Sunday, May 24, 2009

The German First Bundesliga ended its season on Saturday. VfL Wolfsburg claimed its first season title with a win over UEFA Cup runners-up Werder Bremen by 5–1. The win was Wolfsburg’s sixteenth of seventeen at home.

Wolfsburg went into the match holding a two-point advantage over Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart, who played each other at the same time. Since VfL had a goal difference of 35 to FC Bayern’s 28, even a draw would have effectively clinched the title for them. Additionally, Wolfsburg faced a tired Werder Bremen side that had just lost the UEFA Cup final to Shaktar Donetsk after extra time. VfL got the scoring started after six minutes, when Zvjezdan Misimovi? latched onto a loose ball just outside the Werder penalty area and put it into the top of the net. Nine minutes later, Grafite, the league’s leading goalscorer, made it 27 goals on the season.

The game was effectively over when Sebastian Prödl scored an own goal in the 26th minute. Though Diego pulled one back for Werder five minutes later, it would not be enough. Second half goals from Grafite (56th) and Edin Džeko (74th) put an exclamation point on the afternoon for Wolfsburg. However, this was the last game at the helm for Wolfsburg’s manager, Felix Magath. His contract was not renewed and he will be heading to FC Schalke 04, who lost their final game under interim managers Mike Büskens, Oliver Reck and Youri Mulder.

Bayern won 2–1 over Stuttgart, so they join Wolfsburg in the UEFA Champions League 2009–10 group stage, while Stuttgart must start from the play-off round. Hertha BSC and HSV will represent the Bundesliga in the UEFA Europa League. Hertha managed to hang on despite being beaten 4–0 by seventeenth-placed Karlsruher SC.