TOUR EVENT

Schalke 04 interrupted the 13-match unbeaten run, losing to Bayer at home. A year ago, in their field, the “blue” left no stone unturned by the Leverkusen defense, defeating them - 7: 4. And now, as if in revenge, this season no one delivers as much headache to the main contender for a silver salad bowl as an “aspirin” team. In the first round, she defeated Schalke at home (3: 1), and now she has robbed the leader from him in Gelsenkirchen. The expropriation was performed by Stefan Kissling, who replaced. He caught the hosts on a counterattack shortly before the final whistle. The advantage of the wards Mirko Slomki was leveled by the brilliant debut in the Bundesliga, goalkeeper Rene Adler, replacing the disqualified Hans-Jörg Butt among the Leverkusians. The leader suffered a fourth loss of the season. But, fortunately, “Schalke”, losses occurred and the closest pursuers - “Stuttgart” and “Bremen”. Both made draws. And now the lead of the leader from second place is 4 points.

HERO TOUR

Jürgen Klopp, head coach of Mainz-05. In the first round, a modest team from Mainz scored only 11 points, went up to the winter interval in last place and was considered the main candidate for the relegation. However, unlike other loser clubs, Mainz chose to refrain from changing the steering gear. Klopp kept the post, and in 2007 his team appeared in a different guise. In six rounds scored 16 points. Moreover, in the last game, “Mainz” prevailed over the equally successful “Nuremberg” in February. At the end of the meeting, Klopp did not fail to pay tribute to the "incredible" game of Mohammed Zidane. The Egyptian, who switched from Bremen a month ago, brought the number of goals for the new club to six.

TOUR FAILURE

Playmaker "Schalke 04" Lincoln. The Brazilian would be happy to erase the match with Bayer. For 90 minutes he cracked the Leverkusen “catenaccio” - but not one of his attacks (mainly long-range) reached his goal. From the loser of the Feltins Arena battle, Lincoln reincarnated immediately after the final whistle in her antihero. He ceased to control emotions and hit in the face of Bayer midfielder Bernd Schneider. Referee Manuel Grefe saw everything and pulled out a red card. Now, “Schalke” will have to do without Lincoln in an important Friday match with the “Hamburg”.

TOUR SENSATION

Home draw “Stuttgart” with “Hertha”. The performance of the Swabian team has been impressive lately. In four February matches, she invariably won, scoring 12 goals. But here the sparkling Stuttgart attack faced a serious obstacle. The Berlin Wall, protected by Christian Fiedler, could not be taken. However, Mario Gomez still scored the best championship sniper, but the referee noticed how the striker played up his hand. “Stuttgart”, leading the pursuit of “Schalke”, a draw discouraged. But on Wednesday, Armin Fe team will get a chance for a rematch. It so happened that these same rivals at the end of winter will converge in the quarterfinals of the German Cup.

TREND

“Hamburg” won a third victory in a row. Talk about the problems of the eminent club, which is threatened by the first ever departure from the Bundesliga, during the season filled their teeth. But, having reached the bottom, the northerners, according to the rules of salvation on the waters, thoroughly pushed themselves away from it - and began a rapid ascent. The reincarnation, of course, contributed to the replacement of the head coach. Under the guidance of an experienced Dutchman, Hub Stevens, his compatriot van der Warth also blossomed, becoming in the last rounds one of the most prominent Bundesliga characters. After taking the double into the goal of “Bremen”, Rafael upset Eintracht, realizing a free-kick and making an assist to Ivica Olica. The Croat, bought from CSKA, by the way, quickly entrenched in the basis of the new club - and now he opened the score for goals scored.

CM. ALSO

The defeat of Bayer became for Schalke 04 first after October 29th. And a warning sounded: gold will not be easy. If at all ...

TOUR DIGIT

Only 22 minutes it took “Hannover-96” to score 4 goals Dortmund “Borussia”. The first half of the battle at the “AVD Arena” disappointed fans of productive football with zeros. And after the break, the picture came to life. The Hanoverians were visibly encouraged by their first goal from the penalty spot and, by the way, three minutes later, Ado Valdes were removed. After that, goals in the goal of the “yellow-black” fell one after another.

Sergey NIKOLAEV