Hamburg scorer Ivica Olic (f) with Rafael van der Vaart
Stuttgart crowned 2007 Bundesliga champions
Midfielder Sami Khedira was the hero as he hit the winning goal which gave VfB Stuttgart their first Bundesliga title for 15 years on Saturday after a 2-1 victory at home to Energie Cottbus. Having only re-claimed the Bundesliga's top spot the week before, Armin Veh's men came from a goal behind and held their nerve over Cottbus to pick up the valuable victory which gave them their third Bundesliga title.
But there was some early drama at Stuttgart's Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion after Cottbus' Romanian midfielder Vlad Munteanu deflected his shot past diving home goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand on 19 minutes. With Schalke 04 winning 2-0 at that moment, the defeat would have sent the title to Gelsenkirchen, but Stuttgart settled and Germany international Thomas Hitzlsperger equalised on 27 minutes to swing the title back their way.
But it was midfielder Khedira whose 63rd minute goal had Stuttgart's fans celebrating the win which gave them a two-point margin at the top of the league. The win keeps alive their dream of doing a league and cup double
for the first time when they contest the German cup final at Berlin's Olympic Stadium next weekend against Nuremberg.
Stuttgart's win made second-placed Schalke's 2-1 victory over Arminia Bielefeld irrelevant, even though they had a dream start to go 2-0 up after just 19 minutes and they finished runners-up. Brazilian midfielder Lincoln smashed his shot past diving Bielefeld goalkeeper Mathias Hain on 11 minutes before Turkish striker Halil Altintop added a second eight minutes later, but it was not enough to threaten Stuttgart as Bielefeld grabbed a late
consolation goal.
They may be out of the Champions League next season, but fourth-placed Bayern Munich hammered relegated Mainz 05 5-2 at their
arena. Werder Bremen finished third after their 2-0 win at VfL Wolfsburg, who finished just one point off the relegation zone. Bayer Leverkusen claimed the final UEFA Cup place thanks to their 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund which leaves them fifth in the table. Nuremberg enjoyed a 3-0 win over Hanover and will take part in the UEFA-Cup next season, because they reached the DFB-Cup final.
Mainz, Aachen and Moenchengladbach relegated
At the other end of the table, Mainz 05 were relegated following
their Bayern Munich defeat and they were joined by Alemannia Aachen
who went down 4-0 at Hamburg after two first-half goals from Croatian striker Ivica Olic, while Argentinian Juan Pablo Sorin netted twice after the break.
And the Bundesliga's bottom-side Borussia Moenchengladach, who have been resigned to relegation for several weeks, finished their life in German's top-tier with a 2-0 defeat at home to VfL Bochum. In the day's other results, Eintracht Frankfurt were beaten 2-1 at home to Hertha Berlin.
Further information about the Bundesliga can be found here.
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Midfielder Sami Khedira was the hero as he hit the winning goal which gave VfB Stuttgart their first Bundesliga title for 15 years on Saturday after a 2-1 victory at home to Energie Cottbus. Having only re-claimed the Bundesliga's top spot the week before, Armin Veh's men came from a goal behind and held their nerve over Cottbus to pick up the valuable victory which gave them their third Bundesliga title.
But there was some early drama at Stuttgart's Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion after Cottbus' Romanian midfielder Vlad Munteanu deflected his shot past diving home goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand on 19 minutes. With Schalke 04 winning 2-0 at that moment, the defeat would have sent the title to Gelsenkirchen, but Stuttgart settled and Germany international Thomas Hitzlsperger equalised on 27 minutes to swing the title back their way.
But it was midfielder Khedira whose 63rd minute goal had Stuttgart's fans celebrating the win which gave them a two-point margin at the top of the league. The win keeps alive their dream of doing a league and cup double
for the first time when they contest the German cup final at Berlin's Olympic Stadium next weekend against Nuremberg.
Stuttgart's win made second-placed Schalke's 2-1 victory over Arminia Bielefeld irrelevant, even though they had a dream start to go 2-0 up after just 19 minutes and they finished runners-up. Brazilian midfielder Lincoln smashed his shot past diving Bielefeld goalkeeper Mathias Hain on 11 minutes before Turkish striker Halil Altintop added a second eight minutes later, but it was not enough to threaten Stuttgart as Bielefeld grabbed a late
consolation goal.
They may be out of the Champions League next season, but fourth-placed Bayern Munich hammered relegated Mainz 05 5-2 at their
arena. Werder Bremen finished third after their 2-0 win at VfL Wolfsburg, who finished just one point off the relegation zone. Bayer Leverkusen claimed the final UEFA Cup place thanks to their 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund which leaves them fifth in the table. Nuremberg enjoyed a 3-0 win over Hanover and will take part in the UEFA-Cup next season, because they reached the DFB-Cup final.
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Mainz, Aachen and Moenchengladbach relegated
At the other end of the table, Mainz 05 were relegated following
their Bayern Munich defeat and they were joined by Alemannia Aachen
who went down 4-0 at Hamburg after two first-half goals from Croatian striker Ivica Olic, while Argentinian Juan Pablo Sorin netted twice after the break.
And the Bundesliga's bottom-side Borussia Moenchengladach, who have been resigned to relegation for several weeks, finished their life in German's top-tier with a 2-0 defeat at home to VfL Bochum. In the day's other results, Eintracht Frankfurt were beaten 2-1 at home to Hertha Berlin.
Further information about the Bundesliga can be found here.
