Does anybody want to win the Bundesliga? That's the burning question on the lips of football fans across Germany this week, with all of the top three seemingly unable to put together a convincing run of form together as the season's end fast approaches...
With all of these crazy results occurring week-in, week-out, it all makes for great drama, and Schalke might even now be thinking that their single point taken from the 'unlosable' six-pointer against Bayern at the weekend may still put them on course to win the title... All will be revealed on the 8th May, I guess!
After spending virtually all season in third place, Schalke leapfrogged Leverkusen on matchday 25 â and they haven't looked back since.
As the Werkself were busy losing 3-2 away to Nürnberg, Schalke travelled to Eintracht Frankfurt, and subsequently smashed four past them to return back to North Rhine Westphalia with a 1-4 victory, and most importantly, the three points needed to be sitting in second place.
But wait! This is the Bundesliga, and nothing ever goes to plan, which might explain why Schalke somehow managed to lose 4-2 at Hannover on Saturday.
Leverkusen and Bayern battled to a draw at the BayArena
Fear not, though, as league leaders Bayern München and Bayer Leverkusen - the latter of whom might not even make the Champions League qualification spot after a shocking run of form â played out a 1-1 draw at the Bayarena.
Hertha Berlin, after a remarkable run of results (by their standards this season, at least...) â earning seven points from their past five games â had the chance to add another chapter to their 'Great Escape' story, but failed miserably, going down 0-1 home to Stuttgart.
Which of course leads us to the other four clubs fighting it out to stay in the league next season; SC Freiburg, VfL Bochum, Hannover 96 and Nürnberg. As we already know, Hannover won against Schalke, but what about the others?
Well, er... they all lost. Oh well.
That's right; Freiburg flopped at Bremen, losing the game four nil, while Bochum and Nürnberg lost home games to Hamburger SV and Wolfsburg, 1-2 and 0-2 respectively.
Good news for FC Köln this weekend though, as their three points taken from a tricky trip to Hoffenheim all but assures them top flight football next season. Maybe Lukas Podolski will come out all guns blazing next year after his year-long vacation during this campaign?
"Noooo, I don't want this vacation to ever end!"
In the other two games from this weekend, Mainz dented Dortmund's dreams of drifting into the Champs League qualification places with a pretty good 1-0 win, and in the Friday game, the team with the stupidly long name, Borussia Monchengladbach, beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0.
Not that it really mattered in the grand scheme of things, as both clubs are floating around mid-table with not a great deal to play for in terms of survival and European qualification.
Silly billy of the weekend:
Manuel Neuer (Goalkeeper, Schalke 04)
God knows why he decided to come off his line, but he did, and I bet he felt a bit silly afterwards. The goal from Hannover's Didier Ya Konan put his team 2-0 up, and pretty much killed off the game...
Hero of the weekend:
Adam Matuschyk (Midfield, FC Köln)
The young Polish international scored a brace â his first goals for the club - to all but confirm his team's participation in the Bundesliga next season.
Goal of the weekend:
Adam Szalai (Striker, FSV Mainz)
The striker, current on loan from Real Madrid's Castilla side, with this sublime display of quick feet, close control and clinical finishing...
BUNDESLIGA RESULTS Fri 09 Apr: Borussia MâÂÂgladbach 2-0 Eintracht Frankfurt; Sat 10 Apr: Hertha Berlin 0-1 VfB Stuttgart, FSV Mainz 1-0 Borussia Dortmund, Hannover 96 4-2 Schalke 04, 1899 Hoffenheim 0-2 FC Köln, Werder Bremen 4-0 SC Freiburg, Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Bayern München; Sun 11 Apr: VfL Bochum 1-2 Hamburger SV, FC Nürnberg 0-2 VfL Wolfsburg.
This week's fixtures, along with The Fundesliga's predictions:
Friday
FC Köln 1-0 VfL Bochum
Saturday
VfB Stuttgart 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen
VfL Wolfsburg 2-2 Werder Bremen
Schalke 04 2-0 Borussia MâÂÂgladbach
Hamburger SV 3-1 FSV Mainz
SC Freiburg 1-1 FC Nürnberg
Bayern München 3-0 Hannover 96
Sunday
Borussia Dortmund 4-2 1899 Hoffenheim
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Hertha Berlin
More from The Fundesliga
Germany: News * StatsFFT.com: Features * News * Interviews * Home
Interact: Twitter * Facebook * Forum
