Matchday 30 in the Bundesliga would end with the championship all but decided, Bayern seizing control of the Champions League race, and neither Wolfsburg nor St. Pauli making a move to leave the drop zone.
Bundesliga Review: Dortmund Has Almost Clinched Championship
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Friday, April 15
Mainz 05 1-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Sitting in dead last going into the weekend, Mönchengladbach wanted to get all three points. With five matches left, they didn’t necessarily need all three points when they traveled to Mainz. Well, now they’ll need some miracles starting next weekend. Marco Reus had the first scoring chance of the game for the visitors and just missed wide. While holding a 60-40% possession advantage, Mainz never really threatened 18 year old Marc-André ter Stegen in goal for the visitors, and the defense held fast. Then in the 87th minute, Mainz’s André Schürrle unleashed a gorgeous shot just beyond the reach of ter Stegen. When the final whistle sounded, Mainz extended their lead in the table for the final Europa League spot to 5 points ahead of Saturday’s games.
Saturday, April 16
Hamburg 0-0 Hannover 96
Both clubs entered the match looking for all three points. Hamburg had to have the three points to keep pace with Mainz for the final Europa League place. If Hannover could secure three points, they’d move four points ahead of Bayern in the table and really put pressure on the Bavarians before their Sunday match against Leverkusen. Both sides would have shots cleared off the line. In the first half Hannover 96’s Mohammed Abdellaoue would have his shot cleared off the line, and in the second half Hamburg’s Eljero Elia had a shot cleared off the line. The match would end in a draw keeping Hamburg a distant five points from Mainz. Hannover 96 would end the day just two points ahead of Bayern.
Wolfsburg 2-2 St. Pauli
The “Relegation Six Pointer” saw both sides start the match on 28 points just two ahead of Mönchengladbach. With only five matches left in the season, you do not want to be sitting in 16th and 17th places respectively. However, that’s where these two sat. It was an extremely bright start to the first half for St. Pauli. They were very dangerous in attacking the Wolfsburg goal. It was unfortunate for them that Gerald Asamoah left his finishing boots at home, because he missed two “sitters” in the first half hour. St. Pauli had to be thinking that they would then make it to halftime with a 0-0 scoreline when Mario Mandžukić broke the deadlock for Wolfsburg. Replays would show that he was well offside and the ball deflected to him off of Diego’s elbow. The goal would stand. St. Pauli would take the lead in the second half on strikes from Deniz Naki and Matthias Lehmann. The lead would only last for two minutes when Jan Polák would head home a corner kick in the 79th minute to equalize. With the match ending in a draw, both sides would pull to three points ahead of Mönchengladbach. However, they have a long way to go to get out of the relegation zone.
Hoffenheim 1-0 Frankfurt
The visitors marched into the morning knowing that they were falling further and further down the table. Since Christoph Daum has taken over the side from Frankfurt, they have yet to win a match. Frankfurt was very impressive for the first 45 minutes in the match. Alexander Meier and Theofanis Gekas would bring out the best in Hoffenheim goalkeeper Tom Starke several times. Hoffenheim would not get their first shot on goal until just before the end of the half. Frankfurt would test Starke again in the second half, but the goalkeeper would be up to every challenge. In the 78th minute, Ryan Babel would unleash a shot from outside the box that Frankfurt goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann could only deflect straight to Roberto Firmino who would touch the ball into the back of the net. With the loss Frankfurt falls to just four points clear of the relegation zone.
Köln 1-3 Stuttgart
Stuttgart entered the day sitting in the table just two points ahead of the relegation zone. Knowing that Wolfsburg and St. Pauli were playing and a victory by either would boost them ahead of Stuttgart, they knew they needed points. Köln would enter the day with a seven match home winning streak. After a fairly uneventful first half, Stuttgart grabbed the match and ran away with it in the 51st minute. Christian Träsch would score in the 51st, Martin Harnik would score in the 53rd minute, and Zdravko Kuzmanovic would net a penalty in the 63rd minute. Milivoje Novakovic would score a late consolation goal for Köln. The three points earned in the match would boost Stuttgart to 14th place ahead of Frankfurth in 15th on goal differential.
Kaiserslautern 0-2 Nürnberg
Nürnberg was able to stay only two points behind Mainz 05 in the race for the final Europa League place. The loss for Kaiserslautern would see them end the day with minor relegation worries. Nürnberg would get on the scoreboard in the 34th minute when Christian Eigler would finish a Timothy Chandler cross with his head. Kaiserslautern would come out of the lockerroom at halftime with points on their mind. They would control the first fifteen to twenty minutes of the half, but Nürnberg began to take control again. The match would remain 1-0 for the visitors until Robert Mak would score in stoppage time to give the visitors a 2-0 victory and all three points.
Werder Bremen 1-1 Schalke 04
After advancing the Champions League semifinal midweek, Schalke had a weekend visit to Werder Bremen. Bremen was sitting on only 34 points and were looking for points to get them away from the relegation zone. The match was going back and forth for the first 25 minutes, and the best chance of the match would fall to Raul. The former Spanish international's rather tame shot was saved easily by Tim Wiese. The remainder of the first half was a midfield battle. In the 59th minute Benedikt Höwedes would trip Claudio Pizarro inside the box giving Bremen a penalty kick. Sandro Wagner would have his penalty saved, but he would put the rebound in to give Bremen the 1-0. Their lead would only last for four minutes when Edu would smash a powerful header past Tim Wiese to equalize for Schalke. Both sides would share the spoils.
Sunday, April 17
Bayern München 5-1 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
The match was billed as a great one and definitely lived up to the hype. Well, it lived up to the hype if you are a supporter of Bayern München. Leverkusen may have had more possession than Bayern (60-40%), but Bayern did far more with their chances. The tone of the match was set early on as Bastian Schweinsteiger flicked on a Franck Ribéry corner kick that Simon Rolfes turned into his own net in the 7th minute. In the 28th minute Arturo Vidal (a Bayern summer transfer target) would attempt a backheel in his own box that Thomas Müller would collect and pass to Mario Gomez for an easy tap in. Gomez would get two more before the end of the half to make it 4-0 and basically put the match out of reach. Eren Derdiyok would pull one back for the visitors in the second half, but Ribéry would bag another goal to complete the route.
Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Freiburg
After seeing Leverkusen get hammered earlier in the day, the league leaders knew a victory would nearly clinch the title. What would occur over the next 90 minutes at the Westfalenstadion was nothing short of dominance. Dortmund got first half goals from Mario Götze and Robert Lewandoski, and Kevin Großkreutz would add a third in the second half. Papiss Demba Cisse would not get a single shot on goal for Freiburg. he entered the day leading the league with 20 goals. Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels showed why they are the most sought after young centerbacks in the world with their performance completely shutting Cisse down.
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