Bundesliga Matchday 30 Round Up Dortmund leads with Six Points

Matchday 30 is in the history books and Borussia Dortmund is one step closer to winning the German championship.  In 90 minutes of soccer dominance, Borussia kept their defence tight and took bold steps to remain in the attack.  Meanwhile Bayern tried to build up its game from the midfield, but more often than not failed to penetrate a well organized Dortmund defence. The match of the giants lived up to expectations with plenty of action, but few goals.  Lewandowski finally scored for Borussia and Bayern had about ten minutes to get an equalizer.  Despite a penalty kick by Arjen Robben, which Weidenfeller stopped easily and an Alaba ball that skimmed the inside of the crosspost, Robben missed another chance at an open net from just a few meters away.  Dortmund's win was deserved.  With a six point lead on top of the Bundesliga and only four games remaining, it is unlikely that Munich will catch up and will have to settle for second place.  Munich can redeem itself during the DFB Pokal final next month, when the two teams meet in Berlin.

In other matchday 30 action the surprise was Schalke's loss to Nuernberg 4-1.  However Schalke still holds a four point lead over Stuttgart, which won 3-1 in Augsburg.  Mainz made short business with Koeln with a 4-0 victory, leaving Koeln in danger of relegation, while Mainz, with 36 points should be clear.  Freiburg edged out a 1-2 win in Berlin, also leaving Freiburg a six point cushion, with 35 poitns. Gladbach and Bremen fought to a draw, leaving Gladbach four points short of a Champions League qualification spot. 

Hannover defeated Wolfsburg 2-0, moving them into a Euro League qualification spot. Hoffenheim blastered Hamburg 4-0, moving the 1899 into ninth place, with a chance to reach the seventh spot.

While the League championship is all but determined and Kaiserslautern probably delegated, Hamburg, Augsburg, Berlin and Koeln will battle to avoid delegation.  Munich's only hope now is that Dortmund ends its 24 game undefeated streak.  Matchday 31 goes this coming weekend.


Bundesliga Fixtures Matchday 30

10 April 2012  FC Augsburg vs VFB Stuttgart                              1-3
10 April 2012  FSV Mainz 05 vs 1.FC Koeln                                4-0
10 April 2012 Werder Bremen vs Borussia MoenchGladbach      2-2
10 April 2012 Hertha BSC Berlin vs SC Freiburg                         1-2         
11 April 2012 Hannover 96 vs VFL Wolfsburg                             2-0
11 April 2012 Borussia Dortmund vs FC Bayern Muenchen        1-0
11 April 2012 1.FC Nuernberg vs Schalke 04                                4-1
11 April 2012 1899 Hoffenheim vs Hamburger SV                       4-0
11 April 2012 Bayer Leverkusen vs 1.FC Kaiserslautern               3-1

Bundesliga Table
                                                    GP     W    D    L      GF/A       Pts 
1Borussia Dortmund                    30      21    6    3       67:22       69
2Bayern München                        30      20   3     7       69:20       63
3Schalke 04                                  30      18   3     9       65:39       57
4Borussia Mönchengladbach       30      15   8     7        43:22      53
5VfB Stuttgart                              30      13   7   10        52:40      46
6Bayer Leverkusen                      30      12    8     9        44:38      44
7Hannover 96                               30      11  11     8        39:42      44
8Werder Bremen                          30      11    9   10        43:46      42
9Hoffenheim                                30       10  10  10        38:40      41
10Wolfsburg                                  30       12   4   14        41:54      40
11FSV Mainz 05                           30        9    9  12         47:48      36
12SC Freiburg                               30        9    8  13         41:56      35
131. FC Nürnberg                         30        10    5  15        31:42      35
14Hamburger SV                          30         7   10  13        33:55      31
15FC Augsburg                             30         6  12   12        32:47      30
161. FC Köln                                 30         8    5   17        36:62      29
17Hertha BSC Berlin                     30         6    9  15         34:54      27
181. FC Kaiserslautern                  30         3   11  16         19:44      20

Bundesliga Clash of Giants - Bor Dortmund host FC Bayern

 This Bunesliga season, without doubt has been full of surprises and Matchday 30 could be a climax of the season when FC Bayern takes on Borussia Dortmund today.  Borussia has the advantage, both in points and the fact that they are playing at home.  FC Bayern, which will be playing with Bastian Schweinsteiger today, has been relatively successful in their bid for the Champions League, having reached the semi-final, where they meet Real Madrid.  Most of this was done without their midfield director. 


                                                     GP     W    D    L      GF/A       Pts 
1Borussia Dortmund                    29      20    6    3       66:22       66
2Bayern München                        29      20   3     6       69:19       63

Dortmund on the other hand has been knocked out of the Champions League, but has advanced to the DFB Pokal final.  Their only focus, for the moment, is the domestic league.  This can be seen as an advantage over Bayern.   Although Mario Goetze has started training, he will  not be playing in today's contest.  Regardless, both Lewandowski and Kagawa have had rather successful runs during their 23 game undefeated streak.

FC Bayern is a seasoned team that is used to performing in high intensity games.  When on the brink, they have often prevailed and come out on top.  Regardless of the outcome, the expectations for an excellent game are high.  Gomez, Ribery, Arjen Robben and Toni Kroos will be expected to be on top of their game.  With the appearance of Bastian Schweinsteiger, the advantage would have to go to Munich, but Dortmund will not go down to defeat.

So what are the possible scenarios.

1. Bayern wins and takes the top of the Bundesliga with their better goal difference;

2.  Dortmund wins and takes a six point league, with just four games remaining, making it virtually impossible for Bayern to make up the difference, barring a disastrous end of the season for Dortmund.

3.  A draw would keep Dortmund in the lead with three points, making the end run a delight for the followers of the Bundesliga.

Here are some statistics:

There have been 85 meetings between Bayern and Dortmund.  Bayern won 38, Dortmund 21 and 26 games have ended in a draw.  Of 42 home games, Dortmund has a slight advantage of 13 to 12 over Bayern, with 17 ending in a draw.  Of 43 home games, Bayern took 26, while Dortmund took 8, while 9 games ended in a draw.   Overall Bayern outscored Dortmund 103 to 44.

Possible Line Ups:

Dortmund:  Weidenfeller - Piszcek, Subotic,, Hummels, Schmelzer - Guendogan, Kehl - Blaszcowzki, Kagawa, Grosskreutz - Lewandowski

Bayern:  Neuer - Lahm, Boateng, Badstuber, Alaba - Kroos, Schweinsteiger - Robben, Mueller, Ribery - Gomez