Bundesliga, Week 21: Schalke 04 Hold Borussia Dortmund To Draw, Bayer Leverkusen And Bayern Munich Lose

Heavy rain in northern Germany has caused the postponement of the Hamburg derby between Hamburg SV and St. Pauli, which would have been the early Sunday kickoff in the Bundesliga. The newly laid pitch at the Imtech Arena was inspected by the German Football League (DFL) and the decision to postpone the game was made after consultation with Hamburg police.

The first Hamburg derby of the season ended in a 1-1 draw at the Millerntor-Stadion, with Mladen Petric scoring a late equalizer for HSV. It was the first time the two had played each other in the Bundesliga since 2002, and the postponed game would have been St. Pauli’s first league visit to the Imtech Arena since the year before. Excitement had been building before the game on Sunday with both home and away ticket allocations sold out and screens set up for watching the game around the city. The DFL will announce a new date for the game next week.

It wasn’t the first time that Germany’s record champions have been turned over by a spectacular comeback, but this occasion may sting more for Bayern Munich fans because of the manner of their defeat. Cruising 2-0 ahead at halftime thanks to goals from Mario Gómez and Hamit Altintop, the Bavarians looked set to claim victory over FC Cologne for the first time since 2008.

However, Cologne came out fighting in the second half, and after Christian Clemens pulled a goal back ten minutes after the re-start, another comeback looked to be on the cards. Milivoje Novakovic leveled in the sixty-second minute, and although Bayern fought back a bit just after, Novakovic popped up again in the seventy-third minute to give Cologne their first lead of the game. The Bavarians weren’t able to exert consistent pressure on Cologne in the waning minutes, and Franck Ribéry’s return proved to be more of a hindrance than a help in their search for an equalizer. FC Cologne stay in sixteenth, but are now level on points with St. Pauli and FC Kaiserslautern.

There haven’t been many 0-0s in the Bundesliga this season, and the way this game played out this game didn’t look like it would be one either. Both Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 had plenty of chances, but a combination of great goalkeeping by Manuel Neuer and some very slightly wayward finishing kept the match scoreless. The best chance of the waning minutes came with five to play; Lukasz Piszczek played the ball over the top for Mario Götze, who managed to stay just onside. The German attacking midfielder got around Manuel Neuer, but crashed his shot against the post from just outside the six-yard box.

Felix Magath sent on seventeen-year-old Julian Draxler, who scored an extra-time winner in the DFB Pokal against FC Nürnberb, but he wasn’t able to provide the same magic again, and after just one minute of stoppage time, one of the most engrossing and frantic 0-0s in the recent history of the Bundesliga came to an end. The draw moves Schalke up to ninth overnight, while Dortmund’s lead at the top is now twelve points, with Bayer Leverkusen to play tomorrow.

There haven’t been any clear chances for some time at the Wesfalenstadion, but Borussia Dortmund look as determined as ever to complete a league double over Schalke 04 for the first time since 1996-7. While there haven’t been a lot of opportunities, Dortmund have been dangerous at times. On sixty-five minutes, they broke quickly from a Schalke free-kick, and Lucas Barrios headed Jakub Blaszczykowski’s cross back to Sven Bender, but the German midfielder’s beautifully struck volley flew into the arms of Manuel Neuer.

Unfortunately for BVB, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar stepped on Felipe Santana’s chest (it appeared accidental) around the seventy minute mark, and the Brazilian centreback is struggling a bit although he is back on the pitch. Robert Lewandowski has come on for the home side in place of Kevin Großkreutz, who also appears to have taken a knock, as Jürgen Klopp tries a roll of the dice to break the game open. Kyriakos Papadopoulos has come on for Schalke, replacing Anthony Annan in a fairly defensive substitution. Shortly after, José Jurado nearly opened the scoring for Schalke with a ship form inside the box, but his attempt was headed off the line by Santana. Dortmund broke down to the other end and Mario Götze nearly caught Manuel Neuer off his line after the German number one had come halfway out to the centre circle to clear a long ball, but Neuer got back to stop the shot again in what is surely one of his best games of the season. Felix Magath took off Jurado shortly afterwards and replaced him with Junmin Hao; just over seven minutes remain in the Westfalenstadion -- surely this game can’t end in a draw?

After controlling the first half so confidently, some of the Borussia Dortmund faithful may have been concerned by their side’s failure to capitalize on their chances before the interval. However, BVB look just as assured and dangerous up front as they did in the first forty-five minutes, and Lucas Barrios has had a pair of chances to break the deadlock in the early minutes of the second half.

Mario Götze was again the orchestrator on fifty-one minutes, setting Barrios through on the inside-right channel; Götze continued his run into the box and Barrios could have tried to pull the ball back for either him or Jakub Blaszczykowski, but took the shot on from a difficult angle and hit it wide of Manuel Neuer’s goal. Just a few minutes later Dortmund had an even better opportunity to take the lead, as some great work by Kuba led to a very dangerous low cross across the penalty area. The ball came to Barrios, and Neuer was well beaten, but his shot crashed against the post and went out for a Dortmund goal kick. The visitors went right down the other end and nearly got a shock opener of their own, but José Jurado wasn’t able to slot in from Raúl’s ball across the box.

Schalke 04 have settled down and improved a bit since the first ten minutes, but that headline is still very fair -- with another man between the posts, this game could well be 3-0. After that rash of early chances, Schalke began to get back into the game. They started keeping the ball much better and even ventured up the pitch a bit to threaten Roman Weidenfeller’s goal. Still, Borussia Dortmund are clearly the better of the two sides and it looks like only a matter of time before they can find a way through.

Unfortunately for Schalke, although Dortmund have been creating fewer chances, the visitors have only had one very small opportunity off of a free-kick, but absolutely nothing came of it. By contrast, Neuer was forced to save a shot from Lucas Barrios, which the Paraguayan striker took in his stride from just inside the right edge of the penalty box, and another shot from Jakub Blaszczykowski from a central position just on the edge of the six-yard box. Not long after, a Nuri Sahin free-kick drifted into the space between Neuer and his defenders in the middle of the penalty area, but a flick from Mats Hummels deflected the ball just wide of goal. Also, Lukasz Schmitz and Anthony Annan were lucky to escape bookings for some aggressive fouls in wide areas. It’s still 0-0 in the Westfalenstadion, but only thanks to that tall blonde kid from Gelsinkirchen that Schalke have in goal.

Borussia Dortmund have certainly started on the front foot against local rivals Schalke 04, and could be two goals up already but for some good goalkeeping by Manuel Neuer. Just three minutes in, Sven Bender caught Christoph Metzelder in possession just inside the box, but Mario Götze’s shot from near the penalty spot was saved by Neuer. Just two minutes later, Lucas Barrios knocked down a cross for Jakub Blaszczykowski, and Neuer had to make a good save with his leg to keep BVB off the score-sheet.

Dortmund continued to find space in wide areas, and José Jurado fouled Luckasz Piszczek as the Polish fullback was making a strong run down the wing on six minutes to set-up a BVB free-kick from the right side. The initial ball was cleared but fell to Mats Hummels near the left corner of the penalty area, and he forced Neuer into another very good save from an overhead kick. The hosts are getting in behind the Schalke fullbacks and their pace has allowed them to run straight through the visitors’ midfield. Schalke look anything but composed, and their two midfield holders, Anthony Annan and Peer Kluge, haven’t been able to stop the Dortmund onslaught.

This is, without question, the match of the weekend. The 137th edition of the Revierderby between Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund will be one of the few remaining tests the home side face as they move ever closer to a first Bundesliga championship since 2002. A loss would hardly dent their title credentials, but a season double over hated rivals Schalke would surely make the foregone conclusion of their seventh league crown a bit sweeter. BVB ripped apart Schalke in the first meeting between these two earlier in the season; Shinji Kagawa ran riot as Dortmund tormented their hosts in a 3-1 win that absolutely flattered Schalke.

There’s no Kagawa this time, and Dortmund are also without Neven Subotic in their backline due to an injury. Mario Götze will continue to deputize for the Japanese attacking midfielder, while Felipe Santana comes in for Subotic. Ghanaian international midfielder Anthony Annan will make his first start for Schalke after leaving Rosenborg late in the transfer window. In total Magath has made four changes to the side that lost against Hoffenheim last week -- in addition to Annan’s debut, José Jurado, Junmin Hao, and Lukas Schmitz are all back in the lineup. Dortmund are favourites, and justifiably so, but Schalke are playing far better than they were at the beginning of the season and should raise their level for this heated derby atmosphere.