Bundesliga Team of the Week: Matchday 18
Hannover hat-trick hero Niclas Füllkrug earned a place in the Official Fantasy Bundesliga Team of the Week along with Bayern Munich stars Javier Martinez and James Rodriguez. But who else made the cut on Matchday 18?
Goalkeeper
Marwin Hitz (Augsburg, 13 points)
The Augsburg netminder helped his team climb to seventh by shutting out Hamburg in a 1-0 win. The 30-year-old will hope to dislodge Borussia Mönchengladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer as Switzerland’s number one ahead of the World Cup, and he earned five bonus points for the five saves he made. As many again came with his fifth clean sheet of the season.
Defenders
Benjamin Hübner (Hoffenheim, 17 points)
Hoffenheim needed goals from another source following Sandro Wagner’s move to Bayern, and Hübner netted his second of the season in the 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen. He also got nine points for his defensive work, and had more touches of the ball (90) than any other player.
Timo Baumgartl (VfB Stuttgart, 14 points)
The Germany under-21 international held firm at the back as Stuttgart dug out a crucial 1-0 win over Hertha Berlin. Baumgartl earned nine of his points for winning 78 percent of his battles with the likes of Davie Selke and Salomon Kalou as Stuttgart kept a clean sheet for the fifth time in nine home matches.
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Javier Martinez (Bayern Munich, 19 points)
Fantasy managers gained from the fact that Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes deployed Martinez in midfield in the defending champions' 3-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen. The Spaniard’s first Bundesliga goal in 10 months had Bayern in front and earned you six points if you had him in your team. Nine more points came his way for the number of tackles and headers that he won.
Frederik Sörensen (Cologne, 16 points)
The Dane got his second goal of the season to help bottom club Cologne to a vital derby win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. Over half of the 25-year-old’s points came for his attacking work on the day as he had three shots on goal.
Robin Koch (Freiburg, 13 points)
Koch scored his first Bundesliga goal to get a well-earned point for Freiburg following a 1-1 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt. The 21-year-old equalised for the visitors with their first shot on target and he covered a game-high 12.7 kilometres – winning plenty of challenges to boost his points tally.
Watch: See what James made of his performance against Leverkusen
Midfielders
Caiuby (Augsburg, 17 points)
The Brazilian’s superb season continued as he was once again highly effective against Hamburg. The 29-year-old picked up a couple of extra points for his four attempts on goal and a further three for whipping over the cross from which Ja-Cheol Koo headed in the winner. With Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski sitting out Matchday 18, Caiuby is now the top points scorer in the game.
James Rodriguez (Bayern Munich, 16 points)
The Colombian playmaker is thriving on Heynckes’ watch and he again had a key role in Bayern’s win at Leverkusen. First he set up a Franck Riberygoal to make it 2-0, and he then curled home a wonderful free-kick just when it looked like the home team might snatch a point. James now has three goals and four assists in his 13 league matches so far.
Ja-Cheol Koo (Augsburg, 16 points)
In the absence of their top scorer Alfred Finnbogason, who missed out with a cold, Augsburg needed someone to step up. Step forward South Korean international Koo, who scored a timely first goal of the season and earned two bonus points because it proved the winner.
Watch: Hear from Hannover's Niclas Füllkrug after the 3-2 win over Mainz.
Forwards
Niclas Füllkrug (Hannover, 27 points)
Following his heroics against Mainz, it will come as no surprise to read that Füllkrug was the top points scorer on Matchday 18. The 24-year-old got two goals in the first half as the home side came from 2-0 down to level at the break, before he completed his first Bundesliga hat-trick with 15 minutes to go. He earned ten points for his goals, a further four for his nine attempts on goal and an extra three for finding the net more than twice.
Sebastien Haller (Eintracht Frankfurt, 15 points)
Haller is now one behind Füllkrug in the Bundesliga’s scoring charts after getting his seventh of the campaign in the draw with Freiburg. But as far as forwards go, the Frenchman is second only to Lewandowski in terms of Official Fantasy Bundesliga points. Haller earned seven more for his six attempts on goal and for setting up two further shots for teammates. He was awarded another six for winning a game-high 30 challenges.