Bayern has already been crowned but it is the races for the European places and to miss the drop that are where the excitement is all at in the Bundesliga.
Borussia Dortmund looked to have taken a double shot to the chest with a 2-0 loss to Schalke last week but bounced back in the best of ways as they unleashed a torrent on challengers Bayer Leverkusen, 4-0 at Signal Iduna Park.
With Marco Reus wearing the armband Max Phillip and Jaden Sancho all were in on the scoring for the Yellow and Black. As has been typical of this squad under Peter Stoger if they get a goal the creativity comes out. Most of the managers tenure has been as interesting as dishwater and a match like this is a bright moment in a bleak season. For Leverkusen this could mean Champions League slips away into Europa League.
Hoffenheim in the hinrunde was looking like a squad going nowhere, then a light switch came on and with this 5-2 victory over Leipzig the squad has not lost since early February.
Leipzig has been a very different sort of team. The threat of not qualifying for the Champions League will mean that they will be having to scale back on investment in the off season due to Financial Fair Play rules for teams in European competition. This could have interesting effects as Hoffenheim looks to be qualifying for Champions League for a second consecutive season and increase everything within the club.
Hamburg has been on that long proverbial death march to relegation and to think that this 1-0 victory over fellow relegation threatened Freiburg will save them is a risk but there’s always a chance.
Under new manager Christian Titz there’s been the signs of hope and despite the scenario that the club is in there is yet still time. Lewis Holtby was the goal scorer but there was more than just one bright moment for HSV and things seems to be pointing to the clock to keep ticking.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga
Hertha Berlin has been an in-stable sort of club but against Eintracht Frankfurt they seemed to be a top five sort of club. A cohesive 3-0 victory sees the club be just five points behind the run for the European places and get the club back on a financial even keel.
Borussia Monchengladbach has been a club attempting to get back to Europe but keeps having obstacles. Their 3-0 victory over Wolfsburg puts them three points behind seventh place Frankfurt and keeps Wolfsburg way down the table.
FC Augsburg has been a club with possibilities, if not for a small squad they’d possibly be making a run for Europe. This 2-0 victory over Mainz shows that the Carnival club may not be out of the woods just yet.
In the battle of the midtable void Stuttgart was able to get the big win to pass the 40 point threshold. Their 2-0 win over Werder Bremen doesn’t put themselves into the European conversation but miles away from the relegation zone they found themselves in in February.
FC Koln have been stuck on the precipice of the relegation zone and yet they have been able to keep that official notice away despite earning only three points from their first 16 matches. A 2-2 draw with Schalke means that with two of their three remaining matches against threatened teams that only the playoff place is the final possibility of safety.
With one eye towards their season defining first leg against Real Madrid in Munich Bayern dispatched a flagging Hannover 96 side 3-0.
Player of the Week
Marco Reus gets this week’s honors as wearing the armband for Borussia Dortmund scoring two goals and having the team get qualified for Europe for next season.
Global Football
