BUNDESLIGA FOOTBALL: Matchday 19

Vfb Stuttgart pulled off the result of Matchday 19 in the Bundesliga with a 4-2 away at Bayer Leverkusen. The game was played at the LTU Arena in Dusseldorf because the Bayer Arena is being extended and Leverkusen were not allowed to settle into their new temporary home as Mario Gomez scored in the second minute. The lead was doubled by former Aston Villa midfielder, Tomas Hitzlsperger, whose free-kick was clocked at 125 km/h. Gomez added his second after halftime, his 37th goal in 43 Budesliga games, and despite a Leverkusen fightback, Stuttgart took all three points back to Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Last season's second and third placed teams, Werder Bremen and Schalke respectively, met in Gelsenkirchen, with both managers under pressure because of their current mid-table predicaments. There were many chances for both sides; Bremen's centre-half Naldo had three good chances but it was Schalke came out on top, winning a tight game 1-0.

At the Borrussia Park in Mönchengladbach, top met bottom as Hoffenheim were the visitors. Mönchengladbach took a first-half lead through Alexander Baumjohann, who will move to Bayern Munich at the end of the season, and looked like they had won the game until Wellington nodded in a free-kick in the dying minutes.

Bayern Munich's first home game since the winter break was against Borussia Dortmund, who took an early lead through Valdez after a defensive slip from Demechelis. Brazillian Ze Roberto equalised but the game looked to be heading for a draw before German international Miroslav Klose found the net twice in the last few minutes to secure a 3-1 win for Bayern.

Elsewhere, second place Hertha Berlin could only manage a 1-1 draw at struggling Arminia Bielefeld with Liverpool's on loan striker Andrej Voronin scoring their goal. The shock of the round was at the Wildparkstadion, where former German international goalkeeper Oliver Kahn watched struggling Karlsruhe secure a 3-2 home win against Martin Jol's Hamburg. Frankfurt and Cologne drew 2-2 at the Commerzbank Arena while Wolfsburg secured a solid 2-0 home win over Vfl Bochum. Finally, Energie Cottbus secured a priceless home win over Hannover which drags them out of the relegation zone. Hannover, who have the worst away record in the Bundesliga lost 3-1 at the Stadion der Freundschaft.

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	TSG Hoffenheim	19	8	2	0	23	6	4	1	4	22	18	21	39
2	Bayern Munich	19	6	2	1	27	17	5	3	2	15	9	16	38
3	Hertha Berlin	19	7	2	1	19	8	4	2	3	11	14	8	37
4	Hamburg	19	8	1	0	15	6	3	2	5	14	21	2	36
5	Bayer Leverkusen	19	5	1	4	20	14	5	2	2	19	12	13	33
6	VfB Stuttgart	19	6	2	2	18	9	3	2	4	14	16	7	31
7	Wolfsburg	19	8	1	0	25	6	0	5	5	13	20	12	30
8	Schalke 04	19	6	2	1	13	5	2	4	4	12	12	8	30
9	Borussia Dortmund	19	3	7	0	17	9	4	2	3	12	14	6	30
10	Werder Bremen	19	6	2	2	28	15	1	3	5	12	16	9	26
11	Cologne	19	3	2	4	8	12	4	1	5	14	16	-6	24
12	Eintracht Frankfurt	19	3	3	3	16	12	2	2	6	10	21	-7	20
13	Hannover 96	19	5	4	1	18	11	0	1	8	4	24	-13	20
14	Arminia Bielefeld	19	2	4	3	11	13	1	5	4	7	16	-11	18
15	Cottbus	19	2	1	6	8	16	2	3	5	7	16	-17	16
16	Karlsruhe	19	4	1	4	10	13	1	0	9	8	23	-18	16
17	VfL Bochum	19	2	4	4	15	16	0	4	5	6	16	-11	14
18	Borussia M'gladbach	19	2	2	6	12	19	1	1	7	7	19	-19	12

BUNDESLIGA FOOTBALL: Matchday 18

The Bundesliga re-started on Friday after a 7 week winter break with champions Bayern Munich travelling to fourth placed Hamburg, coached by former Tottenham Hotspur boss, Martin Jol. Hamburg, who were unbeaten at home going into the game, more than matched the mighty Bayern.

The game was a truly end-to-end affair, with numerous chances for both sides; one of which, a Luca Toni effort in the 28th minute, seemed perfectly legitimate but was ruled out. Hamburg did get on the scoresheet just before halftime when Mladen Petric headed in after a save from Bayern goalkeeper Michael Rensing. Bayern pushed on in the second-half, despite Franck Ribery struggling to get in the game, and created chances but Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni were particularly culpable of squandering chances, and Hamburg held on for a 1-0 win.

League leaders TSG Hoffenheim welcomed Energie Cottbus to the new Rhein-Neckar Arena for the first Bundesliga game at the stadium. Despite the long-term injury of Vedad Ibisevic, who has 18 goals for the season, Hoffenheim won comfortably through goals from Demba Ba and Boubacar Sanogo. New signing Timo Hildebrand, the former Vfb Stuttgart goalkeeper, who was signed from Valencia in Spain, went off injured but it is expected to play next week.

In the capital, Hertha Berlin, after a superb year in 2008, began where they left off with a 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt at the Olympiastadion. Two goals from Marko Pantelic, who continues not to see eye-to-eye with coach Lucien Favre, were enough for Berlin despite sustained second-half pressure from Frankfurt which included Benjamin Köhler's strike.

Hannover 96 welcomed back German international goalkeeper Robert Enke after a four month lay-off, for the game against Schalke. Germany's number one was instrumental in rebuffing a number of efforts from Schalke as Hannover won a very open game by one goal to nil. Sergio Pinto scored the goal and Schalke forward Gerald Asamoah was particularly guilty of missing oppurtunites for the away side.

Elsewhere, Vfb Stuttgart beat bottom side Borussia Mönchengladbach at the Mercedes-Benz Arena with goals through Romanian international Ciprian Marica and German international Mario Gomez. Wolfsburg secured a draw on an absolutley awful pitch in Cologne, while Borrussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen managed the same result at the Signal Iduna Park, the biggest club stadium in Germany. Vfl Bochum had an important win at home to fellow strugglers Karlsruhe with goals through Fuchs and Klimowicz and Arminia Bielefeld cause the shock of the weekend, winning 2-1 against Champions League regulars Werder Bremen. Bremen badly missed the suspended Diego and Claudio Pizarro and find themselves in the bottom half of the league going into matchday 19.

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	TSG Hoffenheim	18	8	2	0	23	6	4	0	4	21	17	21	38
2	Hertha Berlin	18	7	2	1	19	8	4	1	3	10	13	8	36
3	Hamburg	18	8	1	0	15	6	3	2	4	12	18	3	36
4	Bayern Munich	18	5	2	1	24	16	5	3	2	15	9	14	35
5	Bayer Leverkusen	18	5	1	3	18	10	5	2	2	19	12	15	33
6	Borussia Dortmund	18	3	7	0	17	9	4	2	2	11	11	8	30
7	VfB Stuttgart	18	6	2	2	18	9	2	2	4	10	14	5	28
8	Wolfsburg	18	7	1	0	23	6	0	5	5	13	20	10	27
9	Schalke 04	18	5	2	1	12	5	2	4	4	12	12	7	27
10	Werder Bremen	18	6	2	2	28	15	1	3	4	12	15	10	26
11	Cologne	18	3	2	4	8	12	4	0	5	12	14	-6	23
12	Hannover 96	18	5	4	1	18	11	0	1	7	3	21	-11	20
13	Eintracht Frankfurt	18	3	2	3	14	10	2	2	6	10	21	-7	19
14	Arminia Bielefeld	18	2	3	3	10	12	1	5	4	7	16	-11	17
15	VfL Bochum	18	2	4	4	15	16	0	4	4	6	14	-9	14
16	Karlsruhe	18	3	1	4	7	11	1	0	9	8	23	-19	13
17	Cottbus	18	1	1	6	5	15	2	3	5	7	16	-19	13
18	Borussia M'gladbach	18	2	1	6	11	18	1	1	7	7	19	-19	11