FC Bayern: Test Game in Kaiserslautern

With just 11 days prior to the biggest pre-Bundesliga tests of all, the DFB Super Cup, Bayern Muenchen had another successful game against relegated club 1.FC Kaiserslautern.
25,000 spectators watched the game in the Betzenberg's "Fritz Walter Stadium". Schweinsteiger, Alaba, Pizarro, Contendo, Rafinha and Ribery were not in the line-up.
Bayern dominated the game, which wasn't much of a surprise. In the 23rd minute Bayern scored the opening goal, when Gomez missed a pass from Robben inside the 16 meter area, Mueller rushed in and put the ball into the net 1-0 Bayern.Full Story @allvoices.com

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 32 - Fixtures and Preview

 Nine points are still available during the last three games of the 2011/12 Bundesliga season.  While mathematically FC Bayern could still obtain the top spot, practically this is impossible, without a total collapse of Dortmund.  Dortmund has gone undefeated in the last 25 games.  Dortmund should officially wrap up the league championship this weekend when they host Borussia MoenchenGladbach.  FC Bayern will be concentrating on leg two of the Champions League final next Wednesday in Madrid.  When Bayern plays in Bremen on Saturday don't expect the regulars to play much of the game.  Jupp Heyncke will give them a rest prior to next week's return match.

Gladbach and Schalke are separated by one point and both teams are looking for a direct entry into the Champions League next season.  Gladbach will have the most difficult task in Dortmund, while Augsburg is no pushover either for Schalke.  Augsburg is four points from a relegation spot and will want to  build on that cushion.  The battle to escape relegation continues for Freiburg, Hamburg, Augsburg, Koeln and Berlin.  Kaiserslautern will be playing in 2nd Bundesliga next year and can only hope to have a few good performances prior to its departure.  Kaiserslautern will travel to Berlin.  Hertha needs a win to keep its hopes alive.

Freiburg plays in Hannover, while Koeln host a powerful Stuttgart team.  Hamburg travels to Nuernberg.  The Franken have all but saved their retention in the Bundesliga.

In the 2nd Bundesliga, Greuther Fuerth, which put up a robust fight against Dortmund in the German Cup semi-final, is guaranteed promotion to the top flight, along with Eintracht Frankfurt.  The fight for third spot in the second flight and a relegation qualification game will be fought for by three teams, Paderborn, Duesseldorf and FC St. Pauli.  Former long time Bundesliga club Karlsruher SC is in danger of relegation to the third flight.

The fixtures for this coming weekend and the table are below. 

 20.04.2012, 20.30    FSV Mainz 05 -    VfL Wolfsburg                              0-0 
21.04.2012, 15.30    1. FC Nürnberg -    Hamburger SV                             (-:-)   
21.04.2012, 15.30    Hertha BSC Berlin -    1. FC Kaiserslautern               (-:-)   
21.04.2012, 15.30    1. FC Köln -    VfB Stuttgart                                       (-:-)   
21.04.2012, 15.30    1899 Hoffenheim -    Bayer Leverkusen                     (-:-)   
21.04.2012, 15.30    Werder Bremen -    Bayern München                          (-:-)   
21.04.2012, 18.30    Borussia Dortmund -    Bor. Mönchengladbach          (-:-)   
22.04.2012, 15.30    FC Augsburg -    Schalke 04                                        (-:-)   
22.04.2012, 17.30    Hannover 96 -    SC Freiburg                                       (-:-)

Bundesliga Table
                                                    GP       W    D    L        GF/A        Pts
1Borussia Dortmund                    31      22    6    3         69:23          72
2Bayern München                        31      20   4     7         69:20          64
3Schalke 04                                  31     18   3   10          66:41          57
4Borussia Mönchengladbach       31     16   8     7          46:22          56
5VfB Stuttgart                               31     14   7   10         56:41          49
6Bayer Leverkusen                       31     12   9     9          47:41          45
7Hannover 96                               31     11  11    9           39:43         44
8Hoffenheim                                 31     10  11  10          38:40          42
9Werder Bremen                           31     11    9   11         44:50          42
10Wolfsburg                                 32      12   5   15         42:56          41
11FSV Mainz 05                           32        9  11 12          47:48          38
131. FC Nürnberg                         31      11   5   15         33:42          38
12SC Freiburg                               31        9    9  13         41:56          36
14Hamburger SV                           31        8  10  13         34:55          34
15FC Augsburg                             31         7  12  12         34:48          33
161. FC Köln                                  31         8    5  18        36:65          29
17Hertha BSC Berlin                      31         6  10  15        37:57         28
181. FC Kaiserslautern                  31         3   11  17        19:46          20

Goals by Ballack and Sam Ensure Leverkusen Win in Matchday 13 Opener

 Ballack's and Sidney Sam's second half goals gained Leverkusen a valuable 3 points in Kaiserslautern.  This was Ballack's second goal of the season, who started in Bundesliga Career in Kaiserslautern.

 After and intensive opening 45 minutes, the game was locked in a draw.  There were several opportunities for both sides, especially for the host Kaiserslautern.  Bayer Leverkusen did little to endanger Kaiserslautern. 



Nine minutes into the second half, Leverkusen took the lead.  In the 54th minute Michael Ballack scored his second of the season.   A relatively easy shot off Ballack's left foot slips through the gloves of Trapp and the ball slipped slowly into the net.


Leverkusen scored once more in the 70th minute, after Bender delivers a pass to Sam Sidney, who pounds the ball into the net from 8 yards.  Trapp had no chance.  2-0 Leverkusen.  

The win was critical to Leverkusen.  With 21 points Leverkusen moves up to sixth place.  Unfortunately for Kaiserslautern, the team will once again be fighting against relegation.  For now they are in 12th place, at least until tomorrow. 




Matchday 13 Fixtures:

18.11.2011, 20.30    1. FC Kaiserslautern -Bayer Leverkusen 0:2 
19.11.2011, 15.30    Schalke 04 -1. FC Nürnberg 4-0
19.11.2011, 15.30    SC Freiburg -Hertha BSC Berlin 2-2
19.11.2011, 15.30    Bor. Mönchengladbach -Werder Bremen 5-0
19.11.2011, 15.30    1. FC Köln -FSV Mainz 05 (-:-) 
19.11.2011, 15.30    VfL Wolfsburg -Hannover 96 4-1
19.11.2011, 18.30    Bayern München -Borussia Dortmund 0-1
20.11.2011, 15.30    VfB Stuttgart -FC Augsburg 2-1
20.11.2011, 17.30    Hamburger SV -1899 Hoffenheim 0-2


Bundesliga Table  Matchday 13
                                                          GP   W   L    D   GF/A   Pts
1    Bayern München                        13    9    1    3    32:5       28
2    Borussia Dortmund                     13    8    2    3    27:9      26
3    Borussia Mönchengladbach        13    8    2    3   20:9       26
4    Schalke 04                                   13    8    1    4    28:18    25
5    Werder Bremen                           13    7    2    4    23:21    23
6    VfB Stuttgart                                13    6    3    4    20-13    21
7    Bayer Leverkusen                        13    6    3    4    17:16    21
8    Hannover 96                                 13    5    4    4    17:21    19
9    1899 Hoffenheim                          13    5    2    6    15:15    17
10    Hertha BSC Berlin                      13    4    5    4    18:19    17
11    1. FC Köln                                   12    5    1    6    20:26    16
12    VfL Wolfsburg                            13    5    1    7   19:26     16
13    1. FC Kaiserslautern                    13    3    4    6   10:17     13
14    Hamburger SV                             13    3    4    6    17:25    13
15    FSV Mainz 05                              12    3    3    6   16:23     12
16    1. FC Nürnberg                            13    3    3    7    13:24    12
17    SC Freiburg                                  13    3    2    8    18:29    11
18    FC Augsburg                                12    1    5    6     9:22       8