Bundesliga Column - Round 29: Dortmund & Bayern Munich win ahead of big clash

Round 29 of the 2011/12 Bundesliga season saw both title aspirants Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich win tough assignments ahead of their clash on Wednesday in Dortmund. Meanwhile in the relegation battle 1.FC Kaiserlautern look relegated after another disappointing loss, while from 11th placed 1.FSV Mainz 05 down all clubs are fighting to stay in the Bundesliga.

Both Dortmund and Bayern Munich were made to work hard for their three points on Saturday. Dortmund looked to cruise with a 2-0 lead through Lewandowski and Gündogan goals against VfL Wolfsburg away, but a Mandzukic goal for the VW owned club and suddenly things were much more difficult as Dortmund needed a late Lewandowski second to secure all three points.

Bayern Munich meanwhile scored the fastest goal of the season after just 24 seconds as birthday boy Franck Ribery broke free on the left flank for Mario Gomez to score of his second attempt. But thereafter Bayern sat back and allowed Augsburg to be part of the game as South Korean Ja-Cheol Koo equalised before a tired looking FCB scored the winner in the second session through another Mario Gomez goal off Arjen Robben.

In other matches Stuttgart continue to impress as they jumped into fifth place with now 43 points following a 4-1 trashing of Mainz 05. The match saw a curiosity as Stuttgart's Martin Harnik received a penalty after he committed himself a foul and thereafter went down. A real talking point after this weekend.

Sunday saw the debut of Sami Hyypiä as Bayer 04 Leverkusen's interim coach against Hamburger SV. And to the surprise of all Michael Ballack made a comeback after a two month injury. The match ended one-all and there isn't much to write about it, but for both teams a point isn't enough in their current situation.

This weekend saw none of the teams fighting relegation picking-up three points as five of them drew and three teams lost their games, which now pits eight clubs in the relegation battle. While Kaiserslautern look relegated with 20 points and no real fighting spirit to avoid the drop, Hertha BSC Berlin are 17th with 27 points while 11th Mainz have 33 points. With five rounds of matches to play anything looks possible as the magic mark remains the 40 points.


Round 29 Results

VfL Wolfsburg 1-3 Borussia Dortmund
1.FC Köln 1-1 SV Werder Bremen
VfB Stuttgart 4-1 1.FSV Mainz 05
SC Freiburg 2-2 1.FC Nürnberg
1.FC Kaiserslautern 1-2 1899 Hoffenheim
FC Bayern München 2-1 FC Augsburg
Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-0 Hertha BSC Berlin
FC Schalke 04 3-0 Hannover 96
Hamburger SV 1-1 Bayer 04 Leverkusen