German Bundesliga 2011, Week 11: Bayern Wins In Augsburg; Schalke, Hannover Settle For Draw

The Bundesliga has served up some stunning battles at the top and bottom of the table in recent years and we could be set for another pulsating second half of the campaign.

Last season, Borussia Dortmund cruised to the championship but the battle for the third Champions League spot between Hannover and FC Bayern was just as intriguing. At the bottom of the table, Gladbach somehow managed to pull off ‘The Great Escape’ on the final day of the season and subsequently defeated Bochum in the play-offs.

Augsburg pulled one back through Hajime Hosogai in the 59th minute when the Japanese international put a loose ball in front of the net across the line. The ball was cleared by David Alaba, but the ball had already crossed the goal line.

A clash between Hannover and Schalke ended in a draw after Teemu Pukki scored a late second half equalizer.

The draw moves Hannover into 6th place in the table ahead of Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen. Schalke remains in 5th place.

After 20 minutes, Hamburg SV was down 2-0 at the Bay Arena and looked well on their way to a defeat at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen. Then they got one goal, then another. By the end of the match, they looked the more likely of the two teams to find a winner, but instead neither team could get the last goal and the match finished 2-2.

Leverkusen were quick off the mark, scoring just five minutes in thanks to a deflection of an Andre Schurrle free kick. His kick from 25 yards sent the goalkeeper one direction before clipping the wall and putting the ball in the other side of the goal for the 1-0 Leverkusen lead.

It’s no secret that Andre Schurrle is one of the best players in the German Bundesliga, let alone one of the best young players, and the 20-year-old is showing why. He’s been at the heart of almost every Bayer Leverkusen attack, scoring a goal and assisting on another as the home side has gone up 2-1 on Hamburg SV at halftime.

The first Leverkusen goal came after just five minutes when they got a free kick from 25 yards. Scurrle stepped to it and hit it towards one side of the goal, sending the goalkeeper in that direction. The ball clipped the wall though, sending it towards the other side of the goal and past the helpless keeper.

The first five games of Week 11 of the German Bundesliga season have finished, and Borussia Dortmund have given Bayern Munich a little something to think about going into their game on Sunday. Der BVB kept the pressure on with a 5-1 thumping of Wolfsburg. Elsewhere, Marco Reus kept being Marco Reus with yet another brace, while Cologne and Bremen put on a show.

Ever since their title winning campaign of 2008-09, their defense has been absolutely shambolic under a variety of managers. Mario Götze made them look atrocious on Saturday, simultaneously making tabloid reports of his rumored €30 million transfer fee sound even more absurd. He scored twice in the rout, with Shinji Kagawa, Sven Bender and Robert Lewandowski adding the other goals.

Borussia Dortmund were absolutely brilliant in their 5-1 defeat of Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday, but they suffered a massive casualty in the process. During a collision on a free kick at the end of the first half, Subotic sustained an injury at was replaced at halftime. News has come out post-game that the injury was a fractured orbital bone, and that Subotic will miss six weeks of action. This will include two of Dortmund’s biggest games of the year: A Champions League match away to Arsenal and a Bundesliga clash with Bayern Munich.

Subotic was replaced by Felipe Santana against Wolfsburg, the player that will likely take his spot for the next six weeks. Santana is a talented and experienced player, and he’ll partner the excellent and in-form Mats Hummels in the center of defense. This is hardly a crisis for Dortmund, arguably a much deeper team than either of those massive upcoming opponents, but it’s hard to believe that they won’t be affected somewhat by the loss of a class central defender.

The most entertaining league in the world returns this weekend with a some interesting games and Sunday’s enticing fixture of Hannover 96 against Schalke 04. Will you be watching? You better.

1. FSV Mainz 05 vs VfB Stuttgart