Bundesliga 2007/08 ~ Champions: FC Bayern München

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There were home victories for both Bayer Leverkusen and Nürnberg in the two Bundesliga Sunday matches. Bayer stay fourth after their victory against Rostock, while ‘der Klub’ have climbed out of the bottom three with a win over Hertha Berlin.

Bayer Leverkusen 3 Hansa Rostock 0

Michael Skibbe’s side ran out 3-0 winners at the Bay-Arena against Hansa Rostock with a fine performance.

The ‘Werkself’ took an early 4th minute lead through Simon Rolfes, who fired in after Haggui had headed on a corner. Rostock looked nervous and Leverkusen combined well to create more first half chances, but the first half saw no further goals.

Ten minutes into the second half and a penalty gave the home side a 2-0 lead with Paul Freier converting from the spot. The game was settled in Bayer’s favour with a 72nd minute goal from Theofanis Gekas.

Bayer Leverkusen: Adler, Sarpei, Friedrich, Haggui, Gresko, Sinkiewicz, Castro (Faty), Rolfes, Freier, Barnetta (Dum), Gekas (Bulykin)

Hansa Rostock: Hahnel, Langen (Bülow), Sebastian, Orestes, Stein, Rathgeb, Beinlich, Kern, Pearce, Cetkovic (Bartels), Agali (Hähnge)

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Nürnberg 2 Hertha Berlin 1

Nürnberg climbed out of the bottom three with a 2-1 win over Lucien Favre’s Hertha Berlin at the easyCredit Stadion.

The hosts took an early 5th minute lead with Angelos Charisteas firing them in front after a great through ball from Reinhardt. Hans Meyer’s side dominated the opening fifteen minutes and doubled their lead six minutes before the break.

Adler crossed from the right, Kluge headed back to Misimovic, who volleyed in from 13 meters to hand Nürnberg a deserved 2-0 lead.

The visitors set up a tense last 25 minutes with a goal from Fabian Lustenberger on 65 minutes. Pantelic flanked from the left and the Hertha number 28 chested the ball before firing in past Blazek.

FCN held on for a hugely valuable three points.

Nürnberg: Blazek, Reinhardt, Wolf, Glauber, Engelhardt (Schmidt), Galasek, Kluge, Adler (Saenko), Mintal (Kristiansen), Misimovic, Charisteas

Hertha Berlin: Drobny, Schmidt (Grahn), Friedrich.A, von Bergen, Fathi, Dardai, Simunic, Lustenberger, Gilberto (Traore), Pantelic, André Lima (Okoronkwo)

Goal.com - Germany - Bundesliga Sunday Round-Up: Wins For Leverkusen And Nürnberg

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Table after MD 16:

1. Bayern München - 35 pts
2. Werder Bremen - 33 pts
3. Hamburger SV - 31 pts
4. Bayer Leverkusen - 30 pts
5. Hannover 96 - 27 pts
6. Karlsruhe SC - 27 pts
7. FC Schalke 04 - 26 pts
8. VfB Stuttgart - 25 pts
9. Borussia Dortmund - 21 pts
10. Eintracht Frankfurt - 20 pts
11. VfL Bochum - 19 pts
12. Hertha Berlin - 19 pts
13. VfL Wolfsburg - 17 pts
14. FC Nürnberg - 15 pts
15. Arminia Bielefeld - 15 pts
16. Hansa Rostock - 14 pts
17. MSV Duisburg - 13 pts
18. Energie Cottbus - 12 pts

Champions League
Uefa Cup
Intertoto Cup
Relegation


Top scorers after MD 16:

> Miroslav Klose > Bayern München > 9 goals
> Luca Toni > Bayern München > 9 goals
> Rafael van der Vaart > Hamburg SV > 9 goals

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14.12.07, 20.30h
Energie Cottbus : Hannover 96

15.12.07, 15.30h
FC Schalke 04 : 1. FC Nürnberg
Werder Bremen : Bayer Leverkusen
Hertha BSC : Bayern München
Arminia Bielefeld : VfB Stuttgart
VfL Wolfsburg : Borussia Dortmund
Karlsruher SC : Hamburger SV

16.12.07, 17.00h
Hansa Rostock : VfL Bochum
MSV Duisburg : Eintracht Frankfurt

Bundesliga Table

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Another busy round of Bundesliga action gets underway this weekend with the last round of matches before the winter-break.

Bayern are looking to go into the Christmas break with the unofficial title of ‘Autumn Champions’ but face a tricky away trip to Berlin. Werder are hot on the heels of Bayern and have a home tie against fellow high-fliers Bayer Leverkusen.

Energie Cottbus v Hannover

Cottbus entertain Hannover in the Friday night match looking to build on their recent improvement in form. Four points from their last two games although a step in the right direction has not been enough to see them off the bottom of the table.

The Lausitzer really do not want to finish the first half of the season propping up the table, and it is possible that three points could even see them out of the bottom three if results elsewhere go their way.

Hannover on the other hand find themselves at the completely opposite end of the table and are pushing to consolidate their place in the top five. Last weekend’s 4-3 win over title challengers Werder Bremen will have given them a real boost, so the ‘Reds’ won’t be daunted by their trip East.

Schalke v Nürnberg

Fresh from their Champions League delight against Rosenborg, which sealed qualification to the knock-out stage, Schalke welcome Nürnberg to the Veltins Arena.

Still nine points behind leaders Bayern and outside the top five, the Königsblauen will want to go into the winter-break on the back of a positive result. The fans are already in jubilant mood after their European triumph, and a win in the league against last season’s Cup winners will add to their joy.

Nürnberg finally climbed out of the bottom three last weekend with a 2-1 win over Hertha Berlin. That was their second win on the trot following on from their Uefa Cup triumph against AZ Alkmaar so it looks like ‘der Klub’ might finally be finding a bit of form.

Werder Bremen v Leverkusen

It hasn’t been a good week for Thomas Schaaf and his Werder Bremen side. Beaten last weekend in the Bundesliga by local rivals Hannover, they then crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday going down to a 3-0 defeat to Olympiacos in Athens.

They remain however the closest challengers to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga and still have an outside chance of finishing top going into the winter-break. Should Bayern lose to Hertha and they win, then the ‘Green and Whites’ would leap-frog the Bavarians into first place.

Leverkusen will be no pushover though coming into the game with five consecutive wins to their name. In those games they have scored 12 and conceded only 2 goals. A win for Michael Skibbe’s side at the Weser Stadion would see them overtake Werder in the table and could see them climb as high as second.

Hertha Berlin v Bayern Munich

The Olympiastadion is the venue for Bayern’s final Bundesliga match in the first half of the season. Such has been the dip in form of late from the Bavarians, that it is within the realms of possibility that they won’t finish top of the table as the Bundesliga shuts down for the winter break. A loss to Berlin and a win for Werder would see them usurped at the top.

All is not rosy with the Munich giants at present with criticism of the trainer’s tactics and decisions, and internal unrest fuelled by public criticism from captain Oli Kahn about certain player’s levels of performance.

The veteran keeper has been suspended for one game by Hitzfeld so will be replaced by understudy Michael Rensing for the trip North.

Hertha have had their moments this season with impressive wins against Stuttgart and Dortmund. Striker Marko Pantelic has been in particularly fine form, but five defeats in their last six games has seen them on a downward spiral, which they will look to arrest against Bayern on Saturday.

Arminia Bielefeld v Stuttgart

Following the dismissal of trainer Ernst Middendorp in the week, Amateur trainer Detlev Dammeier will take control against Stuttgart for the ‘Arminen’s’ final game before Christmas. The 6-1 thrashing last Friday at the hands of Borussia Dortmund was the final straw for Middendorp.

That loss was the team’s third in a row and they now find themselves just one point above the relegation zone and with the worst defensive record in the league having conceded 38 goals in 16 matches.

Stuttgart return from their trip to Barcelona, where although they lost they did restore a little pride with a fine performance, looking for a win in the Bundesliga to take them into Christmas on a positive note.

They recovered well last weekend from their previous defeat to Dortmund with a 3-1 win over VfL Wolfsburg. Although still a way off the form they showed last season, the Swabians certainly look to be out of the crisis they found themselves in earlier in the campaign.

Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund

13th place Wolfsburg entertain 9th place Borussia Dortmund at the Volkswagen Arena. In their last four home games against BVB, the ‘Wölfe’ have only managed to grab a solitary point, with last season’s game finishing 2-0 to the away side.

Dortmund went on the rampage last week against Bielefeld with six goals, to move them into the top half of the table. Thomas Doll will be demanding another attacking showing against a Wolfsburg side that are only three points above the bottom three.

Karlsruhe v Hamburg

The surprise package of the season, Karlsruhe take on third place Hamburg looking to keep up their impressive start to the first half of the season. With the other two promoted clubs in the bottom three, KSC have done themselves proud and continue to push for a place in the top five.

HSV too, are looking to maintain their great first half of the season, and keep touch with first placed Bayern and second place Werder. With Huub Stevens and Rafael van der Vaart due to leave at the end of the season, their last Christmas together would be a lot more enjoyable on the back of a league win against Karlsruhe.

Hansa Rostock v Bochum

Rostock welcome Bochum to the DKB Arena with one thing uppermost on their Christmas wish-list- three points. A defeat could well see them bottom of the pile going into the winter break, so a win for Frank Pagelsdorf’s side is even more vital.

Bochum in 11th will be confident of getting something from the game and will be looking to star man Stanislav Sestak to fire them to victory.

Duisburg v Eintracht Frankfurt

The final game of the weekend’s action sees Duisburg host Eintracht Frankfurt, who have the same number of wins this season to losses- four. A win for them at the MSV Arena would see them into positive figures.

Duisburg find themselves in the bottom three, but things are looking up after five successive losses. A win over Nürnberg was followed up last week with a surprising point against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

Goal.com - Bundesliga - Bundesliga Weekend Preview: Round 17

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Friday match result:

Energie Cottbus 5 - 1 Hannover

11' [1 - 0] C. Bassila
30' [2 - 0] D. Sørensen
44' [3 - 0] D. Rangelov
65' [4 - 0] D. Ziebig
68' [4 - 1] T. Kleine
70' [5 - 1] D. Rangelov

Shocking.

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The biggest win in their Bundesliga history has given Energie Cottbus fresh hope in their battle against relegation. The eastern German side beat Hannover 96 5-1 (3-0) to move clear of the bottom three, where they have been since matchday 2 - until tomorrow at least.

Record win

A 13,000 crowd saw Christian Bassila (5.), Dennis Sörensen (30.), Dimitar Rangelov (44. 69.) and Daniel Ziebig (65.) find the net as the home side racked up five goals and outdid their previous best result in the top-flight, a 4-0 win against St. Pauli in March 2002.

Defender Thomas Kleine scored a consolation goal for Hannover, by which time they were already four down. After back-to-back victories, it was a disappointing showing from the guests, for whom a win would have ensured their best first-half of a season since the Bundesliga was formed in 1963.

Wrapped up by half-time

Cottbus carried on where they had left off in their last two games, going on the offensive from the first whistle. They were soon rewarded, with Bassila powering home the opener from a corner with only five minutes on the clock. On the half-hour, Sörensen connected with a low cross from Rangelov to double the home side's advantage, before Rangelov turned finisher with a fine solo effort to effectively kill the game before half-time.

Applause from the terraces

96ers coach Dieter Hecking brought on Vahid Hashemian and Jan Rosenthal for the restart in an attempt to turn the tide, but it was the hosts who continued to set the tone.

Highlight of the half was another great individual strike, this time from Daniel Ziebig. The clock ticked down on the game to the sound of continuous applause from the Cottbus fans for their side's best performance of the season to date.

[BlackNess]

Originally Posted by Trim17

Friday match result:

Energie Cottbus 5 - 1 Hannover

11' [1 - 0] C. Bassila
30' [2 - 0] D. Sørensen
44' [3 - 0] D. Rangelov
65' [4 - 0] D. Ziebig
68' [4 - 1] T. Kleine
70' [5 - 1] D. Rangelov

Shocking.

Shocking Indeed .

i watched the first 20 mins .

[BlackNess]

Energie Cottbus 5 - 1 Hannover :

TalkSoccer Media Player

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Saturday match results:

Arminia Bielefeld 2 - 0 Stuttgart

79' [1 - 0] J. Kamper
90' [2 - 0] A. Wichniarek

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Hertha BSC 0 - 0 Bayern Munich

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Karlsruhe 1 - 1 Hamburger SV

46' [1 - 0] C. Timm
90' [1 - 1] I. Olic

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Schalke 2 - 1 Nurnberg

14' [1 - 0] G. Asamoah
35' [2 - 0] M. Engelhardt (o.g.)
54' [2 - 1] A. Charisteas

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Werder Bremen 5 - 2 Bayer Leverkusen

7' [0 - 1] T. Barnetta
30' [1 - 1] I. Klasnic
50' [2 - 1] Diego
57' [3 - 1] C. Fritz
63' [4 - 1] I. Klasnic
69' [5 - 1] M. Rosenberg
76' [5 - 2] S. Kiessling

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Wolfsburg 4 - 0 Borussia Dortmund

8' [1 - 0] M. Schäfer
11' [2 - 0] R. Costa
60' [3 - 0] C. Gentner
78' [4 - 0] E. Dzeko

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Werder Bremen hit five past Bayer Leverkusen at the Weser Stadion to end the first half of the season on a real high. Ivan Klasnic grabbed two as he finally announced his comeback.

Bayern Munich continued their indifferent form with a goalless draw at the Olympiastadion against Hertha Berlin. Despite the results, Bayern finish up as ‘Autumn Champions’ on account of a better goal difference.

Schalke 2 Nürnberg 1

Schalke ended the year on a high with a 2-1 win over Nürnberg at the Veltins Arena.

The Königsblauen took the lead after 14 minutes through a Gerald Asamoah header. Jermaine Jones played to Heiko Westermann on the left. He took the ball to the bye line before crossing to the middle, where Asamoah rose the highest to nod home.

A second for the home side arrived after 35 minutes when Marco Engelhardt put through his own net. Kuranyi found space down the right, before playing the ball to the overlapping Rafinha. His ball into the box saw Engelhardt’s attempted clearance unluckily end up in the back of Blazek’s net.

Ten minutes after the restart and Nürnberg gave themselves hope with a goal from Angelos Charisteas. The Greek striker was on hand to head in an Engelhardt corner following a flick-on from Reinhardt.

Werder Bremen 5 Bayer Leverkusen 2

Werder Bremen went on the rampage against Leverkusen, hitting five goals to come from behind and make up in some way for their midweek European disappointment.

Michael Skibbe’s side silenced the Weser Stadion with a goal after just six minutes. A wayward pass from Per Mertesacker was picked up by Paul Freier, whose long pass found Barnetta, who beat two defenders before firing under the crossbar from 16 meters.

Werder got themselves back in the game on the half hour mark with Ivan Klasnic celebrating his first goal since his return from his kidney transplant. Borowski fired in from close range, only for Adler to parry his shot. Klasnic reacted the quickest to fire in the equaliser.

Five minutes after the restart and Werder got their noses in front for the first time in the afternoon through midfielder Diego. Daniel Jensen did well to win the ball, before Rosenberg fed Diego to score.

On 57 minutes Werder put some more distance between them and Leverkusen with a third goal. Clemens Fritz got in on the scoring act after a good run and shot from the right hand side.

A rampant Werder scored fourth six minutes later with Klasnic getting his second of the game. It wasn’t long before Thomas Schaaf’s side grabbed a fifth with Markus Rosenberg getting in on the act on 69 minutes as he finished a superb move involving Jensen, Diego, and Klasnic.

Stefan Kießling grabbed a second for Leverkusen on 76 minutes as he headed after Tim Wiese could only parry a Simon Rolfes shot.

Hertha Berlin 0 Bayern Munich 0

Hertha Berlin ground out a 0-0 draw at the Olympiastadion as Bayern’s indifferent form continued. Bayern had by far the better of the first half, but an improvement from the home side in the second half saw Hertha deserve a point in the end.

Marco Pantelic impressed but Hertha didn’t threaten Bayern greatly and at times played like the away side. However, they kept Bayern to a goalless draw for the second successive Bundesliga game.

Arminia Bielefeld 2 Stuttgart 0

Bielefeld under temporary trainer Detlef Dammeier grabbed a vital win against reigning champions Stuttgart at the Schüco-Arena.

In an aggressive encounter a goal from Jonas Kamper in the 79th minute proved enough to seal all three points. Stuttgart made things difficult for themselves when they were reduced to ten men with the sending off of Mexican Pavel Pardo in the 73rd minute for a second bookable offence.

Fellow countryman Pavel Pardo followed him for an early bath after being shown a straight red for a foul on Wichniarek after 86 minutes. Wichniarek then punished Armin Veh’s side further by scoring the homes sides second three minutes into stoppage time.

Wolfsburg 4 Borussia Dortmund 0

Two goals within the opening 11 minutes stunned Dortmund and gave the fans inside the Volkswagen Arena plenty to cheer about. Marcel Schäfer grabbed the first after 8 minutes after Christian Wörns headed a deep Dejagah cross into his path.

Three minutes later and defender Ricardo Costa fired in a second with Wolfsburg’s second chance of the game. Schäfer turned provider this time crossing after good work from Dzeko. Ricardo Costa had the simplest of tap-ins from close range.

Felix Magath’s side made sure of the points with a third on the hour mark when Christian Gentner scored. Confusion in the Dortmund defence found Dzeko and Gentner free and the latter fired in a right foot shot past Weidenfeller.

The win became a rout on 79 minutes when Edin Dzeko capped a fine individual performance with a goal. Radu beat Wörns rather too easily before setting up the Bosnian to make it 4-0.

Karlsruhe 1 Hamburg 1

An entertaining, but goalless first half saw Hamburg the better side with the better chances. However Kornetzky was always on hand to deny the away side.

But one minute after the restart, Karlsruhe took the lead through Christian Timm. 36 seconds after the referee blew for the start of the second period, Mutzel crossed from the right and with Mathijsen unable to clear, Timm shot in.

Just when it looked as though KSC would record another famous victory, Hamburg got the equaliser in the last minute. Ivica Olic headed in a van der Vaart corner to grab a point for Huub Stevens side.

Goal.com - Germany - Bundesliga Round-Up: Werder Go On Rampage, Bayern Stutter

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2007's last two Bundesliga matches see Eintracht Frankfurt travel to MSV Duisburg while FC Hansa Rostock entertain VfL Bochum.

Duisburg and Rostock hope for a final boost in the relegation battle, Bochum and Frankfurt eye a woory-free Christmas.

100th win for Funkel?

Eintracht coach Friedhelm Funkel returns to former club Duisburg hoping for his 100th win as a Bundesliga coach.

MSV coach Rudi Bommer once was his team-mate at Bayer Uerdingen where the two coaches shared a room.

MSV without Roque Junior

Bommer will have to make do without Roque Junior (thigh), Klemen Lavric (death in the family), Christian Tiffert (meniscus) and Mo Idrissou (suspended).

Eintracht will be without Alexander Meier (knee), Albert Streit (surgery) and defender Marco Russ (torn muscle).

Kern suspended

Hansa want to leave the relegation places, just as MSV. "We have a great chance to close in on several teams, and we want to take it", coach Frank Pagelsdorf said.

Pagelsdorf, who will have to make do without captain Stefan Beinlich (knee) and striker Enrico Kern (suspended), has announced to play a diamond instead of two holding midfielders.

Koller without Maltritz

Marcel Koller expects Hansa to perform way better than in the 3-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen. "I don't think they'll play like this again", Bochum's Swiss coach said.

Koller will be without Marcel Maltritz (toe), but defender Antar Yahia has recovered from a torn muscle.

Line-ups as expected:

Hansa Rostock - VfL Bochum

Rostock: Wächter - Langen, Sebastian, Orestes, Stein - Rathgeb - Rydlewicz, Rahn - Yelen - Cetkovic, Agali.

Bochum: Renno - Concha, Yahia, Pfertzel, Bönig - Epalle, Dabrowski, Zdebel, Fuchs - Sestak, Mieciel.

Referee: Felix Brych (München)


MSV Duisburg - Eintracht Frankfurt

Duisburg: Starke - Weber, Filipescu, Schlicke, Willi - Grlic, Tararache - Mölders, Mokhtari, Georgijew - Ishiaku.

Frankfurt: Pröll - Ochs, Galindo, Kyrgiakos, Spycher - Chris - Mahdavikia, Fink, Toski, Köhler - Amanatidis.

Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Ergolding)

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Sunday match results:

Duisburg 0 - 1 Eintracht Frankfurt

40' [0 - 1] I. Amanatidis

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Hansa Rostock 2 - 0 Bochum

7' [1 - 0] K. Bülow
43' [2 - 0] S. Hähnge