Bundesliga, Week 32: Freiburg win, Hamburg draw in race for Europa League

Hamburg grabbed a late goal in the first half, but they were unable to hold on as Wolfsburg equalized in the second half and settled for a 1-1 draw.

The two sides exchanged chances throughout the first half. Rafael Van der Vaart and Artjoms Rudnevs came close for Hamburg, while Vieirinha and Ivica Olic missed the target for Wolfsburg.

Freiburg made sure they were going to stay in the race for a European place until the end of the season with 2-0 victory over relegation-threatened Augsburg on Sunday.

Augsburg came out strong on the attack. Sasha Mölders was through on goal, but he put his shot right at Oliver Baumann. Then, Oliver Sorg was able to stop Dong-Won Ji from putting another shot at Baumann with an excellent stop.

Things started to get very chippy in the following minutes. Rafinha elbowed Kuba in the face while the two were going for the ball, and the Brazilian was shown his second yellow card and sent off. After rolling on the ground for two minutes like someone shot him in the face in an attempt to get Rafinha sent off, Kuba jumped back up to his feet and got in Rafinha’s face. Then, as Rafinha was leaving the field, Jürgen Klopp and Kuba continued their verbal assault of the defender. Rafinha put his finger to the face of Kuba before heading toward the tunnel to leave the field.

Screaming at one player wasn’t enough for Klopp, however, and he charged after Bayern’s sporting director Matthias Sammer to scream at him. Childish behavior from everyone involved finally livened up some of the dull play on the field.

Despite being relegated back to the 2.Bundesliga last week, Greuther Fürth showed some pride by beating Stuttgart 2-0 on Saturday. While Stuttgart may not have had a lot to play for this weekend, dropping more points at home won’t please Bruno Labbadia.

While they dominated possession in the first half, Stuttgart came away with nothing to show for it. They put together a barrage of shots at Wolfgang Hesl’s goal but were unable to break the deadlock. Ibrahima Traore came the closest, but his shot banged against the post.

Werder Bremen conceded two goals in the final five minutes of the match and threw away a chance to nearly secure their survival in the Bundesliga for another season after a 2-2 draw with Hoffenheim on Saturday.

The home supporters were in full voice early, and Werder immediately rewarded them. Nils Petersen sent Aaron Hunt a through ball into the box, and the midfielder was fouled by David Abraham earning a penalty. Not trusting anyone else in the side to not screw up on the penalty, Hunt stepped up and converted it himself.

Stefan Kießling set a new Bayer Leverkusen record for goals scored in a season, and Die Werkself beat Nürnberg 2-0 on Saturday to clinch a spot in the group stage of next season’s Champions League.

The chances were falling to both sides in the first half hour of the match, with both goalkeepers being tested. Niklas Stark struck the outside of the post for Nürnberg, while Andre Schürrle and Sebastian Boenisch just missed the target at the other end. Alexander Esswein put a great shot on target in the 17th minute, but Bernd Leno was able to deflect the ball wide.