Bundesliga Team Of The Week: Round 12

Goalkeeper:

Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund)

Was forced to make game-changing saves. Brilliantly denied Mesut Oezil early on, and after his team equalized, Weidenfeller was forced to make a number of superb saves. Was by no means at fault for Mesut Oezil’s opener, either.

Defenders:

Sascha Riether (Wolfsburg)

Held down the left side of Wolfsburg’s defence, and bombed up his flank to bolster his team’s resurgence in the second half. Assisted Zvjezdan Misimovic’s equalizer, and was an ever-present offensive threat. An excellent all-round performance from the ex-Freiburg fullback.

Daniel van Buyten (Bayern)

Moved level with Thomas Mueller for first place among Bayern’s goalscorers, which simultaneously speaks volumes of his goalscoring ability, and the terrible form of his team’s strikers. Should have scored a brace, but was denied by a superb goal-line clearance. On the defence, Van Buyten wasn’t bad either; he fouled just once, and dealt well with every challenge that came his way.

Sami Hyypia (Bayer Leverkusen)

Neutralized any threat Frankfurt posed going forward, and helped preserve a clean sheet for substitute goalkeeper Fabian Giefer. The towering Finnish defender has helped Leverkusen become the league’s best defensive side, and Friday’s was another exemplary display of his timeless class.

Andreas Beck (Hoffenheim)

His team may have lost, but Beck was a real standout performer for his side. As usual, the German international put in an exceptional effort on both ends. At the back, he rarely set a foot wrong, and was always first to the ball. Going forward, he supported his team’s attack with a series of excellent crosses and shots. Was unlucky not to have scored or assisted a goal.

Midfielders:

Stefan Reinartz (Bayer Leverkusen)

Headed in his team’s second goal and set up Lars Bender for the fourth. In addition to his offensive productivity, the 20-year old provided a nice buffer for the Leverkusen defence, and helped keep Frankfurt’s midfielders at bay.

Toni Kroos (Bayer Leverkusen)

Scored the goal of the week in Round 11, and managed another excellent strike on Friday. Although he faded out in the second half, Kroos’ superb first-half display helped Bayer go up 3-0 within 11 minutes, and the Bayern loanee was ever dangerous throughout as deputy to injured playmaker Renato Augusto.

Zvjezdan Misimovic (Wolfsburg)

Not his usual self in the first half, but sprung to life after the break, and in doing so jump-started the Wolfsburg offence. Pulled the strings, provided the creative link between midfield and attack, and scored the equalizer to get his team back into the match. He’s really becoming a permanent feature in Team of the Week.

Eljero Elia (Hamburg)

The rising Dutch star has been his team’s saviour in recent weeks. Assisted Marcell Jansen’s opener and after Hannover levelled, he scored one for himself. Always a threat with the ball at his feet, Elia is rapidly becoming Hamburg’s next big star.

Strikers:

Grafite (Wolfsburg)

Following Obafemi Martins’ convincing performance in Matchday 11, it was a bold move for Armin Veh to entrust out-of-form Grafite with a starting role. In his first game back following a week’s vacation in his native Brazil, the 30-year old striker scored the winner for Wolfsburg, and was a constant thorn in the sides of Hoffenheim’s defence.

Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dortmund)

Netted the equalizer for Dortmund, but was wrongly adjudged to have been offside. Then, less than a minute later, scored the equalizer that this time was found to be legal. Otherwise, did very little (besides foul incessantly), but the Argentine makes Team of the Week for netting what should have been a brace.



Honourable Mentions

Werder goalkeeper Tim Wiese would have featured had he not made a bit of a blunder in the play that led up to Lucas Barrios’ equalizer. The Werder goalkeeper may not have had many shots to deal with, but he made a spectacular save from Nelson Valdez to preserve a point for his side.

Freiburg left back Heiko Butscher put in a solid 90 minutes against Bochum, scoring his team’s first goal and providing good support on the left side. To be fair, it was a real toss-up between him and Riether.

Stefan Kiessling scored his league-leading eighth goal and had an otherwise good performance in Leverkusen’s rout.

Clark Whitney, Goal.com

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