Bundesliga Matchday 25 in Pictures
Superheroes, a super Frankfurt striker and a superhuman Bayern squad were among the stories of the round 25 in the Bundesliga. Here's a pictorial recap.
Spiderman reappears at Hertha vs. Schalke
The Bundesliga's love affair with comics continued in round 25, as Hertha Berlin's Änis Ben-Hatira donned a Spiderman mask after scoring the opening goal in a 2-2 draw. The background: an eight-year-old friend of Ben-Hatira's who suffers from leukemia had asked for the mask if the midfielder scored. A nice gesture that earned Ben-Hatira a yellow card.
Lahm makes return and Bayern blast Bremen
The result was already beyond doubt, when Bayern captain Philipp Lahm was substituted into Munich's match against Brmen in the 80th minute. The diminutive standout had been on the sidelines for three months with a broken ankle. The Bavarians ran out easy 4-0 winners.
Meier spearheads big Frankfurt win over Paderborn
Need a goal? Who you gonna call? Alex Meier of Frankfurt. He's struck gold 19 times this season. And he was at it again on Saturday, heading in the icebreaker as the Eagles made quick work floundering Paderborn 4-0.
Hamburg go down to ten men, lose to Hoffenheim
The plan for struggling Hamburg in Hoffenheim was to keep a tight ship at the back and try to catch their hosts out on the break. But that all went out the window in the first half when keeper Jaroslav Drobny saw red and conceded a penalty. Hamburg went down to a 3-0 defeat
Mainz win away in Augsburg
This season Augsburg have been the new Mainz, a likeable team from a small city that punches way above its weight and challenges for the European spots in the table. At least that was the story until the real Mainz showed up on Saturday and took home a 2-0 victory.
Leverkusen put four past Stuttgart
In Friday night's match, cellar-dwellers Stuttgart were the equal of Champions League aspirants Leverkusen for half an hour. Then a series of defensive stumbles and bumbles helped Leverkusen to a one-sided 4-0 win and kept the Swabians in last place.
Dortmund's motor stalls versus Cologne
At home to the Billy Goats, all Dortmund could manage was a goalless draw. It was the men in yellow's second 0-0 mtach in a row and put a huge dent in their quest to qualify for international competition despite a horrible start to the season.
De Bruyne earns hugs as Wolfsburg beat Freiburg
Wolfsburg midfielder Kevin de Bruyne is giving Bayern's Arjen Robben a bit of competition for the MVP award. The Belgian has racked up a total of 26 goals and assists, one better than the Flying Dutchman, albeit having played in five more games. On Sunday, de Bruyne was involved in all of the Wolves' goals in their 3-0 win over Freiburg.
Herrmann bangs a pair past Hannover
Away in Mönchengladbach, Hannover only had one shot on goal. Foals forward Patrick Herrmann put two not only on target, but in the net - which wasn't that hard since they were both from point-blank range. Still a brace is a brace, and the 2-0 win gave Gladbach three valuable points.