Is the Bundesliga title race back on? May be, just may be, the fans can up their hopes for a race after Dortmund finally dropped points and Bayern unleashed their true selves.
The ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ nature of Bayern has been getting on the nerves of all Bayern fans while playing into the hands of rivals Dortmund. The home games usually tend to end up being straight-forward wins for the home team in Bayern’s case while the away games usually result in a loss or draw. Bayern has won just one away game in 2012 and that too in the DFB Pokal.
The home win this time however was so emphatic that the fans had to forgive the players for the torrid performance against Leverkusen. Mario Gomez bagged a hat-trick to lead the way in the Bundesliga top-scorers chart. Six relatively ‘text book’ style goals and one Toni Kroos beauty gave Bayern the victory, their biggest of 2012 and their second biggest of the season so far.
The match also clearly displayed the love that Bayern fans possess for Bastian Schweinsteiger. While each of the seven goals was obviously greeted with great applause, none of the scorers got a louder applause than Schweinsteiger.
The mood in the Dortmund camp remained relatively light despite the 0-0 draw against Augsburg. Juergen Klopp declared himself unperturbed by the result and rightfully so considering Dortmund still has a massive five point lead over Bayern. If Bayern can make up another two points, the game between these two sides late in the season will have greater significance than ever.
Leverkusen meanwhile took the lead against Wolfsburg but lost 3-2. Perhaps that 7-1 defeat in the hands of Barcelona is still on their minds. Bremen beat Hanover 3-0 to close the gap with fifth placed Leverkusen to just one point. Schalke distanced themselves from Bayer 04 with a 3-1 victory over HSV. Klaas Han Huntelaar scored to take his season’s tally to 19 goals in the Bundesliga.
Perhaps the most interesting news regarding Germany took place off the pitch. Reports emerged earlier in the week about Köln and Arsenal having agreed upon a deal for Lukas Podolski. Arsene Wenger himself expressed his interest in the German. Podolski however denied that matters had been finalized; he clearly hasn’t packed his bags for North London yet.
On the pitch, his head-butt was rewarded with a red card and a subsequent one match ban. Köln however found a way to win in their game against Hertha. The score-line was 1-0 with the goal coming from Christian Clemens. The match was a bad tempered one overall and Köln finished with nine men. After the match, Köln announced that they have parted ways with Volker Finke. Only at Köln do such events occur.
Gladbach’s title chase meanwhile took another hit without the intelligent young midfielder Patrick Hermann. They drew 0-0 with Freiburg. Gladbach is now eight points behind Dortmund.
Next week, Dortmund takes on Bremen, Leverkusen entertains Gladbach and Otto Rehhagel takes on Bayern. If there is any weekend when a fan just must tune into the Bundesliga, it is next week! So, don’t miss the action!
The home win this time however was so emphatic that the fans had to forgive the players for the torrid performance against Leverkusen. Mario Gomez bagged a hat-trick to lead the way in the Bundesliga top-scorers chart. Six relatively ‘text book’ style goals and one Toni Kroos beauty gave Bayern the victory, their biggest of 2012 and their second biggest of the season so far.
The match also clearly displayed the love that Bayern fans possess for Bastian Schweinsteiger. While each of the seven goals was obviously greeted with great applause, none of the scorers got a louder applause than Schweinsteiger.
The mood in the Dortmund camp remained relatively light despite the 0-0 draw against Augsburg. Juergen Klopp declared himself unperturbed by the result and rightfully so considering Dortmund still has a massive five point lead over Bayern. If Bayern can make up another two points, the game between these two sides late in the season will have greater significance than ever.
Leverkusen meanwhile took the lead against Wolfsburg but lost 3-2. Perhaps that 7-1 defeat in the hands of Barcelona is still on their minds. Bremen beat Hanover 3-0 to close the gap with fifth placed Leverkusen to just one point. Schalke distanced themselves from Bayer 04 with a 3-1 victory over HSV. Klaas Han Huntelaar scored to take his season’s tally to 19 goals in the Bundesliga.
Perhaps the most interesting news regarding Germany took place off the pitch. Reports emerged earlier in the week about Köln and Arsenal having agreed upon a deal for Lukas Podolski. Arsene Wenger himself expressed his interest in the German. Podolski however denied that matters had been finalized; he clearly hasn’t packed his bags for North London yet.
On the pitch, his head-butt was rewarded with a red card and a subsequent one match ban. Köln however found a way to win in their game against Hertha. The score-line was 1-0 with the goal coming from Christian Clemens. The match was a bad tempered one overall and Köln finished with nine men. After the match, Köln announced that they have parted ways with Volker Finke. Only at Köln do such events occur.
Gladbach’s title chase meanwhile took another hit without the intelligent young midfielder Patrick Hermann. They drew 0-0 with Freiburg. Gladbach is now eight points behind Dortmund.
Next week, Dortmund takes on Bremen, Leverkusen entertains Gladbach and Otto Rehhagel takes on Bayern. If there is any weekend when a fan just must tune into the Bundesliga, it is next week! So, don’t miss the action!
