10 Things we learned from Matchday 28
By: Jan | April 15th, 20081. Nuremberg can no longer finish their matches.
Last week Nuremberg’s match against Frankfurt was stopped for 20 minutes, after some people from Nuremberg’s travelling support burned firecrackers and threw a flare onto the pitch. This Friday Nuremberg’s match against Wolfsburg got abandoned after heavy rain rendered the pitch unplayable. A Bundesliga first. Nuremberg were leading 1-0 and will curse their luck. Rostock, Duisburg and Cottbus all bagged valuable points.
2. Werder Bremen announced their comeback.
And 18 minutes of highlights per 90 minutes ain’t bad.
3. Schalke is Schalke.
Schalke played some attractive football for a change. The defence was reminiscent of Werder circa two weeks ago and the offence was as un-clinical as Schalke can get. And that made the difference. Mirko Slomka also did as the fans and management demanded and played the winter signings Sanchez and Streit. Both added even more un-clinical finishing to Schalke’s game.
Either the attractive football and the bad result this weekend or the good results and unattractive football before must have had things turn against Mirko Slomka. He finally got fired. And since Schalke’s president once publicly undermined Slomka’s authority by stating, that Schalke might need a coach with international standing, it doesn’t surprise me at all, that the relatively unknown Dutch newcomer Fred Rutten is now the favourite to get the job.
4. Bayern Munich needed a rest after those epic 120 minutes against Getafe.
So why play the full 90 minutes, when you can put four goals past Dortmund in a fraction of the time; 22 minutes to be precise. Hitzfeld then allowed his players to do as they please for the remaining 68 minutes. Some went home early for dinner, some read a book and Andreas Ottl couldn’t resist adding a fifth goal in the second half.
5. Thomas Doll plays mind games with Bayern Munich.
He has now successfully tricked Bayern Munich into believing, that his Dortmund side is a mess. That his defence is too old and that his goalkeeper makes one crucial mistake per game. This is going to be one hell of a rude awakening for Bayern, when they meet a completely different Dortmund side for the cup final in Berlin. Yes, that must be it.
6. Hertha played away at Bochum and the match ended 1-1.
This one is for Abby, so she won’t have to write a match recap.
7. The newest club in crisis: Hamburg.
They were in a bit of a crisis before, but at least they were sitting pretty in the table. The worst performance of the season, and subsequently their first defeat at home at the hands of bottom side Duisburg, has changed all that. Hamburg have been dumped to fifth place and need to be careful not to throw it all away in the final stretch of the season. Josip Simunic should also teach Huub’s boys a thing or two about anger management.
8. 10 versus 11 is becoming fashionable.
Bayern came from behind to beat Bochum 3-1 with ten men. Just a few days later Getafe almost managed the same against Bayern. Now Hanover beat Frankfurt 2-1 being one man down. I’m starting to understand Mark van Bommel and his constant sending offs. He is a true leader and does everything for Bayern.
9. Yes, Karlsruhe still exist.
They were the positive surprise of the first half of the season and looked like UEFA Cup contenders. Then one player after the other jumped ship for more lucrative contracts with other Bundesliga clubs. And just like next season’s Karlsruhe squad fell apart, this season’s campaign did the same. Karlsruhe lost against Rostock and are five points behind the Intertoto Cup spot.
10. Bayer Leverkusen may be back or VfB Stuttgart may have a goalkeeper problem.
Bayer Leverkusen beat Stuttgart 3-0 and there is a good chance, that Leverkusen is back in the running for the Champions League. Though, we’ll only know for sure, once Leverkusen play against a team, whose goalkeeper isn’t responsible for two (and a half) of those three goals.
Category: 1. Bundesliga, 1. FC Nuremberg, Arminia Bielefeld, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt, Energie Cottbus, FC Bayern Munich, FC Schalke 04, Hamburger SV, Hannover 96, Hansa Rostock, Hertha BSC Berlin, Karlsruher SC, MSV Duisburg, Matchdays, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Bochum, VfL Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen
Tags: 1. Bundesliga, 1. FC Nuremberg, Arminia Bielefeld, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt, Energie Cottbus, FC Bayern Munich, FC Schalke 04, Hamburger SV, Hannover 96, Hansa Rostock, Hertha BSC Berlin, Karlsruher SC, Matchdays, MSV Duisburg, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Bochum, VfL Wolfsburg, Werder BremenSubscribe
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Comments
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Thanks Jan!
I’ve been swamped by work over the end of last week and the weekend, so I didn’t get as much of a chance to discuss what I’m sure was a very fascinating 1-1 draw that was not at all boring or soul-destroying.Posted from
United States
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‘And 18 minutes of highlights per 90 minutes ain’t bad.’
That has to break the record in terms of watching the highlights of a football match for me.
Oh yes, the abandoned match between Nuremberg and Wolfsburg will now be replayed on this Sunday - http://www.bundesliga.de/en/liga/news/2007/index.php?f=91986.php&fla=1 It will start at 0-0.
Jan, you forget one thing on your coverage for Matchday 28. Reuters Soccer Blog says it all - If you’re only going to learn one word in German, make it ‘Tor!’ (http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2008/04/15/if-youre-only-going-to-learn-one-word-in-german-make-it-tor/). Ottmar Hitzfeld had said this of Luca Toni after the end of the Bayern-Dortmund match - “I asked him at half-time if he wanted to play the whole match or come off and he just said ‘Tor, Tor, Tor’”.
It reminded me of when I first started to follow the Bundesliga, ‘Tor’ was among the first few German football terms I learned straightaway.
And there was once I said that out loud (I forgot which match highlight I was watching on TV at that time now) without even realising it myself. 
Posted from
United States -
My entire Saturday was ruined-ruined, I tells ya!–by watching the HSV-Duisburg match. I couldn’t watch the second half of the match, I was so disgusted.
Posted from
United States -
Diana, good point. I learned that word a long time ago so I forgot about it.:-)
Chris, I was mostly watching the Bremen - Schalke game and just kept checking the HSV score. Once I saw that Duisburg had taken the lead I didn’t bother anymore either.
Posted from
United States -
Jan, English is my first language. For an English-speaking football fan like me, learning non-English football terms (and finding out their English equivalents) do need some time. Given I had not learned all the German football terms yet (it has been almost two years since the World Cup)…it’s how I see it.
But then I admit I have been lazy and always turn to Google Translator instead.
Posted from
United States -
Diana, gatehunter is one of my favourite Google Translator creations, when it comes to German football terminology.
Posted from
United States -
I always encounter that!
And when it comes to checking out who is the referee for a match, I’m used to seeing this - ‘arbitrator’. At first I was like ‘Huh?’. I was like thinking that is actually a legal term in the beginning, but then I’m used to it by now.
Posted from
Singapore
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