The Bundesliga - Week 22
Posted by Pete in Bundesliga | 20 February 2006
And all of a sudden, the top of the Bundesliga looks as though it could get interesting again. Ballack's late equaliser for Bayern at Hannover means that Bremen and Hamburg closed the lead to 9 and 8 points respectively. Ok, so it might still be 9 points, but finally Bayern have shown that they can be vulnerable too, something that may prey on therre minds when they play the chasing two in a few weeks time. And if that wasn't bad enough for Bayern, the missing link that is Oli Kahn might well have to pass on their Champions League tie with Milan thanks to an injury sustained at the weekend.
As predicted, Schalke beat Hertha, a win that almost certainly guarantees some form of European football for them next season. At the same time, results elsewhere mean that six (if not seven) teams have got an excellent chance of grabbing the second UEFA Cup spot. Only 2 points separate 5th from 10th, so it's tight to say the least and far too early to make any rash predictions.
Unlike in the relegation zone, where Cologne in particular are playing like they just don't care anymore. While Kaiserslautern, Mainz and co make an occasional spirited attempt to get out of the bottom three, Cologne have an air of resignation around them already. So persuading Lukas Podolski to extend his contract at the same time is simply naive. Podolski stayed with them the last time they went down, but despite having a reputation as being a little dim, even he is reminding his employers that his contract is long enough already.
