Bundesliga Matchday 26: Rampant Wolves Howl the Arena Down

Shocking Results

Wolfsburg 5-1 Bayern

Bayern supporters stood in shock with Jurgen Klinsmann as Grafite made a fool of the Bayern defence. He dribbled past Ottl who was made to look like an amateur and back-heeled past Rensing. The ball went through Breno’s legs, the goal was the final nail in Bayern’s coffin.

The rout started at the end of the first half when Christian Gentner headed easily into goal. Luca Toni equalized, but during the second half, it was all Wolfsburg. Bayern were caught out by Dzeko twice in the space of three minutes before Grafite decided to contribute to the rout by firing a quick brace.

I was lost for words and so were the Bayern players as they all refused to talk to the reporters after the game.

Surprising Results

Hamburg 1:0 Hoffenheim

A Jonathan Pitroipa strike added to Hamburg’s confidence before heading to Thursday’s UEFA Cup encounter against Man City. Pitroipa’s first touch wasn’t the best, but somehow he managed to shoot past Hildebrand to score his first goal for Hamburg.

However, Hamburg ended the match on a low as captain David Jarolim was sent off for a second bookable offence towards the end.

Hertha BSC 1:3 Dortmund

Tamas Hajnal started the rout but Raffael equalized with a beautiful strike (almost like Grafite’s). The second goal was a text book header from Dortmund captain Sebastian Kehl as he was left completely unmarked by Hertha. Nelson Valdez added a third goal in injury time putting an end to Hertha’s run of wins in the Olympic Stadium.

Karlsruher 0:0 Moenchengladbach

In all honesty, I wanted Gladbach to score. They failed to do so and as a result failed to leave the relegation zone. I still think Gladbach will avoid the drop though.

Other Results

Schalke 2:0 Bielefeld

Jefferson Farfan opened the scoring at the end of the first half and Kevin Kuranyi added a second in injury time after having hit the post as well as having a goal ruled offside earlier.

Bochum 1:2 Stuttgart

Stuttgart were in for a shock when Joel Epalle opened the score for Bochum but Cacau duly equalized within the next 10 minutes. Epalle’s opener had a bit of luck to it as he had Jens Lehmaan to thank. Serdar Tasci then scored late into the game to send VfB fifth as well as to the last European spot, leapfrogging Hoffenheim.

Eintracht 2:1 Energie

The least appealing match to any neutral belonged to Frankfurt. Dimitar Rangelov and Nikos Liberopoulos traded penalties before a Daniel Ziebig own goal handed Eintracht the win.

The Derby

The Karlsruhe and Bremen games were derbies but I decided to single this one out:

Koln 0:2 Levekusen

A win for Leverkusen was finally on the cards as their front duo settled the match. Winning against Koln is always the perfect medicine for a battered Leverkusen. Stefan Kiessling scored just after the hour mark and Patrick Helmes scored towards the end of the match as Bayer climbed to seventh.

THE MATCH

I would have chosen Wolfsburg had Bayern not been at the wrong end of the result.

Werder Bremen 4:1 Hannover

The derby ended firmly on Werder’s side as a little bit of “Latin magic” settled the scores between the two north rivals. Pizarro opened the scoring in the first half. Diego then missed a penalty and on the other end Jacek Krzynowek equalized. Diego then made amends by scoring and putting his team up front. Pizarro then added the icing on the cake with two more strikes.

The top five this week are

Wolfsburg – 51 (GD: 26)

Hamburg – 51 (GD: 4)

Hertha - 49

Bayern - 48

Stuttgart – 45

News

Miroslav Klose, as I had previously stated, will be out of the Barca clash. Daniel Van Buyten joins him. The defender missed Bayern’s horror show against the Wolves and is on compassionate leave in Belgium.

There is still a chance that he might play though. Hamit Altintop on the other hand is definitely out.

Lucio took a knock and will definitely miss the tie. Guess what? Ribery may miss the tie too because of injury. Let me tell you what all this adds up to: Barcelona 5:0 Bayern! (May that not happen!)

The Bundesliga once again have a new leader in the form of Wolfsburg. The standings have been lead by Hoffenheim, Hamburg and Hertha already this season. Finally a team without an “H” in it’s name leads the Bundesliga!

Sami Khedira is most probably out for the season due to injury. Stuttgart are currently occupying the final European spot.

Hamburg and Werder have a more or less complete squad for their midweek UEFA Cup home games. Hamburg play City while Werder play Udinese.

Lukas Podolski has been fined by the DFB for slapping Ballack during Germany’s international against Wales. The Koln and Barca supporter will be up against Barcelona in midweek where he has to put his loyalty as a fan to ice.

Edin Dzeko of Wolfsburg is being sought all over Europe. The striker is being sought after by clubs like Arsenal and United.

According to Jurgen Klinsmann, Bayern’s future depends on the Champions League tie with Barca. Thus, I will end here this week with a quote from Klinsmann:

“We will get straight back up and play a good game against Barcelona.”