Matchday 30: Mia San Back

Bayern Munich, freshly freed from Louis can Gaal’s dictatorship, do a Schalke and put five past a sorry opponent. Leverkusen, being that opponent, suffered a severe case of title race deja-vu. Dortmund seized the opportunity to put one hand on the Bundesliga shield. Elsewhere teams struggled to achieve that one decisive victory to escape all their relegation woes.

Bayern Munich 5-1 Leverkusen. Leverkusen travelled to Munich full of confidence and with the believe, that they can win the match and keep the pressure on Dortmund. Well, that’s what they said. What they eventually did was reminiscent of every other Leverkusen side that travelled to Munich since October 1989 – the last time Leverkusen beat Bayern in Munich. They crumbled under the pressure and completely fell apart when Bayern took an early 2-0 lead. A bit of trademark Leverkusen possession football was there, but with nearly no purpose, and it was coupled with uncharacteristically shoddy defending featuring the worst defensive play of the season by Vidal – a penalty box back-heel straight to Thomas Müller, who sent Mario Gomez on his way to a “flawless” (as in German hat-trick, as in three goals in a row in one half) hat-trick. It wasn’t just Leverkusen’s weakness that contributed to the lopsided result of course, but also Bayern’s demonstration of strength. A little reminder, that they still got quite a bit of quality on the pitch, that caretaker coach Andries Jonker did well to unleash. Bayern claimed their much coveted Champions League spot, while Leverkusen still have a six-point cushion to squander in the remaining four matches.

Dortmund 3-0 Freiburg. Looking at the way Dortmund dominate their opponents at the moment, it’s safe to say that this team would have comfortably won the league, even with Leverkusen chasing them till the end. Sometimes they forget to score and have to settle for a draw, but in most cases their firepower and defensive stability is just too much to handle for any opponent. Or as Freiburg’s coach Robin Dutt put it: “Defeat was unavoidable.” Now the only question left to answer is whether Dortmund will claim the title this weekend already.

Hamburg 0-0 Hanover. Draws have been pretty useless ever since the 3-point rule was introduced, and this match was the perfect example. Hamburg had to win to keep their hopes of Europa League football alive and Hanover had to win to protect their Champions League spot. Both teams lost out. Hanover at least did a bit more to win the match and justified their higher ranking in the table. For Hamburg it will most likely be the second year in a row without European football coupled with budget cuts and a squad reboot. Hanover have pretty much secured their place in Europe and will duke it out with Bayern whether it will be on the big or the small stage.

Wolfsburg 2-2 St Pauli. Draws have been pretty useless ever since the 3-point rule… and so on and so forth. St. Pauli where the latest club to lose their coach at the end of the season – well, until today actually – and it seems Holger Stanislawski’s team was intent to show their coach what he will be missing next season. St. Pauli delivered a great spirited fight and should have comfortably beaten a disjointed and degenerated Wolfsburg team randomly assembled individual talent that even Felix Magath’s fitness drills and social incompetence can’t fix anymore. Somehow Wolfsburg still stole a point, which means that both teams remain stuck at the bottom of the table and might have to settle for the relegation play-off spot, as safety is now four points away already.

Mainz 1-0 Gladbach. Borussia Mönchengladbach edged one step closer to relegation, thanks to yet another red card, a referee denying them a clear cut penalty and a bit of Andre Schürrle magic. Mainz protected their Europa League spot, but will have to do a bit more for next weekend’s showdown with Nuremberg. Gladbach still have a small chance to reach the relegation play-off spot, though they will have to start their great escape by beating the other Borussia next weekend…

Kaiserslautern 0-2 Nuremberg. Nuremberg have become an impressively compact unit over the course of the season with good distribution from the midfield. Well that and they are on a roll, putting them in a good position to attack Mainz to claim the last Europa League spot. Kaiserslautern couldn’t continue where they left off in Stuttgart and instead had to deal with a copycat beer cup thrower to completely ruin their weekend.

Hoffenheim 1-0 Frankfurt. Hoffenheim no longer have anything to play for and it showed. Frankfurt outplayed the villagers from start to finish, but, as is the unwritten rule when you fail to score yourself, Hoffenheim eventually stole all three points to add to their anonymous midtable ranking, while Frankfurt have to fight a bit longer to stay in the league.

Cologne 1-3 Stuttgart. After the first half of the season, Cologne looked like a badly managed, badly assembled team in perennial chaos destined to get relegated once again. After the winter break the team suddenly started to produce results. New sporting director Volker Finke had made some smart winter transfers. New coach Frank Schäfer had injected some team spirit into a bunch of individuals and turned the seemingly incompatible Novakovic and Podolski into the league’s deadliest strike duo. The relegation zone turned into a distant memory and fans started to dream of an era of stability under Schäfer. Yet, just in time for the season finale the club/the local tabloids started to lay the foundations for a nerve wracking finish and a summer break cliff hanger. Frank Schäfer and the club delayed the decision over a contract extension, the press started to ask questions and dug up dirt and the team started to produce some horribly lopsided results. Today, Schäfer announced that he will leave the team at the end of the season to return to his U23 side – most probably. Cologne still have a six-point cushion but might still get caught up in some late relegation drama. Stuttgart are still pretty much in it, but the win has helped them steer four points clear of the drop zone for the moment.

Bremen 1-1 Schalke. On paper this looked like a worthy matchup for the Saturday night game, in reality you had to watch two teams who no longer have that much to play for in the league this season. Ralf Rangnick used the opportunity to test some of the 100+ players Felix Magath signed during his reign, while also getting some first hand impressions of Tim Wiese, who is rumored to be a potential Manuel Neuer replacement. Rangnick will have been pleased as his reshuffled Schalke still produced the majority of chances, while Tim Wiese did well to deny Schalke all three points.

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Category: Bundesliga