Koln-Bayern: Munich Remain On Top Due to the "Neverkusen" Curse

Bayern must be scratching their heads and wondering how they got away with only a point after a 1-1 tie with Koln on Saturday. Nuremberg must be wondering whether their Bavarians rivals bribed Leverkusen.

Koln must be wondering why they didn't beat Bayern.

Koln 1-1 Bayern

Koln started the weaker side as expected. Wave after wave of Bayern attacks came in in the first few minutes.

Then Lukas Podolski arrived.

Primarily, his shot deflected off the cross bar. Koln joined their man and started playing good football.

Bayern were sloppy in possession. They lost the ball far too easily. Schweini and Van Bommel made some good runs toward and into the box today.

However, their "long ball habits" continued. Bastian and Mark continued to put in long balls to Mario Gomez. Ivica Olic wasn't his usual "energizer bunny" self.

Koln duly took the lead through a Podolski drive. They continued to be the better team.

Bayern, however, came out firing in the second half. Van Gaal brought in Miroslav Klose and Franck Ribery for Olic and Hamit Altintop.

Altintop had a very good game and provided many good crosses, though a few of his corners were rather horrible. It was sad to see him being taken off as Ribery hardly contributed to the game. He did, however, hit the post toward the end.

Miro Klose had an immediate impact. His back heel found Thomas Muller. The German, who had a good game, provided a teasing ball that Schweini tapped in.

Schweini's bad luck continued, however, as he hit the crossbar later. This was the seventh time that he hit the crossbar this season.

On the other end, though, Koln managed to put the ball in the back of the net, but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside. Had "Prinz Poldi" allowed his teammate Sebastian Freis to score, the goal would have perhaps stood. In the dying minutes, Maniche's shot was saved by Jorg-Butt.

Also, Bayern needed last-ditch tackling from Holger Badstuber, Diego Contento, and Philipp Lahm to keep Koln out. Koln keeper Faryd Mondragon and their central defenders did very well to keep the Bayern strike force at bay. Contento did well in attack despite the odd, horrendous error. He later had to limp off through injury.

All in all, Bayern played a good game but were sloppy at times. They can do better, and Louis Van Gaal knows it. Koln played very well. Credit should go to them as well.

Bayern could be forgiven for thinking that they had lost two points. They have probably found out that they have gained a point more on Leverkusen.

Meanwhile, David Alaba, 17, made history by being the youngest Bayern player to play in the Bundesliga when he came on for Contento. He ironically beat Toni Kroos' previous record. Kroos was 10 days older on his debut.

“I said before the season started that it would be tough," Christian Nerlinger told the media after the match. "It’ll be a long and hard fight for the title, with Schalke, who are showing they intend to stick around, and with Leverkusen, who are very likely to go back to the top tomorrow. It was, is and will remain tense.”

Nuremberg 3-2 Bayer Leverkusen

Within an hour, Leverkusen found themselves 3-0 down due to two goals by Eric Choupo-Moting and Mickael Tavares. They fought back with goals from Stefan Kiessling and Patrick Helmes.

Leverkusen thus lost for the first time in the Bundesliga this season. However, the record stands. Leverkusen now hold the record for being the team with the longest unbeaten run in the Bundesliga, at 24 matches.

One has to feel sorry for Leverkusen. They are now third in the table with Schalke holding second spot on 51 points. Bayern are currently on 53 and Leverkusen on 50.

Well, it seems like Bayern will be winning their 21st title...unless of course Felix Magath has something to say about it.