Bundesliga Review: Borussia Dortmund Stay Top, FC Bayern Smash 6 Past Berlin

Borussia Dortmund remain in first place after this weekend’s Bundesliga action, maintaining their five point lead and setting a new record along the way.

This is despite Bayern Munich handing out another thrashing, this time beating Hertha Berlin 6-0.

Schalke were also involved in a high scoring affair, beating Kaiserslautern on Sunday to keep up the pressure on Borussia Mönchengladbach for third place.

Here’s a game-by-game review of all this weekend’s matches in Germany’s top flight.

Hoffenheim vs Stuttgart

VFB Stuttgart won 2-1 at Hoffenheim to keep alive their dreams of pushing for a Europa League qualification spot.

Their victory leaves them in eighth place, just three points behind Werder Bremen in the last European place.

Stuttgart’s form has been somewhat inconsistent this season, but they have quality in their squad and can be expected to fight until the end for that coveted sixth-place finish.

Defeat leaves Hoffenheim in 12th. Any European places now look very unlikely and they will have to improve their form to avid slipping towards the relegation playoff position come the end of the season.

Bayer Leverkusen vs Borussia Mönchengladbach

Gladbach ensured they remain in third place after this weekend’s game away to Leverkusen.

With all of the top four teams winning this weekend, Gladbach remain one point above Schalke with their 2-1 win.

If they are still there come the end of the season they will secure Champions League qualification, without having to go through the preliminary qualifying rounds.

Despite losing, Leverkusen remain in fifth place—the first Europa League qualifying berth.

However, with that part of the table being extremely tight, they will need to rediscover winning ways to make sure they do not slip out of the European places.

Borussia Dortmund vs Werder Bremen

Shinji Kagawa celebrated his 23rd birthday by scoring the only goal of the game to keep Dortmund five points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.

BVB have now gone a record 20 games undefeated this season.

It is this fantastic form that has seen Jürgen Klopp’s men stay one step ahead of resurgent FC Bayern in the last few weeks in the quest to retain the league title.

The defeat will be a blow for Bremen who, like Leverkusen, maintain their Europa League spot in 6th.

They will have to work hard for a win against Augsburg next weekend to ensure that they do not slip out of the European places.

FC Augsburg vs Mainz 05

Despite languishing in 15th place, Augsburg have taken eight points from their last four games, including Saturday’s 2-1 win at home to Mainz.

This has seen them rise out of the relegation places in recent weeks, but they are still only three points away from an automatic relegation spot.

With the game against Bremen next week, who have everything to play for at the other end of the table, Augsburg will have their work cut out for them to avoid slipping back into the drop zone.

This loss leaves Mainz in 11th place. Their form over the coming weeks will be the difference between pushing for a European place, mid-table obscurity or a relegation battle.

Hamburg vs FC Freiburg

A 3-1 win for Freiburg saw them move out of the automatic relegation zone into the playoff place.

This result will be disappointing for Hamburg who, despite a poor season, could have expected to get something out of this home game.

Now in 14th, two places above Freiburg, Hamburg are in very real danger of slipping into the relegation places, having only gained one point in their last five matches.

FC Nuremberg vs Wolfsburg

Wolfsburg’s 3-1 win meant that they swapped places with Nuremberg, moving above them to ninth place.

They will still be looking to push for a Europe League spot, being only five points behind sixth placed Werder Bremen.

The defeat leaves Nuremberg unlikely to be drawn into a relegation scrap, but also seems to put any hopes of Europe beyond them this season.

Hertha Berlin vs Bayern Munich

Undoubtedly the game of the weekend, Bayern smashed six past Berlin without reply.

This win takes Bayern’s goal tally in their last three matches to a very impressive 20.

Their attacking players have been on fire and have picked themselves up from a dip in form that saw Borussia Dortmund snatch first place from them.

However, with their current performances they will be pushing BVB all the way to ensure this season’s title race goes down to the wire.

For Berlin, the defeat sees them fall into the automatic relegation places.

The coming weeks will be vital for both teams.

At one end, Bayern will be hoping to win the title.

At the other, Berlin will just be happy to be in the league next year.

FC Kaiserslautern vs Schalke 04

In Sunday’s first game, Schalke comfortable beat Kaiserslautern 4-1.

Kaiserslautern took the lead in the third minute, and it took until the second half for Schalke to score all four of their goals.

Schalke are now fourth and having created a 10-point gap between them and Leverkusen in fifth place, it seems likely that the top four teams will be the only ones battling it out for Champions League places.

This result pretty much summed up Kaiserslautern’s season, who now find themselves bottom of the league and six points from safety.

They will have to do something pretty special over the coming weeks to avoid what seems like their inevitable fate.

Hannover 96 vs FC Köln

A 4-1 win for Hannover ensured that the Bundesliga saw no drawn games at all this weekend.

The result moves them to just one point off the Europa League spots.

However, with a very tough game away to Bayern next weekend, they may have to look for points elsewhere to keep up the pressure on sixth-placed Werder Bremen.

The defeat leaves FC Köln just three points off the relegation playoff place.

With their star player Lukas Podolski rumoured to be leaving for Arsenal in the summer they may find next season even tougher.

If they survive, that is.