Bundesliga Matchday 31: The one where derbies overrule the title fight

Bayern drop points right while Borussia Dortmund drop points, and the title chase remains as close as ever.

Schalke has been battling against relegation for a large part of the season while Revierderby rivals BVB have been pushing for an unexpected title. An entertaining 4-2 win for Schalke gave them one of the most memorable wins in recent derby history.

Things couldn’t be going any better for the title chasers as Mario Götze found a 14th minute goal to get the crowd pumping. Less than five minutes, later there was a big penalty moment with a controversial handball. That was the turning moment. Ten minutes later, an unmarked headed goal from a corner and it was on. Two second half red cards with a Daniel Caliguri goal between and little could be done to stymie the overflow from the Royal Blues.

Schalke fans will remember this derbysieger for many years to come. Notable is that in recent weeks the Gelsinkirchen side was not earning points, but maintaining a six point gap with three matches to go looks to keep the Royal Blues in the Bundesliga for another season. As for BVB, well they got lucky and keep their title aspirations alive.

Bayern has had a long standing success in the important Bavarian derby and knowing a win would effectively seal the title. They forgot that Nurnberg would fight for their lives against relegation and a 1-1 draw.

For Bayern, they dodged the full impact of a Franconian-Bavarian derby with the substitution of Serge Gnabry. Nurnberg got a goal early on from Matheus Pereira and placed a massive amount of pressure on the champions. Another weird quirk of the match was the substitution on and THEN off of James Rodriguez. Der Club nearly got the win as Tim Leibold was unable to convert a 90th minute penalty to give the teams a share of the points.

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga

Bayer Leverkusen has been up and down and this 4-1 win over Augsburg was a massive result in their push for Europe, which placed them in sixth, level on points with Borussia Monchengladbach for fifth.

Hoffenheim has been chasing for Europe as well, but after a goal, they gave up four to Wolfsburg and failed to capitalize on moving up the table.

Fortuna Dusseldorf was able to secure Bundesliga for next season a few weeks ago, but piled on the pain for a smarting Werder Bremen as they put four past the former champions for a 4-1 victory.

Hannover has been considered a side that has been all but relegated for weeks. Then, they pull off a 1-0 victory over Mainz and makes one ponder the question, “What if?”.

RB Leipzig rolled their sixth straight victory with a 2-1 home victory over Freiburg, if only their pre-Christmas wobble didn’t happen this would be a three-team title race.

With Europe on the line and a European semifinal, Eintracht Frankfurt hosted Hertha Berlin, but with limited resources available they mustered a 0-0 draw.

Bundesliga Player of the Week

Daniel Caliguri, if he didn’t make that penalty, maybe Schalke is not surviving relegation, but definitely this performance has solidified himself as a derby legend with the Schalke fans.