Damage in the Box!: Bundesliga

Showing posts with label Bundesliga. Show all posts

FSV FRANKFURT (Stadion am Bornheimer Hang)

My final game of the weekend saw me head back north to the city of Frankfurt to watch FSV Frankfurt take on Dynamo Dresden in a Bundesliga 2 game.

A staple of German footy,
the Currywurst

Fußball Sport Verein, founded in 1899, are based in the Bornheim district of Frankfurt. The club plays in the shadow of a larger and more successful city rival, in this instance Eintracht Frankfurt.

Their ground, Stadion am Bornheimer Hang, currently known as the Frankfurter Volksbank Stadion in a sponsorship arrangement, has a capacity of just over 10,000 but this is slightly reduced at the moment as the main stand has been demolished for re-development.

I'm not sure whether this was a consequence, but the open terrace on which I stood was absolutely packed. The atmosphere generated though wasn't that great, despite the usual 'man with a loudspeaker' (pictured left) doing his best to get the crowd going. Perhaps the lack of roof didn't help to keep the noise in.

Most of the noise, apart from some key rattling whenever there was a corner for FSV, seemed to come from the other end of the ground where the Dynamo fans were situated. They are always very 'boistrous' and at times it was more entertaining watching them than the game!

Ahh, yes the game. This was a definite end of season affair, with both teams appearing to go through the motions. Plenty of perspiration but definitely lacking in inspiration.

The keys are out so FSV must
have a corner!

The game ended in a 1-1 draw, with both goals coming in the second half. Zlatko Dedič gave Dynamo the lead, after 58 minutes, with a great chip over the 'keeper before Llian Mickanski levelled for the homesters after 74 minutes.

Dreseden scored what looked like a winner with minutes remaining but the referee ruled it out for a foul on the goalkeeper. In my opinion this was harsh as the odds were about 70/30 in favour of the striker, Mickaël Poté, and he got there seconds before the 'keeper but, as the ball crept over the line, there was the inevitable collision and the ref, shall we say say, erred on the side of caution.

As it was the last home game of the season, the FSV players took to the pitch to do a lap of honour to say thanks to the fans, but this was abruptly interrupted by a Dynamo pitch invasion. The police were quickly on the scene to form a blockade and, as far as I could see, it seem to pass without major incident.

Another great weekend was at it's end and all that was left was to head for home and start plotting another Bundesliga excursion for next season!

Sunday 6th May 2012
2.Bundesliga
FSV Frankfurt 1-1 Dynamo Dresden
Attendance: 8,071

VFB STUTTGART (Neckarstadion)

After spending a rather 'refreshing' evening at the Brauhaus Schönbuch, I decided an early morning stroll over the bridge, over the River Neckar, into the district of Bad Cannstatt would be the best option to start the day!

Bad Cannstatt is where the Neckarstadion is located. This is the home of Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart (or VFB for short). Under the current sponsorship deal the stadium is called the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

VFB, formed in 1912 through a merger of Stuttgarter FV and Kronen-Club Cannstatt, are a famous name in German football. They were founding members of the Bundesliga have been champions on 5 occasions, the most recent being in 2007.

This season however they have to be content with a Europa League berth, having already guaranteed themselves a place in the qualifying rounds by finishing (at least) 6th.

A win today, and other results going in their favour, could see them finish 5th and go straight into the group stages, but that would require a Leverkeusen loss at lowly Nuremberg.

Opponents Wolfsburg also had a chance of the Europa league, but again it would require a win for themselves and a loss for Hannover against already relegated Kaiserslautern.

Wolfsburg did their best best to keep to their side of the bargain.

After withstanding early Stuttgart pressure, they took the lead after 28 minutes, Patrick Helmes firing home unmarked after a good square ball from the right.

This gave the visitors an interval lead but Stuttgart began the second half brightly, just as the heavens opened. However the were caught out again on the hour mark when Marco Russ bundled the ball over the line, after a crossed ball was headed back into the six yard box.

Fritzle the mascot is very
popular with the kids

It looked like game over for the homesters, but in an amazing 6 minute period they found themselves in the lead. After 73 minutes Cacau headed home before Maza (77m) turned to fire home another cross, to level things up. Within seconds Wolfsburg hit the upright, but the ball went up field and Ibrahima Traoré (79m) met the ball at the back stick to give The Swabians the lead.

This seemed to knock the stuffing out of Wolfsburg and they never looked like getting themselves back into the game, if anything Stuttgart could've extended their lead, Vedad Ibišević having an effort cleared off the line late on.

The stadium is very impressive and today there was a fantastic atmosphere with a superb choreographed display of flags and banners. I must also pay tribute to the stewards who were happy to allow me, and many others, to stand in the aisles to keep dry as the heavens opened. I would've got drenched otherwise and also, it gave me a much better view of the Stuttgart goals!

Saturday 5th May 2012
Bundesliga
VFB Stuttgart 3-2 VFL Wolfsburg
Attendance: 58,500

1.FC KAISERSLAUTERN (Fritz Walter Stadion)

The third and final game of the weekend was a trip to see 'die Roten Teufel' of Kaiserslautern take on their rivals Cologne in a Bundesliga clash.

It was a hair raising trip from Karlsruhe, as the sat-nav directed us along an A road through the vast Rheinland-Pfalz forest, with snow covered trees (it put me in mind of the Snake Pass back home, which is the road that crosses the Pennines). I'm sure I would have appreciated the vista a lot more had I not been driving, though my passenger did assure me it was stunning!

Anyhow, as a mere novice to driving in Germany, I managed to pass the test with flying colours and we were parked up at the university just under an hour before kick off. Thanks to the efficiency of the park and ride scheme, which was free, we were at the Betzenberg just 10 minutes later.

The Betzenberg stadium, which was re-named in 1985 after former Kaiserslautern and West Germany legend Fritz Walter, is high upon a hill overlooking the city. It has a capacity of 49,750 but it was far from full at this evening's game. It is a fantastic ground though, which was re-developed for the 2006 World Cup, and the 'Red Devils' in the West Curve did make some noise.

I had high hopes for this game, despite the lowly positions of the respective clubs, but as the locals would say, this game was total Scheiße!

The only things of real note that happened in the 90 minutes were Kaiserslautern being reduced to 10 men, just before half time, when Ariel Borysiuk received 2 yellow cards on his debut. Cologne having a goal disallowed, after 54 minutes, when Milivoje Novakovic was ruled offside and the winning goal itself.

Odise Roshi scored in the 72nd minute, which was within seconds of him coming on as a substitute, when he headed home from a corner kick, to give Cologne the three points. Obviously the quality of the game was not helped by the sending off, Kaiserslautern becoming more and more defensive as the game went on, and Cologne's goal threat was lessened by the absence of 15 goal striker Lucas Podolski.

It was an anti-climatic ending to what was another fantastic weekend of German groundhopping, despite the cold weather. Roll on May when I will be doing it all again, and hopefully it will be marginally warmer!