Despite the fact that Bayern München wrapped up the title a few weeks ago, the race for European places in the Bundesliga is still on. Sixth place Borussia Mönchengladbach hosted seventh place Mainz. Gladbach kept up their pursuit of fourth, staying sixth with the win. They travel to fifth place Wolfsburg next weekend, but with Leverkusen winning today it will be a tough task as they will need both a win and a Leverkusen loss to Werder Bremen. Both sides currently have a +18 goal difference. Wolfsburg needed a 91st minute winner from Ivica Olic to beat Stuttgart and stay in fifth place, otherwise they would have been jumped by Gladbach on goal difference. Stuttgart are confirmed safety with 32 points.
Bundesliga scores, Week 33: Hat-trick hero Götze, battle for European spots, nothing settled at bottom
No teams drew in the 33rd round of the 2013-14 Bundesliga season, and with only one week remaining, fates of many teams still hang in the balance. Relegation and European places are still to be decided.
In addition to being interesting near the top, not much has been settled at the bottom in terms of automatic relegation. Hamburger SV (27 Points), Nürnberg (26), and Eintracht Braunschweig (25) are the teams involved. Two will go down, while whomever finishes third-bottom will play the team that finishes third in the 2. Bundesliga in the promotion/relegation playoff. All three of these teams lost this match day, which means it is still wide open heading into next week.
A Mario Götze hat-trick saw Bayern win 4-1 against Hamburg, despite spirit healing efforts from the strugglers. Promising youngster Hakan Calhanoglu scored a consolation goal for the losing side, who are in real danger of suffering their first ever relegation from the Bundesliga. Nürnberg hosted Hannover 96, but a fifth minute goal from Szabolcs Huszti set the tone and took the home fans out of it. Braunschweig suffered a heartbreaker at home, when Raúl Bobadilla struck in the 94th minute making it 1-0, assisted by André Hahn (of course). It was a vital chance to get a point and move ahead of Nürnberg, but the chance was wasted.
Borussia Dortmund fell behind in the fifth minute to 1899 Hoffenheim, but three goals in a five-minute span (Großkreutz 29', Mkhitaryan 31', Piszczek 34') gave the Schwarzgelbe a lead they would not relinquish. Dortmund have 68 points now, and by almost anyone's standards have had a really good season considering all the injury troubles they have had. Even with Robert Lewandowski leaving for Bayern this summer, expect them to once again challenge for the title next season.
Bayer Leverkusen remained fourth after beating Eintrach Frankfurt 2-0, thanks to first-half strikes from Gonzalo Castro and 20-year-old Emre Can. Frankfurt fans haven't had a lot to cheer for as of late.
FC Schalke 04 should have third place just about wrapped up after today's 2-0 win over Sport-Club Freiburg. The Königsblauen host Nürnberg next week, and with the relegation strugglers needing a win due to goal difference, it will be a great chance for the Schalke attack to expose a weak defense. Schalke maintain a three point advantage over Leverkusen, but have a slightly weaker goal differential.
Werder Bremen jumped Frankfurt and Freiburg, moving up to 12th in the table after a 2-0 win over Hertha BSC. Two goals from Aaron Hunt (48’, 91’) secured the three points. Hertha stay tenth, a great season considering they were promoted last year.
Recap of the results from Spieltag 33 in Germany:
Nürnberg 0-2 Hannover 96
Borussia Dortmund 3-2 1899 Hoffenheim
Eintracht Frankfurt 0-2 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 FSV Mainz 05: Full Report
Eintracht Braunschweig 0-1 FC Augsburg
Hamburger SV 1-4 Bayern München
SV Werder Bremen 2-0 Hertha BSC
Sport-Club Freiburg 0-2 FC Schalke 04
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