Bundesliga Team of the Week: Goals galore with Gomez, Pizarro & Kiessling up front

Goal.com picks out the best talent on show in the Bundesliga from a weekend which saw Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen record big wins

The title race may long be over, but Germany’s finest are not letting up, with Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen all recording impressive wins, and Frankfurt, Schalke and Freiburg embroiled in a fascinating battle for the top four. Here, Goal.com salutes the best talent from across the Bundesliga on matchday 30.

In goal, we have Oka Nikolov, who ensured that Frankfurt did not miss Kevin Trapp for the visit, making a string of saves as the Hessians claimed a vital 1-0 win to keep their Champions League hopes alive.

Two of Bayern Munich’s stars are among the back line. Jerome Boateng put in one of his finest performances this season as the Bavarians claimed a great 6-1 win over Hannover, while David Alaba set up the opener for his side. The back three is completed by Filip Daems, who scored the only goal of the game in Gladbach’s win over Augsburg.

Martin Harnik may not have had the best season for Stuttgart this term, but showed signs of his top form as Stuttgart beat Freiburg 2-1, while Marco Reus overcame a barren run of his own, scoring after 30 seconds in BVB’s 2-0 win over Mainz. Rafael van der Vaart got his first double for Hamburg since returning to the club, with Andre Schurrle also getting on the scoresheet twice for Leverkusen.

Stefan Kiessling, often the man to provide for B04, netted a double of his own as they smashed Hoffenheim 5-0, while Mario Gomez and Claudio Pizarro gave Jupp Heynckes a selection headache ahead of Bayern’s clash with Barcelona with two goals apiece.

'He has written his name into Saint-Etienne folklore' – Goal.com's World Player of the Week Brandao

So simple yet so significant. Brandao, the 205th recipient of Goal.com‘s World Player of the Week award, was no more than five yards out when he slotted home less than 20 minutes into Saturday’s meeting with Rennes, but most of the Saint-Etienne fans in attendance had never seen a more beautiful strike.

The Brazilian’s tap-in at the Stade de France not only secured les Verts the first Coupe de la Ligue trophy, it also ended their 32-year wait for silverware. It was just as meaningful a goal for a player who has also known hard times during a peripatetic career.

Goal.com’s French football expert Robin Bairner explains: “Brandao admitted after the Coupe de la Ligue final that things had once got so grim for him that he had considered quitting professional football altogether, but the former Marseille man has been reborn at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, where he has emerged as an unlikely talisman for Saint-Etienne.

“He has now written his name into the folklore of one of France’s most successful clubs with the only goal of the game on Saturday evening, breaking an agonising drought for les Verts and securing their place in Europe next season.

“The competition has been kind to him in the past. Not only has he won it three times, scoring the winning goal in the final twice, he has never before tasted defeat in 13 previous outings, in which he has tallied nine goals. Nevertheless, Saturday’s tap-in against Rennes from a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang cross was easily the most important as it sent a whole city in raptures.”

Bayern have several players who can make the difference, says Busquets

The Spain international has warned against Bayern’s individual quality and has also taken the time to praise Javi Martinez ahead of this week’s first leg

Sergio Busquets has warned that Barcelona cannot afford to focus solely on one of Bayern Munich’s attackers in Tuesday’s first leg of their Champions League semi-final as he argues the Bundesliga champions have a number of players who can make the difference.

The holding midfielder has a lot of respect for the German giants and realises Barca face a tough task in making it to the final at Wembley.

“Bayern know what they are doing. They play beautiful football that’s great to watch and they also have outstanding individual players. Any one of their players can change a game. Additionally, they are a very solid team too,” Busquets told Barca TV.

“The team that prepares best will go through to the final. I hope that things go our way. It’s going to be a very evenly-matched affair between two teams that play great football.”

The holding midfielder then went on to praise Bayern Munich midfielder and fellow Spain international Javi Martinez.

“He’s very strong physically,” Busquets continued. “He puts himself about, covers a lot of ground and wins back a lot of balls.

“He’s Bayern’s engine. As many of his team-mates and his coach have said, he’s exactly what the team had been missing.”

Tuesday’s match at the Allianz Arena is scheduled to kick off at 20:45CET.

Schweinsteiger fit to face Barcelona

The influential midfielder has shaken off an ankle problem in time to take part in the Champions League semi-final first leg against the Catalans this week

Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes has received some encouraging news from the treatment table in the build-up to the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona on Tuesday as Bastian Schweinsteiger has been given the green light by the club’s medical staff.

The Germany international has struggled with a minor ankle injury in the past few days and was consequently rested for this weekend’s 6-1 Bundesliga win over Hannover.

Nevertheless, Bayern are confident he will be fully match fit in time for Tuesday’s encounter at the Allianz Arena.

“The players who did not start the Hannover clash completed a punishing workout on the practice ground, where they were joined by Bastian Schweinsteiger, who has shaken off a minor ankle injury and will in all probability be fit to face Barcelona on Tuesday,” a statement on the Bayern website reads.

Bayern will have to make do without long-term injury absentee Holger Badstuber, Toni Kroos and the suspended Mario Mandzukic on Tuesday, but don’t have any other noteworthy injury problems.