Bundesliga Matchday 30: The One Where Stuttgart Lose It All

Paco Alcácer makes his season long loan move a permanent one.

Coaching changes, title deciders, and the European chase. That and more in the 30th matchday of the Bundesliga.

Stuttgart entered an away trip to Augsburg knowing a win or even a point would take them within a whisker of safety. Instead, it was a terrible 6-0 thrashing which rooted the club in the relegation zone and eliminated one job in the city.

Augsburg won 3-1 over Eintracht Frankfurt the last weekend. Against Stuttgart, they knew that a win would mean Bundesliga survival for another season. Three first half goals and three in the second half and the knives were out for Markus Weinzierl. In his time with Stuttgart, the club spent one week out of the relegation zone. The squad is a mess and there’s little chance that salvation will be found at this late a stage.

Bayern Munich took a long time at it, but found pay dirt against Werder Bremen 1-0 in a hard fought match at the Allianz Arena.

Werder Bremen was in a weird situation. Firstly, four days after the conclusion of this match, they host the same Bayern in the Pokal semifinals. Keeping things nice and tight in the back was the match plan, but a second yellow card issued to Milos Veljkovic meant that for the final third of the match Werder Bremen would be playing with 10. The breakthrough would eventually be found, but the fight shown by the Green and White might lend possibilities to a Pokal triumph.

Borussia Dortmund has been called a weak side only getting results. This turned around with a visit to Freiburg that resulted in a 4-0 win.

While Jadon Sancho scored his third in four matches in the first half, things were still nervy. Some would think that the nerves would dissipate, but it didn’t happen until the second half. Goals from Marco Reus, Mario Gotze, and Paco Alcacer took away those nerves. For BVB, it has been a very different sort of display from other weeks and one can only imagine if they keep this up.

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga

Bayer Leverkusen converted their chances and earned a first win in a month in a 2-0 win over Nurnberg. This will help keep pace in challenging for the European places.

Mainz and Dusseldorf confirmed that they’d be up for the Bundesliga next season. A 3-1 win for Mainz earned them well-deserved points while Fortuna benefited for results elsewhere to mathematically secure Bundesliga for another campaign.

RB Leipzig needed to get a win to confirm Europe for another campaign and in Borussia Park they found it. A 2-1 win means Europa League is officially earned and Champions League is around the corner.

Hoffenheim has been making late pushes to qualify for Europe. Again, there has been a bit of optimism as a 5-2 win over Schalke puts the club in sixth in the table.

Eintracht Frankfurt looked a little like their recovery from Thursday’s win over Benfica has not occurred yet. A late equalizer for the Wolves means that European qualification isn’t official, but with a semifinal there are chances of qualification to the Champions League.

Hannover 96 prolonged the inevitable with a 0-0 draw with Hertha Berlin.

Bundesliga Player of the Week: Marco Richter

Scoring two goals and being part of a massive 6-0 thrashing of Stuttgart is something to be proud of, especially when you consider how they’ve been part of two straight wins which should see them to the Bundesliga for next season.