Bundesliga Matchday 31 Fixtures and Preview

This has been a busy week in the Bundesliga, with Matchday 30 just completed yesterday, Matchday 31 kicks off tomorrow.  Matchday 30 probably has decided the the Championship, with Dortmund defeating Munich in the headliner 1-0.   Dortmund now holds a six point lead, a lead almost insurmountable with four games remaining.  At the bottom of the league Kaiserslautern trails Berlin by seven points and will most certainly be playing in 2. Bundesliga next year.

Hamburger SV, FC Augsburg, 1.FC Koeln and Hertha BSC Berlin will be battling to avoid the remaining relegation spot and relegation play off spot with third place 2. Bundesliga.   FC Bayern will likely end up in second place, with Schalke and Borussia MoenchenGladbach battling for the final Champions League spot.  Bremen and Hoffenheim still have a chance of getting into seventh place and the final Euro League spot.  In essence much has yet to be decided.

Stuttgart and Bremen meet head on in contention for a Euro League spot, while Nuernberg travels to the Betzenberg to solidify its place in the Bundesliga next year.  Augsburg travels to Wolfsburg hoping to pick up at least one point.   Wolfsburg has a small chance to make it to spot seven.  Hamburg hosts seventh place Hannover and needs a win, while Hannover will defend its present Euro League qualifying spot.

Schalke 04 host neighbour Borussia Dortmund.  Dortmund will be gleaming over its midweek victory over FC Bayern, while arch rival Schalke needs a win to maintain third place, a formidable task.  Leverkusen hosts Berlin, a match important to both.  A loss for Berlin could put the Bundesliga out of reach for next year for the Berliners.  FC Bayern host Mainz 05 and will want to redeem itself prior to its match next week against Real Madrid.  Bayern certainly needs a confidence builder.   While Mainz will want a win for assurance, the team is not likely in danger of slipping into the relegation zone.

Gladbach hosts Koeln on Sunday, a match of importance for both teams.  Koeln needs to win to avoid relegation, while Gladbach wants to move ahead of Schalke into a Champions League spot.  Regardless how it ends, Gladbach has made a remarkable comeback after narrowly avoiding relegation last year.  In the final Sunday game Freiburg hosts Hoffenheim.  While Freiburg is relatively safe from relegation, Hoffenheim has a remote possibility of moving into spot seven and Euro League qualification.

The Bundesliga promises to be exciting to the last matchday and is proving itself as one of the best leagues in Europe.  200 countries tuned into yesterday's game between Dortmund and FC Bayern. 



13.04.12,20.30     VfB Stuttgart     -     Werder Bremen                 4-1
14.04.12,15.30     Kaiserslautern     -     1. FC Nürnberg                (-:-)
14.04.12,15.30     VfL Wolfsburg     -     FC Augsburg                  (-:-)
14.04.12,15.30     Hamburger SV     -     Hannover 96                   (-:-)
14.04.12,15.30     Schalke 04     -     Borussia Dortmund               (-:-)
14.04.12,15.30     Bayer Leverkusen     -     Hertha BSC Berlin    (-:-)
14.04.12,18.30     Bayern München     -     FSV Mainz 05             (-:-)
15.04.12,15.30     Mönchengladbach     -     1. FC Köln                 (-:-)
15.04.12,17.30     SC Freiburg     -     1899 Hoffenheim                (-:-)

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                              31      14   7   10        56:41      49
6Bayer Leverkusen                      30      12    8     9        44:38      44
7Hannover 96                               30      11  11     8        39:42      44
8Werder Bremen                          31      11    9   11        44:50      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