TOUR EVENT
The victory of Bavaria over Schalke 04. Matches of applicants for high places this season do not bring clarity to the table. On the contrary, after each battle of the grandees, the tangle of intrigue gets entangled more and more. The leader’s symbolic victory over the still empowered champion did not take place - the “Gazprom” were beaten in Munich as mercilessly as a few hours earlier in St. Petersburg — their Zenit assembly. “Bavaria” was really helped by the quick goal of Roy Mackay, which plunged the guests into a depression. The blue ones did not come out of it, creating in just 90 minutes only one moment. If it weren’t for Manuel Neuer’s goalkeeper’s courage, he would have been defeated. But the score 2-0 completely satisfied the Bavarians. Before the match, Ottmar Hitzfeld announced the rejection of gold ambitions. However, now many are sure: the General was cunning, and Bayern will fight. After all, the gap between Munich and Schalke was reduced to six points. However, the team from Gelsenkirchen has competitors behind his back, whose breathing is more tangible. Mirko Slomki's team is still lucky that the unlucky “Werder Bremen” always stumbles on level ground.
HERO TOUR
Sergey Barbares, Bayer striker. “Aspirinov” was successful dress rehearsal of the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup against “Osasuna”. In Mainz, they defeated a team that had recently transformed from a supplier of points to a creator of sensations. In the “05” Zidane-Egyptian again scored. But in the front line of “Bayer” was a trump card more weighty. It took Sergey Barbares only three minutes to predetermine the result with an assist double. A Bosnian veteran will hit 36 in September, but the gunpowder in the powder flasks is definitely not damp. It is no coincidence that Michael Skibbe only once this season left the forward overboard the starting lineup.
TOUR FAILURE
Peter Levenkrands, Schalke forward. In February, the Dane injured his right ankle in a game with Wolfsburg and was treated for more than a month. His long-awaited return came in an extremely important match with Bayern and was extremely unsuccessful. At the 35th minute in a single combat with Lucas Podolski, Levenkrands injured the same ill-fated ankle. The attacker could not continue the meeting. Perhaps he was out of order altogether before the end of the season - Peter’s prospects will be clarified by an in-depth medical examination.
TOUR SENSATION
Draw “Werder Bremen” in Cottbus. Strictly speaking, the next misfire of the autumn champion cannot be called such a big surprise. After all, the Bremen recently unstable, and the “Energy” is not bad. But still, much was at stake for Thomas Schaaf’s wards. After all, a victory over an opponent who is much lower in the table allowed Schalke to overtake. And such an opportunity was ineptly missed. In favor of the “Bremen” said everything: 73 percent of the time of possession, the ratio of shots 22: 8. But the defense of “Energy” was a wall, and goalkeeper Tomislav Piplitsa did not allow to darken his bright anniversary - the 100th game in the Bundesliga. As a result, on the Cottbus Stadion der Freundschaft, friendship really won. Here are just ambitious Bremen it is not pleased. They do not consider the “power engineers” to be equal with which they should be friends ...
TREND
Miroslav Klose stopped scoring. There is a lot of talk about whether the leader of the “Bremen” will leave abroad in the summer. But Miro has not heard about the bombing exploits of a long time. Klose ceased to hit the gate. If in the first round of the championship he spent 10 goals, then after the winter intermission - only one in the match of the 19th round with Bayer. It was on the last day of January. And since then, the Bremen fans have been waiting for the usual accuracy to return to their favorite.
SEE ALSO
Oliver Kahn revived the second half of the match, “Bayern” - “Schalke” inconsistent with his rank and reputation act. The assault on Soren Larsen was a cross between a hook and a choke technique. The knockdown deserved a stricter rating than an ordinary warning.
TOUR DIGIT
In the opening debut with Schalke Roy Mackay scored his 100th goal for Bayern in all tournaments. Exactly three quarters of these goals were in the Bundesliga. To achieve the jubilee mark, the 32-year-old Dutchman needed to spend four seasons in Munich incomplete.
Sergey NIKOLAEV