He can already see BL 2 on the Horizon
The Situation at the top and who will be Meister and who will get the International spots is one to watch for sure. At the other end of the table the situation is just as close but there is little glory in anything other than the 15th Spot and up. So who will go down, who will participate in the relegation playoff and who will be safe? The current Numbers and the games remaining are below, so judge for yourself. And that would add word number 8 to DP’s list of words for Non-German Speakers: Absteiger!
12 Eintracht Frankfurt 25 6 7 11 29:38 -9
13 Hannover 96 25 6 7 11 33:50 -17
14 Arminia Bielefeld 24 4 12 8 21:33 -12
15 VfL Bochum 22 4 10 10 28:40 -12
16 Borussia M’gladbach (N) 22 6 4 14 32:46 -14
17 Energie Cottbus 20 5 5 14 21:42 -21
18 Karlsruher SC 17 5 2 17 18:41 -23
Remaining Games per Club:
Frankfurt:
Leverkusen (A), Cottbus (H), Bayern (A), M’gladbach (H), Stuttgart (A), Dortmund (H), Hannover (A), Bremen (H), Bochum (A), Hamburg (H)
Interesting mix of games for the Main Diva, key stretch will likely be in the middle with Gladbach, VfB, Hannover and Bremen at home. Of course Frankfurt has a habit of going down to the wire so stay tuned.
Hannover:
Hoffenheim (A), Bremen (A), Berlin (H), Hamburg (A), Köln (H), Bochum (A), Frankfurt (H), Karlsruhe (A), Wolfsburg (H), Bielefeld (A)
The next four games are against tough teams, and then the schedule swings in their favor by playing against fellow strugglers with the exception of Wolfsburg. Should be enough to keep them clear with some room to spare.
Bielefeld:
Wolfsburg (H), Schalke (H), Cottbus (A), Bayern (H), M’gladbach (A), Stuttgart (H), Leverkusen (A), Hoffenheim (H), Dortmund (A), Hannover (H)
The team from the Alm has only three Six Point games left, but also plays 5 teams in the Hunt for the Championship or International Spots. Key to avoiding the playoff spot may be the last two games but they have to come up with points against Cottbus and Gladbach before that.
Bochum:
M’gladbach (A), Stuttgart (H), Hoffenheim (A), Dortmund (H), Bremen (A), Hannover (H), Berlin (A), Hamburg (A), Frankfurt (H), Köln (A)
The team that always seems to find a way back after going down has some key matches left against their immediate neighbors in the standings but also has to play some tough away games against the likes of Hoffenheim, Bremen, Hertha and HSV.
Gladbach:
Bochum (H), Karlsruhe (A), Wolfsburg (H), Frankfurt (A), Bielefeld (H), Bayern (A), Schalke (H), Cottbus (A), Leverkusen (A), Dortmund (H)
Currently on a bit of a roll and the only heavyweights left on the schedule are WB and Bayern so they should be able to make it out of the drop zone. Playing five matches against the other teams at the bottom should also help.
Cottbus:
Köln (H), Frankfurt (A), Bielefeld (H), Schalke (A), Wolfsburg (H), Karlsruhe (A), Bayern (H), M’gladbach (H), Stuttgart (A), Leverkusen (H)
On paper the remaining games with the exception of WB, FCB and Leverkusen are not that bad, however the team from the Lausitz has only gotten 10 points at Home this season so that does not bode well for them.
Karlsruhe:
Bayern (A), M’gladbach (H), Schalke (A), Hoffenheim (H), Leverkusen (A), Cottbus (H), Dortmund (A), Hannover (H), Bremen (A), Berlin (H)
It ain’t over until it’s over, but I think I hear a rather healthy woman warming up right now. With the problems that the KSC has the last thing they want to do is play against some of the title contenders, but that is exactly what they have to do.
So who will it be? I think we can say goodbye to KSC and Cottbus for sure and the playoff team from the Bundesliga will be Bielefeld.
