Bundesliga Tension Mounts
February 24, 2005
The cream is slowly rising to the top in the Bundesliga. The traditionally strong such as Bayern, Bremen and Leverkusen are amongst the top five while early pretenders like Wolfsburg, Hanover and Bielefeld are sinking into the middle of the standings, neither threatened by relegation nor threatening the elite.
On Saturday, the top game pits two teams lying in wait: Hertha Berlin (seventh place, 36 points) against the guests from Hamburg SV. Both clubs have been on a tear since mid-autumn, yet last week, Berlin's 11-game unbeaten string was halted by Stuttgart. Defender Nico Kovac already let out the next battle cry on Monday: "We have to start our next streak," Kovac told kicker magazine.
Since Thomas Doll took over the Hamburg reins in September, the team has enjoyed a steady rise from the bottom to sixth-place. The offense is clicking in the Hanseatic city. They haven't been shut out since a 3-0 loss to Bayern on Jan. 21. A loss for either side would put a damper on that club's chances to play in European competition next season.
Both Hertha and HSV will be closely watching the Sunday match between fourth-place Leverkusen and fifth-place Stuttgart. Matthias Sammer's side easily dispensed of Leverkusen in the first leg, winning 3-0 at home. Yet, Leverkusen must do without the services of defensive captain, Jens Nowotny, who tore the ACL in his left knee and will be out the remainder of the season.
Leaders with easier assignments
The top two clubs in the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich and Schalke 04 (both 44 points) face easier competition on the weekend.
Munich, coming off a 3-1 Champions League victory over Arsenal London, travel to Freiburg who are fighting tooth and nail for their top division standing. Stranded in 17th-place, Volker Finke's side must do without goalkeeper Richard Golz (red card in last game) and a number of starters, Andreas Ibertsberger, Alexander Iashvili, Sascha Riether, Youssef Mohamad and Wilfried Sanou have fallen victim to that which is crippling many Germans this winter -- the flu.
Bayern also have complained of player illnesses but have a much deeper bench. The last Freiburg victory against their larger southern rivals was nine years ago.
Schalke host Hanover on Sunday. After some heady play in the second half of the first leg, Hanover were riding high. In the second leg, they have fallen on hard times and lie in ninth-place. Their 20-year old defensive star, Per Mertesacker, is back in action this weekend. He himself is coming back from a bout with the flu which coach Ewald Lienen blames German national coach Jürgen Klinsmann for. Mertesacker played a full 90 minutes in the friendly against Argentina although he was not feeling well.
A Schalke win is a must if Ralf Rangnick's troop wants to keep pace with Munich.
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Bremen can concentrate on the Bundesliga
Defending champions Bremen have also played excellent soccer in the second leg, winning four of five matches. That has catapulted them to third-place (40 points) and now they, too, are a title contender.
Thomas Schaaf's squad most likely can concentrate on defending the title also, because they took a huge blow in the Champions Leauge round of 16 by losing 3-0 at home to Olympique Lyon. On Saturday, they welcome a favorite opponent in Bochum. In 28 home matches against the Ruhr Valley club, they have won 21.
Bochum beat fellow relegation candidate Freiburg last Saturday, 3-1, but the water is still up to coach Peter Neururer's neck. A lopsided loss may be fatal to his employment.
Kaiserslautern (31 points) and Wolfsburg (33 points) meet in a match of mid-level clubs. Wolfsburg broke a four-game losing string on Saturday with a 4-0 victory over Rostock. Kaiserslautern had been on a seven match unbeaten streak before falling to Hamburg last weekend. Both sides have upside potential but it's uncertain if they have the talent.
Dortmund fighting on many fronts
Towards the bottom of the standings, Dortmund play Mainz. Bert van Marwijk's club played terribly in a 5-0 loss to Munich last week. Fan calls for heads to roll are getting louder and louder. Due to earlier second leg successes, Dortmund have moved clear of the relegation zone, but the financially-strapped club is currently unloved in the league. There's lots of talk that BVB manipulated their financial sheets last spring so that they could retain their league license. Mainz meanwhile are just four points of the relegation zone. Last week's tie against Bielefeld snapped a seven-game losing streak for Jürgen Klopp's crew.
Cellar dwellers Rostock, winless at home, play Mönchengladbach. Rostock (13 points) have fate against them in their fight to stay in the top league. No team has ever been so far back at this stage of the season and managed to accumulate enough points to avoid relegation. Gladbach have more at stake as they are only five points of the drop zone. Captain Jeff Strasser said it plainly to kicker magazine: "Rostock is a key match for us."
Bielefeld, just two weeks ago, convincingly beat Bayern at home, 3-1. A 0-0 draw followed in Mainz and now 13th-place Nuremberg are coming to town. There is no deep rivalry between the two sides. In a total of 13 games, Bielefeld has won six, Nuremberg five. It's a toss-up.