Leverkusen continue to struggle
Matchday 26 saw former second placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen tumble even deeper in the hole. They last their match with Hoffenheim on Sunday 2:3 and Dortmund and Schalke both won their matches increasing their lead furthermore while Gladbach are putting up the heat from behind by defeating Berlin. FC Bayern meanwhile will have to wait at least another four days for their official championship despite winning against Mainz while the relegation struggle is getting more and more intense.
Leverkusen is without a victory for nine games now.
If a big loser of matchday 26 had to be named it would obviously be Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The team of Sami Hyypiä that was on second place during the winter break failed to win in the ninth match in a row on Sunday against Hoffenheim as they lost 2:3. Borussia Dortmund and Schalke on the other hand both won their matches against Hanover 96 and Eintracht Braunschweig with 3:0 and 3:1 to increase their lead towards Bayer on fourth place furthermore. Schalke are six and BVB seven points ahead of Leverkusen.
Borussia Moenchengladbach right behind them also won 3:0 against Hertha BSC Berlin on Saturday night to put more pressure on Bayer as they now even have to fear their fourth place that would enable them to play UEFA Champions League qualifier rounds. FC Bayern meanwhile will have to wait at least another couple of days for the championship celebration despite winning against FSV Mainz 05 2:0 thanks to two late goals. The match between Augsburg and Wolfsburg ended 1:1.
Intense relegation struggle
The most tension in Bundesliga at the moment is to be found in relegation struggle as direct rivals go head-to-head every almost every week. This weekend SC Freiburg beat Werder Bremen on Friday night for some big points. It was the second win in a row for SCF enabling them to leave the danger zone in chart for the moment. Next opponent will be Hamburger SV. The team of Mirko Slomka lost 0:1 against VfB Stuttgart changing positions with them again.
1. FC Nuremberg are also back on relegation places as they lost 2:5 against Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday. All teams down there are pretty close together positions 17 and 14 are only separated by two points. Nuremberg are currently 17th with 23 points, HSV with the same count on 16, Stuttgart on better on 15 and Freiburg with 25 on 14th place while Frankfurt, Bremen and Hanover all have 29 points and Braunschweig´s hopes shrinking every week as they only have 18 points to their name.
