Bundesliga Matchday 17 - December 16th - 18th Fixtures and Preview

Bundesliga Matchday 17 kicks off tomorrow with FC Bayern hosting 1. FC Koeln in the Allianz Arena in Munich.  Bayern leads the league with 34 points, a three point lead over challengers Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04.  Munich has a 10 goal difference lead over Borussia Dortmund and will emerge as the official Herbstmeister (Fall champion) prior to the mid season winter break.  Lukas Podolski has been successful as a goal scorer this season and is challenging the scoring leaders.

On Saturday Dortmund is guest in Freiburg, which is trailing the league.  Dortmund should have no difficulty in picking up three points in the away match.  Schalke 04 hosts Bremen, which will be a challenge for the "Knappen" from Gelsenkirchen.

On Sunday Gladbach hosts Mainz 05, which was deprived of three points against Koeln in the make up match of matchday 13 earlier this week, due to a late goal by Lukas Podolski.  This will be a must win for both Gladbach and Mainz.  For Mainz it will gain some distance from the relegation zone, while for Gladbach a win will keep contact with the league leaders.

FC Bayern coch Jupp Heynckes had hoped that Schweinsteiger, who has returned to training, would be available for the final match before the winter break and possibly the DFB Pokal match against Bochum.  Unfortunately, Schweinsteiger will not be available.  The FC Bayern medical department has determined that the reinjury risk is still too high.   Both Heynckes and Schweinsteiger are disappointed with the decision.   Schweinsteiger broke his collar bone on November 2nd during a Champions League home game against Napoli.  

Matchday 17 completes the first half of the season, which has been full of surprises.  Gladbach, which was close to relegation last season, has surged and is a contender for the championship.  Augsburg is struggling in their debut to the Bundesliga and their visit to Hamburg this weekend will be another challenge.  Earlier on in the season it looked like FC Bayern would take be a runaway leader and that Manuel Neuer was unbeatable.   It turns out he is only human too.

The Bundesliga this season has been exciting and nothing has been decided.  The remaining matchdays after the winter break will keep fans on the edge of their seat.

Fixtures for Matchday 17


16.12.11,20.30 Bayern München - 1. FC Köln  3-0
17.12.11,15.30 Hamburger SV - FC Augsburg  1-1
17.12.11,15.30 SC Freiburg - Borussia Dortmund  1-4
17.12.11,15.30 1899 Hoffenheim - Hertha BSC Berlin  1-1
17.12.11,15.30 VfL Wolfsburg - VfB Stuttgart  1-0
17.12.11,15.30 Bayer Leverkusen - 1. FC Nürnberg  0-3
17.12.11,18.30 Schalke 04 - Werder Bremen  5-0
18.12.11,15.30 Kaiserslautern - Hannover 96  1-1
18.12.11,17.30 Mönchengladbach - FSV Mainz 05  1-0

Bundelsiga Table Updated 16 December  2011 



                                                         GP      W   D   L   GF/GA    Pts

1   Bayern München                        17         12  1    4     43:10      37
2   Borussia Dortmund                    17         10  4    3     35:12       34
3   Schalke 04                                  17         11  1    5     38-22       34
4   Borussia Mönchengladbach       17         10  3    4      25:11      33
5   Werder Bremen                          17           9    2    6    30-31      29
6    Bayer Leverkusen                     17           7    5    5     22:22      26
7   Hannover 96                               17           5    8    4     20-24     23
8   VfB Stuttgart                              17           6    4   7      23:20      22
9  1899 Hoffenheim                         17           6    4    7     19:18      22
10 1. FC Köln                                   17           6    3    8     27:35      21
11  Hertha BSC Berlin                     17           4    8    5      23:26     20
12  VfL Wolfsburg                           17           6    2    9       23:34     20
13  Hamburger SV                           17           4    7    6       21:27     19
14  FSV Mainz 05                            17           4    6    7       22:29     19
15  1. FC Nürnberg                          17           5    3    9       17:28     18
16  1. FC Kaiserslautern                  17           3    7    7       13:21     16
17  FC Augsburg                              17           3    6    8       15:28    15
18  SC Freiburg                                17            3    4  10      21:39    13