5 Things we learned from Matchday 29

By: Jan | April 17th, 2008

Ioannis Amanatidis 1. The truth behind Mirko Slomka’s dismissal.
Mirko Slomka got fired on Sunday. The same Sunday Kevin Kuranyi put on his serious face and told reporters that Schalke had lost a very good coach, who every player loves to work with. Then he put on his sad face. Then he said OK. Then he drove away in his sports car. Then he went on to score four goals against Cottbus on Tuesday. Then we knew, that Mirko Slomka had lost the dressing room.

2. Bayern will succeed Stuttgart.
Frankfurt should have won the game against Bayern and they shouldn’t have conceded two of the three goals. But then again, Getafe shouldn’t have conceded two last minute goals and Bochum shouldn’t have lost a game, where they were 1-0 and one man up against Bayern. There’s nothing stopping the Bavarians at the moment.

Frankfurt had taken the lead and they had more than enough chances to extend their lead afterwards. Then, after Bayern had equalised Frankfurt were passive bystanders when Luca Toni bagged his third consecutive brace. Bayern retain their 10 point lead at the top of the table, which virtually guarantees them the title with just five matches remaining. Luca Toni is also virtually guaranteed the golden boot - which is not a golden boot but a cannon - with 20 goals and Mario Gomez out injured. Frankfurt have wasted a great chance to make a statement towards the UEFA Cup spots.

3. Stuttgart had a goalkeeper problem.
I shied away from announcing Bayer Leverkusen’s comeback, since their emphatic looking 3-0 victory over Stuttgart on Sunday, potentially had more to do with a shaky 19 year old goalkeeper, than with a genuine return to form of the Werkself. And a toothless display against Bielefeld, followed by a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Bielefeld supported this argument. The good news for them: neither Hamburg or Wolfsburg are particularly interested to play in Europe next season either. Hamburg drew against Hertha and Wolfsburg lost against Bochum.

4. 12000 Borussia Dortmund fans aren’t masochists.
On average, 73000 fans attend a Borussia Dortmund home match. A record low of 61000 found their way to the Westfalenstadion on Wednesday, to see their side stumble to yet another defeat. This time it was Hanover’s turn to get three free feel-good points from Dortmund. Bayern will win the DFB Pokal on Saturday, but the DFB should make it mandatory, that whenever someone mentions Bayern’s cup win in 2008, that this person is required to mention, that it was against Dortmund - to put things into perspective.

5. Stuttgart don’t need Mario Gomez.
Stuttgart just need the right opponent. Nuremberg were happy to let Stuttgart score three easy first half goals and then used their substitutions to signal, that they had given up and only want to keep the score down. Which they did. Stuttgart are back in the running for at least the UEFA Cup spots. And they are only three points behind Schalke. But a tough trip to Bayern Munich is coming up next.