Bye Bye Bundesliga (Week 34)

With 4 teams immersed in the relegation dog-fight, 3 teams engrossed in the title race and 2 teams involved in the battle for the final Europa League spot, the Bundesliga promised to provide a tense finale to 1 of its more memorable campaigns. Never too tense to produce another torrent of goals, mind.

Die Meisterschale (The League Shield)

Vfl Wolfsburg 5 – 1 SV Werder Bremen (30,000)

“So sehen Sieger aus!“ (That’s how Champions look!) sang the Wolfsburg crowd at the final whistle as they came to terms with their club’s very 1st Bundesliga crown at the not-so-grand old age of 64 with a thumping win over Werder at the VW-Arena on Saturday. The city has no balcony from which the trophy can be held aloft, no room or even cabinet in which it can be stored but 8 big screens around town allowed them to witness “der Leitwolf” (lead wolf) Felix Magath become the 8th manager to win the German Championship with 2 clubs and strikers Grafite and Edin Dzeko beat the combined total of Gerd Müller and Uli Hoeneß to set a new combined seasonal goalscoring record, Grafite claiming the title of “Torschützenkönig” (King of goal scorers) with 28 from 25 appearances.
Zvjezdan Misimovic got them off and running in the 5th minute – fitting as he has been the catalyst for much of their all-conquering attacking play this season – and once Grafite was off the mark for the afternoon and Werder’s Sebastien Prödl had turned the Brazilian’s cross into his own net after 26 minutes, it was merely a matter of how many this team could conjure up in its bid to highlight the overwhelming supremacy it has recently enjoyed over the rest of the division.
Werder’s only consolation ahead of their DFB-Pokal Final against Leverkusen next Saturday was that Diego managed to mark his farewell Bundesliga appearance with a well-taken goal after Peruvian playboy Claudio Pizarro found his South-American counterpart in the box with a back-heel and Diego rolled it to his left before slipping it under the keeper with his right for his 12th of another mesmerising season.
But Wolfsburg were not to be outdone and further goals from Grafite and Dzeko sealed the shield by an emphatic margin to render events in Bavaria inconsequential.

FC Bayern München 2 – 1 Vfb Stuttgart (69,000)

So they had to settle for 2nd. But the Bavarians did their bit, beating Stuttgart at the Allianz Arena on Saturday to maintain an ounce of pressure on the boys above them. Goals came from Khalid Boulahrouz, the former Chelsea defender turning a Franck Ribery centre into his own net, and Mark van Bommel’s 2nd of a disappointing season for the Dutchman after Ribery nutmegged the hapless Boulahrouz and van Bommel did the same to Jens Lehmann with an hour played. Mario Gomez almost instantly hit back for the guests with his 24th of an incredible season and nearly produced an equalizer moments later only to see his effort drift agonizingly past the far post. The German international seems destined to make the Allianz his permanent home this summer as talks of a 30 million Euro switch have been welcomed by the striker.
There was still time this term for 1 more unsightly miss from Gomez’s opposite number Luca Toni. Boulahrouz seemingly tried to make the day worse for himself by air-kicking a slow pullback when attempting to clear and the ball fell at the feet of the inconceivably irritating Italian, who felt no need to control the ball but instead simply donkey kicked into the “Tribune” (stand) for one final dose of what we can all now safely refer to as “a Toni”.


Der Abstiegskampf (The Relegation Battle)

Karlsruher SC 4 – 0 Hertha BSC (30,600)

Relegation had loomed large for much of Karlsruhe’s campaign but though they finally bowed out they went down swinging on Saturday with a whopping win over Champions League chasing Hertha at the Wildpark Stadion. A win for the away side would have been enough to earn at least 3rd spot but they froze under pressure and forfeited their earlier gains in a meek surrender that cast them into the Europa League for 2009/10. Sebastien Freis and skipper Maik Franz made their mark on the scoresheet and Joshua Kennedy – arguably the least dangerous, least productive ‘striker’ to have graced this or any league this season – plundered a second half double to allow the hosts to leave the division with dignity intact.

DSC Arminia Bielefeld 2 – 2 Hannover 96 (27,300)

4 wins all season did for Bielefeld as their inability to turn chances into goals was again to be their undoing against Hannover at the Schüco Arena on Saturday. They went ahead as early as the 2nd minute through a Mario Eggimann own goal and when Hannover’s German number 1 Robert Enke went off bearing a shocking 15cm wound in his skull the Gods seemed to be with Arminia as they stood in 16th place in the ‘Live Table’. Then came a diving header from Jari Stajner and a Sergio Pinto strike, set up by Mikkael Forssell, which the Portuguese celebrated by taking the shirt of the missing Michael Tarnat, laying it on the turf and bowing before it, in honour of the retirement of the league’s oldest player to complete the comeback. At 1-1 deposed ‘King’ Artur Wichniarek missed a sitter and although the striker managed to equalize in stoppage time it proved too little too late as his side finished rock bottom of the table. Even in the wake of such a disastrous outcome the dismissal of interim manager Jörg Berger after just 1 game seemed harsh, as Arminia now contemplate life down under without a leader in tow.

Energie Cottbus 3 – 0 Bayer 04 Leverkusen (20,140)

With 3 attackers injured, Cottbus faced a tough task to obtain at least 16th place and merit a stay of execution against Cup Finalists Bayer Leverkusen at the Stadion der Freundschaft on Saturday, especially with Jiayi Shao squandering opportunities whenever called upon. Events turned when Bayer’s Arturo Vidal was dismissed for hacking an opponent wildly from behind when on a yellow just before the mid-point. This galvanized the home side and in particular Ervin Skela, who set up 2 Emil Jula goals and 1 for Stiven Rivic before skying a penalty that would have capped a fine performance from midfield. Energie must now face 3rd placed 2nd Bundesliga outfit 1. FC Nürnberg over 2 legs, taking place this Thursday and Sunday, to retain top-flight status for another year.

Borussia Mönchengladbach 1 – 1 Borussia Dortmund (54,067)

Gladbach coach Hans Meier is a veteran of events such as ‘Survival Saturday', as Sky would surely have called it, having saved his side before in 2003 and also rescued Nürnberg, as well as winning them the DFB Cup, in 2006. So he knew not to proclaim “mission accomplished” with his team mathematically insecure going into their clash with major rivals Dortmund at Borussia Park on Saturday. Dortmund had lost just 5 games all season – a tremendous testament to the team put together by trainer Jürgen Klopp – and a late surge had them within reach of a European place. Unfortunately, needing to match the result of Hamburg, they fell behind to a free header from Bonfim da Costa Dante approaching the hour mark and a Jakub Blaszczykowski leveler proved insufficient in their quest for European football next year. Gladbach, however, defied all odds to stay up in spite of having been bottom at Christmas thanks largely to the appointment and subsequent signings and input of the experienced Meier.

Eintracht Frankfurt 2 – 3 Hamburger SV (51,500)

Hamburg left it late to secure the last Europa League spot as they sought to amend the legacy of Ajax-bound “drei-viertel” (three-quarter) coach Martin Jol at the Commerzbank Arena on Saturday. David Jarolim’s drilled effort from outside the “Strafraum” (penalty box) and Ivica Olic’s last goal for the club before leaving for Bavaria seemed to have stopped the rot after 4 points from their last 5 games and 3 away defeats on the trot had undermined what had been an admirable campaign on all fronts up until the home straight. But when Alexander Meier and Caio demolished their side’s deficit within 4 2nd half minutes Dortmund were heading for Europe in Hamburg’s stead. It took a last minute Piotr Trochowski scorcher to regain 5th spot and spare Jol’s blushes as the nearly-man at least left the club looking forward to an impending continental adventure next season.

Schalke 04 2 – 3 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (61,673)

Sacked by Schalke 3 years ago, Hoffenheim coach Ralf Rangwick had not been back to the Veltins Arena until last Saturday. When Demba Ba opened the scoring with his 14th of an immense season, particularly in the wake of the injury sustained by his strike partner Vedad Ibisevic in January, Rangwick must have wondered why he didn’t visit more often. The hosts rallied, though, to temporarily bring those bitter memories back to the surface, Mladen Krstajic and Jefferson Farfan goals turning the game on its head before the interval. Regrettably, the only good news for Schalke fans at the weekend came in the knowledge that the season is now over and that they can now regroup under the probable stewardship of Felix Magath over the summer. Carlos Eduardo hit back for the visitors in the 49th and 89th minutes, latterly from the spot with seconds remaining, to salvage a 7th placed finish from the wreckage of their season and end their opponents’ term on a dismal note.

FC Köln 1 – 1 VfL Bochum (50,000)

Having pulled clear of “das Schmutzige Grau der Tabelle” (the dirty grey end of the table) in recent weeks, VfL Bochum aimed to end their season on a high at Köln’s Rhein Energie Stadion at the weekend. Diego Klimowicz, one of the signings of the season regardless of an injury that kept him out during a key period, broke the deadlock with his 4th of the season in the 18th minute before his contribution was cancelled out by an Anthor Yahia own goal 6 minutes later. Both teams will be satisfied with safety as reward for their endeavours this term. Köln even afforded long-serving midfielder Matthias Scherz a 2nd half substitute appearance sporting the captain’s armband and the stalwart almost marked the occasion with a goal but had to settle for a standing ovation in memory of his 374 games and 82 goals spanning 10 years of loyal service to the club.

Squeaky Bum Bundesliga (Week 33)

After the drama of “English Week” (1 in which midweek fixtures take place) Saturday’s matches went a long way towards deciding both the outcome of the Championship race and the order of relegation places in Germany with 1 round still to negotiate. While 4 teams remain mathematically capable of claiming the 1st Division crown, there is now a clear front-runner. At the other end only a statistical nightmare can drag those above the drop zone back into trouble but there is still everything to play for regarding the chance for redemption through the newly re-introduced relegation play-offs.

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 2 – 2 FC Bayern München (30,150)

A scintillating 1st half saw all 4 of the afternoon’s goals scored and left Bayern in the daunting position of facing a trip to rivals Vfb Stuttgart next weekend knowing that if all goes well they could be Champions and if all else fails they can end up 4th. Hosts Hofffenheim were highly charged at the Rhein-Neckar Arena on Saturday, the ill-tempered reverse fixture having culminated in an ill-deserved point for the Bavarians in December to temporarily deny Hoffenheim the Winter Championship. Hoffenheim are now 7th but remain motivated under coach Ralf Rangwick and after going behind to a goal from the superb Franck Ribery on 16 minutes they clawed their way back into the contest firstly through Demba Ba’s 13th of the season and then Carlos Eduardo’s 28th minute effort to complete the turnaround. However, hearts were to be broken once again as Ribery teased a ball onto the head of Luca Toni, who equalised on the stroke of half-time.

Hannover 96 0 – 5 Vfl Wolfsburg (49,000)

The scoreline should really have read Grafite 2 Edin Dzeko 3 at the AWD-Arena as Wolfsburg’s frontline tore apart their hosts’ defence from 1st minute to last on Saturday. Records remain in freefall at the feet of the Wolves this season and the goalscoring feats of their front 2 represent the 1st time in Bundesliga history that 2 players from the same club have totaled more than 20 goals over a league campaign.
Grafite’s 25th and 26th of the season were both brought about by shoddy defending but were met with identically ice-cold finishes and while a pair of free headers were clinically dispatched by Dzeko in much the same fashion it was his 1st that was the most eye-catching, as he chested a whipped cross and executed a half-volley on the swivel that was in from the moment it had left the laces of his boot. He now has 25 to his name, an incredible 18 of them having come in the 2nd half of the season.
Wolfsburg’s biggest ever away win was witnessed by 8,000 travelling fans and leaves them on the brink of their 1st ever league title, requiring only a draw at home to Werder Bremen next Saturday to clinch the coveted shield. Their opponents may have other priorities as they will play cup finals either side of their game at the VW-Arena, although ironically Werder are the only side to have won in Wolfsburg this season, destroying Felix Magath’s team 5-2 in the DFB-Cup late last year.

Vfb Stuttgart 2 – 0 FC Energie Cottbus (55,500)

The last game at the Mercedes Benz Arena in its current format, before it undergoes wholesale changes in the summer, saw home skipper Thomas Hitzlsperger give his team the lead with just under 20 minutes on the clock before the injured Mario Gomez came off the bench to set up strike partner Cacau for the decisive second with 12 minutes to play and claim a well-earned 2-0 win over Cottbus, all but securing their opponents’ fate in the bottom 3. Had Jiayi Shao not hit the bar from the attack directly preceeding the second goal then the visitors may have snatched a dramatic draw but, as it stands, they can only hope for a place in the relegation play-offs after succumbing to a sucker-punch on Saturday. Stuttgart go into their final game at the Allianz Arena knowing that a win and a Wolfsburg slip-up could still hand them the title and enable them to present Markus Babbel as the leading candidate for Manager of the Year, having taken over in December with his side in 11th.

Hertha BSC 0 – 0 FC Schalke 04 (74,244)

For those unfamiliar with the concept of a “Stadion-Runde” (Stadium Round) it occurs when a player buys a beer for 74,000 people after losing a bet. Pal Dardai was the generous sole who paid for 55,000 litres of beer to be delivered as free alcohol was consumed and replica shirts dished out to 1 whole stand at the Olympiastadion on Saturday. The sell-out crowd would have been disappointed by the result, 1 which sees their side fall off the pace in their hunt for the title, all but ending their hopes of silverware for another year, but not by the performance. Hertha were attractive to watch, free-flowing and seemingly walking through the Schalke ranks at will in the 1st period. However, they could not break through despite their domination, deliverer Dardai cruelly wasting their clearest opportunity, and they must now win in Karlsruhe on the last day and hope that Bayern and Stuttgart draw in order to claim 2nd spot and thus an automatic Champions League berth.

Borussia Dortmund 6 – 0 DSC Arminia Bielefeld (80,200)

Dortmund have been ably supported this year by an average attendance of over 74,000 and yet another sell-out was richly rewarded with their biggest win in 13 years on Saturday. Opponents Bielefeld had missed a hatful of chances early on and were much the better side but once home skipper Sebastien Kehl had nicked in ahead of the onrushing Dennis Eilhoff to score the first of his 2 goals a minute before the break Arminia completely capitulated in the second period to almost certainly miss out on automatic survival come next weekend. They will aim to avoid another thrashing of this magnitude against Hannover on Saturday and retain their play-off place after additional goals from Tamas Hajnal, Nelson Valdez, Tinga and the pick of the bunch from substitute Mohamed Zidan condemned them to an embarrassing reversal at Signal Iduna Park. Dortmund are dreaming of Europe following another all-star display of attacking prowess from Jürgen Klopp’s men.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen 5 – 0 Borussia Mönchengladbach (43,000)

Only a minor miracle can thwart Gladbach’s bid for safety next Saturday but by losing heavily in Dusseldorf last Saturday they went some way towards proving this eventuality could be less implausible than at first glance of the table. Bayer had claimed only 4 points from their 7 previous encounters at their temporary home but Stefan Kießling, Patrick Helmes, Gonzalo Castro, Michal Kadlec and a Dante Bonfim own goal all troubled the scorers against Gladbach to render this particular record a farce. Excitable away fans uprooted entire rows of seats in order to make more room for standing at their end as their raucousness was replaced with an ever-increasing air of dismay as each goal put their top-flight status further back into jeopardy, after back-to-back last minute winners in their 2 previous matches had seen them pull away from the danger area.

Vfl Bochum 2 – 0 Eintracht Frankfurt (30,420)

Officials have dished out a combined total of 146 yellow cards to these two sides this season and with death threats having been sent to Bochum players by their own fans prior to Saturday’s contest this promised to be a tense occasion all round. But Bochum shrugged off any sense of pressure to secure a position of safety with a comfortable win by a margin which could have been wider had it not been for visiting keeper Markus Proll who had an awesome day between the sticks despite conceding from Vahid Hashamian in the 1st half and the sorely missed Diego Klimowicz in the 2nd, ensuring “Jo-Jo Bochum” remain recoiled at the top end of their spectrum for another year.

SV Werder Bremen 1 – 3 Karlsruher SC (39,219)

The departure of arguably the league’s greatest player to Juventus this summer will undoubtedly be mourned by many, nowhere more so than in Bremen, where Diego made his final appearance at the Weserstadion against bottom club Karlsruher on Saturday. He failed to finish on a high despite delighting the crowd with some classic trickery in the 1st half, as his side somehow slumped to a heavy defeat at the hands of the league’s lowest ranked team. They were 2 down at half-time to a side who had scored just 21 goals all season and had not scored 3 times away in 11 years, and their number 1 Tim Wiese, “der Elfmeter-Töter” (the penalty-killer), had also turned away a spot-kick before Lars Stindl struck twice to double his tally for the season. Alexander Iashvili added another 10 minutes after the restart and Hugo Almeida pulled 1 back for the hosts but it all proved irrelevant to Karlsruher’s hopes of surviving without the need for a play-off, as news came in of the result from Bochum and the team who have been bottom for much of the season must now hope for a major turn-up at home to Hertha Berlin next week just to make the match against the 3rd best team in the Second Division.

HSV Hamburg 0 – 1 1. FC Köln (57,000)

Flowers were offered to Ivica Olic to mark his last appearance at the HSH Nordbank Arena to add to “Alles Gute” wishes from the fans in anticipation of his long-awaited move south to Bayern Munich next month. His sons should fit in seamlessly as they are remarkably named Luca and Toni, their father looking set to partner the infamously infantile Italian next term. Unfortunately his team-mates failed to give him a fitting send-off as their season continued to peter out by falling to Fabrice Ehret’s 3rd goal of the season for Köln in the 9th minute on Saturday.

Keeping Abreast of the Bundesliga (Week 31)

Borussia Dortmund 4 – 0 Karlsruher SC 80,100

Statistics often fail to show the whole story but in the case of Karlsruhe they tell a tale of woe that is unlikely to twist and turn but bound for disappointment and demotion later this month. From 432 shots this season they have netted 21 times and an 18th scoreless outing was always on the cards at the sold-out Signal Iduna Park on Saturday. Dortmund have won 7 games running and, in doing so, have gained 2 points fewer than Karlsruhe have amassed all season. Goals from Nuri Sahin, Felipe Santana and Alexander Frei adding insult to injury following Jakub Blaszczykowski’s cracking near post volley opened the floodgates after 25 minutes.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2 – 2 DSC Arminia Bielefeld 23,150

After 390 days out injured Bernd Schneider, 35, took his place on the Bayer bench for the visit of Bielefeld but was powerless to prevent the guests taking a point from their temporary LTU Arena home in Düsseldorf, although a late Patrick Helmes strike did at least ensure a share of the spoils for the hosts on Friday night. Stefan Kießling had put Leverkusen in front before goals from Radim Kucera and Robert Tesche (all headers) had turned the game on its head.

Hertha BSC 2 – 0 Vfl Bochum 1848 71,323

“Das Runde muss durchs Eckige” (The round must go through the square) is the current battle cry of the Hertha fans in reference to the League Shield’s planned parade route through the Brandenburg Gate this month. Despite trainer Lucien Favre’s consistent refusal to get carried away it remains a distinct possibility. Bold tactics from the coach against Bochum at the Olympiastadion on Saturday were rewarded with scores from 2 out of the 3 selected strikers, Marko Pantelic notching his 7th of the campaign and Raffael his 6th to move Hertha into 3rd, keeping them right in the thick of the title race and Bochum immersed in a tense relegation battle.

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 2 – 0 1. FC Köln 30,150

A stadium announcement and a post-match apology from Köln coach Christoph Daum were required at Hoffenheim’s Rhein Neckar Arena on Saturday after vicious taunts were directed at home team owner Dietmar Hopp. Hoffenheim had the last laugh, however, as a Sejad Salihovic set-piece special and a riproaring effort from Demba Ba gave the home side the points, although Boubacar Sanogo did put a late penalty woefully wide, Köln’s Youssef Mohammed having been sent off for the foul in the 78th minute.

Hannover 96 1 – 1 Eintracht Frankfurt 44,855

Referee Perl refused visitors Frankfurt a penalty (à la Florent Malouda vs Barcelona) at Hannover’s AWD Arena on Saturday to deny the guests all 3 points after Arnold Bruggink had given Hannover the lead with his 5th of the season to round off a lovely one-touch move started by Mikkael Forsell’s prodded through-pass on 9 minutes and Ümit Korkmaz’s diving header from a Martin Fenin cross had levelled the scores 3 minutes before the break.

Borussia Mönchengladbach 1 – 0 FC Schalke 04 54,067

If Schalke keep up their current bout of form they will miss out on European football for the first time since the 2000/01 season. They were hard done by at Borussia Park on Sunday, eventually going down to a last-minute Roberto Colautti strike, his 1st of the season, but could not say they had not been warned, having ridden their luck after Manuel Neuer had saved a 1st half Marko Marin spot-kick and Gladbach had wasted an opportunity from an indirect free-kick given for Neuer’s handling of a Halil Altintop back-pass in the 2nd.

SV Werder Bremen 2 – 0 Hamburger SV 42,100

Having been knocked out oft he DFB-Cup on penalties and beaten over 2 legs in the UEFA-Cup - both at the semi-final stage and both in their own back yard – Hamburg were put to the sword by local rivals Werder Bremen for the 4th time in 19 days to effectively rule them out of the title running for another year. Werder’s Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida grabbed both goals at the Weserstadion on Sunday, supported by match-winning performances from midfielders Thorsten Frings and Mesut Özil as the home fans sang “Finale, Whoa-oh-oah” (to the tune of “Vieira”). They also taunted their opponents by tossing around a giant replica of the paper ball thrown onto the field by a Hamburg fan during the UEFA-Cup semi-final 2nd leg on Thursday night, which inadvertently redirected a simple back-pass towards the by-line for a corner, from which Werder snatched the game’s winning goal.
While Hamburg have lost 3 of their last 5 league games in what striker Mladen Petric has called “the worst 2 weeks of my career”, Werder have won 4 home games running but were not helped by their awkward frontman Claudio Pizarro who, having started “auf der Bank” (on the bench) after somehow picking up a knock putting the balls back in the cupboard during training, came on to miss from 3 yards-thwarted by a terrific stop from Frank Rost and his own inability to find the corner from kissing distance.

FC Energie Cottbus 1 – 3 FC Bayern München 22,528

Highly rated 9m € signing from Estudiantes, Jose Ernesto Sosa, put Bayern ahead at the Stadion der Freundschaft on Saturday before Cottbus hit back when a superb Stanislav Angelov bicycle kick was brilliantly kept out by Bayern keeper Hans-Jörg Butt but parried into the path of Ivica Iliev, who rammed home the rebound for the “Ausgleichstreffer” (equaliser). However, the second half belonged to the Bavarians, Martin Demichaelis and Lukas Podolski making the points safe, and could even afford to carry a fluffed penalty from Franck Ribery which was saved well by Cottbus stopper Gerhard Tremmel.

Vfb Stuttgart 4 – 1 Vfl Wolfsburg 55,700

“Spitzenreiter” (Table-toppers) Wolfsburg were dealt a huge blow by up-and-coming Stuttgart at the Mercedes Benz Arena on Saturday, where Mario Gomez became the first man to score 4 in a game for Stuttgart since Jürgen Klinsmann in 1986.
The match had been billed as the “Duell der Topstürmer” (Dual of the top strikers) as Gomez had begun the day level alongside Edin Dzeko on 19 goals with the Bosnian’s team-mate Grafite out in front on 23. 4 Gomez goals – 2 with the head, 1 with the left foot, 1 with the right – later Gomez stood neck and neck with the Brazilian Grafite, Dzeko trailing with 20 after he tucked in what proved to be a consolation for the away team on 37 minutes.
It could have been so different had Cristian Zaccardo not produced yet another candidate for ‘Miss of the Season’ with the score at 2-1. Jens Lehmann spilled and, instead of mopping up from 2 yards, Zaccardo made an almighty mess of the finish to leave his side only a whisker ahead at the top as we enter ‘Squeaky Bum Time’ in the Bundesliga.

Bundesliga Laid Bare

The build-up to Week 30 in the Bundesliga has been overshadowed by Bayern Munich’s sudden sacking of coach Jürgen Klinsmann as well as rumours linking Felix Magath, boss of league leaders Wolfsburg, with the vacant Schalke 04 post, as the managerial merry-go-round begins to get into full swing in Germany.

Jupp Heynckes, scorer of 220 goals from 871 Bundesliga games in his playing days, took charge of “die Bayern” for the first time on Saturday, ironically against the club for whom he made the majority of those appearances - Borussia Mönchengladbach. Munich’s former assistant coach proved a breath of fresh air for those fans proclaiming through banner “Danke Uli (Hoeneß – the manager who deposed of Klinsmann) für die Erlösung” meaning ‘Thanks for the Salvation’ – a strong word in the sectarian South. Heynckes was to oversee a dearth of quality disguised at the end of the first half by a flurry of goals, Bastien Schweinsteiger setting the ball rolling with his 5th of the season in the 33rd minute before Hamit Altintop capped off a fine individual display by creaming a crackerjack of a goal past Logan Bailly 8 minutes later. Gladbach had leveled with a penalty from Filip Daems on 38 minutes after Bayern keeper Hans-Jorg Butt had fumbled on a routine manoeuvre and sent the onrushing Roel Brouwers tumbling in the area.

But that was to be the high point for the visitors as Bayern flooded forward after the break and were unfortunate that, though never pretty, their flowing football inevitably reached the incapable Italian Luca Toni who at one stage was given the freedom of Bavaria to watch and wait for a dinked Altintop set-up before pulling his head back, throwing his full weight behind the ball and somehow failing to make any sort of contact from 4 yards, reinforcing the belief in his lack of any form of technical awareness as another Bayern chance went begging. Munich remain second with Gladbach second from bottom but both clubs face similarly uncertain futures with newly installed favourite for the Bayern hotseat Louis van Gaal yesterday insisting he would stay in Holland and original target Guus Hiddink proving an unrealistic appointment to say the least.

“Magath – Geld oder Liebe?” (Money or love?) read the sign at the VW-Arena as Wolfsburg trainer Felix Magath continued to fuel speculation by ‘taking the 5th’ to suggestions he is to relinquish his post at the end of the season to take the reins at rivals Schalke 04 in the summer. His counterpart on Saturday, Hoffenheim’s Ralf Rangwick, would appear to be the favourite to succeed Magath and he too refused to commit to his current employers by admitting his disgust at the mediocrity being currently carried out at the club.

The two trainers are experiencing vastly contrasting fortunes of late, however, with Magath’s Wolves sitting atop the pile on a run of 13 successive home wins while Rangwick’s Hoffs are 12 games without a victory and once “der Mann des Tages” (man of the day) Edin Dzeko had broken the deadlock on 65 minutes here it was one-way traffic. The puberty-struck Serbian went on to notch a German hat-trick (all in one half) before his partner-in-crime Grafite scored from the spot in the closing stages, Andreas Beck seeing red for the preceeding foul. Wolfsburg now boast the league’s top two scorers, Grafite having plundered 23 with Dzeko hurtling towards him on 19, level with Bayer Leverkusen’s Patrick Helmes.

Schalke vs Leverkusen was billed as the battle of the “Torwarts” (goalkeepers) as young upstart Manuel Neuer, on the back of an impressive campaign, was upstaged by his more experienced counterpart, Rene Adler - German number 1 Robert Enke’s official understudy - at the Veltins Arena. Adler produced a string of top-drawer stops to preserve Bayer’s lead on Saturday, established after Patrick Helmes’s 19th goal of the season squirmed underneath Neuer and then Renato Augusto beat the young pretender at his near post with less than half an hour gone, Kevin Kuranyi eventually clawing one back in the closing stages, having been denied by Adler on no fewer than 4 previous occasions. With both teams seemingly out of the running for European places, the most significant impact of this result moves “Herbstmeister” Hoffenheim down to a depressing 9th after they were overrun by Wolfsburg on Saturday.

Supporters of Schalke’s nearest rivals Borussia Dortmund travelled to Frankfurt on Saturday with high hopes as 10,000 pitched up to see Jurgen Klopp's unit dismantle their hosts by way of a clinical finish from ‘supersub’ Mohammed Zidan and a Habib Bellaid “Eigentor” (own goal) in the last 10 minutes to secure 3 points for the 6th game running. Apparently, the day that match tickets went on sale Dortmund fans simply snapped up seats online in the home section which borders their allocated area and extended their curve into one entire end of the 51,500 capacity Commerzbank Arena. (If only it were that easy in England!) Their ingenuity was rewarded with a win which probably even allowed them to enjoy a world-class save from opposition keeper Markus Proll to deny Nelson Valdez with his feet in spectacular fashion in the second half. Dortmund are now 6th and while they will be dreaming of Europe next year Frankfurt will be enduring nightmares of competing in Germany’s second tier as they stand a mere 6 points from the drop zone with 4 to play.

Sunday saw FC Köln beat Werder Bremen somewhat fortunately for a crucial 1st win in 6 months at their Rhein Energie Stadion to arrest an alarming recent slide and cement, if not set in stone, their Bundesliga status for next season. Werder had rested key personnel ahead of their UEFA-Cup semi-final 2nd leg in Hamburg on Thursday but still managed to dominate possession for large parts and did create chances, the most inviting of which was wasted by the confidence-stricken Markus Rosenberg in the 12th minute with the goal at his mercy. Werder have only won 3 times in the league since the turn of the year and when Milivoje Novakovic opened the Köln account on 61 minutes with a far-too-close-range finish there was only going to be one outcome. Köln now lie just 4 points off Werder in 10th spot.

The other Sunday game involved two title contenders at the HSH Nordbank Arena as HSV Hamburg pitted their wits against Hertha Berlin. When HSV’s Ivica Olic left Steve von Bergen with the proverbial twisted blood and provided Marcell Jansen with his 3rd goal of the campaign - a personal best - he put his side on course for joint second in the table and Hertha for 5th. Surely a loss for either team would have ended all title aspirations but with Hertha’s hopes hanging by a thread a Gojko Kacar netbuster rose and rocketed into the top corner of Frank Rost’s goal in the 67th minute to leave things all square.

It was a thoroughly enticing game, Piotr Trochowski constantly a threat from set-pieces for the hosts, Cicero probing influentially from the Hertha midfield, the players obviously aware of the finest of lines being trodden by both parties as 4 penalty claims were correctly waved away by the coolest of officials during the course of the 90 minutes. This was very much a day for goalkeepers and Jaroslav Drobny’s superb one-handed diversion of a Joris Mathijsen header in the last minute ensured both teams remained in the fray, with the Berliners 3rd and HSV in 5th, 5 points behind the leaders.

The fight for survival lives on for all 5 sides at the foot of the table after Hannover gained their first away win for over a year thanks to headed Arnold Bruggink and Hanno Balitsch goals on Friday night at VFL Bochum, who recorded their 4th straight home defeat and now face daunting trips to Berlin and Hamburg before the season’s end. A solitary point below Bochum are Energie Cottbus, who could only achieve a scoreless “Unentsheiden” (draw) away to bottom club Karlsruhe, who have scored three goals since October and prop up the rest on 23 points from 30 matches played, 4 points from Cottbus’ position of security.

With Gladbach 17th on 24 points, having been dispatched at the Allianz Arena, Arminia Bielefeld had a chance to extend the gap between themselves and the two teams in the automatic relegation places and did so with a dramatic draw at home to Vfb Stuttgart on Saturday. Bilefeld have only 2 home wins to their name in this campaign and have paraded flags all round the city centre in an attempt to drum up support in their bid to avoid the dreaded relegation play-offs at the end of this month. Having gone behind firstly to Matthieu Delpierre’s 1st goal in 3 and a half years before equalising when Christopher Katongo found himself in acres of space to nod home on the half-hour mark, the 25,800 capacity crowd at the "ausverkauft" (sold out) Schüco Arena stadium saw their side fall behind again when Thomas Hitzlsperger’s trademark hammer forced the ball to swerve, dip then caress the underside of the bar on its way home in the 34th minute to leave the hosts precariously placed at the interval.

Markus Babbel’s impact upon this Stuttgart side has been tremendous and they seemed set to never cease their surge up the rankings since his arrival. But the juggernaut came to a shuddering halt as fortunes took a turn for the worse for both manager and players alike in the second half. The resurgence of Mario Gomez has recently seen no bounds but he twice had to watch efforts roll agonisingly wide before hitting a post late on and when their hero Hitzlsperger brought down Thorben Marx with 20 minutes to play home substitute Vlad Munteanu rammed in the penalty to claim a welcome point for Bielefeld. Stuttgart’s other scorer, the Frenchman Delpierre, also picked up his 5th booking of the season, meaning he will miss the all-important clash with Wolfsburg next week and gives Babbel a dilemma he must deal with if the ’Stuttgart Story’ is to rumble on for another week. As a result of Saturday’s turnaround Stuttgart fall to 4th and Bielefeld stay 16th, although now a mere point from safety.