The Bundesliga goes into hibernation as the winter break is upon us. Time to take a look back at the first half of the season.

Bayer Leverkusen have won the Pyrrhic “Herbstmeister” (Autumn Champions) -title. Vizekusen, as the club is derogatorily referred to (akin to Michael Ballack’s record of coming second best), will hope that they can replicate their form of the first part of the season in the new year. There are good reasons to believe that they can: a coach that has instilled real belief in the team and returning players from injury (Renato Augusto, Simon Rolfes, Patrick Helmes) will further boost the quality of the squad.

„The best thing the trainer can do is to substitute all eleven players” said Stuttgart manager Horst Heldt. But it wasn’t a post-match rant, it was an interview held at half-time. 45 minutes against Leverkusen were enough to have Heldt fuming over a 2-0 deficit in the BayArena. The second half, replete with another two goals from Leverkusen, did little to improve his mood.

Meanwhile the Leverkusen faithful celebrated the victory and man of the match Stefan Kiessling. Kiessling underscored his ambitions to be nominated for the World Cup next summer with three confidently taken goals, including one converted penalty. He is the Bundesliga’s most prolific scorer at present with 12 goals to his name. The 4-0 final score was finalised by a goal from forward Eren Derdiyok.