Mathew Burt runs the rule over the best in Germany over the final round of matches in Week 34 of an exciting and eventful Bundesliga. Bayern Munich were crowned champions at an emotional Allianz Arena, where both Oliver Kahn and Ottmar Hitzfeld were given a fine send off.
A 2-0 defeat to Schalke saw Nürnberg relegated and Arminia Bielefeld saved. Wolfsburg sneaked into the Uefa Cup after beating Dortmund and Hamburg joined them in Europe next season with a 7-0 mauling of Karlsruhe.
Neuer
Cherundolo Bordon Mavraj Schäfer
Fink van der Vaart Ribéry
Fenin Guerrero Toni
Goalkeeper:
1) Manuel Neuer (Schalke)
The young Schalke goalkeeper may have missed out on a place in the German squad for the European Championships to Rene Adler, but the youngster put in a superb display against Nürnberg. He was dominant in the area and lightning quick with his reactions. He is definitely going to be gaining a full cap some time soon.
Defenders:
2) Steven Cherundolo (Hannover)
The American full back had a storming game against Cottbus. The right back fully utilised the opportunities to him to get forward and join the attack and provided assists for three of the four goals for Dieter Hecking’s side.
3) Marcelo José Bordon (Schalke)
In the crunch game of the weekend both sides had to win to secure their targets. Nürnberg wanted safety while the Königsblauen wanted to pip Werder into second. Schalke duly won 2-0 with both goals coming from captain Bordon, who has been increasingly impressive in the past few weeks. One with his head and one with his right foot showed that he is a real danger in the opposing penalty box as well as a dominant force in his own.
4) Megim Mavraj (Bochum)
The young German defender impressed on his first full appearance for Bochum as they went down to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Hansa Rostock. Didn’t look out of place in Marcell Koller’s back line and got forward to excellent effect in the first half to head the home side in front.
5) Marcel Schäfer (Wolfsburg)
The Wolfsburg full back has enjoyed a fine season and capped it with another good outing against Dortmund at the Signal Iduna Park as Felix Magath’s side clinched a 4-2 win to secure qualification for the Uefa Cup next season. Schäfer was a constant threat down the left flank and got in on the scoring by firing in his side’s third goal of the game.
Midfielders:
6) Michael Fink (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Michael Fink was the go to guy for Frankfurt as they ended a desperate run of form with a 4-2 win over Duisburg at the Commerzbank Arena. He laid on three assists and tormented the Zebras defence for 90 minutes. Fenin and the Eintracht forwards lapped up the service provided by wide man Fink.
7) Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg)
In what could be his last appearance in the Bundesliga, the Dutchman put in a virtuoso performance as HSV ran out 7-0 winners over Karlsruhe. He opened the scoring after 23 minutes from the penalty spot and then took control of the creativity for Huub Stevens’ side. He laid on three assists for Guerrero and Olic to bid a special farewell to the home crowd inside the HSH Nordbank Arena.
8) Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich)
The Frenchman ended the season the way he has played all season long. He was a constant thorn in the Hertha defender’s side and was literally unstoppable at times. He set up the second goal for Luca Toni before firing the third himself into to left hand corner following a Schweinsteiger corner.
Forwards:
9) Martin Fenin (Eintracht Frankfurt)
The young Czech striker went off the boil somewhat after his debut in which he scored a hat trick. However on Saturday against Duisburg he looked extremely dangerous. He scored twice himself to take his season’s total to six and laid on a fine assist for partner Amanatidis for the opener.
10) Paulo Guerrero (Hamburg)
The season finished with a bang for Peruvian striker Paulo Guerrero as he bagged a hat trick in Hamburg’s 7-0 thrashing of Karlsruhe. It took him less than 50 minutes to score his three goals and he showed the hunger and goal scoring instinct that has been missing in recent weeks.
11) Luca Toni (Bayern Munich)
‘Il Bomber’ finished the season on a real high after bagging a hat trick against Hertha to take his season’s total to 24. The party atmosphere inside the Allianz Arena was aided by two Toni goals inside the first half an hour as he good his head to great balls from Ribéry and Schweinsteiger. The third came in the second half with his right foot after an assist from Podolski.
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.
Manuel Castro made up for the disappointment of missing out on selection for the Euro 2008 tournament with a brilliant game against Werder for Leverkusen and was unlucky to lose. Torsten Frings also played well to prove to Jogi Löw his own readiness for the European Championships.
Bayern Munich were presented with the Bundesliga trophy after beating Hertha Berlin 4-1 in a game in which Philipp Lahm also shone. Oli Kahn, Mark van Bommel and Bastian Schweinsteiger also deserve praise.
Wolfsburg secured Uefa Cup football with a 4-2 win over Dortmund with Marcelinho and keeper Diego Benaglio in fine form. Ivica Olic grabbed a brace against Karlsruhe to take his season’s tally to 14.
