Sometimes life gets in the way of football. My excitement over the Bayern - Dortmund match was eclipsed by a dear friend's wedding on Saturday. If all had gone according to plan, I would have been able to see the match live at 9:30AM EST, and then spent the day happy and unconcerned, enjoying a day of nuptuals. And, to be fair, if the bride were any lesser of a friend, I would have skipped the ceremony and just showed at the reception.

Instead, with a 12:30PM start time, I was forced in to updates by phone, and TIVO-ing the match which I finally got to watch yesterday. Ugh. And how depressing is that? Knowing you got beat and having to watch it anyway. I suppose I could have watched it on Sunday, but the over-indulgence during the previous day's festivites was making me queasy already.

So, where to begin? Firstly, and rightly: Good on Borussia Dortmund! While we may have had a small chance to get back in to the Bundesliga title race with a win, it is not to be. And unless the Schwartzgelben have a serious, serious meltdown (a la Leverkusen), they will be crowned this year's champions.

Do I want Bayern Munich to win every single year? Of course I do. Is it good for the Bundesliga? Absolutely not. Juergen Klopp has done an outstanding job with a group of very talented youngsters, and my hope is that, despite the financial woes facing Dortmund, they'll be able to keep the squad mostly intact.

Tactically, Louis van Gaal got it all wrong. Inexplicably, starting Danjiel Pranjic (again) in holding midfield along side Bastian Schweinsteiger. Pranjic was horrible, even when switched to defensive flank.

Anyone else giving up on Holger Badstuber yet? When moving him to the flank, like what happened against Inter, is the best idea for him; perhaps he should be sitting on the bench? Breno, his substitute, performed admirably in the second half, stabilizing what was left of our back line.

And, this wasn't the match for Bastian to perform poorly--- but it happened. He was, sadly, directly or indirectly responsible for all three Dortmund goals. Pinned back in his own half for most of the match meant that any wayward touches or passes would be pounced upon by the opposition. It also meant that he was unable to forge forward and set up the attack.

Sigh. But, despite being out-played, out-classed and out-hustled in, well, every position, we still managed to get shots off. Mario Gomez' disallowed goal, and a disputed penalty could have seen us at least salvaging a point. As well as Franck Ribery's shot just wide and another Gomez strike that Australian goalkeeper Mitch Langerak did well to save.

The most bitter of the three Dortmund goals was the last, served up by former Bayern Munich youngster Mats Hummels. How he ever walked away from our club, I will never know. Especially seeing what an impressive season he is having with Dortmund this year.

It is what it is. Chalk it up to mental tiredness? 90 harrowing minutes against Inter Milan can't have been good on the nerves. Or, perhaps, congratulate Barrios, Goetze, Sahin, Hummels and the rest? An excellent squad and a season for the history books for Dortmund.

But yet, no rest in sight for the Bavarians. Wednesday's DFB Pokal semi-final match against Schalke 04 looms, as well as an away trip, over the weekend, to surprising third-placed Hannover 96. The first being our only realistic chance at hardware this year, the second a must-win for Bayern to directly qualify for Champions League next season.

Not too tall an order, is it?

The Bayern - Schalke match is intriguing if only for the ongoing Neuer-to-Bayern saga currently being played out. The latest tidbit being after Louis van Gaal finally publicly stated his desire for Manuel Neuer, Thomas Kraft subsequently turned down a contract extension seeing him with the club until 2013.

I've said it all along, Neuer will be in a Bayern kit next season.

Last year's semi-final match against Schalke saw Arjen Robben score on 112 minutes, neither side able to go ahead in regulation. And then we went on to beat Werder Bremen in the final 4-0. The winner of this match seems likely to hoist the trophy this season, as the other side of the bracket sees two 2. Bundesliga sides matching up: Duisburg and Cottbus.

Schalke and Bayern are both still in contention in Champions League competiton as well, but for now, it would be unrealistic to say that either squad would progress beyond the round of 8. Meanwhile, Schalke's horrible domestic form this season, and Bayern's not very good one either, combine to make this match very promisingly entertaining. By now, it's painfully obvious that the way to stop Bayern Munich is to lessen Ribery and Robben. The question is, do Schalke have the talent to make that happen?

Auf gehts, Bayern!

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