German Soccer Federation Rejects Hertha BSC Appeal

The German soccer federation, DFB, has rejected an appeal by Hertha BSC Berlin and will not require a replay of the match.  In their finding the sports court of the DFB said that the game was completed and that the referee took all measures and proceeded to resume playing,  without pressure by the arena's security. 

Last week's leg 2 of the relegation battle between Fortuna Duesseldorf and Hertha BSC Berlin ended ugly.  With approximately two minutes of extra time remaining. fans swarmed past security onto the pitch and lit flares.  The onslaught caused the referees and players of both teams to escape to the security of their dressing rooms.  The game was eventually restarted and ended 2-2, which gave Duesseldorf an aggregate win and promotion to the Bundesliga, while Berlin would be relegated to the 2nd flight.

The court's findings relegate Berlin to the 2nd Divsion while Duesseldorf will be promoted to the top flight for the 2012/2013 season for the first time in 15 years.

The courts said that the appeal was rejected since no grounds for an appeal was apparent.  Berlin has been charged with the costs of the proceedings.  Berlin can still make an additional appeal to the Federal DFB court.

Still outstanding are the allegations by the referee Wolfgang Stark.  According to the referee, Kobiashwilli hit the referee with his fist, players of the Berlin side stormed the referee's conference room, while other players of the team threw insults at the referee team.

Update:  The result of the game were under dispute and heard by the DFB Sports Court (DFB Sportsgericht) in the first instance, which found that the game ended properly and gave the win to Duesseldorf.  Berlin appealed that finding to the highest level of the DFB Court, which again ruled in favour of Duesseldorf on May 25th.   Duesseldorf will move into the Bundesliga, while Berlin is relegated.  

The are other options open to Berlin, but Berlin has not yet decided whether to appeal to higher levels yet, including FIFA.  

Bundesliga Matchday 34 Fixtures and Preview

Bundesliga Matchday 34 marks the end of the 2011/12 Bundesliga season.  The top four spots have been decided.  Dortmund will be the champion, handily leading FC Bayern with eight points and Bayern is nine points ahead of Schalke 04, which in turn leads Borussia Moenchengladbach by seven points.  For VFB Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen it  will be a battle for fifth and sixth place, with Stuttgart currently holding a one point lead.

Hannover, Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim, Nuernberg and Bremen mathematically have a chance to move into the seventh and final Euro League spot.  Realistically speaking, only Wolfsburg has a real opportunity to remove Hannover from that spot.

Kaiserslautern is already relegated and the results of the Koln vs Bayern and Berlin vs Hoffenheim will decide the second relegation and relegation elimination match with the 2. Bundesliga third place club.

The soon to be crowned champion Borussia Dortmund will host a feisty Freiburg team.  With the trophy in place, Dortmund will want to leave a good impression in its final match for the season.  Munich plays in Koln, a team fighting for its very survival in the Bundesliga.  It's a must win for Koln.  Although Berlin is two points behind, the goal difference would move Koln into spot 17 in the even of a tie and a Berlin win.  Berlin hosts Hoffenheim, which is another difficult match for the Berliners.

05.05.2012     15:30     1. FC Nürnberg - Bayer 04 Leverkusen     -:- (-:-)    
05.05.2012     15:30     1. FSV Mainz 05 -M'gladbach     -:- (-:-)    
05.05.2012     15:30     1. FC Köln - FC Bayern München     -:- (-:-)    
05.05.2012     15:30     SV Werder Bremen  - FC Schalke 04     -:- (-:-)   
05.05.2012     15:30     FC Augsburg - Hamburger SV     -:- (-:-)    
05.05.2012     15:30     Borussia Dortmund  - Sport-Club Freiburg     -:- (-:-)    
05.05.2012     15:30     Hannover 96 - 1. FC Kaiserslautern     -:- (-:-)    
05.05.2012     15:30     Hertha BSC  - 1899 Hoffenheim     -:- (-:-)    
05.05.2012     15:30     VfB Stuttgart  - VfL Wolfsburg     -:- (-:-)

Bundesliga Table
                                                    GP       W    D    L        GF/A        Pts
1Borussia Dortmund                    33      24    6    3         76:25          78
2Bayern München                        33      22   4     7         73:21          70
3Schalke 04                                  33      19   4   10         71:42          61
4Borussia Mönchengladbach       33      16   9    8          46:24          57
5VfB Stuttgart                               33     14   8   11         57:44          50
6Bayer Leverkusen                       33      14   9     9         49:41          49
7Hannover 96                                33     11  12   10         39:44          45 8Wolfsburg                                    33     13    5   15         45:57          44
9Hoffenheim                                 33      10  11   12         40:44          42
101. FC Nürnberg                         33      12    6   15          37:45          42
11Werder Bremen                          33     11    9   13          46:55          42
12SC Freiburg                               33      10  10  13           44:57          40
13FSV Mainz 05                           33        9  12  12           47:48          39
14Hamburger SV                           33        8  12  13           35:56          36
15FC Augsburg                             33         7  14  12          35:49          35
161. FC Köln                                 33         8    6  19          38:69          30
17Hertha BSC Berlin                     33         6  10  17         38:63          28
181. FC Kaiserslautern                  33         4   11  18         23:52          23

Bundesliga Matchday 33 Round Up - Berlin Joins K'Lautern in Relegation

With matchday 33 in the books, the Bundesliga is all but decided.  Dortmund will play their final match at home next week and will be able to celebrate its championship before a home crowd.  87,500 fans should be in the Dortmund stadium.  Kaiserslautern, which was already heading for relegation next season, put in a stellar performance against Dortmund, scoring the first goal.  In the end it wasn't enough to derail Dortmund.  Barrios and Kagawa put in a superb performance to lead Dortmund to a 5-2 victory.

In the southern derby between Bayern Muenchen and VFB Stuttgart, Gomez came through with two goals and the Champions League finalist walked away with a 2-0 win.  Berlin has joined Kaiserslautern and is also returning to the 2. Bundesliga next year.  Schalke defeated Berlin easily with 4 goals to nothing.  Koeln lost to Freiburg 3-1 and is now in the relegation qualification spot.

Augsburg with a scoreless tie with Gladbach has prevailed in the second leg of the season and has saved its spot in the Bundesliga for the 2012/13 season, a superb effort by Augsburg.

Matchday 34 will see a battle for spot seven and the final Euroleague spot.  Wolfsburg, Hannover and Hoffenheim will be vying for that spot.

For Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern there is still the DFB Cup to decide and of course, Bayern is looking forward to hosting Chelsea in the Allianz Arena for the Champions League final. 

In the 2. Bundesliga, Eintracht Frankfurt and Greuther Fuerth will be promoted to the Bundesliga.  Duessledorf, St. Pauli, Paderborn and 1860 Muenchen are still in contention for the third spot.  2. Bundesliga plays all of its matches tomorrow.  

28.04.2012, 15.30    Bayer Leverkusen -    Hannover 96                      1-0   
28.04.2012, 15.30    Hamburger SV -    FSV Mainz 05                         0-0   
28.04.2012, 15.30    1899 Hoffenheim -    1. FC Nürnberg                   2-3   
28.04.2012, 15.30    Bayern München -    VfB Stuttgart                       2-0   
28.04.2012, 15.30    SC Freiburg -    1. FC Köln                                   3-1  
28.04.2012, 15.30    Bor. Mönchengladbach -    FC Augsburg              0-0   
28.04.2012, 15.30    1. FC Kaiserslautern -    Borussia Dortmund        2-5   
28.04.2012, 15.30    VfL Wolfsburg -    Werder Bremen                       3-1   
28.04.2012, 15.30    Schalke 04 -    Hertha BSC Berlin                         4-0

Bundesliga Table
                                                    GP       W    D    L        GF/A        Pts
1Borussia Dortmund                    33      24    6    3         76:25          78
2Bayern München                        33      22   4     7         73:21          70
3Schalke 04                                  33      19   4   10         71:42          61
4Borussia Mönchengladbach       33      16   9    8          46:24          57
5VfB Stuttgart                               33     14   8   11         57:44          50
6Bayer Leverkusen                       33      14   9     9         49:41          49
7Hannover 96                                33     11  12   10         39:44          45 8Wolfsburg                                    33      13   5   15         45:57          44
9Hoffenheim                                 33     10  11   12          40:44          42
101. FC Nürnberg                         33      12   6   15           37:45          42
11Werder Bremen                          33     11    9   13          46:55          42
12SC Freiburg                               33       10  10  13          44:57          40
13FSV Mainz 05                           33        9  12 12            47:48          39
14Hamburger SV                           33        8  12  13           35:56          36
15FC Augsburg                             33         7  14  12          35:49          35
161. FC Köln                                 33         8    6  19          38:69          30
17Hertha BSC Berlin                     33         6  10  17         38:63          28
181. FC Kaiserslautern                  33         4   11  18         23:52          23