The final weekend of the great season that was 2015-16 is in the bag and one team is facing two matches to prevent relegation from the Bundesliga.
Werder Bremen was up against it and at the death of the match against Eintracht Frankfut they reached pay dirt as Papy Djilobodji knocked in the loose ball in the 88th minute to give the full three points to Bremen and ensure their survival in the Bundesliga. Frankfurt dropped subsequently into the relegation playoff which occurs later in the week.
For Frankfurt this was a missed opportunity as the majority of the first half chances fell at their feet and yet they were unable to capitalize. Defensively the scrappiness of the goal was an ode to the scrappiness of the match itself Frankfurt was not going out of their own half during the end of the match and was able to check every time Bremen mounted an attack.
Niko Kovac post match spoke to his players and the message is clear. They know the job is still yet to be completed and that FC Nurnberg presents an opportunity over two matches to show that they still belong in the big time. First leg in Frankfurt on Thursday.
VfB Stuttgart was nursing the hope that should Frankfurt score and they prevail that they would be able to pull themselves up to at the very least the relegation playoff and give themselves a chance at staying up. That wouldn’t be the case as Wolfsburg, with nothing to play for, got out to an early lead that ended 3-1 in the hosts favor and relegation for the Swabians.
All things considered there is little that could’ve been done to have prevented this in just half a season but the fact is that years of mismanagement led to this day where a club was relegated to the second division for the first time in over thirty seasons. Sucks also for Stuttgart that their reserves were relegated from the third division so they will need to start over and the number of players willing to help bring the club back up is not high.
Schalke 04 ended up firing their manager Andre Britenreiter but he did a good job at the end of the day, final match day, as the Royal Blues romped to 4-1 victory at Hoffenheim. Victory ensured that in 2016-17 the European campaign will start in the group stage of the Europa League.
Leroe Sane goal to make the match 3-1 was of spectacular quality. His goal is an example of the quality that is at the disposal of the new manager at the start of 2016-17.
Hertha Berlin needed to get a victory when Schalke started to run away with their match against Hoffenheim. In the end they didn’t get the desired result against Mainz 05. Their reward is Mainz in the group stage and Berlin in the qualifying stage of the Europa League next season.
Both sides entered the match with very little left to themselves in the way of being able to qualify for the Champions League, which both were in position to do. It really is a shame as Berlin has a noose around their necks with the City of Berlin demanding double in rent with their lease of the Olympiastadion which will hold the club back in terms of development.
Bayern Munich celebrated their fourth consecutive Bundesliga title in a 3-1 win over Hannover 96. Robert Lewandowski celebrated his own accomplishment as top scorer in the Bundesliga. For Pep Guardiola three titles in three years is not a bad haul.
As the end of the Guardiola time at Bayern has come it is time for reflect. Yes nothing further than the semifinals of the Champions League but what was accomplished was creating a title winning side that went about every week and cut through the best the league had to offer. Sure against the top teams they struggled a little bit but they were almost gods against the lesser teams of the Bundesliga. Their efficiency will most likely not be replicated and there is a good chance that the Bundeslgia is to be different three seasons from now. And Bayern will still be top dog.
Borussia Dortmund is not headed into the DFB Pokal final on the best of form. A poor 2-2 draw at home to FC Koln showed how much the team is deflated.
Thomas Tuchel is looking for options going forward and sadly the Mats Hummels transfer saga has shook up the locker room. It is up to the management to ensure that going forward that they are able to cope with challenging for the Bundesliga title and Europe next year.
In other results that did very little to change the landscape of the Bundesliga Borussia Monchengladbach defeated Darmstadt 2-0 to seal their Champions League qualification place for next season. Darmstadt is safe for a second season of Bundesliga against all the odds.
Hamburg was coming off two consecutive seasons wherein they only survived via the relegation playoff. Winning against FC Augsburg 3-1 was a nice way to end the season as Augsburg will be happy with having made the knockout stage of this years Europa League and being safe in Bundesliga security.
UP NEXT
Relegation playoff this Thursday for Eintracht Frankfurt as they face the third place team from the second division FC Nurnberg. American defender Timothy Chandler will have memories of playing for this squad but the team that went down two seasons ago is not the team that they will be facing over two legs.
DFB Pokal Final in Berlin is always a treat but its becoming something of a habit for the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. They continue to show up at the later stages of the competition. Last time in the cup Dortmund defeated the Bavarians in penalties in the semifinal while Bayern defeated BVB two years ago in the final.
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