German FA Cup (DFB Pokal) second round eliminates Hertha, Hannnover and Mainz 05

The DFB Pokal second round features 13 Bundesliga clubs among the 32 contenders, when all was said and done, three, Hertha BSC Berlin, Hannover 96 and Mainz 05, were eliminated.

2nd Bundesliga outfit 1860 Muenchen put up a stellar fight against Juergen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund. In front of 71,000 fans in the Allianz arena, the other Munich team held the Champions League finalist to a scoreless time over 90 minutes.  1860 ran out of steam during overtime and defeated the Lions with two unanswered goals.  Robert Lewandowski, who is expected to sign with Bayern Muenchen in January, was kept in check by the Lions.

Bayern Muenchen hosted Hannover 96 on Wednesday and the side showed its quality once again, when they rolled 4-1 over the guests.  Bayer Leverkusen scored twice against 2nd Bundesliga outfit Arminia Bielefeld to move to the next round. Schalke 04 managed a 3-1 win over Darmstadt 98. 

2nd Bundesligist Kaiserslautern move past Hertha BSC Berlin with a 3-1 win at the Fritz Walter Stadium on the Betzenberg and Mainz 05 lost against 1.FC Koeln.

At the end of the day, ten Bundesliga, five 2nd Bundesliga, and one third league, 1.FC Saarbruecken, will be competing in the third round.  Jogi Low, coach of Germany's national side, will be making the draw on Sunday.  The third round will be played on December 3rd and 4th.

Below are the results of round 2:

September 24
,
Preußen Münster vs FC Augsburg            0-3   
SC Wiedenbrück vs SV Sandhausen          1-3     
1860 München vs Borussia Dortmund    0-2           
VfL Wolfsburg vs VfR Aalen               2-0
Arminia Bielefeld vs Bayer Leverkusen      0-2         
Hamburger SV vs SpVgg Greuther Fürth     1-0          
1899 Hoffenheim vs Energie Cottbus        3-0       
FSV Mainz 05 vs 1. FC Köln   0-1

25 September
           
1. FC Saarbrücken vs SC Paderborn         2-1      
Eintracht Frankfurt vs VfL Bochum          2-0     
FSV Frankfurt vs FC Ingolstadt       0-2        
1. FC Kaiserslautern vs Hertha BSC Berlin   3-1            
VfL Osnabrück vs 1. FC Union Berlin    0-1           
Darmstadt 98 vs Schalke 04              1-3 
Bayern München vs Hannover 96    4-1           
SC Freiburg vs VfB Stuttgart      2-1

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 Clubs - Champions League Matchday 5

On Champions League Matchday 5 Group Stage three Bundesliga Clubs were in action.  FC Bayern continues to dominate Group A, after defeating Napoli 3-1 and has qualified for the top 16 knock out round.   Leverkusen's last minute goal over Chelsea  gave the Bayer factory team an important win ndin the final group game they will meet Genk, which lost to Valencia 7-0.  Chelsea will host Valencia. 

Leverkusen's fate is in its own hands, a draw between Chelsea and Valencia would move both teams ahead of Leverkusen by goal for goal against difference.  While Leverkusen can move on with a tie, a win against Genk is the best scenario. 

Dortmund, although doing extremely well in the Bundesliga, has found out that the Champions League is not the Bundesliga.  Besides putting extra pressure on the club, the win over Bayern Munich on the weekend seems to have taken its toll on the young team.  Early in the match against Arsenal both Goetze and Bender had to be substituted due to injuries.  Taking two key players out of the team also took its toll.  This is not to take anything away from the Gunners, who put on a superb performance in the Emirates.  Arsenal were able to do what Munich couldn't last Saturday, they penetrated Dortmund's defence.  My hat is off to the Gunners. 

With Dortmund's Champions League Adventure over, the team can now concentrate all their efforts on the Bundesliga.  Several of Dortmund's players play with the national side.  Goetze, Bender, Hummels will continue to see international play.  If there present performance in the Bundesliga continues, they will have another go at the Champions League next year, with a little more experience.

Bayern Muenchen and hopefully Leverkusen will continue to represent the Bundesliga in the Champoions League.  The rubber will hit the road with the knock out round.