BALAKOV DECIDES CHAMPIONSHIP AND RELEGATION BATTLE

Within 11 seconds Schalke's dreams of winning their first Bundesliga
Championship after 43 years were crushed like an overripe banana:
Balakov scored the game-winner against the Kings' Blues and a little
more South Bayern substitute Zickler steered in the decisive 2-1 for
the defending champs. Bayern have proven once again that they are
mentally and physically on another level than the rest of the league.


13 MAY 2001

UNTERHACHING			1-4		DORTMUND
Strehmel 66					Addo 4, 59
						Ricken 74
						Dedê 90

Rosický carried the ball over half the length of the pitch on
the counter attack, spread it wide to Evanílson who cut inside the
'Haching defense and centred for Addo who started in place of Bobic
and tapped in. Lehmann made a good save from Rraklli. Evanílson had
all the time in the world to cross, Addo rose above Zimmermann to
head in his 2nd. Ahanfouf did his usual trick i.e. coming on as sub
and then heading against the crossbar. Strehmel pulled one back with
a header from Straube's free kick.

Evanílson, extremely agile, fun to watch and easily the best player
on the pitch, swapped passes with Addo before centring to the far
post where Ricken unmarkedly tapped in, 'Haching's defense must
still be dizzy from the pace of passing. Diving twat Rraklli was
denied a penalty when he was actually fouled by Nerlinger for once.
Dedê grabbed a rare goal as well from Billy Reina's centre to end
a successful road trip for Borussia.

Unterhaching need to defeat Schalke at the Parkstadion next weekend
and hope for Cottbus to lose at 1860 in order to avoid relegation.
Dortmund have qualified for the Champions League Qualification Stage
and can even still finish 2nd with a home win against Köln and S04
losing against 'Haching.

Attendance : 15,300 (sold out)


KÖLN				1-3		BREMEN
Arveladze 20					Pizarro 14
						Aílton 70, 74

Pizarro headed the ball into Aílton's run to initiate a 2-man counter
attack, Toni with ball outpaced Keller by a few meters before smashing
it against the crossbar but Pizarro was there to nod in the rebound.
Tjikuzu amateurishly gifted Kreuz the ball in the box (on a silver
plate so to speak), Arveladze converted his centre with ease.

Pizarro curled a free kick against the crossbar. The Peruvian ace then
fired Herzog's centre at goal, Pröll could only parry the ball to the
middle where Aílton was lurking before tapping into the roof. Werder
buried the too-offensive FC on another breakaway, Eilts(!) won the
ball in midfield, Herzog fantastically released Aílton once more who
finished with a classy outside instep shot into the far corner.

Werder can still finish 6th if they win their final home game of the
season against Hansa Rostock and either Freiburg loses at home
against Wolfsburg or Hertha gets beaten in Kaiserslautern (more likely).
Köln have nothing to play for as they haven't even registered for the
Intertoto Cup when they drive to Dortmund for their final road game of
the season.

Attendance : 41,760 (sold out)


COTTBUS			4-2		HAMBURG
Hujdurovic 1					Barbarez 40, 55
Labak 23
Miriuta 50 (Pen)
Franklin 62

Hujdurovic headed in Miriuta's corner when Hamburg was still in the
locker room mentally, reserve 'keeper Schober, playing for the injured
Butt, didn't look good either. Franklin's through pass sent Labak clear
of the HSV defense, Schober for no good reason was out in no man's land,
Labak easily went around him and tapped into the empty net. Barbarez
(who else ?) pulled one back with an all-too-easy tap-in from Präger's
centre.

Fukal clumsily bumped into Labak in the box 5 minutes into the 2nd half,
Miriuta dispatched the resulting penalty even though Schober got a hand
on it. Barbarez caught up to Ebbe Sand with 21 goals when he connected
with Mahdavikia's perfectly weighted, very soft lob over the top of the
Energie defense and lifted the ball over Piplica with his outside
instep, beautiful goal ! Miriuta set up Franklin just inside the area
and went looking for the immediate return pass, instead the Brasilian
spun around his marker and shot into the top-right angle to decide the
game.

Cottbus need to jump over their shadow and win their 2nd away game of
the season at 1860 if they want to be guaranteed Bundesliga football
next season. If 'Haching only draws or loses at Schalke they still
remain in the top flight regardless of the outcome of their own game.
Hamburg play a friendly against Bayern next weekend. The result could
become decisive if Schalke manages full 3 points against 'Haching,
otherwise the Volksparkstadion will only be the location of the
"Meisterfeier".

Attendance : 19,910


BOCHUM			1-3		FREIBURG
Maric 54 (Pen)					Tanko 33
						Sellimi 47, 90

Golz made a great save from Mandreko's dangerously curled free kick.
Kehl won the ball in midfield, released Tanko, the Ghanaian striker
sprinted clear of the VfL defense and elegantly beat Van Duijnhoven
with his outside instep. Sellimi made it 0-2 from another perfectly
timed Kehl through pass. Maric won a penalty and converted himself.

Mandreko was sent off for his 2nd bookbable offence. Baya linked up
with his countryman Sellimi, he dribbled through the abysmal Bochum
backline and slotted into the far corner. Sebastian Kehl, after only
1 season in the Bundesliga, has developed into one of the premier
defensive midfielders in the country - he is the teams' engine and
the single biggest reason why they're playing as well as they do.

Freiburg can clinch the club's 2nd ever UEFA Cup berth with a draw
at home against Wolfsburg next week. Bochum are cannon fodder to
Leverkusen.

Red Card : Mandreko 57 (Bochum)
Attendance : 12,332


WOLFSBURG			3-0		FRANKFURT
Munteanu 12
Greiner 17
Kühbauer 31 (Pen)

Preuß sent Kryszalowicz clear of the Wolves' defense but the Pole let
himself force wide by Reitmaier and then ballooned his shot. Preuß then
very unluckily deflected Munteanu's free kick into his own net. Greiner
sent Kracht crashing onto his arse before crashing a fierce shot past
Heinen from the left corner of the box. Rada pulled Rische in mid-air,
Kühbauer scored from the spot as Frankfurt were 3 down after 30
minutes.

Even with an hour still to play, without saviour Fjørtoft there was no
3rd miracle (Frankfurt staying in the league in the past 2 seasons are
generally considered miracles) possible: The 1980 UEFA Cup Winner and
4x German Cup Winner gets relegated for the 2nd time in 5 years and
has to go back to the steelbath of the 2. Liga to rebuild team and most
importantly the structure of the club.

The 2 clubs games next week cannot change their destiny (Intertoto
Cup and Relegation) anymore.

Attendance : 16,105


ROSTOCK			0-0		1860 MÜNCHEN

19,000 at the Ostseestadion gave an emotional farewell to fan favourite
Martin Pieckenhagen who joins Hamburg next season after 5 years in
HRO. Rydlewicz had a goal disallowed because Emara pushed Mykland
before. Agali had at least 6 good chances but bottled all of them. 1860
was AWOL.

Rostock "battles" for an UI Cup spot next weekend at Bremen, my take
is they will rather lay down and die than enter this unpopular competition
though as history has shown what damage it can do to small to midtable
teams. Same goes for the Lions who host Cottbus and by losing could get
rid of unloved neighbours and crowd-competitors Unterhaching.

Attendance : 19,000


HERTHA				1-1		LEVERKUSEN
Deisler 21					Neuville 62

Rehmer headed Sverrisson's free kick into the path of Deisler who
drew to the touchline but instead of crossing he hammered the ball
past Juric from an impossible angle, similar to Van Basten's goal
against the Soviet Union ! Hartmann could have pre-decided the game
after swapping passes with Alex Alves but Juric somehow parried his
shot.

Ballack knocked Zivkovic's cross into Neuville who struck a perfect
turn-around shot past the helpless Király. Ballack could have even
won the game for Leverkusen but his fierce shot cannoned back off
the crossbar following a good pass combination involving Zivkovic,
Brdaric and Ramelow.

Hertha have not only unnecessarily minimized their chances of making
the Champions League with this draw but now direct qualification for
*any* international competition for next season is undecided. Hertha
needs at least one point from their final game in Kaiserslautern to
guarantee qualification. Leverkusen only has to beat Bochum at home
to finish 4th.

Attendance : 53,906


STUTTGART			1-0		SCHALKE
Balakov 90

Mpenza pounced onto Hajto's longball, took Rui Marques by surprise
but Hildebrand denied him with a fine save. Adhemar sneaked away
from Hajto but blazed Dundee's centre over the bar. Dundee headed
just wide from Hinkel's cross. Schalke's best chance came in the
83rd minute when Sand missed by inches from Büskens' cross.

Stuttgart punished Schalke's cowardly attitude of playing back and
forth by attacking the league leaders aggressively in the final 5
minutes: Reck had to pull off a great save from Dundee's close
range efford. Ganea went clear of the Kings' Blues defense but
smacked his shot straight at the 'keeper.

And then came the grave 90th minute: From a goalmouth scramble
the ball broke to Balakov on the edge of the box and the Bulgarian
playmaker drove a left-footed blast into the right bottom corner
to keep the VfB in the Bundesliga, seal Frankfurt's relegation and
deal a severe blow to Schalke's championship dreams.

The "Knappen" need to beat 'Haching in their final home game now
and hope that Bayern loses in Hamburg to still win the Meisterschaft.
Felix Magath who was fired by Frankfurt, then took over Stuttgart
and saved them from relegation ironically returns to the Riederwald
for a summer friendly next weekend.

Attendance : 51,000 (sold out)


BAYERN MÜNCHEN		2-1		KAISERSLAUTERN
Jancker 56					Lokvenc 5
Zickler 90

Bayern were without Scholl (injured), Jeremies (suspended) and Élber
(rested) compared to their midweek clash with Real Madrid but could
welcome back captain Effenberg instead, Sforza and Jancker also
returned to the starting lineup. But it were the Red Devils (playing
in blue) who took the early shock lead when "Air Monster" Lokvenc
towered above Andersson to head in Koch's cross.

Ramzy panically headed against his own post from Effenberg's cross.
A surprise ball out of defense caught the Bayern backline cold and
sent Klose clear on the right lane, he cruised into the box but Kahn
dived to grab his centre meant for Djorkaeff who was lurking at the
far post. Jancker finally scored the equalizer 11 minutes into the
2nd half (after being caught offsides at least a dozen times) after
Salihamidzic had Strasser for breakfast and played a perfect centre
to the far post.

The attack tank was now properly fired up and went close on 3 other
occasions. Koch made great saves from Santa Cruz and Lizarazu as
Bayern laid siege on the FCK area. Schjønberg almost scored an own
goal from Sforza's centre. Kuffour headed straight at Koch & over
from Effenberg's corner. Élber came on as a sub and forced Koch into
another great save from another Effe corner. Bjelica put through
Lokvenc on the counter attack but a horrendous first touch allowed
Kahn to clear easily.

89th minute, Zickler came on for Salihamidzic, 'Lautern are in attack,
Andersson heads out Pettersson's cross, Effenberg punts the ball
upfield, Élber knocks it down to the middle of the kick-off circle
and Sforza releases Zickler on the wing: Zickler draws into the middle,
his first shot is blocked, the ball bounces through the box, he hits
it perfectly and blasts a ferocious 1st time volley past Koch for the
game winner (and the "Deutsche Meisterschaft" ?).

All Bayern need to do to wrap up their 3rd championship in a row is
to get a draw in Hamburg. Kaiserslautern need to beat Hertha at home
and hope Freiburg loses, otherwise the UEFA Cup Semifinalist will be
out of Europe next season (FCK hasn't registered for the UI Cup).

Attendance : 63,000 (sold out)


Ciao,

Tim

[TL] = Tim Leidecker

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