Bundesliga Talking Points #2145

Bundesliga

Stuttgart make History

Stuttgart has been truly an incredible surprise this season. Last season They had an incredibly rough campaign. They ended up in the relegation playoff spot. They managed to get through Hamburg over two legs to maintain their status in Germany’s Topflight. There wasn’t a feeling that Stuttgart was about to do a 360 In one ear. The notion was Stuttgart survived it for now. The problems were not expected to go away. In fact, many thought they would be in a similar situation again. With some of the individual players they had, not many people thought they would be relegated, but I think most of us kind of assumed that they would have to fight for their lives. With the Midfield contributions of Chris Fuhrich and the attacking play from Guirassy The quality was going to be enough to get them over the line and maintain themselves in the lead. However, what actually happened? No one could have foreseen or predicted. Stuttgart flew up the table not only starting hot but maintaining it the entire season. They have already qualified for the Champions League for next season. They currently sit in third just two points behind Bayern Munich. There is a situation brewing with the possibility of Stuttgart finishing second in the league which will be absolutely extraordinary considering where they were last season. Sebastian Hoeneß came in this season and has done an extraordinary job outside of Alonzo. This is the most impressive transformation that we have seen. The German tactician was previously a Bayern Munich assistant. Then last season was with Hoffenheim. He kept them from relegation. However, it was a bit hot and cold during last season for Hoffenheim. He comes into Stuttgart, and everything starts to change. It was not an ideal situation. As I mentioned, Stuttgart was in the relegation playoff. Before the season they lost two huge components to their defense Endo went to Liverpool and Konstantinos Mavropanos went to West Ham United, Borna Sosa went to Ajax, and Tanguy Coulibaly went to Montpellier. They lost several key players before the season started. They did bring in some nice pieces such as Angelo Stiller from Hoffenheim & Deniz Undav on loan from Brighton. It was going to be difficult considering the defensive departures that Stuttgart somehow needed to overcome. However, what they’ve done has been truly remarkable Sebastian Hoeneß would be the manager of the season if it wasn’t for Alonzo. I cannot say enough of how well he is done. Not only have they got points on a consistent basis. They’ve got some pretty big results this season. If they’ve managed to finish second this season, it would be a huge accomplishment considering where they were last season. On Friday night They beat Augsburg ending their European Chase. This was their 22nd victory of the season. That is the most wins. Any Stuttgart has ever had. They have won the title five times. The first two were very early on in the '50s. However, if we just look at their last three. In 1984 they won 19 matches, in 1992. They won 21 matches and the most recent title in 2007 they won 21 matches. So according to statistics and the amount of points they have accrued, they have outperformed every one of their title winning sides. They have done this with exceptional coaching and with some really exceptional performances from some special individuals. Chris Fuhrich has been the heart and soul of the Midfield seven goals and eight assists this season. He has been the playmaker that has pushed the momentum. Deniz Undav Absolutely exploded this season while alone. I assume that Stuttgart will try to make it a permanent deal. 29 goal contributions 19 goals and nine assists. Then the man up front Guirassy the highest goal scorer Stuttgart have had in a season 26 goals in 27 matches. These three in particular have pushed them into these European conversations. The rest of this team that has stepped up around them as they have done something truly remarkable. They have been a huge surprise this season and will be in the Champions League next season for the first time in a long time. They transform their season from relegation to Champions League.

The Relegation battle just got Real

The relegation battle has been surprisingly tight over these last couple of months. Darmstrot has already been mathematically relegated. The newly promoted side had a horrible return to the Top flight. They established themselves very quickly as the worse side in Germany. No one really surprised by the relegation they ultimately faced. They didn’t have enough reinforcements or the quality necessary to withstand the drop. However, outside of them, there are several teams battling to avoid the other automatic relegation spot. This weekend it really heated up that much further. If we were to conclude the bottom three as a whole, it was about four different teams somewhat involved. After this weekend it has heated up very significant. Koln seemed dead in the water. They have had horrible form lately and were facing the music last weekend. They needed a win to hold off relegation at least for the moment. They were at home knowing without a result they will be relegated. They hosted Union Berlin ironically, another team in serious danger of relegation. Union Berlin jumped out to a two goal lead against them. Koln manages to pull it back with a penalty at the end of the first half. They were the better side in the second half and they showed it with their performance. However, what needs to be understood is without a win. They were dead. They got an equalizer in the 87th minute to give them a little bit of hope. Then in the 90th minute Damian Downs put the ball in the back of the net as the crowd explodes as they managed to postpone their possible relegation at least for a moment then Dortmund played a weakened side against Mainz. Jae Sung Lee had another terrific performance as he was dancing on the grave of Dortmund as they pulled off a 3-0 victory. Dortmund at was players preparing for the Champions League final. Never A huge step in the right direction as Mainz Start to glide towards safety. Than Just outside the relegation zone Bochum was eviscerated by Leverkusen. Koln is in 17th with 27 points. They will face Heidenheim The last match day of the season they need a win to avoid automatic relegation. Union. Berlin is in 18th with 30 points They will play Frieburg needing only a draw to ensure they will not be automatically relegated. Mainz is in 15th with 32 points. Since Match Day 22 only four teams have more points than them. Their final match will be against Wolfsburg They are ineligible to be automatically relegated. To avoid having to play in the relegation playoff they would need either a victory or a draw. However, if they lose and Freiburg beats Union Berlin then they would avoid the bottom three all together. Wolfsburg should be a winnable game or at least a match that they could get something from. Then Bochum also out of contention for the bottom to automatic relegation spots. However if they are to lose and Union Berlin and Mainz win they would fall into the bottom three and have to partake in the relegation playoff their last match of the season is against Bremen. It’s hard to say at this point regarding the final match of the season. However If I were to make a guess I would say that both Bochum and Mainz will finish outside of the bottom three leaving Koln and Union Berlin. I think that Frieburg will be too emotionally charged with the final game of Christian Streich on the bench to lose, I think they’ll beat Union Berlin in Berlin. Koln I think will beat Heidenheim They have nothing left to play for this season Heidenheim could lose this one especially with Koln’s desire to maintain their position. So in conclusion, I’m picking Union Berlin to get automatically relegated finishing second to last then Koln to get the relegation playoff with Mainz and Bochum living another day. However, this could go in almost any order but it’s really heating up now as the final match Day of the Season will mean everything.

Bundesliga’s Final European position Hoffenheim or Frieburg

I have been talking about This for a couple months now. The final European position in Germany has been one of the most fascinating topics in European football this season, particularly recently. The situation has drastically changed the complexion. Germany getting a fifth Champions League spot changed the situation completely. Prior to that, there were only six spots available for Europe and Germany. The battle for that last spot was very enticing and competitive. Primarily between Augsburg & Frankfurt. However, there was an outside shot for one of the other teams such as Freiburg to maybe sneak in. The perception was though that sides like hoffenheim, Heidenheim and Werder Bremen was too late and it was going to be out of their reach. The possibility of Europe was almost dead for many of those teams. However, Dortmund’s Champions League success gifted a fifth Champions League spot to the Bundesliga. This put Dortmund in the situation that they could still qualify for the Champions League because if they hadn’t done so they would have missed out after losing to Leipzig. So ironically the Champions League spot that Dortmund gifted Germany. They will be taking themselves. However, with that said, it added a seventh European spot for the Bundesliga. This open huge possibilities for at the time Augsburg that seemed the most likely to occupy that spot. However, it brought Frieburg Hoffenheim, Heidenheim and Werder back to life. It was going to be a true battle to finish off this season. It is clear to me that Frankfurt will take for Europa League spot as I’m pretty certain that they’re going to finish in 6th They would have to lose next weekend against Leipzig and the other teams would have to get results. The draw they took this weekend against gladbach could change things slightly but the idea was that Frankfurt was going to get that no matter what. Given the challenges that they’re going to face we could see them not get fixed But I was under the impression that they’re going to find a way to finish in that position. So maybe Frankfort gets entered into this conversation in a different way, possibly depending on that result. Honestly, now that I think of it because they’re playing against RB Leipzig, there’s a good chance they could lose. This past weekend Heidenheim, Werder and Augsburg have resigned from the European Chase. Due to their results, all three of them have now been eliminated from European possibilities. All three have had tremendous seasons but they are no longer in contention. That leaves three teams. Frankfurt, Hoffenheim and Frieburg. Hoffenheim took Darmstrot to the grave as they dropped six Max Beier scored twice as he is wrapping up his young player of the season award with now. 15 goals this season. Freiburg took a draw against Heidenheim and as I mentioned Frankfort drew with Gladbach’s. Frankfort is on 46 points in 6th. Hoffenheim is in 7th with 43 points and Freiburg is an eighth with 42 points. All of them have an individual difference Maker that could prove to be imperative on the final match day Hoffenheim has Max Beier, Andrej Kramaric, Freiburg has Doan and Vincenzo Grifo than Frankfurt has Omar Marmosh. What do I think is actually going to happen though? Frankfort will lose to Leipzig. They will stay at 46 points. I believe Freiburg will not lose under any circumstances in the final match of their legendary coach Christian Streich. Hoffenheim unfortunately end the season At home against Bayern Munich. I don’t think they will get a result unfortunately. The reason being Bayern Munich are on the verge of finishing third. They will not allow that to happen. They’ll do whatever it takes to win that game and I genuinely believe that because of that situation they don’t want to steep even lower. They must finish second place this season. Bayern Munich I feel won’t allow this one to slip regardless if Harry Kane will be back or not. Of these three only Frieburg Will win in my opinion. Frankfurt will remain in 6th. Freiburg will jump to 7th and Hoffenheim will unfortunately miss out. But anything can still happen.