5 Things the Bundesliga Offside Bloggers learned from Matchday 25

By: Jan | March 27th, 2008

Arturo Vidal I spent my weekend telling lies to my relatives, which depending on their age were about bunnies and candy, and depending on their favourite team, were about how Hamburg or Bremen still have a chance of winning the title. It was an entertaining diversion from the world of hard facts and truth here at the Bundesliga Offside. So much so, that I didn’t care to write a weekend summary. But Abby, Angela, Chris, Chris and Mike were busy keeping the site going and here’s what they learned:

1. Berlin aren’t a good team and they aren’t a bad team either.
Which is Abby’s way of avoiding the unflattering word mediocre. Though, the team that beat Hertha has been dubbed the best mediocre team in the Bundesliga, which is the best description of this season’s Schalke, that I’ve read so far. It should also give Abby hope, that Berlin can easily play in the Champions League quarter final and compete for the top spots in the Bundesliga, if they just get a bit better at being mediocre.

2. Bayer can’t beat Bayern in Bavaria.
Angela can be excused for spending little time on Bayern’s win over Leverkusen, and more on the newly acquired most hated merchandise of the Bundesliga. Leverkusen couldn’t win in Munich for 19 years and counting, so covering the same story each year is getting a bit old and boring.

3. Hamburg can’t win or lose.
No other team in the Bundesliga drew more matches. They added another one against Wolfsburg, whose ex-Bayern coach Felix Magath has done a good job assisting Ottmar Hitzfeld. Wolfsburg have taken points away from anyone except Bayern. Another attempted dive by Grafite and four red cards should at least make sure, that there’ll be hotly contested northern derbies between the two clubs in the future.

4. The DFL Bundesliga Brawl is in full swing.
Up until Bayern lose two games in a row, the true fun in the Bundesliga will be the wide open race for the Champions League spots. Chris has taken the time to take a look at the contenders and their chances of making the Champions League next season.

5. Schalke aren’t a good team and they aren’t a bad team but they are better than Berlin.
Schalke keep grinding out wins at the moment and this means they are very much back in the hunt for a Champions League spot. While I would still like to see some improvements in the way they are getting their results, I must concede that they don’t necessarily have to. I heard stories about a team in the Bundesliga, which won plenty of titles the Schalke way.