da betano casino： Christmas can be a stressful and tense time for everybody, not just those involved in football. How you react under these conditions depends on your character. For example, Wolfsburg boss Felix Magath threatened to cancel his squad’s Christmas if they failed to overcome Stuttgart at home on the Saturday. You’ll be glad to know (unless you’re a sadist) that there’ll be celebrations in Lower Saxony after they edged out Bruno Labbadia’s side 1-0 at the VW Arena. One man though didn’t seem to coping so well with added pressure.
da doce： Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery would have been angered by events earlier on Friday where he was ordered to pay €2.66 million to his former agent. The former Marseille man appeared to let his frustration spill onto the pitch. After a fairly innocuous tangle with Cologne’s Henrique Sereno, Ribery earned himself a pair of yellow cards in under a minute as the Frenchman failed to control his emotions.
The Bavarians needn’t have worried as Stale Solbakken’s Cologne were insipid despite being handed a fantastic opportunity at the Allianz Arena. The game was goalless but the Billy Goats seemed content enough with the score line.
In hindsight, a big mistake as Heynckes side effortlessly cruised past the visitors with three second half goals. This epitomised Bayern’s season to date. At times, there have been some shaky moments both at home (Dortmund and Gladbach) and away (Hannover and Mainz). However, otherwise they’ve been ruthless as their impressive goal difference suggests. Mario Gomez’ remarkable knack of being in the right place at the right time has helped contribute to this significantly.
Nevertheless, just three points behind the leaders are fierce Ruhr rivals Borussia Dortmund and Schalke who both grabbed convincing victories on the weekend. The Black and Yellows made the long trip south to Freiburg who were dispatched 4-1. Despite being beaten in the derby three weeks ago, Schalke had the upper hand result wise this time round. The Royal Blues thrashed a hapless Werder Bremen 5-0 including a hat trick from Raul. Both Jurgen Klopp and Huub Stevens will be confident of challenging their Bavarian rivals in the new year.
Will either be able to catch Germany’s most successful club in 2012? The statistics would argue against it. This is the 17th time Bayern have been top at the halfway stage of the season. Only twice before have they failed to go on to become champions. It would certainly be a major shock should they not win with the players they have available to them.
Their mettle will be tested immediately in January with a trip to old adversaries Borussia Monchengladbach. The Foals ensured they’re still in the title shake-up sneaking past Mainz. Marco Reus, a man who will move to either Dortmund or Munich come the end of the season, returned from injury. He broke his toe in their derby victory against Cologne but Reus limped off towards the end after catching his foot in the turf.
This could be what decides the destination of the title – injuries. Three of the top four have certainly had key players missing recently and strength in depth is not abundant amongst the top teams in the Bundesliga. Of the title chasers though, Bayern Munich look best set, especially with Bastian Schweinsteiger returning. The winter break will ease any stress and tension amongst Jupp Heynckes’ ranks however, they should be warned. This is the Bundesliga and Bayern Munich have looked susceptible to the occasional implosion, even if it looks unlikely in 2012.
If you’d like to read more Bundesliga musings, then why not follow me on Twitter – @arhindtutt
Matchday 17 Results:
Bayern Munich 3-0 Cologne
Bayer Leverkusen 0-3 Nuremberg
Freiburg 1-4 Borussia Dortmund
Hamburg 1-1 Augsburg
Hoffenheim 1-1 Hertha Berlin
Wolfsburg 1-0 Stuttgart
Schalke 5-0 Werder Bremen
Kaiserslautern 1-1 Hannover
Gladbach 1-0 Mainz
Bundesliga Table:
1
FC Bayern Munich
17
12
1
4
43:10
+33
37
CL*
2
Borussia Dortmund
17
10
4
3
35:12
+23
34
CL*
3
FC Schalke 04
17
11
1
5
38:22
+16
34
CL*
4
Borussia Mönchengladbach
17
10
3
4
25:11
+14
33
CL* Qual.
5
SV Werder Bremen
17
9
2
6
30:31
-1
29
EL* Qual.
6
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
17
7
5
5
22:22
0
26
EL* Qual.
7
Hannover 96
17
5
8
4
20:24
-4
23
8
VfB Stuttgart
17
6
4
7
23:20
+3
22
9
1899 Hoffenheim
17
6
4
7
19:19
0
22
10
1. FC Köln
17
6
3
8
27:35
-8
21
11
Hertha BSC Berlin
17
4
8
5
24:26
-2
20
12
VfL Wolfsburg
17
6
2
9
23:34
-11
20
13
Hamburger SV
17
4
7
6
21:27
-6
19
14
1. FSV Mainz 05
17
4
6
7
22:29
-7
18
15
1. FC Nuremberg
17
5
3
9
17:28
-11
18
16
1. FC Kaiserslautern
17
3
7
7
13:21
-8
16
Play-offs
17
FC Augsburg
17
3
6
8
15:28
-13
15
Relegation
18
SC Freiburg
17
3
4
10
21:39
-18
13
Relegation
Table thanks to the Bundesliga Official Website