Matchday 31 Vote: 'The Hunter' is back
Munich - Sandwiched between two rounds of UEFA Champions League semi-final action was Matchday 31 in the Bundesliga, in which the German top-flight produced yet another weekend of drama and entertainment.
’Hunter’ is back
bundesliga.com asked you to vote for your player of the weekend, and from the masses of users across the globe that participated, one clear winner emerged.
Matchday 31 belonged almost exclusively to FC Schalke 04’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who polled 45 per cent of the vote to win by a comfortable margin. Out of action with a knee ligament injury since Matchday 25, ‘the Hunter’ returned to the starting line-up to inspire the Royal Blues to a 4-1 win over Hamburger SV, scoring three and chipping in with an assist.
It was his first treble in the Bundesliga since August 2011 and helped his team retain fourth position in the table, as well as the final UEFA Champions League qualifying spot. “It feels great,” he said in his post-match interview. “It’s always nice to score three in a game. My last hat-trick was ages ago!”
Supporting Cast
In second place was FC Bayern Munich's Xherdan Shaqiri, who laid on the only goal of the game against SC Freiburg. It was Bayern's 14th league success in a row and helped them overtake Borussia Dortmund’s record points tally from last season. Shaqiri & Co. have now racked up 84 for the season, with three games left to play.
Dortmund’s Nuri Sahin came in third. The 24-year-old showed his experience to help a side showing ten changes from their previous game against Real Madrid to a comfortable 2-1 victory away at Fortuna Düsseldorf, netting a 30-yard screamer for good measure.
Don't forget to check out our Fanzone page this coming weekend to have your say on the top performers of Matchday 32.
