Stickied German Football

[mistermagic]

For some reason, I can see Ruben Okotie, 1860's striker who is far too good for such a shit side, signing for Koln. Just a hunch like.

 

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BIG BIG last minute equaliser for Hamburg last night at home to Freiburg. The relegation fight looks like it'll be a final day job again.

Today sees a Bavarian affair as Augsburg go to the Allianz. Does Guardiola put a weakened side out in the hope of overturning the 3-0 deficit on Tuesday? Borussia Dortmund host Hertha Berlin in what is Klopps penultimate game at Westfalenstadion. Should be a home win, as they continue to push for the top 6 - didn't expect to be saying that in February!

Game of the weekend is undoubtedly Gladbach vs Leverkusen. Gladbach unbeaten in 11, Leverkusen unbeaten in 10. Both really close to usurping Wolfsburg in 2nd now too, so whoever takes the spoils will gain a huge boost in this one. Gladbach's home form (8 wins in a row) may just see them through, but it's too close to call for me.

Bremen travel to Hannover, who've not won in nearly half a season now. Fancy an away win there, although Hannover have to win sometime. Captain Lars Stindl is another who's arranged a transfer this summer, moving to Gladbach once the season ends. Frankfurt host Hoffenheim, while Stuttgart NEED 3 points at home to mid table Mainz. If Stuttgart fail to win they could be adrift from the pack with two games remaining.

Tomorrow sees Paderborn host Wolfsburg. Paderborn will fancy this more than they would have done a few weeks back, but Dieter Hecking's side need to return to their earlier form to hold on to second spot. Finally Koln welcome Schalke in what looks a dull affair on paper. Koln aren't the best at home, and Schalke are poor on the road under Roberto Di Matteo, with no win on their travels since 17th December at Paderborn.

 

[mistermagic]

Massive win for 1860 yesterday at Frankfurt 1-0. Unfortunately this doesn't change their position in the league table (second bottom) as all the other strugglers (Aue, Aalen and St Pauli) won their games. Ingolstadt will be promoted with a win tomorrow at Bochum.
Still no promotion for Bielefeld in the 3rd division with 2 games to go.

 

[Super_horns]

Bayern a goal down, the other BM 2 up as are Dortmund.

Hannover just been pegged back to 1-1.

 

[JimJams]

Pepe Reina blew his start after 13 minutes.

 

[yellow]

Excellent win for Gladbach, 9 home wins in a row now. Super form in any league.

Annoyingly considered backing Augsburg at 21/1 but decided not to…

 

[mistermagic]

Oh dear Guardiola.

Poor Hanover who still haven't won in 2015. Conceded a late Bremen free-kick who had chances to win the game late on.

 

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The relegation battle is extraordinarily close, with two points separating the bottom five, and Hertha in 13th only four from bottom.

Incredibly exciting last two match days in store, I feel.

 

[mistermagic]

Another eventful matchday at both ends of the table.

The big game at the top was in at Gladbach who beat Leverkusen 3-0. This means Gladbach, who are desperate to avoid the CL play-off as they got knocked out last time out, are all but assured of finishing in the top 3 as they are 5 points clear of Bayer with 2 games to go. Gladbach could even finish 2nd as they are only 2 points behind Wolfsburg who went back to winning ways after a 3-game drought with a 3-1 at Paderborn.

For the Europa League, Augsburg made a big step in securing their first European season in history (I think) with a famous win at Bayern. The champions were down to ten men after 15 minutes with Reina getting sent off for his 3rd game of the season (he is yet to concede a goal mind). The resulting penalty hit the post but Bobadilla scored the winner with 20 minutes to go. Schalke lost at Köln 0-2 but Dortmund continue their rise and may well beat Schalke to 6th the way things are going. Quite frankly, looking how Schalke are finishing the season, you could argue that Dortmund would be better equipped with the added EL games than Schalke (mind you, both could still make it if Dortmund win the Pokal against Wolfsburg).

At the bottom, a whopping 16 games without a win for Hannover who could only draw against Bremen 1-1 at home. The change in management hasn't changed anything and with other sides picking points (Paderborn aside), Hannover may well go back to Buli Zwei which I really didn't expect.
Stuttgart are still alive as they beat Mainz 2-0 at home while the weekly 6-pointer between Hamburg and Freiburg ended 1-1 with a crucial last-minute equaliser for the hosts. Berlin are the last side still unsafe with 2 games to go and they look in a bit of a rut: 5 games without a win and 3 defeats on the trot.
I still reckon Stuttgart will make it. They won a big game on Saturday and have Hamburg and Paderborn next. Win those two and they're safe. In fact I reckon 4 points will be enough.

In the Buli Zwei, Ingolstadt are doing everything in their power not to get promoted mathematically. It's been 3 games where they've only needed a win to have it confirmed and another game they failed to win. This time they lost at Bochum 1-3 but 3rd and 4th are yet to play as they face each other this evening. It's still possible for Braunschweig to get involved in the promotion battle but it looks dead for Leipzig. Not to worry for the plastic Red Bull fans, they'll win the league next season.

 

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Also I see Schalke have this morning dispensed of the services of Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sidney Sam.

 

[mistermagic]

Boateng has been shite a for a while now but Sidney Sam is supposed to be amongst Germany's nextgen. That he doesn't perform is a huge step down from the days he was doing great at Leverkusen.

 

[yellow]

Yep. Wonder if Sam will go to somewhere like Gladbach if they fail to keep hold of Herrmann? I imagine there'll be interest in him after his performances this season.

Who do you fancy to go down? It's such an exciting end, and I just don't know which way it's going to go. Freiburg could do with ending their 5 game winless streak this weekend but you have to fancy Munich to win just to end their barren spell. Berlin should be able to get something against Frankfurt, who've not won in ages on the road (10 games). Stuttgart vs Hamburg is obviously the most important game down there this weekend, whoever wins that will go some way to ensuring survival.

I feel Paderborn could be bottom of the league going into the final day, as I think Schalke will want a reaction (and to stop BVB from stealing their Europa spot). We could potentially be looking at a Hannover/Paderborn bottom two come Saturday evening I think.

 

[mistermagic]

Whoever loses Hannover v Freiburg on the final day and Paderborn.

Can see Stuttgart winning both their remaining games. Maybe Freiburg will finish in the play-off spot. Riveting stuff like.

In the Buli Zwei, Darmstadt have won at Karlsruhe and dislogged Kaiserslautern of 2nd spot. Would be nice to have Lautern back in the big time.

 

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Dortmund agreed a deal with Johannes Geis apparently, although the fee is yet to be agreed.

Good start, if not expected, from Tuchel.

Max Kruse is another to make an early summer move, from Gladbach to Wolfsburg.

 

[Joe.]

Different world, bud.

Sure you'll love it.

You weren't wrong!

 

[yellow]

Hope you had a top weekend!

 

[Super_horns]

Another defeat for Bayern!

Big win for Freiburg and Hannover!

Play for a draw next week?

Doesn't look good for Hamburg and Paderbon..the latter play Stuttgart I think though.

 

[mistermagic]

Big loss for Hamburg but one I expected. They now have to beat Schalke on the final day. Just can't see it happening. Nothing against the club but I just feel a year or two in the Buli Zwei will do this club a world of good. I get that they are the sole Bundesliga club to have stayed in the top division since its inception but they need to go down to rebuild. They couldn't do that after managing play-off "success" (won on away goals) last season so I reckon relegation will be beneficial to the club in the long run.
Big, big matchday tomorrow in the Buli Zwei. 1860 are hosting Nürnberg in front of a full-house at the Allianz!

Congrats to Bielefeld and Duisburg who got promoted to the Buli Zwei from the 3rd division!

 

[mistermagic]

The penultimate matchday has just ended with quite a few verdicts dropped in.

Ingolstadt have clinched promotion for the first time of its history and are also crowned champions. They took their time to have it confirmed (3 games without a win before today) but have beaten RB Leipzig (next season's overwhelming favourites to win the league) 2-1 at the Audi Sportpark. They'll be playing Bavarian derbies against Bayern and Augsburg next season. Well done to them.

The fight for 2nd and 3rd will be contested between 3 sides on the final day: Darmstadt (who lost at Fürth 0-1), Karlsruhe (won 2-0 at Braunschweig) and Kaiserslautern (who surrendered 3rd spot as they could only draw at Aue 0-0). Darmstadt have a point on the other two who are only seperated by 4 goals. Next week, Lautern host the champions Ingolstadt while Darmstadt and Karlsruhe will host St Pauli and 1860 who also need points.
Not sure if I want Lautern to go up tbh. 1 win in 6 games isn't exactly promotion form. I don't think they'd give the team that finishes 16th in the Buli a game in the play-off either. If I'm honest I wouldn't mind the table to stay this way. Darmstadt to be promoted directly and then Karlsruhe in the play-offs (against Freiburg or something).

At the bottom, it's also a little clearer. Aalen are relegated to the 3rd division with a home loss to Heidenheim while FSV Frankfurt entered the bottom 3 for the first time since being bottom in mid-October. Today's loss at home to Union was their 11th game without a win. Think of a Hannover of the second tier if you will (except the fuckers won yesterday!).
Massive wins for 1860 and St Pauli against Nürnberg (2-1) and Bochum (5-1) respectively. Fürth also won at home to Darmstadt 1-0 while Aue could only draw against Lautern (0-0).
Reckon Aue will join Aalen in division 3 tbh. They have to travel to Heidenheim on the final day needing a win. Just can't see it. Reckon 1860 and St Pauli have pulled off the great escape.

Pretty certain that things will be more dramatic at the top end of the table than the bottom one but that ultimately the table will stay the same.

 

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Shocked to see Bayern lose again! Poor season by their standards.

Schalke confirmed Europa League football, so 6th is a shootout between Augsburg and Dortmund - Bremen can still do it but need a huge turn up in results and goal difference, something I don't see happening.

The bottom is obviously the main attraction, Paderborn host Stuttgart in what I can guess is one of the biggest games in their history as they need 3 points to try and move 16th or higher. Could be all over for Hamburg though.

 

[mistermagic]

Said it in the CL thread, it's a pretty miserable end of season for Bayern Munich. Knocked out of the Pokal by their fiercest rivals, humiliated by Barcelona and they have now lost 3 league games in a row for the first time since 1998. It's great!

The race for 2nd (which is a bit pointless as both sides are assured of a CL group stage spot but I guess 2nd gets a bit more money than 3rd) is still up for grabs between Wolfsburg and Gladbach. If Wolfsburg draw at Köln next weekend they should get it (would be deserved too given their outstanding season).
Leverkusen are assured of 4th spot while Schalke are assured of EL football next season (which is a good thing as it'll boost interest in the competition - German sides have been pretty shit lately). The Pokal final will be interesting (for once). Not sure if I want Dortmund to win it as they'll be rebuilding next season and EL football may be an unwelcome distraction. Wolfsburg deserve a trophy for the season they have had.

Relegation is fascinating (unlike anywhere else in Europe). Been looking into it and Hertha Berlin can't go down automatically. Or at least not realistically. For this to happen they need to lose heavily at Hoffenheim, Hannover and Freiburg to draw, Stuttgart to win at Paderborn and Hamburg to completely destroy Schalke (something like 10-0).
I'm pretty sure Stuttgart will do the job at Paderborn securing safety (a draw could be enough if Freiburg win at Hannover by two clear goals) but the big question is will Hamburg beat Schalke? They should as Schalke have had their worst second half of the season in history but during that timeframe they haven't lost to any member of the bottom 6.

Just like in the Buli Zwei, I don't see much changing next week except Stuttgart pulling through at the expense of Hannover or Freiburg but even then I'm pretty sure any of those 3 will beat Karlsruhe (who I reckon will finish 3rd in the Zwei).

 

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Yeh, on paper I don't actually think the fixtures could be more exciting. Schalke have been awful on the road since Di Matteo took over, so Hamburg may fancy their chances as they've taken 4 from their last 6 at home. Obviously the other four all go head to head so it's in their own hands.

Didn't realise Dortmund were playing Bremen though, could be an interesting affair in Klopp's last league game.

 

[yellow]

So Hummels is set to stay at Dortmund. From what I was reading last night, I got the impression he'd had a bit of an issue with Klopp and wanted a new boss - which, now he is getting one at BvB, he's content to stay at the club.

Good news for them. It'll be an interesting summer at the Westfalenstadion, I'm sure. MM, when does the Buli usually start in August? Hoping to book another trip out before I start my new course in September!

 

[mistermagic]

It kicks off late August after an international tournament, early August in other summers so it should kick off the first 2 weeks of August next season.

 

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Big day tomorrowwwww.

 

[mistermagic]

Big day tomorrowwwww.

Why does time fucking stand still sometimes? 3:30 can't come soon enough. Bring on the multiplex!!!

 

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Well, what a crazy start. Was it 7 goals in the first 10 minutes or so?

Stuttgart with a big equaliser at Paderborn a few minutes ago, ensuring the bottom three stays the same for now. Huge second half in store for the sides at the bottom.

Dortmund 3-1 up on Bremen. Bet it's absolutely ROCKING.

 

[mistermagic]

Bremen's goal was pretty good.

Just can't see Hamburg scoring from the highlights I got. They've done next to nothing so far.

 

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…Hamburg score

 

[Super_horns]

…Hamburg score

What does that mean now?