The Fundesliga : Fundesliga

Werder seal Champions League berth as Bundesliga says willkommen to McClaren

Daniel Moore — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:13:00 GMT

Steve McClaren's career is really starting to rebuild itself quite nicely.

Fresh from winning the Dutch Eredivisie with FC Twente - the clubs' first ever title victory – the miraculously Dutch-sounding Englishman has now moved to last season's Bundesliga champions, VfL Wolfsburg, to replace coach Lorenz-Guenther Kostner.

Kostner, at least, signed off his half-year tenure at the Volkswagen Arena with a 3-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, as striker Edin Dzeko grabbed his 22nd league goal of the campaign to put him one ahead of Leverkusen's Stefan Kiessling in the scoring charts.

Kiessling, having failed to score in Leverkusen's 1-1 draw with Munchengladbach, ends the season in second place in the race for the Bundesliga’s golden boot. That's now 48 league goals for Dzeko in two seasons – an incredible haul, especially with his team struggling this season to finish anywhere near a respectable position.

Not even a brace in Bayern Munchen's 3-1 win at relegated Hertha Berlin could keep Arjen Robben in contention for the honour, as the Oranje winger ended the season on 16 league strikes; still, a fantastic achievement for a winger (although didn't Cristiano Ronaldo play on the wing for Manchester United last season?).

Bayern's title winning celebrations can be found here. Well-deserved, it must be said. And they're still on for the treble, with the DFB final against Bremen on Saturday, and the Champions League final against Inter Milan a week later.

Schalke's season-long search for a maiden Bundesliga success ended in disappointing fashion, with a drab stalemate away at Mainz.

Kevin Kuranyi, tipped by many to play a part in Germany's World Cup campaign until coach Jogi Low put an end to that by leaving him out of the squad last week, has since agreed a move to Russia to join Dynamo Moscow, having previously been linked with Juventus.

The consolation for Schalke, of course, is an automatic place in next season's Champions League, meaning a minimum €20 million boost to their currently decimated finances.

But this weekend gone by was all about the relegation battle, and who would follow Hertha Berlin out of the Bundesliga.

Well, the answer is Bochum, as they turned in a performance fully worthy of relegation to the 2. Bundesliga, going down 0-3 at home to fellow battlers Hannover.

And with Hannover's victory comes FC Nurnberg's 16th place finish – meaning a two-legged playoff with 2. Bundesliga third-placed team FC Augsburg for the spot in the top league next season.

I'm going with Nurnberg to stay up, just.

So, in effect, it didn't really matter what Nurnberg did on Saturday with Hannover's victory, but they won nonetheless, against a FC Koln team seemingly already on their summer holidays. 1-0 to the home team, goal scored by Bayern Munchen loanee Andreas Ottl.

SC Freiburg ended the season on a high by beating Dortmund 3-1, and they'll be hoping to take their end of season good form into 2010/2011 – 10 points from their last five games allowed them to go into the matchday 34 with absolutely no concerns for their Bundesliga future.

And the big derby game up north, Werder Bremen at home to Hamburger SV at the Weserstadion, ended up a stalemate, but a stalemate good enough to put the home team into the qualifying stages of the UEFA Champions League next season.

Leverkusen will be gutted to only end up in the Europa League after their pre-Christmas form, but only have themselves to blame as Bremen took full advantage of their drop in form to secure third place with two points to spare.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, who it's fair to say hasn't really enjoyed the sort of maiden Bundesliga season that he'd have hoped for, scored Hamburg's equalising goal, taking his tally to five league goals for the season. Rather disappointing for the once-prolific ex-Manchester United frontman.

The only other game, Hoffenheim against Stuttgart, ended up 1-1, with neither team having anything to play for apart from putting on a good show for their fans, although they obviously weren't that bothered about that, either!

That’s probably a bit harsh on Stuttgart’s Brazilian striker Cacau, who scored a spectacular opening goal where following a quick succession of slick passes, as Stuttgart took the ball from the edge of their area to the back of the Hoffenheim net within about 15 seconds. Great goal, more of that at the World Cup please, Cacau.

Definitely the Bundesliga goal of the week.

BUNDESLIGA RESULTS Sat 08 May Hertha Berlin 1-3 FC Bayern Munchen, 1899 Hoffenheim 1-1 VfB Stuttgart, Werder Bremen 1-1 Hamburger SV, SC Freiburg 3-1 Borussia Dortmund, FSV Mainz 0-0 Schalke 04, Borussia M’gladbach 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen,VfL Bochum 0-3 Hannover 96, FC Nurnberg 1-0 FC Koln, VfL Wolfsburg 3-1 Eintracht Frankfurt.

This week's fixtures, along with The Fundesliga's predictions:  

Wednesday
Relegation playoff, first leg.
FC Nurnberg 2-1 FC Augsburg

Saturday
DFB Pokal final
FC Bayern Munchen 3-1 Werder Bremen

Sunday
Relegation playoff, second leg.
FC Augsburg 1-1 FC Nurnberg

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Bayern now one step from glory on two counts as Hamburg choke

Daniel Moore — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:08:00 GMT

It’s safe to say there were mixed fortunes for the sides representing Germany in European football this week.

Bayern München, leading 1-0 from their first leg clash with Lyon last week, thoroughly battered their French counterparts at the Stade Gerland, with a hat-trick from tireless Croatian schemer Ivica Olic sealing a 3-0 win.

Hamburg, the country's only other European competitor, meekly went down 2-1 to Fulham in the Europa League.

That bit of sad news aside, though, The Fundesliga is sporting a massive smile today, as its prediction of a Fulham and Atlético Madrid final has finally come true - that really is a turn up for the books!

But in an effort to grab The Fundesliga's glory, Hamburg this week parted company with manager Bruno Labbadia, presumably also hoping that a change of manager would provide a huge morale boost in their season-defining game at Craven Cottage.

And it looked like it was working early on, when Mladen Petric nestled home an inch perfect 30-yard free kick to make it 1-0 on the night, and put HSV up on aggregate with a vital away goal.

But the joy was to be ultimately short-lived. Goals from Simon Davies and Zoltan Gera put the hosts in the ascendancy, and they held on to record a victory on a night that must surely go down as the club's most historic ever. Still, cracking goal from Petric though...

It seems this sudden manager-axing is rather contagious at the moment in Deutschland, with Heiko Herrlich this week also being shown the exit door by Bochum.

With the team once known as Die Unabsteigbaren (the unrelegatables) needing something of a miracle on Saturday when they travel to the Allianz Arena to face Bayern, one can only presume the directors are pinning all their hopes on a new face achieving the impossible.

So, sort of what Hull City tried in appointing Iain Dowie, and we all know how that turned out...

Over to matters on the pitch, and it's yet another action-packed weekend of Bundesliga action ahead of us.

This will be the weekend when, finally, Hertha Berlin say 'auf wiedersehen!' to the Bundesliga, with Kaiserslautern already promoted to take their place next season.

Bayern München can't wrap up the title this round of fixtures, and only a brave man would bet against both them and Schalke winning their respective games this weekend.

And if that does indeed happen, then Stuttgart will be looking to take full advantage of Werder Bremen's slip up; with Bremen travelling to Gelsenkirchen to face Schalke.

As Leverkusen and Dortmund both have favourable fixtures, we might see the second-half-of-the-season-wonders, Stuttgart, be within a point of Bremen and European football come the final day.

The bet of the day for me has to be FC Nürnberg away to Hamburger SV. You can get 3/1 on them coming away with a win, against a deflated side just knocked out of the Europa League and mathematically unable to qualify for the competition again next season.

Aside from Hannover, who have an absolutely massive chance to record three points at home to Mönchengladbach and put themselves in with a chance of survival in a week's time, the other two games not mentioned are really a much of a muchness; nothing really to play for apart from pride and a few extra Euro by finishing a position or two higher up the table.

Penultimate weekend of the campaign; squeaky bum time, as Sir Alex would put it...

This weekend's fixtures, along with The Fundesliga's predictions:

Saturday

Borussia Dortmund 2-0 VfL Wolfsburg
Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 Hertha Berlin
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 1899 Hoffenheim
Schalke 04 2-1 Werder Bremen
FC Bayern München 3-0 VfL Bochum
Hannover 96 1-1 Borussia M’gladbach
FC Köln 2-2 SC Freiburg
VfB Stuttgart 3-2 FSV Mainz
Hamburger SV 1-2 FC Nürnberg

Schalke go level with Bayern as Hamburg’s season turns to farce

Daniel Moore — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:34:00 GMT

And so the Bundesliga title race takes yet another tantalising twist.

Schalke’s late, late show away to Hertha Berlin, coupled with Bayern München’s inability to take all three points from Mönchengladbach, means the top two are now tied on 64 points.

For the top club, Bayern, it wasn’t usual goal-scoring predator Arjen Robben doing the foraging, but rather a striker that has been terrifying defences in the Bundesliga for years but has fallen out of favour with die Bayern in recent times; Miroslav Klose.

The Germany striker’s header rescued a point for the league leaders, who knew that only a defeat here coupled with a Schalke victory would see them re-surrender top spot.

Schalke duly won their away match against Hertha Berlin, but only in the most dramatic of fashions.

The victory may have allowed Schalke to keep parity with Bayern, but only in the unfortunate knowledge their two remaining fixtures are tougher than the Bavarians’, who also boast a substantial goal difference advantage over them.

Schalke's Marcelo Bordon celebrates his side's late winner

Schalke’s Heiko Westermann was the hero of the hour for the away team, scoring the game’s only goal with just three minutes of the game remaining to all but condemn Hertha to relegation.

They now go into next weekend’s game at Bayer Leverkusen knowing only a win will give them any sort of chance of avoiding automatic relegation to 2. Bundesliga, and even then they will need then to follow it up with another victory on the season’s final day, as well as hope that other results go their way. Unfortunate.

The three teams all vying for that final Champions League berth all got the wins they required, with Lucas Barrios hitting a hat trick for Dortmund as they beat Nürnberg 2-3, Stefan Kießling helping himself to a brace as Leverkusen strolled to an easy win over Hannover, and Torsten Frings converting a 91st minute penalty to give his team, Werder Bremen, a priceless 1-0 win over FC Köln.

Hamburger SV are the team with egg all over their faces this weekend, though, as their 5-1 roasting at the hands of Hoffenheim was the straw that broke the camel’s back for their board, who took it upon themselves to dismiss manager Bruno Labbadia on Monday afternoon after a very poor campaign for his team.

The Rothosen can no longer qualify for the Europa League via the Bundesliga this season, and now know that they’ll need to overcome Fulham at Craven Cottage this week, and then actually go on to win the competition at their own Nordbank Arena in the EL’s inaugural year if they are to be in it again next year.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has but three Bundesliga goals to his name since arriving at the club in January, must be wondering what he has let himself in for.

Chinedu Obasi puts Hoffenheim 3-0 up against Hamburg

Freiburg predictably beat Wolfsburg to take a huge step towards safety, while Stuttgart cantered to an all-too-easy yet quite impressive 0-2 victory away at Bochum.

It’s looking ominous for Bochum at the moment; they next travel to Bavaria to face wannabe champions Bayern München before a do-or-die showdown with fellow relegation-candidates Hannover on the final day.

It’s quite likely that, by the end of next weekend, it will be Bochum and Nürnberg occupying the two final relegation places, but with all still to play for in two weeks time.

The only other game this weekend from the top division, which the Fundesliga has neglected to talk about mainly due to it being drenched in ninth vs tenth nothingness, is Mainz against Frankfurt.

In all honesty it was probably the most exciting game of the weekend, with six goals shared equally between them to ensure both teams earned a solitary point.

But let’s face it; the highest either team can climb to by the end of the season is seventh, so let’s not waste too long discussing them!

In other news this weekend, second division Kaiserslautern have achieved promotion back to the big time, as third placed Augsburg failed to win their game away to FSV Frankfurt.

Germany’s very own red devils are back in the top league for the first time since the 2005/06 season, and it looks like St Pauli will be the second team to join them in the promotion party next week if they can take three points in their penultimate match.

It won’t be official, however, but would require a 14 goal shift in goal difference with Augsburg, who themselves would need to close a three-point gap on St Pauli.

The Fundesliga fully approves of St Pauli’s imminent return to the Bundesliga, by the way... great team, great fans.

Meanwhile, back in the Bundesliga...

Goal of the weekend that meant something:

Three minutes of the game to go, 0-0 away to bottom club Hertha Berlin, and the ball is parried by the HSC goalkeeper and let loose in the six yard box.

Who’d you want it to fall to? Surely not Heiko Westermann, the Schalke defender with just one goal to his name all season?

Well, it did fall to him, and he lashed it home to give them a priceless 0-1 win. South German daily newspaper the Süddeutsche Zeitung deemed it a goal “worth 20 Million Euro” after it guaranteed Schalke 04 a place in next season’s Champions League and kept die Königsblauen hot on the heels of leaders Bayern.

...Goal of the weekend that didn’t:

HSV’s Robert Tesche wins this one with a superb 35-yard lob of Hoffenheim ‘keeper Daniel Haas. The only problem, though, was his team were already 3-0 down. And it got worse.

Hoffenheim surged to a 5-1 victory, Hamburg can no longer finish in the top five and Coach Bruno Labbadia has subsequently been sacked. Dang.

BUNDESLIGA RESULTS Fri 23 Apr: VfL Bochum 0-2 VfB Stuttgart; Sat 24 Apr: Borussia M’gladbach1-1 Bayern München, FC Nürnberg 2-3 Borussia Dortmund, Hertha Berlin 0-1 Schalke 04, Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 Hannover 96, FSV Mainz 3-3 Eintracht Frankfurt, Werder Bremen 1-0 FC Köln; Sun 25 Apr: 1899 Hoffenheim 5-1 Hamburger SV, SC Freiburg 1-0 VfL Wolfsburg.

Ribery will be glad to see the back of his turbulent week

Daniel Moore — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:30:00 GMT

After a quite turbulent week for Franck Ribéry, it went from bad to worse as he was given a straight red card following a reckless challenge on Lyon’s Lisando Lopez.

The Frenchman’s moment of madness means he now misses the second leg next week, a game that Bayern can at least now afford to draw in order to progress to the final for the first time since 2001.

That man Arjen Robben was, again, the hero of Allianz Arena on Wednesday night, his long-range effort taking a deflection to leave goalkeeper Hugo Lloris stranded and unable to keep it out.

1-0 to Bayern, and sights are now firmly set on a place in the final on May 22.

Up at the other end of Germany, on the coast of the North Sea, Hamburg’s Europa League semi-final opponents were Premier League Fulham, playing in their first ever European semi-final.

With Ruud van Nistelrooy playing up front, and with the goal of progressing to the final at their home ground the Nordbank Arena, to target, Hamburg were unable to muster up a goal.

Fulham, on the other hand, didn’t even manage a shot on target, but will be well chuffed with the 0-0 scoreline to take back to Craven Cottage next week.

So, it looks like The Fundesliga might still be on target with its Europa League final prediction...

Own trumpet-blowing aside though, it’s a vital weekend in the Bundesliga.

The question is: will any of the five relegation-threatened clubs make a last gasp bid for survival?

The answer, probably, is: no.

Well, that’s a little bit of a lie. Bochum have a decent chance at home to Stuttgart on Friday night – but with die Schwaben well on form and hungry for a Europa League position next season, I wouldn’t be betting my house on it.

Another team with a chance to sneak a point or three is Freiburg; they’re at home to massive underachievers Wolfsburg, who themselves need a miracle to finish anywhere but in no man’s land this season.

Will Bundesliga top scorer Edin Dzeko notch another couple to put a nail in Nürnberg’s survival coffin?

The others three teams - Hertha Berlin, Hannover and Nürnberg - all face teams in the top five of the league, meaning there will be no chance of their guards being down while the players are dreaming of their summer holidays…

Of those top five teams, Schalke travel to bottom club Hertha Berlin. It’s a must-win for the home team, who can be all but relegated by the end of play on Saturday. And probably will be.

Bayern München are away to Borussia Mönchengladbach, who are another of the ‘no man’s land’ teams. It ought to be nothing else but a comfortable away win.

Leverkusen, who are rapidly realising that even a qualifying position for the Europa League is going to represent a struggle, face Hannover, who will see this as a game that isn’t a ‘must-win’, but one that could yield a huge point.

And Werder Bremen, now in third place and looking to end the season on a high and get back into the Champions League, face FC Köln.

I think we’ll see a surprise or two this weekend…

This weekend's fixtures, along with The Fundesliga's predictions:

Friday:
VfB Bochum 1-2 VfB Stuttgart
Saturday:
Borussia M’gladbach 0-2 FC Bayern München
FC Nürnberg 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
Hertha Berlin 1-3 Schalke 04
Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Hannover 96
FSV Mainz 2-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
Werder Bremen 3-1 FC Köln
Sunday:
1899 Hoffenheim 2-0 Hamburger SV
SC Freiburg 0-2 VfL Wolfsburg

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Schalke still scrapping as Bayern smash sorry Hannover for seven

Daniel Moore — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 11:04:00 GMT

BUNDESLIGA RESULTS Fri 16 Apr: FC Köln 2-0 VfL Bochum; Sat 17 Apr: VfB Stuttgart 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen, VfL Wolfsburg 2-4 Werder Bremen, Schalke 04 3-1 Borussia M’gladbach, Hamburger SV 0-1 FSV Mainz, SC Freiburg 2-1 FC Nürnberg, Bayern München 7-0 Hannover 96; Sun 18 Apr: Borussia Dortmund 1-1 1899 Hoffenheim, Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2 Hertha Berlin.

Three scorers, two braces, one hat trick hero - that's the story of Bayern München's ruthless demolition of Hannover 96 on Saturday evening.

And this time boss Louis van Gaal had no temptation to rest his star wingers Ribéry and Robben; the eleven players selected represented the Dutchman's strongest available selection, with the hammering sending Hannover back into the second automatic relegation place in the Bundesliga.

No bonus points for guessing which on-fire ex-Chelsea and Real Madrid winger grabbed the bulk of the goals. Still guessing? Well, his surname begins with a R, and ends with OBBEN.

Earlier on Saturday, though, it was the Königsblauen of Schalke who had regained top spot, after an Ivan Rakitic-inspired performance led them to a 3-1 defeat of mid-table Mönchengladbach.

This time though there were to be no goals from 18-goal Brazilian-born striker Kevin Kuranyi, who incidentally might this week be offered the chance to rebuild his international career under Joachim Löw for Germany, after he walked out on the national team in 2008 after being left out of the squad for a World Cup qualifier.

Naughty boy. No, Rakitic grabbed two, and Jefferson Farfan scored another. The Croatian international's first goal was pretty good...

And, even if Bayer Leverkusen somehow failed to read last week's Fundesliga blog – where their Bundesliga-winning dreams were written off - hopes that they might capitalise on any potential slip ups from the top two were truly killed off by Stuttgart, who are unbelievably just four points off that third Champions League qualification place.

Just six games ago the gap between Leverkusen and Stuttgart in the league was a massive 18 points; the Werkself were being tipped to take the title, while die Schwaben of Stuttgart were floating around in the middle of the table. The gap is now four points in Leverkusen’s favour, who share 54 points with third-placed Bremen.

What's more, that's now five wins on the spin now for Christian Gross' men. Manager of the season, anybody? I think he's got to be up there.

Unfortunately for him – and his club – they won't make that third place though, as Leverkusen especially have a more than favourable run-in, yet Tottenham Hotspur's best ever Swiss coach can be chuffed with his achievements this season, which, hopefully, will be rewarded with a Europa League place.

"How'd you like me now, Sugar?!"

Current title holders, Wolfsburg, whose home form this season has been sketchy to say the least, shared six goals with Werder Bremen. Trouble was, only two of those came for the home team – with last year's top European strike partnership of Edin Dzeko and Grafite getting one apiece.

It also looks like Hamburger SV are going to have to actually go and win the Europa League this season if they want to qualify for it next time, as a home defeat to Mainz has surely put them too far off the pace now.

With Fulham boss Roy Hodgson this week coming out and saying his team are focussed more on the Europa League than the Premier League for the rest of the season, perhaps Hamburg's players are thinking that too; the two teams meet in the first leg of their Europa semi final this week. Great win for Mainz, though, with the victory representing only their third away win all season.

Meanwhile, with Bochum going down 2-0 to FC Köln on Friday night (side note: yes! I was at least close to calling a correct Köln result!), it opened up the door for one of Freiburg and Nürnberg to seize the initiative when the two met in their relegation six-pointer yesterday.

That win for Köln, by the way, now guarantees their place in the Bundesliga next season, with Manchester United loanee Zoran Tosic helping himself to both goals in their win.

Back to that six-pointer, and it was the home side who scored a huge, huge win, coming out 2-1 victors to tie on 28 points in the Bundesliga table with Bochum and Nürnberg. All to play for in the final three games, then...

The Sunday games didn't produce any exceptional results, although Borussia Dortmund will see it as a two points sorely lost as Hoffenheim held firm to secure a 1-1 draw at Signal Iduna Park.

And in the day's other game between Eintracht Frankfurt and Hertha Berlin, it was the visitors who led twice, only for die Adler to hit back twice to take a point that they'll be bitterly disappointed with.

With the game poised at 2-2 with 70 minutes played - after Ümit Korkmaz and Marco Russ had responded to Hertha goals from Gojko Kačar and Brazilian Raffael – the away team's Swiss defender Steve von Bergen was played clear through, only to inexplicitly pass it to an attacking team mate who was in a clear offside position, when a shot on goal from 12 yards was surely the better option.

It's exactly these awful decisions that have cost Hertha dearly this season, and although their relegation can't be confirmed next weekend, it's now looking likely that their Bundesliga judgement day will be on the 1st of March as they travel to Leverkusen.

So who is going to win the league? Two points the difference as it stands, and three games to play. Fixtures below for the top two:

Bayern: Borussia M'gladbach (a), VfL Bochum (h), Hertha Berlin (a)

Schalke: Hertha Berlin (a), Werder Bremen (h), FSV Mainz (a)

It's now going to take Bayern to lose one and Schalke to win all three for the Königsblauen to take the title...

Likely? As we've seen already this season, absolutely anything can happen at any given time, so it's faaaaar from settled yet...

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Does anybody want to win the Bundesliga?

Daniel Moore — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:28:00 GMT

Does anybody want to win the Bundesliga? That's the burning question on the lips of football fans across Germany this week, with all of the top three seemingly unable to put together a convincing run of form together as the season's end fast approaches...

With all of these crazy results occurring week-in, week-out, it all makes for great drama, and Schalke might even now be thinking that their single point taken from the 'unlosable' six-pointer against Bayern at the weekend may still put them on course to win the title... All will be revealed on the 8th May, I guess!

After spending virtually all season in third place, Schalke leapfrogged Leverkusen on matchday 25 – and they haven't looked back since.

As the Werkself were busy losing 3-2 away to Nürnberg, Schalke travelled to Eintracht Frankfurt, and subsequently smashed four past them to return back to North Rhine Westphalia with a 1-4 victory, and most importantly, the three points needed to be sitting in second place.

But wait! This is the Bundesliga, and nothing ever goes to plan, which might explain why Schalke somehow managed to lose 4-2 at Hannover on Saturday.

Leverkusen and Bayern battled to a draw at the BayArena

Fear not, though, as league leaders Bayern München and Bayer Leverkusen - the latter of whom might not even make the Champions League qualification spot after a shocking run of form – played out a 1-1 draw at the Bayarena.

Hertha Berlin, after a remarkable run of results (by their standards this season, at least...) – earning seven points from their past five games – had the chance to add another chapter to their 'Great Escape' story, but failed miserably, going down 0-1 home to Stuttgart.

Which of course leads us to the other four clubs fighting it out to stay in the league next season; SC Freiburg, VfL Bochum, Hannover 96 and Nürnberg. As we already know, Hannover won against Schalke, but what about the others?

Well, er... they all lost. Oh well.

That's right; Freiburg flopped at Bremen, losing the game four nil, while Bochum and Nürnberg lost home games to Hamburger SV and Wolfsburg, 1-2 and 0-2 respectively.

Good news for FC Köln this weekend though, as their three points taken from a tricky trip to Hoffenheim all but assures them top flight football next season. Maybe Lukas Podolski will come out all guns blazing next year after his year-long vacation during this campaign?

"Noooo, I don't want this vacation to ever end!"

In the other two games from this weekend, Mainz dented Dortmund's dreams of drifting into the Champs League qualification places with a pretty good 1-0 win, and in the Friday game, the team with the stupidly long name, Borussia Monchengladbach, beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0.

Not that it really mattered in the grand scheme of things, as both clubs are floating around mid-table with not a great deal to play for in terms of survival and European qualification.

Silly billy of the weekend:

Manuel Neuer (Goalkeeper, Schalke 04)

God knows why he decided to come off his line, but he did, and I bet he felt a bit silly afterwards. The goal from Hannover's Didier Ya Konan put his team 2-0 up, and pretty much killed off the game...

Hero of the weekend:

Adam Matuschyk (Midfield, FC Köln)

The young Polish international scored a brace – his first goals for the club - to all but confirm his team's participation in the Bundesliga next season.

Goal of the weekend:

Adam Szalai (Striker, FSV Mainz)

The striker, current on loan from Real Madrid's Castilla side, with this sublime display of quick feet, close control and clinical finishing...

BUNDESLIGA RESULTS Fri 09 Apr: Borussia M’gladbach 2-0 Eintracht Frankfurt; Sat 10 Apr: Hertha Berlin 0-1 VfB Stuttgart, FSV Mainz 1-0 Borussia Dortmund, Hannover 96 4-2 Schalke 04, 1899 Hoffenheim 0-2 FC Köln, Werder Bremen 4-0 SC Freiburg, Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Bayern München; Sun 11 Apr: VfL Bochum 1-2 Hamburger SV, FC Nürnberg 0-2 VfL Wolfsburg.

This week's fixtures, along with The Fundesliga's predictions:

Friday
FC Köln 1-0 VfL Bochum

Saturday
VfB Stuttgart 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen
VfL Wolfsburg 2-2 Werder Bremen
Schalke 04 2-0 Borussia M’gladbach
Hamburger SV 3-1 FSV Mainz
SC Freiburg 1-1 FC Nürnberg
Bayern München 3-0 Hannover 96

Sunday
Borussia Dortmund 4-2 1899 Hoffenheim
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Hertha Berlin

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Revenge mission completed as Robben rocket blasts Bayern into semis

Daniel Moore — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 08:09:00 GMT

As the Fundesliga correctly called in yesterday's blog, Bayern München have put English champions Manchester United to the sword in the Champions League following a quite remarkable game at Old Trafford.

And it was the Rib-Rob combination that did it, with the latter scoring a quite ridiculous volley from Ribéry's floated corner to put the Germans through on away goals.

After Rafael's deserved sending off it was a typically efficient (‘typically German’, you might say...) Bayern who took the initiative and dominated United for the last 35 minutes, stretching the play and tiring out their opponents, pinging the ball around the field at will.

Who'd have thought that a Manchester United team could fold so meekly in front of their own fans?

Inside the stadium it was the Bayern fans making all of the noise, lighting up flares and generally embarrassing the home fans who outnumbered them by a ratio of about 23:1. Well, Old Trafford isn't known for it's atmosphere, now, it is...

The game looked like it was running away from die Bayern with 41 minutes gone, after a long range Gibson strike and two classy Nani efforts put the home side three up, home fans hoping for continuing goals glut, only for Ivica Olic to pull one back just moments after Nani's second strike. All what was needed then was for Bayern to score one more, and when it came it was worth the wait – Robben's immense goalscoring record of late continuing with an outrageous volley from his mate Ribéry's corner with 16 minutes to go.

As you'll know if you've read this blog before, the Fundesliga absolutely loves Arjen Robben, and it's fitting that, of all players, it's he who has scored yet another screamer to send his team into the semis.

I'm not sure which of his last two Champions League goals were better, last night’s, or his late goal away to Fiorentina, but the similarities between the two ties are eerie to say the least.

Both against United and the Florence outfit Bayern won the first leg 2-1 at home thanks to a late, late goal, before Robben scored relatively late in the away to seal a 3-2 defeat and take Bayern through on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate draw.

Tonight's biggest winners:

Arjen Robben. Genius. Just sheer genius. That volley could have ended up anywhere, but it shot arrow-like into the bottom corner of Van Der Sar's goal.

Franck Ribéry. Controlled the midfield after the sending off, although was perhaps a little bit cheeky in waving the invisible red card. But let's face it, United do it all the time, so can't complain..

Louis van Gaal. Tactically perfect. Didn't panic at three down, and got the result he required and deserved.

Tonight's biggest losers:
Wayne Rooney. Wasn't fit to start, it seemed a rare act of desperation by Ferguson to include him in the starting XI. To be frank he didn't do much for the 55 minutes or so he was on the field, either. Perhaps Berbatov would’ve been a better option from the start, with plenty of pace, energy and movement already coming from Nani and Antonio Valencia.

Rafael. After a highly impressive first half his inexperience got the better of him. As if being at United for a few years wasn't enough of a learning curve to show him that players will do anything to get their opponents sent off...

Sir Alex Ferguson.
Typical Germans, ay?

What a game, and what a great couple of evening's football we've been treated to this week.

Auf geht´s Deutschland schieß ein Tor!

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Could Van Gaal's gamble be about to backfire on Bayern?

Daniel Moore — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:17:00 GMT

One can sort of understand why Bayern boss Louis van Gaal opted to only give his two flying wingers, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry a 45 minute run-out in their home game against VfB Stuttgart last weekend.

Firstly, it was a game they ought to have won, even with an under-strength team (i.e. Without their influential wide men playing the full 90).

Secondly, because the UEFA Champions League is without doubt the biggest prize on offer to Bayern.

And thirdly because, in coming up against arguably the current best out and out striker on the planet in 'Wazza' Rooney, they would need as much firepower as possible to cancel out his inevitable goal, which of course he scored after just one minute at the Allianz Arena.

Dreadful Demichelis defending (x2).

But, on the other hand, surely FC Bayern need to be going on an all-out title charge for the remainder of the season, right? I mean, one title success in the past three seasons is simply not good enough for the Manchester United of Germany.

A few first half goals against Stuttgart and he could've rested them for the final half, or last 30 minutes, instead of throwing them on when the rest of the team was looking leggy and off-form from the first whistle.

The Bundesliga is different from the English Premier League in that there is only one real megarich club, whereas the EPL has Sheikh Mansour's Manchester City, Roman Abramovich's Chelsea, plus other proven massive spenders such as Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and even Sunderland.

Manchester United, incidentally, are only the seventh highest NET spenders in the Premier League over the past five years. See below.

Shocker, no?

And, although the standard of the Bundesliga is rapidly improving - just look at what has happened to Stuttgart and Wolfsburg since they won the league title in 2007 and 2009 respectively. There have been no wholesale changes to the squads, particularly the Wolves' squad, yet they are no nowhere to be seen in the title race this season.

Granted, Mario Gomez made his way from Stuttgart to Bayern after they won the league, but one player doesn't make a squad. Bayern simply spend, massively, on a yearly basis, and don't achieve anywhere near as much as they ought to...

Well, after going on a complete tangent for a few minutes there, I'm definitely sticking to my guns and saying Bayern should be winning the title year-in, year-out.

So that brings me to my conclusion that yes, Louis van Gaal's choosing to leave out Ribéry and Robben from the start against Stuttgart was a complete balls up. Only my opinion, of course…

Predictably, a fresh-again Ribéry scored Bayern's first as they came back from a goal down to defeat the English champions, yet Oranje winger Robben missed the game completely after an injury incurred towards the end of that defeat to Stuttgart.

With Bayern's defeat came Schalke's stunning victory away to third placed Leverkusen, or Neverkusen as their name ought to revert back to very soon.

Kevin Kuranyi is playing like a man reborn, having fired in his sixteenth and seventeenth goals of the season to all but end Leverkusen's title challenge. The Bundesliga trophy, it seems, may just be heading its way to Schalke's Veltinsarena trophy cabinet.

Will Kuranyi be going to the World Cup two years after leaving the squad?

Also, it seems as though FC Köln have been reading The Fundesliga. Well, either that or they've suddenly discovered how to score goals again (apart from Lukas Podolski – he's still playing terribly).

Two goals from on loan Manchester United player Zoran Tosic, with strikes in between courtesy of Petit and Milivoje Novakovic, have almost certainly assured the away team of their Bundesliga place for next season as they defeated relegation-doomed Hannover 96 1-4.

Hamburger SV are in danger of missing out on European football completely next season as they went down 1-0 away to Borussia Monchengladbach, with northern rivals Werder Bremen pulling away from them in fifth and leaving FC Nürnberg with relegation pie all over their faces as they won 4-2.

At least one player on Man Utd's books had a good week in Germany...

The key game this coming weekend sees league leaders Schalke hosting FC Bayern, with the home side knowing that, with just five games remaining after the weekend's fixtures, they can open up a decent five point lead on their rivals. Might van Gaal's decision to rest deadly duo Robben and Ribéry against Stuttgart have cost them the title?

Winnable home games for FC Nürnberg (v Mainz) and SV Freiburg (v Bochum) may leave Hannover deep in the relegation mire come Sunday evening. They've got Hamburg away, while FC Köln can more or less relegate Hertha Berlin when the two sides meet on Saturday.

BUNDESLIGA RESULTS Fri 26 Mar: VfL Bochum 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt; Sat 27 Mar: FSV Mainz 0-2 VfL Wolfsburg, FC Bayern München 1-2 VfB Stuttgart, Hertha Berlin 0-0 Borussia Dortmund, Hannover 96 1-4 FC Köln, Werder Bremen 4-2 FC Nürnberg, Bayer Leverkusen 0-2 Schalke 04; Sun 28 Mar: 1899 Hoffenheim 1-1 SC Freiburg,Borussia M’gladbach 1-0 Hamburger SV.

This weekend's fixtures, along with The Fundesliga's predictions:

Saturday
Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Werder Bremen
FC Köln 1-0 Hertha Berlin
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen
FC Nürnberg 2-0 FSV Mainz
SC Freiburg 1-1 VfL Bochum
Schalke 04 2-2 FC Bayern München
VfB Stuttgart 2-0 Borussia M’gladbach
Sunday
Hamburger SV 3-1 Hannover 96
VfL Wolfsburg 2-0 1899 Hoffenheim

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Old Lady-batterers Fulham face the Wolves

Daniel Moore — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:39:00 GMT

Was it a shot? Was it a cross? Whatever it was, Fulham fans won’t care; Clint Dempsey’s exquisite chipped goal against Juventus has put them into the last eight of the Europa League – where they will play German champions VfL Wolfsburg

Click to see Dempsey's dink

Even better news for Fulham fans is that, should they beat Wolfsburg, they’ll play the winners of the other remaining German team left in the competition, Hamburger SV, or their opponents Standard Liege in the semi-final. Fulham will definitely feel they’re in with a good chance of making the final, and who’d blame them?

The draw in full:
Fulham v Wolfsburg
Hamburg v Standard Liege
--------------------------------
Valencia v Atlético Madrid
Benfica v Liverpool

The Fundesliga is plumping for a Fulham vs Atlético Madrid final. Whaddaya reckon?

Fulham celebrate a famous victory

Roy Hodgson's men will face a familiar foe on April Fool's Day. Former Premier League striker Obafemi Martins is plying his trade at the Volkswagen Arena nowadays.

The Nigerian made a big mark in Wolfsburg's Europa League win over Rubin Kazan. After replacing the injured Grafite – one half of last season’s mega-prolific strike force with Bosnian Edin Dzeko – he scored one and set up the winner just a minute before the end of extra time. Fulham beware!

That said, Wolfsburg aren’t actually very good nowadays, as reflected in their current Bundesliga position of eighth – nearly 20 points behind leaders Bayern München.

Speaking of which, on to matchday 27 in the Bundesliga…

Nürnberg have the chance to put another three points between themselves and the relegation-threatened trio of Hannover, Freiburg and Hertha Berlin, while up at the top there is an absolutely massive local derby between Dortmund and Leverkusen. If the home team are victorious, the gap between themselves and the Werkself would be just five points – which would re-open the race for the third and final Champions League space.

Look out this weekend for the Hamburg and Mainz games. With Hamburg playing title-contenders Schalke, Mainz will really fancy their chances of a win at Freiburg inching ever closer to a Europa League spot. The two teams meet on April 17 in a match that could decide the season’s fate for them both.

Stuttgart have the chance to put another nail into Hannover’s coffin, while Hertha Berlin will be hoping that Wolfsburg’s European heroics last night will lead to tired legs when they meet on Sunday afternoon.

Bayern really ought to beat Frankfurt, and FC Köln have to avoid defeat to fellow Nordrhein Westfalener’s Borussia Monchengladbach if they want to stay away from the relegation places.

This weekend's fixtures, along with The Fundesliga's predictions:

Friday
FC Köln 2-2 Borussia M’gladbach 
Saturday
 Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen
 Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 FC Bayern München  
FC Nürnberg 1-0 1899 Hoffenheim 
SC Freiburg 1-2 FSV Mainz 
VfB Stuttgart 2-1 Hannover 96 
Werder Bremen 2-0 VfL Bochum 
Sunday
 Hamburger SV 1-1 Schalke 04 
VfL Wolfsburg 3-1 Hertha Berlin

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Nürnberg win as Hertha fans turn on under-performing stars

Daniel Moore — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:24:00 GMT

RESULTS Fri Mar 12 FC Schalke 2-1 VfB Stuttgart Sat Mar 13 Borussia M’gladbach 0-4 VfL Wolfsburg, VfL Bochum 1-4 Borussia Dortmund, FSV Mainz 1-0 FC Köln, Hannover 96 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt, Hertha BSC 1-2 FC Nürnberg, FC Bayern München 2-1 SC Freiburg Sun Mar 14 1899 Hoffenheim 0-1 Werder Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 Hamburger SV.

Albert Bunjaku nodded Nürnberg back into Saturday's clash

After becoming the first team to beat Bayer Leverkusen this season, FC Nürnberg went into Saturday’s crunch match with Hertha Berlin knowing that a second consecutive win would all but banish the capital city club to relegation (highlights here).

And win it they did – just – with an injury time winner courtesy of Greek striker Angelos Charisteas, after Albert Bunjaku of Switzerland had headed the visitors level.

It was all a bit depressing, really, as not only were the Hertha fans preparing to riot inside the stadium, but The Fundesliga’s prediction of a 1-1 draw was looking perfect until the striker slotted home his first goal of the season and handed Nürnberg the three points.

Accepting that his team is as good as gone, Hertha manager Michael Preetz spoke frankly to the Bundesliga’s official website, stating “We’re now already planning for life in the second division.” The proverbial fat lady, it would seem, has already ensured there is to be no final swansong on their fight to stay in the top league.

According to my estimations Hertha will be gone by the April 16. And even if they aren’t gone, a quick peek at their final few fixtures tells you all you need to know about their chances of survival: their last three games are against Schalke, Bayer Leverkusen, and probable 2010 Champions, FC Bayern.

Nürnberg, on the other hand, are looking like they might actually stay up. Their next four fixtures throw up three home games – win those and they will surely be plying their trade once again in the 1. Bundesaliga next season.

So, those Hertha fans...

As if smashing-up advertising boards and ripping out and lobbing dugout seats onto the Olympia Stadion turf wasn’t evidence enough of their discontent; around 150 of their, presumably mightily peeved, fans then took to the field themselves, armed with flagpoles, fixtures and fists, to set off on a trail of destruction that will surely have huge repercussions for their team.

Aside from the damage caused to the dugouts, advertising boards and fences, 25 fans are reported to have been arrested following the carnage, while four police officers are said to have been ‘lightly’ injured.

"Not the chairs - anything but the chairs!"

Up at the business end of the table it was back to winning ways for Leverkusen.

A Stefan Kießling brace took his goal tally to 16 for the season and helped them to a 4-2 win over Hamburger SV on Sunday, while wins for Schalke and Bayern München mean a tight top three is maintained.

Arjen Robben, arguably alongside Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney as the hottest players in Europe at the moment, scored another couple of goals to give league leaders FC Bayern a harder-than-expected 2-1 victory over SC Freiburg, and Wolfsburg’s Bosnian striker Dzeko also helped himself to two as they strolled to a 0-4 away win over Monchengladbach.

A Mainz victory over strugglers FC Köln now means they are only five points off of a Europa League spot, while a Hannover win at home to Frankfurt leaves them just one point and one place off of safety. Who’d have thought that just a few short months ago?

Our weekly Franck Ribéry story comes courtesy of Bayern chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who says it is their “number one priority” to extend the Frenchman’s contract.

While it might be top of the club’s agenda, however, it seems the winger has other intentions, stating “I want to go to the World Cup with a clear head; I want to have made my decision by the end of March.”

One player who has extended his contract this week, though, is Bundesliga top scorer Stefan Kießling.

He has signed a new deal to keep him at Leverkusen until the summer of 2015, saying the club’s vision was the main reason behind his agreement to stay with the Werkself.

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Germans march on in Europe and look to the home front

Daniel Moore — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:28:00 GMT

There was a small footballing exodus from Germany this midweek. With the exception of Hamburger SV, who hosted Anderlecht in the Europa League last 32, the Bundesliga's continental hopefuls had to negotiate tricky away ties against some of Europe’s more refined sides.

Bayern München took a 2-1 lead from their Allianz Arena to Florence to face a fiesty Fiorentina determined to overturn the deficit and progress to the last eight of the competition.

Meanwhile, over in the Europa League, Werder Bremen travelled to the Estadio Mestalla in Valencia, stamping ground of the two Davids, Silva and Villa – while last year’s Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg travelled to Russia to face Rubin Kazan, Russian Premier League champions and conquerors of FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the Champions League group stage.

And the German clubs can be happy with their midweek's work. Both Bremen and Wolfsburg can afford goalless draws in their home legs after each drawing 1-1 away, while Hamburg are all but in the hat for the last 16 after Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 61st European strike helped Hamburg to a 3-1 victory.

Mathijsen, Van Nistelrooy and Jansen mark victory

No wonder daily newspaper Die Welt says "The northern trio from the Bundesliga are all in a good position to progress”. Although Wolfsburg went behind early on in Russia, a goal by Bosnian international Zvjezdan Misimović levelled up a relatively boring game, and the Wolves will be confident of progressing in front of their own fans.

For their part, Bremen will be delighted – firstly not to have lost the game, and secondly to have scored an away goal in a physical (read: dirty) match that saw nine yellow cards plus a straight red for Argentine and La Liga Loca favourite Ever Banega.

Valencia coach Unai Emery said he was “outraged” by English referee Martin Atkinson’s performance in their game, after he awarded Bremen a dodgy-looking penalty which Torsten Frings duly converted.

Game of the week has to be the Champions League thriller between Bayern and the Viola in Italy. Stunning goals by Dutch duo Mark van Bommel and Arjen Robben were enough to put die Bayern into the quarters, despite their team losing the leg 3-2. Fiorentina knew they had to win the game, and win it they did, but not without allowing Bayern to score two goals which saw them through on the away goals rule.

In all fairness, Robben’s goal was good enough to win any football match – after cutting in from the right, the ex-Chelsea and Real Madrid man, using only his left foot, jinked round two Fiorentina players before unleashing a thunderbolt of a strike into the top corner.

Click to watch it. It's worth it...

And so to this weekend’s Bundesliga games. Two of the league’s form teams meet tonight, with FC Schalke hosting VfB Stuttgart. The home side can at least momentarily top the league, as three points would put them one clear of Bayern.

SC Freiburg, who have earned 14 of their 20 points this season away from home, travel to the Allianz Arena, knowing that another three points will allow them to climb out of the relegation places. Will they manage to beat the mighty FCB? The short answer is no. And with Leverkusen facing Hamburger SV, die Bayern will be hopeful of extending their lead at the table’s top.

Down at t’other end, there's a relegation six-pointer between Hertha BSC and FC Nürnberg. If Hertha lose, they'll be nine points from safety – and the Bundesliga would be in serious threat of losing its only Berlin-based team.

That would be a real shame. Can you imagine a Premier League without a London team? It’s not exactly the same, but for them to drop out of the league would be devastating for the club, as well as for the league to lose the 75,000 capacity Olympic Stadium from its roster.

This weekend's fixtures, along with The Fundesliga's predictions:

Friday:
FC Schalke 2-1 VfB Stuttgart
Saturday:
Borussia M’gladbach 1-2 VfL Wolfsburg
VfL Bochum 0-1 Borussia Dortmund
FSV Mainz 1-1 FC Köln
Hannover 96 2-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
Hertha BSC 1-1 FC Nürnberg
FC Bayern München 3-0 SC Freiburg
Sunday:
1899 Hoffenheim 1-2 Werder Bremen
Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 Hamburger SV

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Leverkusen the biggest losers on matchday 25

Daniel Moore — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:00:00 GMT

RESULTS Sat March 6: FC Köln 1-1 Bayern München, Werder Bremen 2-2 Stuttgart, Hamburger SV 1-0 Hertha BSC, Eintracht Frankfurt 1-4 Schalke 04, SC Freiburg 1-2 Hannover 96, VfL Wolfsburg 4-1 VfL Bochum, Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Borussia M’gladbach Sun March 7 Nürnberg 3-2 Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim 0-1 FSV Mainz

If ever you thought the Bundesliga was boring and predictable then this weekend’s results will surely make you re-assess.

Granted, Bayern München are leading the way, but not before being given the fright of their lives by their Cologne-loving ex-striker Lukas Podolski.

And just when I was starting to think Leverkusen could go unbeaten all season… how predictable.

This weekend’s action, in short: Comfortable wins for Wolfsburg and Schalke maintained their respective climbs up the league table, while Hannover felled fellow strugglers Freiburg and similarly relegation-threatened Hertha so nearly held their own against high-flying Hamburg (but eventually lost).

Bremen and Stuttgart played out a 2-2 draw while a Lu Lu Lu Lukas Podolski piledriver very nearly punished leaders Bayern.

A 3-0 win for Dortmund against rivals Monchengladbach heightened the former’s credentials for a Champions League spot, and a hard-fought 1-0 victory for Mainz at Hoffenheim can’t go without a special mention.

Game of the weekend, and indeed result of the weekend - or perhaps season – came courtesy of super FC Nürnberg with their defeat of previously unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen.

Trailing 3-0 before the hour mark, the Werkself must have feared a roasting against their lowly opponents. Yet despite an honourable fightback to take the deficit from three goals to one, a late loss of discipline cost them a chance of stealing a difficult point from the Easy Credit Stadium.

Nürnburg well and truly ‘done a job on them’, and three points will help them massively in their bid to avoid the drop.

Who would have guessed it, with the home club previously having failed to win at the ground in nearly five months!?

Nürnburg's Maxim Choupo-Moting and Mike Frantz celebrate their win

Although, being down at the wrong end of the table, there’s got to be some bad news for Nürnberg, right? Yup; their win was marred by a season-ending injury to on-loan defender Breno. He’ll be back to parent club Bayern pretty shortly to begin his rehabilitation.

After such a monumental push in the first two thirds of the season, are the wheels finally coming off the Bayer bandwagon in their quest for a first ever Bundesliga title?

Toni Kroos, their combative midfielder, called the defeat “a blow in the title race,” but The Fundesliga would suggest it’s still all to play for in those top three positions, especially with Schalke performing every bit as well as Bayern in recent weeks.

That’s exactly what Bild is reporting, calling the title race a Dreikampf (three horse race) as well as suggesting that Franck Ribéry has, once again, opened his big mouth and claimed Real, Barca and Chelsea are all pursuing him for a big money transfer in the summer.

Just throwing this one out there, but with Steven Pienaar still having not signed a contract extension with Everton (he’s got just under 18 months left on his current one), could he be the perfect replacement for Ribéry?

He’s flourished at Goodison over the past couple of years and would surely be available for less than €10 million.

After whoring himself out all last summer (not literally, you understand) it seems like it’s only a matter of time before Ribéry ups sticks and leaves Munich; but will he get his dream move to Madrid?

Going back to the Pienaar suggestion for a second here… I mean, who else could Bayern bring in to replace the French international that isn’t already on the books of one of the more fanciful big boys of European football?

It would be quite humorous, though, if nobody came calling for Ribéry in the summer, and it might yet happen. Watch this space, I guess.

What’s going on in Germany this week, then? Schalke entertain Stuttgart in what promises to be a tasty encounter on Friday evening, with Leverkusen v Hamburg is arguably the pick of the bunch from the weekend’s fixtures.

Before that, though, the return legs of the Champions League last 16 stage get underway.

Bayern are taking a 2-1 advantage to Florence to face Fiorentina, while Stuttgart must wait until next week to see what they can do against the mighty Barcelona at the Camp Nou.

In the Europa League, meanwhile, Germany is still represented by Hamburg, Bremen and Bundesliga champions (not for much longer, mind) Wolfsburg. A decent week’s football, it would seem, is assured!

Midweek fixtures:

Tuesday
Champions League last 16 second leg:
Fiorentina (1) v (2) Bayern München

Thursday
Europa League round of 32 first legs:
Hamburger SV v Anderlecht
Valencia v Werder Bremen
Rubin Kazam v VfL Wolfsburg

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Podolski to push Bayern off their pedestal? Unlikely...

Daniel Moore — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:30:00 GMT

Another new regular feature from FourFourTwo.com, and it's a big hello to Daniel Moore, covering all things German...

Let's face it; it's going to take something special to stop the FC Bayern juggernaut between now and the season's end. One defeat in their last 21 competitive games sort of confirms this.

On Saturday they travel to FC Köln's Rhein Energie Stadion, where one man in particular will be hoping to throw a spanner into die Bayern's title-winning works.

“Lu-lu-lu, Lu-kas Pod-ol-ski!” will be ringing around the ground come the weekend, but despite the former Bayern man being a hero at international level, his domestic form of late has flagged somewhat... and that's putting it nicely.

Since his big-money return to Köln last year, the Polish-born striker has but one goal to his name in 19 games.

A few members of Bayern's squad seem to be under the impression that they've got the title all wrapped up since they regained top spot last weekend after a 652-day hiatus.

Speaking to German daily paper Bild, full-back Phillip Lahm poked fun at their nearest rivals Bayer Leverkusen, stating “Leverkusen have enough quality to keep second place.”

The cheek! Maybe someone ought to remind him that, while Bayern are top of the league, Leverkusen are actually the only unbeaten team in the division and are fighting tooth and nail to win it.

Anyway back to Poldi, or Prinz Poldi as he is often referred to amongst the national team's fans. It doesn't take a genius to see that he's got an abundance of talent, but put him in a struggling team and he's seemingly unable to carry them in a way that somebody like Cacau of Stuttgart, for example, is.

Sent off last month, could Poldi be sent from the national squad?

Whilst on the subject of Cacau - just to interrupt the terrible tarnishing of Podolski's name for a slight second – could he be the secret weapon for Joachim Löw at this summer's World Cup?

If he can perform for the national team like he did against Barcelona recently in Stuttgart's Champions League match, then Poldi might have to add another name to the list of people waiting to take away his starting spot. In fact, add young Thomas Müller's name to that list, as national coach Löw this week mentioned him as a possible squad member for their World Cup campaign...

Podolski would be well advised that any talk about a big-bucks move to Barcelona this summer should be put on the back burner, for his performances recently would leave him struggling to break into Burnley's XI. Actually, let's not go OTT – of course he would, but you see the point.

Although it looks like the title is going to either Bayern, Leverkusen or Schalke, the latter of whom will be buzzing after an exciting 2-1 derby victory over Borussia Dortmund last week, the race for a Europa League spot is wide open. Wouldn't it be lovely to see Eintracht Frankfurt back in European competition?

It looks the two spots are to be fought out between Hamburg, Dortmund, Werder Bremen, Frankfurt and Stuttgart. Last season's champions, Wolfsburg, are languishing in 11th after a truly, truly horrible season.

This weekend's fixtures, along with The Fundesliga's predictions:

Saturday:
FC Köln 0-2 FC Bayern München
Werder Bremen 2-2 VfB Stuttgart
Hamburger SV 3-1 Hertha BSC
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 FC Schalke
SC Freiburg 0-0 Hannover 96
VfL Wolfsburg 2-3 VfL Bochum

Sunday:
Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Borussia M'gladbach
1.FC Nürnberg 1-2 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
1899 Hoffenheim 1-1 1.FSV Mainz 05

Any other predictions, anybody?

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