Match Day 28: Weekend Wrap-Up
- Chuck Smith
- Apr 2, 2018
- 4 min read
Saturday's Der Klassiker was about as stunning a result as one could expect at this stage of the season in the Bundesliga and not just because Bayern Munich embarrassed Borussia Dortmund 6-0 at the Allianz Arena. It was the manner in which Die Roten handed BVB the beat down that was fascinating.
Bayern looked as impressive as it has all season. With Thomas Müller and James Rodriguez taking turns orchestrating the offense, Die Roten shellacked the Dortmund defense. Robert Lewandowski had a hat trick, Muller and Rodriguez each had goals and the duo of Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben on the wings was just relentless. Ribery also had a goal in what was probably his best effort over the past two seasons.
The Bayern defense was staunch. Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, Rafinha, David Alaba, and Joshua Kimmich were all superb and Javi Martinez played the role of defensive midfielder to perfection in front of Sven Ulreich.
For BVB, however, the result was a disaster. The team was lifeless....and just, well, broken. Some of that can be attributed to missing Marco Reus, who is the engine that powers Dortmund, but not even Reus could have saved BVB on this day.
It was a result that has to make any thoughts about Peter Stöger's long term future with the club questionable at best. Dortmund has had many awful moments this season (*cough* getting bounced from the Europa League by RB Salzberg *cough*), but this was the penultimate a$$ kicking against a hated rival.
It is time to take this core at Dortmund and blow it up. Start fresh Dortmund, it is for the betterment of you and the league.
Hoffenheim 6, FC Koln 0: GAAAAAAAAAH....speaking of 6-0 a$$ kickings and (sniff, sniff) Koln was playing so well of late. They were indeed, but Hoffenheim was an unstoppable force on this day. Mark Uth and Serge Gnabry (two players who are only short-term solutions for Julian Nagelsmann - Uth will transfer to Schalke 04 this summer and Gnabry is expect to end his loan assignment and return to Bayern) each had a brace to lead the bashing of Koln. Lukas Rupp and Steven Zuber also added goals for Hoffenheim, which may have finally shaken off that uninspired malaise it was in for a good part of this campaign.
VfB Stuttgart 1, Hamburger SV 1: This was a downright awful result for a Stuttgart side that has been playing very well of late. Lewis Holtby's 18th minute goal might have stunned Stuttgart to a point where they could only scramble enough to achieve a draw. Daniel Ginczek's 44th minute tally evened the score, but Stuttgart failed to capitalize on the momentum it had built up prior to the international break.
Schalke 04 2, SC Freiburg 0: Daniel Caligiuri's penalty kick, a red card to Freiburg's Nils Petersen, and a 73rd minute tally by Guido Burgstaller (against 10 men) were enough for the Royal Blues to dance away from a game Freiburg side. Schalke just keeps taking care of its business and further locking down a Champions League slot. It's been a tremendous year for Domenico Tedesco and Schalke so far.
RB Leipzig 3, Hannover 96 2: Hannover may not have the depth of many top-tier Bundesliga teams, but they have enough fight to make just about every game interesting. After falling behind 2-0 when Leipzig's Emil Forsberg and Willi Orban scored, Hannover clawed back into the contest. Salif Sane and Niclas Fullkrug each scored in a seven minute span, but unfortunately for Hannover, Leipzig's Yussuf Poulsen scored a goal that was sandwiched between those tallies to give Leipzig at least enough breathing room to escape with the victory.
Bayer Leverkusen 0, FC Augsburg 0: Hmmm...Leverkusen has now had two consecutive sub-par performances in the league at a time where they should be making up ground against the competition for a top-four spot. It's not that a draw against Augsburg is anything to be ashamed of (it's clearly not) or that losing to Koln is embarrassing (well, before this week anyway); it's just that if you are a Leverkusen fan you have to have been hoping that by now that this kind of thing would be in the rear-view mirror. Every team will have the inevitable "off game", but if Leverkusen is looking to play European soccer next season, it will simply have to be better and more consistent in the stretch run of this season.
Hertha Berlin 0, Wolfsburg 0: We really have no take on this one other than "Shame on you Hertha" and "Way to stay out of the RELEGATION DANGER ZONE Wolves!"
Werder Bremen 2, Eintracht Frankfurt 1: It never fails. As soon as I endorsed some support for Nico Kovač as a possible successor to Jupp Heynckes at Bayern (and took heat from @SFbayeagles for doing so --- give them a follow!), the Kovač crew went out and laid an egg against a Werder Bremen squad that we have really gotten behind lately. We predicted a tie in this one because of Bremen's recent stellar play, but Bremen went even further and continued its ascent up the table by shocking the Eagles on a 79th minute own goal. It was a disappointing result for Frankfurt for sure, as its grip on a Europa League slot may be loosening. You know what @SFbayeagles, you were right, keep Kovač another five years! Seriously though, I think he's going to be a very good coach and the Eagles are lucky to have him.
Borussia Monchengladbach 0, Mainz 0: Go to hell M'Gladbach! You always let me down.
Weekly record: 4-5 (the blame for this losing week rests on you Gladbach!)
Season record: 38-34
Note: Predicted ties count as a win if correct and as a loss if there is a winner; conversely if a game is predicted to have a winner but ends in a tie, it will count as a loss.
Comentarios