Bundesliga Roundup: Bayern win another title as Hoffenheim claim a Champions League spot

The opening game of the weekend saw Leverkusen take on Schalke, who both have fallen way below expectations. Leverkusen are sliding nearer and nearer toward the relegation places and found themselves 0-3 down in the opening 18 minutes. Goals from Guido Burgstaller, Benedikt Höwedes and Alessandro Schöpf put Schalke in a commanding lead so early. Burgstaller continued his fine form this year with his 2nd on 50 minutes and quite frankly it could have been much more as Leverkusen were dreadful. Stefan Kießling did pull one back for Leverkusen but it meant absolutely nothing.

Werder Bremen, one of Europe’s in-form teams just keep on winning, this time it was Hertha who stood in their way, but with confidence high, they turned them over comfortably. Fin Bartels and top scorer Max Kruse capitalised on sloppy passing at the back and punished Hertha claiming a 2-0 win. Bremen now sit in a European place, imagine that back on match day one.

Lars Stindl lead his Gladbach side to an important 1-2 victory over Mainz in another twist as the fight for survival continues. Nico Schulz also scored for the Foals as they continue their charge towards a European place. Yoshinori Muto did pull one back late on for Mainz but it was too little too late for the carnival club.

Leipzig needed to win in order to keep up the pressure on Bayern and hope that the Bavarians could slip up somewhere. Ingolstadt stood in their way and are in a desperate position in need of points themselves. RBL missed their opportunity as they drew a blank meaning that all Bayern needed in the later kickoff was a win and the title was theirs.

Dortmund also drew a blank, this time against FC Koln, this came following an impressive 3-2 win over Bayern midweek to book a place in the DFB-Pokal final. Koln find themselves gradually sliding down the table in a tightly contested race for Europe and avoiding the relegation playoff.

Darmstadt do it again! They say that when the pressure is off you can play without fear, well it’s 3 wins from the last 3 for Darmstadt and they are still mathematically safe. This week they did it in style, a 3-0 drumming over the ever impressive Freiburg. The goals came from Felix Platte, Jerome Gondorf and Sven Schipplock, begging the question; what would have happened if Darmstadt played without this fear from the beginning of the season, where would they be?

So when Bayern kicked off they knew that nothing but a win would do and the title would be theirs. When Bayern are in need to finish the job they do it in style. Wolfsburg were taken to the cleaners and Bayern showed the rest of the Bundesliga why they are deserved champions. David Alaba, two from Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben, Thomas Müller and Joshua Kimmich all scored as Bayern thrashed Wolfsburg 6-0 at the VW Arena. Wolfsburg are once again looking over their shoulders and have taken a massive defensive dent which may prove costly come the end of the season. Bayern win their 27th title, a huge triumph for manager Carlo Ancelotti. Luiz Gustavo picked up a 2nd bookable offence and completely lost his head, and will get a one match ban and possibly more after his display towards the match officials. A poor example from the Wolfsburg captain, they may very well miss him in their final run in.

A massive 6 pointer on Sunday with Augsburg in 16th taking on Hamburg in 15th, a win for either side would be huge in the final remaining games. It was the home side Augsburg who took the 3 points and they did it in style, a 4-0 trashing in front of their faithful. A brace from veteran Halil Altintop, Philipp Max and the beast Raul Bobadilla confirmed the win and a massive 3 points which see Augsburg leapfrog Hamburg.

A last minute winning goal from Benjamin Hübner saw Julian Nagelsmann’s Hoffenheim claim 3 massive points and confirm Champions League football next season for the first time in the club’s history. The 29 year old has time and time again proven that he has a bright future ahead of him in management, the question is; can Hoffenheim keep hold of him?

With the title all wrapped up and the top 4 confirmed, there is still so much more left to play for. Any one from 5th down to 11th can grab the remaining 2 Europa League spots, but even more interesting, anyone from 8th and below could still get sucked into the relegation playoff space. It isn’t likely that 11th upwards have to worry but with Leverkusen in freefall, things could get very bad very quickly. With 3 games to go, it’s going to be incredibly tense.