With their win over Bayer Leverkusen, combined with Dortmundโs loss to Gladbach, Bayern Munich now have a 23-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga table. That means the Bavarian giants could find themselves crowned champions before the month is even out.
And considering Saturdayโs win marks Bayernโs 50th straight unbeaten game in the league, wellโฆit might just be simpler to hand them the trophy right now.
Although that doesnโt mean the rest of the Bundesliga canโt throw up some surprises now and then:
Friday results
Augsburg 1-2 Schalke
The hosts got off to a fantastic start when Tobias Werner scored after just five minutes. But Schalke, mindful of losing out on third after fighting so hard to reach the Champions League places, came roaring back.ย Klaas-Jan Huntelaar had his side even before the break, and then put in the winner shortly after the restart.
Saturday results
Borussia Dortmund 1-2ย Borussia Mรถnchengladbach
Itโs Gladbachโs first win of 2014 and what a win to get โ victory over their rivals, currently in second place. The Foals did do their best to throw away yet another lead, playing down a man for 25 minutes afterย Havard Nordtveit got sent off, and allowing a goal fromย Miloลก Jojiฤ. But in the end, goals from Raffael and Max Kruse โ and an impressive performance fromย Patrick Herrmann โ got Gladbach all three points.
Braunschweig 1-1 Wolfsburg
Bottom-side Braunschweig continue trying to pull their way up, point by point, and it continues making little difference. But the equalizer fromย Karim Bellarabi was better than letting Luis Gustavoโs goal go unanswered, even if Braunschweig remain dead last.
Hertha Berlin 0-3 Hannover
Hertha continue their slide down the table, letting Hannover run roughshod over them. Lars Stindl,ย Jan Schlaudraff andย Szabolcs Huszti all scored for the visitors, who are now three in a row unbeaten.
Hoffenheim 2-4 Mainz
Sejad Salihoviฤ missed a penalty for Hoffenheim in the fifth minute, which rather set the tone for the rest of the match. The hosts bounced back and, thanks to goals fromย Eugen Polanski and Roberto Firmino, were up 2-0 by the 52nd minute. But Mainz took less than 25 minutes to turn things around.ย Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting starting things off, withย Benedikt Saller scoring five minutes later.ย Shinji Okazaki followed up with a header before grabbing his second in stoppage time. Mainz are now fifth, and are closing in on Leverkusen for a Champions League spot.
Werder Bremen 1-1 Stuttgartย
The point keeps Stuttgart out of the danger zone, but only just โ and if Hamburg or Freiburg win on Sunday, they may slip down into the bottom three. Stuttgart, too, managed to miss a penalty, attempted byย Martin Harnik. They took the lead in the second half through a goal fromย Georg Niedermeier, but a direct free kick from Aaron Hunt ensured Werder Bremen got a share of the spoils.
Bayern Munich 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen
At least Leverkusen tried to make things interesting โ but the stoppage time goal fromย Stefan Kieรling proved too little, too late.ย Mario Mandลพukiฤ had headed home to close the first half, and aย Bastian Schweinsteiger free kick doubled the hostsโ lead early in the second. Now Leverkusen are down in fourth, and could very well find themselves losing out on Champions League play next season.
Sunday fixtures
Hamburg vs. Nurnberg
Are Hamburg really set to go down for the first time in their history? If they canโt get a result against Nurnberg, just three points above them in the table, that just might be the case. But the visitors have lost their last two while Hamburg came back to draw Frankfurt last weekend, so the advantage might be to the hosts.
Frankfurt vs. Freiburg
Freiburg will be hoping to pull themselves out of the relegation zone with a win over Frankfurt, but their current form -without a win in their last six โ suggests thatโs unlikely to be the case. The hosts, meanwhile, have had a bit of an up-and-down season, but are certainly capable of beating weaker sides.
