Matchday 32: Team of the Week

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Superb strikes, key assists and courageous defensive displays are among the highlights from this week's star turns in our Matchday 32 Team of the Week.

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Bayern's third-choice Tom Starke proved a more than able deputy for the injured Manuel Neuer and Sven Ulreich. - © gettyimages / Lennart Preiss

Goalkeeper

Tom Starke (Bayern Munich)

With Bayern No.1 Manuel Neuer out for the season with a broken foot and back-up custodian Sven Ulreich suffering an elbow injury, the 36-year-old Starke donned the gloves to make only his sixth Bundesliga appearance in five seasons for the Bavarian giants. The veteran produced several fine stops to deny Darmstadt but picking off Hamit Altintop’s penalty was a highlight as champions Bayern earned maximum points.  

Defenders

Juan Bernat (Bayern Munich)

The 24-year-old Spanish full-back proved Bayern’s match-winner against Torsten Frings’s side with a sumptuous left-footed strike in the 18th minute. "We made our fans happy," Bernat told Bundesliga.com after helping his team earn a 12th home win of the season with his third Bundesliga goal for Bayern, and his first at the Allianz Arena.

Philipp Wollscheid (Wolfsburg)

With Luiz Gustavo suspended and Ricardo Rodriguez injured, Wollscheid stepped in to feature in his sixth Bundesliga match of the campaign and the Stoke City loanee excelled as relegation-threatened Wolfsburg earned a vital 2-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt. A former Germany international, Wollscheid won 82% of his duels against the Eagles in an impressive showing at the Commerzbank-Arena.   

Lukas Klünter (FC Cologne)

Since making his debut for the Billy Goats last April, the 20-year-old Klünter has excelled as a flying full-back, even earning a new deal under coach Peter Stöger who described the Germany youth international as, "an ambitious player who works hard on his game." A goal, assist and several saving tackles in the dramatic 4-3 win against Werder Bremen ensured Cologne’s European aspirations remained intact.

Watch: Bayern's Bernat- "Great for the fans":

Midfielders

Leonardo Bittencourt (FC Cologne)

“If we can fulfil the dream of qualifying for European competition, our fans will go crazy,” Bittencourt said after the winger starred in Cologne’s Friday night spectacular against Bremen. With a rare headed goal and two assists in the Billy Goats’ win, the 23-year-old was back to his best to help with the hosts’ European push.  

Emil Forsberg (RB Leipzig)

"What we did this year is unbelievable. We work so hard everyday and now we get the treat which is to go to the Champions League," a delighted Forsberg said after the Bundesliga’s assist king helped this season’s top-flight debutants cap a memorable campaign by achieving a place at European football’s top table following a 4-1 victory away to Hertha Berlin

Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund)

Reus has scored in five of six competitive games since his return from injury, putting Dortmund 1-0 up in four of those contests. It was no different at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK on Saturday as BVB’s No.11 ran clear before beating goalkeeper Oliver Baumann to register a goal that kickstarted a 2-1 win over rivals Hoffenheim in the battle for automatic Champions League qualification. 

Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen)

Already on 22 appearances for the season, the 17-year-old teen sensation Havertz weighed in with a crucial equalising goal as Die Werkself picked up a point against struggling Ingolstadt. Displaying an ultra calm yet deadly demeanour that belied his young age, Leverkusen’s youngest-ever goalscorer cancelled out Ingolstadt's 73rd-minute opener just as the visitors were beginning to despair.

Watch: Emil Forsberg delights in Leipzig's Champions League qualification:

Forwards

Mario Gomez (Wolfsburg)

'Super' Mario certainly merited that moniker with a star-studded showing as Wolfsburg saw off Eintracht Frankfurt. Supplying an assist for Daniel Didavi’s 48th-minute opener, Gomez grabbed a goal of his own less than 20 minutes later and has now been involved in an incredible 50% of the Wolves' strikes this season.

Anthony Modeste (Cologne)

Determined to fight it out for the title of the Bundesliga’s top goalscorer until the very last, the French striker fired home his 24th and 25th goals of the season - a sixth double this campaign - as Cologne saw off Bremen. Netting the first goal of the night meant Modeste had opened the scoring for the seventh time this season, a feat no other player can match.

Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)

'Turbo' Werner is on the fast track to ending the season as the most prolific German goalscorer in the Bundesliga. A thumping header against Hertha set Leipzig on their way and the 21-year-old striker added a second ten minutes after the restart to take his tally for the campaign to date to 19.

Click here for the Matchday 32 round-up