Last week, Senor Raul Gonzalez and Michael Ballack brought an end to their careers in the Bundesliga. This week, the prodigal son of Köln will be playing his final match in Germany’s top-flight.
‘Revenge is a dish best served cold.’ This saying might run true in Berlin this week as Hoffenheim visits. Hertha will be at their knees hoping that Bayern and Markus Babel help them survive in the top flight. Just one season after their promotion, they will most likely depart the Bundesliga, leaving Germany without a club from its capital in its premier league.
Hertha went downhill ever since Babel was shown the door on Match-day 17 following a match against his current club. That day the score was 1-1. A draw won’t be enough for Hertha to grab the relegation play-off spot this time. A win for them coupled with a loss for Köln against a Bayern side challenging on two fronts will see Hertha finish 16th.
Raul waved a tearful goodbye to his Gelsenkirchen club last week. Schalke squeezed out two great seasons from an aging Raul. Raul’s presence saw Schalke claim the German Cup last season and reach the semis of the Champions League. This season they have grabbed the final automatic Champions League play-off berth with Raul scoring some wonderful goals. Indeed, he scored in his last match in the Veltins Arena as well.
Controversies have surrounded Ballack ever since Kevin Prince Boateng ended his international career in the FA Cup final in 2010. He fell out of favour with national team coach Joachim Loew and was dumped out of the national side unceremoniously. He didn’t do himself too many favours at Leverkusen either, especially in the second season where the club itself was in turmoil.
Ballack’s absence will be felt though. He is undoubtedly the most talented German player of his generation and carried the national team on his shoulders for ages. He was the heart of the Leverkusen midfield and later the Bayern midfield before moving to Chelsea. Ballack apologized for his mess and the Leverkusen fans fondly waved him off.
This week, Köln’s prodigal son, the man lovingly called ‘Prinz Poldi’ will take on the club where he failed miserably, Bayern. A winning goal against the Bavarians will see his name etched deeper into his club’s folklore. Podolski decided to finally make a big step forward in his career perhaps realizing that Köln would never reach the heights he wanted them to reach.
He will be heading off to Arsenal and will hopefully flourish under the guidance of a manager who will be the father figure that Juergen Klinsmann was to him and Loew is to him currently, Arsene Wenger. In Bayern, a young Podolski just could not deal with the competition. He himself admitted that he was perhaps too immature for a move to a club as competitive as Bayern.
Borussia Dortmund will have one eye on the potential double as they will take on Bayern in the German Cup Final next Saturday. This weekend, they will try to break Bayern’s record for most points in a single Bundesliga season. They will need a draw to equal the record. Bayern themselves, if they don’t concede will equal the record they set for the least number of goals conceded in a single Bundesliga season.
Three teams will go into the final match-day fighting for the final Europa League spot. The teams are Hanover, Wolfsburg and Bremen with Hanover currently holding all the cards.
So finally, as the curtains fall on the Bundesliga of 2011-12, congratulations once again to the champions Borussia Dortmund and goodbye Raul, Ballack and of course Lukas Podolski. You all will be missed.
Hertha went downhill ever since Babel was shown the door on Match-day 17 following a match against his current club. That day the score was 1-1. A draw won’t be enough for Hertha to grab the relegation play-off spot this time. A win for them coupled with a loss for Köln against a Bayern side challenging on two fronts will see Hertha finish 16th.
Raul waved a tearful goodbye to his Gelsenkirchen club last week. Schalke squeezed out two great seasons from an aging Raul. Raul’s presence saw Schalke claim the German Cup last season and reach the semis of the Champions League. This season they have grabbed the final automatic Champions League play-off berth with Raul scoring some wonderful goals. Indeed, he scored in his last match in the Veltins Arena as well.
Controversies have surrounded Ballack ever since Kevin Prince Boateng ended his international career in the FA Cup final in 2010. He fell out of favour with national team coach Joachim Loew and was dumped out of the national side unceremoniously. He didn’t do himself too many favours at Leverkusen either, especially in the second season where the club itself was in turmoil.
Ballack’s absence will be felt though. He is undoubtedly the most talented German player of his generation and carried the national team on his shoulders for ages. He was the heart of the Leverkusen midfield and later the Bayern midfield before moving to Chelsea. Ballack apologized for his mess and the Leverkusen fans fondly waved him off.
This week, Köln’s prodigal son, the man lovingly called ‘Prinz Poldi’ will take on the club where he failed miserably, Bayern. A winning goal against the Bavarians will see his name etched deeper into his club’s folklore. Podolski decided to finally make a big step forward in his career perhaps realizing that Köln would never reach the heights he wanted them to reach.
He will be heading off to Arsenal and will hopefully flourish under the guidance of a manager who will be the father figure that Juergen Klinsmann was to him and Loew is to him currently, Arsene Wenger. In Bayern, a young Podolski just could not deal with the competition. He himself admitted that he was perhaps too immature for a move to a club as competitive as Bayern.
Borussia Dortmund will have one eye on the potential double as they will take on Bayern in the German Cup Final next Saturday. This weekend, they will try to break Bayern’s record for most points in a single Bundesliga season. They will need a draw to equal the record. Bayern themselves, if they don’t concede will equal the record they set for the least number of goals conceded in a single Bundesliga season.
Three teams will go into the final match-day fighting for the final Europa League spot. The teams are Hanover, Wolfsburg and Bremen with Hanover currently holding all the cards.
So finally, as the curtains fall on the Bundesliga of 2011-12, congratulations once again to the champions Borussia Dortmund and goodbye Raul, Ballack and of course Lukas Podolski. You all will be missed.
