Anyone watch Bundesliga? Yeah, me neither, but I think that this is a league that deserves more attention than it gets. Bundesliga is the top league in Germany, in case there is any confusion there, and is home to some of the best teams on the European stage. Bayern Munich may be the only Bundesliga team you can name off of the top of your head, but you're in the same boat as many soccer-heads around the world.
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| wikipedia.org |
Germany has always been a dominant force and Bundesliga is hailed among the top leagues on planet earth, but I feel like they are not recognized and as respected as the English Premier League, La Liga or Serie A. "Hey, let's watch some Bundesliga highlights." "Oh yeah! My favorite league! Do you know if Gotze is going to be fit to play on Wednesday?" It's not likely anyone outside of Europe will. For those of you who are among the "I know Bundesliga... well I know about Bayern Munich." people, here are a few things you should know:
- On Wednesday the 11th of April, Borussia Dortmund slammed Bayern Munich's hopes of winning the Bundesliga title this season when they defeated the Champions League giants at their home stadium 1-0. A cheeky goal in the 77th minute from Robert Lewandowski was enough to get the win for Dortmund, who received a bit of a slam themselves ahead of the match when doctors deemed the young prodigy Mario Gotze unfit to make his comeback from an injury that sidelined him in January. The soccer Gods were not on Arjen Robben's side for this fixture either, as he was the player to hold Lewandowski onside for the Dortmund goal and missed a penalty kick that would have gotten his side a much-needed point at the end of the day. Right now Dortmund are at the top of the table by six points with four matches to be played.
- Last season Borussia Monchengladbach (yes, that's a city) narrowly escaped relegation. Luckily for the side-that-no-one-can-pronounce, their relegation rivals Eintracht Frankfurt were facing off against the table toppers Borussia Dortmund at their home stadium. Monchengladbach were gifted another season in the Bundesliga thanks to Dortmund's 3-1 defeat to Frankfurt and they were sure to make the most of it. At this moment in time, Monchengladbach sit in fourth place on the table in the Champions League play-off qualification spot for next season. They have been tied to some of the big names in young talent emerging in European football as well and will look to be building on their squad this summer to challenge for the title next season.
- As of now, FC Kaiserslautern, a team who placed seventh in the league last season, are at the rock bottom of Bundesliga with twenty points, seven points away from the next closest team, Hertha Berlin. FC Kaiserslautern has been in the top flight since they were taken over by Marco Kurz. In the 2009/2010 season they earned promotion to the top flight in German football but appear to be set for another season in the second division. Hertha Berlin earned themselves promotion to the Bundesliga least season, but the challenge appears to be too great for them and they risk falling back into the second division unless they can produce a vital three points that could potentially lift them over FC Kӧln, from the city of Cologne, and even over FC Augsburg, who sit in the 15th place safe spot with 30 points. As the table stands, it will be FC Kaiserslautern and Hertha Berlin who face the cut and FC Kӧln who will need to fight for another season in the top flight.
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