With the quarterfinals of the Pokal done its back to Bundesliga action and some big matches in store this weekend.
Bundesliga Talking Points
Midweek matches early in February don’t meant Europe but the quarterfinals of the German Cup, known as the DFB Pokal. With only one non Bundesliga club it was assumed, and correctly so, that only big clubs would progress.
Bayern Munich visited third division leaders Paderborn. Everything went according to plan. Six goals later Bayern found themselves in the semifinals for the tenth consecutive time.
Schalke dispatched Wolfsburg in the late Wednesday match 1-0. For the Royal Blues this is just one more step in terms of returning themselves to the European stage.
In a local derby Eintracht Frankfurt made every Mainz 05 mistake be paid in full in a 3-0 cohesive win. One sending off, candy on the pitch, two deadly giveaways all equaled a bad day for Mainz. For the carnival club there is no competitive win since their first round victory in August. For Eintracht Frankfurt, last season finalists, one more win will return them to Berlin.
In the best of the Pokal matches Bayer Leverkusen outlasted Werder Bremen 4-2 After Extra Time. Werder Bremen took an early 2-0 lead with one goal coming from American Aron Johannsson. Bayer roared back with crazy force to need extra time. With the draw on Sunday and each in the top six looks like each team is looking towards Europe.
Bundesliga Matches of the Week
FC Koln has been showing signs of life but being up against flying rivals Eintracht Frankfurt a loss could be a sign that their survival hopes were just pipe dreams.
Eintracht put Mainz down capitalizing on numerous mistakes by the visitors. FC Koln has started to find the back of the net after having a sheer lack of punch up front. Should the full strength of Frankfurt be brought to bear then they will have a difficult time of it in the forest stadium that Frankfurt calls home.
Bayern is always a team to beat but rarely do they feature here when they are at the Allianz Arena. Such is their dominance at home. But a visit from Schalke is a difficult test.
With Champions League against Besiktas around the corner the Bavarian’s will need to be on their A game. Schalke is now in the semifinals of the Pokal and smack dab in the middle of the push for the European places. Things will be tense in Munich for Saturday’s topspiel.
Bundesliga on Fox
Friday gets things started off right with a top half clash between RB Leipzig and FC Augsburg on Fox Sports 2.
Saturday has a morning helping of Bundesliga action. Borussia Dortmund faces struggling HSV on FS2, on Fox Soccer Plus Bayer Leverkusen hosts Hertha Berlin, and Eintracht Frankfurt faces FC Koln on spanish station Fox Deportes.
Saturday topspiel of Bayern Munich and Schalke 04 is shown on FS2.
Sunday double header starts on Fox Sports 1 with Stuttgart hosting Borussia Monchengladbach. FS2 finishes the weekend with Werder Bremen hosting Wolfsburg.
