Bayern Munich had to stop the floats from rolling, as the spiteful Dortmund made sure the Bundesliga champions-to-be couldn’t claim the title just yet. Make no mistake – Bayern still won, of course. But BvB’s win just delayed celebrations until next week.
Things are getting rather feisty at the bottom of the Bundesliga as well, with clubs swapping positions nearly every week. Read on to find out more…
Friday Results
Freiburg 3-1 Werder Bremen
Freiburg are finally out of the relegation zone! Goals from Julian Schuster, Felix Klaus and Admir Mehmedi put the hosts up 3-0 before the hour mark. Nils Petersen’s goal in the 70th minute was nothing more than a consolation for Werder Bremen, but it matters little as they’re neither going down nor challenging for Europe.
Saturday Results
Hannover 0-3 Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund have no hope of the title and are unlikely to lose out on Champions League next season, yet they still enjoy scoring a fair few goals at will. Mats Hummels opened the scoring, with Robert Lewandowski grabbing another shortly after the break. Marco Reus’s excellent goal in stoppage time rather seemed like it was just for fun. Again, no real gain for BvB from this one – except the pleasure of raining on Bayern’s parade.
Mainz 0-2 Bayern Munich
All eyes turned toward Loris Karius during the Saturday Bundesliga matches, as every non-Bayern fan cheered on the Mainz goalkeeper. A series of fantastic saves kept the champions-elect at bay until a series of changes from Pep Guardiola gave the visitors the edge they needed. Substitute Xherdan Shaqiri crossed for Bastian Schweinsteiger to head in the opener in the 82nd minute, with substitute Mario Götze putting in his own goal four minutes later.
Schalke 3-1 Braunschweig
Do you really have to ask? Of course Klaas-Jan Huntelaar did it again, knocking in his tenth goal in eleven games for Schalke. The hosts, seemingly unaffected by losing once more to Real Madrid midweek, kicked off the scoring with a 17th minute goal from Leon Goretzka. They were nice enough to let Benjamin Kessel pull one back in the 82nd minute, but Adám Szalai restored Schalke’s two goal advantage in stoppage time. Schalke remain comfortably in the top three, while Braunschweig, well…we always knew they were going down.
Stuttgart 1-0 Hamburg
And…it’s back down to the danger zone for Hamburg. Sure, 18th in Germany can still avoid relegation, but they’re cutting it awfully close. Stuttgart, too, are barely hanging on, just a point into safety. But Alexandru Maxim’s goal – just five minutes after he came on to replace Arthur Boka – will have Stuttgart breathing a bit easier.
Wolfsburg 1-1 Augsburg
The only Bundesliga draw thus far this weekend came from two sides battling it out for a shot at next year’s Europa League. The point helped Wolfsburg move into sixth after Mainz lost to Bayern, but Augsburg are still two points back. They’ll really be regretting letting in that equalizer from Ivica Olić with ten minutes left to go.
Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-0 Hertha Berlin
It’s a big, big win for Gladbach, putting them within two points of fourth place – pending Leverkusen’s result on Sunday, of course. Juan Arango, Max Kruse and Raffael all scored within twelve minutes, giving the Foals a 3-0 lead before the break. Meanwhile, Hertha’s dream of Europe, which seemed so bright in the first half of the season, has dimmed considerably, with the side now sitting ninth.
Sunday Fixtures
Nurnberg vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
With Eintracht just three points clear, this match is a classic relegation six-pointer. Freiburg felled Eintracht 4-1 last weekend, but with Nurnberg having lost three in a row, will fortune favor the visitors?
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Hoffenheim
To ensure their spot in next year’s Champions League, Leverkusen – who bowed out of this season’s tournament to Paris Saint-Germain midweek – are going to need a home win. But the hosts are in a tailspin, having picked up just one point from their last five matches. Hoffenheim have lost their last two, but look to at least make things fun at Leverkusen, with at least four goals being scored in each of Hoffenheim’s last six matches.
