Leverkusen the biggest losers on matchday 25
Monday 08 March 2010 17:00
RESULTS Sat March 6: FC Köln 1-1 Bayern München,
Werder Bremen 2-2 Stuttgart, Hamburger SV 1-0 Hertha BSC, Eintracht
Frankfurt 1-4 Schalke 04, SC Freiburg 1-2 Hannover 96, VfL Wolfsburg
4-1 VfL Bochum, Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Borussia M’gladbach Sun March 7 Nürnberg 3-2 Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim 0-1 FSV Mainz
If
ever you thought the Bundesliga was boring and predictable then this
weekend’s results will surely make you re-assess.
Granted, Bayern
München are leading the way, but not before being given the fright of
their lives by their Cologne-loving ex-striker Lukas Podolski.
And just
when I was starting to think Leverkusen could go unbeaten all season…
how predictable.
This weekend’s action, in short: Comfortable
wins for Wolfsburg and Schalke maintained their respective climbs up
the league table, while Hannover felled fellow strugglers Freiburg and
similarly relegation-threatened Hertha so nearly held their own against
high-flying Hamburg (but eventually lost).
Bremen and Stuttgart
played out a 2-2 draw while a Lu Lu Lu Lukas Podolski piledriver very
nearly punished leaders Bayern.
A 3-0 win for Dortmund against rivals
Monchengladbach heightened the former’s credentials for a Champions
League spot, and a hard-fought 1-0 victory for Mainz at Hoffenheim
can’t go without a special mention.
Game of the weekend, and
indeed result of the weekend - or perhaps season – came courtesy of
super FC Nürnberg with their defeat of previously unbeaten Bayer
Leverkusen.
Trailing 3-0 before the hour mark, the Werkself
must have feared a roasting against their lowly opponents. Yet despite
an honourable fightback to take the deficit from three goals to one, a
late loss of discipline cost them a chance of stealing a difficult
point from the Easy Credit Stadium.
Nürnburg well and truly
‘done a job on them’, and three points will help them massively in
their bid to avoid the drop.
Who would have guessed it, with the home
club previously having failed to win at the ground in nearly five
months!?
Nürnburg's Maxim Choupo-Moting and Mike Frantz celebrate their win
Although, being down at the wrong end of the table,
there’s got to be some bad news for Nürnberg, right? Yup; their win was
marred by a season-ending injury to on-loan defender Breno. He’ll be
back to parent club Bayern pretty shortly to begin his rehabilitation.
After
such a monumental push in the first two thirds of the season, are the
wheels finally coming off the Bayer bandwagon in their quest for a
first ever Bundesliga title?
Toni Kroos, their combative
midfielder, called the defeat “a blow in the title race,” but The
Fundesliga would suggest it’s still all to play for in those top three
positions, especially with Schalke performing every bit as well as
Bayern in recent weeks.
That’s exactly what Bild is reporting,
calling the title race a Dreikampf (three horse race) as well as
suggesting that Franck Ribéry has, once again, opened his big mouth and
claimed Real, Barca and Chelsea are all pursuing him for a big money
transfer in the summer.
Just throwing this one out there, but with
Steven Pienaar still having not signed a contract extension with
Everton (he’s got just under 18 months left on his current one), could
he be the perfect replacement for Ribéry?
He’s flourished at Goodison
over the past couple of years and would surely be available for less
than €10 million.
After whoring himself out all last summer
(not literally, you understand) it seems like it’s only a matter of
time before Ribéry ups sticks and leaves Munich; but will he get his
dream move to Madrid?
Going back to the Pienaar suggestion for a second
here… I mean, who else could Bayern bring in to replace the French
international that isn’t already on the books of one of the more
fanciful big boys of European football?
It would be quite
humorous, though, if nobody came calling for Ribéry in the summer, and it might yet happen. Watch this space, I guess.
What’s
going on in Germany this week, then? Schalke entertain Stuttgart in
what promises to be a tasty encounter on Friday evening, with
Leverkusen v Hamburg is arguably the pick of the bunch from the weekend’s
fixtures.
Before that, though, the return legs of the Champions
League last 16 stage get underway.
Bayern are taking a 2-1 advantage to
Florence to face Fiorentina, while Stuttgart must wait until next week
to see what they can do against the mighty Barcelona at the Camp Nou.
In
the Europa League, meanwhile, Germany is still represented by Hamburg,
Bremen and Bundesliga champions (not for much longer, mind) Wolfsburg.
A decent week’s football, it would seem, is assured!
Midweek fixtures:
Tuesday
Champions League last 16 second leg:
Fiorentina (1) v (2) Bayern München
Thursday
Europa League round of 32 first legs:
Hamburger SV v Anderlecht
Valencia v Werder Bremen
Rubin Kazam v VfL Wolfsburg
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About Daniel Moore
Bundesliga reporter (and left back, by trade) Daniel spends his time overlooking the river Isar out of his München apartment window, surrounded by fans of the 'Manchester United' of Germany; Bayern München.
Whilst simultaneously revelling in Fabio Capello's dramatic downfall, he enjoys keeping abreast of all things Bundesliga, particularly hoping someone - anyone - can beat Bayern to the league title.