Bundesliga 2007/08 ~ Champions: FC Bayern München

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Own goal saves Bayer

An own goal from Ricardo Costa has spared Bayer's blushes.

Wolfsburg's Portuguese defender put Dimitri Bulykin's cross past his own keeper 17 minutes from time to hand Bayer Leverkusen a point in the 2-2 draw.

Leverkusen have picked up only four points from their last six matches, however. The "Wolves", with just one point from three matches, stay seventh.

Edin Dzeko had opened the scoring for Wolfsburg after 13 minutes when he followed up Grafite's effort that hit the post.

Bayer equalised through Theofanis Gekas (33), but Makoto Hasebe restored VfL's lead ten minutes later, again after good work from Grafite.

Grafite (54), back from a five-game suspension, and Marcelinho (56) missed chances to make it 3-1 before Bayer turned up the pressure.

Josue cleared off his line from Sergej Barbarez's header before Costa put through his own net.

Bayer created several opportunities in a frantic finale, but VfL keeper Diego Benaglio kept the hosts at bay.

***

Bayern turn on the style

FC Bayern have all but secured their 21st German title.

Ottmar Hitzfeld's team maintained their twelve-point advantage with a 4-1 home win over defending champions VfB Stuttgart and need only one more point from four remaining matches.

Bayern had a dream start in front of 69,000 in the sold out Allianz Arena when Luca Toni opened the scoring with his 21st of the season after just eight minutes, capitalising on a mistake by Mathieu Delpierre.

VfB threatened through Mario Gomez (16), who was denied by Michael Rensing, and Roberto Hilbert's mis-hit cross that hit the cross-bar.

Antonio da Silva then got a helping hand from Mark van Bommel, who deflected his free-kick past Rensing for the equaliser (19).

VfB then lost Ludovic Magnin with a knee injury (37), Arthur Boka replaced the unlucky Swiss international.

FCB midfielder van Bommel made amends for the equaliser ten minutes into the second half when he fired a low free-kick past the wall and VfB keeper Raphael Schäfer.

Hitzfeld then brought on Franck Ribery, and the Frenchman took centre-stage with an unstoppable 25-metre thunderbolt into the top corner (75) before putting the icing on the cake with his second and Bayern's fourth just 90 seconds later.

Bundesliga - Die offizielle Webseite

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Table after MD 30:

1. FC Bayern München - 66 pts
2. Werder Bremen - 54 pts
3. FC Schalke 04 - 54 pts
4. Bayer Leverkusen - 48 pts
5. Hamburg SV - 48 pts
6. VfB Stuttgart - 48 pts
7. VfL Wolfsburg - 44 pts
8. Eintracht Frankfurt - 43 pts
9. Hannover 96 - 42 pts
10. Karlsruhe SC - 42 pts
11. VfL Bochum - 38 pts
12. Hertha Berlin - 35 pts
13. Borussia Dortmund - 35 pts
14. Energie Cottbus - 32 pts
15. Arminia Bielefeld - 29 pts
16. FC Nürnberg - 27 pts
17. Hansa Rostock - 27 pts
18. MSV Duisburg - 26 pts

Champions League
Uefa Cup
Intertoto Cup
Relegation


Top scorers after MD 30:

1> Luca Toni > FC Bayern München > 21 goals
2> Mario Gomez > VfB Stuttgart > 15 goals
-> Kevin Kuranyi > Schalke 04 > 15 goals
4> Mladen Petric > Borussia Dortmund > 13 goals
-> Diego > Werder Bremen > 13 goals

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Friday, 02.05.08, 20.30h
Borussia Dortmund : 1. FC Nürnberg

Saturday, 03.05.08, 15.30h
Hansa Rostock : Hamburger SV
Arminia Bielefeld : VfL Bochum 1848
FC Schalke 04 : Hannover 96
Werder Bremen : Energie Cottbus
VfB Stuttgart : Eintracht Frankfurt
Hertha BSC : Karlsruher SC

Sunday, 04.05.08, 17.00h
VfL Wolfsburg : Bayern München
MSV Duisburg : Bayer Leverkusen

Bundesliga Table

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Another busy round of Bundesliga action gets underway this weekend with Bayern Munich looking for the point that will clinch their 21st league title, while the battle for survival becomes ever fiercer at the bottom of the table.

With just four games left the sides at the bottom are leaving it late s they bid to secure their Bundesliga survival.

Borussia Dortmund – Nürnberg

Dortmund took a little of the pressure off of trainer Doll last weekend with their 1-1 draw with Frankfurt, and will be looking to go one better against relegation threatened Nürnberg at the Signal Iduna Park on Friday.

A win is also important for BVB to banish any worries that they could get sucked down into a relegation fight. They’re 13th at the moment and find themselves eight points clear of the drop but until it’s a mathematical certainty that they are safe, the niggling worry will be in the back of their minds.

Relegation for Nürnberg however is more than a niggling worry; it is a real and major concern. At one stage last weekend against Bielefeld they led 2-0 and were out of the bottom three, but they allowed the ‘Arminen’ back into the game and had to settle for a point and they remain two points clear of safety.

Hansa Rostock – Hamburg

Hamburg’s season is unravelling in front of their eyes and what started out as a few bad games has turned into a real crisis as the Hanseaten with no wins in their last six games with no goals either in the previous four.

HSV are hanging on to a European place courtesy of goal difference from Stuttgart and look in real danger of finishing out of the top six if this run of form doesn’t end soon. A trip to relegation threatened Hansa Rostock will not be an easy task for Huub Stevens’ men.

Hansa lost last weekend’s relegation six-pointer against Cottbus thanks to an injury time winner from Dimitar Rangelov, which was cruel on the Ostseestädter. Against Hamburg, Frank Pagelsdorf’s team will be fighting tooth and nail for a win that could get them out of the bottom three.

Arminia Bielefeld – Bochum

Bielefeld will be looking to carry on where they left off in the second half against Nürnberg where they back from two goals down to rescue a point. The Arminen have their destiny in their own hands right now as they sit two points clear of the drop zone.

Michael Frontzeck’s side have a tough run in with games against Bayern, Dortmund and Stuttgart, so three points against Bochum at home on Saturday are an absolute must.

Bochum continue to hover around the mid-table taking points from teams that need them, as they did last weekend when a late goal from Stanislav Sestak secured them a point against bottom side Duisburg. Bielefeld will be hoping that Bochum don’t make a nuisance of themselves and that they can secure a potentially life-saving three points.

Schalke – Hannover

It is two wins from two games for caretaker trainers Mike Büskens and Youri Mulder, and they will be srtiving to make it a third against Hannover in order to cement their Champions League place for next season.

Last weekend’s 1-0 away win over Hamburg gave them a valuable three points against a direct competitior for Europe and set up a six point gap between themselves and fourth place Bayer Leverkusen. With so much money and prestige riding on Champions League qualification, a home win on Saturday would prove to be a massive boost for the Königsblauen.

Hannover on the other hand don’t have much to play for except pride and a higher final league placing. They currently sit ninth, and although not mathemativally out of the race for European places, for them to qualify would take a whole series of extremely surprising results from other teams.

Werder Bremen – Energie Cottbus

With the title going to Bayern, Werder just have the little challenge of fending off Schalke to secure the runners up spot in the Bundesliga. For so long it seemed as if Thomas Schaaf’s side would give the Bavarians a run for their money till the end of the season, but a poor start to the second half of the season has put paid to their title challenge.

Their 3-3 draw with Karlsruhe last weekend brought to an end a run of three successive victories, and they now hold second place courtesy of a better goal difference than Schalke. If they are to avoid having to enter the Champions League at an earlier qualifying round, then victory over a struggling Cottbus is a must.

Energie took a huge step towards securing their Bundesliga survival last weekend with a last gasp winner in their relegation six-pointer against Hansa Rostock. How important Dimitar Rangelov’s goal will prove to be may only become clear at the end of the season, but it could well have saved them from the drop.

Going to the the Weser Stadion and taking points from Werder will be no easy task but stranger things have happened.

Stuttgart – Eintracht Frankfurt

The Swabians were rather unfortunate to finish on the end of a 4-1 loss to Bayern Munich last weekend as they played better than the result suggests. Armin Veh’s side will be looking to bounce back immediately against Frankfurt in order to apply more pressure on fifth placed Hamburg.

After the disappointing season Stuttgart have had, qualification for Europe would be seen as a real success.

Frankfurt are just off the pace in the race for European qualification with Friedhelm Funkel probably looking to next season already with a view to making a more concerted, whole season charge on the top six. Last weekend, they were held at home by Dortmund in a very entertaining game.

Hertha Berlin – Karlsruhe

Tenth plays twelfth in a real mid-table clash at he Olympistadion in Berlin as Hertha entertain Karlsruhe. KSC have had a successful season even though they have dropped down the table since Christmas.

Hertha under Lucien Favre have had another disappointing season and are without a win in their last eight league games.

Wolfsburg – Bayern Munich

Bayern require just a single point from their remaining four games to secure their 21st Bundesliga title, but it remains to be seen whether that point arrives at the Volkswagen Arena on Sunday.

With Bayern crashing out of the Uefa Cup on Thursday to Zenit St Petersburg, it will be interesting to see how Bayern play. The disappointment of missing out on the European trophy will be huge and may impinge slightly on their celebrations of winning the Bundesliga.

Wolfsburg trainer Felix Magath will not really want to see his ex-club celebrate winning the league title against his current side so will be looking to spring a surprise.

The ‘Wölfe’ however are on a run of three games without a win, but will be looking to gain revenge for their German Cup elimination at the hands of Bayern back in March.

Duisburg – Bayer Leverkusen

Bottom club Duisburg entertain fourth placed Bayer Leverkusen looking for the vital win that could kick start their bid for Bundesliga survival. The Zebras have beaten both Werder Bremen and Hamburg in recent weeks so they know how to raise their game to beat teams in the top six. For them three points against Leverkusen would be a god send.

Leverkusen look to have their Uefa Cup place secured, but with a six point gap between them and third place Schalke, nothing less than a win will do if they still harbour dreams of a top three finish and Champions League football next season.

Goal.com - Bundesliga - Bundesliga Weekend Preview: Round 31

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Friday's match result:

Borussia Dortmund 0 - 0 Nurnberg

Borussia Dortmund 0-0 Nürnberg

Nürnberg failed to beat Borussia Dortmund and claim the three points they desperately needed. The game was dominated by the two keepers, who pulled off a number of fine saves between them to keep their respective sides in the game.

Thomas Doll was forced into two changes with Marcel Höttecke coming in for the injured Marc Ziegler. Mats Hummels replaced Christian Wörns who had a stomach problem.

Thomas von Heesen decided against making any changes to the side that drew last weekend against Bielefeld, which meant that Zvejezdan Misimovic was on the bench once more.

First Half

In the cauldron of the Signal Iduna Park, Nürnberg carved out the first chance of the game after four minutes and it was Dortmund old boy Jan Koller who had the opportunity. Robert Vittek held off the challenge of Kruska, before flighting in an inviting ball for the Czech striker. He got his head to it but directed it just over the Dortmund bar.

A good ball from Ivan Saenko into the penalty area on the quarter hour mark found Vittek, who went down under the challenge of Mats Hummels. Half-hearted appeals for a penalty were waved away by referee Jochen Drees and Nürnberg had to settle for a corner.

Nürnberg keeper Daniel Klewer produced a fantastic save on 25 minutes to deny Alexander Frei. The Swiss international was played through clean on goal following a super ball from Tinga which beat the offside trap. Frei attempted an early shot but 31 year old Klewer denied him with a top save.

Just after the half hour mark, Blaszczykowski burst down the right but was unceremoniously floored on the edge of the area by Pinola. Petric however fired the resulting free kick horribly high and wide.

On 38 minutes it was 21 year old Marcel Höttecke’s turn to pull off a superb save. Ivan Saenko lofted a ball into the area, and Jan Koller did well to stoop and beat Mats Hummels to the ball. His downward header looked destined for the back of the net before the young stand-in keeper pulled off a great save to parry away.

The first half saw Dortmund looking more like the away side, with Nürnberg forcing the pace and slowly increasing the pressure. Dortmund seemed happy to defend and look to hit the visitors on the break.

Second Half

Both sides came out unchanged at the start of the second half, and Dortmund started brightly. A Kringe cross was flapped at by Klewer at the start of the second period, before hitting Pinola on the arm. Despite their protests for a penalty, the referee waved play on.

Minutes later and Blaszczykowki advanced before letting fly from 25 meters, but keeper Klewer got down well again to save. The resulting corner saw Alexander Frei get a header in which Jan Koller did well to clear from just in front of the goal line with the keeper beaten.

The game was improving as an attacking spectacle and on 55 minutes, Jan Koller squared a great ball to Robert Vittek, which just needed converting, but the Slovak got his feet in a muddle and fluffed the chance.

‘Lady Luck’ was certainly not shining on Nürnberg on 58 minutes when Marek Mintal was fed well by Jan Koller, but he saw his shot deflect off Robert Kovac and against the crossbar.

On 72 minutes Alex Frei once again beat the Nürnberg offside trap and bore down on goal, but yet again ‘der Klub’ keeper Daniel Klewer got the better of him with a fine save with his leg.

It really was a game for the two keepers as Höttecke pulled off a great save to match what Klewer had done for Nürnberg. A Misimovic free kick from the bye line was flicked goalwards by Galasek, but the young BVB keeper clawed the ball away as Jan Koller looked to pounce.

On 86 minutes Andreas Wolf was booked for a foul on Klimowicz on the edge of the area, but was lucky not to have been punished with a penalty.

Neither side was able to find a way though in the end, leaving the away side frustrated as they failed to claim the three points they so desperately needed. With three matches remaining now, ‘der Klub’ now face a hugely difficult task to remain in the top flight.

Borussia Dortmund: Höttecke, Rukavina, Hummels, Kovac, Dede, Kruska (Buckley 63), Kringe, Tinga, Blaszczykowski, Frei, Petric (Klimowicz 63)

Nürnberg: Klewer, Jacobsen, Wolf, Abardonardo, Pinola, Galasek, Engelhardt (Mnari 83), Mintal, Vittek, Saenko (Misimovic 63), Koller

Goal.com - Germany - All Square As Dortmund Hold Wolfsburg

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Saturday's match results:

Arminia Bielefeld 2 - 0 Bochum

70' [1 - 0] A. Mijatovic
90' [2 - 0] J. Kamper

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Hansa Rostock 1 - 3 Hamburger SV

17' [0 - 1] I. Olic
26' [0 - 2] R.v.d. Vaart
51' [0 - 3] I. Olic
75' [1 - 3] J. Mathijsen (o.g.)

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Hertha BSC 3 - 1 Karlsruhe

25' [1 - 0] G. Kacar
30' [2 - 0] M. Pantelic
53' [2 - 1] E. Kapllani
87' [3 - 1] R. Skacel

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Schalke 1 - 1 Hannover

8' [0 - 1] M. Hanke
39' [1 - 1] H. Altintop

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Stuttgart 4 - 1 Eintracht Frankfurt

3' [1 - 0] Y. Basturk
7' [2 - 0] M. Gomez
17' [3 - 0] Y. Basturk
47' [4 - 0] J. Cacau
63' [4 - 1] I. Amanatidis

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Werder Bremen 2 - 0 Energie Cottbus

66' [1 - 0] M. Rosenberg
79' [2 - 0] H. Almeida

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Werder Bremen opened up a two point lead over third place Schalke after a 2-0 win over Hansa Rostock as the Königsblauen were held at home by Hannover.

Hamburg got back amongst the goals after four games without scoring, beating Hansa Rostock 3-1. Stuttgart also enjoyed a 4-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Hansa Rostock 1-3 Hamburg

After four games without a goal, Hamburg once again found the goal trail with three against Hansa Rostock to seal an important win. HSV scored with their first two attacks and the home side never really recovered.

The result sees Hamburg consolidate their place in to top five, while Hansa now sit five points from safety in 17th place.

The home side started well, but it was the away side, who scored with their first attack of the game after 18 minutes. A fast attack from HSV saw Paulo Guerrero lay the ball into the path of Ivica Olic, who fought off a challenge from Tobias Rathgeb before firing past keeper Hahnel from 14 meters.

The ‘Rothosen’ then scored with their second effort on goal on 27 minutes with captain Rafael van der Vaart getting his name on the score sheet. Olic was allowed to cross unhindered into the middle where Gledson had lost van der Vaart, who slotted easily past Hahnel.

Hamburg, who hadn’t scored in their previous four games, then grabbed their third goal of the game six minutes into the second half. Olic won the ball off of substitute Lukimiya, before playing a one-two with van der Vaart. On receiving the ball back, he fired an unstoppable shot past Hahnel to all but seal the three points for HSV.

The home side did grab a goal with fifteen minutes left when Joris Mathijsen put through his own net. Lukimiya put in a good cross from the right and Enrico Kern rose to get a header in. His effort was however heading wide before Mathijsen made an unfortunate connection, which took the ball past Rost and into the net.

Arminia Bielefeld 2-0 Bochum

Bielefeld secured a vital win in their fight for Bundesliga survival as they beat Bochum 2-0 at the Schüco-Arena. The win sees them open up a four point gap over Nürnberg, who could only draw with Dortmund last night.

Michael Frontzeck had to wait until the 70th minute to see his side take the lead with Mijatovic heading in a Kamper free kick from close range.

The vital three points were sealed late on in the 90th minute when winger Jonas Kamper took advantage of plenty of room in the Bochum back line to fire in a right footed shot on his birthday to seal the win for the ‘Arminen’.

Schalke 1-1 Hannover

The winning streak of caretakers Mike Büskens and Youri Mulder came to an end as Schalke were held at home by Hannover. The point sees Werder Bremen open up a two point lead over the Königsblauen in the race for second place.

The visitors took the lead after just 8 minutes with in-form midfielder Arnold Bruggink firing home a direct free kick. Mike Hanke attempted to get a touch to the ball which distracted Schalke keeper Neuer. The ball however curled into the far corner of the Königsblauen goal.

The home side endeavoured to press forward and they managed to grab the equaliser five minutes before the interval. Ivan Rakitic passed into the centre where the ball rather luckily fell to Halil Altintop. The Turkish international sprinted past Vinicius before looping the ball over Enke and into the Hannover goal.

Werder Bremen 2-0 Energie Cottbus

Second half substitutes Markus Rosenberg and Hugo Almeida grabbed the all-important goals as Werder beat Energie Cottbus 2-0 at the Weser Stadion.

Werder dominated the first half but were denied on numerous occasions by Cottbus keeper Gerhard Tremmel. However, Thomas Schaaf’s substitutions in the second half paid off as both Rosenberg and Almeida scored to hand Werder an important win.

Stuttgart 4-1 Eintracht Frankfurt

Stuttgart came racing out of the blocks very quickly to put the game beyond Frankfurt before the team from Hessen had even woken up. Three goals in the opening 18 minutes put the Swabians in the driving seat and has put them in the driving seat with regards Uefa Cup qualification.

The Swabians got off to the perfect start when Yildiray Bastürk fired them in front after just three minutes. Artur Boka crossed from the left, and Sotirios Kyrgiakos looked to clear. The ball however only fell to Bastürk, who volleyed home a superb effort to hand Armin Veh’s side an early lead.

That lead was then doubled three minutes later when Mario Gomez added a second. Boka again was the architect after he got to the bye-line before crossing goalwards. Spycher tried to clear, but once again only found a Stuttgart player. German international Gomez fired home to make it 2-0.

2-0 became 3-0 with just 18 minutes on the clock and it was Bastürk again, who was the goalscorer. Cacau combined well with Gomez on the edge of the box, and the striker laid the ball onto Bastürk, who rounded the keeper before slotting home his second of the game.

Two minutes into the second half and the home side added to their three first half goals. Bastürk played the ball to da Silva, who then brought Cacau into the play. The Brazilian hammered the ball into the right hand corner with the Frankfurt defence motionless.

Frankfurt’s only goal of the game came through Amanatidis on 63 minutes. A fine one-two with Toski beat the VfB defence and the Greek striker fired home a consolation goal for Eintracht.

Hertha Berlin 3-1 Karlsruhe

Hertha Berlin secured a 3-1 home win over Karlsruhe after capitalising on defensive errors from Miller and Hajnal.

The home side scored twice within the space of six minutes in the first half. On 25 minutes, a long ball from Friedrich saw KSC keeper make an almighty howler allowing Gojko Kacar to say “thank you” before slotting easily home.

Six minutes later and it was 2-0 with Marko Pantelic grabbing the goal. A mistake from Tamas Hajnal in midfield set Hertha on the counter attack. Pantelic played the ball to Ebert, who left keeper Miller standing with a super pass to Pantelic, who poked the ball over the line from close range.

Less than ten minutes into the second half and KSC got themselves back into the game with a goal from Kapllani. Iashvili flighted the ball into the middle, where the Albanian was on hand to convert.

The win for Hertha was sealed on 87 minutes with Rudi Skacel firing in the third. Raffael played the ball to Mineiro, who was clearly offside. The game played on and Mineiro played the ball back to Raffael who rounded the keeper before shooting against the post. However, Skacel was on hand to stab the ball home.

Goal.com - Bundesliga - Bundesliga Round-Up: Werder Clear, HSV Back On Track

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Sunday's match results:

Duisburg 3 - 2 Bayer Leverkusen

14' [1 - 0] M. Ishiaku
18' [1 - 1] L. Sinkiewicz
36' [2 - 1] M. Ishiaku
73' [2 - 2] T. Barnetta
90' [3 - 2] B. Georgiev

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Wolfsburg 0 - 0 Bayern Munich

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DRAW POINTS WAY TO BAYERN TITLE

Bayern Munich laboured to their 21st Bundesliga title on Sunday with a goalless draw at Wolfsburg.

A point was all Ottmar Hitzfeld's side needed to be crowned champions of Germany with three games of the season remaining, but they were made to work hard for it.

Wolfsburg had all of the chances and were unfortunate not to condemn their guests to their second defeat in four days but, for all their possession and chances, they could not find the goal which would have prolonged the title race at least until Wednesday.

Bayern will now celebrate the title in front of their own fans when they entertain Arminia Bielefeld in midweek.

How Bayern could have done with a result like this on Thursday when, dominated by Zenit St Petersburg, they crashed out of the UEFA Cup on the back of their heaviest defeat in Europe in over three decades.

Dominated by Wolfsburg on Sunday, Bayern still emerged with the point they needed to clinch the Bundesliga title.

It was one-way traffic almost from the off with the home side confidently galloping forwards with Grafite and Marcelinho both looking dangerous.

They made room behind lone striker Edin Dzeko, who broke through for the first chance of the game, but failed to keep his composure with just Michael Rensing to beat and fired his shot wide.

Minutes later, Dzeko was involved in the build-up before Christian Gentner shot over the crossbar from the edge of the area.

Marcelinho's first effort on goal came in the 18th minute when Grafite was fouled by Mark van Bommel on the edge of the penalty area. The Brazilian shot through the wall and Rensing punched clear.

Rensing, in for the rested Oliver Kahn, was in for a busy afternoon.

Marcel Schafer's shot was cleared by Daniel van Buyten before Marcelinho struck the last shot of the first half over the crossbar.

The Wolves continued to control the game with Dzeko setting up Marcelinho five minutes into the second half, but the former Hertha Berlin striker's shot was too weak when he really should have made Rensing work harder for the save.

Martin Demichelis and Van Buyten were extremely busy at the heart of the Bayern defence as the home side kept them under intense pressure.

But with their first chance of the game, the visitors could and probably should have gone ahead.

It came in the 73rd minute when Lukas Podolski dragged the ball back to substitute Toni Kroos, who had the whole of the goal to aim at from 10 yards, but pulled his shot wide.

Wolfsburg were tiring, but Grafite still found the energy to hit the post with 10 minutes remaining.

Yet the ball simply would not go in, even when Grafite found himself in front of Rensing again in the final minute only to shoot wide, and Bayern held on to the point they needed to end a disappointing week on a high.

SportingLife.com

DUISBURG CLIMB OFF THE BOTTOM

A stoppage-time winner from Blagoy Georgiev fired Duisburg to a 3-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen and off the bottom of the table.

Duisburg twice took the lead through Manasseh Ishiaku and twice surrendered it, courtesy of goals from Lukas Sinkiewicz and Tranquillo Barnetta, before Georgiev's decisive strike.

Rudi Bommer's men are now third from bottom, three points from safety with three matches to go.

Leverkusen controlled the early exchanges but fell behind after 14 minutes following a Duisburg corner and a defensive mix-up in the penalty area.

Ishiaku took advantage with Rene Adler powerless to stop it.

The lead lasted just four minutes, though, as Sinkiewicz headed home a free-kick from Sascha Dum, who was at least partly culpable for Duisburg's opener.

Ishiaku restored the lead after 36 minutes - he was all alone in the area as Georgiev's long cross reached him and the Nigerian striker headed his second.

Duisburg went in search of a third after the break and came close when Georgiev fired over from distance two minutes after the break.

The Bulgarian had an excellent chance just before the hour when he was played in by Claudio Niculescu, but he delayed and Gonzalo Castro tackled well.

Most of the pressure was at the other end though, and the equaliser duly came when Arturo Vidal's well-placed cross was met by the head of Barnetta.

Duisburg snatched the lead for the third and final time in the 91st minute.

Simon Rolfes' stumble in his own box proved costly as Georgiev took advantage to fire the winner.

SportingLife.com

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Table after MD 31:

1. FC Bayern München - 67 pts
2. Werder Bremen - 57 pts
3. FC Schalke 04 - 55 pts
4. Hamburg SV - 51 pts
5. VfB Stuttgart - 51 pts
6. Bayer Leverkusen - 48 pts
7. VfL Wolfsburg - 45 pts
8. Hannover 96 - 43 pts
9. Eintracht Frankfurt - 43 pts
10. Karlsruhe SC - 42 pts
11. VfL Bochum - 38 pts
12. Hertha Berlin - 38 pts
13. Borussia Dortmund - 36 pts
14. Energie Cottbus - 32 pts
15. Arminia Bielefeld - 32 pts
16. MSV Duisburg - 29 pts
17. FC Nünrberg - 28 pts
18. Hansa Rostock - 27 pts

Champions League
Uefa Cup
Intertoto Cup
Relegation


Top scorers after MD 31:

1> Luca Toni > FC Bayern München > 21 goals
2> Mario Gomez > VfB Stuttgart > 16 goals
3> Kevin Kuranyi > Schalke 04 > 15 goals
4> Mladen Petric > Borussia Dortmund > 13 goals
-> Diego > Werder Bremen > 13 goals

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In the first place, never moved, from MD1 to MD34.

FC BAYERN MüNCHEN ~ DEUTSCHE MEISTER 2007/08.