Bundesliga Team Of The Week: Round 32

Mathew Burt runs the rule over the best in Germany over the midweek matches in Round 32, which saw Bayern Munich celebrate their title win in front of the own fans at the Allianz Arena with a 2-0 win over Bielefeld.

Werder Bremen triumphed in the Nord-derby, while Leverkusen slipped out of the top five with their second consecutive loss. Dortmund beat Stuttgart, and Nürnberg secured a potentially vital three points against Duisburg.

Drobny

Hummels   Bordon   Mertesacker   Lahm

Rakitic   Tinga   Huszti   Ribéry

Frei   Gomez

Goalkeeper:

1)  Jaroslav Drobny (Hertha Berlin)

The Hertha keeper was on fine form as his side came away from the Bay-Arena with all three points.  Kept Bayer at bay throughout the game and was only beaten by a late penalty from Lukasz Sinkiewicz.

Defenders:

2)  Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund)

With the ageing Robert Kovac and Christian Wörns in the BVB squad not getting any younger, Thomas Doll will be glad to have the ever-improving Mats Hummels in his squad again next season.  The youngster put in a fine defensive display against Stuttgart to highlight the reasons that Bayern do not want to sell him, and are just allowing him a loan spell at the Signal Iduna Park.

3)  Marcelo José Bordon (Schalke)

Another super defensive showing from the Königsblauen’s commanding captain.  Not content with shutting out Bochum at the back he got upfield for corners and set pieces and caused a constant threat.  He scored the third goal of the night after nodding in a Rakitic free kick.

4)  Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen)

Mertesacker is in fine form right now which is good news for Germany going into the European Championships.  Against Hamburg in the Nord-derby he organised things well at the back for Werder and managed to keep the home side goalless despite some strong pressure in the second half when Baumann had been sent off.

5)  Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich)

What with all the transfer speculation surrounding the German full back in recent weeks, his consistent performances have been overlooked a little.  Against Bielefeld on Wednesday, he showed just why he is so highly rated with a fine display both defensively and as an attacking option going forward.

Midfielders:

6)  Tinga (Borussia Dortmund)

The industrious midfielder was everywhere on Tuesday and helped BVB to a win over Stuttgart.  Full of running and tackling, Tinga opened the scoring at the Signal-Iduna Park with a well taken shot following fine work from Federico.

7)  Szabolcs Huszti (Hannover)

Hanover’s Hungarian midfielder was constantly on the move and involved in all their best moves against Rostock.  He caused all sorts of problems with his direct dribbling and set-piece delivery.  It was his assist that set up the third goal for Dieter Hecking’s side.

8) Ivan Rakitic (Schalke)

Rakitic was in sublime form against Bochum scoring one goal himself and setting up the other two for Asamoah and Bordon.  Clearly the ‘Man of the Match’ in the Ruhr derby as Schalke all but cemented their place in the Champions League next season.

9) Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich)

The party atmosphere inside the Allianz Arena seemed to inspire Ribéry as he put in another superb performance against Bielefeld.  He latched onto Luca Toni’s through ball to open the scoring for the Bavarians, before doing all he could to return the favour for the Italian striker.  Fully deserved the standing ovation he was given when Ottmar Hitzfeld took him off in the second half.

Forwards:

10) Alexander Frei (Borussia Dortmund)

Two goals from the Swiss striker fired BVB to victory over Stuttgart.  His first was a well struck free kick that bamboozled Schäfer in the Stuttgart goal, while his second arrived late on following good work from strike partner Valdez.

11) Mario Gomez (Stuttgart)

Gomez grabbed another brace against Dortmund but still ended up on the losing side.  His record this season now stands at 18 goals in 23 appearances making him potentially the number one choice for Joachim Löw at this summer’s European Championships.

Honourable mentions:

As always there are only eleven slots in the team of the week, so some players who played well for their club haven’t made it.  They do however get an honourable mention.

Goalkeepers Rene Adler (Leverkusen) and Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg) both performed well and Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen) also played impressively but really blighted his copybook with an atrocious foul on Olic which saw him lucky to remain on the field.

Halil Altintop and Gerald Asamoah deserve praise for their performances for Schalke against Bochum, while Jan Rosenthal’s double strike for Hannover also warrants a mention. Nelson Haedo Valdez was superb for Borussia Dortmund as they beat Stuttgart

Nigel de Jong of Hamburg stood out in the Nord-derby and Angelos Charisteas and Javier Pinola were outstanding for Nürnberg as they secured an important win.  Hertha Berlin’s Marko Pantelic rounds off the honourable mention after his showing against Leverkusen.

source: goal.com

Asserted in a physical match

Five yellow cards, two dismissals, dozens of hefty physical challenges, plenty of incidents to discuss and a 30 minute period of non-stop defending – it was a North Derby win that Werder Bremen had to work exceptionally hard to achieve. Trainer Thomas Schaaf had predicted an emotional game and prepared his team perfectly for the task at hand. In spite of having the bulk of the possession, van der Vaart & Co. were unable to “put the ball over the line”, in the words of HSV keeper Frank Rost.

“It was clear to us right from the beginning that it was going to be that sort of game and so, no one was really caught by surprise. We were up for the challenge,” said Tim Borowski, and it was a state of mind that pleased Klaus Allofs too: “In the past we were the sort of team that was often too soft in those kind of matches and tried to solve everything with footballing ability. Tonight we did everything correctly.”

Werder were not even to be stopped by the two red cards brandished by referee Lutz Wagner. Both decisions were certainly questionable and, in particular, captain Frank Baumann was stunned by his sending off: “I can pretty much understand the booking for the foul in the first half, although it was a harsh decision. Then I see red after my second foul in the whole game. That was over the top.”

Fellow red card inductee Jurica Vranjes felt he was unfairly branded as the sole culprit in the incident that ended the match for him: “If the referee decides to send me off, that’s okay but Atouba attempted to hit me and missed. Then he came at me and spat, which is what provoked my reaction.” No matter, at the end of the day, the three points were already on the way back to Bremen!

source: werder.de

Almeida’s right boot rocks HSV

It was a good half hour after the game had finished that winning goal scorer Hugo Almeida finally finished his warm down and had recovered enough from the tension and adrenalin rush of the ‘North Derby’, to enter the ‘Mixed-Zone’ and face the questions of the gathered journalists. When asked how a heavily left footed player managed to strike such a powerful drive with his ‘Weaker’ right boot, the Portuguese international couldn’t really find a suitable explanation: “I don’t ever remember having hit a shot like that with my right foot before, let alone scoring such a goal with it!”

Ivan Klasnic, who was introduced as a substitute in the 85th minute, was better able to sum up the situation than his strike partner in Green-White: “It was naturally a once in a season shot on goal,” remarked Klasnic, who had already turned away as Almeida struck. “I felt Markus Rosenberg had been fouled and was expecting a penalty, but then the whistle didn’t come. I thought the move was over.”

Hugo Almeida cast a sober eye back on the moment in question: “Everything happened very quickly. Tim’s long kick-out, Markus shielding off the ball, the lay-off and then I just let fly. For all the beauty of a stunning goal, there was also a vital win to relish in: “It wasn’t just a cup-final, it was the North-Derby’ and that makes me twice as happy,” concluded the Portuguese front man.

source: werder.de

HSV vs Werder Highlights

Match’s highlights and interviews: