Stranzl and Kjaer impress in defence: German Bundesliga Team of the Week – Week 32
Week 32 of the German Bundesliga turned out to be a decisive one in terms of the revered salad bowl. Bayer Leverkusen’s loos in the Rhine derby saw Borussia Dortmund win the Bundesliga salad bowl for the first time since 2002. Borussia Dortmund needed to
beat Nurnberg and then hope for a miracle in the game between Cologne and Bayer Leverkusen. It turned out to be a great day for Juergen Klopp’s charges as the Yellow and Blacks beat their Bavarians 2-0 and Cologne beat Leverkusen by the same margin to give
the Dortmund-based club a well-deserved Bundesliga title.
Elsewhere, Bayern Munich hammered Schalke 4-1 to reclaim third spot in the league standings – a result that has now given the Bavarians a great chance to play in the UEFA Champions League next season. Let’s take a look at the top-performers from the 32nd
week of the German Bundesliga.
Bettor.com chooses a 3-2-3-2 formation to best suit the players who made a difference for their sides in the Week 32.
Goalkeeper
Diego Benaglio (VfL Wolfsburg)
This season, the Swiss International has come under a lot of criticism but the shot-stopper did well to keep a clean sheet against Werder Bremen. An early free kick by Torsten Frings was probably one of his best saves throughout the match and he remained
a composed figure during the whole 90 minutes.
Centre-back
Martin Stranzl (Borussia Monchengladbach)
Borussia Monchengladbach beat Hannover away from home and the club owes Saturday’s three points to their goalkeeper who completely shut-out the likes of Didier Ya Konan and Mohammed Abdellaoue. The Austrian International was perhaps the most prominent figure
in the game and his convincing performance has given Monchengladbach a real hope of coming out of the relegation zone.
Simon Kjaer (Wolfsburg)
The immaculate Dance never once put a foot wrong in the 1-1 draw against Werder Bremen. Given a difficult task of marking Claudio Pizzaro, the 22-year-old single-handedly took the South American out of the game and was also very good both in the air and
on the ground. The youngster is now showing why the Wolves paid 14million Euros for his signature.
Christian Fuchs (Mainz)
The Austrian International started the season brightly with Mainz but somewhat faded away in the second half of the season. However, the defender was a tireless figure in Mainz’s 3-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt and won all of the 50-50 challenges.
Centre Midfield
Christian Tiffert (Kaiserslautern)
Christian Tiffert’s own goal gave Saint Pauli 3 points when the two sides last met and the midfielder made amends for that error when he scored a rare goal to give his side the lead. Later on, Tiffert provided an assist to give his side a 2-0 win over the
league’s bottom side. The assist was Tiffert’s 14th of the season and unquestionably, Tiffert has been the biggest surprise of the season.
Elkin Soto (Mainz)
The Colombian International was the most influential man on the pitch as Mainz beat Frankfurt 3-0. The 30-year-old was everywhere on the pitch and scored two goals, much to the surprise of the Mainz fans to give his side a great chance to qualify for the
Europa League next season. The Colombian International has been a great servant to Mainz since his arrival from Barcelona SC in 2007 and will play a very vital role in Thomas Tuchel’s aim to take Mainz to Europe for the first time since their maiden appearance
in UEFA Cup 2005-06.