Bundesliga, Week 29: Schalke came back from two down, hold onto fourth

Stuttgart used two first half goals to beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-0 on Sunday and put some much needed space between themselves and the relegation zone.

They jumped out to a lead after 28 minutes thanks to an own goal from Gladbach. After Cristian Molinaro was fouled by Patrick Herrmann. Alexandru Maxim whipped in a free kick that Alvaro Dominguez was only able to turn into his own goal.

Fortuna Düsseldorf thought they were on their way to putting space between themselves and the relegation zone, but an own goal in the second half saw them settle for a 2-2 draw against Werder Bremen.

Stefan Reisinger scored just two minutes into the match to give Düsseldorf an early lead. Max Kruse sent him through the backline, and Reisinger made no mistake with his finish. The lead only lasted for fourteen minutes as Zlatko Junuzovic finished a great pass from Kevin De Bruyne.

Borussia Dortmund all but sealed Greuther Fürth’s fate on Saturday with a 6-1 beatdown of the tiny Franconian club. BVB wasted no time lowering the boom on Fürth with a 5-0 scoreline at the half.

Mario Götze opened the scoring with a great dummy before shooting past Wolfgang Hesl. Three minutes later, it was 2-0. Ilkay Gundogan finished a cross from Jakub Blaszczykowski, and the visitors never looked back.

Hamburg leapt over Mainz in the table and improved their chances of qualifying for next season’s Europa League with a 2-1 victory in the match between the two clubs on Saturday afternoon.

The two sides exchanged opportunities in the first half, but neither were able to capitalize and cash in on goal. Hamburg opened the scoring in the second half in the 61st minute thanks to, who else, Heung-Min Son.

Hoffenheim dropped a massive opportunity to closer to escaping the relegation zone on Saturday after conceding a late goal to Wolfsburg. The point does bring them level on points with Augsburg for the relegation playoff spot. Hoffenheim does sit higher in the table thanks to scoring more goals; however, Augsburg does have a game tomorrow.

The match started well for Wolfsburg, and they took the lead after only 13 minutes. Eighteen year old Maximilian Arnold smacked a brilliant strike past Koen Casteels for the 1-0 advantage. They wouldn’t make it to halftime with the lead. Ricardo Rodriguez conceded a penalty to Sven Schipplock, and Sejad Salihovic converted it in the 35th minute.

Freiburg vs Hannover - 2:30 PM ET / 20:30 CET

Friday’s match between Freiburg and Hannover is a big one for both sides. If Freiburg win, they’ll pull level on points with Schalke who don’t play until Saturday. For a club like Freiburg to qualify for the Champions League (It’s still a HUGE “if”.) out of the Bundesliga, it would be quite the impressive accomplishment. The club from the Black Forest have been grinding out results this season while occasionally playing really attractive soccer. It was announced on Thursday that Freiburg midfielder Max Kruse will be heading to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the summer, so it’ll be interesting to see if that unsettles him at all on the field. Hannover missed an opportunity last week with a scoreless draw against Stuttgart, but they can really get their Europa League qualifying campaign back on track here.

Prediction: Freiburg 2 - 2 Hannover

Bayern Munich vs Nürnberg - 9:30 AM ET / 15:30 CET

How in-depth should one go in this preview? Another day, another game, another shutout. Bayern win.

Prediction: Bayern Munich 2 - 0 Nürnberg