Bundesliga Matchday 19 Preview: Can anyone come near Bayern Muenchen?

Bayern played it's make up match on Wednesday and celebrated a 2-1 win over VFB Stuttgart.  Although the Schwaben with its defence gave Bayern a run for their money, in the end Thiago scored twice to give Pepiola's side a 2-1 victory.  With a 13 point lead and 50 points after 18 matches, is it possible for anyone to come near Bayern this season?

Matchday 19 kicks off in Braunschweig, when the taillight of the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund.  Last season's Champions League finalist, trails Bayern by 17 points and with ten wins, three draws and five losses, Juergen Klopp's side has been burdened with injuries  and is in dire need of a victory. Braunschweig has a lot of work to do to remove itself from the relegation zone in the next 16 matches.  Despite the fact that the club plays well, it has been an uphill battle to record the three victories so far.

Second place Leverkusen hosts VFB Stuttgart on Saturday.  If the Schwaben can come out with another performance like on Wednesday against Bayern, they have a very good chance to defeat Leverkusen at home.  They certainly don't want to lose two matches in a row.  Leverkusen with a four point lead over Dortmund will remain in second place either way, but would lose more ground over FC Bayern.

Schalke 04, with the return of Klaas van Huntelaar has some additional firepower and will certainly look for another victory at home against Wolfsburg.  A win by the Royal Blues could move them as far up as second place, depending on the results of Gladbach's  and Dortmund matches.  A Wolfsburg win would move the factory team ahead of Schalke.  This should be a match to watch.

Hoffenheim and Hamburg are separated by three points, with Hamburg in 16th place and Hoffenheim in 12th.  This is how little separates the bottom half of the league from relegation.  The Hanseaten are desperate for a win and Hoffenheim hopes to get back to its high scoring games and a continued climb up the Bundesliga ladder.

A fiesty Augsburg side hosts a beleaguered Werder Bremen.  Augsburg has had some success this season and with 25 points are out of immediate danger of being relegated. They could become a formidable obstacle to Werder Bremen, another side only separated from a relegation spot by three points.  The nod has to go to Augsburg for a win at home.

The remaining two matches on Saturday sees Mainz hosting SC Freiburg and Hannover hosts Gladbach.  Gladbach, currently in fourth spot will make Hannover's life difficult.  Hannover is currently in tenth spot.  This match could easily end in a draw or a win for the hosts.  All bets are off on the Mainz vs Freiburg match.  Both sides have the ability of walking away with three points.  Freiburg needs the win to move up he Bundesliga ladder and make some space between remaining in the top flight or ending up in a relegation spot.  Mainz needs a home win to remain in touch with the top half of the league.  This will be a another match worth watching.

On Sunday Eintracht Frankfurt will be guest in the Allianz Arena.  The Eagles have finally broke the jinx and won a home match, but require another victory to maintain the momentum.  An upset is possible for the Bayern side, but unlikely at home.  The question is who will Pep have in the starting lineup?

Berlin hosts Nuernberg in the other match on Sunday.  Both sides have the ability to win. Berlin, which moved up into the league after only a one  year absence look like they are here to stay.  Nuernberg finally recorded a victory, but remains in 17th spot.  Despite Nuernberg's revival, Berlin should win this one at home.

What is guaranteed this weekend are plenty of goals, some surprises and some forgone conclusions, but in the end the fans will be thrilled again, as one of the best leagues in Europe takes to the pitch.

Friday January 31

Eintr. Braunschweig vs Borussia Dortmund  1-2

Saturday February 1

1899 Hoffenheim vs Hamburger SV       
Bayer Leverkusen vs VfB Stuttgart       
Schalke 04 vs VfL Wolfsburg       
FC Augsburg vs Werder Bremen       
FSV Mainz 05 vs SC Freiburg       
Hannover 96 vs Bor. Mönchengladbach

Sunday February 2

Hertha BSC vs 1. FC Nürnberg       
Bayern München vs Eintracht Frankfurt    



Posn  Team             GP   W   D   L    GF/GA   Points
1      FC Bayern        18    16   2    0       42:9         50
2      Leverkusen       18    12   1    5       34:19       37
3      Dortmund         19    11   3    5       42:23       36
4      M'gladbach       18    10   3    5       35:21       33
5      Schalke             18      9   4    5       35:26       31
6      Wolfsburg         18      9   3    6       29:22       30
7      Hertha BSC       18     8  4     6       27:21       28
8      Mainz                18     8   3    7       27:33        27
9      Augsburg           18     7   4    7      23:27        25
10   Hannover            18    6    3    9      26:32        21
11    Bremen              18     5     5   8     22:37        20
12    Stuttgart             18    5    4    9      30:33        19
13    Hoffenheim        18     4    6   8     36:42        19
14  Frankfurt             18     3     6   8     21:29        18
15    Freiburg             18     4     6   9     19:33        18
16    Hamburg            18      4    4  10    33:41        16 
17    Nürnberg            18    1    11   6     21:33        14
18    B'schweig           19    3     3  13    11:34         12

Bundesliga Matchday 18 Roundup: Bayern starts 2014 campaign with a win

Bayern's first appearance in 2014, in Gladbach resulted in a win.  It was Bayern's 27th undefeated away match. Bayern increased its lead over Bayer Leverkusen by ten points and is on tab again next Wednesday to for a make up match against VFB Stuttgart of matchday 17.

Mario Goetze, who has found back to his form scored the opener in the sixth minute.  Constant bombardment and accurate passing by Bayern kept Gladbach on the alert, with only a couple of breakthroughs, which challenged Manuel Neuer.  Even when the arguably best keeper in world was defeated he was bailed out by a defender or a goal post.  In the 54th minute a free kick was awarded to Bayern because of a deliberate handball.  Thomas Mueller easily converted the free kick into a goal.  The 2-0 win humbles Gladbach, who have seldom lost a home match against Munich.

Hannover 96 registered its first away win of the season after defeating VFL Wolfsburg 3-1.  While Wolfsburg had the better start, Hannover improved as the game went along.   Hannover scored first half an hour into the game when  Artjoms Rudnev flicked the ball into the net on a pass from Mame Diouf.  Ivoc Olic didn't take long to respond and netted for a draw on a counter.  Bittencourt got the go ahead goal for Hannover, while Wolfsburg attacked with the complete team only to succumb to Bittencourts second counter for the afternoon.

Nuernberg registered its first win of the campaign defeating Hoffenheim 4-0.  Despite the three point Nuernberg remains in 17th spot just ahead of Braunschweig. Drmic got the first goal and from then on it was downhill for Hoffenheim.  Drmic scored his second at the 40 minute mark.  Ginczek added a third shortly into the second half.  Drmic made it four 20 minutes before the final visit for his eighth of the campaign.

Mainz captured three point in Stuttgart with a 2-1 win in the Daimler Benz Arena.  Mohammed Abdellaoue scored the first goal for Stuttgart.  Shinji Okazaki got the equalizer for Mains just before the half.  Benedikt Saller ensured the win for Mainz before the final visit.  Mainz moves ahead of Stuttgart into 9th place.  Stuttgart is on tab again next Wednesday for a make up matchday 17 game against FC Bayern.

A fiesty Freiburg club defeated Leverkusen 3-2 and moved out of the relegation zone into 17th spot.  Meanwhile Dortmund only managed a draw against Augsburg, but the draw moved the Borussen ahead of Gladbach on goals.  Augsburg moved into the top ten in ninth spot.

Eintracht Frankfurt registered its first home win of the season.  Hertha deserved to tie the game, but a goal was not on their menu.  Frankfurt moves up to 14th spot.

Werder Bremen was held to a scoreless draw by Eintracht Braunschweig.   Bremen came closest to scoring shortly into the second half, but Phillip Bargfrede hit the post with a shot from the distance.  
In Hamburg Klass van Huntelaar made his presence felt, when he scored the first goal after a long layoff.  Schalke won a convincing 3-0 victory in Hamburg, moving into fifth spot in the league.  Hamburg for now has to settle for a relegations spot.

With one game in hand, which will be played on Wednesday, Bayern has a commanding lead with ten points ahead of Leverkusen and 14 in front of Dortmund.


Friday 24 January

Bor. Mönchengladbach vs Bayern München  0-2 

Saturday 25 January
       
SC Freiburg vs Bayer Leverkusen    3-2   
VfL Wolfsburg vs Hannover 96       1-3
1. FC Nürnberg vs 1899 Hoffenheim    4-0
VfB Stuttgart vs FSV Mainz 05       1-2
Borussia Dortmund vs FC Augsburg    2-2   
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Hertha BSC   1-0

Sunday 26 January
   
Werder Bremen vs Eintr. Braunschweig   0-0
Hamburger SV vs Schalke 04   0-3  

Wednesday 29 January 

VFB Stuttgart vs FC Bayern Muenchen 1-2

Posn  Team             GP   W   D   L    GF/GA   Points
1      FC Bayern        18    16   2    0       42:9         50
2      Leverkusen       18    12   1    5       34:19       37
3      Dortmund         18    10   3    5       40:22       33
4      M'gladbach       18    10   3    5       35:21       33
5      Schalke             18      9   4    5       35:26       31
6      Wolfsburg         17      9   3     5      28:19       30
7      Hertha BSC       18     8  4     6       27:21       28
8      Mainz                18     8   3    7      27:33        27
9      Augsburg           18     7   4    7      23:27        25
10   Hannover            18    6    3    9      26:32        21
11    Stuttgart             18    5    4    9      30:33        19
12    Hoffenheim        18     4    6   8     36:42        19
13    Bremen               17     5     4   7    22:37        19
14  Frankfurt             18     3     6   8     21:29        18
15    Freiburg             18     4     6   9     19:33        18
16    Hamburg            18      4    4  10    33:41        16 
17    Nürnberg            18    1    11   6     21:33        14
18    B'schweig           18    3     3  12    10:32         12

Bundesliga Matchday 18 Preview: Can Bayern maintain its lead?

After a long winter break, the Bundesliga is back to commence with the second half of their season.  After matchday 17 FC Bayern led the league by seven points over Leverkusen with one game in hand, which will be played on the 29th of January. Last year's Champions League finalist Borussia Dortmund currently trails Bayern by 12 points.

In the matchday opener on Friday, Bayern travel to Moenchengladbach, a team that has had an excellent finish to the halfway point. Gladbach is currently in third place two points ahead of Dortmund and four points behind second place Leverkusen.  Bayern went through last year without losing a single Bundesliga match.  Can this occur during its first test in 2014 in Gladbach?  It could.  Despite Bayern's star power, the home game advantage has to go to Gladbach.

Freiburg currently on top of the relegation zone, with just three wins for its efforts, will be hosting second place Leverkusen.  Can the fiesty south Baden team finally earn three points and move up on the relegation zone?  Leverkusen has the advantage here.

Fifth place Wolfsburg hosts Hannover and should come out on top in that match.  Nuernberg hosts Hoffenheim.  This could be a nailbiter, with both sides needing a win.  Nuernberg is without a single victory this season and something need to give if the Der Club is to survive in the Bundesliga.  Hoffenheim is in 11th spot.

Dortmunds hosts Augsburg and on paper should win this match.  Augsburg cannot be counted out though and Dortmund has lost a few sure matches in Dortmund this season.  It should be an interesting match.

In the final Saturday match Frankfurt hosts Berlin.  Berlin has impressed during the first half of the season and with eight wins, four draws and five losses is well positioned in sixth spot.  Not bad for a league debutant.  Franfurt is currently in 15th spot.  All bets are off for this match, in which Frankfurt has home advantage.

Two matches remain for Sunday when Bremen hosts newcomer Braunschweig, which is the taillight of the Bundesliga after the first half of the season.  The second Sunday match sees Hamburg hosting Schalke.  The Knappen are currently in seventh spot and have been inconsistent during the first half.  Hamburg is in 14th spot.  All things being equal Schalke should win this match.

Regardless of outcomes, it will be good news for all Bundesliga fans that the league is back. All eyes will be on Leverkusen and Dortmund to see if these two teams end up in a battle for second spot.  Will Gladbach be able to maintain its present pace and will Schalke return to consistency?  On the bottom of the league  the questions are if Nuernberg can survive and can Freiburg finally move out of the relegation zone? 

Friday 24 January

Bor. Mönchengladbach vs Bayern München  0-2 

Saturday 25 January
       
SC Freiburg vs Bayer Leverkusen    3-2   
VfL Wolfsburg vs Hannover 96       1-3
1. FC Nürnberg vs 1899 Hoffenheim    4-0
VfB Stuttgart vs FSV Mainz 05       1-2
Borussia Dortmund vs FC Augsburg    2-2   
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Hertha BSC   

Sunday 26 January
   
Werder Bremen vs Eintr. Braunschweig   
Hamburger SV vs Schalke 04       

Posn  Team             GP   W   D   L    GF/GA   Points
1      FC Bayern        17    15   2    0       44:8         47
2      Leverkusen       18    12   1    5       34:19       37
3      Dortmund         18    10   3    5       40:22       33
4      M'gladbach       18    10   3    5       35:21       33
5      Wolfsburg         17      9   3     5      28:19       30
6      Hertha BSC       17     8  4     5       27:20       28
7      Schalke             17      8   4    5       32:26       28
8      Mainz                18     8   3    7      27:33        27
9      Augsburg           18     7   4    7      23:27        25
10    Stuttgart             17    5    4    8      29:31        19
11    Hoffenheim        18     4    6   8     36:42        19
12    Bremen               17     5     4   7    22:37        19
13    Hannover           17     5    3    9     23:31        18
14    Freiburg              18     4     5   9     19:33       17
15    Hamburg            17     4    4    9     33:38        16
16    Frankfurt            17     3     6   8     20:29        15
17    Nürnberg             18    1    11   6     21:33       14
18    B'schweig            17     3     2  12    10:32       11