signs of life. They really needed the points, and have to be devastated. Frankfurt had been in a tailspin, but this win comes at a great time, giving them at least a tiny bit of breathing space.
FC Schalke 04 - Borussia Dortmund 1:1 (1:0) 61,673 (Kuranyi - Zidan) Energie Cottbus - Werder Bremen 2:1 (0:0) 14,780 (Iliev, Rangelov - Hugo Almeida) Borussia M'gladbach - Hannover 96 3:2 (2:0) 36,166 (Baumjohann, Marin, Neuville - Pinto, Schulz) Karlsruher SC - Eintracht Frankfurt 0:1 (0:0) 27,623 (Caio) VfL Wolfsburg - Hertha BSC 2:1 (0:0) 29,300 (Dzeko 2 - Cicero) Arminia Bielefeld - VfL Bochum 1:1 (0:1) 20,200 (Mijatovic - Klimowicz) VfB Stuttgart - 1899 Hoffenheim 3:3 (2:2) 54,000 (Cacau, Gomez 2 - Ba 3) Bayern München - 1. FC Köln 1:2 (0:2) 69,000 (Van Buyten - Ehret, Brosinski) Bayer Leverkusen - Hamburger SV 1:2 (1:1) 40,000 (Helmes - Jansen 2) Attendance: 352,742 (avg 39,193) 1 Hamburger SV 21 13 3 5 33:28 +5 42 2 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 21 12 4 5 49:31 +18 40 3 Hertha BSC Berlin 21 12 4 5 33:25 +8 40 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Bayern München (M, P) 21 11 5 5 44:30 +14 38 5 Bayer Leverkusen 21 11 3 7 44:29 +15 36 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 VfL Wolfsburg 21 10 6 5 42:27 +15 36 7 VfB Stuttgart 21 9 6 6 38:31 +7 33 8 Borussia Dortmund 21 7 11 3 31:25 +6 32 9 FC Schalke 04 21 8 7 6 27:20 +7 31 10 1. FC Köln (N) 21 8 4 9 24:29 -5 28 11 Werder Bremen 21 7 6 8 42:34 +8 27 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 21 6 5 10 27:35 -8 23 13 Hannover 96 21 5 6 10 27:41 -14 21 14 Energie Cottbus 21 5 5 11 18:34 -16 20 15 Arminia Bielefeld 21 3 10 8 19:32 -13 19 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 VfL Bochum 21 3 9 9 24:34 -10 18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Karlsruher SC 21 5 2 14 18:37 -19 17 18 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 21 4 4 13 23:41 -18 16 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 21
Mainz and Freiburg both picked up ho-hum wins to keep on pace. The shocker was that struggling Koblenz smacked around Greuther Fürth like a pimp slapping his ho. For those that follow the 2.Liga and Fürth in particular, this isn't that much of a shocker. Usually Greuther will put together a nice run of impressive results and be on the verge of promotion, and then they'll play like wankers and screw it all up. However, Kaiserslautern was not able to take advantage, as they discovered that playing at St.Pauli is a difficult task, and they got rolled like a drunk stumbling through the Reeperbahn.
Aachen had a lame away draw, but Duisburg was impressive in slapping 1860 silly. The Zebras have been decent since Peter Neururer took over. Nürnberg sucked at home, and were lucky to get an undeserved win over Wehen.
The story at the bottom continues to be FSV Frankfurt. They were dead last at the winterbreak, but have since then climbed out of the depths with some positive results. They defeated Osnabrück on an injury time goal to get out of the relegation zone since week 2. The other big story is the continued disgraceful decline of Hansa Rostock. They're currently on the express-elevator down to hell. They (well, at least the fans) certainly expected to perhaps contend for immediate re-promotion, but instead they're going through the 2.Liga like a bad case of the runs. What's wrong? Hard to say, because at least on paper they're not the crappiest 2.Liga squad. However, it appears the club morale is so low, they have to look up to see the bottom of their shoes. If things don't change soon, they'll be a goner...
1. FSV Mainz 05 - Hansa Rostock 3:1 (1:1) 18,000 (Feulner, Bancé 2 - Fillinger) FC Ingolstadt 04 - Alemannia Aachen 0:0 (0:0) 3,500 SC Freiburg - FC Augsburg 1:0 (0:0) 12,000 (Idrissou) TuS Koblenz - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 3:0 (2:0) 6,716 (Sukalo 2, Stieber) 1. FC Nürnberg - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 1:0 (0:0) 27,036 (Eigler) MSV Duisburg - 1860 München 4:1 (2:0) 13,248 (Kouemaha 2, Makiadi - Schäffler) FSV Frankfurt - VfL Osnabrück 1:0 (0:0) 4,084 (Noll) Rot-Weiss Ahlen - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 1:3 (0:1) 3,618 (Grosskreutz - Kaya 2, Terranova) FC St. Pauli - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2:0 (0:0) 22,625 (Ludwig, Sako) Attendance: 110,827 (avg 12,314) 1 SC Freiburg 21 13 3 5 36:20 +16 42 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 21 11 6 4 42:24 +18 39 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 21 10 6 5 45:29 +16 36 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 1. FC Kaiserslautern 21 10 5 6 36:27 +9 35 5 Alemannia Aachen 21 9 6 6 35:25 +10 33 6 MSV Duisburg (A) 21 8 8 5 32:22 +10 32 7 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 21 8 8 5 30:23 +7 32 8 FC St. Pauli 21 9 4 8 34:38 -4 31 9 FC Augsburg 21 8 5 8 27:26 +1 29 10 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 21 8 4 9 23:34 -11 28 11 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 21 8 3 10 28:40 -12 27 12 1860 München 21 7 5 9 25:26 -1 26 13 FSV Frankfurt (N) 21 5 8 8 23:28 -5 23 14 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 21 6 5 10 24:36 -12 23 15 TuS Koblenz 21 6 6 9 29:33 -4 21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 VfL Osnabrück 21 4 8 9 28:41 -13 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Hansa Rostock (A) 21 4 6 11 30:39 -9 18 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 21 3 8 10 21:37 -16 17 (A) Absteiger (relegated from Bundesliga) (N) Neuling (promoted from Regionalliga) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 23
The weather continues to create havoc in the lower divisions. The 3.Liga had 7/10 matches canceled this week. The 4th division Regionalliga also had a rough time getting their matches in: North (6/9 canceled), West (5/9 canceled) and South (all 9 canceled). Of the matches that were played however, there were some important results. Unterhaching upended Düsseldorf, maintaining a connection to the top. For Düsseldorf, this is a very critical season, as they are almost "condemned" to promotion. The club has been mismanaged financially over the years, and probably needs to get promoted into the 2.Liga to acquire the needed revenue stream to avoid financial collapse. Emden dominated recently hot Jena and hold on to 3rd. However, the biggest match was the huge win of my club Wuppertaler SV at Offenbach. WSV has had all their matches canceled in 2009, so this was their first effort. A somewhat lucky win, but we'll take 'em. Offenbach really needed this win to keep their promotion prospects alive.
SpVgg Unterhaching - Fortuna Düsseldorf 2:1 (2:0) 3,000 (Fink 2 - Christ) Kickers Emden - Carl Zeiss Jena 3:1 (1:0) 2,777 (Pfingsten, Neitzel, Spahic - Hähnge) Kickers Offenbach - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 1:2 (1:1) 7,704 (Zinnow - Damm, Fischer) Bayern München II - Eintracht Braunschweig -:- (-:-) canceled Erzgebirge Aue - Werder Bremen II -:- (-:-) canceled Rot-Weiß Erfurt - VfR Aalen -:- (-:-) canceled Wacker Burghausen - 1. FC Union Berlin -:- (-:-) canceled SV Sandhausen - Stuttgarter Kickers -:- (-:-) canceled Jahn Regensburg - SC Paderborn 07 -:- (-:-) canceled VfB Stuttgart II - Dynamo Dresden -:- (-:-) canceled 1 1. FC Union Berlin 22 13 7 2 37:15 +22 46 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 22 13 3 6 40:25 +15 42 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Kickers Emden 23 12 6 5 33:22 +11 42 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 23 12 4 7 34:19 +15 40 5 SpVgg Unterhaching 22 11 5 6 30:29 +1 38 6 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 21 9 5 7 29:22 +7 32 7 Kickers Offenbach (A) 22 8 8 6 28:21 +7 32 8 Bayern München II 21 6 12 3 26:23 +3 30 9 SV Sandhausen 21 7 7 7 31:29 +2 28 10 Eintracht Braunschweig 21 7 6 8 26:25 +1 27 11 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 22 6 8 8 26:32 -6 26 12 Dynamo Dresden 22 6 7 9 22:27 -5 25 13 VfB Stuttgart II 20 6 6 8 32:29 +3 24 14 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 20 6 6 8 25:29 -4 24 15 VfR Aalen 21 4 11 6 17:25 -8 23 16 Jahn Regensburg 21 5 8 8 20:30 -10 23 17 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 21 5 6 10 20:32 -12 21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Wacker Burghausen 20 5 5 10 25:38 -13 20 19 Werder Bremen II 20 4 4 12 26:35 -9 16 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 21 2 8 11 24:44 -20 14 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Misc News
Obviously the rise of Hertha BSC is yet another amazing story of this year's Bundesliga season. Any other year, it would be THE story, but of course this season all the rage is Hoppenheim and their mega-euro sugar daddy Dietmar Hoff. There's been tons written about that, which basically boils down to non-Hoffenheim fans are jealous of Hopp's money. Meanwhile, supporters point out that Hopp's millions have largely gone to infrastructure investment rather than ManCity-esque drunken sailor binges. Six of one, Half-dozen of the other. But the Hertha story is quite interesting. This site has long bashed Hertha as the most boring team in the league, and by and large it's still true. Plus it's easy to slam GM Dieter Hoeness because he looks like a buffoon and seems generally incompetant. Over the years, Hertha has been unable to keep their best players (e.g. Marcelinho, Basturk and now looks like Pantelic). And the Berlin fans are generally apathetic, more interested in Berliner Weisse-Kindl and Currywurst. Frankly, nothing has changed in any of those points just mentioned. What has been the difference is coach Lucien Favre's ability to get the most out of his players and their minimalist football, and the sum appears to be greater than the parts. I still wouldn't lay down money for Hertha to win the title, because (to paraphrase the other Hoeness, Uli) I think they're too dumb, but they earn grudging respect.
Speaking of respect, Gladbach's new Belgian GK Logan Bailly has created a sensation with his superb play. None other than superb ex-GK and thug Toni Schumacher has proclaimed Bailly as the next coming. Certainly Bailly has caught the imagination of the press and fans. Since Gladbach is obviously going down, there is also speculation over whether Bailly's contract is valid for the 2.Liga (in the Germany leagues, very often contracts contain relegation clauses). Some believe that Gladbach would be forced to accept any offer that matches what they paid Belgian club RC Genk, which undoubtedly would make many Bundesliga GMs salivate.
A bit of sad, or perhaps more accurately, "melancholy" news: Lars Ricken has announced his retirement. The 32 year old Ricken, last playing with Borussia Dortmund II in the 4th division Regionalliga is hanging up his boots to take over some youth development position with Borussia. For recent followers of German football, Ricken was once considered a shining star of German football. Barely out of his teens, he rammed home a goal against Juventus Turin in the Champions League final back in the 1990s, taking Borussia to the pinnacle of German and European football. Dortmund was the new power, designated to fight it out with Bayern for German hegemony, and Ricken was the shining new star. Well, of course, we all know what happened. Dortmund over-extended itself financially and almost collapsed, and Ricken basically did a Houdini (he disappeared). Although he did manage some 14 appearances with the national team, he never lived up to the expectations, disappointing on the field until he was marginalized. He remained loyal to Dortmund through his career, which is commendable, although perhaps a change of scenery might have helped. (Unlike the other rising star of that era, Sebastian Deisler, who was a sensation with Hertha and then ground up at Bayern.) If I'm not mistaken, Ricken had over 300 Bundesliga appearances, scoring some 50 goals, which isn't exactly a bad career for the attacking midfielder, but given the expectations, disappointing.
Bundesliga, Round 20
This was a momentous round in the Bundesliga, as the league was turned on it's head - at least as far as this season is concerned. And the fans are loving it, as attendance passed the 400,000 mark for this weekend, despite the weather.
It started off when upstart leaders Hoffenheim got their comeuppance and were bitch-slapped at home by Bayer Leverkusen. Obviously, Bayer is less impressed with wunderkind Hoffenheim then other clubs, as the SAP bankroll for the promoted club is not shocking to corporate Bayer. And having banged in 5 goals against the upstarts in Leverkusen, the Aspirins continued their assault in Hoff's new stadium. The match looked to be fairly close, but Bayer stunned the leaders with goals 1 minute on each side of the half to make the result a mute point. Bayer was brilliant as a team, especially Patrick Helmes, Swiss midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta and Renato Augusto. Their only weak point was GK Rene Adler, who seems to still have a hangover from the Norway international. Leverkusen had been bumming around, but they've now announced themselves back into the race, although they are still a longshot given their "Luserkusen" moniker...
Now Hoffenheim's defeat itself is a big headline, but instead we have another momentus result. In what could be one of Berlin's biggest game in some 70 years, Hertha stunned Bayern München and have amazingly taken over the lead. A double by on-loan Ukrainian striker Andrey Voronin gave the Berliners the lead, and the win was held by outstanding GK Jaroslav Drobny, who had two fine late saves against Landon Donovan. Berlin's win is even more admirable in that Hertha is in somewhat of an injury crisis, and had a rump-squad for this huge clash.
The bottom clubs continue to battle against relegation, and in a critical Ruhr derby, Bochum kicked Schalke in the balls. The favored Schalkers had the lead, and were dominant in the 1st half, but as usual dicked around, wasted chances, and basically gave their typical "lame but good enough" effort. But this time it wasn't, as Bochum smelled a chance and came roaring back for a deserved win. A huge win for Bochum, desperately battling the drop. For Schalke, whatever...
Wolfsburg has quietly moved up the table, demonstrating superb home form, but weak away results. They got their first road win thanks to a solid rearguard action and some stodgy refereeing that hurt Frankfurt. But overall, the VWs were good value for their win. Frankfurt continues to struggle, perhaps they've decided that an exciting relegation battle is more fun than a stodgy midtable season.
Dortmund must be disappointed with only drawing against Cottbus, but it was a solid performance by Energie, and they deserved the point. These are the kind of matches you need to win if you want to be considered for (re)joining the Bundesliga elite, so coach Jürgen Klopp still has a lot of work to do. Energie continues to scrap for points and won't g down without a fight. They might have even pulled off a famous win, but Dortmund GK Roman Weidenfeller was sharp.
Stuttgart was the technically superior club, but were lucky to escape with a point in a wild shootout in Hannover. The 96ers made up for their lack of skill with effort, and looked to be rewarded with a victory on a Mikael Forssell goal in the dying minutes. But Stuttgart managed to grab another goal and save a point. VfB should have been celebrating a win based on the early play, but perhaps they got too cocky. Getting kicked in the balls by 96 was the wakeup call.
Once again Werder disappoints, as they failed to get the automatic 3 points against Gladbach. Belgian GK Logan Bailly was brilliant for the visitors, but surely Bremen should have been cruising until Claudio Pizarro finally got one past. But apparently Werder was too busy sighing with relief, and American Mike Bradley crowned a nice week (two goals against Mexico) by letting the ball bounce off his chest into the Werder goal. Once again, Bremen throwing away points.
1899 Hoffenheim - Bayer Leverkusen 1:4 (1:3) 30,150 (Salihovic - Helmes 2, Rolfes, Castro) Hertha BSC Berlin - Bayern München 2:1 (1:0) 74,244 (Voronin 2 - Klose) VfL Bochum - FC Schalke 04 2:1 (1:1) 30,605 (Azaough, Dabrowski - Kuranyi) Eintracht Frankfurt - VfL Wolfsburg 0:2 (0:1) 35,600 (Dzeko, Misimovic) Hannover 96 - VfB Stuttgart 3:3 (2:2) 31,127 (Stajner, Krzynowek, Forsell - Gomez, Lanig, Hitzlsperger) 1. FC Köln - Karlsruher SC 0:0 (0:0) 48,000 Werder Bremen - Borussia M'gladbach 1:1 (0:0) 41,332 (Pizarro - Bradley) Borussia Dortmund - Energie Cottbus 1:1 (1:1) 66,300 (Frei - Cagdas) Hamburger SV - Arminia Bielefeld 2:0 (1:0) 53,292 (Trochowski, Guerrero) Attendance: 410,650 (45,623) 1 Hertha BSC Berlin 20 12 4 4 32:23 +9 40 2 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 20 12 3 5 46:28 +18 39 3 Hamburger SV 20 12 3 5 31:27 +4 39 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Bayern München (M, P) 20 11 5 4 43:28 +15 38 5 Bayer Leverkusen 20 11 3 6 43:27 +16 36 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 VfL Wolfsburg 20 9 6 5 40:26 +14 33 7 VfB Stuttgart 20 9 5 6 35:28 +7 32 8 Borussia Dortmund 20 7 10 3 30:24 +6 31 9 FC Schalke 04 20 8 6 6 26:19 +7 30 10 Werder Bremen 20 7 6 7 41:32 +9 27 11 1. FC Köln (N) 20 7 4 9 22:28 -6 25 12 Hannover 96 20 5 6 9 25:38 -13 21 13 Eintracht Frankfurt 20 5 5 10 26:35 -9 20 14 Arminia Bielefeld 20 3 9 8 18:31 -13 18 15 VfL Bochum 20 3 8 9 23:33 -10 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Energie Cottbus 20 4 5 11 16:33 -17 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Karlsruher SC 20 5 2 13 18:36 -18 17 18 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 20 3 4 13 20:39 -19 13 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 20
Freiburg holds onto 1st with a straight-forward win at basket case Rostock. Hansa has been in the top 2 divisions of German football since reunification, and are in danger of dropping out. SCF looks like a good bet to return to the Bundesliga, which would be their first visit without Volker Finke. Fürth on the other hand was slowed down, as they were actually fortunate to get a draw against a resurgent Frankfurt squad. Both Mainz and Kaiserslautern had routine wins, so the battle for promotion remains hot as ever.
Nürnberg however doesn't look to be in the mix. After a horrible start, "der Club" had recently been putting together some decent results and climbing back out of the hole. Aachen was to be the next huge step on the ladder. Instead, Alemannia kicked their ass, jumpstarting their own campaign and giving FCN the finger. So with Rostock a basketcase, FCN lame and Duisburg crap as well, it looks like no dice for any of the relegated teams from last year's Bundesliga season.
On the bottom, troubled Koblenz had a huge win against direct rival Wehen, and could still fight their way out of the relegation. Both ends of the table promise exciting stretch runs.
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - FC St. Pauli 3:2 (3:1) 7,952 (Heppke 2, Kaya - Trojan 2) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - TuS Koblenz 1:3 (0:2) 6,619 (Simac - Stieber, Kuqi 2) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - FSV Frankfurt 0:0 (0:0) 6,300 Alemannia Aachen - 1. FC Nürnberg 6:2 (4:1) 20,155 (Holtby 2, Casper, Auer, Nemeth, Fiel - Boakye 2) FC Augsburg - MSV Duisburg 1:1 (1:1) 11,098 (Hdiouad - Heller) VfL Osnabrück - 1. FSV Mainz 05 1:3 (1:2) 13,500 (Manno - Feulner, Buckley, Karhan) 1860 München - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 2:1 (1:0) 18,000 (Bierofka, Rukavina - R. Müller) 1. FC Kaiserslautern - FC Ingolstadt 04 2:0 (1:0) 27,352 (Dzaka, Simpson) Hansa Rostock - SC Freiburg 1:3 (1:1) 8,500 (Fillinger - Bechmann, Rodionov 2) Attendance: 1 SC Freiburg 20 12 3 5 35:20 +15 39 2 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 20 10 6 4 45:26 +19 36 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FSV Mainz 05 20 10 6 4 39:23 +16 36 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 1. FC Kaiserslautern 20 10 5 5 36:25 +11 35 5 Alemannia Aachen 20 9 5 6 35:25 +10 32 6 MSV Duisburg (A) 20 7 8 5 28:21 +7 29 7 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 20 7 8 5 29:23 +6 29 8 FC Augsburg 20 8 5 7 27:25 +2 29 9 FC St. Pauli 20 8 4 8 32:38 -6 28 10 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 20 8 3 9 27:37 -10 27 11 TSV 1860 München 20 7 5 8 24:22 +2 26 12 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 20 7 4 9 20:33 -13 25 13 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 20 6 4 10 24:36 -12 22 14 FSV Frankfurt (N) 20 4 8 8 22:28 -6 20 15 VfL Osnabrück 20 4 8 8 28:40 -12 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Hansa Rostock (A) 20 4 6 10 29:36 -7 18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 TuS Koblenz 20 5 6 9 26:33 -7 18 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 20 3 8 9 21:36 -15 17 (A) Absteiger (relegated from Bundesliga) (N) Neuling (promoted from Regionalliga) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 22
Weather once again interfered with the 3.Liga scshedule, but at least it was the crap games that nobody cares about that were mainly effected. The big win was for Union Berlin, which thanks to Paderborn stubbing their toe, has now opened up a slight cushion at the top - most importantly 6 points on automatic promotion. Emden is beginning to feel the pressure, as they were beaten down by Braunschweig, with their usual strong home attendance. Düsseldorf took advantage of Emden's slip to move into the playoff spot. The most attractive match however was the Thüringen derby between Jena and Erfurt. It really has no say in promotion, but was the marquee matchup of the week. A sold out crowd saw Carl-Zeiss grab a point 3 minutes into injury time. Also good news for belaugered Dynamo Dresden, as their win gives them some breathing room in the relegation struggle. Their rivals have game(s) in hand, but at least Dynamo has the points already.
Werder Bremen II - Jahn Regensburg -:- (-:-) canceled Dynamo Dresden - Bayern München II 3:2 (2:2) 5,069 (Wagefeld, Savran 2 - Haas, Ekici) Eintracht Braunschweig - Kickers Emden 2:1 (0:1) 11,200 (Schied, Boland - Neitzel) Carl Zeiss Jena - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:1 (0:0) 13,500 (Mayombo - Cannizaro) VfR Aalen - Erzgebirge Aue -:- (-:-) canceled SC Paderborn 07 - SV Sandhausen 1:2 (0:0) 4,901 (Güvenisik - Kirsch, Leandro) Stuttgarter Kickers - SpVgg Unterhaching -:- (-:-) canceled Fortuna Düsseldorf - Wacker Burghausen 3:1 (1:0) 9,241 (Palikuka, Sieger, Cailas - Calamita) 1. FC Union Berlin - Kickers Offenbach 1:0 (1:0) 7,021 (Benyamina) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - VfB Stuttgart II -:- (-:-) canceled 1 1. FC Union Berlin 22 13 7 2 37:15 +22 46 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 22 13 3 6 40:25 +15 42 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Fortuna Düsseldorf 22 12 4 6 33:17 +16 40 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Kickers Emden 22 11 6 5 30:21 +9 39 5 SpVgg Unterhaching 21 10 5 6 28:28 0 35 6 Kickers Offenbach (A) 21 8 8 5 27:19 +8 32 7 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 21 9 5 7 29:22 +7 32 8 Bayern München II 21 6 12 3 26:23 +3 30 9 SV Sandhausen 21 7 7 7 31:29 +2 28 10 Eintracht Braunschweig 21 7 6 8 26:25 +1 27 11 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 21 6 8 7 25:29 -4 26 12 Dynamo Dresden 22 6 7 9 22:27 -5 25 13 VfB Stuttgart II 20 6 6 8 32:29 +3 24 14 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 20 6 6 8 25:29 -4 24 15 VfR Aalen 21 4 11 6 17:25 -8 23 16 Jahn Regensburg 21 5 8 8 20:30 -10 23 17 Wacker Burghausen 20 5 5 10 25:38 -13 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 20 4 6 10 18:31 -13 18 19 Werder Bremen II 20 4 4 12 26:35 -9 16 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 21 2 8 11 24:44 -20 14 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Disgraceful national team performance
Germany suffered a disgraceful 0-1 defeat in their friendly against Norway. The fans in Düsseldorf's LTU-Arena were undoubtedly shocked (as was the TV audience) as Joachim Löw's squad sucked big time against a lame-ass Norway team. Led by coach Egil "Drillo" Olsen ("Drillo" is Norwegian for "boring"), Norway basically played 90 minutes of catenaccio, but their occasional counterattacks caused panic in the German so-called defense. The midfield once again proved that nobody has a creative thought, and the offense had Mario Gomez. (Who is more like a 12th Norwegian defender, since everytime he touches the ball, there's no danger to the goal).
Virtually all Germany's squad was met by total derision by the fans and press. "Bild-Zeitung" went so far as to grade every player except Philip Lahm with a "6" (lowest grade). Not only for the players, but I think the waterboy got a "6" also, along with Michael Ballack's granny.
Actually, it wasn't quite that bad. Germany played their usual possesion game and had the ball all the time, but couldn't figure out what to do with it, passing it around until losing it, or getting it to Mario Gomez to shoot at the corner flag. Then every once in a while, a lone Norwegian attacker would run past the whole German "defense" and create a solid threat. Especially disappointing was Michael Ballack, who has over the years carried the team on his back. Well, looks like that era is over, as the captain was perhaps the worst German on the pitch. (Gomez was actually playing for Norway and perhaps holds dual citizenship.) The defenders were constantly beaten, relying on desperate last gasp tackles or a save from the very shaky GK Rene Adler. Basically, things would have turned out a lot worse if Norway had occasionally sent more than 3 players forward. Positives? There really were none. Philip Lahm looked good at times going forward, raiding down the left flank. DM Torsten Frings was back, mugging people at times, but thuggery is useless if the team sucks. Perhaps the best news was that youngster Mersut Ozil came on late. The Turkish-German midfielder has shown great promise in the Bundesliga, and by stepping on the pitch, he can't play for Turkey anymore. So if he develops as many think he might, that could be a positive.
While this is a worthless friendly, it's perhaps a sign that Germany is headed for another crap World Cup. The squad will easily qualify for South Africa 2010, because they're in a lame-ass group. But then they'll probably suck. It's hard to imagine the team beating any top 10 squad. The veterans can't get the job done, and the youngsters have so far failed to impress. Coach Löw apparently has no clue on how to fix things, and no doubt he'll be dumped after 2010 at the latest. The next test is against powerhouse Liechtenstein, so we'll see how they fair...
Schalke hackers cause laugh
Hackers apparently logged onto Schalke's website and posted an announcement that Kevin Kuranyi had been kicked out of the club. Apparently the club has vehemently denied this, and of course changed the web site. Of course, maybe some Schalkers are thinking maybe it's not a bad idea...
Bundesliga, Round 19
The title race remains wide open, as Bayern takes advantage of the other clubs stubbing their toes.
Leaders Hoffenheim had to struggle to no go down in flames to a fighting Gladbach squad. The leaders were finally able to salvage a point with an offisde suspicious goal in the last minute. Somewhat lucky for Hoffenheim, but sometimes you make your own luck. Gladbach desperately needed the full points, but at least can take away a positive effort. Meanwhile Bayern jumped into 2nd place with a strong display against Dortmund. The visitors took the lead when Valdez ran away from his defender sprouled on the ground. But as usual, a rampant Franck Ribery was all over the place, and Bayern was close to overrunning the feable Borussia defenses. But with GK Roman Weidenfeller in decent form, they managed to hold on until late.
Berlin holds to a CL spot, but only just. Hertha took the lead at Bielefeld, but then went into their "rope-a-dope" tactics trying ot put everyone asleep. Arminia didn't cooperate, evened the score and pressed Berlin for a win. They didn't get it, but are happy getting a critical point. Hertha should realize that they can't expect to eek out points with only a few minutes of decent football - at least not if they want to go anywhere.
Karlsruhe provided the shock of the day. They fell down 0-2 to HSV, and looked dead and buried. But a ferocious comeback was rewarded with an injury time winner, and the KSC fans, staff and players went nuts. HSV was stunned and could only mumble about referee conspiracies and such. A huge win for KSC in their desperate struggle, and HSV, shame on you.
KSC needed the points to stay within salvation distance, as Energie Cottbus road their Bulgarian connection to a win over listless Hannover.
A gala performance by inconsistent Stuttgart, as they ran rampant against Leverkusen.
Wolfsburg continues to impress, another workmanlike performance for the automakers. Köln gets a positive result in Frankfurt, more than they realisitically could have expected.
Arminia Bielefeld - Hertha BSC Berlin 1:1 (1:1) 20,700 (Wichniarek - Voronin) FC Schalke 04 - Werder Bremen 1:0 (0:0) 61,673 (Höwedes) Karlsruher SC - Hamburger SV 3:2 (0:1) 28,368 (Freis 2, Federico - Guerrero, Benjamin) Bayer Leverkusen - VfB Stuttgart 2:4 (0:1) 33,000 (Kiessling, Charisteas - Gomez 2, Hitzlsperger, Sinkiewicz) VfL Wolfsburg - VfL Bochum 2:0 (1:0) 26,177 (Dzeko 2) Borussia M'gladbach - 1899 Hoffenheim 1:1 (1:0) 42,421 (Baumjohann - Wellington) Eintracht Frankfurt - 1. FC Köln 2:2 (1:0) 51,300 (Russ, Fenin - Novakovic 2) Energie Cottbus - Hannover 96 3:1 (1:0) 12,980 (Rangelov 2, Angelov - Fahrenhorst) Bayern München - Borussia Dortmund 3:1 (1:1) 69,000 (Ze Roberto, Klose 2 - Valdez) Attendance: 345,619 (avg 38,402) 1 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 19 12 3 4 45:24 +21 39 2 Bayern München (M, P) 19 11 5 3 42:26 +16 38 3 Hertha BSC Berlin 19 11 4 4 30:22 +8 37 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Hamburger SV 19 11 3 5 29:27 +2 36 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 Bayer Leverkusen 19 10 3 6 39:26 +13 33 6 VfB Stuttgart 19 9 4 6 32:25 +7 31 7 VfL Wolfsburg 19 8 6 5 38:26 +12 30 8 FC Schalke 04 19 8 6 5 25:17 +8 30 9 Borussia Dortmund 19 7 9 3 29:23 +6 30 10 Werder Bremen 19 7 5 7 40:31 +9 26 11 1. FC Köln (N) 19 7 3 9 22:28 -6 24 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 19 5 5 9 26:33 -7 20 13 Hannover 96 19 5 5 9 22:35 -13 20 14 Arminia Bielefeld 19 3 9 7 18:29 -11 18 15 Energie Cottbus 19 4 4 11 15:32 -17 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Karlsruher SC 19 5 1 13 18:36 -18 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 VfL Bochum 19 2 8 9 21:32 -11 14 18 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 19 3 3 13 19:38 -19 12 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 19
Alemannia Aachen - Hansa Rostock 3:3 (0:1) 18,726 (Auer, Holtby, Vukovic - Retov, Bartels 2) SC Freiburg - VfL Osnabrück 4:1 (1:0) 10,751 (Bechmann, Rodionov, Schuster, Schwaab - Manno) TuS Koblenz - FSV Frankfurt 1:3 (1:2) 6,977 (Krontiris - Kreuz, Cenci, Shapourzadeh) FC St. Pauli - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 0:3 (0:2) 22,215 (Ilicevic, Reisinger 2) MSV Duisburg - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 2:1 (2:1) 12,102 (Kouemaha, Makiadi - Schönheim) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - 1860 München 2:2 (2:1) 19,800 (Heller, Borja - Schäffler, Lauth) Rot-Weiss Ahlen - FC Augsburg 2:1 (0:1) 3,929 (Toborg, Grosskreutz - Möhrle) FC Ingolstadt 04 - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 0:0 (0:0) 3,730 1. FC Nürnberg - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 3:0 (2:0) 27,147 (Eigler, Frantz, Mintal) Attendance: 121,448 (avg 13,494) 1 SC Freiburg 19 11 3 5 32:19 +13 36 2 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 19 10 5 4 45:26 +19 35 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FSV Mainz 05 19 9 6 4 36:22 +14 33 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 1. FC Kaiserslautern 19 9 5 5 34:25 +9 32 5 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 19 7 8 4 27:17 +10 29 6 Alemannia Aachen 19 8 5 6 29:23 +6 29 7 MSV Duisburg (A) 19 7 7 5 27:20 +7 28 8 FC Augsburg 19 8 4 7 26:24 +2 28 9 FC St. Pauli 19 8 4 7 30:35 -5 28 10 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 19 8 3 8 26:35 -9 27 11 1860 München 19 6 5 8 22:21 +1 23 12 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 19 6 4 9 24:34 -10 22 13 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 19 6 4 9 17:31 -14 22 14 VfL Osnabrück 19 4 8 7 27:37 -10 20 15 FSV Frankfurt (N) 19 4 7 8 22:28 -6 19 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Hansa Rostock (A) 19 4 6 9 28:33 -5 18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 19 3 8 8 20:33 -13 17 18 TuS Koblenz 19 4 6 9 23:32 -9 15 (A) Absteiger (relegated from Bundesliga) (N) Neuling (promoted from Regionalliga) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 21
The 3.Liga restart was off to a difficult beginning, as half the games had to be postponed due to weather. (No undersoil heating for the 3rd division, eh?) However, the games that did take place were pretty important. Leaders Paderborn were taken down by Unterhaching, and Union Berlin seized the lead with a solid away win. Dresden had a nice comeback to grab a point at contending Emden, perhaps the first positive sign in the legendary ex-GDR club's fortune in months. Düsseldorf showed up for work and did the minimum necessary to stay within striking distance.
Fortuna Düsseldorf - Stuttgarter Kickers 2:0 (1:0) 9,125 (Terrode, Christ) Bayern München II - Wuppertaler SV Bor. -:- (-:-) postponed SV Sandhausen - Werder Bremen II -:- (-:-) postponed Kickers Emden - Dynamo Dresden 2:2 (2:0) 4,149 (Neitzel, Addo - Bröker 2) VfB Stuttgart II - 1. FC Union Berlin 0:3 (0:1) 1,000 (Benyamina, Sahin, Biran) Wacker Burghausen - Kickers Offenbach -:- (-:-) postponed Erzgebirge Aue - Carl Zeiss Jena -:- (-:-) postponed Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Eintracht Braunschweig -:- (-:-) postponed SpVgg Unterhaching - SC Paderborn 07 2:1 (2:0) 3,000 (Hain, Fink - Damjanovic) Jahn Regensburg - VfR Aalen 1:0 (0:0) 2,450 (Bambara) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 21 12 7 2 36:15 +21 43 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 21 13 3 5 39:23 +16 42 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Kickers Emden 21 11 6 4 29:19 +10 39 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 21 11 4 6 30:16 +14 37 5 SpVgg Unterhaching 21 10 5 6 28:28 0 35 6 Kickers Offenbach (A) 20 8 8 4 27:18 +9 32 7 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 20 9 4 7 28:21 +7 31 8 Bayern München II 20 6 12 2 24:20 +4 30 9 SV Sandhausen 20 6 7 7 29:28 +1 25 10 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 20 6 7 7 24:28 -4 25 11 VfB Stuttgart II 20 6 6 8 32:29 +3 24 12 Eintracht Braunschweig 20 6 6 8 24:24 0 24 13 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 20 6 6 8 25:29 -4 24 14 VfR Aalen 21 4 11 6 17:25 -8 23 15 Jahn Regensburg 21 5 8 8 20:30 -10 23 16 Dynamo Dresden 21 5 7 9 19:25 -6 22 17 Wacker Burghausen 19 5 5 9 24:35 -11 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 20 4 6 10 18:31 -13 18 19 Werder Bremen II 20 4 4 12 26:35 -9 16 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 21 2 8 11 24:44 -20 14 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Bundesliga, Round 18
At last, Bundesliga football is back, and some pretty interesting results indicate that everything is still up for grabs.
The first match on Friday night was already a Knaller. Hamburg and Bayern fought it out, and HSV comes up with the surprising victory. Bayern had lots of chances, but wasted them. And outstanding performance by HSV, and coach Martin Jol seems to be getting the maximum out of his squad, even though his players seem to be sold out right from underneath his nose.
Leaders Hoffenheim inaugurated their spanking new stadium with an easy win over a lame Cottbus. Boubacar Sanogo, whose played on just about every club from Africa to Europe, has come in a replacement for injured sensation Vedad Ibisevic. So it's only fitting that he nets a goal in his first match. Perhaps that's a sign that Hoffenheim's success is not only to money, it's also their coaching and system. On the other hand, GK Timo Hildebrand got injured after an hour and had to come out. His body couldn't take the activity, since he's been sitting on the pine in Spain for about 6 months.
Hertha BSC, everybody's favorite team. Not. Actually, if I might be so bold, the Berliners are like those kids from your childhood that you always avoided because of their "silent, but deadly" passing of gas. And once again, Hertha grabs all the points with a minimalist display, against a Frankfurt team that rarely seems to know what they are doing. And once again, it's money-man Marko Pantelic who delivers the deadly blows, with a double. The Serbian is constantly feuding with his bosses, but he gets the job done. Supposedly Hertha intends to dump him in the offseason, which is quite astounding, since he's carried the team over the years.
Same old Schalke. The Blues wasted enough chances to win 3-4 games, and the end-result of their suck-i-tude was a loss to a fighting Hannover squad. GK Robert Enke was in top form for the 96ers, as he came up with several good saves, but Schalke can't hit the side of a barn when they're crap. The win at least straightens out Hannover's poor form. Any dreams they entertained about UEFA spots are long gone, but they appear to be secure away from the drop zone.
Köln might have been hoping to get a much needed win, especially since Wolfsburg basically slept through the 1st half. But coach Felix Magath must have kicked some ass in the locaker room, and the Volkswagens were all over the hosts after the restart. Köln was probably somewhat lucky to hold the draw, but are certain to be happy with the point.
Dortmund was lucky to hold the draw against Leverkusen. The Neons took the lead after some hard work by Patrick Owomoyela, who finally was able to knock the ball forward for Alex Frei to head home. In teh 2nd half, the Aspirins furiously assaulted the BvB goal, equalizing, and almost getting the winner. As a result, Dortmund must be quite thrilled with holding the point.
Stuttgart's treasurer was obviously thrilled that ANYBODY showed up for their match against hapless Gladbach. Considering the tremendously crap performance in their mid-week bitch-slapping by Bayern in the DFB Cup, they shouldn't have expected the insulted fans to show up for another demonstration of Arbeitsverweigerung (refusal to work). Instead, a decent crowd was treated to a workman-like victory for VfB. Gladbach look pretty pathetic. Now it appears that their young talent is abandoning ship, so if they get relegated, they'll be rebuilding again. Sorry to watch a storied club fade, but there you have it.
Bochum got an important win in a hard fought win over Karlsruhe. Relegation looms for both clubs, so every point is crucial. KSC had some decent play, but really couldn't create much in the way of chances. Meanwhile, Bochum put away their opportunities, and effectively add another point due to their superior goal difference over the bottom feeders.
In the only real shock, Bielefeld stunned Werder Inconsistent. Bremen fully expected full points to jumpstart their second half run, but instead lay an egg. Werder generally controlled the match, but Arminia fought the whole way, and get their first win in Bremen after 25 tries.
Attendance: 395,334 (avg 43,926)
Hamburger SV - Bayern München 1:0 (1:0) 57,000 (Petric) Hannover 96 - FC Schalke 04 1:0 (1:0) 45,667 (Pinto) 1. FC Köln - VfL Wolfsburg 1:1 (1:0) 49,000 (Radu - Grafite) Borussia Dortmund - Bayer Leverkusen 1:1 (1:0) 73,700 (Frei - Helmes) Hertha BSC - Eintracht Frankfurt 2:1 (1:0) 39,847 (Pantelic 2 - Köhler) 1899 Hoffenheim - Energie Cottbus 2:0 (1:0) 30,150 (Ba, Sanogo) VfB Stuttgart - Borussia M'gladbach 2:0 (0:0) 41,300 (Marica, Gomez) VfL Bochum - Karlsruher SC 2:0 (1:0) 20,148 (Fuchs, Klimowicz) Werder Bremen - Arminia Bielefeld 1:2 (1:1) 38,522 (Hugo Almeida - Marx, Wichniarek) 1 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 18 12 2 4 44:23 +21 38 2 Hertha BSC Berlin 18 11 3 4 29:21 +8 36 3 Hamburger SV 18 11 3 4 27:24 +3 36 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Bayern München (M, P) 18 10 5 3 39:25 +14 35 5 Bayer Leverkusen 18 10 3 5 37:22 +15 33 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Borussia Dortmund 18 7 9 2 28:20 +8 30 7 VfB Stuttgart 18 8 4 6 28:23 +5 28 8 VfL Wolfsburg 18 7 6 5 36:26 +10 27 9 FC Schalke 04 18 7 6 5 24:17 +7 27 10 Werder Bremen 18 7 5 6 40:30 +10 26 11 1. FC Köln (N) 18 7 2 9 20:26 -6 23 12 Hannover 96 18 5 5 8 21:32 -11 20 13 Eintracht Frankfurt 18 5 4 9 24:31 -7 19 14 Arminia Bielefeld 18 3 8 7 17:28 -11 17 15 VfL Bochum 18 2 8 8 21:30 -9 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Karlsruher SC 18 4 1 13 15:34 -19 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Energie Cottbus 18 3 4 11 12:31 -19 13 18 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 18 3 2 13 18:37 -19 11 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 17
The Zweite Liga promises more of the same after the restart, so expect everything to go down to the wire. Freiburg had a nice win in München and have slid into 1st place. Kaiserslautern and Mainz fought out a huge southwest derby (although FCK fans are certainly put out in that in the old days, this would hardly be considered a derby). They split the points and remain hot on the trail. However, the impressive result among contenders was Greuther Fürth's thumping of newcomer Ingolstadt. Fürth often contends for promotion, so looks like they intend to be in the middle of it again this year.
On the bottom, a couple of big results as well. FSV Frankfurt thumped Ahlen, perhaps announcing that they won't go down without a fight. And Wehen followed up their DFB-Cup uspet with an important 3 points against Aachen. Rostock looks in free-fall.
FC Augsburg - 1. FC Nürnberg 0:0 (0:0) 24,031 VfL Osnabrück - FC St. Pauli 2:2 (1:0) 16,031 (Geissler, Peitz - Hennings, Bruns) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - TuS Koblenz 0:0 (0:0) 4,546 Hansa Rostock - MSV Duisburg 0:1 (0:0) 10,800 (Brzenska) 1860 München - SC Freiburg 0:2 (0:1) 21,800 (Toprak, Schuster) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Alemannia Aachen 1:0 (1:0) 8,013 (Ziemer) FSV Frankfurt - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 4:0 (2:0) 3,687 (Mokhtari, Cenci, Bliznyuk, Ulm) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - FC Ingolstadt 04 6:1 (5:1) 6,600 (Allagui 2, Reisinger 2, Hass, Takyi - Rama) 1. FC Kaiserslautern - 1. FSV Mainz 05 1:1 (0:1) 46,316 (Lakic - Feulner) Attendance: 141,824 (avg 15,758) 1 SC Freiburg 18 10 3 5 28:18 +10 33 2 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 18 9 5 4 42:26 +16 32 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FSV Mainz 05 18 9 5 4 34:20 +14 32 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 1. FC Kaiserslautern 18 9 5 4 34:22 +12 32 5 Alemannia Aachen 18 8 4 6 26:20 +6 28 6 FC Augsburg 18 8 4 6 25:22 +3 28 7 FC St. Pauli 18 8 4 6 30:32 -2 28 8 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 18 6 8 4 24:17 +7 26 9 MSV Duisburg (A) 18 6 7 5 25:19 +6 25 10 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 18 7 3 8 24:34 -10 24 11 TSV 1860 München 18 6 4 8 20:19 +1 22 12 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 18 6 3 9 24:34 -10 21 13 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 18 6 3 9 17:31 -14 21 14 VfL Osnabrück 18 4 8 6 26:33 -7 20 15 Hansa Rostock (A) 18 4 5 9 25:30 -5 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 18 3 8 7 19:31 -12 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 FSV Frankfurt (N) 18 3 7 8 19:27 -8 16 18 TuS Koblenz 18 4 6 8 22:29 -7 15 (A) Absteiger (relegated from Bundesliga) (N) Neuling (promoted from Regionalliga) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
DFB Pokal, Round of 16 (Achtelfinale)
German football is back from the winter break with Cup action:
Hamburger SV - 1860 München 3:1 (1:0) 48,058 (Olic 3 - Bierofka) Carl Zeiss Jena - FC Schalke 04 1:4 (0:1) 17,600 (Schembri - Farfan 2, Rakitic, Kuranyi) SC Freiburg - 1. FSV Mainz 05 1:3 (0:0) 13,000 (Krmas - Bungert, Bancé, Soto) VfB Stuttgart - Bayern München 1:5 (0:3) 55,500 (Gomez - Schweinsteiger 2, Ribery, Toni, Zé Roberto) Bayer Leverkusen - Energie Cottbus 3:1 (3:0) 16,000 (Helmes, Kadlec, Renato Augusto - Skela) Borussia Dortmund - Werder Bremen 1:2 (1:0) 74,000 (Frei - Hugo Almeida, Pizarro) Karlsruher SC - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 0:1 (0:0) 13,686 (König) VfL Wolfsburg - Hansa Rostock 5:1 (0:0) 12,500 (Grafite 3, Gentner, Bülow o.g. - Fillinger)No real shocking upsets, although village squad Wehen's win in Karlsruhe is somewhat of a surprise. However, since the villagers are essentially Wiesbaden's team, and play in the 2.Liga, it's not that stunning, given the fact that KSC has been playing like crap. No doubt Wehen is hoping for a nice payday against somebody big, like Bayern, Bremen, Schalke or even HSV. That said, they'll probably get stuck with a crap pairing against Mainz or Wolfsburg.
Hamburg had an easy time with their 2.Liga opponents 1860, and Ivica Olic was dominant grabbing a hattrick. 1860 was never really in the match, and looked a bit weird with their black-and-blue uniforms, perhaps a reminder of the hiding they received.
Schalke's win was not as impressive as it looks. For much of the match, 3rd division Jena gave a good account of themselves, and it was only later that Schalke pulled away. Jena can be happy with a decent performance and a sold out crowd, but no miracle cup run this year.
The most shocking result of this round was Bayern's total annihilation of Stuttgart. It easily could have been a lot worse, as Bayern had a walk in the park, and could even afford to miss a penalty. In fact, they were so dominant, they even let Landon Donovan play :) After the match, Stuttgart GK Jens Lehmann went postal in the locker room, cursing his fellow teammates for lack of effort. Of course intelligence has never been one of Jens stronger points, but in this case he might be onto something. Of course he sucked as well, so maybe he should spend more time yelling at the mirror. So perhaps his resultant fine by the club was not only for his behaviour, but his crap play.
Levekusen had no problems with Cottbus. Ho-hum and advance to quarters. Cottbus raus.
Bremen had a nice comeback to win in Dortmund. This was the best match of the round, a hard fought cup fight. Overall, Werder was the better team and deserve their win.
Brazilian Grafite was the outstanding player on the pitch, as Wolfsburg shook off a lackluster first half and then got down to business. Rostock is crap and needs to concentrate on staying up in the 2.Liga anyway. All eastern teams are now eliminated, but except for Jena, that's a good thing, as they offer nothing.
The 2.Liga clash saw Mainz take a win at Freiburg. Probably nobody cares.
Attendance was pretty good, considering it's January in Germany. An average of 37,300 for each match, but of course somewhat skewed by the big crowds in Dortmund, Stuttgart and Hamburg. But at least it proves there still is some interest in the Cup, unlike in other countries like the Coppa Italia, which apparently played in closed stadiums, since you never see anybody.
HSV elections
Not really much news during the winterbreak, some of which is listed below. However, there were some interesting events that took place over the weekend in Hamburg, as HSV had elections for the board of supervisors. Unlike American sports, German football is quite democratic. Whereas the English game has clearly moved closer to an American model, where tin-pot dictator owners do whatever they please to screw the fans and massage their egos, the German system has some built-in protections to make the bosses at least work before they rape the fans.
Virtually all German soccer teams are in fact sports clubs, and made up of members. So in reality, it is a true club, not a corporation. Anyone can become a member, as long as you pay your dues. As a member, you can participate in elections for the board. So it is somewhat like a stockholders meeting at a corporation, with the crucial difference that it's one-man-one-vote. And in general, there is no proxy voting, so you have to show up at the general assembly. The board stands for election, and if folks are upset, they can easily boot out the president. (Example: Oakland Rayduh fans, you listening? Buh-Bye, Al Davis!). In general, to appease the fans, the board usually has a fan-representative automatically appointed, but most of the seats are up for election. Rich sugardaddies, such as Dietmar Hopp at Hoffenheim, spend their own money, but are still subject to the ballot box.
Now the HSV elections were of particular interest. The club general manager, Bernd Hoffmann, has had an impressive run in bringing home the bacon. HSV now has a full stadium, and turnover of some 140 million euros. From a financial standpoint, things have never been better. But of course, the "average" fan has taken it somewhat in the shorts, mainly through rising ticket prices and commercialization of the game. So one of the "Ultra" fan group leaders, some guy named Jochen Liebnau, decided to oppose Hoffmann and many other "supporters" block fans also decided to run. Whilst Hoffmann and his allies darkly hinted that if the fans took over that HSV would drop down into the Kreisliga, they also served up some clever candidates of their own, such as recent ex-HSV player Sergei Barbarez.
In any case, there was a massive turnout, about 5,000, much larger than the usual number. (I believe that HSV has some 45,000 dues paying members, so actually it's not that massive). Undoubtedly the bosses have resisted such measures as internet or mail voting, as that would reduce their ability to stack the deck with their voters. But in the final analysis, perhaps the supporters aren't as upset as one might think: the end result was that all the "supporter" backed candidates lost. That means fans will continue to be treated as income sources to be slapped around willy-nilly. But since most of the members are just ordinary fans, it seems pretty clear that they prefer commericialization, if it means more wins and better players. The English example has shown that the loud-mouth fans who constantly decry moneybags and/or foreigners taking over change their tune once the new owner starts splashing the cash. But at least so far the Germans have resisted doing a mancity and whipping out keffiyehs to impress their new owners...
Injury disaster!
Perhaps the biggest news is that Hoffeheim sensation Vedad Ibisevic is now out for the season! Ibisevic has set the Bundesliga on fire, with 18 goals in hist first 17 matches. But during a training match in Spain, he was injured by some HSV thug. Or he stepped in a gopher hole. In any case, playing a worthless friendly match with Hamburg, he injured his knee and is done. Very tragic, but so far the Hopp-en-heimers haven't attempted to get Dietmar to fork over some additional cash to buy a replacement.
Transfer News
Not too much activity. The big addition is that GK Timo Hildebrand leaves Spain's Valencia on a free and joins Hoffenheim. And HSV benefits from Manchester City's spending spree and cashes in on Nigel de Jong to the tune of approx. 17 million euros. Considering he only cost about 1.5 million, and at season's end he could leave for about 3 million, it's a great deal for HSV. But if you follow the EPL, you already know that City is a) stinking rich b) incompetant c) desperate.
Most big transfers within the Bundesliga are only happening at the end of the season. Germany is ass-backwards in this, as players can sign with their new clubs before the season is over. HSV's Ivica Olic is apparently off to Bayern. And Bayern's Lukas Podolski will apparently return to 1. FC Köln. So don't expect Olic to be scoring too many goals when they face Bayern. But at least Podolski won't score the goal that sends 1. FC Köln back down to the 2.Liga, as he almost never gets off the bench at Bayern these days. There were some other transfers, but I can't remember, mostly retreads and failures. Dortmund's Diego Klimowicz goes to Bochum. I think Gladbach's young talent Alex Baumjohann goes to Bayern's bench at end of the season, and he's getting razzed by Gladbach fans. He responds by giving them the finger, showing them that in his mind, the Gladbach fans are "no.1". Werder is basically giving up on Brazilian midfielder Carlos Eduardo, supposedly their most expensive signing - and flop - ever. He's loaned to Vasco da Gama, the famed Rio club that just got relegated to Brazil's Serie B. Seems a bit risky, since their star Brazilian midfielder Diego is forever being caught drunk driving. They could have assigned Carlos to be Diego's driver, thereby getting a greater return from their investment.
New league reorg?
Apparently the DFL (governs Bundesliga and 2.Liga) and DFB (all German football) are examining the league structure once again. Of course, as the overall governing body, the DFB is really calling the shots, but the DFL is the major success and has a huge vested interest. In particular, the DFB is looking at ways of boosting the finances of the new 3.Liga and 4th division Regionalliga. TV money is expected to decline, and attendances have not been overly impressive. Some DFB officials are laying the blame squarely on the "B" squads of the DFL clubs. Unlike England, where reserve clubs play outside the normal league structure, in Germany (and Spain), the "B" clubs participate in the leagues, with only minor restrictions. Of course, their effect on attendance has been disastrous. Rarely does one of these squads draw more than 1,500 fans (as compared to clubs like Braunschweig averaging over 10,000), and as a visitor, they are death at the box office. And of course, not only are the "B" clubs subsidized by the senior club, but they have access to players that regular clubs can't afford.
So the DFB is now looking into establishing a true "reserve league(s)" much like England, where the DFL-B squads could compete. They would therefore be banned from the 3rd and 4th divisions. Needless to say, the "traditional" clubs in the lower divisions love the idea. The DFL clubs aren't too excited, and only use the tired argument that they are developing young talent that wouldn't get a chance otherwise. However, their argument is weakened by the fact that Germany's national team has seen many young talents come into the national team in the past few years, and none have been drawn from any B squads.
Hopefully the DFB will continue down this path and establish a true reserve league...
Man of the Year
It should be no real surprise, but kicker sportmagazin has announced that Bayern midfielder Franck Ribery is the 2008 "Man of the Year". The Frenchman was a somewhat surprise transfer to Bayern in 2007 for the sum of 25 million euros, and considering his dominance on the field, this is a true example of "you get what you pay for." After an outstanding World Cup 2006 with France, one would have expected a big Spanish/Italian or English club to grab him, but Bayern swooped in and he's turned into the dominant player in the Bundesliga. He only finished 16th in the European Footballer of the Year voting, but that's more a reflection of the crap showing of German clubs last season.
2.Liga Mid Season Report cards
Some general impressions of how the Zweite Liga clubs are doing at the winterbreak mark.
1 1. FSV Mainz 05 17 9 4 4 33:19 +14 31 Grade: A- Mainz deserves some kudos for at least playing decently, despite the loss of one of their prize assets: coach Jürgen Klopp left for Dortmund. They're in 1st place, so certainly they're achieving their goals. 2 1. FC Kaiserslautern 17 9 4 4 33:21 +12 31 Grade: A- FCK is a hugely supported clubs whose limits have become increasingly evident over the past few years. Last season was almost a total disaster, but new management has righted the ship. If they get promoted, it will be a huge accomplishment, but they have looked vulnerable, and don't seem to be Bundesliga quality. 3 SC Freiburg 17 9 3 5 26:18 +8 30 Grade: B Freiburg has been solid, but not that impressive. They could go up, they could go nowhere. For some reason I find them boring (in a Dieter from "Sprockets" way), so I really don't care. 4 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 17 8 5 4 36:25 +11 29 Grade: B Another workman-like season for Fürth. It would be a shock (and disappointment) if they get promoted, but they're bound to be hanging around. 5 Alemannia Aachen 17 8 4 5 26:19 +7 28 Grade: B- I expected more from Aachen, they've looked crap at times. Still, they're only a couple of wins away from a promotion spot, so they could quickly change their grade to something impressive. 6 FC Augsburg 17 8 3 6 25:22 +3 27 Grade: B+ I don't think anyone seriously expects much from Augsburg, and they've solidly met that (non) expectation. A good squad, was somewhat decent support. Going nowhere, but capable of making things difficult for better clubs. 7 FC St. Pauli 17 8 3 6 28:30 -2 27 Grade: A- St.Pauli was crap last season, and to some extent are this season as well. But they've managed to completely float way above any relegation fears. And their fan support is a huge plus, a nice welcome to dreary 2.Liga attendance. 8 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 17 6 7 4 24:17 +7 25 Grade: C A couple of weeks ago, this probably would have been a "D". Der Club blasted out of the starting gates at a snail's pace, and then took the foot off the gas peddle. Chaos in management and on the pitch. However, they seemed to have at least straightened things out. If they get their act together, they could make a run at promotion. Anything less has to be considered a failure. 9 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 17 7 3 7 24:30 -6 24 Grade: B Not even Ahlen expected their good start, which saw them punching above their weight. They've lost a few pounds since, but remain solid mid-table, and will not be relegated. So no matter what, they earn a decent mark. 10 MSV Duisburg (A) 17 5 7 5 24:19 +5 22 Grade: C- Duisburg expected to contend for promotion, and they've clearly failed on that account. They're going nowhere, and 11 TSV 1860 München 17 6 4 7 20:17 +3 22 Grade: D This was approaching an "F" not long ago, but 1860 have a couple of decent results since. They should be a promotion contender, but they've been a disaster. 12 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 17 6 3 8 23:28 -5 21 Grade: C Not too much expected, and they kicked a couple of high-flyers ass in the process. But they've been very inconsistent, and aren't out of the woods yet. 13 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 17 6 2 9 17:31 -14 20 Grade: C+ Oberhausen expected to struggle, and they have. But they still have their head above water. 14 VfL Osnabrück 17 4 7 6 24:31 -7 19 Grade: B- Surely this grade is too high. but they've played some decent football, just not been blessed with results. I expected them to be in a relegation spot, so they've actually done a bit better. They also have decent fan support, so that should be worth something. 15 Hansa Rostock (A) 17 4 5 8 25:29 -4 17 Grade: D- I'm torn whether to give Rostock an "F". Disaster. If they manage to get relegated, it would be a huge blow to ex-GDR football. I finally decided on only a "D-" because they did have at least one memorable result, 9-0 against Koblenz. 16 TuS Koblenz 17 4 5 8 22:29 -7 14 Grade: D Relegation was certainly a worry, as from the start Koblenz is penalized with -3. But despite the penalty excuse, their play has been somewhat lackluster, and they're on the verge of falling apart. 17 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 17 2 8 7 18:31 -13 14 Grade: D Wehen shouldn't even be in the 2.Liga, so there. It's hard to mark them down too much. 18 FSV Frankfurt (N) 17 2 7 8 15:27 -12 13 Grade: C- Everyone knew that staying up was going to be a difficult task for FSV. They're really not 2.Liga quality, but they haven't played that badly. They need a little more luck, and if they somehow manage to last, they would deserve a decent mark.
3. Liga, Round 20
The 3.Liga goes into winterbreak as well, with no real shocking results. The top clash between Paderborn and Düsseldorf ended scoreless, as did 4 other matches. In fact, only a measly 10 goals were scored this weekend, a disgraceful 30% ending up in Wuppertal's net.
It appears there are only 4 clubs that realistically can expect to do much in the 2nd half. Leaders Paderborn, followed by Union, with Emden snapping at their heels. Düsseldorf might be able to sneak in, but it doesn't seem likely for clubs like Offenbach or Unterhaching.
I think the DFB would like Braunschweig to stay right where they are. They're going nowhere on the field, but I don't think the Lions have had less than 10,000 for any home game. So at least the 3.Liga is working financially for one club. I would guess that only Düsseldorf comes even close.
On the negative side, Dresden has been a disaster, but not as much as Wuppertal. They gave coach Christoph John an Xmas present as they fired his ass with WSV falling into a relegation spot. Hopefully, they can regroup, but that seems unlikely, given the clowns running the club. They were in 1st place in the old Regionalliga, which mean they could have been in the 2.Liga. But the coach apprently couldn't get along with the bosses, and therefore was canned to be replaced by a toady. They limped into the 3.Liga, and after a weak start, have really begun to stink up the joint. And the fans have abandoned the club. How can a city with a population of almost 400,000 average under 3,000 spectators a match?! Dresden of course is probably the most famous ex-GDR club, and is in total chaos. Since there appear to be crappier clubs, they'll probably avoid relegation.
Stuttgarter Kickers got off to a horrible start, and it's a tough road back, but they've at least improved and perhaps can accomplish a miracle. Werder Bremen II, good riddance, crap B squad that kills German football economically worse than a Robert Mugabe finance policy. Now if they could only figure a way to sink Bayern and Stuttgart II.
BTW, I count 7 ex-Bundesliga clubs. Of course, maybe I can't count, so see if you can figure out the clubs. (Answer is down the page under last week's 3.Liga games. How's that for back to the future?)
Kickers Offenbach - VfB Stuttgart II 2:0 (1:0) 6,291 (Morys 2) Dynamo Dresden - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:1 (1:0) 11,357 (Bröker - Stenzel) 1. FC Union Berlin - Bayern München II 0:0 (0:0) 5,700 Wuppertaler SV Bor. - Kickers Emden 0:3 (0:2) 2,646 (Klasen, Ramaj, Unger) Carl Zeiss Jena - Jahn Regensburg 0:0 (0:0) 5,964 Werder Bremen II - SpVgg Unterhaching 1:0 (1:0) 400 (Perthel) Stuttgarter Kickers - Wacker Burghausen 0:0 (0:0) 2,820 SC Paderborn 07 - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:0 (0:0) 13,136 Eintracht Braunschweig - Erzgebirge Aue 1:1 (0:0) 12,800 (Onuegbu - Feick) VfR Aalen - SV Sandhausen 0:0 (0:0) 2,970 Attendance: 64,084 (avg 6,408) 1 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 20 13 3 4 38:21 +17 42 2 1. FC Union Berlin 20 11 7 2 33:15 +18 40 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Kickers Emden 20 11 5 4 27:17 +10 38 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 20 10 4 6 28:16 +12 34 5 Kickers Offenbach (A) 20 8 8 4 27:18 +9 32 6 SpVgg Unterhaching 20 9 5 6 26:27 -1 32 7 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 20 9 4 7 28:21 +7 31 8 Bayern München II 20 6 12 2 24:20 +4 30 9 SV Sandhausen 20 6 7 7 29:28 +1 25 10 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 20 6 7 7 24:28 -4 25 11 VfB Stuttgart II 19 6 6 7 32:26 +6 24 12 Eintracht Braunschweig 20 6 6 8 24:24 0 24 13 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 19 6 6 7 24:26 -2 24 14 VfR Aalen 20 4 11 5 17:24 -7 23 15 Wacker Burghausen 19 5 5 9 24:35 -11 20 16 Jahn Regensburg 20 4 8 8 19:30 -11 20 17 Dynamo Dresden 19 4 6 9 14:22 -8 18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 20 4 6 10 18:31 -13 18 19 Werder Bremen II 20 4 4 12 26:35 -9 16 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 20 2 8 10 24:42 -18 14 (A) Absteiger (relegated from 2.Liga) note: No (N) "Neuling" (promoted club), as 1st year of 3.Liga
Bundesliga Mid Season Report cards
I'm not sure how to give out the grades, at least in terms of how we should be rating the clubs. Should it be a strict bell-curve, where the top clubs get the high grades, and the low clubs the crap ones? Or should it be based more on "expectations", which in this case is a reflection of my own personal bias and projections? Well, obviously the latter, since this is my personal forum to rant and rave! Unforunately (or fortunately for my readers), I failed to do a preseason report this year. But I'll try and be honest in my analysis, and you'll just have to take my word for it. I mean, you've come this far. And besides, "honesty" is the first thing out of a politician's mouth, and you usually re-elect them So I'm using a modified American-standard grading system... A: Superb, outstanding B: Good, decent C: mediocre D: Crap F: Detroit Lions 1 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 17 11 2 4 42:23 +19 35 Grade: A+ Anyone who says they expected Hoffenheim to do this well or top the table is a liar. They have clearly exceeded everybody's expectations, and although many disgruntled loser fans are too busy complaining about their "money buying success", if you've actually watched them play, you can tell you got a bunch of hungry over-achievers hustling their asses off. No doubt having lots of funds makes things easier, but adding another contender to Bayern is a GOOD thing for the Bundesliga. (Besides, Bayern spent 80 million last season, and nobody bitched about that.) Coach Ralf Rangnick is a runaway "Coach of the Year" winner, even if Hoffenheim lose all their remaining games. 2 Bayern München (M, P) 17 10 5 2 39:24 +15 35 Grade: B Bayern is the only team that can only get an "A" by being in 1st - anything less is not up to snuff. That said, coach Jürgen Klinsmann has done a good job in imposing his style on the team. The key factor however has been the return from injury of Franck Ribery, the dominant player in the Bundesliga. Since his return, Bayern have been outstanding. Among areas requiring work is the lax defense, and GK Rensing is basically crap. 3 Hertha BSC Berlin 17 10 3 4 27:20 +7 33 Grade: A- I expected Hertha to be mediocre and crap, and they started out that way with their "bore everybody to death" football. But I have to admit, they've gotten alot out of their minimalist football. Coach Lucien Favre deserves credit for putting together a discplined squad, which occasionally will get bitch-slapped, but seems able to grind out points. This means that Hertha winters in a Champions League spot, which would be quite an accomplishment. 4 Hamburger SV 17 10 3 4 26:24 +2 33 Grade: B+ HSV has decided that Hertha is the team to emulate, and they've done a pretty decent job in that department. Their fans haven't fallen asleep yet, and the general public is not completely turned off by their boring play, but they're well on their way. On the other hand, they sold heavily in the offseason, and spent very little, getting even less quality in return. But coach Martin Jol has done a good job in getting the points, so they've probably done better than expected - assuming you had realistic expectations for these clowns. 5 Bayer Leverkusen 17 10 2 5 36:21 +15 32 Grade: B Bayer has been pretty decent, and they even looked like a contender for a period. But they seemed to have hit a wall and don't seem to have much of an upside: what you see is what your're gonna get. A nice mix of young talent and veterans, some decent football, and they'll live up to their "Luserkusen" reputation. 6 Borussia Dortmund 17 7 8 2 27:19 +8 29 Grade: B Borussia is a "massive" club, but in recent years that has referred mostly to their debt. Now in fairness, in the last couple of seasons, the club has made major strides in getting the debt under control. The side effect has been dumping over-priced "star" players, and in general, suffering on the field. New coach Jürgen Klopp appears to have stopped the downward spiral in performance. Dortmund is competitive, and in general has played quite well. They're clearly not a contender for the title, by UEFA qualification is a reasonable goal. 7 FC Schalke 04 17 7 6 4 24:16 +8 27 Grade: C Schalke has at times played decent, but for the most part they've disappointed their legion of fans once more. They've sucked as often as impressed, and the main problem has been the anemic offense. Defensively, the club has been quite solid 8 Werder Bremen 17 7 5 5 39:28 +11 26 Grade: C- Bremen is the 2nd surprise after Hoppenheim. Werder has either been brilliant or stunk, not much middle ground. They clearly expected to challenge for the title and advance in the Champions League, and they have done neither. And yet they manage to avoid complete condemnation with some excellent individual matches at time, e.g. their bitch-slapping rampage in München against Bayern. 9 VfL Wolfsburg 17 7 5 5 35:25 +10 26 Grade: B Wolfsburg is one of those teams that you never pay attention to, so when they actually pop up on the radar, it's a suprise. They've played some good football at times, and a UEFA Cup spot is a possibility. Many picked them for relegation battle periphery, but they're cleary on the opposite end. 10 VfB Stuttgart 17 7 4 6 26:23 +3 25 Grade: B- Stuttgart is mixed in all classifications. They won the title two years ago, but frankly that was a fluke. Whenever VfB does something decent, it's a fluke. That said, you can't have your expectations set too high. They seem a decent, mid-table squad, and if things go right, they could be UEFA. They've probably underperformed lightly so far, but have shown flashes of competancy. 11 1. FC Köln (N) 17 7 1 9 19:25 -6 22 Grade : B I expected Köln to be crap, and in general they haven't disappointed :). But what they have managed to do is collect points here and there, and when you tally it all, they're sitting quite pretty. They will obviously avoid relegation, and that is evident even this early in the season, so how can you not give them a good grade? From a negative standpoint, they've clearly been shown their limitations when playing better teams, but points in those games were never expected anyway. They've done well in grabbing points that have been up for grabs. 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 17 5 4 8 23:29 -6 19 Grade: C Rollercoaster. Frankfurt seems to have some talent, and at times can do some bitch-slapping. But evidently they also like being on the receiving end. I think they're capable of more, so you have to mark them down somewhat. 13 Hannover 96 17 4 5 8 20:32 -12 17 Grade: C I've never bought into 96 being a solid team, but I accept the proposition that they're a cut above the riff-raff to follow. As a result, they're doing pretty much what is expected, perhaps a tinge worse. They have a solid fan base that would reward them if they could get some results, but they seem content to wallow in mediocrity, perhaps because they've never known better. 14 Arminia Bielefeld 17 2 8 7 15:27 -12 14 Grade: D Bielefeld has played crap most of the year. And they're certainly used to that. But just when you think they're finished, they put together a couple of decent results. However, in general they've been crap, and the only thing propping them up is that some other squads have been worse. That's hardly a way to build your campaign, and certainly ain't going to get you a good grade from Abseits... 15 Karlsruher SC 17 4 1 12 15:32 -17 13 Grade: D Last season KSC was a sensation for about 3/4 of the season. But you saw them run out of gas, and the writing was on the wall that they could struggle this year. The writing was correct. KSC has been weak and is in severe trouble. 16 Energie Cottbus 17 3 4 10 12:29 -17 13 Grade: C You expect Cottbus to be a bottom feeder and struggle, so how can you give them a bad grade? The last couple of weeks leading to winter actually raised their grade, as they got some critical points against fellow strugglers. On the other hand, from Energie's standpoint, their "Stadion der Freundschaft" has to be an absolute rock, and they have appeared vulnerable at home, so that's clearly not helping the grade. Since you have to pick Energie to be relegated every season, everytime they even LOOK like they have a chance of staying up, I'm inclined to go easy on them. 17 VfL Bochum 17 1 8 8 19:30 -11 11 Grade: D Bochum has simply thrown away too many points here and there, and look like they're going down. A couple of wins could turn things around, as there is plenty of crap from Bielefeld down, but they don't look like they've got the makings of one of those turnarounds. For one thing, in past decent seasons, Bochum usually has had some outstanding individual putting the ball in the net (e.g. Hashemian, Christensen, Gekas), but that really hasn't happened this time. In fact, Hashemian is more like Hashish, and is feuding with the club. They're on a downward slide that looks like 2.Liga football. 18 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 17 3 2 12 18:35 -17 11 Grade: D Gladbach supposedly had young talent. Actually, they do. But they suck, and they haven't found a way to develop this talent fast enough to make a Bundesliga impact. And when they panicked and fired their coach, they replaced him with Hans Meyer - the veteran of many a relegation battle. But Meyer seems an odd pick, because his track record appears more of getting steeled relegation battle veterans to just give that extra ounce to save the day. But Gladbach appears to rely on mostly youngsters, so it probably won't work. As one would expect, the Gladbachers have put in some enthsiastic performances (witness the match with Bayern), but they haven't been able to nail down points in matches that really matter - against fellow relegation candidates. So they winter in last, with few prospects of improvement.
Bundesliga, Round 17
Hoffenheim dominated the action, but Schalke was incredibly discplined. Well, let me re-phrase that: their play was disciplined, but Jermaine Jones and Orlando Engelaar were not. These doofuses got their asses tossed, and forced a desperate Schalke rearguard action, as upstarts Hoffenheim laid assault to the Schalker goal. But a sharp GK Neuer and heroic defensive play got them a solid point. Hoffenheim can't really complain - they did just about everything right - but they just couldn't get that second goal. Nevertheless, the Bundesliga sensation tops the table for the winterbreak, albeit just on goal difference.
This is because two goals in injury time - at each half - gave Stuttgart a draw in their huge clash with Bayern München. Stuttgart was the better squad in the first half, but Bayern cam roaring back and was on the verge of a huge away win. But VfB didn't give up and managed to grab a deserved draw in injury time.
Not a very impressive performance for Hamburg, who struggled mightily against a defensive oriented Frankfurt. Luckily, Eintracht had no clue on offense, so HSV was able to make a single goal standup for a win.
Hertha BSC dominated the match against Karlsruhe, but were having a rough time bringing home the bacon. Usually it's just the opposite, with the Berliners putting their opponents to sleep and then sneaking in a goal. Instead, KSC was on their backfoot the whole game, and Berlin smelt blood. They were eventually rewarded with a slew of goals in the last quarter hour, perhaps their best performance of the season. KSC had a crap half season, and look like a good relegation candidate.
Leverkusen dominated against Cottbus, but were left with that Alka-Seltzer feeling ("Plop, plop, fizz, fizz..oh what a relief it is"). The Aspirins had a hard time breaking down the disciplined Energie defense, and fell asleep right at the end, allowing Chinese international Shao-yi to steal a precious point for the visitors.
A decent northern derby between two surprising teams - Bremen because they've sucked, Wolfsburg because they've played well. But Werder once again demonstrated their Jeckyl and Hyde persona. Despite falling behind right at the start, they raised their game and took the lead. The VWs really didn't do much until the end, and it was too late. A deserved win for Bremen, and if they can lick their wounds in the winterbreak, perhaps they can salvage something.
Hannover will kick themselves for letting their game against Arminia slip away. They were the better squad, although hardly impressive. Bielefeld was happy to grab a point in a average performance.
A couple of clubs will likely look at their match as the key in the relegation. For Köln, a huge win, despite two red cards. For Bochum, a chance thrown away, for obvious reasons. Bochum looked overall the better team, but couldn't turn their advantage into goals, and Köln fought hard and got an unexpected reward. For the visitors, it would take a major 2nd half collapse to get dragged back into relegation, whereas Bochum needs to start checking out those 2.Liga train schedules.
Gladbach is in last place, and this match is a good indication why. Dortmund's Hajnal got his ass tossed right after the first goal. And yet despite almost an hour of a man advantage, not only did Gladbach fail to take the lead, but they gave up an additional goal. Nice win for Dortmund, although they made things difficult. About the only positive thing for Gladbach is that although they're dead last, they're not too far behind.
Borussia Dortmund - Borussia M'gladbach 2:1 (1:0) 79,700 (Zidan, Sahin - van den Bergh) Werder Bremen - VfL Wolfsburg 2:1 (1:1) 40,008 (Mertesacker, Josué o.g. - Gentner) Hamburger SV - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:0 (0:0) 55,274 (Petric) VfB Stuttgart - Bayern München 2:2 (1:0) 55,896 (Khedira 2 - Borowski, Toni) Bayer Leverkusen - Energie Cottbus 1:1 (0:0) 19,200 (Rolfes - Shao) Hannover 96 - Arminia Bielefeld 1:1 (1:0) 36,672 (Stajner - Wichniarek) Hertha BSC - Karlsruher SC 4:0 (1:0) 38,421 (Nicu, Domovchiyski, Lustenberger, Raffael) VfL Bochum - 1. FC Köln 1:2 (0:1) 30,208 (Dabrowski - McKenna, Ishiaku) 1899 Hoffenheim - FC Schalke 04 1:1 (0:1) 26,300 (Teber - Asamoah) Attendance: 381,679 (avg 42,409) 1 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 17 11 2 4 42:23 +19 35 2 Bayern München (M, P) 17 10 5 2 39:24 +15 35 3 Hertha BSC Berlin 17 10 3 4 27:20 +7 33 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Hamburger SV 17 10 3 4 26:24 +2 33 5 Bayer Leverkusen 17 10 2 5 36:21 +15 32 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Borussia Dortmund 17 7 8 2 27:19 +8 29 7 FC Schalke 04 17 7 6 4 24:16 +8 27 8 Werder Bremen 17 7 5 5 39:28 +11 26 9 VfL Wolfsburg 17 7 5 5 35:25 +10 26 10 VfB Stuttgart 17 7 4 6 26:23 +3 25 11 1. FC Köln (N) 17 7 1 9 19:25 -6 22 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 17 5 4 8 23:29 -6 19 13 Hannover 96 17 4 5 8 20:32 -12 17 14 Arminia Bielefeld 17 2 8 7 15:27 -12 14 15 Karlsruher SC 17 4 1 12 15:32 -17 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Energie Cottbus 17 3 4 10 12:29 -17 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 VfL Bochum 17 1 8 8 19:30 -11 11 18 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 17 3 2 12 18:35 -17 11 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 17
Despite what many think, the 2.Liga isn't completely worthless, as far as the fans are concerned. The Bavarian derby between 1860 and Nürnberg packed in a crowd that would be the envy of football clubs just about anywhere. And there was a nice turnout for the big clash between Kaiserslautern and Freiburg, which decided who would winter in an automatic promotion spot.
Some surprise results this week just demonstrate how closely the clubs really are. Oberhausen upended leaders Mainz, and hopelessly last FSV Frankfurt stunned St.Pauli. Ex-Bundesligist Aachen got their come-uppance in Augsburg. Perhaps the most significant result however was Rostock stopping the rot in a crucial match against Wehen.
TuS Koblenz - FC Ingolstadt 04 0:1 (0:1) 7,147 (Karl) VfL Osnabrück - MSV Duisburg 1:1 (1:1) 14,500 (Reichenberger - Kouemaha) FSV Frankfurt - FC St. Pauli 1:0 (0:0) 7,711 (Noll) Hansa Rostock - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 1:0 (1:0) 12,000 (Simac o.g.) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 3:0 (1:0) 5,600 (Reisinger, Burkhardt, Kotuljac) 1860 München - 1. FC Nürnberg 1:1 (0:1) 57,200 (Thorandt - Boakye) FC Augsburg - Alemannia Aachen 3:1 (0:0) 14,119 (Werner 2, Sinkala - Olajengbesi) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - 1. FSV Mainz 05 2:1 (1:1) 6,294 (Kruse, Lüttmann - Baljak) 1. FC Kaiserslautern - SC Freiburg 2:0 (0:0) 35,000 (Amedick, Jendrisek) Attendance: 159,711 (avg 17,730) 1 1. FSV Mainz 05 17 9 4 4 33:19 +14 31 2 1. FC Kaiserslautern 17 9 4 4 33:21 +12 31 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Freiburg 17 9 3 5 26:18 +8 30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 17 8 5 4 36:25 +11 29 5 Alemannia Aachen 17 8 4 5 26:19 +7 28 6 FC Augsburg 17 8 3 6 25:22 +3 27 7 FC St. Pauli 17 8 3 6 28:30 -2 27 8 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 17 6 7 4 24:17 +7 25 9 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 17 7 3 7 24:30 -6 24 10 MSV Duisburg (A) 17 5 7 5 24:19 +5 22 11 TSV 1860 München 17 6 4 7 20:17 +3 22 12 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 17 6 3 8 23:28 -5 21 13 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 17 6 2 9 17:31 -14 20 14 VfL Osnabrück 17 4 7 6 24:31 -7 19 15 Hansa Rostock (A) 17 4 5 8 25:29 -4 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 TuS Koblenz 17 4 5 8 22:29 -7 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 17 2 8 7 18:31 -13 14 18 FSV Frankfurt (N) 17 2 7 8 15:27 -12 13 (A) Absteiger (relegated from Bundesliga) (N) Neuling (promoted from Regionalliga) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 19
The shocker was Düsseldorf going down in flames against a crap Bremen squad. That definitely hurts Fortuna. The big match was Union defeating Emden, strengthening their hold on the critical 2nd automatic promotion spot. Leaders Paderborn met resistance, but was able to slap Stuttgarter Kickers into last place.
From a personal note, the continued crap performance of my beloved Wuppertaler SV is a disgrace! Somebody needs to be held accountable! Well, OK, at least blame somebody, anybody!. If any of the fans (who have already voted by not showing up) get a clue, maybe they could throw a shoe at club president Friedhelm Runge. I would suggest throwing something at the head coach, but they get fired so often, I can't remember who's supposedly in charge. It's beginning ot look a lot like the Oakland Rayduhs...
Future (22/12) Quiz answer: Düsseldorf, Unterhaching, Offenbach, Braunschweig, Wuppertal, Dresden, Stuttgarter Kickers. No, Bayern, Werder and VfB Stuttgart II don't count.
Kickers Offenbach - Bayern München II 2:0 (1:0) 6,457 (Mesic, Tosunoglu) Dynamo Dresden - Erzgebirge Aue -:- (-:-) canceled VfR Aalen - SpVgg Unterhaching 2:3 (1:2) 2,100 (Stickel, Okic - Fink 3) Carl Zeiss Jena - SV Sandhausen 2:0 (0:0) 6,403 (Schembri, Ziegner) Eintracht Braunschweig - Jahn Regensburg 0:3 (0:1) 11,850 (Zellner, Stoilov, Bambara) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 0:2 (0:1) 2,453 (Bunjaku, Cannizzaro) 1. FC Union Berlin - Kickers Emden 2:0 (1:0) 5,017 (Benyamina, Schulz) SC Paderborn 07 - Stuttgarter Kickers 2:0 (0:0) 7,944 (Löning, Güvenisik) Werder Bremen II - Fortuna Düsseldorf 2:0 (1:0) 1,000 (Feldhahn, Holsing) VfB Stuttgart II - Wacker Burghausen -:- (-:-) canceled Attendance: 43,224 (avg 5,403) 1 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 19 13 2 4 38:21 +17 41 2 1. FC Union Berlin 19 11 6 2 33:15 +18 39 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Kickers Emden 18 10 5 3 24:15 +9 35 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 19 10 3 6 28:16 +12 33 5 SpVgg Unterhaching 19 9 5 5 26:26 0 32 6 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 19 9 3 7 27:20 +7 30 7 Kickers Offenbach (A) 19 7 8 4 25:18 +7 29 8 Bayern München II 18 5 11 2 22:20 +2 26 9 VfB Stuttgart II 18 6 6 6 32:24 +8 24 10 SV Sandhausen 19 6 6 7 29:28 +1 24 11 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 19 6 6 7 24:28 -4 24 12 Eintracht Braunschweig 19 6 5 8 23:23 0 23 13 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 18 6 5 7 23:25 -2 23 14 VfR Aalen 19 4 10 5 17:24 -7 22 15 Wacker Burghausen 18 5 4 9 24:35 -11 19 16 Jahn Regensburg 19 4 7 8 19:30 -11 19 17 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 19 4 6 9 18:28 -10 18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Dynamo Dresden 18 4 5 9 13:21 -8 17 19 Werder Bremen II 19 3 4 12 25:35 -10 13 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 19 2 7 10 24:42 -18 13 (A) Absteiger (relegated from 2.Liga) note: No (N) "Neuling" (promoted club), as 1st year of 3.Liga
More Hopp-en-heim!
Word is that GK Timo Hildebrand will be joining upstart 1899 Hoffenheim in the January transfer window. Hildebrand was the heir apparent to Oliver Kahn/Jens Lehmann as Germany's no.1. He was in outstanding form and was the backbone of the surprise Stuttgart squad that won the title in 2007. Then he cleverly engineered a big money contract move to Spain's Valencia. This turned out to be a disaster for Hildebrand. At first he sat on the bench, and when he finally was named regaulr starter under Ronald Koeman, Valencia basically went into the toilet with one of there worst season's ever. Hildebrand didn't seem to play that poorly, but most highlight reels showed him flopped on his back and the ball in the net. Now that Valencia has somehwat stabilized on the field, they are on the verge of bankruptcy, and are jettisoning as many overpaid underperformers as possible. So Hildebrand was offered an immediate release without any transfer fee. He accepted, and apparently Hoffenheim pounced immediately. Although Hoffenheim's current GK, Daniel Haas, has pretty decent, if Hildebrand can reclaim his previous form, this is a major coup for the villagers. And although his wages will certainly be substantial (although nothing like Spain/England/Italy), it costs nothing up front.
Bundesliga, Round 16
The big match that everyone was waiting for (sounds ridiculous, at least if you said this in August) was on a Friday night, and Bayern prevailed - barely. Hoffenheim gave the champs all they could handle, and it took an injury time goal by Luca Toni to give them the win. Although Bayern seemed to have sustained pressure in the latter stages of the match, it could have gone either way. Hoffenheim's Vedad Ibisevic had put the upstarts in the lead - his 18th league goal. He has to be the bargain of the year. Everyone whines about "Hoppenheim" as if they were Chelski, but Ibisevic apparently only cost 1 million euros, quite a bargain. One interesting factoid is that Ibisevic actually played NCAA soccer at St.Louis University, so he could hardly have been considered much of a prospect in his early career.
Schalke finally won a "big" match, if you could call it that. They stopped Hertha's mini-run with a header by Gerald Asamoah. (Good thing, because if he had shot, he would have missed, guaranteed!). Does this stop the rot in Gelsenkirchen? Of course not! They'll probably go out and suck next week, that's why they're the Masters of Pain :) As for Berlin, I guess they got out-minimalized this time. But they remain a good bet for a UEFA Cup spot.
Leverkusen rebounded with a solid win in Gladbach, who look in serious trouble now. The same must be said for Bochum, who got blasted by Frankfurt (a nice turnaround for them afater getting creamed in Bremen.) Karlsruhe, who have been struggling mightily, got a huge boost with their victory over Bremen. After the match, Bremen's sports director Klaus Allofs went nutzoid on Claudio Pizzaro, who got his ass tossed in injury time. Pizzaro was toast of the Weser last week, and this week gets his ass ripped. Not sure I get the point, since obviously the whole teamed sucked and they lost...
The other relegation fodder, Cottbus, showed signs of life last week with a huge away win in Gladbach. So they came out full of confidence with aggressive football at home against Stuttgart. Hello, Energie, Reality calling! They got their ass whupped by a rampant VfB, who cleverly countered the Cottbuser. Stuttgart must also be happy that famous headcase Jan Simak scored for the 2nd week in a row. For those that have followed German football for a while, Simak has been the source of plenty of entertainment over the years with many clubs. The Czech midifielder is extremely talented, but probably belongs in a mental institution. Kind of like Eric Cantona without the wit and will-power.
Köln is basically incompetant, although their squad really isn't that bad. A huffing and puffing Hamburg was ripe for the taking, but instead HSV grabs all the points. Headcoach Martin Jol continues to eek out wins with his lame squad, so kudos to him. Meanwhile, Wolfsburg is actually looking as the most solid club in the north. No expectations really, but they've played fairly well. Unlike Bremen or HSV, they've been consistent, and they've generally been getting the points that are achievable. They eeked out another win against their neighbors Hannover, another wildly swinging northern club.
Bayern München - 1899 Hoffenheim 2:1 (0:0) 69,000 (Lahm, Toni - Ibisevic) FC Schalke 04 - Hertha BSC 1:0 (0:0) 60,999 (Asamoah) Eintracht Frankfurt - VfL Bochum 4:0 (2:0) 39,400 (Liberopoulos 2, Russ, Steinhöfer) Karlsruher SC - Werder Bremen 1:0 (0:0) 29,373 (Buck) Energie Cottbus - VfB Stuttgart 0:3 (0:1) 13,527 (Hilbert, Simak, Khedira) Arminia Bielefeld - Borussia Dortmund 0:0 (0:0) 25,400 Borussia M'gladbach - Bayer Leverkusen 1:3 (0:2) 44,161 (Jantschke - Kiessling 2, Helmes) VfL Wolfsburg - Hannover 96 2:1 (1:0) 27,560 (Zaccardo, Misimovic - Stajner) 1. FC Köln - Hamburger SV 1:2 (0:2) 50,000 (Novakovic - Petric 2) Attendance: 359,400 (avg 39,936) 1 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 16 11 1 4 41:22 +19 34 2 Bayern München (M, P) 16 10 4 2 37:22 +15 34 3 Bayer Leverkusen 16 10 1 5 35:20 +15 31 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Hertha BSC Berlin 16 9 3 4 23:20 +3 30 5 Hamburger SV 16 9 3 4 25:24 +1 30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 VfL Wolfsburg 16 7 5 4 34:23 +11 26 7 FC Schalke 04 16 7 5 4 23:15 +8 26 8 Borussia Dortmund 16 6 8 2 25:18 +7 26 9 VfB Stuttgart 16 7 3 6 24:21 +3 24 10 Werder Bremen 16 6 5 5 37:27 +10 23 11 Eintracht Frankfurt 16 5 4 7 23:28 -5 19 12 1. FC Köln (N) 16 6 1 9 17:24 -7 19 13 Hannover 96 16 4 4 8 19:31 -12 16 14 Arminia Bielefeld 16 2 7 7 14:26 -12 13 15 Karlsruher SC 16 4 1 11 15:28 -13 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Energie Cottbus 16 3 3 10 11:28 -17 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 VfL Bochum 16 1 8 7 18:28 -10 11 18 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 16 3 2 11 17:33 -16 11 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 16
Mainz was stunned at home by Fürth, whom they apparently haven't beaten since 2000. The primary beneficiary was Freiburg, who struggled but managed to upend Oberhausen. Aachen defeated 1860, and has quietly moved into contention. K'lautern holds the 3rd spot, and you would have to consider their scoreless draw away to Duisburg a good point for them. St.Pauli remains suprisingly decent, another 3 points, this time against struggling Koblenz.
Nürnberg finally put together a decent performance, as they ripped Rostock. Der Club has struggled mightily this season, but perhaps they have turned the corner. A pitiful display by Hansa, who have battled Cottbus for the title of "best ex-GDR club". While Energie is still hanging on, Rostock could drop down into the 3.Liga and lose any hope of the crown.
1. FSV Mainz 05 - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 0:1 (0:0) 18,500 (Sararer) Alemannia Aachen - 1860 München 2:0 (1:0) 19,173 (Milchraum, Holtby) FC Ingolstadt 04 - FSV Frankfurt 1:1 (0:1) 3,725 (Wenczel - Husterer) MSV Duisburg - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 0:0 (0:0) 17,135 SC Freiburg - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 2:1 (0:1) 11,700 (Schuster, Toprak - Schlieter) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - FC Augsburg 1:2 (0:0) 7,098 (StrohEngel - Möhrle, Thurk) FC St. Pauli - TuS Koblenz 3:2 (1:1) 22,204 (Ludwig, Sako, Eger - Vata, Mavric) Rot-Weiss Ahlen - VfL Osnabrück 1:2 (1:0) 7,583 (Toborg - Frommer, Braun) 1. FC Nürnberg - Hansa Rostock 4:0 (3:0) 30,000 (mintal 2, Frantz, Kluge) Attendance: 137,118 (avg 15,235) 1 1. FSV Mainz 05 16 9 4 3 32:17 +15 31 2 SC Freiburg 16 9 3 4 26:16 +10 30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FC Kaiserslautern 16 8 4 4 31:21 +10 28 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Alemannia Aachen 16 8 4 4 25:16 +9 28 5 FC St. Pauli 16 8 3 5 28:29 -1 27 6 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 16 7 5 4 33:25 +8 26 7 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 16 6 6 4 23:16 +7 24 8 FC Augsburg 16 7 3 6 22:21 +1 24 9 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 16 7 3 6 24:27 -3 24 10 MSV Duisburg (A) 16 5 6 5 23:18 +5 21 11 TSV 1860 München 16 6 3 7 19:16 +3 21 12 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 16 5 3 8 22:28 -6 18 13 VfL Osnabrück 16 4 6 6 23:30 -7 18 14 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 16 5 2 9 15:30 -15 17 15 Hansa Rostock (A) 16 3 5 8 24:29 -5 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 TuS Koblenz 16 4 5 7 22:28 -6 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 16 2 8 6 18:30 -12 14 18 FSV Frankfurt (N) 16 1 7 8 14:27 -13 10 (A) Absteiger (relegated from Bundesliga) (N) Neuling (promoted from Regionalliga) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 18
No dramatic changes this week. Leaders Paderborn were stunned in Burghausen, but remain at the top. None of the other leader teams (Union, Emden, Düsseldorf) were able to make up much ground, as all their games ended in 1-1 draws. At the bottom, Stuttgarter Kickers have finally moved off the last spot, as they managed to hold on against Werder II. SK had a horrendous start, but have been playing better recently, so they at least have a fighting chance to get back in the "salvation" race.
SV Sandhausen - Eintracht Braunschweig 0:1 (0:1) 1,420 (Kruppke) Bayern München II - VfB Stuttgart II 1:1 (0:0) 750 (Müller - Kolinger) Kickers Emden - Kickers Offenbach 1:1 (0:0) 2,930 (Zedi - Albayrak) Rot-Weiß Erfurt - 1. FC Union Berlin 1:1 (1:0) 9,358 (Wolf - Dogan) Erzgebirge Aue - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 1:0 (1:0) 6,700 (Curri) Jahn Regensburg - Dynamo Dresden 1:0 (1:0) 5,500 (Stoilov) Fortuna Düsseldorf - VfR Aalen 1:1 (0:1) 9,836 (Jovanovic - Sailer) Wacker Burghausen - SC Paderborn 07 2:0 (1:0) 2,300 (Cappek, Oslislo) SpVgg Unterhaching - Carl Zeiss Jena 1:0 (1:0) 4,200 (Fink) Stuttgarter Kickers - Werder Bremen II 3:2 (3:0) 2,500 (Smeekes 2, Schürg - GanskovHansen, Andersen) Attendance: 45,494 (avg 4,549) 1 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 18 12 2 4 36:21 +15 38 2 1. FC Union Berlin 18 10 6 2 31:15 +16 36 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Kickers Emden 17 10 5 2 24:13 +11 35 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 18 10 3 5 28:14 +14 33 5 SpVgg Unterhaching 18 8 5 5 23:24 -1 29 6 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 18 8 3 7 25:20 +5 27 7 Kickers Offenbach (A) 18 6 8 4 23:18 +5 26 8 Bayern München II 17 5 11 1 22:18 +4 26 9 VfB Stuttgart II 18 6 6 6 32:24 +8 24 10 SV Sandhausen 18 6 6 6 29:26 +3 24 11 Eintracht Braunschweig 18 6 5 7 23:20 +3 23 12 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 18 6 5 7 23:25 -2 23 13 VfR Aalen 18 4 10 4 15:21 -6 22 14 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 18 5 6 7 22:28 -6 21 15 Wacker Burghausen 18 5 4 9 24:35 -11 19 16 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 18 4 6 8 18:26 -8 18 17 Dynamo Dresden 18 4 5 9 13:21 -8 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Jahn Regensburg 18 3 7 8 16:30 -14 16 19 Stuttgarter Kickers 18 2 7 9 24:40 -16 13 20 Werder Bremen II 18 2 4 12 23:35 -12 10 (A) Absteiger (relegated from 2.Liga) note: No (N) "Neuling" (promoted club), as 1st year of 3.Liga
Bundesliga, Round 15
Leaders Hoffenheim continue to impress, as they easily blitzed Bielefeld. Vedad Ibisevic notched his 17th league goal in an amazing half-season. The Hoffenheimers are in a good position for their upcoming showdown with Bayern München, full of confidence. Meanwhile, Bayern also helped themsleves out. They travelled to Leverkusen and came out on top. The 1st half was largely uneventful, but in the 2nd half the champions took over. Led by the unstoppable Franck Ribery, Bayern mounted pressure and were rewarded with the victory. First, Ribery zipped a sideline pass to Ze Roberto, whose pin point cross was headed home perfectly by a towering Luca Toni. Then another split-the-defenders pass from Ribery to Miro Klose, who finished tightly. The Aspirins really were on the back foot the whole 2nd half, and have clearly been shown their limitations.
Hertha Berlin once again displayed minimalist football, but a stronger will to win and organization gave them all the points in their battle with Köln. The hero was Marko Pantelic, who has been banished to the bench for apparent "attitude" problems. In any case, he was subbed in and headed in the winner for the Berliners, who have snuck into 3d place.
Werder Bremen continues as the Bundesliga-enigma squad. After a disgraceful week which saw them get eliminated from the Champions League (failing to beat Cypriot dwarf squad Anorthosis!), you'd think that they would further disgrace themselves against Frankfurt. Instead, it was a deranged Werder squad that ran rampant over a stunned Eintracht, slapping them silly.
Markus Babbel's debut as Stuttgart coach was a tale of two halves. The visiting Schalkers should have wrapped up the game by half-time, as they thoroughly dominated. Jefferson Farfan missed a sitter, and also had a penalty saved by Jens Lehmann, which should have given the Blues the match. Instead, Babbel obviously kicked some ass at halftime, or at least pointed out that the Schalkers were like emperors without clothes. So in the 2nd half, VfB came out and took control, and were rewarded with two late goals and the win. Next club to fire their coach? Probably Schalke, given the way they're going.
A critical relegation in Gladbach, with a somewhat stunning result. The host dominated most of the match, but the visitors from Cottbus take the points. Energie absorbed the pressure in defense, and their counters were deadly, and they pick up a huge win. This defeat should plunge Gladbach into despair, as they are a clear relegation candidate.
Bochum and Hamburg had an entertaining match. HSV was clearly technically superior, but Bochum fought furiously, and came away with a deserved point. HSV is quickly going nowhere, their quick start now only a fond memory. They should be happy if they manage to hold onto a UEFA spot, but frankly, they look weaker than many of their rivals.
Hannover was blasting Karlsruhe off the pitch, but then went to sleep. KSC threw everything into attack in a desperate comeback attempt, and were almost successful. Only a nice save by the 96er GK prevented the struggling southerners from grabbing a heroic point. But sytle points gets you nothing, and they helplessly bring up the rear of the Bundesliga table.
Dortmund and Wolfsburg basically danced around in a uneventful draw.
Hertha BSC Berlin - 1. FC Köln 2:1 (1:1) 40,704 (Kacar, Pantelic - Novakovic) Werder Bremen - Eintracht Frankfurt 5:0 (3:0) 40,087 (Pizarro 3, Diego, Hunt) Bayer Leverkusen - Bayern München 0:2 (0:0) 19,200 (Toni, Klose) Hannover 96 - Karlsruher SC 3:2 (3:0) 32,417 (Hanke 2, Forssell - da Silva, Stindl) Borussia M'gladbach - Energie Cottbus 1:3 (0:1) 36,454 (Gohouri - Bradley o.g., Sörensen , Jula) 1899 Hoffenheim - Arminia Bielefeld 3:0 (2:0) 26,000 (Ibisevic, Carlos Eduardo, Copado) VfB Stuttgart - FC Schalke 04 2:0 (0:0) 55,800 (Simak, Gomez) VfL Bochum - Hamburger SV 1:1 (1:0) 23,157 (Sestak - Olic) Borussia Dortmund - VfL Wolfsburg 0:0 (0:0) 67,100 Attendance: 340,919 (avg 37,880) 1 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 15 11 1 3 40:20 +20 34 2 Bayern München (M, P) 15 9 4 2 35:21 +14 31 3 Hertha BSC Berlin 15 9 3 3 23:19 +4 30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Bayer Leverkusen 15 9 1 5 32:19 +13 28 5 Hamburger SV 15 8 3 4 23:23 0 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Borussia Dortmund 15 6 7 2 25:18 +7 25 7 Werder Bremen 15 6 5 4 37:26 +11 23 8 VfL Wolfsburg 15 6 5 4 32:22 +10 23 9 FC Schalke 04 15 6 5 4 22:15 +7 23 10 VfB Stuttgart 15 6 3 6 21:21 0 21 11 1. FC Köln (N) 15 6 1 8 16:22 -6 19 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 15 4 4 7 19:28 -9 16 13 Hannover 96 15 4 4 7 18:29 -11 16 14 Arminia Bielefeld 15 2 6 7 14:26 -12 12 15 Energie Cottbus 15 3 3 9 11:25 -14 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 VfL Bochum 15 1 8 6 18:24 -6 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 15 3 2 10 16:30 -14 11 18 Karlsruher SC 15 3 1 11 14:28 -14 10 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 15
No real significant results this week. Lautern got an injury time goal to salvage a draw at home to Aachen, in a sloppy performance. Freiburg struggled to a draw against perennial annoyance Greuther Fürth. So the winner this week is obviously leaders Mainz, who made short thrift of their opponents Frankfurt in a mini-regional derby. Mainz builds out their lead, and look a good bet for a Bundesliga return. Meanwhile, Frankfurt is now winless in 10, and obviously are looking at early purchase discount tickets for the 3.Liga cities on the Bundesbahn railway...
A disgarceful outing for 1860 München, who wasted a commanding 3-0 lead and had to split points against Wehen, who launched an amazing comeback, scoring their final in injury time as well. A nice crowd in Oberhausen for the derby with Duisburg, but they were hopelessly inferior to the Zebras.
TuS Koblenz - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 4:1 (3:1) 6,694 (Mavric, Kontriris 2, Taylor - Toborg) VfL Osnabrück - 1. FC Nürnberg 1:1 (0:1) 15,050 (Braun - Kluge) 1. FC Kaiserslautern - Alemannia Aachen 1:1 (0:0) 35,828 (Lakic - Auer) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - SC Freiburg 1:1 (1:1) 6,550 (Karaslavov - Jäger) FC St. Pauli - FC Ingolstadt 04 1:0 (1:0) 21,400 (Ludwig) 1860 München - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 3:3 (2:0) 19,400 (Lauth, Gebhardt, Holebas - Schwarz o.g., Orahovac, Siegert) FC Augsburg - Hansa Rostock 2:0 (1:0) 15,688 (Thurk, Torghelle) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - MSV Duisburg 0:3 (0:2) 15,120 (Makiadi, Kouemaha, Adler) FSV Frankfurt - 1. FSV Mainz 05 1:4 (0:1) 13,112 (Mokhtari - Hillebrand o.g., Baljak, Hoogland, Feulner) Attendance: 148,872 (avg 16,541) 1 1. FSV Mainz 05 15 9 4 2 32:16 +16 31 2 1. FC Kaiserslautern 15 8 3 4 31:21 +10 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Freiburg 15 8 3 4 24:15 +9 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Alemannia Aachen 15 7 4 4 23:16 +7 25 5 FC St. Pauli 15 7 3 5 25:27 -2 24 6 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 15 7 3 5 23:25 -2 24 7 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 15 6 5 4 32:25 +7 23 8 TSV 1860 München 15 6 3 6 19:14 +5 21 9 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 15 5 6 4 19:16 +3 21 10 FC Augsburg 15 6 3 6 20:20 0 21 11 MSV Duisburg (A) 15 5 5 5 23:18 +5 20 12 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 15 5 2 8 21:27 -6 17 13 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 15 5 2 8 14:28 -14 17 14 VfL Osnabrück 15 3 6 6 21:29 -8 15 15 Hansa Rostock (A) 15 3 5 7 24:25 -1 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 TuS Koblenz 15 4 5 6 20:25 -5 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 15 2 8 5 17:28 -11 14 18 FSV Frankfurt (N) 15 1 6 8 13:26 -13 9 (A) Absteiger (relegated from Bundesliga) (N) Neuling (promoted from Regionalliga) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 17
The leaders all got results, the main loser was Düsseldorf, who went down to a revived Jena. It looks like only the top 4 (Paderborn, Union, Emden and Düsseldorf) are in the race for promotion. The other squads are too crap, and should be happy just to avoid relegation. Although given the weak attendance, perhaps some of them wouldn't mind getting relegation so they could reduce travel costs.
Werder Bremen II - SC Paderborn 07 2:3 (0:2) 400 (Oehrl, GranskovHansen - Löning, Güvenisik, Holst) VfR Aalen - Stuttgarter Kickers 3:1 (0:0) 8,200 (Sailer, Andersen, Alder - Landeka) Eintracht Braunschweig - SpVgg Unterhaching 4:0 (1:0) 10,500 (Kruppke, Onuegbu 2, Schied) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - Jahn Regensburg 0:0 (0:0) 1,333 1. FC Union Berlin - Erzgebirge Aue 2:0 (2:0) 7,022 (Younga Mouhani, Stuff) VfB Stuttgart II - Kickers Emden 0:1 (0:1) 400 (Zedi) Kickers Offenbach - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 0:0 (0:0) 7,011 Carl Zeiss Jena - Fortuna Düsseldorf 1:0 (1:0) 5,963 (Riemer) Dynamo Dresden - SV Sandhausen 1:1 (1:1) 7,284 (Bröker - Öztürk) Wacker Burghausen - Bayern München II 0:0 (0:0) 3,300 Attendance: 51,413 (avg 5,141) 1 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 17 12 2 3 36:19 +17 38 2 1. FC Union Berlin 17 10 5 2 30:14 +16 35 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Kickers Emden 16 10 4 2 23:12 +11 34 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 17 10 2 5 27:13 +14 32 5 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 17 8 2 7 24:19 +5 26 6 SpVgg Unterhaching 17 7 5 5 22:24 -2 26 7 Kickers Offenbach (A) 16 6 7 3 21:15 +6 25 8 Bayern München II 16 5 10 1 21:17 +4 25 9 SV Sandhausen 17 6 6 5 29:25 +4 24 10 VfB Stuttgart II 17 6 5 6 31:23 +8 23 11 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 17 5 6 6 22:27 -5 21 12 VfR Aalen 17 4 9 4 14:20 -6 21 13 Eintracht Braunschweig 17 5 5 7 22:20 +2 20 14 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 17 4 6 7 18:25 -7 18 15 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 16 4 5 7 20:24 -4 17 16 Dynamo Dresden 17 4 5 8 13:20 -7 17 17 Wacker Burghausen 16 4 3 9 20:33 -13 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Jahn Regensburg 17 2 7 8 15:30 -15 13 19 Stuttgarter Kickers 17 1 7 9 21:38 -17 10 20 Werder Bremen II 16 2 3 11 19:30 -11 9 (A) Absteiger (relegated from 2.Liga) note: No (N) "Neuling" (promoted club), as 1st year of 3.Liga
Bundesliga, Round 14
The stunner was in Bielfeld, where struggling Arminia outfought leaders Leverkusen, who never got their combinative football untracked. Instead, they needed a dose of Pepto-Bismol afterwards. As a result, 3 critical points for the hosts. Arminia will undoubtedly struggle throughout the whole season, but at this point both Cottbus and Karlsruhe look crappier, so they only have to beat out one other team. As for Bayer, they look to revive their nickname of "Luserkusen", always stubbing their toe when they need the points.
The primary beneficiary of Bayer's Alka-Seltzer moment is the Bundesliga wonderteam, Hoffenheim, who once again had their offense in full gear, defeating host Köln in a battle of promoted clubs. The win enables "Hoppenheim" to climb into first once again, a sensation by any measure, whether you like Dietmar Hopp's millions or not.
Bayern had some trouble in the first half with Cottbus, but imperiously brushed aside the Sorbians once they got rolling. Franck Ribery is clearly "The Man", as Bayern really need him to take control. They floundered around when he got injured. How important is he? Not only has he been the best player on the pitch in just about every game back since his injury, but he's scored in 6 straight games, pretty impressive for a midfielder. Yeah, Cottbus got bitch-slapped, but they hardly expected any points here. If he weren't so ugly (not his mom's fault, he flew through a window in a car accident that almost killed him), he would be the toast of Deutschland, even though he is a Frenchie.
OK, we rag on Hertha as "the most boring team in Germany", and "they belong in Serie A", but they've quietly put together some wins and look like a solid UEFA contender. Title? No way, they suck too much :). But if they continue to eek out wins with their minimalist football, they would be a solid candidate for team of the year, except that Hoffenheim already has one hand on that title. Berlin's win in Bochum looked like a walk in the park, with a 3-0 halftime lead, but Bochum came storming back to make it interesting. This loss hurts however, as this is a match were VfL needed to gain some points.
Schalke managed to win, what a surprise. Well, if they can't beat someone lame like Gladbach, it would be a sad day in Gelsenkirchen indeed. They are stumbling around aimlessly, and once again will disappoint their huge legion of fans. Gladbach is simply not a decent squad. They have some talented young players, but it will be a race between them developing their potential and avoiding the drop.
An interesting northern derby, somewhat exciting, somewhat boring at times. Hamburg came out on top with a bomb by Ivica Olic. An important win for HSV, which has been slipping. With their catastrophic defense, Bremen continues to go nowhere. They had their chances to grab at least a draw, but couldn't take them.
Stuttgart got bitchslapped by a rampant Volkswagen, and took drastic measures. VfB fired head coach Armin Veh, the architect of their championship only a couple of years ago. For the directors, another mediocre season is evidently unacceptable, although it would help if you had a squad that didn't suck. For the VWs, they'll have to be happy if they can sneak into the UEFA Cup, but Wolfsburg has been playing attractive offensive football, so hats off to them.
Another team in total crisis is Stuttgart's neighbor, Karlsruhe. They were hot last year, when most pundits thought they didn't have the horses. Well, the horses have been put out to pasture, and KSC is looking like going back to dog racing. Dortmund meanwhile, with this win on the road, comfortably remain with UEFA Cup range, a nice achievement for one of Germany's great underachievers.
Frankfurt, the host of Germany's collapsed stock-exchange, was in need of some cheer. So Hannover showed up, and graciously agreed to get their ass kicked. Eintracht was all over them, dominating the match. It's hard to explain how Hannover can look decent sometimes (like bitch-slapping Hamburg) and then play like total dolts, but there you have it.
Karlsruher SC - Borussia Dortmund 0:1 (0:1) 29,657 (Zidan) Bayern München - Energie Cottbus 4:1 (2:1) 69,000 (Ribery, Demichelis, Klose, Toni - Skela) FC Schalke 04 - Borussia M'gladbach 3:1 (3:1) 61,673 (Altintop 2, Farfan - Friend) VfL Wolfsburg - VfB Stuttgart 4:1 (0:1) 26,897 (Grafite 2, Dzeko 2 - Lanig) Eintracht Frankfurt - Hannover 96 4:0 (2:0) 39,600 (Liberopoulos 2, Russ, Fenin) VfL Bochum - Hertha BSC Berlin 2:3 (0:3) 18,284 (Sestak, Mieciel - Rafael, Kacar, Cicero) Arminia Bielefeld - Bayer Leverkusen 2:1 (0:0) 20,700 (Wichniarek, Halfar - Helmes) 1. FC Köln - 1899 Hoffenheim 1:3 (0:1) 50,000 (Petit - Ba, Ibisevic 2) Hamburger SV - Werder Bremen 2:1 (1:1) 56,121 (Guerrero, Olic - Diego) Attendance: 371,932 (avg 41,326) 1 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 14 10 1 3 37:20 +17 31 2 Bayer Leverkusen 14 9 1 4 32:17 +15 28 3 Bayern München (M, P) 14 8 4 2 33:21 +12 28 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Hertha BSC Berlin 14 8 3 3 21:18 +3 27 5 Hamburger SV 14 8 2 4 22:22 0 26 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Borussia Dortmund 14 6 6 2 25:18 +7 24 7 FC Schalke 04 14 6 5 3 22:13 +9 23 8 VfL Wolfsburg 14 6 4 4 32:22 +10 22 9 Werder Bremen 14 5 5 4 32:26 +6 20 10 1. FC Köln (N) 14 6 1 7 15:20 -5 19 11 VfB Stuttgart 14 5 3 6 19:21 -2 18 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 14 4 4 6 19:23 -4 16 13 Hannover 96 14 3 4 7 15:27 -12 13 14 Arminia Bielefeld 14 2 6 6 14:23 -9 12 15 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 14 3 2 9 15:27 -12 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 VfL Bochum 14 1 7 6 17:23 -6 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Karlsruher SC 14 3 1 10 12:25 -13 10 18 Energie Cottbus 14 2 3 9 8:24 -16 9 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from 2.Liga)
2. Liga, Round 14
No drama this week. Duisburg's new coach Peter Neururer failed to inspire the troops, and a lame draw with wimpy FSV Frankfurt was the result. A nice point for the visitors from Bornheim, but hardly what the Duisburgers wanted to see. Osnabrück was hard done by in a hard-fought match, but two last minute goals gave host Aachen the win. The "Frankenderby" had a packed house in Nürnberg; it must have been 45,000 Nürnbergers wanting to desperately see a win. They got it, so a nice result in a season where everything has gone wrong out of the gate. For Greuther, well, some 1,243 Fürthers showed up attacted by free Bratwursts.
Mainz holds on to first, despite a last second goal by the party-squad from the Reeperbahn. And since K'lautern lost in Augsburg (goal by an ex-Lauterer), they actually gained a point. Freiburg was also held at home by struggling Koblenz, who have 3 points deduction to make up. The squad looks weaker than last season, so that deduction could be huge.
MSV Duisburg - FSV Frankfurt 0:0 (0:0) 11,053 Alemannia Aachen - VfL Osnabrück 3:1 (0:0) 17,315 (Fiel, Auer, Lehmann - Cichon) Rot-Weiss Ahlen - FC Ingolstadt 04 3:0 (0:0) 3,395 (Toborg 2, Heithölter) 1. FC Nürnberg - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 2:1 (0:1) 46,243 (Maroh, Eigler - Reisinger) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - FC St. Pauli 2:2 (0:1) 20,300 (Borja 2 - Ludwig, Rothenbach) SC Freiburg - TuS Koblenz 1:1 (0:0) 11,700 (Bechmann - Richter) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 0:0 (0:0) 6,687 FC Augsburg - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1:0 (1:0) 15,482 (Hertzsch) Hansa Rostock - 1860 München 0:1 (0:0) 8,000 (Lauth) Attendance: 140,175 (avg 15,575) 1 1. FSV Mainz 05 14 8 4 2 28:15 +13 28 2 1. FC Kaiserslautern 14 8 2 4 30:20 +10 26 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Freiburg 14 8 2 4 23:14 +9 26 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Alemannia Aachen 14 7 3 4 22:15 +7 24 5 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 14 7 3 4 22:21 +1 24 6 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 14 6 4 4 31:24 +7 22 7 FC St. Pauli 14 6 3 5 24:27 -3 21 8 TSV 1860 München 14 6 2 6 16:11 +5 20 9 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 14 5 5 4 18:15 +3 20 10 FC Augsburg 14 5 3 6 18:20 -2 18 11 MSV Duisburg (A) 14 4 5 5 20:18 +2 17 12 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 14 5 2 7 21:26 -5 17 13 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 14 5 2 7 14:25 -11 17 14 Hansa Rostock (A) 14 3 5 6 24:23 +1 14 15 VfL Osnabrück 14 3 5 6 20:28 -8 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 14 2 7 5 14:25 -11 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 TuS Koblenz 14 3 5 6 16:24 -8 11 18 FSV Frankfurt (N) 14 1 6 7 12:22 -10 9 (A) Absteiger (relegated from Bundesliga) (N) Neuling (promoted from Regionalliga) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 15
Bad weather caused 3 matches to be postponed. Leaders Paderborn pounded Aalen, but Düsseldorf and Union kept pace. Jena continue their recovery from dead-last to respectability. Relegation looks off the table for them. They were actually outplayed by hosts Stuttgart, but the Kickers got "countered" in deadly fashion, and the easterners grab all the points. The Kickers had been propping up the table with no wins, but have shown life. They may yet climb out of relegation.
The interesting story is Dresden, who continue to spiral into oblivion. The club was rocked by the recent "support" from their "fans": Apparently a frustrated group invaded the training pitch, dug 11 holes and put crosses on them. Not sure if they attached the player names too. Obviously unemployment payments in Germany are too generous, as these clowns have too much time on their hands when they should be looking for a job. But it definitely demonstrates the frustration with the once great club. And although roundly condemned by the club and the Fan-Projekt, you have to give the protestors points for originality. And in any case, the players were hardly inspired, as they when down without a wimper in the Munich suburbs...
Rot-Weiß Erfurt - VfB Stuttgart II 1:0 (0:0) 3,998 (Stenzel) Jahn Regensburg - 1. FC Union Berlin 0:2 (0:1) 2,220 (Benyamina) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Eintracht Braunschweig 2:1 (1:1) 13,881 (Lawaree, Jovanovic - Fuchs) Werder Bremen II - Wacker Burghausen -:- (-:-) postponed Kickers Emden - Bayern München II -:- (-:-) postponed SV Sandhausen - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 1:1 (1:1) 1,350 (Pinto - Heinzmann) Stuttgarter Kickers - Carl Zeiss Jena 0:3 (0:0) 3,440 (Eckhardt, Reiss o.g., Amirante) SC Paderborn 07 - VfR Aalen 4:0 (3:0) 5,008 (Holst, Löning, Lindemann, Kumbela) Erzgebirge Aue - Kickers Offenbach -:- (-:-) postponed SpVgg Unterhaching - Dynamo Dresden 2:0 (2:0) 3,650 (Zillner) 1 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 16 11 2 3 33:17 +16 35 2 Fortuna Düsseldorf 16 10 2 4 27:12 +15 32 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FC Union Berlin 16 9 5 2 28:14 +14 32 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Kickers Emden 15 9 4 2 22:12 +10 31 5 SpVgg Unterhaching 16 7 5 4 22:20 +2 26 6 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 16 8 1 7 24:19 +5 25 7 Kickers Offenbach (A) 15 6 6 3 21:15 +6 24 8 Bayern München II 15 5 9 1 21:17 +4 24 9 VfB Stuttgart II 16 6 5 5 31:22 +9 23 10 SV Sandhausen 16 6 5 5 28:24 +4 23 11 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 16 4 6 6 21:27 -6 18 12 VfR Aalen 16 3 9 4 11:19 -8 18 13 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 15 4 5 6 20:22 -2 17 14 Eintracht Braunschweig 16 4 5 7 18:20 -2 17 15 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 16 4 5 7 18:25 -7 17 16 Dynamo Dresden 16 4 4 8 12:19 -7 16 17 Wacker Burghausen 15 4 2 9 20:33 -13 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Jahn Regensburg 16 2 6 8 15:30 -15 12 19 Stuttgarter Kickers 16 1 7 8 20:35 -15 10 20 Werder Bremen II 15 2 3 10 17:27 -10 9 (A) Absteiger (relegated from 2.Liga) note: No (N) "Neuling" (promoted club), as 1st year of 3.Liga
Bundesliga, Round 13
The most important match was Leverkusen defending 1st place, defeating Schalke, condemning the Blues to mediocrity (which seems to suit them just fine.) Hoffenheim had another inspiried performance, as they downed a tough Wolfsburg squad in another shootout. However, the "biggest" match was the revival of the Gladbach-Bayern rivalry, which was Germany's premier offering in the 1970s. With Gladbach's decline into mediocrity, it's obviously not a top clash these days, but this edition was quite entertaining. Bayern reasonably expected to get 3 points, but Gladbach didn't give up and grabbed a draw.
A nice win for Hertha over Hamburg, finally a big scalp". The Berliners have quietly moved into title contention, although they're not that good, and will probably get their comeuppance. Cottbus gets a critical win against Karlsruhe. A loss would have pretty much sunk Energie into oblivion. Now they still prop up the table, but a couple of wins could see them out of relegation. KSC is running into the "sophomore jinx" after last season's decent showing. They look pretty crap and have to be considered a hot relegation candidate. Bielefeld and Cottbus certainly still have the inside track on relegation, but Bochum and even Gladbach so far have looked stronger than KSC for the (not) coveted 3rd spot, which means a relegation playoff with the 3rd place 2.Liga squad.
Hannover 96 - VfL Bochum 1:1 (0:0) 30,827 (Schlaudraff - Fromlowicz o.g.) VfB Stuttgart - Arminia Bielefeld 0:0 (0:0) 52,000 Bayer Leverkusen - FC Schalke 04 2:1 (2:0) 19,200 (Kiessling, Helmes - Kuranyi) Hertha BSC - Hamburger SV 2:1 (0:1) 48,825 (Cicero, Domochiyski - Petric) Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt 4:0 (3:0) 72,200 (Subotic 2, Hajnal, Felipe Santana) Energie Cottbus - Karlsruher SC 1:0 (0:0) 12,527 (Jelic) Borussia M'gladbach - Bayern München 2:2 (0:1) 54,067 (Friend, Bradley - Toni, Ribery) 1899 Hoffenheim - VfL Wolfsburg 3:2 (2:2) 26,000 (Ibisevic, Carlos Eduardo, Obasi - Grafite, Dzeko) Werder Bremen - 1. FC Köln 3:1 (2:0) 42,100 (Diego, Naldo, Almeida - Novakovic) Attendance: 357,746 (avg 39,750) 1 Bayer Leverkusen 13 9 1 3 31:15 +16 28 2 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 13 9 1 3 34:19 +15 28 3 Bayern München (M, P) 13 7 4 2 29:20 +9 25 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Hertha BSC Berlin 13 7 3 3 18:16 +2 24 5 Hamburger SV 13 7 2 4 20:21 -1 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Borussia Dortmund 13 5 6 2 24:18 +6 21 7 Werder Bremen 13 5 5 3 31:24 +7 20 8 FC Schalke 04 13 5 5 3 19:12 +7 20 9 VfL Wolfsburg 13 5 4 4 28:21 +7 19 10 1. FC Köln (N) 13 6 1 6 14:17 -3 19 11 VfB Stuttgart 13 5 3 5 18:17 +1 18 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 13 3 4 6 15:23 -8 13 13 Hannover 96 13 3 4 6 15:23 -8 13 14 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 13 3 2 8 14:24 -10 11 15 VfL Bochum 13 1 7 5 15:20 -5 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Karlsruher SC 13 3 1 9 12:24 -12 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Arminia Bielefeld 13 1 6 6 12:22 -10 9 18 Energie Cottbus 13 2 3 8 7:20 -13 9 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
2. Liga, Round 13
Mainz shook off last week's lame performance and blasted Koblenz on the road in a southwestern regional clash. Juri Schlünz took over as head coach of Rostock, and I'll bet he wishes he had waited another week. Hansa was obliterated by Kaiserslautern 6-0. After some recent ho-hum performances, a lame Hansa squad was just what the doctored for FCK. With this impressive showing, they hold down one of the critical two auto-promotion spots.
Ingolstadt had been flying high with some impressive recent scalps, but ran into an ambush by heretofore crap Nürnberg. Der Club is still managed under a circus-tent, but perhaps this is a sign that at least on the field things are getting straightened out, although injuries forced them to play with a rump squad. Duisburg stubbed their toe once again, and has taken an interesting leap: a couple of days later they appointed Peter Neururer as head coach. He's bounced around with many teams with moderate success before he wears out his welcome. I believe the last squad he coached was Hannover, about 2 years ago. Since then he's been a TV commentator.
FC St. Pauli - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 2:2 (2:2) 21,983 (Ebbers, Bruns - Heithölter, Grosskreutz) 1860 München - FC Augsburg 0:1 (0:1) 40,600 (Baier) VfL Osnabrück - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 1:1 (1:1) 12,600 (Cichon - Kopilas) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - MSV Duisburg 4:3 (1:2) 6,200 (Allagui, Ilicevic, Kotuljac, Nehrig - Makiadi, Sahan 2) TuS Koblenz - 1. FSV Mainz 05 0:3 (0:1) 12,698 (Mavric o.g., Baljak, Karhan) FSV Frankfurt - SC Freiburg 1:2 (0:1) 5,207 (Theodoridis - Toprak, Schwaab) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - Alemannia Aachen 1:1 (1:0) 9,112 (Kaya - Milchraum) FC Ingolstadt 04 - 1. FC Nürnberg 0:3 (0:1) 10,500 (Karl, Boakye, Engelhardt) 1. FC Kaiserslautern - Hansa Rostock 6:0 (2:0) 27,199 (Lakic 2, Jendrisek 2, Simpson 2) Attendance: 146,099 (avg 16,233) 1 1. FSV Mainz 05 13 8 3 2 26:13 +13 27 2 1. FC Kaiserslautern 13 8 2 3 30:19 +11 26 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Freiburg 13 8 1 4 22:13 +9 25 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 13 6 4 3 30:22 +8 22 5 Alemannia Aachen 13 6 3 4 19:14 +5 21 6 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 13 6 3 4 19:21 -2 21 7 FC St. Pauli 13 6 2 5 22:25 -3 20 8 TSV 1860 München 13 5 2 6 15:11 +4 17 9 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 13 4 5 4 16:14 +2 17 10 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 13 5 2 6 21:23 -2 17 11 MSV Duisburg (A) 13 4 4 5 20:18 +2 16 12 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 13 5 1 7 14:25 -11 16 13 FC Augsburg 13 4 3 6 17:20 -3 15 14 Hansa Rostock (A) 13 3 5 5 24:22 +2 14 15 VfL Osnabrück 13 3 5 5 19:25 -6 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 13 2 6 5 14:25 -11 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 TuS Koblenz 13 3 4 6 15:23 -8 10 18 FSV Frankfurt (N) 13 1 5 7 12:22 -10 8 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 15
Paderborn is the big winner this week, with a nice road win in Jena. Since both Union and Emden stumble, Düsseldorf benefits.
1. FC Union Berlin - SV Sandhausen 2:2 (1:0) 5,959 (Younga-Mouhani, Stuff - Öztürk 2) Bayern München II - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:0 (0:0) 1,500 (Duhnke) VfR Aalen - Werder Bremen II 1:0 (0:0) 2,514 (Sailer) Carl Zeiss Jena - SC Paderborn 07 2:4 (1:3) 2,570 (Hähnge 2 - Güvenisik 2, Löning, Kumbela) Eintracht Braunschweig - Stuttgarter Kickers 1:1 (1:1) 11,540 (Schied - Härter) Dynamo Dresden - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:2 (0:0) 10,129 (Cakir, Costa) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - SpVgg Unterhaching 2:4 (1:2) 2,786 (Heinzmann, Willers - Fink 2, Zillner, Tyce) Kickers Offenbach - Jahn Regensburg 1:1 (1:0) 7,013 (Tosunoglu - Zellner) VfB Stuttgart II - Erzgebirge Aue 3:0 (3:0) 1,000 (Schieber 2, Fischer) Wacker Burghausen - Kickers Emden 3:1 (0:0) 2,700 (Mitterhuber, Kresin, Cappek - Unger) Attendance: 47,711 (avg 4,771) 1 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 15 10 2 3 29:17 +12 32 2 Kickers Emden 15 9 4 2 22:12 +10 31 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Fortuna Düsseldorf 15 9 2 4 25:11 +14 29 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 1. FC Union Berlin 15 8 5 2 26:14 +12 29 5 Kickers Offenbach (A) 15 6 6 3 21:15 +6 24 6 Bayern München II 15 5 9 1 21:17 +4 24 7 VfB Stuttgart II 15 6 5 4 31:21 +10 23 8 SpVgg Unterhaching 15 6 5 4 20:20 0 23 9 SV Sandhausen 15 6 4 5 27:23 +4 22 10 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 15 7 1 7 23:19 +4 22 11 VfR Aalen 15 3 9 3 11:15 -4 18 12 Eintracht Braunschweig 15 4 5 6 17:18 -1 17 13 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 15 4 5 6 20:22 -2 17 14 Dynamo Dresden 15 4 4 7 12:17 -5 16 15 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 15 4 4 7 17:24 -7 16 16 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 15 3 6 6 18:27 -9 15 17 Wacker Burghausen 15 4 2 9 20:33 -13 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Jahn Regensburg 15 2 6 7 15:28 -13 12 19 Stuttgarter Kickers 15 1 7 7 20:32 -12 10 20 Werder Bremen II 15 2 3 10 17:27 -10 9 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Bundesliga, Round 12
Hoffenheim was toppled out of 1st place by losing in Berlin. But there is some indication that they've garnered some grudging respect, as the usual lackadaisical Berlin attendance was pumped up. And they couldn't have been too disappointed, as the visitors actually outplayed Hertha for most of the match. However, the leaders failed to convert some decent opportunities, and then Voronin struck the winner for Hertha.
Leverkusen should be enjoying first, as they totally annihilated Karlsruhe, jumping out 3-0 on the road. But apparently, they took Ex-lax or something, and they will surely need a heavy dose of Pepto to recover from this nightmare. KSC looked dead and buried, but roared back to tie 3-3. Throwing away a sure win will definitely come back to haunt the Aspirins. A monumental achievement for KSC, who are in need for some good news. Last year's "feel-good" squad is a clearly a relegation candidate this season, so given the circumstances, this is a huge point gained.
So the big winner this week is Bayern München, who had a rather fortunate win at rivals Schalke. After a furious start trading goals in the first 5 minutes, Schalke began to take control of the match. But Franck Ribery, who has revived the clumsy champs, scored against the run of play, and then the usual Schalke incompetance in finishing proved to be their undoing. Bayern has hardly been impressive this season, but omce again, Uli Hoeness' famous statement "The other teams are too dumb to win the championship" appears to be coming true again. After all their problems and poor start, Klinsmann's squad is only 1 point out of first. In Schalke's case, it's the same old movie, we've seen it before, and just in case you missed it, you'll be able to watch the reruns throughout the year - and probably see it next year too.
Hamburg reversed their recent downward trend with a hard fought win over Dortmund. HSV's problem is that they have a minimalist offense, so they're not going to be able to score enough to seriously challenge. Dortmund isn't much better in that regard, but Jürgen Klopp has achieved his first goal, converting Borussia into a solid squad, stopping the rot. Ironically, it was ex-Dortmund man Mladen Petric who got HSV going in this match...
Wolfsburg continue to be impressive in the early season. They had a nice midweek UEFA stomping of Heerenveen, and get the required result against tailender Cottbus. However, it wasn't really that easy. They got a rather dodgy penalty, and were somewhat taken aback as Energie actually pressed them back. But some quick counterattacks finished off the hapless visitors. While Wolfsburg can hope for a UEFA spot, Cottbus is now clearly defined as relegation fodder. I don't see how they can stay up, based on their recent performances.
A lucky win for Köln, as they were generally outplayed by Hannover. But the 96ers weren't able to put away their chances, and the home-side did, another good result for them. They're not good enough to be an 8th place team, but considering their poor start, the revival is a nice turnaround, and they now look likely to avoid relegation. All things considered, very positive. For Hannover, they seem to be capable of much more than their record, but remain too inconsistent. They need to get their act together unless they want to get dragged down into relegation mire.
There was a huge relegation battle in Bielefeld, and young star Markus Marin nailed a double to give Gladbach a huge 6 pointer. This dumps Arminia into a firm relegation spot, and they look be preparing for another elevator ride.
Bremen remains the most frustrating club, capable of great things, and then sucking. They were in the suck category this weekend. Bochum gets a valuable point, although they really haven't shown much this season that suggests that they shouldn't be relegated.
Frankfurt and Stuttgart had an entertaining battle, a late goal by Mario Gomez (who is a monster in league play and a turd on the national team) saving the visitor's bacon. Stuttgart is going nowhere this season, and Frankfurt looks good enough to avoid relegation.
1. FC Köln - Hannover 96 2:1 (1:1) 47,000 (Geromel, Sanou - Schlaudraff) Hamburger SV - Borussia Dortmund 2:1 (2:0) 57,000 (Petric, Olic - Hajnal) VfL Wolfsburg - Energie Cottbus 3:0 (1:0) 23,010 (Grafite 3) Karlsruher SC - Bayer Leverkusen 3:3 (1:3) 28,238 (da Silva, Sebastian, Iashvili - Helmes, Kiessling, Kadlec) VfL Bochum - Werder Bremen 0:0 (0:0) 27,237 Arminia Bielefeld - Borussia M'gladbach 0:2 (0:1) 24,600 (Marin 2) FC Schalke 04 - Bayern München 1:2 (1:2) 61,673 (Farfan - Toni, Ribery) Eintracht Frankfurt - VfB Stuttgart 2:2 (1:0) 51,000 (Liberopoulos 2 - Lanig, Gomez) Hertha BSC Berlin - 1899 Hoffenheim 1:0 (0:0) 58,862 (Voronin) Attendance: 378,620 (avg 42,069) 1 Bayer Leverkusen 12 8 1 3 29:14 +15 25 2 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 12 8 1 3 31:17 +14 25 3 Bayern München (M, P) 12 7 3 2 27:18 +9 24 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Hamburger SV 12 7 2 3 19:19 0 23 5 Hertha BSC Berlin 12 6 3 3 16:15 +1 21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 FC Schalke 04 12 5 5 2 18:10 +8 20 7 VfL Wolfsburg 12 5 4 3 26:18 +8 19 8 1. FC Köln (N) 12 6 1 5 13:14 -1 19 9 Borussia Dortmund 12 4 6 2 20:18 +2 18 10 Werder Bremen 12 4 5 3 28:23 +5 17 11 VfB Stuttgart 12 5 2 5 18:17 +1 17 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 12 3 4 5 15:19 -4 13 13 Hannover 96 12 3 3 6 14:22 -8 12 14 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 12 3 1 8 12:22 -10 10 15 Karlsruher SC 12 3 1 8 12:23 -11 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 VfL Bochum 12 1 6 5 14:19 -5 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Arminia Bielefeld 12 1 5 6 12:22 -10 8 18 Energie Cottbus 12 1 3 8 6:20 -14 6 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
2. Liga, Round 12
Not a good week to be a "favorite", as most of them got crapped all over...
Ingolstadt is on a roll; last week they destroyed Freiburg and this week, they are even more impressive, rocking leaders mainz on the road. Meanwhile village club Wehen (think Hoffenheim without money) stunned Kaiserslautern in a southwestern derby (assuming K-town fans had even heard of Wehen before). Duisburg, who expected to be bouncing back into the Bundesliga, got dumped at home by unfashionable Ahlen. And the league's most disappointing squad, Nürnberg, liad an egg once again, drawing against Frankfurt. I suppose it wouldn't be too bad bad if it was Eintracht, but it was FSV...Finishing off the list of upsets, 1860 was dumped at home by Oberhausen.
1. FC Nürnberg - FSV Frankfurt 0:0 (0:0) 37,760 Alemannia Aachen - TuS Koblenz 2:0 (2:0) 18,001 (Milchraum, Nemeth) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 4:2 (0:0) 11,500 (König 2, Orahovac, Koen - Lakic 2) Hansa Rostock - VfL Osnabrück 2:2 (2:0) 10,000 (Lechleiter 2 - Reichenberger, Braun) MSV Duisburg - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 0:1 (0:1) 12,027 (Toborg) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - FC Ingolstadt 04 0:3 (0:2) 19,500 (Lokvenc, Karl, Buchner) 1860 München - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 0:1 (0:1) 24,400 (Terranova) FC Augsburg - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1:1 (0:1) 13,730 (Hdiouad - Reisinger) SC Freiburg - FC St. Pauli 2:0 (0:0) 15,900 (Türker, Schlitter) Attendance: 162,818 (avg 18,091) 1 1. FSV Mainz 05 12 7 3 2 23:13 +10 24 2 1. FC Kaiserslautern 12 7 2 3 24:19 +5 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Freiburg 12 7 1 4 20:12 +8 22 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Alemannia Aachen 12 6 2 4 18:13 +5 20 5 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 12 6 2 4 17:19 -2 20 6 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 12 5 4 3 26:19 +7 19 7 FC St. Pauli 12 6 1 5 20:23 -3 19 8 TSV 1860 München 12 5 2 5 15:10 +5 17 9 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 12 5 2 5 21:20 +1 17 10 MSV Duisburg (A) 12 4 4 4 17:14 +3 16 11 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 12 5 0 7 13:24 -11 15 12 Hansa Rostock (A) 12 3 5 4 24:16 +8 14 13 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 12 3 5 4 13:14 -1 14 14 VfL Osnabrück 12 3 4 5 18:24 -6 13 15 FC Augsburg 12 3 3 6 16:20 -4 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 12 2 5 5 13:24 -11 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 TuS Koblenz 12 3 4 5 15:20 -5 10 18 FSV Frankfurt (N) 12 1 5 6 11:20 -9 8 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 14
The big news is that Stuttgarter Kickers finally got in the win column, and ex-GDR flagship Dresden was the victim. Dynamo has sunk to heretofore unknown depths. A nice crowd in Düsseldorf saw them defeat regional rival Wuppertal. Emden goes top with a fortunate win at Erfurt.
VfR Aalen - Wacker Burghausen 0:0 (0:0) 2,820 Werder Bremen II - Carl Zeiss Jena 0:0 (0:0) 600 Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Kickers Emden 0:1 (0:0) 7,528 (Spahic) Jahn Regensburg - VfB Stuttgart II 1:1 (0:1) 2,370 (Beigang - Rudy) SV Sandhausen - Kickers Offenbach 0:2 (0:0) 4,700 (Morys, Tosunoglu) SpVgg Unterhaching - 1. FC Union Berlin 1:0 (1:0) 3,200 (Fink) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 3:1 (1:1) 16,663 (Christ 2, Kaddah - Reichwein) Stuttgarter Kickers - Dynamo Dresden 2:1 (1:1) 6,070 (Traut, Grembowietz o.g. - Truckenbrod) Erzgebirge Aue - Bayern München II 1:1 (0:1) 9,800 (Paulus - Müller) SC Paderborn 07 - Eintracht Braunschweig 2:1 (0:1) 9,403 (Kumbela, Löning - Dogan) Attendance: 63,154 (avg 6,315) 1 Kickers Emden 14 9 4 1 21:9 +12 31 2 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 14 9 2 3 25:15 +10 29 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FC Union Berlin 14 8 4 2 24:12 +12 28 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 14 8 2 4 23:11 +12 26 5 Kickers Offenbach (A) 14 6 5 3 20:14 +6 23 6 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 14 7 1 6 23:18 +5 22 7 SV Sandhausen 14 6 3 5 25:21 +4 21 8 Bayern München II 14 4 9 1 20:17 +3 21 9 VfB Stuttgart II 14 5 5 4 28:21 +7 20 10 SpVgg Unterhaching 14 5 5 4 16:18 -2 20 11 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 14 4 5 5 20:19 +1 17 12 Eintracht Braunschweig 14 4 4 6 16:17 -1 16 13 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 14 4 4 6 15:20 -5 16 14 VfR Aalen 14 2 9 3 10:15 -5 15 15 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 14 3 6 5 16:23 -7 15 16 Dynamo Dresden 13 3 4 6 11:15 -4 13 17 Jahn Regensburg 14 2 5 7 14:27 -13 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Wacker Burghausen 14 3 2 9 17:32 -15 11 19 Werder Bremen II 13 2 3 8 17:25 -8 9 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 14 1 6 7 19:31 -12 9 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Bundesliga, Round 11
Leverkusen continues to win, dominating against Wolfsburg, who hoped to gain a point in a defensive baricade. But eventually the Aspirins broke through, and the VWs had nothing left in the tank. Leverkusen has to be considered a legit title contender, although of course by law they can only finish 2nd.
Hoffenheim showed that their leadership is no fluke. They really dominated against Karlsruher SC, with lightening fast attacks and hustle. You've got to figure they'll run out of gas at some point, but their play has reinvigorated the Bundesliga. Seems like more teams are aggressively going for attack, and the shakeup leaves the race for the title wide open. Hoffenheim's Vedad Ibisevic looks like the purchase of the year so far. He's already netted 13 league goals, and cost "Hopp-enheim" only 1 million euros, a bargain.
Schalke actually gave a decent performance in winning at Cottbus. The hosts played catenaccio, so Schalke controlled the match, but was unable to get any chances. To make matters worse, Dutch defender Engelaar got his ass tossed for insulting the line judge. But the Blues rose to the occasion with a couple of late goals to get their deserved victory. Title contenders? Nope, it's Schalke. They'll manage to choke if they get close, although in reality, they don't really look solid enough to challenge. If Energie continues to play lame like this, they deserve to get relegated.
Bayern struggled against Bielefeld, but eventually, due to Franck Ribery, they were able to club Arminia into submission. Hardly an impressive performance, but they get the points. Klinsmann is probably not thrilled, but his squad avoided a stumble and they're gathering points. A decent effort for Arminia, but they really didn't deserve (or expect) to take any points here.
A stunning thumping for Hamburg in a Nordderby at Hannover. HSV looks like their quick start was just a blip and they're back to reality. Not sure that coach Martin Jol can cover up the fundamental weakness, which appears to be lack of talent. They lack the front-line players, not surprisingly since they sold them all off. A nice solid win for the 96ers, although probably too high, given the balance of play. HSV had lots of chances, but disgracefully wasted them all.
Bremen has been somewhat of a laughing stock with their disastrous "defense" - the worst in the Bundesliga! However, sometimes it's not a good idea to make fun of them too loudly, as you might be in for a thrashing. Hertha had been doing quite decently, and certainly entertained ideas of getting a "result", as the English are fond to say. They certainly got "resulted", as Werder whipped their ass thoroughly.
Köln's mini-streak looked to have ended and they were facing a thumping at revived Stuttgart. Surprise! An excellent outing by the newcomers, as VfB fans watch in stunned disbelief as their heroes get reemed. A huge win for the Kölners, as it keeps them mid-table, away from the relegation quagmire. Speaking of which, Frankfurt was propping up the table a couple of weeks ago with no wins. Now they notch up another, a huge away victory at Gladbach. While Frankfurt has now apparently steadied the ship, Gladbach is struggling and looks like a clear relegation candidate.
Dortmund met Bochum in a mini-Ruhr derby, and struggled to maintain a 1-1 draw. Somewhat disappointing, as they clearly are a better squad, but these Ruhr derbies are always hard-fought. Bochum will be happy with a point, which barely keeps their head above water.
Bayer Leverkusen - VfL Wolfsburg 2:0 (0:0) 19,200 (Barnetta, Kiessling) Bayern München - Arminia Bielefeld 3:1 (1:1) 69,000 (Klose, Ribery, Podolski - Wichniarek) Werder Bremen - Hertha BSC 5:1 (3:0) 40,218 (Kacar o.g., Diego, Rosenberg, Pizarro 2 - Cicero) VfB Stuttgart - 1. FC Köln 1:3 (0:1) 55,000 (Hilbert - Novakovic 2, Petit) Hannover 96 - Hamburger SV 3:0 (2:0) 49,000 (Schulz, Schlaudraff, Stajner) Energie Cottbus - FC Schalke 04 0:2 (0:0) 16,640 (Westermann, Farfan) 1899 Hoffenheim - Karlsruher SC 4:1 (1:1) 26,300 (Ibisevic 2, Obasi 2 - Freis) Borussia Dortmund - VfL Bochum 1:1 (1:1) 71,600 (Zidan - Zdebel) Borussia M'gladbach - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:2 (1:1) 44,733 (Russ o.g. - Fenin, Fink) Attendance: 391,691 (avg 43,521) 1 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 11 8 1 2 31:16 +15 25 2 Bayer Leverkusen 11 8 0 3 26:11 +15 24 3 Bayern München (M, P) 11 6 3 2 25:17 +8 21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 FC Schalke 04 11 5 5 1 17:8 +9 20 5 Hamburger SV 11 6 2 3 17:18 -1 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Borussia Dortmund 11 4 6 1 19:16 +3 18 7 Hertha BSC Berlin 11 5 3 3 15:15 0 18 8 Werder Bremen 11 4 4 3 28:23 +5 16 9 VfL Wolfsburg 11 4 4 3 23:18 +5 16 10 VfB Stuttgart 11 5 1 5 16:15 +1 16 11 1. FC Köln (N) 11 5 1 5 11:13 -2 16 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 11 3 3 5 13:17 -4 12 13 Hannover 96 11 3 3 5 13:20 -7 12 14 Karlsruher SC 11 3 0 8 9:20 -11 9 15 VfL Bochum 11 1 5 5 14:19 -5 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Arminia Bielefeld 11 1 5 5 12:20 -8 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 11 2 1 8 10:22 -12 7 18 Energie Cottbus 11 1 3 7 6:17 -11 6 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
2. Liga, Round 11
Mainz gets a good result at promoted Ahlen, who have cooled after a decent start. This gives them a little breathing room in the promotion struggle. The reason is a stunning result in Ingolstadt, as Freiburg took a dump. 1860 fought off Kaiserslautern for a draw, FCK's first non-win at home. 1860 has quietly got their act together after a horrendous start. Attendance was quite poor this round, except for a sold out crowd watching St.Pauli further frustrate a crap Nürnberg squad. The Paulistas have quietly moved up the table into promotion contention.
SpVgg Greuther Fürth - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 1:1 (0:1) 5,200 (Allagui - Koen) FSV Frankfurt - Alemannia Aachen 0:3 (0:1) 3,107 (Milchraum, Auer, Nemeth) FC St. Pauli - 1. FC Nürnberg 1:0 (0:0) 23,201 (Goncalves o.g.) TuS Koblenz - MSV Duisburg 1:1 (0:0) 8,629 (Krontiris - Makiadi) VfL Osnabrück - FC Augsburg 1:1 (1:1) 12,100 (Grieneisen - Thurk) Rot-Weiss Ahlen - 1. FSV Mainz 05 0:2 (0:0) 4,812 (Borja, Hoogland) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - Hansa Rostock 1:0 (0:0) 7,253 (Lüttmann) FC Ingolstadt 04 - SC Freiburg 4:0 (2:0) 4,229 (Flum o.g., Karl, Lokvenc, Buchner) 1. FC Kaiserslautern - 1860 München 0:0 (0:0) 25,000 Attendance: 93,531 (avg 10,392) 1 1. FSV Mainz 05 11 7 3 1 23:10 +13 24 2 1. FC Kaiserslautern 11 7 2 2 22:15 +7 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Freiburg 11 6 1 4 18:12 +6 19 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 FC St. Pauli 11 6 1 4 20:21 -1 19 5 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 11 5 3 3 25:18 +7 18 6 TSV 1860 München 11 5 2 4 15:9 +6 17 7 Alemannia Aachen 11 5 2 4 16:13 +3 17 8 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 11 5 2 4 16:19 -3 17 9 MSV Duisburg (A) 11 4 4 3 17:13 +4 16 10 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 11 4 2 5 18:20 -2 14 11 Hansa Rostock (A) 11 3 4 4 22:14 +8 13 12 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 11 3 4 4 13:14 -1 13 13 VfL Osnabrück 11 3 3 5 16:22 -6 12 14 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 11 4 0 7 12:24 -12 12 15 FC Augsburg 11 3 2 6 15:19 -4 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 TuS Koblenz 11 3 4 4 15:18 -3 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 11 1 5 5 9:22 -13 8 18 FSV Frankfurt (N) 11 1 4 6 11:20 -9 7 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 13
The big match was in Berlin, as Union edged out Düsseldorf to claim the top spot. Meanwhile, erstwhile leaders Emden struggled to gain a draw at home to Aue. Paderborn recovered from recent lame results to thump Dresden away. Dynamo is in free-fall and is now the worst eastern club in the 3.Liga, their pathetic offense largely to blame.
Wuppertaler SV Bor. - Stuttgarter Kickers 3:3 (0:1) 3,047 (Heinzmann 2, Stuckmann - Vaccaro, Smeekes, Gambo) Wacker Burghausen - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:4 (1:1) 2,300 (Calamita - Bunjaku 2, Wolf, Rockenbach) Kickers Emden - Erzgebirge Aue 1:1 (0:1) 3,346 (Rauw - Lukunku) Carl Zeiss Jena - VfR Aalen 1:1 (1:0) 5,542 (R. Müller - Alder) Eintracht Braunschweig - Werder Bremen II 1:1 (1:1) 11,800 (Onuegbu - Lenze o.g.) Kickers Offenbach - SpVgg Unterhaching 3:1 (1:1) 6,196 (Mesic, Hysky, Zinnow - St.Haas o.g.) Bayern München II - Jahn Regensburg 2:2 (1:0) 1,200 (Müller, Sikorski - Beigang, Schäffer) Dynamo Dresden - SC Paderborn 07 0:3 (0:2) 8,500 (Güvenisik 2, Löning) 1. FC Union Berlin - Fortuna Düsseldorf 1:0 (0:0) 9,256 (Göhlert) VfB Stuttgart II - SV Sandhausen 1:1 (0:1) 800 (Rudy - Leandro) Attendance: 51,987 (avg 5,199) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 13 8 4 1 24:11 +13 28 2 Kickers Emden 13 8 4 1 20:9 +11 28 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 13 8 2 3 23:14 +9 26 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 13 7 2 4 20:10 +10 23 5 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 13 7 1 5 23:17 +6 22 6 SV Sandhausen 13 6 3 4 25:19 +6 21 7 Kickers Offenbach (A) 13 5 5 3 18:14 +4 20 8 Bayern München II 13 4 8 1 19:16 +3 20 9 VfB Stuttgart II 13 5 4 4 27:20 +7 19 10 SpVgg Unterhaching 13 4 5 4 15:18 -3 17 11 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 13 4 4 5 19:18 +1 16 12 Eintracht Braunschweig 13 4 4 5 15:15 0 16 13 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 13 4 4 5 14:17 -3 16 14 VfR Aalen 13 2 8 3 10:15 -5 14 15 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 13 3 5 5 16:23 -7 14 16 Dynamo Dresden 12 3 4 5 10:13 -3 13 17 Jahn Regensburg 13 2 4 7 13:26 -13 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Wacker Burghausen 13 3 1 9 17:32 -15 10 19 Werder Bremen II 12 2 2 8 17:25 -8 8 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 13 0 6 7 17:30 -13 6 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Bundesliga, Round 10
Midweek action in the Bundesliga...
Hoffenheim remains the sensation of the season, and a fine performance in Bochum is rewarded with maximum points. The leaders fell behind after only 2 minutes, but dominated the rest of the match, and their press eventually led to a Bochum collapse. End result is that you have to listen to yet another week of German fans whining about Hoffenheim's "bought" success.
Leverkusen showed that they are a true contender this season, as they further punished inconsistent Werder. Bremen looked decent at the start of each half, but otherwise the Aspirins dominated the match, displaying clever combinations that get Werder on the backfoot. This was the 1,000th Bundesliga match for Bayer, who made the jump up to the top flight in 1979 and have been there ever since.
How would Hamburg react after getting embarrassed by upstart Hoffenheim over the weekend? It's somewhat of a mixed bag. HSV played well, but after they took the lead on a Trochowski penalty, they failed to extend their advantage. In the 2nd half, Stuttgart dominated, and HSV was ripe to fall. However, a rare counterattack brought them the decider, just moments after Stuttgart had gambled by throwing on another striker.
An exciting match in Frankfurt saw Bayern dominate against a fighting Eintracht. Nevertheless, the Müncheners had nothing to show for it, and then an own goal had them behind. But led by an outstanding Franck Ribery, Bayern was able to force through a win. Disappointment for Frankfurt, but likely a fair result.
The match was really never in doubt, as Wolfsburg was clearly a superior squad over Gladbach. The vistors were in decent shape early, but once they fell behind, it was basically over. A nice recovery for the VWs after the disappointment in München over the weekend. For Gladbach, a reminder that the grim relegation battle continues.
After a phase of suckiness, Schalke manages to throw their fans a bone, and ass-whupp Karlsruhe. The Blues were dominant from the start, and overpowered their hosts in a good performance. KSC looked lame, and in this form have to be considered a relegation candidate.
Hertha gets a win against Hannover, although the final tally is a bit harsh on the visitors, as they held the match level for a long period. Berlin deserves the win due to an improved 2nd half performance, and has to be happy at staying within striking distance of the top.
A desperate relegation battle in Bielefeld, and host Arminia will look at this as lost points. Cottbus took the lead via Dimitar Rangelov, but he then promptly got his ass tossed. Energie is never an offensive whirlwind - especially on the road, so not suprisingly they settled into a desperate rearguard action. Luckily, Bielefeld is too incompetant to take advantage, so Cottbus gets a valuable point.
Dortmund under Jürgen Klopp is getting points in matches that they previously weren't. The result is a nice start to the season. Host Köln needs to find an offense, because they probably could have gained a valuable point.
Werder Bremen - Bayer Leverkusen 0:2 (0:0) 37,142 (Vidal, Friedrich) VfL Wolfsburg - Borussia M'gladbach 3:0 (1:0) 22,580 (Grafite, Madlung, Misimovic) Karlsruher SC - FC Schalke 04 0:3 (0:2) 29,164 (Bordon, Kuranyi, Farfan) Arminia Bielefeld - Energie Cottbus 1:1 (0:1) 18,200 (Wichniarek - Rangelov) Hamburger SV - VfB Stuttgart 2:0 (1:0) 50,037 (Trochowski, Mathijsen) Eintracht Frankfurt - Bayern München 1:2 (0:0) 51,500 (Demichelis o.g. - Klose, Ribery) Hertha BSC - Hannover 96 3:0 (0:0) 31,329 (Pantelic, Voronin, Domovchiyski) VfL Bochum - 1899 Hoffenheim 1:3 (1:0) 24,444 (Grote - Ba, Ibisevic, Carlos Eduardo) 1. FC Köln - Borussia Dortmund 0:1 (0:0) 50,000 (Kringe) Attendance: 314,396 (avg 34,933) 1 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 10 7 1 2 27:15 +12 22 2 Bayer Leverkusen 10 7 0 3 24:11 +13 21 3 Hamburger SV 10 6 2 2 17:15 +2 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Bayern München (M, P) 10 5 3 2 22:16 +6 18 5 Hertha BSC Berlin 10 5 3 2 14:10 +4 18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 FC Schalke 04 10 4 5 1 15:8 +7 17 7 Borussia Dortmund 10 4 5 1 18:15 +3 17 8 VfL Wolfsburg 10 4 4 2 23:16 +7 16 9 VfB Stuttgart 10 5 1 4 15:12 +3 16 10 Werder Bremen 10 3 4 3 23:22 +1 13 11 1. FC Köln (N) 10 4 1 5 8:12 -4 13 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 10 2 3 5 11:16 -5 9 13 Karlsruher SC 10 3 0 7 8:16 -8 9 14 Hannover 96 10 2 3 5 10:20 -10 9 15 Arminia Bielefeld 10 1 5 4 11:17 -6 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 VfL Bochum 10 1 4 5 13:18 -5 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 10 2 1 7 9:20 -11 7 18 Energie Cottbus 10 1 3 6 6:15 -9 6 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
2. Liga, Round 10
The top clash was Mainz getting the win at Freiburg. This allowed Kaiserslautern to reclaim the lead after their difficult win over a stubborn Osnabrück side. Both Mainz and Kaiserslautern have now opened a slight gap at the top in their attempt to return to the Bundesliga. After a poor start, 1860 has quietly crept back into contention. However, the Lions have not been overly convincing, and their fans don't appear to be convinced yet. This would explain the relatively poor attendance in the Allianz. Meanwhile, Nürnberg continues to dick around aimlessly, although they did get the points.
Hansa Rostock - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1:2 (1:0) 11,000 (Bartels - Takyi, Nehrig) Alemannia Aachen - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 0:2 (0:1) 17,189 (Heithölter, Book) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - FC Ingolstadt 04 0:0 (0:0) 5,606 FC Augsburg - FSV Frankfurt 2:2 (1:1) 15,811 (Thurk 2 - Shapourzadeh, Mokhtari) 1. FC Nürnberg - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 2:1 (2:1) 23,891 (Mintal, Eigler - Lüttmann) MSV Duisburg - FC St. Pauli 1:2 (0:0) 15,142 (Kouemaha - Bruns, Hennings) SC Freiburg - 1. FSV Mainz 05 0:1 (0:1) 18,500 (Bancé) 1860 München - TuS Koblenz 1:0 (0:0) 17,700 (Gebhardt) 1. FC Kaiserslautern - VfL Osnabrück 2:0 (0:0) 26,212 (Paljic 2) Attendance: 151,051 (avg 16,783) 1 1. FC Kaiserslautern 10 7 1 2 22:15 +7 22 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 10 6 3 1 21:10 +11 21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Freiburg 10 6 1 3 18:8 +10 19 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 10 5 2 3 24:17 +7 17 5 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 10 5 2 3 16:17 -1 17 6 TSV 1860 München 10 5 1 4 15:9 +6 16 7 FC St. Pauli 10 5 1 4 19:21 -2 16 8 MSV Duisburg (A) 10 4 3 3 16:12 +4 15 9 Alemannia Aachen 10 4 2 4 13:13 0 14 10 Hansa Rostock (A) 10 3 4 3 22:13 +9 13 11 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 10 3 4 3 13:13 0 13 12 VfL Osnabrück 10 3 2 5 15:21 -6 11 13 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 10 3 2 5 14:20 -6 11 14 FC Augsburg 10 3 1 6 14:18 -4 10 15 TuS Koblenz 10 3 3 4 14:17 -3 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 10 3 0 7 11:24 -13 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 FSV Frankfurt (N) 10 1 4 5 11:17 -6 7 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 10 1 4 5 8:21 -13 7 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 12
Emden is back on top with an away win, and Düsseldorf is back in contention. Paderborn was stunned at home by Wuppertal. Attendance was relatively crappy this round, only the eastern derby in Aue and Düsseldorf witnessed decent crowds.
Carl Zeiss Jena - Wacker Burghausen 2:2 (1:2) 5,533 (Riemer, Petersen - Schultz 2) Erzgebirge Aue - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:0 (0:0) 10,500 (Feick) Stuttgarter Kickers - 1. FC Union Berlin 2:2 (2:2) 3,630 (Vaccaro 2 - Benyamina 2) SC Paderborn 07 - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 0:1 (0:0) 6,342 (Reichwein) Werder Bremen II - Dynamo Dresden -:- (1:1) 1,000 (Diekmeier - Petrovic) VfR Aalen - Eintracht Braunschweig 2:0 (2:0) 2,350 (Sailer 2) Jahn Regensburg - Kickers Emden 0:1 (0:0) 1,200 (Neitzel) SV Sandhausen - Bayern München II 3:3 (0:1) 2,200 (Mintzel, Ristic, Pinto - Sikorski, Müller 2) SpVgg Unterhaching - VfB Stuttgart II 0:2 (0:1) 1,500 (Schieber, Rudy) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Kickers Offenbach 1:0 (1:0) 10,715 (Jovanovic) Attendance: 44,970 (avg 4,497) 1 Kickers Emden 12 8 3 1 19:8 +11 27 2 1. FC Union Berlin 12 7 4 1 23:11 +12 25 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Fortuna Düsseldorf 12 7 2 3 20:9 +11 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 12 7 2 3 20:14 +6 23 5 SV Sandhausen 12 6 2 4 24:18 +6 20 6 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 12 6 1 5 19:16 +3 19 7 Bayern München II 12 4 7 1 17:14 +3 19 8 VfB Stuttgart II 12 5 3 4 26:19 +7 18 9 Kickers Offenbach (A) 12 4 5 3 15:13 +2 17 10 SpVgg Unterhaching 12 4 5 3 14:15 -1 17 11 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 12 4 3 5 18:17 +1 15 12 Eintracht Braunschweig 12 4 3 5 14:14 0 15 13 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 12 4 3 5 11:14 -3 15 14 Dynamo Dresden 11 3 4 4 10:10 0 13 15 VfR Aalen 12 2 7 3 9:14 -5 13 16 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 12 3 4 5 15:22 -7 13 17 Wacker Burghausen 12 3 1 8 16:28 -12 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Jahn Regensburg 12 2 3 7 11:24 -13 9 19 Werder Bremen II 11 2 1 8 16:24 -8 7 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 12 0 5 7 14:27 -13 5 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Bundesliga, Round 9
The big news is obviously that upstart Hoffenheim simply played leaders Hamburg out of the park and jump into the lead. A sold out crowd in Mannheim watched as the promoted clubs dominated the match and blew HSV out in the first half.
Bayer Leverkusen had to overcome stubborn resistance from Köln in a Rhein derby. A sold out Bayer-Arena (reduced capacity right now about 3,000) watched as the Aspirins ended Köln's mini-streak.
Schalke again looked lame as they were unable to break down Bielefeld. Bayern München likes living dangerously this season. The visitors from Wolfsburg banged in 2 goals before the Bavarians had finished downing their first few liters of Oktoberfest brew. Lucky for coach Jürgen Klinsmann, they woke up and then overran the VWs. Since many of their potential rivals are busy sucking, Bayern may get through their poor start without much of a deficit, so if they ever get things rolling, a title defense seems likely.
Bremen doesn't have much of a clue, and appear to be coasting on their laurels of ripping Bayern. Once again, they fail to get full points in a hotly contested northern rivalry.
The big news at the bottom is that Frankfurt gets their 2nd straight win, and in Cottbus, a relegation rival.
Bayer Leverkusen - 1. FC Köln 2:0 (0:0) 19,200 (Friedrich, Gekas) Bayern München - VfL Wolfsburg 4:2 (1:2) 69,000 (Ribery, Van Bommel, Borwoski, Schweinsteiger - Grafite, Dzeko) FC Schalke 04 - Arminia Bielefeld 0:0 (0:0) 60,886 Hannover 96 - Werder Bremen 1:1 (1:1) 49,000 (Schulz - Almeida) Energie Cottbus - Eintracht Frankfurt 2:3 (2:1) 13,294 (Rangelov 2 - Fink, Fenin, Liberopoulos) Borussia M'gladbach - Karlsruher SC 1:0 (0:0) 42,051 (Paauwe) VfB Stuttgart - VfL Bochum 2:0 (0:0) 43,000 (Gomez 2) Borussia Dortmund - Hertha BSC 1:1 (0:1) 66,600 (Kehl - Cicero) 1899 Hoffenheim - Hamburger SV 3:0 (3:0) 26,300 (Obasi 2, Ibisevic) Attendance: 389,331 (avg 43,259) 1 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 9 6 1 2 24:14 +10 19 2 Bayer Leverkusen 9 6 0 3 22:11 +11 18 3 Hamburger SV 9 5 2 2 15:15 0 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 VfB Stuttgart 9 5 1 3 15:10 +5 16 5 Bayern München (M, P) 9 4 3 2 20:15 +5 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Hertha BSC Berlin 9 4 3 2 11:10 +1 15 7 FC Schalke 04 9 3 5 1 12:8 +4 14 8 Borussia Dortmund 9 3 5 1 17:15 +2 14 9 VfL Wolfsburg 9 3 4 2 20:16 +4 13 10 Werder Bremen 9 3 4 2 23:20 +3 13 11 1. FC Köln (N) 9 4 1 4 8:11 -3 13 12 Eintracht Frankfurt 9 2 3 4 10:14 -4 9 13 Karlsruher SC 9 3 0 6 8:13 -5 9 14 Hannover 96 9 2 3 4 10:17 -7 9 15 VfL Bochum 9 1 4 4 12:15 -3 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Arminia Bielefeld 9 1 4 4 10:16 -6 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 9 2 1 6 9:17 -8 7 18 Energie Cottbus 9 1 2 6 5:14 -9 5 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
2. Liga, Round 9
Horrible attendance in the 2.Liga this week, as you can see there are definitely some crowd-killers. Nevertheless, there were some interesting matchs. Obviously the star attraction was Duisburg visiting Mainz, but that ended up a goalless draw. Freiburg had an impressive away win at heretofore surprising Ahlen, and goes top-of-table. This is because erstwhile leaders Kaiserslautern were stunningly dumped on in Oberhausen. The winners of last week's slaughter, Rostock, struggled to maintain a 0-0 draw at Frankfurt, and the victims of the massacre, Koblenz, showed themselves fully recovered in their 1-1 draw with Nürnberg. After a horrible start, 1860 is quietly climbing back up the table. I believe this may have been their first win ever in Osnabrück.
SpVgg Greuther Fürth - Alemannia Aachen 1:1 (1:1) 5,620 (Allagui - Stehle) FC St. Pauli - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 2:0 (0:0) 21,533 (Brunnemann, Boll) Rot-Weiss Ahlen - SC Freiburg 0:3 (0:2) 3,580 (Abdessaki, Glockner, Idrissou) FSV Frankfurt - Hansa Rostock 0:0 (0:0) 5,217 FC Ingolstadt 04 - FC Augsburg 1:2 (1:2) 6,571 (Demir - Werner 2) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - MSV Duisburg 0:0 (0:0) 20,100 TuS Koblenz - 1. FC Nürnberg 1:1 (0:1) 9,513 (Kuqi - Englehardt) VfL Osnabrück - 1860 München 0:2 (0:1) 14,985 (Ledgerwood, Lauth) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2:1 (1:1) 8,340 (Kruse, Terranova - Lakic) Attendance: 95,459 (avg 10,607) 1 SC Freiburg 9 6 1 2 18:7 +11 19 2 1. FC Kaiserslautern 9 6 1 2 20:15 +5 19 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FSV Mainz 05 9 5 3 1 20:10 +10 18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 MSV Duisburg (A) 9 4 3 2 15:10 +5 15 5 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 9 4 2 3 22:16 +6 14 6 Alemannia Aachen 9 4 2 3 13:11 +2 14 7 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 9 4 2 3 14:17 -3 14 8 Hansa Rostock (A) 9 3 4 2 21:11 +10 13 9 TSV 1860 München 9 4 1 4 14:9 +5 13 10 FC St. Pauli 9 4 1 4 17:20 -3 13 11 VfL Osnabrück 9 3 2 4 15:19 -4 11 12 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 9 2 4 3 11:12 -1 10 13 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 9 3 1 5 14:20 -6 10 14 TuS Koblenz 9 3 3 3 14:16 -2 9 15 FC Augsburg 9 3 0 6 12:16 -4 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 9 3 0 6 10:22 -12 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 FSV Frankfurt (N) 9 1 3 5 9:15 -6 6 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 9 1 3 5 8:21 -13 6 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 11
Union Berlin wins the top table clash with Paderborn and now leads. emden is back on track with a commanding thumping of Sandhausen. Düsseldorf remains in contention with an impressive away win. Jena fired their coach a couple of weeks ago, and apparently it's working, as they scratch out a win in Braunschweig and move out of the drop zone.
Wuppertaler SV Bor. - Werder Bremen II 2:1 (1:1) 2,578 (Stuckmann, Reichwein - Granskov-Hansen) Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Jahn Regensburg 4:1 (2:1) 5,805 (Rockenbach, Bunjaku, Canizzaro 2 - Bambara) Eintracht Braunschweig - Carl Zeiss Jena 1:2 (0:1) 14,700 (Schied - Hähnge, Ziegner) Dynamo Dresden - VfR Aalen 1:1 (0:0) 9,489 (Bröker - Hübener o.g.) 1. FC Union Berlin - SC Paderborn 07 3:2 (0:1) 7,507 (Benyamina 2, Patschinski - Löning, Fischer) Kickers Offenbach - Stuttgarter Kickers 4:0 (0:0) 6,638 (St.Haas, Mesic, Zinnow) VfB Stuttgart II - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:4 (0:2) 1,900 (Lawarée, Jovanovic, Langeneke, Cebe) Wacker Burghausen - Erzgebirge Aue 0:4 (0:0) 2,400 (Lunkunku, Fa. Müller, Feick, Glasner) Bayern München II - SpVgg Unterhaching 0:0 (0:0) 2,000 Kickers Emden - SV Sandhausen 3:0 (1:0) 2,800 (Moosmayer, Unger, Aidoo) Attendance: 55,817 (avg 5,582) 1 1. FC Union Berlin 11 7 3 1 21:9 +12 24 2 Kickers Emden 11 7 3 1 18:8 +10 24 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 11 7 2 2 20:13 +7 23 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 11 6 2 3 19:9 +10 20 5 SV Sandhausen 11 6 1 4 21:15 +6 19 6 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 11 6 1 4 19:15 +4 19 7 Bayern München II 11 4 6 1 14:11 +3 18 8 Kickers Offenbach (A) 11 4 5 2 15:12 +3 17 9 SpVgg Unterhaching 11 4 5 2 14:13 +1 17 10 VfB Stuttgart II 11 4 3 4 24:19 +5 15 11 Eintracht Braunschweig 11 4 3 4 14:12 +2 15 12 Dynamo Dresden 11 3 4 4 10:10 0 13 13 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 11 3 3 5 17:17 0 12 14 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 11 3 3 5 10:14 -4 12 15 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 11 3 3 5 13:20 -7 12 16 VfR Aalen 11 1 7 3 7:14 -7 10 17 Wacker Burghausen 11 3 0 8 14:26 -12 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Jahn Regensburg 11 2 3 6 11:23 -12 9 19 Werder Bremen II 11 2 1 8 16:24 -8 7 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 11 0 4 7 12:25 -13 4 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Midweek results
In a Bundesliga make up match, Eintracht Frankfurt got their 1st win of the season, a 2-1 win over Karlsuher SC. Some 47,000 fans went home happy, as Eintracht pulled out a win in cardiac fashion. Maik Franz header KSC into the lead in the 82nd minute, but Benjamin Köhler equalized 2 minutes later. Then in injury time, Iannis Amanatidis got the winner.
In Champions-League play, struggling Bayern München got back on track as they bitch-slapped Fiorentina 3-0. Goals by Klose, Schweinsteiger and Ze Roberto. Both sides had plenty more chances, but for once the shaky Bayern defense stood firm. Werder Bremen had a dacent effort as they drew 2-2 at Panathinaikos. Goals by Mertesacker and Almeida saved a point for Bremen.
UEFA Cup results were less positive. Schalke defeated Paris SG 3-1 in front of 50,000. A well taken goal by struggling Kevin Kuranyi and a strong Blues performance was the best news for Schalke fans in a while. A french own-goal and Halil Altintop gave Schalke their other strikes. Stuttgart crashed at Sevilla 0-2, and Hertha managed only a 1-1 draw with Benfica. Only 26,000 showed up at the Olympiastadion to watch the Berliners control most of the match, but find themselves trailing. But a triumphant return of Marko Pantelic (recently benched for poor attitude) gave Hertha a point. Meanwhile, a workman-like win for HSV, 2-1 over MTK Zilina. The Hamburgers took a two goal lead (Petric and Olic) on the road, before letting the hosts back in late.
Bundesliga, Round 8
An interesting week, as Hamburg defended their slim lead at the top, and Bayern finally got a win, albeit with a struggle.
HSV controlled the 1st half in their top-table clash with Schalke, but only had a goal to show for it. Schalke quickly equalized, and Hamburg really had no reserves left, so both sides settled for the draw. Overall, it was probably a better result for Schalke, since they were certainly less deserving of the point. Kevin Kuranyi, fresh from getting booted out of the national squad, really sucked, so maybe it's a good thing he got the boot.
Upstart Hoffenheim continues to impress, with a gala demonstration, banging in 5 goals on the road at Hannover. Bosnian Vead Ibisevic continues to make a name for himself, as he bagged two goals, giving him 9 strikes, leading the league. Hoffenheim remains the story of the season so far (along with bayern sucking). German fans may not like it, but neutral observors have to be impressed with their attacking football so far.
Bayer Levekusen was solid in their away win at struggling Frankfurt. Another poor start for Eintracht, but they really look crap this year. Patrick Helmes scored again, reinforcing his role in getting Kevin Kuranyi booted out from the DFB squad. It's too bad that Köln in unable to hold onto their talent, as their strikeforce could be Podolski/Helmes.
The Werder-Dortmund game was chaotic, especially with 3 goals in the last 5 minutes. Bremen demonstrated that they have a great offense and a pathetic defense, the worst in the Bundesliga. Obviously unless there are some drastic changes, Werder won't be able to really grasp for the title. A good result for Dortmund, who were on the verge of robbing all 3 points.
Bayern finally got back into the win column, against their ex-"farm team", Karlsruhe. However, they once again failed to impress, and left it to 5 minutes remaining for Miro Klose to get a winner. KSC was solid at the back, and certainly gave the champs all they could handle. A split of points would have probably been a fair result.
Berlin won at home against a disappointing Stuttgart. No real surprise here, as Stuttgart continues to play unevenly, and Berlin plays like...Hertha. Snooze...
Wolfsburg made short thrift of Bielefeld, hardly a surprise here. Felix Magath seems to have done a decent job in at least getting the Vws to play more attractive football, although they remain one of the least popular attractions in the Bundesliga.
Yet another win for Köln, who have calmed the waters after a poor start. They dominated against Cottbus, and should have had it all wrapped up by halftime. But they wasted a ton of chances and a golden opportunity to pad their goal difference. Energie was their usual crap road catenaccio. Gladbach was happy to earn a late point at Bochum, and get awy from the bottom spot. So Christian Ziege gets a point in his role as interim trainer, but it's been announced that veteran Hans Meyer (who saved a dismal Nürnberg a couple of seasons ago) would be taking over.
VfL Bochum - Borussia M'gladbach 2:2 (0:1) 31,328 (Dabrowski, Sinan - Gohouri, Kleine) Werder Bremen - Borussia Dortmund 3:3 (0:0) 42,100 (Baumann, Pizarro 2 - Frei, Hummels, Zidan) VfL Wolfsburg - Arminia Bielefeld 4:1 (2:0) 24,211 (Misimovic 2, Madlung, Grafite - Laas) Hannover 96 - 1899 Hoffenheim 2:5 (0:1) 42,321 (Schulz, Stajner - Ibisevic 2, Obasi, Salihovic, Ba) Eintracht Frankfurt - Bayer Leverkusen 0:2 (0:1) 48,000 (Helmes, Vidal) Hertha BSC - VfB Stuttgart 2:1 (1:0) 42,336 (Nicu, Kacar - Cacau) Karlsruher SC - Bayern München 0:1 (0:0) 30,500 (Klose) 1. FC Köln - Energie Cottbus 1:0 (1:0) 49,000 (Novakovic) Hamburger SV - FC Schalke 04 1:1 (1:0) 57,000 (Trochowski - Höwedes) Attendance: 366,796 (avg 40,755) 1 Hamburger SV 8 5 2 1 15:12 +3 17 2 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 8 5 1 2 21:14 +7 16 3 Bayer Leverkusen 8 5 0 3 20:11 +9 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Hertha BSC Berlin 8 4 2 2 10:9 +1 14 5 VfL Wolfsburg 8 3 4 1 18:12 +6 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 FC Schalke 04 8 3 4 1 12:8 +4 13 7 VfB Stuttgart 8 4 1 3 13:10 +3 13 8 Borussia Dortmund 8 3 4 1 16:14 +2 13 9 1. FC Köln (N) 8 4 1 3 8:9 -1 13 10 Werder Bremen 8 3 3 2 22:19 +3 12 11 Bayern München (M, P) 8 3 3 2 16:13 +3 12 12 Karlsruher SC 7 3 0 4 7:10 -3 9 13 Hannover 96 8 2 2 4 9:16 -7 8 14 VfL Bochum 8 1 4 3 12:13 -1 7 15 Arminia Bielefeld 8 1 3 4 10:16 -6 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Energie Cottbus 8 1 2 5 3:11 -8 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 8 1 1 6 8:17 -9 4 18 Eintracht Frankfurt 7 0 3 4 5:11 -6 3 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
2. Liga, Round 8
Lautern jumps back to the top with a workman-like win over Ahlen, as Mainz stubbed their toe in Aachen. However, the match of the week was undoubtedly Rostock's incredible 9-0 annihilation of Koblenz. What makes this so shocking is that Koblenz is a decent team, having only last round bitch-slapped leaders Kaiserslautern 5-0. But here, it was all Rostock. Hansa attacked furiously, and Koblenz ran around like retarded chickens with their heads lopped off. All of the Koblenz players received absolutely horrible marks of 5.5 or even the almost unheard of 6! (5 of them!). The only Koblenzer not to completely disgrace himself was apparently in the bathroom taking a dump, and thereby was subbed in later, so "kicker" mercifully didn't rate him. This has to be one of the most shocking results of the year, and is Rostock's greatest slaughter in professional football.
Other milestones were Nürnberg finally getting another win and moving out of the bottom, along with Osnabrück recording their first win over Oberhausen in 20 years.
1. FC Nürnberg - SC Freiburg 2:0 (0:0) 31,251 (Kluge, Mintal) VfL Osnabrück - Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 2:1 (1:1) 15,050 (de Wit, Braun - Schlieter) 1. FC Kaiserslautern - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 4:1 (0:1) 35,924 (Lakic 2, Sam, Hornig - Toborg) Hansa Rostock - TuS Koblenz 9:0 (3:0) 11,500 (Orestes 2, Kern 2, Schindler, Bartels, Richter, Lense, Lechleiter) MSV Duisburg - FC Ingolstadt 04 6:1 (2:1) 13,082 (Wagner 2, Kouemaha, Tararache, Grlic 2 - Demir) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - FSV Frankfurt 3:1 (1:0) 8,310 (Orahovac, König, Siegert - Mehic) 1860 München - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 3:1 (0:1) 31,000 (Gebhardt, Lauth 2 - Burkhardt) FC Augsburg - FC St. Pauli 3:2 (0:0) 14,207 (Torghelle, Möhrle, Thurk - Ebbers, Schultz) Alemannia Aachen - 1. FSV Mainz 05 2:0 (0:0) 18,907 (Nemeth, Auer) Attendance: 179,231 (avg 19,915) 1 1. FC Kaiserslautern 8 6 1 1 19:13 +6 19 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 8 5 2 1 20:10 +10 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Freiburg 8 5 1 2 15:7 +8 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 MSV Duisburg (A) 8 4 2 2 15:10 +5 14 5 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 8 4 2 2 14:14 0 14 6 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 8 4 1 3 21:15 +6 13 7 Alemannia Aachen 8 4 1 3 12:10 +2 13 8 Hansa Rostock (A) 8 3 3 2 21:11 +10 12 9 VfL Osnabrück 8 3 2 3 15:17 -2 11 10 TSV 1860 München 8 3 1 4 12:9 +3 10 11 FC St. Pauli 8 3 1 4 15:20 -5 10 12 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 8 3 1 4 13:18 -5 10 13 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 8 2 3 3 10:11 -1 9 14 TuS Koblenz 8 3 2 3 13:15 -2 8 15 FC Augsburg 8 2 0 6 10:15 -5 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 8 1 3 4 8:19 -11 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 8 2 0 6 8:21 -13 6 18 FSV Frankfurt (N) 8 1 2 5 9:15 -6 5 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 10
Stuttgarter Kickers - VfB Stuttgart II 4:4 (0:3) 5,875 (Mann, Gambo, Vaccaro, Rosen - Schieber, Didavi, Walch, Klauss) VfR Aalen - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 0:0 (0:0) 2,742 Eintracht Braunschweig - Wacker Burghausen 2:0 (1:0) 14,200 (Lenze, Dannenberg) Jahn Regensburg - Erzgebirge Aue 1:4 (1:1) 4,200 (Beigang - Hensel, Glasner, Curri, Agyemang) SV Sandhausen - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 2:0 (1:0) 3,200 (Ristic, Leandro) SpVgg Unterhaching - Kickers Emden 1:1 (0:1) 2,300 (T.Schweinsteiger - Neitzel) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Bayern München II 1:1 (0:1) 13,150 (Jovanovic - Müller) SC Paderborn 07 - Kickers Offenbach 0:0 (0:0) 7,621 Werder Bremen II - 1. FC Union Berlin 1:2 (0:0) 1,100 (Testroet - Patschinski, Benyamina) Carl Zeiss Jena - Dynamo Dresden 0:0 (0:0) 12,500 Attendance: 66,888 (avg 6,688) 1 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 10 7 2 1 18:10 +8 23 2 1. FC Union Berlin 10 6 3 1 18:7 +11 21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Kickers Emden 10 6 3 1 15:8 +7 21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SV Sandhausen 10 6 1 3 21:12 +9 19 5 Fortuna Düsseldorf 10 5 2 3 15:9 +6 17 6 Bayern München II 10 4 5 1 14:11 +3 17 7 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 10 5 1 4 15:14 +1 16 8 SpVgg Unterhaching 10 4 4 2 14:13 +1 16 9 VfB Stuttgart II 10 4 3 3 24:15 +9 15 10 Eintracht Braunschweig 10 4 3 3 13:10 +3 15 11 Kickers Offenbach (A) 10 3 5 2 11:12 -1 14 12 Dynamo Dresden 10 3 3 4 9:9 0 12 13 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 10 2 3 5 13:17 -4 9 14 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 10 2 3 5 8:13 -5 9 15 VfR Aalen 10 1 6 3 6:13 -7 9 16 Wacker Burghausen 10 3 0 7 14:22 -8 9 17 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 10 2 3 5 11:19 -8 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Jahn Regensburg 10 2 3 5 10:19 -9 9 19 Werder Bremen II 10 2 1 7 15:22 -7 7 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 10 0 4 6 12:21 -9 4 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Qualifying fallout
Germany was clearly relieved with getting maximum points against Russia, so the subsequent news has been more of a silly nature. The headlines gather mostly around Kevin Kuranyi being kicked off the team. Kuranyi has fallen down in the striker pecking order, and was relegated to sitting in the stands. In frustration, he decided he had enough and left the stadium at halftime - without permission. Head coach Joachim Löw was enraged, and announced that "Kuranyi will never again play for the national squad as long as I'm coach." Whatever. Löw should be more concerned on how he was completely outcoached by Russia's Guus Hiddink. Leave the pontificating for others. Kuranyi is probably not good enough to make the squad anyway, and his recent appearances haven't been overly impressive. On the other hand, if he had backbone, he could have staked his claim with some effort. Right now, Podolski and Klose are the clear no.1-2, but certainly Klose is in lousy form. The next on the pecking order seems to be Mario Gomez, but he's looked totally crap for the national team. Bayer Leverkusen's Patrick Helmes has moved up, so Kuranyi is probably 5th. But the gap isn't huge, and there's certainly room to move up.
More Austria disgrace...
No, I'm not referring to the paltry coverage Abseits devotes to Austria. (That has always been disgraceful. In my feeble defense, the problem is the Austrian teams are always merging, disappearing and changing their names...) The national squad utterly and totally disgraced themselves against "mechanics and fry-order cooks" as they were held 1-1 against the Faroe Islands. Coming after the recent heroic 3-1 win over France, one can see that Austrian footie has come crashing down to reality. In their live comments on the match, the Austrian newspaper Der Standard mentioned that "Thank god this isn't being televised back in Austria." (The TV equipment from ORF/Austrian TV failed to arrive in time at Torshavn, so they couldn't set up.) I guess this result moves the Faroes up to a position of "hot rival" or at least Angstgegner: way back in 1990, the Faroes got their greatest ever result when they beat Austria 1-0...
Struggle against Russia ends with 2-1 victory
Germany's World Cup qualifying match against Russia was certainly a tale of two cities, or rather two halves. In fact, it was not unlike the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in WWII. In this case, fortunately for the DFB, it didn't end with Berlin in shambles the total destruction of the country...
In the first half, the Russians had a couple of good chances, but basically it was an impressive German power display that hasn't been seen in years. Germany totally dominated against an excellent Russian squad, pressed the visitors into desperate defense, and with Podolski and Ballack scoring, were clearly in control, and up 2-0. In fact, the Russkies were lucky they weren't completely routed. Nobody at that point doubted that this would be an easy win. However at half-time, the Russian coach, Dutchman Guus Hiddink, clearly gave an inspirational talk, made some adjustments, and the Sbornaja came out guns blazing. A patzer by Philip Lahm essentially gifted the Russkies a goal, and from then on, the Russians assaulted the German defenses. Germany was completely taken aback, and coach Joachim Löw was clearly befuddled. The only thing he could do was urge his troops to calm down when they were being overrun. What a lame response.
Many of the German players, especially Ballack, resorted to flopping on the turf like fish out of water, and then whining about it like babies. OK, in many cases, it may have been a foul, but the ref was clearly inclined to "let them play." On the other hand, the Russians aggressively went after every ball, and ran through the once again feeble German defenses like the Red Army. There was one last chance for Germany to seize control of the game: Trochowski finished off a nice move with a thundering shot that rocketed off the cross-bar, GK Akinfeev well beaten. Afterwards, Germany was desperately waiting for the whistle. Only with luck and a superb Rene Adler (making his debut in goal) were they able to survive the Russian onslaught.
In the end, 3 fortunate points. This could have been Germany's best performance in years, but with Löw clearly out-maneuvered by Hiddink in the 2nd half, you can only regard the beer-stein as half-empty or full...
Misc News
The world financial crisis has an impact on football clubs, probably most dramatically in England. Although German clubs are by and large "membership" clubs, in many cases the professional squad is a seperate entity, and may be more effected. And of course if sponsors go belly-up, that impacts the bottom line as well. One eception in Borussia Dortmund, which is the only club actually listed on the stock market. Not surprisingly, they've been taking a pounding, and their shares recently dropped to about 1.14 euros, down from 1.35 only a couple of weeks ago. Their overall valuation is now said to be about 70 million euros. Certainly a better buy than Newcastle, where that clown Mike Ashley is said to want 250 million pounds...
Could the end be around the horizon? He's been on the job almost exactly 100 days, and things ain't going that well. Bayern head coach Jürgen Klinsmann has received a "job guarantee" as a Bayern München management vote-of-confidence. When you start hearing those, it usually means your ass is about to get canned. The guarantee comes from club VP Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and is "good through the end of the season." Meanwhile, well known coach Peter Neururer declared Klinsmann to be "the best paid trainee in the world." and "his appointment was a slap in the face to all DFB coaches." Nevertheless, he claims to be "Klinsmann's friend". Well, good for that. Plus he obviously knows about getting slapped in the face, or more accurately, getting booted in the rear, since he was canned by Hannover a year or so ago...
Relegated 1.FC Nürnberg held it's membership meeting, and actually announced that it's financials are better than ever. Despite relegation, the club made and after-tax profit of 1.4 million euros, about the same as the previous year's 1.6 million. Given the troubled financial past, these are pretty decent numbers. Furthermore, the club is carrying no bank debt. The budget for the coming year (professional football division only) is 25.8 million euros. This is slightly up from the previous season, so obviously the goal is immediate promotion up from the 2.Liga back to the Bundesliga. (Things ain't going too well in that aspect right now...). However, despite the euros, all was not happy. Club president Michael Roth is still outraged over relegation: "With these quality players, we should have been able to get the necessary 3 points to stay up - regardless of the coach."
Critical World Cup qualifiers come up in the next few days. Germany faces Russia in Dortmund on the 11th, and on the 15th they host Wales in Mönchengladbach. Coach Joachim Löw's side needs to get 6 points in these matches to show who's the boss.
Unhappiness in Bielefeld, as Arminia striker Artur Wichniarek is whining about a contract extension. The Pole has single handedly accounted for 6 of Arminia's 9 goals, so he's a pretty important piece of the offense. And his contract runs out by season end. At age 31, Wichniarek is probably looking for his final big contract. However, from Arminia's perspective, they've theoretically got him by the balls. There is a renewable option on his current contract that extends to 2010. And it kicks in after only 20 games, so he's almost halfway there. The only way he could avoid it is to get injured. That would definitely suck from his perspective, because no big new money deal. On the other hand, perhaps his contract is only good for the Bundesliga. So if Arminia gets relegated, then he's a free agent. Perhaps he'll start missing the net in late season relegation battles...
Bundesliga, Round 7
The Bundesliga seems like a wide open race this season, as the heavy favorites bayern continue to stumble, and their heir apparents, Bremen, continue inconsistent. This leaves the door wide open for various pretenders, although at the moment only upstart Hoffenheim seem to want to take advantage.
Hamburg is back to the top of the table, with a tough 2-1 away win in always difficult Cottbus.
Upstart newcomers Hoffenheim continue to draw derision of undoubtedly jealous fans everywhere, but their squad of largely unknown players (despite the continual accusation of being a "moneybags" team.) hustle after every ball amd don't back down from a fight. Supposedly that was the spirit that made German football great. Well, it's only display at Hoffenheim, so maybe some of the overpaid players (and spoiled fans) on other teams should take heed. As for this week's match, Hoffenheim came from behind to upend struggling Eintracht Frankfurt.
Stuttgart ran through Bremen's shockingly incompetant defense like babies without diapers. It was clear that Bremen has an offense, but if they don't hit the net, bad things can happen. Werder weasted a few chances, and were helpless against a forceful VfB attack. Stuttgart however is also struggling with inconsistency, as just last week they sucked in Dortmund.
Bayer Leverkusen dominated the match, but were unable to beat Berlin's superb Drobny in goal. And then Hertha shocked the Aspirins, as ex-Alka Seltzer Voronin scored in the last minute to steal all the points. A nice win for the visitors, but Leverkusen will have to hit up their sponsor and use some of their products, because it certainly leaves them with an upset stomach.
If Bayern weren't in crisis before, they certainly are now. The champs were unable to hold a two goal lead at home - against a weak opponent like Bochum. This continues a string of poor performances, and it's getting the press and fans upset. Jürgen Klinsmann's ass is going to get fired unless they start getting some "W"s, as he is quickly using up his store of popularity.
Schalke continues to dick around. Not only could they not put away Wolfsburg, but they needed an injury time goal by Kevin Kuranyi to save their ass. They haven't won a title in 50 years, and the way they keep on throwing away points, that doesn't look to change this year either.
A huge win on the road for Karlsruhe, at Bielefeld. If KSC wants to follow up last season's impressive performance, they need to pick up points in critical matches, and they have now won 3 in a row. After falling behing early, Arminia pressed, but was unable to convert their chances. A cold blooded KSC counter then essentially wrapped up the match.
Köln, who had been sucking, all of a sudden is becoming respectable, at least in fighting their way off the bottom. They celebrate a huge win in their Rhein-derby at Gladbach. They usually come up short in this clash, so this is a significant 3 points. Also significant for Gladbach, or at least head coach Jos Luhukay: his ass was fired after the match.
Finally, Dortmund may be catching the Scahlke disease, a "gift" from their fierce rivals. Despite dominating the game, they wasted tons of chances, and have to settle for a draw with visiting Hannover. Nevertheless, the fans can't bee too unhappy with the Neons decent start to the season, given the pain of the last couple of campaigns.
Arminia Bielefeld - Karlsruher SC 1:2 (0:1) 20,900 (Herzig - Porcello, Freis) Bayern München - VfL Bochum 3:3 (2:1) 69,000 (van Buyten, Zé Roberto 2 - Sinan, Dabrowski, Grote) VfB Stuttgart - Werder Bremen 4:1 (2:0) 55,000 (Khedira, Träsch, Hilbert, Lanig - Diego) Bayer Leverkusen - Hertha BSC 0:1 (0:0) 19,200 (Voronin) Borussia M'gladbach - 1. FC Köln 1:2 (1:1) 54,067 (Brouwers - Ehret, Novakovic) 1899 Hoffenheim - Eintracht Frankfurt 2:1 (0:0) 26,300 (Ba 2 - Steinhöfer) FC Schalke 04 - VfL Wolfsburg 2:2 (1:0) 61,673 (Kuranyi 2 - Dzeko, Caiuby) Borussia Dortmund - Hannover 96 1:1 (1:1) 66,900 (Valdez - Forssell) Energie Cottbus - Hamburger SV 1:2 (0:0) 17,007 (Jelic - Olic, Petric) Attendance: 390,011 (avg 43,335) 1 Hamburger SV 7 5 1 1 14:11 +3 16 2 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 7 4 1 2 16:12 +4 13 3 VfB Stuttgart 7 4 1 2 12:8 +4 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Bayer Leverkusen 7 4 0 3 18:11 +7 12 5 FC Schalke 04 7 3 3 1 11:7 +4 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Borussia Dortmund 7 3 3 1 13:11 +2 12 7 Werder Bremen 7 3 2 2 19:16 +3 11 8 Hertha BSC Berlin 7 3 2 2 8:8 0 11 9 VfL Wolfsburg 7 2 4 1 14:11 +3 10 10 1. FC Köln (N) 7 3 1 3 7:9 -2 10 11 Bayern München (M, P) 7 2 3 2 15:13 +2 9 12 Karlsruher SC 6 3 0 3 7:9 -2 9 13 Hannover 96 7 2 2 3 7:11 -4 8 14 VfL Bochum 7 1 3 3 10:11 -1 6 15 Arminia Bielefeld 7 1 3 3 9:12 -3 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Energie Cottbus 7 1 2 4 3:10 -7 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Eintracht Frankfurt 6 0 3 3 5:9 -4 3 18 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 7 1 0 6 6:15 -9 3 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
2. Liga, Round 7
A shocking result in Koblenz, as leaders Kaiserslautern came crashing down. A sold out crowd gave a warm greeting to visiting FCK coach Milan Sastic, who was the architect of Koblenz' rise over the past years. However, that was all FCK would feel, except for the hiding that they received. American Matthew Taylor, who had bounced around the MLS and other US leagues, was the star, with 3 goals and an assist. FCK were so shocked, they only put up feeble resistance to a gal Koblenz performance. 'Lautern's 0-5 ass whupping has to be their worst 2.Liga loss ever. Taking advantage, Mainz stormed to the top with a 5-0 shellacking of bottom feeder Wehen, and it could have been worse if their GK Walke had not been in decent form. Also doing well was Freiburg, whose important 2-0 win over relegated Duisburg solidifies their claim for promotion.
Meanwhile, Nürnberg continues to stumble, barely escaping Ahlen with a point in front of an embarasingly tiny crowd (at least for FCN). Ahlen has beens surprisngly competitive early in the season, so it's too bad they have no fans. The other relegated team, Rostock, got their butts handed to them in Ingolstadt. 1860 finally got a decent result, as they won handily at FSV Frankfurt.
SC Freiburg - MSV Duisburg 2:0 (1:0) 18,700 (Abdessaki, Schuster) FSV Frankfurt - 1860 München 0:3 (0:0) 8,921 (Johnson, Gebhardt, Bender) Rot-Weiß Oberhausen - FC Augsburg 2:1 (2:1) 4,430 (Kiskanc, Sinkala - Szabics) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - VfL Osnabrück 4:2 (3:0) 7,200 (Allagui 2, Ilicevic, Burkhardt - Heidrich, Reichenberger) FC St. Pauli - Alemannia Aachen 3:2 (2:1) 22,280 (Ebbers 2, Ludwig - Auer, Daun) TuS Koblenz - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 5:0 (2:0) 15,000 (Taylor 3, Mavric, Krontiris) Rot-Weiss Ahlen - 1. FC Nürnberg 1:1 (1:1) 4,367 (Reus - Perchthold) FC Ingolstadt 04 - Hansa Rostock 4:2 (1:1) 5,202 (Neunaber, Leitl, Lokvenc 2 - Cetkovic, Lense) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 5:0 (2:0) 20,300 (Amri, Noveski, Borja, van der Heyden, Baljak) Attendance: 106,400 (avg 11,822) 1 1. FSV Mainz 05 7 5 2 0 20:8 +12 17 2 SC Freiburg 7 5 1 1 15:5 +10 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FC Kaiserslautern 7 5 1 1 15:12 +3 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 7 4 2 1 13:10 +3 14 5 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 7 4 1 2 20:12 +8 13 6 MSV Duisburg (A) 7 3 2 2 9:9 0 11 7 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 7 3 1 3 12:12 0 10 8 Alemannia Aachen 7 3 1 3 10:10 0 10 9 FC St. Pauli 7 3 1 3 13:17 -4 10 10 Hansa Rostock (A) 7 2 3 2 12:11 +1 9 11 TuS Koblenz 7 3 2 2 13:6 +7 8 12 VfL Osnabrück 7 2 2 3 13:16 -3 8 13 1860 München 7 2 1 4 9:8 +1 7 14 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 7 1 3 3 8:11 -3 6 15 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (N) 7 2 0 5 7:19 -12 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 FSV Frankfurt (N) 7 1 2 4 8:12 -4 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 FC Augsburg 7 1 0 6 7:13 -6 3 18 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 7 0 3 4 5:18 -13 3 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 9
Paderborn and Emden keep the pace, as they both had tight wins. Union Berlin was able to seize 3rd place in what was generally a good week for eastern squads. Stuttgarter Kickers were on the verge of an upset win, their first, but a late Bayern-II comeback robbed them of their effort.
Wuppertaler SV Bor. - Carl Zeiss Jena 0:1 (0:0) 4,364 (Hähnge) VfB Stuttgart II - SC Paderborn 07 1:2 (0:1) 900 (Schieber - Löning, Kumbela) Kickers Emden - Fortuna Düsseldorf 1:0 (0:0) 6,075 (Zedi) Rot-Weiß Erfurt - SpVgg Unterhaching 4:1 (3:0) 5,653 (Bunjaku 2, Canizzaro, Schulz o.g. - Bischoff) Erzgebirge Aue - SV Sandhausen 2:2 (0:1) 7,200 (Hensel, Paulus - Mintzel, Göttlicher) 1. FC Union Berlin - VfR Aalen 3:0 (1:0) 5,125 (Dogan, Biran 2) Kickers Offenbach - Werder Bremen II 1:0 (0:0) 6,020 (Zinnow) Wacker Burghausen - Jahn Regensburg 0:1 (0:1) 3,250 (Beigang) Bayern München II - Stuttgarter Kickers 3:3 (1:3) 950 (Yilmaz 2, Kroos - Schürg, Deigendesch, Vaccaro) Dynamo Dresden - Eintracht Braunschweig 1:1 (1:1) 12,359 (Schanda o.g. - Lense) Attendance: 51,896 (avg 5,190) 1 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 9 7 1 1 18:10 +8 22 2 Kickers Emden 9 6 2 1 14:7 +7 20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FC Union Berlin 9 5 3 1 16:6 +10 18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SV Sandhausen 9 5 1 3 19:12 +7 16 5 Fortuna Düsseldorf 9 5 1 3 14:8 +6 16 6 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 9 5 1 3 15:12 +3 16 7 Bayern München II 9 4 4 1 13:10 +3 16 8 SpVgg Unterhaching 9 4 3 2 13:12 +1 15 9 VfB Stuttgart II 9 4 2 3 20:11 +9 14 10 Kickers Offenbach (A) 9 3 4 2 11:12 -1 13 11 Eintracht Braunschweig 9 3 3 3 11:10 +1 12 12 Dynamo Dresden 9 3 2 4 9:9 0 11 13 Wacker Burghausen 9 3 0 6 14:20 -6 9 14 Jahn Regensburg 9 2 3 4 9:15 -6 9 15 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 9 2 2 5 8:13 -5 8 16 VfR Aalen 9 1 5 3 6:13 -7 8 17 Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 9 2 2 5 11:19 -8 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Werder Bremen II 9 2 1 6 14:20 -6 7 19 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 9 1 3 5 9:16 -7 6 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 9 0 3 6 8:17 -9 3 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
European wrap
The Bundesliga clubs hardly covered themselves with glory, but in general got the job done.
The Champions-League saw Werder Bremen pull off a nice result in Group B, drawing 1-1 away to Inter Milan. Claudio Pizarro got the goal for Werder, which he certainly enjoyed, since Inter's coach Jose Mourinho hardly played him when they were both at Chelsea. Meanwhile, Bayern München continues with lame performances. In Group F, they could only draw at home 1-1 to Olympique Lyon. A well-played match, where Zé Roberto got the equalizer.
In the UEFA Cup, almost all German squads advance to the group-stage. Unfortunately, the best result came from the club that didn't advance. Borussia Dortmund looked dead and buried after losing 0-2 in the first leg to Udinese at home. But the Neons put in a great performance on the road, and two goals by Tamas Hajnal (both in injury time at the end of each period!) gave them a draw. After a scoreless extra-time, they ended up losing 4-3 on penalties. Wolfsburg advanced with a 1-1 draw at Rapid Bucharest, having won the first leg 2-0. Bundesliga leaders Hamburg traveled to Romania to face Unirea Urziceni, who had managed a 0-0 draw in Hamburg. This time HSV played better, winning 2-0. Schalke was crap, going through the motions against APOEL Nicosia, escaping with a 1-1 draw. However, since they had won 4-1 on Cyprus, no problem. VfB Stuttgart almost crapped in their pants. They were down 0-2 at Bulgarian side Cherno More Varna, facing elimination. But two late goals, the last at 95 minutes by Mario Gomez, and they made their 2-1 first leg win stand up. Finally, Hertha BSC also advanced, despite sucking in Ireland againt St.Patrick's. Luckily for the Berliners, the Irish had spent pre-game in the pub downing Guiness, hence their aim was off, hitting the post twice. Hertha therefore was able to make their 2-0 first leg result stand.
Bundesliga, Round 6 Köln had an important win against a disappointing leader Schalke. In fact, the home side dominated the match and only their lousy finishing prevented them from giving Schalke a major ass-whupping. I think most neutral observers have pegged Schalke as an underacheiver, and they certainly lived up to the billing. Especially in the 2nd half, when they should have been chasing an equalizer, Schalke showed no life.
The wildest match was in Bremen, where Werder met upstarts Hoffenheim. The Bremen attack was in high gear, banging in goals left and right. However, the promoted side was not without effort. Amazingly Hoffenheim fought back from a two goal deficit to tie at 4-4, only to see Werder snatch a late winner. Hoffenheim may not get the respect they deserve, since most fans are still all upset over their "moneybags" sponsor, Dietmar Hopp. But what neutral observers are seeing is a team of hungry unknowns playing all out in every match, which is something that can't be said of many other squads. For Werder, further evidence that their attack is Germany's best, although their defense does look full of holes.
Hamburg recovered from their bitch-slapping last week in VW town. A visit from hapless Gladbach is just what the doctor ordered. However, HSV was unable to really kick ass, despite dominating against a harmless visitor. Still, the win vaults them back into the lead.
Bayern is already in crisis. Jürgen Klinsmann's squad laid another egg, as a first half free kick by Huszti gave Hannover the win. Bayern looked lame, without ideas, and the 96ers showed great fight. (They are unbeaten in 10 straight at home, so their problem is lameness away.) For Klinsmann, he needs to come up with something pretty quick, or else his ass will start turning red from the whippings that Hoeness and Rummenigge are undoubtedly preparing.
A suprise win for Cottbus in an "eastern" derby. Yeah, it's in the east, but Hertha was never part of the GDR, so there's no tradition here. Nevertheless, a critical win for Energie, which showed great defensive resolve. Berlin meanwhile dicked around as they are wont to, so no suprise that they end up losing. Clearly they're a better squad, but underachievement has been their tag for many years now.
Leverkusen continues quietly to bang 'em in, and have established themselves as a legit title contender. Despite selling off many good players over the years, Bayer has managed to keep a supply of decent replacements coming in, and their attack this season has been excellent. Bochum was basically knocked out, although a couple of late goals made the match interesting.
Dortmund recovered from some recent lame performances to blitz Stuttgart. Frankfurt needed a late goal to avoid defeat at home to a revived Bielefeld. Eintracht has gotten off to yet another poor start, so they've got quite a bit of work to do if they are to stave off relegation this season. Karlsruhe got some critical points as they handed Wolfsburg their first loss.
1. FC Köln - FC Schalke 04 1:0 (1:0) 50,000 (Mohamad) Werder Bremen - 1899 Hoffenheim 5:4 (4:2) 40,059 (Özil 2, Pizarro, Diego, Hunt - Ba, Salihovic, Ibisevic, Compper) Hamburger SV - Borussia M'gladbach 1:0 (1:0) 57,000 (Petric) Hannover 96 - Bayern München 1:0 (1:0) 49,000 (Huszti) Hertha BSC Berlin - Energie Cottbus 0:1 (0:1) 42,297 (Jelic) VfL Bochum - Bayer Leverkusen 2:3 (0:2) 24,843 (Sestak, Sinan - Vidal, Augusto, Helmes) Borussia Dortmund - VfB Stuttgart 3:0 (2:0) 71,200 (Hajnal, Santana, Frei) Eintracht Frankfurt - Arminia Bielefeld 1:1 (0:1) 37,600 (Köhler - Wichniarek) Karlsruher SC - VfL Wolfsburg 2:1 (0:0) 25,934 (Porcello, Freis - Costa) Attendance: 397,933 (avg 44,215) 1 Hamburger SV 6 4 1 1 12:10 +2 13 2 Bayer Leverkusen 6 4 0 2 18:10 +8 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Werder Bremen 6 3 2 1 18:12 +6 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 FC Schalke 04 6 3 2 1 9:5 +4 11 5 Borussia Dortmund 6 3 2 1 12:10 +2 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 6 3 1 2 14:11 +3 10 7 VfB Stuttgart 6 3 1 2 8:7 +1 10 8 VfL Wolfsburg 6 2 3 1 12:9 +3 9 9 Bayern München (M, P) 6 2 2 2 12:10 +2 8 10 Hertha BSC Berlin 6 2 2 2 7:8 -1 8 11 1. FC Köln (N) 6 2 1 3 5:8 -3 7 12 Hannover 96 6 2 1 3 6:10 -4 7 13 Arminia Bielefeld 6 1 3 2 8:10 -2 6 14 Karlsruher SC 5 2 0 3 5:8 -3 6 15 VfL Bochum 6 1 2 3 7:8 -1 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Energie Cottbus 6 1 2 3 2:8 -6 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Eintracht Frankfurt 5 0 3 2 4:7 -3 3 18 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 6 1 0 5 5:13 -8 3 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
2. Liga, Round 6
Kaiserslautern remains the leader, although they had a tough time with promoted FSV Frankfurt. Mainz stays on pace with a noce road win in Augsburg. An impressive road win for Greuther Fürth, at Oberhausen. RWO looks crap, and apparently are booking an early reservation on the relegation train. Wehen also looks hapless, getting stuffed at home by Ahlen. They remain without a win. Near the bottom, both 1860 and Nürnberg continue to suck. They expected to be contending for promotion, and instead they're barely keeping their heads above water - mainly because there are crappier teams. Especially in Nürnberg, where coach Michael Oenning is probably getting his ass canned soon. And that after he only recently took over...
Hansa Rostock - FC St. Pauli 3:0 (1:0) 23,000 (Dorn, Cetkovic 2) VfL Osnabrück - TuS Koblenz 1:0 (1:0) 13,125 (Sykora) RW Oberhausen - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 0:4 (0:2) 3,811 (Nehrig, Reisinger 2, Allagui) Alemannia Aachen - SC Freiburg 1:0 (0:0) 18,020 (Daun) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 1:3 (0:2) 5,235 (König - Toborg 3) 1860 München - FC Ingolstadt 04 1:1 (1:0) 31,000 (Bierofka - Neuendorf) 1. FC Kaiserslautern - FSV Frankfurt 2:1 (0:0) 37,772 (Hesse, Jendrisek - Barletta) FC Augsburg - 1. FSV Mainz 05 0:2 (0:1) 11,097 (Bancé 2) 1. FC Nürnberg - MSV Duisburg 0:1 (0:1) 26,444 (Makiadi) Attendance: 169,504 (avg 18,834) 1 1. FC Kaiserslautern 6 5 1 0 15:7 +8 16 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 6 4 2 0 15:8 +7 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Freiburg 6 4 1 1 13:5 +8 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 6 4 1 1 12:9 +3 13 5 MSV Duisburg (A) 6 3 2 1 9:7 +2 11 6 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 6 3 1 2 16:10 +6 10 7 Alemannia Aachen 6 3 1 2 8:7 +1 10 8 Hansa Rostock (A) 6 2 3 1 10:7 +3 9 9 VfL Osnabrück 6 2 2 2 11:12 -1 8 10 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 6 2 1 3 8:10 -2 7 11 FC St. Pauli 6 2 1 3 10:15 -5 7 12 TuS Koblenz 6 2 2 2 8:6 +2 5 13 FSV Frankfurt (N) 6 1 2 3 8:9 -1 5 14 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 6 1 2 3 7:10 -3 5 15 1860 München 6 1 1 4 6:8 -2 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 FC Augsburg 6 1 0 5 6:11 -5 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 6 0 3 3 5:13 -8 3 18 RW Oberhausen (N) 6 1 0 5 5:18 -13 3 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 8
Paderborn, the preseason favorite, strengthened their lead at the top. Highflying Emden, losers last week to Paderborn, had another "back-to-earth" experience, as they were held to a draw by erstwhile pathetic Stuttgarter Kickers. Meanwhile, Düsseldorf has quietly moved into contention with a thumping win over Erfurt, a nice crowd a reflection of Fortuna moving in the right direction. Braunschweig, the 3.Liga's most popular club, won at home against Wuppertal, but have a way to go before they contend. Bremen was evidentally the place to watch goals this week. With the "A" team winning 5-4 against Hoffenheim, the reserves had a wild one as well, losing 4-5 to Stuttgart's reserves. Of course, while the Bundesliga match was sold-out, a mere 300 bothered to show up for the reserve match. Which is just further evidence why having reserves competing in the leagues are a scourge on German football.
Jena remains in full crisis, after a devastating home loss to Union Berlin. Aue was at least able to stabilize the rot with a nice point at Unterhaching.
Werder Bremen II - VfB Stuttgart II 4:5 (2:2) 300 (Stahlbaum Oehrl 2, Ronneburg - Rahn 2, Schieber 2, Hofmann) SV Sandhausen - Jahn Regensburg 3:0 (1:0) 2,500 (Schmid 2, Ristic) Eintr. Braunschweig - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 2:1 (2:1) 13,100 (Reichwein o.g., Schulp - Stuckmann) Dynamo Dresden - Wacker Burghausen 3:1 (1:1) 8,831 (G. Müller, Savran, Petrovic - Mitterhuber) SpVgg Unterhaching - Erzgebirge Aue 1:1 (1:0) 3,000 (T.Schweinsteiger - El Berkani) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 3:0 (1:0) 11,089 (Cebe, Christ, Langeneke) Stuttgarter Kickers - Kickers Emden 1:1 (0:0) 1,800 (Schürg - Rauw) SC Paderborn 07 - Bayern München II 2:1 (2:0) 9,431 (Löning 2 - Sikorski) VfR Aalen - Kickers Offenbach 1:1 (1:0) 2,425 (Bohl - Tosunoglu) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - 1. FC Union Berlin 1:2 (0:1) 8,974 (Hansen - Biran, Stuff) Attendance: 61,450 (avg 6,145) 1 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 8 6 1 1 16:9 +7 19 2 Kickers Emden 8 5 2 1 13:7 +6 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Fortuna Düsseldorf 8 5 1 2 14:7 +7 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SV Sandhausen 8 5 0 3 17:10 +7 15 5 1. FC Union Berlin 8 4 3 1 13:6 +7 15 6 SpVgg Unterhaching 8 4 3 1 12:8 +4 15 7 Bayern München II 8 4 3 1 10:7 +3 15 8 VfB Stuttgart II 8 4 2 2 19:9 +10 14 9 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 8 4 1 3 11:11 0 13 10 Eintr. Braunschweig 8 3 2 3 10:9 +1 11 11 Dynamo Dresden 8 3 1 4 8:8 0 10 12 Kickers Offenbach (A) 8 2 4 2 10:12 -2 10 13 Wacker Burghausen 8 3 0 5 14:19 -5 9 14 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 8 2 2 4 8:12 -4 8 15 VfR Aalen 8 1 5 2 6:10 -4 8 16 Werder Bremen II 8 2 1 5 14:19 -5 7 17 Jahn Regensburg 8 1 3 4 8:15 -7 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 8 1 2 5 7:14 -7 5 19 FC Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 8 1 2 5 10:19 -9 5 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 8 0 2 6 5:14 -9 2 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
DFB Cup, Round 2
Really not any surprises in the second Hauptrunde of the DFB-Pokal. Bremen, coming off their brilliant thrashing of Bayern, struggled to put down Aue. Frankfurt managed to lose at home to 2.Liga Rostock, but since Eintracht has sucked, no shock. Freiburg downed high-flying Hoffenheim. Oberneuland was the last remaining non-fully pro club, and they got an ass whupping at home. The sad thing is that hardly anybody showed up, as VW is one of the least attractive Bundesliga away gate draws. The lowest ranked team is now 3.Liga's Jena, who had an amazing Cup run last year. However, their win against FSV Frankfurt is hardly the stuff legends are made of.
Erzgebirge Aue - Werder Bremen 1:2 (1:1) 12,000 (Müller - Pizarro, Rosenberg) Energie Cottbus - Borussia M'gladbach 3:0 (1:0) 9,805 (Rangelov, Skela 2) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - 1. FC Köln 3:1 (0:0) 19,300 (Bancé, Karhan, Pekovic - Mohamad) Eintracht Frankfurt - Hansa Rostock 1:2 aet 18,300 (Fenin - Kern 2) FC Schalke 04 - Hannover 96 2:0 (0:0) 50,378 (Westermann 2) 1860 München - MSV Duisburg 0:0 (5-4 pen) 5,500 FC Augsburg - Bayer Leverkusen 0:2 (0:1) 11,117 (Kiessling, Vidal) Kickers Offenbach - Karlsruher SC 0:2 (0:1) 8,189 (Iashvili, Porcello) FC Oberneuland - VfL Wolfsburg 0:7 (0:3) 2,196 (Dzeko 4, Schäfer, Dejagah, Caiuby) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - Alemannia Aachen 1:0 (0:0) 4,016 (König) Borussia Dortmund - Hertha BSC 2:1 aet 30,012 (Frei, Klimowicz - Pantelic) Hamburger SV - VfL Bochum 2:0 (1:0) 33,820 (Petric 2) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - FSV Frankfurt 1:0 (1:0) 5,852 (Petersen) VfB Stuttgart - Arminia Bielefeld 2:0 (1:0) 8,500 (Cacau, Marica) Bayern München - 1. FC Nürnberg 2:0 (1:0) 65,000 (Klose, Borowski) SC Freiburg - 1899 Hoffenheim 3:1 (0:1) 15,400 (Schwwab, Türker, Idrissou - Salihovic)
Bundesliga, Round 5
The sensation was the massive clash between Bayern München and rivals Werder Bremen. It turned out to be a nightmare for the defending champions, as Werder ran riot through the catastrophic Bayern defense. In particular, GK Michael Rensing was a basketcase, and if Oliver Kahn was watching, he probably wanted to come out of retirement. Despite missing several starters, Werder ran up a 5-0 lead, causing Bayern fans to get an early start on Oktoberfest. Bayern actually didn't play that badly - they created a lot of chances, but the wasted them disgracefully. Bremen on the other hand, was clinical in their finishing, and the defense always seemed to get in that last gasp tackle or block. In the end, ex-Bremer Tim Borowski made the score semi-respectable, but this hiding should stun Bayern for quite a while.
Schalke took advantage to claim the lead, but their performance against winless (at witless) Frankfurt was hardly impressive. The Blues dominated the match, and had the additional advantage when Frankfurt's Chris got his ass tossed after only a half hour. But as often is the case when they're the dominating squad, Schalke dicked around and never even scored. Instead, Eintracht had to help them out with an own goal.
Wolfsburg had a rare sell-out, and they stunned Hamburg in a northern derby. For approximately 15 minutes of the 1st half, the VWs played brilliantly and essentially knocked out HSV. The vistors recovered somewhat from the assault, but could not get into the game.
Hoffenheim proved that they are the real deal. The clinically kicked Dortmund's ass, running wild through a disorganized Neon defense. Bosnian Vedad Ibisevic leads the Bundesliga with 6 goals, and despite the reputation as just a "moneybags" team, even many of the other players on the Hoffenheim squad are hardly house-hold names.
Leverkusen was back on track as Patrick Helmes nailed Hannover for 3 goals. The Aspirins dominated the match from start to finish, and the 96ers should be happy their ass-whupping didn't turn out worse.
The southwestern deerby turned out to be a competitive match, and it took a long time for Stuttgart to grab the upper hand against a fighting Karlsruhe squad. However after finally taking the elad with about 20 minutes left, VfB withdrew into a solid defense, and KSC could not break through. And in the end, a deadly VfB counterattack finished them off.
In an important relegation battle, Cottbus lost further ground. They took an early lead against Bochum, but then ran around like scared rabbits. The vistors controlled the match and pressed hard, and got a deserved equalizer. In the end, with VfL settling for a point, Energie mounted an "offensive" that basically only offended their fans. Either squad could have stolen a win, but in the end, a fair result - which hurts Cottbus.
Everyone knows Köln is crap, but they battled hard at Bielefeld, in another critical relegation match. Arminia was then fortunate as Womé committed a stupid foul outside the penalty, and Kamper gave Bielefeld the lead oin a direct free kick. Bielefeld's first win was hard fought, but it's home matches like this that might help Arminia avoid another elevator ride.
A crap match in Gladbach, and Berlin comes away with the points. The hosts were lame, although perhaps somewhat unlucky, as Oliver Neuville hit the post twice. Lots point(s), and the Gladbachers will likely rue this result.
Bayer Leverkusen - Hannover 96 4:0 (2:0) 21,000 (Helmes 3, Rolfes) Bayern München - Werder Bremen 2:5 (0:2) 69,000 (Borowski 2 - Rosenberg 2, Naldo, Özil , Pizarro) FC Schalke 04 - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:0 (1:0) 61,542 (Ochs o.g.) Energie Cottbus - VfL Bochum 1:1 (1:0) 12,174 (Sörensen - Yahia) Arminia Bielefeld - 1. FC Köln 2:0 (0:0) 24,400 (Kamper, McKenna) Borussia M'gladbach - Hertha BSC 0:1 (0:1) 43,193 (Kacar) VfL Wolfsburg - Hamburger SV 3:0 (3:0) 30,000 (Dejagah, Madlung, Grafite) VfB Stuttgart - Karlsruher SC 3:1 (1:1) 55,000 (Khedira, Gomez, Marica - Freis) 1899 Hoffenheim - Borussia Dortmund 4:1 (2:0) 26,300 (Ibisevic 2, Salihovic, Carlos Eduardo - Felipe Santana) Attendance: 342,609 (avg 38,068) 1 FC Schalke 04 5 3 2 0 9:4 +5 11 2 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 5 3 1 1 10:6 +4 10 3 VfB Stuttgart 5 3 1 1 8:4 +4 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Hamburger SV 5 3 1 1 11:10 +1 10 5 Bayer Leverkusen 5 3 0 2 15:8 +7 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 VfL Wolfsburg 5 2 3 0 11:7 +4 9 7 Werder Bremen 5 2 2 1 13:8 +5 8 8 Bayern München (M, P) 5 2 2 1 12:9 +3 8 9 Hertha BSC Berlin 5 2 2 1 7:7 0 8 10 Borussia Dortmund 5 2 2 1 9:10 -1 8 11 VfL Bochum 5 1 2 2 5:5 0 5 12 Arminia Bielefeld 5 1 2 2 7:9 -2 5 13 1. FC Köln (N) 5 1 1 3 4:8 -4 4 14 Hannover 96 5 1 1 3 5:10 -5 4 15 Karlsruher SC 4 1 0 3 3:7 -4 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 5 1 0 4 5:12 -7 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Eintracht Frankfurt 4 0 2 2 3:6 -3 2 18 Energie Cottbus 5 0 2 3 1:8 -7 2 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
2. Liga, Round 5
An impressive thumping of a hapkless Wehen squad vaults Freiburg into 1st place, but Kaiserslautern stays on their heals with a hard fought Monday Night win. Mainz pushed Nürnberg further down the ladder, and keeps the crisis in Franken going strong. So far, only Duisburg among relegated clubs is even on the horizon.
On the bottom, weak outings by Wehen and Oberhausen threaten to drop those clubs out of the pack, so they will desperately needs results next match to right their ship.
MSV Duisburg - Alemannia Aachen 3:2 (3:0) 15,029 (Makiadi 3 - Auer, Nemeth) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - 1. FC Nürnberg 2:0 (1:0) 20,000 (Bungert, Borja) FC St. Pauli - 1860 München 1:0 (1:0) 22,217 (Trojan) TuS Koblenz - FC Augsburg 2:1 (2:1) 6,981 (Begeorgi, Mavric - Werner) Rot-Weiss Ahlen - Hansa Rostock 2:2 (1:1) 4,983 (Toborg 2 - Schindler, Lense) SC Freiburg - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 5:0 (1:0) 11,000 (Jäger 2, Idrissou 3) FSV Frankfurt - RW Oberhausen 3:1 (1:1) 10,517 (Cenci 3 - Kaya) FC Ingolstadt 04 - VfL Osnabrück 2:1 (1:0) 4,083 (Demir 2 - Sykora) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 0:1 (0:0) 9,490 (Amedick) Attendance: 104,300 (avg 11,589) 1 SC Freiburg 5 4 1 0 13:4 +9 13 2 1. FC Kaiserslautern 5 4 1 0 13:6 +7 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 1. FSV Mainz 05 5 3 2 0 13:8 +5 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 5 3 1 1 9:8 +1 10 5 MSV Duisburg (A) 5 2 2 1 8:7 +1 8 6 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 5 2 1 2 12:10 +2 7 7 Alemannia Aachen 5 2 1 2 7:7 0 7 8 FC St. Pauli 5 2 1 2 10:12 -2 7 9 Hansa Rostock (A) 5 1 3 1 7:7 0 6 10 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 5 2 0 3 7:9 -2 6 11 TuS Koblenz 5 2 2 1 8:5 +3 5 12 FSV Frankfurt (N) 5 1 2 2 7:7 0 5 13 VfL Osnabrück 5 1 2 2 10:12 -2 5 14 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 5 1 2 2 7:9 -2 5 15 1860 München 5 1 0 4 5:7 -2 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 FC Augsburg 5 1 0 4 6:9 -3 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 5 0 3 2 4:10 -6 3 18 RW Oberhausen (N) 5 1 0 4 5:14 -9 3 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 7
Not a particularily good day at the box-office, despite some attractive pairings. The top match was of course leader-no-more Emden getting toppled at home by early season favorite Paderborn. However both continue to hold on to the automatic promotion spots. Sneaking into the picture is Unterhaching, quietly moving up the ladder with a win in Regensburg. On the bottom, a critical win by Wuppertal over Dresden takes them out of elevator territory. However, Stuttgarter Kickers had another loss, and are almost finished - only 7 games into the season. Ex-2.Liga clubs Jena and Aue have sucked so far, and alarm bells must be ringing.
Bayern München II - Werder Bremen II 1:1 (0:1) 1,500 (Ekici - Oehrl) Kickers Emden - SC Paderborn 07 1:2 (0:1) 5,100 (Sparic - Güvenisik, Lindemann) Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Stuttgarter Kickers 3:2 (1:1) 5,429 (Judt, Rockenback, Bunjaku - Prediger, Landeka) Erzgebirge Aue - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:1 (0:0) 7,400 (Jovanovic) Jahn Regensburg - SpVgg Unterhaching 1:2 (0:0) 3,700 (Stoilov - Bucher, Schulz) Kickers Offenbach - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 2:1 (0:1) 6,512 (Kokocinski, Fröhlich - Hansen) VfB Stuttgart II - VfR Aalen 0:0 (0:0) 750 Wacker Burghausen - SV Sandhausen 2:3 (0:1) 3,400 (Calamita, Schmidt - Leandro, Pinto, Haas) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - Dynamo Dresden 1:0 (1:0) 5,038 (Jerat) 1. FC Union Berlin - Eintr. Braunschweig 1:1 (1:1) 7,666 (Dogan - Banser) Attendance: 46,495 (avg 4,695) 1 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 7 5 1 1 14:8 +6 16 2 Kickers Emden 7 5 1 1 12:6 +6 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Bayern München II 7 4 3 0 9:5 +4 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SpVgg Unterhaching 7 4 2 1 11:7 +4 14 5 Fortuna Düsseldorf 7 4 1 2 11:7 +4 13 6 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 7 4 1 2 11:8 +3 13 7 1. FC Union Berlin 7 3 3 1 11:5 +6 12 8 SV Sandhausen 7 4 0 3 14:10 +4 12 9 VfB Stuttgart II 7 3 2 2 14:5 +9 11 10 Kickers Offenbach (A) 7 2 3 2 9:11 -2 9 11 Wacker Burghausen 7 3 0 4 13:16 -3 9 12 Eintr. Braunschweig 7 2 2 3 8:8 0 8 13 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 7 2 2 3 7:10 -3 8 14 Dynamo Dresden 7 2 1 4 5:7 -2 7 15 Werder Bremen II 7 2 1 4 10:14 -4 7 16 VfR Aalen 7 1 4 2 5:9 -4 7 17 Jahn Regensburg 7 1 3 3 8:12 -4 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 FC Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 7 1 2 4 9:17 -8 5 19 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 7 1 1 5 6:13 -7 4 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 7 0 1 6 4:13 -9 1 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
European Cups
Expect another poor season in the Champions League. The Bundesliga started out with a wet turd as Werder Bremen failed to beat the nobodies from Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta. Instead, the 35,000 fans in the Weser-stadion were treated to a disgraceful display that ended in a 0-0 draw. Their next stop is in Milan against Inter, so if they don't get their act together, Werder is in for a major shellacking and everlasting shame. Meanwhile, Bayern München did a bit better, as they won away 1-0 at Steaua Bucharest. Daniel Van Buyten got the winner with a header in the 15th minute. The Romanians got stronger as the match progressed, hitting the post twice. Some 18,000 fans showed up in a driving rain-storm.
At least in the UEFA Cup, the Bundesliga squads didn't totally disgrace themselves. Schalke had a ho-hum 4-1 away win at Cypriot side APOEL Nicosia. The Blues decided the match in the first half, banging out a 3-0 lead, and unlike the derby in Dortmund, didn't give it back. Hertha BSC put in a lame performance, before downing Irish side St.Patrick's Athletic (sounds like an American pub team). The 2-0 scoreline in front of only 13,500 was the result of a 2nd half improvement over a dismal initial period. It's probably eneough for both teams to advance to next round.
Thursday's games however proved to be less fortuitous. Borussia Dortmund stunk and were beaten 0-2 at home by Italy's Udinese. Some 53,000 in the Signal-Iduna watched BVB press, but show complete lack of ideas in front of goal. The Italians on the other hand cold-bloodedly took their chances, so Dortmund is now virtually eliminated. HSV also had a crap result, 0-0 against Romania's Unirea Urziceni, bet you've never heard of them. In fact, even Romanians have never heard of them. So 39,000+ Hamburgers were pissed off, but their opponent's obscurity means that HSV at least has a chance to advance by scoring a goal in the return match. Also against Romanians, VfL Wolfsburg edged Rapid Bucharest 1-0. The sole goal was a penalty by Grafite, and the Volkswagen-Arena was approximately half-full, with about 16,000 fans. The VWs have their work cut out in the return match as well.
Bundesliga, Round 4
Back to league play after a week off, and there was some interesting play. Obviously Bayern's slow start wasn't going to last, but a couple of potential contenders have also bared their teeth. On the bottom, there are a couple of "contenders" that are on the verge of getting seperation - in a negative sense.
Hamburg is in the top spot, but they had a mighty struggle to get the win. A wild match in which HSV proves that they have their act together. They fell behind 0-2 but stormed back to win. A good performance by Leverkusen, who have to be gutted to lose this match.
Bremen struggled to break down a desperate Cottbus squad that was defending with all hands. However Diego opened the scoring after 75 minutes and the dam broke.
Bayern is back on track, as they easily handled Köln. The result was really never in doubt, although at least in the 1st half, the hosts were fairly engaging. But Bayern's clear superiority began to exert itself, and they ruthlessly slapped the Kölners. Lukas Podolski got a tap in against his old club, but oddly enough was largely cheered by the home fans, who still hope that he'll return to them as the prodigal son.
A sensational "Revier-Derby" as the two Ruhr giants Dortmund and Schalke waged an epic battle. It looked as if Schalke was going to have a memorable day, as they were kicking Dortmund's ass, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. But of course, Schalke can never get the job done, and started dillying around. The Neons got back in the game when Subotic headed home, and after Alex Frei hammered home a ripping shot, it was "game on." And of course the Blues made things worse as both Pander and Ernst got their asses red-carded. Although a rather lame penalty gave Dortmund another goal and the draw, Schalke was probably happy to escape with 9 men.
Wolfsburg looked the better team through most of the match against Hertha, but wasted their chances, and found themselves looking at a loss. A last second goal by Riether saved a point, but the VWs could have had it all. On the other hand, they haven't won in Berlin for 7 years, so perhaps it's par for the course.
The derby between Hoffenheim and Stuttgart (bet you never thought you'd hear that!) was an average affair, but a great save by GK Jens Lehmann at the death saved VfB the embarrassment of a loss. The match itself, playing under a driving rain, was fairly even, so you have to look at this as yet another positive for Hoffenheim.
Hannnover had been struggling mightily (not even a single goal), but a visit from a hapless Gladbach was just what the doctor ordered. Bochum got some of the same medicine, as they hosted Bielefeld and also came away with a win. Whereas Gladbach has shown some ability so far, Arminia must be concerned that this must be a "down" year, which means another elevator ride.
Frankfurt's match with KSC had to be postponed as the stadium turf was torn up from a rock concert.
Werder Bremen - Energie Cottbus 3:0 (0:0) 38,714 (Diego, Sanogo, Frings) Hamburger SV - Bayer Leverkusen 3:2 (1:2) 55,187 (Guerrero, Olic, Petric - Barnetta, Helmes) Hertha BSC Berlin - VfL Wolfsburg 2:2 (0:1) 38,921 (Kacar, Cicero - Costa, Riether) Borussia Dortmund - FC Schalke 04 3:3 (0:2) 80,552 9Subotic, Frei 2 - Farfan, Rafinha, Westermann) 1899 Hoffenheim - VfB Stuttgart 0:0 (0:0) 26,300 1. FC Köln - Bayern München 0:3 (0:0) 50,000 (Toni 2, Podolski) Hannover 96 - Borussia M'gladbach 5:1 (2:0) 41,362 (Huszti 2, Schlaudraff 2, Forsell - Friend) VfL Bochum - Arminia Bielefeld 2:0 (2:0) 20,739 (Mieciel, Pfertzel) Eintracht Frankfurt - Karlsruher SC (postponed to October) Attendance: 351,775 (avg 43,972) 1 Hamburger SV 4 3 1 0 11:7 +4 10 2 Bayern München (M, P) 4 2 2 0 10:4 +6 8 3 FC Schalke 04 4 2 2 0 8:4 +4 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 Borussia Dortmund 4 2 2 0 8:6 +2 8 5 VfB Stuttgart 4 2 1 1 5:3 +2 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 4 2 1 1 6:5 +1 7 7 Bayer Leverkusen 4 2 0 2 11:8 +3 6 8 VfL Wolfsburg 4 1 3 0 8:7 +1 6 9 Werder Bremen 4 1 2 1 8:6 +2 5 10 Hertha BSC Berlin 4 1 2 1 6:7 -1 5 11 VfL Bochum 4 1 1 2 4:4 0 4 12 Hannover 96 4 1 1 2 5:6 -1 4 13 1. FC Köln (N) 4 1 1 2 4:6 -2 4 14 Karlsruher SC 3 1 0 2 2:4 -2 3 15 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 4 1 0 3 5:11 -6 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 Eintracht Frankfurt 3 0 2 1 3:5 -2 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Arminia Bielefeld 4 0 2 2 5:9 -4 2 18 Energie Cottbus 4 0 1 3 0:7 -7 1 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
2. Liga, Round 4
Lautern fans are beginning to believe again, as they turned out in force and saw FCK steam roller St.Pauli. Freiburg kept pace with a nioce road win in Augsburg. Mainz should have won in Rostock, but let the victory slip away. The league is quite balanced, and nobody as yet looks weak. Even promoted FSV Frankfurt, propping up the table, has proven to be fairly well matched. Fürth plays some attractive football, and figures to be in the hunt until they do their usual late season fade. Unfortunately, nobody cares. They've got to be one of the crappiest football-supporter towns in Germany.
Great relief for 1860 München, who finally break into the win column. Incidentally, this probably saved coach Marco Kurz' job, as another defeat would likely have seen him packing his bags. 1860 is already suffering from the slow start at the box office too, as normally they could have expected at least another 10,000 fans for a match against an ex-Bundesliga club. Speaking of whom, none of the relegated clubs from last year has looked decent yet. The usual trend in the 2.Liga is that one eventually contends, one wallows in mid-table mediocrity, and one struggles. All 3 (Nürnberg, Rostock, Duisburg) have the "mediocrity" part well covered, so let's see if any can rise/sink to the occasion...
Alemannia Aachen - FC Ingolstadt 04 1:0 (1:0) 18,345 (Auer) 1. FC Kaiserslautern - FC St. Pauli 4:1 (1:0) 41,669 (Jendrisek, Dzaka, Hesse, Bellinghausen - Hoilett) RW Oberhausen - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 1:3 (1:1) 4,396 (Lüttmann - Reus, Chitsulo, Grosskreutz) Hansa Rostock - 1. FSV Mainz 05 2:2 (0:0) 14,300 (Schindler, Gledson - Baljak, Heller) SpVgg Greuther Fürth - TuS Koblenz 4:3 (3:1) 6,650 (Allagui 2, Ilicevic, Nehrig - Djokaj, Kontriris, Mavric) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - 1. FC Nürnberg 2:2 (2:0) 10,114 (Orahovac 2 - Mintal, Charisteas) VfL Osnabrück - FSV Frankfurt 3:2 (1:0) 11,236 (Cichon 2, Sykora - Cenci, Barletta) FC Augsburg - SC Freiburg 1:3 (1:2) 13,079 (Torghelle - Abdessadki, Schwaab, Idrissou) TSV 1860 München - MSV Duisburg 2:0 (1:0) 18,500 (Bierofka, Gebhardt) Attendance: 138,239 (avg 15,365) 1 1. FC Kaiserslautern 4 3 1 0 12:6 +6 10 2 SC Freiburg 4 3 1 0 8:4 +4 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 4 3 0 1 7:6 +1 9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 1. FSV Mainz 05 4 2 2 0 11:8 +3 8 5 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 4 2 1 1 12:9 +3 7 6 Alemannia Aachen 4 2 1 1 5:4 +1 7 7 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 4 1 2 1 7:7 0 5 8 MSV Duisburg (A) 4 1 2 1 5:5 0 5 9 Hansa Rostock (A) 4 1 2 1 5:5 0 5 10 VfL Osnabrück 4 1 2 1 9:10 -1 5 11 FC St. Pauli 4 1 1 2 9:12 -3 4 12 TSV 1860 München 4 1 0 3 5:6 -1 3 13 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 4 0 3 1 4:5 -1 3 14 FC Augsburg 4 1 0 3 5:7 -2 3 15 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 4 1 0 3 5:8 -3 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16 RW Oberhausen (N) 4 1 0 3 4:11 -7 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17 TuS Koblenz 4 1 2 1 6:4 +2 2 18 FSV Frankfurt (N) 4 0 2 2 4:6 -2 2 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year) Koblenz docked 3 points for financial shenanigans
3. Liga, Round 6
Jena went ahead and fired their coach after their latest debacle. Meanwhile, Kickers Emden continues their great start and have already opened a 5 point lead on a promotion spot (Bayern II not eligible). Promotion to the 2.Liga would undoubtedly be the high point in club history. Paderborn seems to be fufilling their expectation as an immediate challenger for (re)promotion. A big with for Union in an ex-GDR battle.
Werder Bremen II - Kickers Emden 0:1 (0:0) 1,750 (Zedi) VfR Aalen - Bayern München II 0:0 (0:0) 3,226 Eintr. Braunschweig - Kickers Offenbach 4:0 (2:0) 13,200 (Schied 2, Rodrigues, Danneberg) Dynamo Dresden - 1. FC Union Berlin 0:1 (0:0) 11,590 (Mattuschka) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - Wacker Burghausen 2:4 (0:2) 3,103 (Celikovic, Reichwein - Calamita 3, Mittelhuber) SpVgg Unterhaching - SV Sandhausen 2:0 (0:0) 2,000 (Fink, T.Schweinsteiger) Fortuna Düsseldorf - Jahn Regensburg 3:1 (2:0) 8,039 (Langeneke, Christ, Lawarée - Stoilov) Stuttgarter Kickers - Erzgebirge Aue 1:2 (1:1) 3,280 (Smeekes - Hensel, Schmidt) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - VfB Stuttgart II 0:6 (0:3) 6,041 (Rahn 3, Träsch, Schieber, Riemer o.g.) SC Paderborn 07 - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 2:0 (0:0) 9,963 (Lindemann, Löning) Attendance: 62,192 (avg 6,219) 1 Kickers Emden 6 5 1 0 11:4 +7 16 2 Bayern München II 6 4 2 0 8:4 +4 14 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 6 4 1 1 12:7 +5 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 1. FC Union Berlin 6 3 2 1 10:4 +6 11 5 SpVgg Unterhaching 6 3 2 1 9:6 +3 11 6 VfB Stuttgart II 6 3 1 2 14:5 +9 10 7 Fortuna Düsseldorf 6 3 1 2 10:7 +3 10 8 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 6 3 1 2 8:6 +2 10 9 SV Sandhausen 6 3 0 3 11:8 +3 9 10 Wacker Burghausen 6 3 0 3 11:13 -2 9 11 Eintr. Braunschweig 6 2 1 3 7:7 0 7 12 Dynamo Dresden 6 2 1 3 5:6 -1 7 13 Kickers Offenbach (A) 6 1 3 2 7:10 -3 6 14 Jahn Regensburg 6 1 3 2 7:10 -3 6 15 Werder Bremen II 6 2 0 4 9:13 -4 6 16 VfR Aalen 6 1 3 2 5:9 -4 6 17 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 6 1 2 3 6:10 -4 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 FC Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 6 1 2 3 8:15 -7 5 19 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 6 1 1 4 6:12 -6 4 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 6 0 1 5 2:10 -8 1 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
World Cup qualifiers
A rough outing for Germany, as the defense was an absolute catastrophy. In the 2nd World Cup qualifier, the DFB squad travelled to Helsinki to face Finland, and had their backs to the wall. The Finns were attempting their only 2nd win in 20 tries against Germany, and led three times. Luckily, Miroslav Klose, who has been sucking in the Bundesliga, came prepared, and he struck back everytime to gain a hat-trick. In the end, although both teams had chances to win, the 3-3 final was a fair result.
World Cup qualifiers
Germany's 2010 World Cup campaign got off to the expected start. The DFB squad faced powerhouse Liechtenstein in a sold out Vaudz Rheinparkstadion. After a rather lackluster first half, with only a 1-0 lead, Germany got going and ended up with a ho-hum 6-0 away win.
Bundesliga, Round 3
Schalke failed to impress, but their narrow in over Bochum vaulted them into 1st place. The visitors played hard, but were no threat going forward. Schalke had lots of pressure, but their strikers were crap. In the end, defender Heiko Westermann grabbed the points for the home side. Hamburg has been somewhat of a surprise, as new coach Martin Jol has them clicking on all cylinders, despite dumping some of their star players. They had a mighty hill to climb, as an aggressive Bielefeld jumped out to a 2-0 lead. However, HSV was equal to the task, as they roared back to win this wild match.
Hoffenheim got their comeuppance as they got rolled in Leverkusen. The upstarts however certanily enjoyed their stay in 1st place.
Bayern finally got their act together as they spanked Hertha BSC. Klinsmann's offensive style finally paid dividends with a fine attacking display.
An exciting match in Wolfsburg, where the VWs are probably unhappy that they had to split the points. They had lots of chances, especially in the 2nd half, but failed to convert. So they were justly punished as Frankfurt grabbed a late equalizer and came away with a point. Gladbach also demostrated that they're no pushovers. Dortmund is probably the only club that enjoys the trip to Lausitz to play in Cottbus' Stadion der Freundschaft. They've visited 6 times, winning all. A tight match, but another deserved Neon win, who are off to a decent start.
A nice away win, their first, for Köln. Cold blooded counterattack was just what the doctor ordered, and they knocked off Karlsruhe. However, it almost didn't happen. Early in the 1st half, captain Ümit Özat collapsed on the field, from what appeared to be a stroke or heart attack. The whole stadium was in shock, and the referee asked Köln's players if they wanted to continue. Luckily, Özat regained consciousness, and was taken to the hospital. (The latest news is that Özat will be OK, suffering from exhaustion and dehydration).
Karlsruher SC - 1. FC Köln 0:2 (0:0) 29,308 (Novakovic, Radu) FC Schalke 04 - VfL Bochum 1:0 (1:0) 61,648 (Westermann) VfL Wolfsburg - Eintracht Frankfurt 2:2 (1:1) 23,150 (Grafite, Dejagah - Amanatidis, Toski) Bayer Leverkusen - 1899 Hoffenheim 5:2 (3:1) 21,000 (Kiessling 2, Haggui, Friedrich, Barnetta - Ibisevic, Salihovic) Energie Cottbus - Borussia Dortmund 0:1 (0:1) 18,180 (Subotic) Arminia Bielefeld - Hamburger SV 2:4 (2:1) 24,500 (Katongo, Wichniarek - Reinhardt 2, Olic, Jarolim) Borussia M'gladbach - Werder Bremen 3:2 (2:0) 54,067 (Matmour, Friend, Baumjohann - Pizarro, Diego) Bayern München - Hertha BSC 4:1 (1:0) 69,000 (Toni, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Klose - Pantelic) VfB Stuttgart - Hannover 96 2:0 (2:0) 41,000 (Gomez, Pardo) Attendance: 341,853 (avg 37,984) 1 FC Schalke 04 3 2 1 0 5:1 +4 7 2 Hamburger SV 3 2 1 0 8:5 +3 7 3 Borussia Dortmund 3 2 1 0 5:3 +2 7 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Bayer Leverkusen 3 2 0 1 9:5 +4 6 5 VfB Stuttgart 3 2 0 1 5:3 +2 6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 3 2 0 1 6:5 +1 6 7 Bayern München (M, P) 3 1 2 0 7:4 +3 5 8 VfL Wolfsburg 3 1 2 0 6:5 +1 5 9 1. FC Köln (N) 3 1 1 1 4:3 +1 4 10 Hertha BSC 3 1 1 1 4:5 -1 4 11 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 3 1 0 2 4:6 -2 3 12 Karlsruher SC 3 1 0 2 2:4 -2 3 13 Werder Bremen 3 0 2 1 5:6 -1 2 14 Arminia Bielefeld 3 0 2 1 5:7 -2 2 15 Eintracht Frankfurt 3 0 2 1 3:5 -2 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 VfL Bochum 3 0 1 2 2:4 -2 1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 Energie Cottbus 3 0 1 2 0:4 -4 1 18 Hannover 96 3 0 1 2 0:5 -5 1 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
2. Liga, Round 2
MSV Duisburg - FC Augsburg 2:0 (1:0) 13,158 (Kouemaha, Christ) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - VfL Osnabrück 4:2 (2:1) 19,300 (Bancé 2, Baljak, Hoogland - van der Heyden o.g., Fuchs) FC Ingolstadt 04 - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1:3 (1:0) 7,270 (Demir - Amedick, Dick, Lakic) 1. FC Nürnberg - Alemannia Aachen 2:2 (0:2) 30,112 (Eigler, Gygax - Olajengbesi, Auer) FC St. Pauli - RW Oberhausen 4:1 (3:0) 21,017 (Ebbers, Boll, Schnitzler, Trojan - Schlieter) TuS Koblenz - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 0:0 (0:0) 7,957 Rot-Weiss Ahlen - 1860 München 2:1 (0:0) 4,223 (Miletic, R. Müller - Bierofka) FSV Frankfurt - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1:1 (1:0) 8,521 (Barletta - Allagui) SC Freiburg - Hansa Rostock 1:0 (1:0) 15,000 (Idrissou) Attendance: 126,558 (avg 14,062) 1 1. FSV Mainz 05 3 2 1 0 9:6 +3 7 2 1. FC Kaiserslautern 3 2 1 0 8:5 +3 7 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 SC Freiburg 3 2 1 0 5:3 +2 7 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 3 2 0 1 4:5 -1 6 5 MSV Duisburg (A) 3 1 2 0 5:3 +2 5 6 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 3 1 1 1 8:6 +2 4 7 FC St. Pauli 3 1 1 1 8:8 0 4 8 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 3 1 1 1 5:5 0 4 9 Alemannia Aachen 3 1 1 1 4:4 0 4 10 Hansa Rostock (A) 3 1 1 1 3:3 0 4 11 FC Augsburg 3 1 0 2 4:4 0 3 12 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 3 1 0 2 5:7 -2 3 13 RW Oberhausen (N) 3 1 0 2 3:8 -5 3 14 TuS Koblenz 3 1 2 0 3:0 +3 2 15 FSV Frankfurt (N) 3 0 2 1 2:3 -1 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 3 0 2 1 2:3 -1 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 VfL Osnabrück 3 0 2 1 6:8 -2 2 18 1860 München 3 0 0 3 3:6 -3 0 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
3. Liga, Round 3
Kickers Emden continue their impressive start, and they lead the league. Bayern's II squad is also playing well, but of course they can't be promoted. Aue must be disappointed with their poor run, as they certainly expected to be a challenger. The Erfurt match was held in a empty stadium, punishment for the racist behaviour of Rot-Weiss fans in previous matches.
Bayern München II - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 2:1 (2:0) 2,500 (Yilmaz, Müller - Amirante) Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Werder Bremen II 3:1 (2:0) 0 (Wolf, canizzaro, Bunjaku - Artmann) Erzgebirge Aue - SC Paderborn 07 0:2 (0:1) 7,300 (Wemmer, Damjanovic) Jahn Regensburg - Stuttgarter Kickers 1:1 (0:0) 3,200 (Beigang - Rosen) 1. FC Union Berlin - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 0:0 (0:0) 5,544 Kickers Offenbach - Dynamo Dresden 2:2 (1:0) 9,612 (St.Haas, Tosunoglu - Dobry 2) VfB Stuttgart II - Eintr. Braunschweig 4:0 (1:0) 1,200 (Didavi 2, Rudy, Schipplock) Wacker Burghausen - SpVgg Unterhaching 5:1 (2:1) 3,000 (Calamita 2, Kurz, Schmidt, Solka - Zillner) Kickers Emden - VfR Aalen 5:2 (4:1) 4,000 (Neitzel 2, Rauw, Ramaj, Zedi - Alder 2) SV Sandhausen - Fortuna Düsseldorf 2:0 (0:0) 5,250 (Beisel, Grgic) Attendance: 41,606 (4,161) 1 Kickers Emden 5 4 1 0 10:4 +6 13 2 Bayern München II 5 4 1 0 8:4 +4 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 5 3 1 1 8:4 +4 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 5 3 1 1 10:7 +3 10 5 SV Sandhausen 5 3 0 2 11:6 +5 9 6 1. FC Union Berlin 5 2 2 1 9:4 +5 8 7 SpVgg Unterhaching 5 2 2 1 7:6 +1 8 8 VfB Stuttgart II 5 2 1 2 8:5 +3 7 9 Fortuna Düsseldorf 5 2 1 2 7:6 +1 7 10 Dynamo Dresden 5 2 1 2 5:5 0 7 11 Kickers Offenbach (A) 5 1 3 1 7:6 +1 6 12 Jahn Regensburg 5 1 3 1 6:7 -1 6 13 Werder Bremen II 5 2 0 3 9:12 -3 6 14 Wacker Burghausen 5 2 0 3 7:11 -4 6 15 FC Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 5 1 2 2 8:9 -1 5 16 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 5 1 2 2 4:6 -2 5 17 VfR Aalen 5 1 2 2 5:9 -4 5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 Eintr. Braunschweig 5 1 1 3 3:7 -4 4 19 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 5 0 1 4 4:11 -7 1 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 5 0 1 4 1:8 -7 1 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
First coaching casualty
Reports out of Nürnberg indicate that Thomas Von Heesen has apparently just resigned as head coach of 1.FC Nürnberg. If true, this would be almost a record. FCN has played only two games in the 2.Liga, one win and one loss. But it's hardly a sacking, so it's still open who will be the first to get his ass booted out.
But when you dig deeper, Von Heesen's days were probably numbered, as he didn't really have strong support. He was unpopular as a replacement for Hans Meyer last season, and of course FCN couldn't avoid relegation from the Bundesliga. That was probably not Von Heesen's fault, but it was somewhat suprising that the board decided to retain him. Then "der Club" basically stunk in their 2.Liga opener against Augsburg, only winning 2-1 thanks to some help from the visitors. They didn't show much improvement in their away loss at 'Lautern. Von Heesen probably realized that the board would kick his ass out at the first excuse, especially since the goal of promotion is firmly entrenched as a must. So to avoid the humiliation of a boot print on his butt, he committed hara-kiri to not give his enemies the satisfaction...
Bundesliga, Round 2
Still a feeling out stage, as there were 6 draws in the 2nd round.
An early season top draw saw Bremen host Schalke, and Werder controlled most of the match. But all their hard work against a tough Schalke defense was thrown away, as a lapse in concentration allowed the Blues to steal a point with only 5 minutes remaining. Obviously a good result for Schalke, as they come away with a valuable point, which is a rare thing at the Weserstadion.
Champions Bayern are still struggling to find their way under Jürgen Klinsmann, but the 1-1 draw in Dortmund actually has to be rated fairly highly. Why? Because Dortmund under Jürgen Klopp looks revitalized, and more important, Bayern were a man down (in addition to be down 0-1) after only 23 minutes, when Mark Van Bommel got his ass tossed. The champs did get their act together and fought back to get a tie. Borussia dominated the 1st half, and perhaps could have finished off Bayern, but they lack the killer instinct. Bayern VP Uli Hoeness' famous statement "The other teams are too dumb to knock us off" certainly rings true here.
Hamburg seems to be selling players left and right, nobody wants to give coach Martin Jol a chance?! And his reputation (at least at Spurs) is that of a players/fans coach. But HSV just had enough to steal a win in injury time against last year's surprise, Karlsruhe. The KSC defense was well organized, and HSV had no clue on how to break it down. But in the end, they ot the victory, and KSC may rue the lost point in what promises to be a tougher 2nd season.
A complete turnaround in Stuttgart, as both clubs flip-flopped from their opener. Stuttgart stunk after looking so good, and Leverkusen, whose defense was a sieve in their opening lost, looked solid as a rock. As a result, the Aspirins gave host VfB a headache and a kick in the rear to boot.
Upstart Hoffenheim had their biggest crowd ever(at least I think it is), and won the promotion duel with Gladbach. And deservedly so, as the game progressed, they took control. Several wasted chances which could have led to a thumping, but they get the points and still remain on top. For Gladbach however, the grim reality of a relegation battle stares them squarely in the face as they prop up the table.
Bielefeld gave notice that they intend to fight mightily against relegation once again, as they steal a point in Berlin. Hertha dominated the match, but wasted lots of chances. Arminia took theirs, and get a draw. After their opening split against Bremen, Bielefeld has 2 points that they probably shouldn't have, so they have to be thrilled. Berlin? expect another ho-hum season of going nowhere.
A grim draw in Hannover, as both the 96ers and Cottbus struggled to recover from their first round ass-whuppings. Neither side showed anything, and appeared to be relieved at the final whistle. Of course, the Hannover fans couldn't have been too happy, but Energie loves any away points.
A hard fought draw in Köln, where neither team showed much skill, but there were lots of crunching tackles and running around. Köln probably should have kept all the points, but in the end disappoint their fans. But of course, if theory that "as Köln gets more crap, the fans come out" is true, perhaps the club treasurer is happy. Also quite entertaining was the 2-2 split in Bochum, which ended in a deserved split of points.
Hannover 96 - Energie Cottbus 0:0 (0:0) 34,636 Werder Bremen - FC Schalke 04 1:1 (0:0) 42,100 (Frings - Westermann) Hamburger SV - Karlsruher SC 2:1 (1:0) 50,637 (Sebastian o.g, Mathijsen - Freis) VfB Stuttgart - Bayer Leverkusen 0:2 (0:1) 48,000 (Helmes, Gekas) Hertha BSC - Arminia Bielefeld 1:1 (1:1) 36,302 (Pantelic - Wichniarek) Borussia Dortmund - Bayern München 1:1 (1:0) 80.552 (Blaszczykowski - Borowski) 1899 Hoffenheim - Borussia M'gladbach 1:0 (1:0) 26,300 (Ibisevic) VfL Bochum - VfL Wolfsburg 2:2 (1:0) 20,306 (Sestak, Dabrowski - da Costa, Saglik) 1. FC Köln - Eintracht Frankfurt 1:1 (1:0) 50,000 (Novakovic - Fenin) Attendance: 388,833 (avg 43,201) 1 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 2 2 0 0 4:0 +4 6 2 FC Schalke 04 2 1 1 0 4:1 +3 4 3 Hertha BSC Berlin 2 1 1 0 3:1 +2 4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Borussia Dortmund 2 1 1 0 4:3 +1 4 5 Hamburger SV 2 1 1 0 4:3 +1 4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 VfL Wolfsburg 2 1 1 0 4:3 +1 4 7 Bayer Leverkusen 2 1 0 1 4:3 +1 3 8 VfB Stuttgart 2 1 0 1 3:3 0 3 9 Karlsruher SC 2 1 0 1 2:2 0 3 10 Arminia Bielefeld 2 0 2 0 3:3 0 2 11 Werder Bremen 2 0 2 0 3:3 0 2 12 Bayern München (M, P) 2 0 2 0 3:3 0 2 13 VfL Bochum 2 0 1 1 2:3 -1 1 14 1. FC Köln (N) 2 0 1 1 2:3 -1 1 15 Eintracht Frankfurt 2 0 1 1 1:3 -2 1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 Energie Cottbus 2 0 1 1 0:3 -3 1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 Hannover 96 2 0 1 1 0:3 -3 1 18 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 2 0 0 2 1:4 -3 0 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
2. Liga, Round 2
The 2.Liga will undobutedly be another hard fought mess. The early front runners are "all the usual suspects." If Kaiserslautern can keep up with their good start, expect huge crowds at the Fritz-Walter. Their win over relegated Nürnberg (who undobutedly figure on bouncing straight back up) is sure to get things buzzing. And Mainz might want to take their halftime talk more seriously. After blowing a 3-0 lead to 'Lautern last week, this time they almost let a 2-0 slip away at 1860.
SpVgg Greuther Fürth - FC St. Pauli 5:2 (1:1) 9,500 (Haas, Takyi, Allagui, Schröck, Felgenhauer - Bruns, Trojan) VfL Osnabrück - SC Freiburg 2:2 (0:0) 14,730 (Reichenberger, Surmann - Jäger, Butscher) FSV Frankfurt - TuS Koblenz 0:0 (0:0) 8,172 Hansa Rostock - Alemannia Aachen 1:0 (0:0) 16,000 (Dorn) SV Wehen Wiesbaden - MSV Duisburg 1:1 (1:1) 7,468 (Diakité - Grlic) 1860 München - 1. FSV Mainz 05 1:2 (0:2) 30,200 (Kucukovic - Karhan, Noveski) FC Augsburg - Rot-Weiss Ahlen 3:0 (2:0) 14,102 (Torghelle 2, Szabic) RW Oberhausen - FC Ingolstadt 04 2:1 (2:1) 5,784 (Kaya, Müller - Demir) 1. FC Kaiserslautern - 1. FC Nürnberg 2:1 (2:0) 34,674 (Dick, Jendrisek - Boakye) Attendance: 140,630 (avg 15,626) 1 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2 1 1 0 5:4 +1 4 2 1. FSV Mainz 05 2 1 1 0 5:4 +1 4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 SC Freiburg 2 1 1 0 4:3 +1 4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Hansa Rostock (A) 2 1 1 0 3:2 +1 4 5 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 2 1 0 1 7:5 +2 3 6 FC Augsburg 2 1 0 1 4:2 +2 3 7 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 2 1 0 1 4:4 0 3 8 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 2 1 0 1 3:3 0 3 9 Alemannia Aachen 2 1 0 1 2:2 0 3 10 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 2 1 0 1 2:4 -2 3 11 RW Oberhausen (N) 2 1 0 1 2:4 -2 3 12 VfL Osnabrück 2 0 2 0 4:4 0 2 13 MSV Duisburg (A) 2 0 2 0 3:3 0 2 14 TuS Koblenz 2 1 1 0 3:0 +3 1 15 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 2 0 1 1 2:3 -1 1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 FSV Frankfurt (N) 2 0 1 1 1:2 -1 1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 FC St. Pauli 2 0 1 1 4:7 -3 1 18 TSV 1860 München 2 0 0 2 2:4 -2 0 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
3. Liga, Round 3
Early leaders Bayern II and Emden remain on top, although of course Bayern is ineligible for promotion. The shock so far has been the inability of Stuttgarter Kickers to even garner a single point. Not doing much better is Aue, only relegated from the 2.Liga, and perhaps on the elevator to Hell...
1. FC Union Berlin - Wacker Burghausen 4:0 (1:0) 5,612 (Patschinski 3, Biran) VfR Aalen - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 0:2 (0:1) 3,314 (Cannizzaro 2) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - Kickers Emden 1:1 (0:0) 5,572 (Hähnge - Unger) Eintr. Braunschweig - Bayern München II 0:1 (0:0) 16,300 (Ekici) Dynamo Dresden - VfB Stuttgart II 1:0 (0:0) 9,166 (Müller) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - Kickers Offenbach 2:1 (1:0) 3,879 (Reichwein, Rietpietsch - Tosunoglu) Fortuna Düsseldorf - SpVgg Unterhaching 0:0 (0:0) 10,454 SC Paderborn 07 - Jahn Regensburg 3:1 (1:0) 4,483 (Damjanovic 2, Güvenisik - Keller) Werder Bremen II - Erzgebirge Aue 4:2 (1:1) 800 (Oehrl, Harnick, Kruse 2 - Hensel, Feick) Stuttgarter Kickers - SV Sandhausen 0:1 (0:1) 3,230 (Göttlicher) Attendance: 62,810 (avg 6,281) 1 Bayern München II 4 3 1 0 6:3 +3 10 2 Kickers Emden 4 3 1 0 5:2 +3 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 SpVgg Unterhaching 4 2 2 0 6:1 +5 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 1. FC Union Berlin 4 2 1 1 9:4 +5 7 5 Fortuna Düsseldorf 4 2 1 1 7:4 +3 7 6 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 4 2 1 1 5:3 +2 7 7 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 4 2 1 1 8:7 +1 7 8 SV Sandhausen 4 2 0 2 9:6 +3 6 9 Dynamo Dresden 4 2 0 2 3:3 0 6 10 Werder Bremen II 4 2 0 2 8:9 -1 6 11 Kickers Offenbach (A) 4 1 2 1 5:4 +1 5 12 FC Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 4 1 2 1 7:7 0 5 13 Jahn Regensburg 4 1 2 1 5:6 -1 5 14 VfR Aalen 4 1 2 1 3:4 -1 5 15 Eintr. Braunschweig 4 1 1 2 3:3 0 4 16 VfB Stuttgart II 4 1 1 2 4:5 -1 4 17 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 4 1 1 2 4:6 -2 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18 Wacker Burghausen 4 1 0 3 2:10 -8 3 19 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 4 0 1 3 4:9 -5 1 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 4 0 0 4 0:7 -7 0 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
Bundesliga, Round 1
Another Bundesliga season started off, and Bayern was declared champion... Actually, Bayern looked anything but champions as Jürgen Klinsmann's start at Bayern was hardly a complete success. THe champs looked sluggish and couldn't hold a quick 2-0 lead against HSV. Hamburg lost playmaker Rafael van der Vaart (and more importantly to most Germans, his hot wife) to Real Madrid, but new coach Martin Jol had the right recipe as HSV fought back to earn a deserved draw. The eternal contender, Schalke, whose fans like to call themselves "Meister des Herzen" ("champions of the hearts") - but should be more aptly called ("Meister des Scherzen" - champions of jokes or "Meister des Schmerzen" - champions of pain) actually got off to a rip roaring start has they bitchslapped a hapless Hannover squad. They jumped out with a double strike in the first 8 minutes and waltzed away.
Meanwhile, two other title contenders stubbed their toes. Werder Bremen was taken to task at Bielefeld, and could only manage a draw. For Bremen, they could perhaps accept an excuse that Brazilian playmaker Diego is off at the Beijing Olympics, putting superpowers like New Zealand U23 to the sword. Leverkusen needs some of Bayer's aspirins, as they were stunned at home 3-2 by Dortmund, Germany's most inconsistent team.
The newcomers had a mixed bag in their start. Hoffenheim stunned Cottbus, which is always a difficult place to play. The visitors countered cleverly and displayed security in defense against a disorganized Energie squad, which looks to face another relegation battle. Hoffenheim's reward of the first Bundesliga debutant to win an opener since 1997 was possesion of 1st place. Köln gave a decent account of themselves in Wolfsburg, but were ultimately downed by the VWs. Meanwhile, Gladbach got their ass whipped at home by a rampant Stuttgart. The Gladbachers ran around valiantly, but were ruthlessly exposed as fairies by the visitors.
Bayern München - Hamburger SV 2:2 (2:1) 69,000 (Schweinsteiger, Podolski - Guerrero, Trochowski) FC Schalke 04 - Hannover 96 3:0 (2:0) 61,673 (Bordon, Kuranyi 2) VfL Wolfsburg - 1. FC Köln 2:1 (0:1) 29,085 (Gentner, Misimovic - Novakovic) Bayer Leverkusen - Borussia Dortmund 2:3 (1:2) 21,000 (Helmes, Kiessling - Valdez, Kringe, Subotic) Karlsruher SC - VfL Bochum 1:0 (1:0) 24,800 (Eichner) Energie Cottbus - 1899 Hoffenheim 0:3 (0:1) 18,370 (Ibisevic 2, Ba) Arminia Bielefeld - Werder Bremen 2:2 (0:0) 24,700 (Wichniarek 2 - Rosenberg 2) Eintracht Frankfurt - Hertha BSC 0:2 (0:1) 44,000 (Raffael, Ebert) Borussia M'gladbach - VfB Stuttgart 1:3 (0:3) 47,028 (Friend - Hitzlsperger, Marica, Gomez) Attendance: 339,656 (avg 37,739) 1 1899 Hoffenheim (N) 1 1 0 0 3:0 +3 3 2 FC Schalke 04 1 1 0 0 3:0 +3 3 3 VfB Stuttgart 1 1 0 0 3:1 +2 3 4 Hertha BSC Berlin 1 1 0 0 2:0 +2 3 5 Borussia Dortmund 1 1 0 0 3:2 +1 3 6 VfL Wolfsburg 1 1 0 0 2:1 +1 3 7 Karlsruher SC 1 1 0 0 1:0 +1 3 8 Arminia Bielefeld 1 0 1 0 2:2 0 1 9 Werder Bremen 1 0 1 0 2:2 0 1 10 Hamburger SV 1 0 1 0 2:2 0 1 11 Bayern München (M, P) 1 0 1 0 2:2 0 1 12 Bayer Leverkusen 1 0 0 1 2:3 -1 0 13 1. FC Köln (N) 1 0 0 1 1:2 -1 0 14 VfL Bochum 1 0 0 1 0:1 -1 0 15 Borussia M'gladbach (N) 1 0 0 1 1:3 -2 0 16 Eintracht Frankfurt 1 0 0 1 0:2 -2 0 17 Energie Cottbus 1 0 0 1 0:3 -3 0 18 Hannover 96 1 0 0 1 0:3 -3 0 (M) Meister (Champion) (P) Pokal (Cupwinner) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
2. Liga, Round 1
Alemannia Aachen - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 2:1 (1:1) 18,172 (Auer, Szukala - Orahovac) FC St. Pauli - VfL Osnabrück 2:2 (2:1) 22,210 (Bruns 2 - Reichenberger, Fuchs) 1. FSV Mainz 05 - 1. FC Kaiserslautern 3:3 (3:0) 20,300 (Feulner 2, Bogavac - Reghecampf, Jendrisek 2) 1. FC Nürnberg - FC Augsburg 2:1 (1:0) 39,700 (Boakye, Pinola - Torghelle) SC Freiburg - 1860 München 2:1 (1:1) 17,000 (Günes, Ghvinianidze - Lauth) Rot-Weiss Ahlen - FSV Frankfurt 2:1 (0:0) 3,254 (Gibson, Müller - Bencik) FC Ingolstadt 04 - SpVgg Greuther Fürth 3:2 (2:1) 5,258 (Rama, Felgenhauer, Demir - Reisinger, Allagui) TuS Koblenz - RW Oberhausen 3:0 (2:0) 8,425 (Ziehl, Taylor, Kuqi) MSV Duisburg - Hansa Rostock 2:2 (1:1) 15,149 (Wagner, Makiadi - Kern, Dorn) Attendance: 149,468 (avg 16,608) 1 FC Ingolstadt 04 (N) 1 1 0 0 3:2 +1 3 2 Alemannia Aachen 1 1 0 0 2:1 +1 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Rot-Weiss Ahlen (N) 1 1 0 0 2:1 +1 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 SC Freiburg 1 1 0 0 2:1 +1 3 5 1. FC Nürnberg (A) 1 1 0 0 2:1 +1 3 6 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1 0 1 0 3:3 0 1 7 1. FSV Mainz 05 1 0 1 0 3:3 0 1 8 MSV Duisburg (A) 1 0 1 0 2:2 0 1 9 VfL Osnabrück 1 0 1 0 2:2 0 1 10 Hansa Rostock (A) 1 0 1 0 2:2 0 1 11 FC St. Pauli 1 0 1 0 2:2 0 1 12 TuS Koblenz 1 1 0 0 3:0 +3 0 13 SpVgg Greuther Fürth 1 0 0 1 2:3 -1 0 14 FC Augsburg 1 0 0 1 1:2 -1 0 15 FSV Frankfurt (N) 1 0 0 1 1:2 -1 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 TSV 1860 München 1 0 0 1 1:2 -1 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 SV Wehen Wiesbaden 1 0 0 1 1:2 -1 0 18 RW Oberhausen (N) 1 0 0 1 0:3 -3 0 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
3. Liga, Round 3
Rot-Weiß Erfurt - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 2:1 (1:1) 15,722 (Semmer, Bunjaku - Loose o.g.) Bayern München II - Dynamo Dresden 1:0 (1:0) 7,000 (Sikorski) Erzgebirge Aue - VfR Aalen 0:0 (0:0) 7,500 Jahn Regensburg - Werder Bremen II 1:0 (0:0) 3,330 (Würll) SV Sandhausen - SC Paderborn 07 4:0 (2:0) 2,500 (Grgic, Mintzel 2, Öztürk) Kickers Offenbach - 1. FC Union Berlin 1:1 (0:0) 9,401 (Mesic - YoungaMouhani) VfB Stuttgart II - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 2:0 (0:0) 700 (Hofmann, Rudy) Wacker Burghausen - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:4 (0:2) 3,500 (Lawarée 2, Sahin, Caillas) Kickers Emden - Eintr. Braunschweig 1:0 (1:0) 6,500 (Pfingsten) SpVgg Unterhaching - Stuttgarter Kickers 2:0 (2:0) 2,600 (Schulz, Steegmann) Attendance: 58,753 (avg 5,873) 1 Kickers Emden 3 3 0 0 4:1 +3 9 2 SpVgg Unterhaching 3 2 1 0 6:1 +5 7 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Bayern München II 3 2 1 0 5:3 +2 7 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Fortuna Düsseldorf 3 2 0 1 7:4 +3 6 5 Kickers Offenbach (A) 3 1 2 0 4:2 +2 5 6 Jahn Regensburg 3 1 2 0 4:3 +1 5 7 VfR Aalen 3 1 2 0 3:2 +1 5 8 1. FC Union Berlin 3 1 1 1 5:4 +1 4 9 Eintr. Braunschweig 3 1 1 1 3:2 +1 4 10 FC Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 3 1 1 1 6:6 0 4 11 VfB Stuttgart II 3 1 1 1 4:4 0 4 12 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 3 1 1 1 3:3 0 4 13 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 3 1 1 1 5:6 -1 4 14 SV Sandhausen 3 1 0 2 8:6 2 3 15 Dynamo Dresden 3 1 0 2 2:3 -1 3 16 Werder Bremen II 3 1 0 2 4:7 -3 3 17 Wacker Burghausen 3 1 0 2 2:6 -4 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 3 0 1 2 2:5 -3 1 19 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 3 0 1 2 2:5 -3 1 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 3 0 0 3 0:6 -6 0 (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year) (N) Neuling (promoted from last year)
3.Liga, Round 2
Lots of draws this round as 3.Liga clubs feel each other out. The top clash in Paderborn against Unterhaching ended in a 1-1 final, as did Sunday's Braunschweig match, which drew a 3.Liga record 19,000+. If Braunschweig can play near the top of the table, expect lots of nice crowds, as the fans are hungry and enthusiastic for success.
SC Paderborn 07 - SpVgg Unterhaching 1:1 (0:0) 7,806 (Guié-Mien - Tyce) Wuppertaler SV Bor. - Bayern München II 2:2 (0:0) 6,281 (Reichwein, Damm - Vilmaz, Ekici) 1. FC Union Berlin - VfB Stuttgart II 3:1 (2:0) 5,107 (Ruprecht, Benyamina 2 - Hofmann) Kickers Offenbach - Wacker Burghausen 2:0 (2:0) 7,703 (St.Haas, Bayer) Stuttgarter Kickers - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:2 (0:0) 5,870 (Lawarée, Sahin) VfR Aalen - Jahn Regensburg 1:1 (0:0) 4,600 (Staub - Troilov) FC Carl Zeiss Jena - Erzgebirge Aue 3:2 (0:2) 8,320 (Amirante 2, Hähnge - Feick 2) Eintr. Braunschweig - Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1:1 (0:1) 19,400 (Banser - Canizzaro) Werder Bremen II - SV Sandhausen -:- (-:-) (09.08.2008) Dynamo Dresden - Kickers Emden -:- (-:-) (13.08.2008) 1 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 2 1 1 0 5:2 +3 4 2 SpVgg Unterhaching 2 1 1 0 4:1 +3 4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Kickers Offenbach (A) 2 1 1 0 3:1 +2 4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Eintr. Braunschweig 2 1 1 0 3:1 +2 4 5 FC Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 2 1 1 0 5:4 +1 4 6 Bayern München II 2 1 1 0 4:3 +1 4 7 VfR Aalen 2 1 1 0 3:2 +1 4 8 1. FC Union Berlin 2 1 0 1 4:3 +1 3 9 Dynamo Dresden 1 1 0 0 1:0 +1 3 10 Kickers Emden 1 1 0 0 1:0 +1 3 11 Wacker Burghausen 2 1 0 1 2:2 0 3 12 Fortuna Düsseldorf 2 1 0 1 3:4 -1 3 13 Jahn Regensburg 2 0 2 0 3:3 0 2 14 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 2 0 1 1 2:3 -1 1 15 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 2 0 1 1 1:2 -1 1 16 VfB Stuttgart II 2 0 1 1 2:4 -2 1 17 SV Sandhausen 1 0 0 1 1:2 -1 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 2 0 0 2 2:5 -3 0 19 Werder Bremen II 1 0 0 1 0:3 -3 0 20 Stuttgarter Kickers 2 0 0 2 0:4 -4 0 * - (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year's 2.Liga)
Finally, international success!
Germany won it's first title in 16 years, as the U19 squad defeated Italy 3-1 to win the European U19. Previous youth titles include World U20 (1981), Euro U19 (1981) and Euro U17 (1992). The squad was coached by Horst Hrubesch, and displayed fine form throughout the tournament. Whether any of these players are ever heard from again is an open question. Previously, DFB squads have won 4 international titles, and none of those players ever made it to the A national squad as regulars. Only Falkenmayer, Ricken, Wohlfarth and Zorc ever even made it to the top, and none of those would be considered impact players.
3.Liga, Round 1
The 3.Liga started off it's first season, opening on a Friday night. Dresden's Halil Savran scored the very first 3.Liga goal, which proved to be the winner in a hotly contested match. Relegated Paderborn provided the first master performance, as they stunningly routed Düsseldorf on the road to establish themselves as an early contender.
Attendance: 62,140 (avg 6,214), 25 goals
Rot-Weiß Erfurt - Dynamo Dresden 0:1 (0:1) 12,033 (Savran) Wacker Burghausen - Stuttgarter Kickers 2:0 (2:0) 3,000 (Mitthuber, Kurz) Kickers Emden - Wuppertaler SV Bor. 1:0 (1:0) 4,279 (Moosmayer) Erzgebirge Aue - Eintr. Braunschweig 0:2 (0:1) 10,800 (Danneberg, Banser) Jahn Regensburg - FC Carl Zeiss Jena 2:2 (0:1) 5,100 (Bambara, Würll - Amirante, Hansen) SV Sandhausen - VfR Aalen 1:2 (1:0) 4,200 (Pinto - Stickel, Sailer) SpVgg Unterhaching - Werder Bremen II 3:0 (0:0) 2,500 (A.Fink 2, Tyce) VfB Stuttgart II - Kickers Offenbach 1:1 (1:0) 1,900 (Hofmann - St.Haas) Bayern München II - 1. FC Union Berlin 2:1 (0:0) 3,300 (Müller, Ekici - Biran) Fortuna Düsseldorf - SC Paderborn 07 1:4 (1:2) 15,028 (Cebe - Kumbela 2, Fischer, Damjanovic) 1 SC Paderborn 07 (A) 1 1 0 0 4:1 +3 3 2 SpVgg Unterhaching 1 1 0 0 3:0 +3 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Eintr. Braunschweig 1 1 0 0 2:0 +2 3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Wacker Burghausen 1 1 0 0 2:0 +2 3 5 VfR Aalen 1 1 0 0 2:1 +1 3 6 Bayern München II 1 1 0 0 2:1 +1 3 7 Dynamo Dresden 1 1 0 0 1:0 +1 3 8 Kickers Emden 1 1 0 0 1:0 +1 3 9 FC Carl Zeiss Jena (A) 1 0 1 0 2:2 0 1 10 Jahn Regensburg 1 0 1 0 2:2 0 1 11 Kickers Offenbach (A) 1 0 1 0 1:1 0 1 12 VfB Stuttgart II 1 0 1 0 1:1 0 1 13 1. FC Union Berlin 1 0 0 1 1:2 -1 0 14 SV Sandhausen 1 0 0 1 1:2 -1 0 15 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 1 0 0 1 0:1 -1 0 16 Wuppertaler SV Bor. 1 0 0 1 0:1 -1 0 17 Erzgebirge Aue (A) 1 0 0 1 0:2 -2 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 Stuttgarter Kickers 1 0 0 1 0:2 -2 0 19 Fortuna Düsseldorf 1 0 0 1 1:4 -3 0 20 Werder Bremen II 1 0 0 1 0:3 -3 0 * - (A) Absteiger (relegated from last year's 2.Liga)
DFB to release new Regionalliga divisions
Today the DFB is released the new makeup of the 4th division Regionalliga. The 3 regional leagues are North, West and South. Backroom dealing was kept to a minimum. The only club that can complain somewhat is BV Cloppenburg, a northern club that was put in the West division. The north was always going to be difficult, as all the former GDR clubs wanted to stay together, and indeed they were accomodated - in the north.
Regionalliga Süd SSV Reutlingen RL Süd TSV München 1860 II RL Süd Hessen Kassel RL Süd Karlsruher SC II RL Süd SC Pfullendorf RL Süd SV Darmstadt 98 OL Hessen SV Wehen Wiesbaden II OL Hessen Viktoria Aschaffenburg OL Hessen Eintracht Frankfurt II OL Hessen SC Freiburg II OL Ba-Wü SSV Ulm 1846 OL Ba-Wü Waldhof Mannheim OL Ba-Wü 1.FC Heidenheim OL Ba-Wü SpVgg Greuther Fürth II OL Bayern 1.FC Nürnberg II OL Bayern TSV Großbardorf OL Bayern 1. FC Eintracht Bamberg OL Bayern SpVgg Unterhaching II OL Bayern Regionalliga West Rot-Weiss Essen RL Nord Borussia Dortmund II RL Nord SC Verl RL Nord SV Elversberg RL Süd FSV Oggersheim RL Süd Borussia Mgladbach II OL Nordrhein Bayer Leverkusen II OL Nordrhein 1.FC Köln II OL Nordrhein 1.FC Kleve OL Nordrhein Preußen Münster OL Westfalen VfL Bochum II OL Westfalen FC Schalke 04 II OL Westfalen Sportfreunde Lotte OL Westfalen BV Cloppenburg OL Nord 1.FSV Mainz 05 II OL Südwest Eintracht Trier OL Südwest 1.FC Kaiserslautern II OL Südwest Wormatia Worms OL Südwest Regionalliga Nord 1.FC Magdeburg RL Nord Energie Cottbus II RL Nord SV Babelsberg 03 RL Nord VfB Lübeck RL Nord Hamburger SV II RL Nord VfL Wolfsburg II RL Nord Holstein Kiel OL Nord Altona 93 OL Nord SV Wilhelmshaven OL Nord Hannover 96 II OL Nord FC Oberneuland OL Nord Hertha BSC II OL NOFV-Nord Hansa Rostock II OL NOFV-Nord Türkiyemspor Berlin OL NOFV-Nord Hallescher FC OL NOFV-Süd Chemnitzer FC OL NOFV-Süd VFC Plauen OL NOFV-Süd Sachsen Leipzig OL NOFV-Süd
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