Reaction to Dortmund v Bayern

After the 1-0 defeat in Dortmund everyone in Munich knows that BVB will win the championship. It was a dramatic match with the little bit of luck on the westfalian side. Here are some reactions:

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge: “They’re totally gutted, because they know it was a rather unlucky, probably unnecessary defeat. But we simply have to accept that the fates weren’t on Bayern Munich’s side tonight. We were in very good shape, as we saw in the second half. Dortmund had the upper hand in the first half, but we did in the second half. You only congratulate your rivals when they’re mathematically home and dry, but I fear we’ll no longer be able to prevent Borussia Dortmund winning the title.“

Christian Nerlinger: “It was an extremely dramatic match. After what happened in the closing stages, we could have had a draw. We always knew it wouldn’t be easy and that we couldn’t afford any mistakes. The disappointment is understandably huge, but as of tomorrow, we have ot look to the future and focus on our remaining games.“

Mario Gomez extends his contract

Bayern's top goalgetter Mario Gomez (26) just extended his contract with Bayern Munich. The Germany international, who has 37 goals to his name in 41 matches this season, has inked a new deal keeping him at FCB until 30 June 2016.

“As I’ve always said, FC Bayern is a magnificent club, where I feel good and where I believe I have the best sporting perspective, so I’m delighted we’ve agreed a contract extension,” commented Gomez, “I’m convinced we’re set for great things here in the years to come. I want to play my part in that.“
At the weekend Gomez wants to score against FC Augsburg (Saturday, 3.30 pm) after his break at tuesday in the Champions League.

Preview: Bayern Munich - Olympique Marseille

This evening (8.45 pm) Bayern Munich will meet Olympique Marseille in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final. Marseille is without two of their best players. Keeper Steve Mandanda is suspended, and centre back Souleymane Diawara is out for two reasons: the Senegal star is banned, and he is also injured since the last weekend. He also definitely misses next week's return in Munich. Heynckes picks from a full squad with the exception of Van Buyten and Breno. Bastian Schweinsteiger, sidelined of late with a foot problem, will claim a place in the squad.

Probable lineup

Elinton Andrade - Azpilicueta, Fanni, Nkoulou, Morel - A. Diarra, Mbia - Amalfitano, Valbuena, A. Ayew - Remy Coach: Deschamps   Neuer - Lahm, Boateng, Badstuber, Alaba - Luiz Gustavo, Kroos - Robben, T. Müller, Ribery - Gomez Coach: Heynckes

Reaction to Bayern's semi-final victory

Bayern Munich will meet Borussia Dortmund in the final in Berlin on May 12th after their 4-2 penalty shoot-out victory against Borussia M'Gladbach in wednesday's DFB Cup semi-final.
The star of the game was Manuel Neuer with an outstanding save from Reus and then he stopped the decisive penalty.

Reaction to the semi-final triumph:

  Manuel Neuer: “I'd rather we’d have won the match before getting to penalties, because it's just a lottery once you're there. We can be delighted we have such good penalty takers. Speaking for myself and the team as a whole, we were utterly determined to get through today. We wanted to go to Berlin for the final, and we’re there."

Franck Ribéry: “It wasn't easy. Naturally, our aim was to win it in the 90 minutes, but Gladbach are a good team. I think we played very well today. We were always focused, because we wanted to make the final in Berlin. We had three good chances to open the scoring in the first half. I'm delighted for Manuel Neuer.”

David Alaba: “We had our chances, but the ball just didn't want to go in during the 120 minutes. The coach asked me if I’d take a penalty, and I didn't hesitate for a second. I wanted to be the first penalty taker, and fortunately, it went in. I didn't think much about it, I'm just totally delighted it's worked out and we’re through– fantastic! We deserve it, because we're working very hard at the moment."

Seven goal gala

Bayern 7
Basel 0

That's the result of the amazing match by Bayern Munich on tuesday night. After their biggest-ever win in European competition, Munich will play in the Champions League quarter finals. The whole team had a great performance especially the already at the weekend phenomal playing Gomez (4 goals), Ribéry (3 assists) and Robben (2 goals, 1 assist).

match stats

Bayern Munich - FC Basel 7-0 (HT: 3-0)
Bayern Munich	Neuer - Lahm, Boateng, Badstuber, Alaba - Luiz Gustavo, Kroos - Robben (Tymoshchuk 82), Müller (Schweinsteiger 70), Ribéry (Pranjic 79) - Gomez
Substitutes:	Butt, Contento, Petersen, Olic
FC Basel	Sommer - Steinhöfer (Degen 70), Abraham, Dragovic, Park - Shaqiri (Zoua 80), Cabral, Xhaka, F. Frei (Stocker 62) - A. Frei, Streller
Referee:	Mark Clattenburg (England)
Spectators	66,000 (capacity)
Goals:	1-0 Robben (10, Kroos), 2-0 Müller (42, Robben), 3-0 Gomez (44, Badstuber), 4-0 Gomez (50, Ribéry), 5-0 Gomez (61, Ribéry), 6-0 Gomez(67, Ribéry), 7-0 Robben (81, Schweinsteiger)
Yellow Cards:	Boateng / Streller, Cabral

Bayern vs Hoffenheim: A joy to watch

Here are the official statements to Bayern Munich vs 1899 Hoffenheim (7-1).

Jupp Heynckes: “Overall, it was a classy performance. The way we made our goals was straight out of the textbook. It was a joy to watch. We built up a real head of steam. By contrast with the match in Leverkusen, we made the most of our chances today. If we’d done the same thing there, we’d have won. We were totally focused today, and we closed down the space, fought for possession, and played really good football too. It was good for Schweinsteiger, Olic and Tymoschuk to get playing time. The group was hungry and played as a unit. I really enjoyed it.”

Philipp Lahm: “With that result, you’ll obviously say it was a great game. We took an early lead and ruthlessly converted our chances. It was 5-0 at half-time and the game was over. The important thing was taking the lead. It makes opponents realise they’re in for a hard time. And if you follow up the opening goal, it takes care of itself. We’ll fight for the title right to the end.”

Arjen Robben: “We really enjoyed ourselves today. That’s how it always has to be, and that’s how we should carry on. We should never be playing any differently from that. A win like that boosts your confidence. In terms of the title, we’ll have to wait and see. All we can do is win our matches. We can’t do any more than that.”

All in all we saw a really great and remarkable game by Munich. With this performance there are good odds to reach the quarter-final against FC Basel on tuesday.

The decision - next reversal for Bayern Munich

The men from Munich were punished for missing a string of early openings as Bayer ruthlessly twice struck late in the game. In Leverkusen Munich couldn't stop their weakness in external stadiums. Only 2 points in the last 4 away games, a very bad statistic. It seems that the championship in the Bundesliga is already over for Munich because they're already 7 points below Borussia Dortmund.

I hope the team will show a reaction next week in the Allianz Arena against 1899 Hoffenheim and a few days later in the maybe most important game against FC Basel.

Preview - 23rd matchday

The 23th matchday will start on friday evening with M'Gladbach against Hamburger SV. After they are done with their CL and Eurloeague games the 3 german competitors still left in the international circuit will play on sunday.

Here are my predictions for the weekend.

24.02.  20:30  M'gladbach 2:0 Hamburger SV 25.02.  15:30  FSV Mainz 05 3:1 Kaiserslautern 25.02.  15:30  VfB Stuttgart 2:1 SC Freiburg 25.02.  15:30  1. FC Cologne 1:3 Bayer Leverkusen 25.02.  15:30  VfL Wolfsburg 2:1 1899 Hoffenheim 25.02.  15:30  FC Augsburg 1:2 Hertha BSC Berlin 25.02.  18:30  Werder Bremen 3:1 1. FC Nurnberg 26.02.  15:30  Bayern Munich 2:1 FC Schalke 04 26.02.  17:30  Borussia Dortmund 2:1 Hannover 96

two lost points - reaction to Freiburg vs Bayern

“For 45 minutes, we played the way you have to play here – but we gifted them the first 45 minutes,” said Jupp Heynckes. And the result is a 0-0 against Freiburg (17th), four points off champions Borussia Dortmund and the third place. Way to less for the german recordchampion and especially a very bad moment for a drop in performance.

At wednesday Bayern will have the opportunity against Basel to bring a turn in this bad second round. I hope we will see a game like 2 years ago as Bayern defeated Juventus Turin in the Champions League with 4-1 and could start a streak of success.

Good week for Munich

“It's been a good week, in which we've twice won 2-0. In both matches, the team played some genuinely good football," an equally satisfied chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge commented. Last wednesday Bayern had a great victory in the DFB Cup quarter-final against VfB Stuttgart and the game on saturday was very similar to the game on wednesday.
“There weren't exactly any fireworks in the second half, but Lautern never looked like getting back into it, we're getting better and better all the time." Toni Kroos summarised.
That should give all FC Bayern Munich fans aspiration for the next important games against Freiburg (18.02.) and against FC Basel in the Champions League (22.02.)

Preview - 21th matchday

After the DFB Cup games on tuesday and wednesday the 21th matchday will start on friday evening with VFL Wolfsburg against SC Freiburg.

Here are my predictions for the weekend (Bayern Munich will be back at the top!)

10.02.	20:30	VfL Wolfsburg	3:1	SC Freiburg
11.02.	15:30	Borussia Dortmund	2:2	Bayer Leverkusen
11.02.	15:30	Bayern Munich	3:1	Kaiserslautern
11.02.	15:30	Werder Bremen	2:1	1899 Hoffenheim
11.02.	15:30	FSV Mainz 05	2:1	Hannover 96
11.02.	15:30	VfB Stuttgart	1:0	Hertha BSC Berlin
11.02.	18:30	M'gladbach	1:1	FC Schalke 04
12.02.	15:30	FC Augsburg	1:1	1. FC Nurnberg
12.02.	17:30	1. FC Cologne	2:2	Hamburger SV

Fail-starts

The following four teams had a real fail-start:

VfB Stuttgart

Stuttgart lost five of the last six games, gaining only six points out of the last ten games. They are only four points to 16th place, the momentum of the first games is gone. But Stuttgart always plays a great second half of the season - but they should start with it soon!

1. FC Cologne

Three losses in a row, leaving them with only three points to the 16th place and Lukas Podolski will be missing for the next four weeks. It's nearly impossible to compensate the absence of the goalgetter (already 15 goals!). 

Hertha BSC Berlin

Only four points out of the last six games and two losses in a row. The key-player Raffael is missing again next weekend against Hannover, it seems that Berlin will lose the next game again the at home so strong Lower Saxonies.

FC Augsburg

17th place, a lose against Freiburg and one point against Kaiserslautern: it will be a hard second half of the season for Augsburg. The underdog is very weak at home and has a big problem with scoring goals: only 17 goals in 19 games!

The most exciting Bundesliga season ever!?

After this weekend we have to ask ourselves if this could become the most exciting Bundesliga season ever!
Gladbach beat Munich on friday evening with 3-1, Schalke and Dortmund could win very dominant with 3-1 and 5-1. So we have a very interesting situation in the german Bundesliga ranking: 3 teams with the same points and a 4th team with just 1 point behind the others!

Pos	Team	Ga	W	D	L	Goals	Diff	Pts
1	Bayern München	18	12	1	5	44:13	31	37
2	Borussia Dortmund	18	11	4	3	40:13	27	37
3	FC Schalke 04	18	12	1	5	41:23	18	37
4	Mönchengladbach	18	11	3	4	28:12	16	36

 What do you think? Who will be at the top at the end of the season?

Preview - 18th matchday

Hey guys,
this weekend the German Bundesliga will start after an one month winter break. Here are my
predictions for the 18th matchday:

20.01.  20:30  Mönchengladbach 1:2 Bayern Munich 21.01.  15:30  FC Schalke 04 2:1 VfB Stuttgart 21.01.  15:30  1. FC Nürnberg 0:1 Hertha BSC Berlin 21.01.  15:30  SC Freiburg 1:1 FC Augsburg 21.01.  15:30  1899 Hoffenheim 3:1 Hannover 96 21.01.  15:30  VfL Wolfsburg 3:0 1. FC Köln 21.01.  18:30  Kaiserslautern 0:2 Werder Bremen 22.01.  15:30  Hamburger SV 1:3 Borussia Dortmund 22.01.  17:30  Bayer Leverkusen 2:1 FSV Mainz 05

So what are your meanings about the 18th matchday? Will Munich keep their advance? Can Freiburg (18.) beat Augsburg (17.)?

Müller with a pair of goals against India - 4:0

About 35,000 spectators gathered at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday afternoon for watching the probably biggest football event this year in India.

The spectators were rewarded with a hatful of goals in an entertaining if one-sided match, in which Bayern Munich defeated the Indian team with a 4-0 victory.

Bayern Munich	Neuer - Rafinha (Pranjic 61), Boateng (Breno 46), Badstuber (Luiz Gustavo 46), Lahm (Contento 61) - Tymoshchuk (Alaba 46), Schweinsteiger - Robben (Usami 61), Müller (Olic 46), Kroos (Ribéry 46) - Gomez (Petersen 61)
Referee:	Santosh Kumar (India)
Spectators	35,000
Goals:	0-1 Gomez (14), 0-2 Müller (29), 0-3 Müller (37), 0-4 Schweinsteiger (43)

The Usami Show

The day before yesterday FC Bayern Munich had their last test of the Doha training camp.

Jupp Heynckes' team defeated an ASPIRE Academy team 5-0 with a phenomal performance by Takashi Usami. The 19 years old japanese scored all five goals and was the matchwinner for his team. In the 30-minutes-each-way match Munich controlled the game but they couldn't make use of their dominance in the first half.

After the teams changed their sides the Usami show began: the shootingstar scored fivefold (38', 41', 43', 48', 57'). Not just because of his goals it was the best performance by Usami in the dress of Bayern Munich.

What is your opinion about the young japanese? Should he get more chances in the team of Jupp Heynckes or is he just too unexperienced and weak for the Bundesliga?

First day in world of blogging

Hey guys,
today is my first day in the big world of blogging. The topic of my blog will be the highest german soccer league, Bundesliga. Moreover you will get the latest news about international transfer rumours and my favorite soccer club, FC Bayern Munich.