The Big Ones
In a clash steeped in tradition, Bayern takes on Borussia Monchengladbach in the final competitive fixture of 2012 at the Allianz Arena. Bayern was at the receiving end of two defeats at the hand of these opponents last season. They did beat them however in a third meeting which took place in the DFB Pokal semi-finals. However, even that match was decided by penalties.
Dante plays against the club which according to him paved his way to a move to Bayern. He was amongst the players to miss for Gladbach in last season’s shoot-out. He was however incredibly important in restricting Bayern to just one consolation in three matches between the two sides.
For Bayern, a win will see them keep at-least an eleven point gap on second placed Leverkusen. One bookie has gone as far as to already label Bayern champions. Indeed, currently, everybody is seemingly set to fight for second place. Currently, Bayer Leverkusen occupies that spot.
Leverkusen plays Hamburg this week in a huge match-up. Leverkusen knows that another slip-up like last week against Hannover could see Dortmund equal their points tally. HSV is currently in seventh heaven. They are looking increasingly good every week and will be looking to beat Bayer 04.
Mainz’s showdown against Stuttgart is another big clash. Mainz was doing well but went down to Borussia Mönchengladbach last week 0-2. They didn’t play poorly though and now face a Stuttgart side which might find itself competing for a Champions League spot soon. Bruno Labbadia’s side put in a very good performance as they beat Schalke 3-1. Vedad Ibisevic will try to strike a few times this week as he tries to become the outright top scorer in the league this season.
Stopping the Rot
Dortmund’s second campaign in a row as defending champions has been ‘stop start’ at best. Their loss to Wolfsburg last week though was more down to referee Wolfgang Stark than them. Stark apologized for wrongly sending off Marcel Schmelzer and awarding a penalty to Wolfsburg. At that point, Dortmund was leading 0-1. BVB ended up losing 2-3. Their next opponent is Frank Kramer’s Hoffenheim.
Their Ruhr neighbours, Schalke, currently have seemingly never-ending problems. The solution to their problem might turn out to be the sacking of their longest serving manager, Huub Stevens. In-fact, the rumours suggest that Stevens might be sacked if Schalke does not earn satisfactory results in their final Bundesliga fixture of 2012 and in their DFB Pokal fixture. The trouble for Stevens is that Schalke will take on a side which will take advantage of any errors in Freiburg.
The surprise side in the top four, Frankfurt, managed to turn around a poor run of results by absolutely battering Bremen, at-least on the scoreboard, 4-1. In truth, Frankfurt wasn’t really too much better than Bremen. The comical mistakes of the Bremen back line including a slip at the most inopportune time by Sebastian Prödl allowed Frankfurt to win. They face a tough side in Wolfsburg this week.
Diego seems to have rediscovered his quality following the departure of Felix Magath. Last week, however Diego and co didn’t display great sportsmanship; the Wolfsburg players kept on trying to interrupt play as their side hung on to a narrow 2-3 lead over the defending champions. The Frankfurt fans and players alike will certainly not be encouraged by that.
Relegation Battles
Greuther Fürth and FC Augsburg face each other this week. Augsburg lost to Bayern last week but played extremely well. Fürth meanwhile went down to a Daniel Caligiuri goal in the Black Forest. Augsburg could win this one and catch up perhaps on Hoffenheim.
Hannover beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3-2 last week. They aren’t in a relegation battle but they are playing a team which is perilously close to it in Fortuna Düsseldorf. Düsseldorf lost 2-0 to Dieter Hecking’s tough Nürnberg side. Hannover in most likelihood will take the three points here.
FC Nürnberg takes on Bremen this week. Nürnberg is in thirteenth spot, just two behind Bremen. Bremen’s Thomas Schaaf must surely be unhappy with his defence after last week’s debacle. Another such debacle could see Nürnberg overtake the northerners in the table.
Finally, make sure you enjoy the action this week. This match-day is after all the last Bundesliga match-day of 2012.
Don’t miss it!
