Hannover 96 1-1 Borussia Dortmund (43,754)
Following matchday 5’s trouncing at the hands of Bayern Munich, Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp gave a restrained team talk on the pitch before engaging his squad in light, “meditative-like” rest and recuperation sessions on Monday. This patient approach seemed to have paid off in week 6 as the BVB pummeled their hosts Hannover throughout an entirely one-sided 1st half, only to be thwarted by the in-form Florian Fromlowitz, deputizing for the 96ers’ injured German number 1, Robert Enke. It somehow took Dortmund until a minute before the break to make their dominance count, Nuri Sahin’s 1st of the season finally breaking the deadlock at the AWD-Arena. However, their lead was short lived. Ivory Coast international striker Didier Ya Konan, signed from Rosenborg during the summer, capitalized on space afforded him after a quickly taken throw-in and scored with a powerful, rising effort that caught Roman Weidenfeller out at his near post for his 1st in German football and leveled the scores 3 minutes after the turnaround. It was a game ridden with errors and Klopp’s already thin patience may have turned anorexic had Ya Konan seized on another mistake to win the game in the latter stages. Klopp will hope his side soon snaps out of its relaxed state as the BVB currently sit a place below their opponents and in a potentially perilous position in 13th place.
VfL Bochum 2-3 1 FSV Mainz 05 (16,225)
Klopp’s former club, Mainz, now managed by a man of similar appearance if not style to the Dortmund coach, Thomas Tuchel, have enjoyed a wonderful start to life in the top tier this season. Having already accounted for the mighty Bayern Munich in week 3, they climbed to 5th in the table on Saturday after a hard-fought win against Bochum at the rewirpower Stadion. Mimoun Azaouagh put Bochum ahead with his 3rd of a fruitful campaign on 7 minutes before a flurry of goals in and around the interval saw Andreas Ivanschitz equalize right on the 45 minute mark with a stooping header and Diego Klimowicz put the home side back in front in injury time with a controlled volley. Andre Schürrle then drew Mainz level again with a clipped finish 7 minutes after the restart and the 18-year-old struck a second 20 minutes later when he was presented with an open goal after some penalty-box pinball to seal the win. The VfL were already feeling the heat from 17th spot even before fans set home-made posters alight in the stands in protest against the management and the club were forced to sack coach Marcel Koller on Monday.
Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-4 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (46,511)
Hoffenheim had to come from behind to claim 3 points on Saturday after a fast start from Mönchengladbach, Juan Arango giving Gladbach the early advantage when the Venezuelan captain blasted home his 2nd of the season from 25 yards. While Hoffenheim’s Timo Hildebrand was faultless for the opener, the German stopper had to hold his hands up for spoon-feeding Raul Marcelo Bobadilla’s tame effort to the onrushing Roberto Colautti to make it 2 after just 17 minutes at Borussia Park. With Hoffenheim’s solid defensive start to the season out of the window, they went about doing what they do best and attacking. It took just 4 minutes to reduce the arrears but only thanks to a huge chunk of luck, Sejad Salihovic’s free-kick somehow squeezing past a clearly confused Logan Bailly in the Gladbach goal. TSG survived some swift play on the counter and a hearty handball shout in front of a pumped up crowd, then struck 3 times in the final 5 minutes, substitute De Matos Maicosuel composure personified as the Brazilian’s ice-cold finish found the far corner and his effort was followed by a Chinedu Obasi header and a deft Demab Ba dink to put Hoffenheim 4th and slip the Foals back into the bottom half.
FC Schalke 04 1-2 VfL Wolfsburg (61,000)
Former Wolf Felix Magath was beaten by his old charges in the Veltins Arena on Friday night as two Edin Dzeko finishes either side of a Benedikt Höwedes strike gave Wolfsburg the win that lifts them into the top half while Schalke drop to just 2 places above their guests, in 7th place. The game was goalless at half-time before two headers from set-pieces looked to have given the sides a share of the spoils. But just 80 seconds after Höwedes had cancelled out his first effort, Bosnian striker Dzeko notched his second of the game by drilling the ball low past Manuel Neuer from a Makoto Hasebe centre with 9 minutes to play and despite Kevin Kuranyi hitting the inside of the post towards the end the visitors held on to give new coach Armin Veh and his champions a timely boost after a sloppy start this time around. Schalke appear to be headed in the opposite direction after a bright opening to the season and Magath will hope for a big return from the derby in Dortmund next weekend to reinvigorate his new club.
VfB Stuttgart 0-2 1 FC Köln (41,000)
It is fair to say that Markus Babbel’s honeymoon period as Stuttgart trainer is well and truly over. After a phenomenal run at the back end of last season, VfB have started this campaign extremely sluggishly and, following a 0-2 home defeat at the hands of Köln on Saturday, they are now only 1 place and 1 point above the relegation zone. Köln have also endured a miserable start to the season under new coach Zvonimir Soldo, who played alongside Babbel for Stuttgart in the 90’s, but they leapt off the foot of the table to 16th with this win after newly signed striker Sebastien Freis, brought in from Karlsruhe in the summer but overshadowed thus far by the return of Lukas Podolski, netted his 1st for the club with a powerfully planted header 25 minutes in.
Then it was the Jens Lehmann show. Now, far be it from me to revel in another’s misfortune but, as the senile stopper advanced more than 40 yards from his goal and attempted to chest the ball down before being dispossessed and presenting Wilfried Sanou with an empty net, one couldn’t help but wonder how many games he has left at this level. It was eccentric in the extreme and it may no longer be deemed a necessary evil by Babbel as ever more marbles are misplaced in Lehmannland.
FC Bayern München 2-1 1 FC Nürnberg (69,000)
The Bayern Derby began with an emotional address from München manager Uli Hoeneß in remembrance of Dominik Brunner, who was beaten and kicked to death trying to protect a group of children from being attacked last week in a Munich train station. While this event helped put the two sides’ rivalry into perspective, it didn’t diminish FCN coach Michael Oenning’s sense of achievement after his attack-minded substitution allowed Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to cancel out Ivica Olic’s 2nd of the season at the start of the 2nd half with his first contribution in the 73rd minute on Saturday. The neuzugang from HSV’s1st 2 touches controlled, the 3rd converted what would have been the game’s crucial goal had Daniel van Buyten not risen to head home an Arjen Robben cross and break Nürnberg hearts 10 minutes later. That win at the Allianz Arena was enough to take Bayern into the top 3, while FCN stay 14th, 2 points off the bottom.
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Hamburger SV (51,500)
Frankfurt have enjoyed an encouraging opening to the new campaign and continued their impressive form at the Commerzbank Arena on Sunday by holding league leaders Hamburg to a score draw despite falling behind to a Ze Roberto header as early as the 8th minute, as HSV scored 1st for the 6th time out of 6 this season. It was Marco Russ who provided the killer touch on 32 minutes after some beautifully worked 1-touch football created space for the man from Hanau to thread a low volley through Frank Rost’s legs and claim a vital point to keep his side 6th in the standings. Bruno Labbadia’s HSV stay top as a result of Bayer Leverkusen’s draw in Bremen.
Hertha BSC Berlin 0-4 SC Freiburg (38,176)
Hertha officials insist that coach Lucien Favre has not been given an ultimatum regarding the team’s results in 2009/10 but the Swiss tactician will surely not be afforded a repeat of Sunday’s performance at the Olympiastadion which saw the hosts carved apart by newly promoted Freiburg in a 4-goal drubbing that left the “Old Lady” of Berlin mugged, helpless and hoping to be put out of her misery. Favre may yet suffer a similar fate if he cannot arrest a slump that has seen his side lose 5 games in succession and slip to the bottom rung on the Bundesliga ladder, and it may be “Siegen oder fliegen” in their fixture away to Hoffenheim next Sunday.
Sunday’s debacle began with 19-year-old Sascha Burchert in goal in place of the injured Jaroslav Drobny and the keeper soon seemed out of his depth as goals flew past him with alarming regularity. The teenage stopper’s cause was not helped by slapstick defending that allowed Ivica Banovic the freedom of the capital to open the scoring after just 6 minutes and it was downhill from there. Freiburg’s measured build-up play should not be dismissed but it was far too easy to pick their passes at the heart of the home defence and find Cedrick Makiadi utterly undetected in the 12th minute to double their lead. It could and should have been more even before a hopeful long ball was latched onto by Mohamadou Idrissou, who made the game safe before the turnaround with an arrowed effort into the top corner. Hertha started the second period brighter but wasted decent situations by choosing to ignore options and shoot from distance before the away side, who had taken their foot off the pedal considerably and had slowed to a rush-hour crawl, rubbed industrial salt into the gaping wound as Banovic again strolled through the Berlin backbone to slot home past a bewildered Burchert on 68 minutes and take SCF up into a creditable 11th.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen 0-0 Werder Bremen (30,210)
Jupp Heynckes’ men missed the chance to go top of the table at the weekend as Werder took a valuable point from the Bay Arena on Sunday. It could have been even better for Bremen but the good work of Marko Marin was not followed up by an end product that has been missing since the injury to Mesut Özil earlier in the season. Had the German international been a little more imposing than his 1,70m frame he may have applied a finishing touch to Aaron Hunt’s first half pass but he narrowly failed to make contact. Bayer had their chances in a more animated 2nd half as Stefan Kießling had a goal correctly disallowed for offside and Arturo Vidal should have done better when put through by Toni Kroos late on but found Tim Wiese in imperious form as he tried to chip the big German international. The stalemate leaves Bayer 2nd on goal difference as Werder lose ground on the top 2 and slip to 8th.
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Monday, 14 September 2009
Brand New Bundesliga
VfL Wolfsburg 2-3 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
In 25 meetings between these two clubs there has never been a 0-0, although referee Dr. Felix Brych may have wished for one after two red cards and a penalty apiece gave both sides cause for complaint at the VW-Arena on Saturday.
The game’s turning point came in the 32nd minute, when home keeper Diego Benaglio was sent off for an ill-advised lunge outside his box that thwarted the efforts of visiting striker Erin Derdiyok. (It didn’t exactly pole-axe him, though, as the attacker seemed to imply with his sprawling actions in the event’s immediate aftermath.) That allowed the guests to establish a 3-goal lead before Derdiyok himself was on the wrong end of the referee’s red mist for a second bookable offence that helped Wolfsburg back into the contest and ensure a barnstorming finish to a riveting encounter.
Leverkusen’s 1st came when substitute stopper Andre Lenz twice parried point-blank attempts before Simon Rolfes rammed home to put his side in the ascendancy shortly before the interval. An incredibly soft penalty award endeared the good doctor to the home crowd even further in the 51st minute to allow Rolfes to plunder his 2nd from the spot, before Derdiyok was dismissed two minutes later. As Armin Veh was forced to go for broke by replacing defender Marcel Schäfer with Bosnian forward Edin Dzeko, his side were caught cold by an intricate attack from the away team that presented Stefan Kießling with an empty net in which to notch his 5th of the season with half an hour still on the clock.
With numerical parity restored, the balance of play became far more even, and the Wolves were dragged back into the contest by midfield maestro Zvjezdan Misimovic, who scored with a sumptuous set-piece after 76 minutes for his 3rd of another so far impressive campaign. Ten against ten, Dr. Brych decided to level the penalty count by giving an equally questionable spot-kick to Wolfsburg with 10 minutes to play, and Grafite who, having scored 28 Bundesliga goals last year, was enduring a 358 minute drought, knocked in his 11th penalty out of 11 in German football to make things interesting.
Bayer have managed a meagre total of seven points in their 12 visits to Wolfsburg, losing nine times, but they held on and are now the only team, other than Hamburg, to win on their last four league outings. Jupp Heynckes’ title contenders sit 2nd on goal difference, while Champions Wolfsburg now lie in 10th position.
Borussia Dortmund 1-5 FC Bayern München
80,552 fans squeezed into the Westfalenstadion to watch the two teams to have won the Bundesliga twice or more in the last 16 years on Saturday. Such is the competitive history of this rivalry that FCB have drawn against the BVB 26 times - more often than against any other team. More recently Munich have found it more easy-going, with five wins and four draws from their last 10 meetings with Dortmund, though, and there was only a brief flicker of danger that this one would end up all-square.
When a Nuri Sahin free kick was met by a Mats Hummels header on 10 minutes to put Dortmund in front there was hope. But Borussia have now scored exactly one goal in each of their last five league matches and once Mario Gomez had levelled from an offside position 10 minutes before the break the three points began to slowly slide south to Bavaria. Arjen Robben, having already struck a sublime volley on this ground this season to help Real Madrid win a friendly arranged to celebrate BVB’s centenary last month, began to run proceedings. When he was joined, from the bench, by Franck Ribery it signalled the beginning of the end for Jürgen Klopp’s Jungs.
First, Bastien Schweinsteiger beat Roman Weidenfeller at his near post, then Ribery curled a wonderful free-kick past him to formally open the floodgates. Youth product Thomas Muller entered the fray at the same time as the Frenchman and grabbed a brace to complete the rout, his second a stunning strike into the top corner from 25 yards. Bayern now loom large on the perimeter of the title race, slithering into 5th spot, while Dortmund face tough times as they have slipped to 15th with 5 points from as many matches.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 3-0 VfL Bochum
A Stanislav Sestak hat-trick gave Bochum a 3-0 win in this fixture last time around, but it was roles reversed on Saturday as Ralf Rangwick’s team returned to the top seven. Hoffenheim's last three home matches had ended in a draw with 1899 having notched just 2 goals in total, but Bochum have now also failed to find the net in nearly 400 minutes of football since scoring three times in the space of 12 minutes on the opening day, and they never looked like amending that record once they had gone behind to a deadly Demba Ba finish on 16 minutes. A fabulous solo-effort from wing-wizard Chinedu Obasi and Marvin Commper’s late tap-in gave the home side the points at the Rhein-Neckar Stadion to leave VfL struggling in 15th spot.
SC Freiburg 0-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
SCF’s South Korean striker Du-ri Cha faced his father Bum-Kun Cha’s former club Frankfurt, where the ex-stopper is still held in high esteem, and nearly made his mark with a long-range effort narrowly kept out by Eintracht’s Oka Nikolov on Saturday. However, despite the SC having won five of their last six home matches against the Hessians, Eintracht have an excellent record away from home this season and remain unbeaten after Alexander Meier walked the ball into the net in the last minute, following Maik Franz’s 1st for the club from close-range early in the 2nd half, to cap another accomplished performance from Michael Skibbe’s side and leave them 3rd with five games played. Freiburg have now conceded 12 times this term – more than any other side – and stay 16th after their 3rd loss so far.
1 FSV Mainz 05 2-1 Hertha BSC Berlin
The 05ers overtook the "Old Lady" of Berlin on Saturday as late goals from Andreas Ivanschitz and Aristide Bance cancelled out Maximilian Nicu’s opener for Hertha. The Berliners seemed relatively secure until suddenly succumbing to a late onslaught from their hosts and now sit stranded in 17th after Ivanschitz scored from the spot and Burkina Faso‘s Bance showed neat footwork in netting his 3rd of the campaign to undo all keeper Jaroslav Drobny’s preceding hard work in keeping him at bay up to that point. The 05ers are now unbeaten at home in their last seven league matches (five wins, two draws) and are up into 8th place on the back of this fine run, which included that epic win over Bayern Munich in week 3.
1 FC Nürnberg 1-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Nürnberg had failed to score in three hours and 26 minutes before this match but Peer Kluge’s prodded effort just six minutes in proved sufficient in seeing off Gladbach at the easycredit Stadion and subsequently climbing to 13th in the table. The FCN have more Bundesliga wins to their name against Gladbach (19) than against any other team and have won three of their last four meetings with the "Foals". But Michael Frontzeck’s men did have their chances, Roberto Colautti wasting a glorious opening by nodding a header over from three yards before a brilliant dummy by new number 10 Raul Marcelo Bobadilla created space inside the area, but the Argentinian assassin shot wide. They were also denied a stonewall penalty when Karim Matmour was upended in the second period, but can take heart from only conceding once, having let in 11 in their previous three away matches. They drop to 9th.
Hamburger SV 3-1 VfB Stuttgart
A delightful goal from Mladen Petric set Hamburg on their way to a vital win over Stuttgart at the HSH Nordbank Arena on Sunday, where Markus Babbel’s side suffered their 2nd loss of the season and are yet to win away thus far. The VfB have won five of their last seven meetings with Hamburger SV but they were put to the sword here by way of a well-rounded performance from the home side.
The opener from Petric was superb, the robust Croatian picking the ball up just inside the opponents’ half, outfoxing Thomas Hitzlsperger with quick feet and solid technique before exchanging passes with Dutchman Eljero Elia and unleashing an unstoppable left-footed rasper into Jens Lehmann’s top corner. You could have put 11 Lehmann’s in there – and their owners – and they still would’ve been fighting only to pick the ball out of the back of the net after half an hour. Elia then got in on the act with another smart finish just before the hour mark, Lehmann this time beaten by a low Aufsetzer (daisy-cutter) that flew into the bottom left-hand corner. Hamburg have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last 12 Bundesliga matches - the longest such run in the league, and only four minutes later Christian Träsch delivered into the path of Pavel Pogrebnyak and the Russian doubled his season’s tally with an angled finish.
But the last word went to the oldest (outfield) player on the pitch, as the evergreen Ze Roberto stepped up to make the game safe with a low drive that Lehmann gloved but could not keep out in the closing stages. Hamburg retain top spot after their fourth successive win by virtue of a marginally better goal difference than rivals Leverkusen, while Stuttgart fall to 12th, a point above the dropzone.
Werder Bremen 0-0 Hannover 96
Werder have won their last five home matches against 96 scoring 21 goals and conceding only two in the process, so it was with some surprise that the home fans greeted the final whistle that confirmed a stalemate at the Weserstadion on Sunday. The hosts went into the match on the back of two consecutive wins accompanied by separate three-goal hauls but, although Marko Marin tested replacement keeper Florian Fromlowitz from distance and Claudio Pizarro was denied twice by the stand-in stopper, Per Mertesacker’s set-piece header came closest to breaking the deadlock but was cleared off the line in the first half and as a result, Werder stand in 6th.
Jari Stajner had two opportunities to snatch an unlikely victory for Hannover but was denied by assured handling from Tim Wiese. Only once (in 21 attempts) in the history of the Bundesliga have the 96ers been able to win in the Weserstadion - Fredi Bobic scored a brace in their 2-1 win during the 2002/03 season. This hard-fought point took them to 11th.
1 FC Köln 1-2 FC Schalke 04
And so it finally came to pass that Prince Poldi found himself on the scoresheet for the very first time since his emotional homecoming. It mattered little the goals scored either side of it by the opposition. Or that the resulting reversal set the league’s longest winless streak at six. Or that the defeat left Köln rock bottom of the Bundesliga after five matches. These wer mere details. They broke the bank to get their man, and now he was paying them back. This was to be the first of many decisive interventions that would carry the Köln all the way to salvation. Schalke looked to the details for consolation.
In their last 15 matches against Köln, the Royal Blues have failed to score only once, and it took less than two minutes for an Ivan Rakitic corner to find Gerald Asamoah unmarked at the back post, who nodded the ball back across for Jefferson Farfan to beat a static defence to the loose ball and glance home a header in the 2nd minute. However, Schalke have failed to score in two successive matches for the first time since early 2008 and nerves re-surfaced when Maniche found Fabrice Ehret, who slid a ball into Lukas Podoloski, who did the rest. The German international and local pin-up ghosted past Marcelo Bordon, stretching to control with his right before burying the ball at the near post with his infamous left foot.
What may have appeared to be salvation to the home supporters resembled temporary relief to the rest, and so it turned out when Levan Kobiashvili utilized the acres of space that he was offered to deadly effect by guiding the ball into the far corner for the wnner a minute after the restart, ironically crushing any false hope of victory at the same end that it had been given to them by their Prince when the contest was just 6 minutes old. This well-earned win puts Felix Mageth’s boys into 3rd ahead of their clash with Champions Wolfsburg next Friday night.
In 25 meetings between these two clubs there has never been a 0-0, although referee Dr. Felix Brych may have wished for one after two red cards and a penalty apiece gave both sides cause for complaint at the VW-Arena on Saturday.
The game’s turning point came in the 32nd minute, when home keeper Diego Benaglio was sent off for an ill-advised lunge outside his box that thwarted the efforts of visiting striker Erin Derdiyok. (It didn’t exactly pole-axe him, though, as the attacker seemed to imply with his sprawling actions in the event’s immediate aftermath.) That allowed the guests to establish a 3-goal lead before Derdiyok himself was on the wrong end of the referee’s red mist for a second bookable offence that helped Wolfsburg back into the contest and ensure a barnstorming finish to a riveting encounter.
Leverkusen’s 1st came when substitute stopper Andre Lenz twice parried point-blank attempts before Simon Rolfes rammed home to put his side in the ascendancy shortly before the interval. An incredibly soft penalty award endeared the good doctor to the home crowd even further in the 51st minute to allow Rolfes to plunder his 2nd from the spot, before Derdiyok was dismissed two minutes later. As Armin Veh was forced to go for broke by replacing defender Marcel Schäfer with Bosnian forward Edin Dzeko, his side were caught cold by an intricate attack from the away team that presented Stefan Kießling with an empty net in which to notch his 5th of the season with half an hour still on the clock.
With numerical parity restored, the balance of play became far more even, and the Wolves were dragged back into the contest by midfield maestro Zvjezdan Misimovic, who scored with a sumptuous set-piece after 76 minutes for his 3rd of another so far impressive campaign. Ten against ten, Dr. Brych decided to level the penalty count by giving an equally questionable spot-kick to Wolfsburg with 10 minutes to play, and Grafite who, having scored 28 Bundesliga goals last year, was enduring a 358 minute drought, knocked in his 11th penalty out of 11 in German football to make things interesting.
Bayer have managed a meagre total of seven points in their 12 visits to Wolfsburg, losing nine times, but they held on and are now the only team, other than Hamburg, to win on their last four league outings. Jupp Heynckes’ title contenders sit 2nd on goal difference, while Champions Wolfsburg now lie in 10th position.
Borussia Dortmund 1-5 FC Bayern München
80,552 fans squeezed into the Westfalenstadion to watch the two teams to have won the Bundesliga twice or more in the last 16 years on Saturday. Such is the competitive history of this rivalry that FCB have drawn against the BVB 26 times - more often than against any other team. More recently Munich have found it more easy-going, with five wins and four draws from their last 10 meetings with Dortmund, though, and there was only a brief flicker of danger that this one would end up all-square.
When a Nuri Sahin free kick was met by a Mats Hummels header on 10 minutes to put Dortmund in front there was hope. But Borussia have now scored exactly one goal in each of their last five league matches and once Mario Gomez had levelled from an offside position 10 minutes before the break the three points began to slowly slide south to Bavaria. Arjen Robben, having already struck a sublime volley on this ground this season to help Real Madrid win a friendly arranged to celebrate BVB’s centenary last month, began to run proceedings. When he was joined, from the bench, by Franck Ribery it signalled the beginning of the end for Jürgen Klopp’s Jungs.
First, Bastien Schweinsteiger beat Roman Weidenfeller at his near post, then Ribery curled a wonderful free-kick past him to formally open the floodgates. Youth product Thomas Muller entered the fray at the same time as the Frenchman and grabbed a brace to complete the rout, his second a stunning strike into the top corner from 25 yards. Bayern now loom large on the perimeter of the title race, slithering into 5th spot, while Dortmund face tough times as they have slipped to 15th with 5 points from as many matches.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 3-0 VfL Bochum
A Stanislav Sestak hat-trick gave Bochum a 3-0 win in this fixture last time around, but it was roles reversed on Saturday as Ralf Rangwick’s team returned to the top seven. Hoffenheim's last three home matches had ended in a draw with 1899 having notched just 2 goals in total, but Bochum have now also failed to find the net in nearly 400 minutes of football since scoring three times in the space of 12 minutes on the opening day, and they never looked like amending that record once they had gone behind to a deadly Demba Ba finish on 16 minutes. A fabulous solo-effort from wing-wizard Chinedu Obasi and Marvin Commper’s late tap-in gave the home side the points at the Rhein-Neckar Stadion to leave VfL struggling in 15th spot.
SC Freiburg 0-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
SCF’s South Korean striker Du-ri Cha faced his father Bum-Kun Cha’s former club Frankfurt, where the ex-stopper is still held in high esteem, and nearly made his mark with a long-range effort narrowly kept out by Eintracht’s Oka Nikolov on Saturday. However, despite the SC having won five of their last six home matches against the Hessians, Eintracht have an excellent record away from home this season and remain unbeaten after Alexander Meier walked the ball into the net in the last minute, following Maik Franz’s 1st for the club from close-range early in the 2nd half, to cap another accomplished performance from Michael Skibbe’s side and leave them 3rd with five games played. Freiburg have now conceded 12 times this term – more than any other side – and stay 16th after their 3rd loss so far.
1 FSV Mainz 05 2-1 Hertha BSC Berlin
The 05ers overtook the "Old Lady" of Berlin on Saturday as late goals from Andreas Ivanschitz and Aristide Bance cancelled out Maximilian Nicu’s opener for Hertha. The Berliners seemed relatively secure until suddenly succumbing to a late onslaught from their hosts and now sit stranded in 17th after Ivanschitz scored from the spot and Burkina Faso‘s Bance showed neat footwork in netting his 3rd of the campaign to undo all keeper Jaroslav Drobny’s preceding hard work in keeping him at bay up to that point. The 05ers are now unbeaten at home in their last seven league matches (five wins, two draws) and are up into 8th place on the back of this fine run, which included that epic win over Bayern Munich in week 3.
1 FC Nürnberg 1-0 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Nürnberg had failed to score in three hours and 26 minutes before this match but Peer Kluge’s prodded effort just six minutes in proved sufficient in seeing off Gladbach at the easycredit Stadion and subsequently climbing to 13th in the table. The FCN have more Bundesliga wins to their name against Gladbach (19) than against any other team and have won three of their last four meetings with the "Foals". But Michael Frontzeck’s men did have their chances, Roberto Colautti wasting a glorious opening by nodding a header over from three yards before a brilliant dummy by new number 10 Raul Marcelo Bobadilla created space inside the area, but the Argentinian assassin shot wide. They were also denied a stonewall penalty when Karim Matmour was upended in the second period, but can take heart from only conceding once, having let in 11 in their previous three away matches. They drop to 9th.
Hamburger SV 3-1 VfB Stuttgart
A delightful goal from Mladen Petric set Hamburg on their way to a vital win over Stuttgart at the HSH Nordbank Arena on Sunday, where Markus Babbel’s side suffered their 2nd loss of the season and are yet to win away thus far. The VfB have won five of their last seven meetings with Hamburger SV but they were put to the sword here by way of a well-rounded performance from the home side.
The opener from Petric was superb, the robust Croatian picking the ball up just inside the opponents’ half, outfoxing Thomas Hitzlsperger with quick feet and solid technique before exchanging passes with Dutchman Eljero Elia and unleashing an unstoppable left-footed rasper into Jens Lehmann’s top corner. You could have put 11 Lehmann’s in there – and their owners – and they still would’ve been fighting only to pick the ball out of the back of the net after half an hour. Elia then got in on the act with another smart finish just before the hour mark, Lehmann this time beaten by a low Aufsetzer (daisy-cutter) that flew into the bottom left-hand corner. Hamburg have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last 12 Bundesliga matches - the longest such run in the league, and only four minutes later Christian Träsch delivered into the path of Pavel Pogrebnyak and the Russian doubled his season’s tally with an angled finish.
But the last word went to the oldest (outfield) player on the pitch, as the evergreen Ze Roberto stepped up to make the game safe with a low drive that Lehmann gloved but could not keep out in the closing stages. Hamburg retain top spot after their fourth successive win by virtue of a marginally better goal difference than rivals Leverkusen, while Stuttgart fall to 12th, a point above the dropzone.
Werder Bremen 0-0 Hannover 96
Werder have won their last five home matches against 96 scoring 21 goals and conceding only two in the process, so it was with some surprise that the home fans greeted the final whistle that confirmed a stalemate at the Weserstadion on Sunday. The hosts went into the match on the back of two consecutive wins accompanied by separate three-goal hauls but, although Marko Marin tested replacement keeper Florian Fromlowitz from distance and Claudio Pizarro was denied twice by the stand-in stopper, Per Mertesacker’s set-piece header came closest to breaking the deadlock but was cleared off the line in the first half and as a result, Werder stand in 6th.
Jari Stajner had two opportunities to snatch an unlikely victory for Hannover but was denied by assured handling from Tim Wiese. Only once (in 21 attempts) in the history of the Bundesliga have the 96ers been able to win in the Weserstadion - Fredi Bobic scored a brace in their 2-1 win during the 2002/03 season. This hard-fought point took them to 11th.
1 FC Köln 1-2 FC Schalke 04
And so it finally came to pass that Prince Poldi found himself on the scoresheet for the very first time since his emotional homecoming. It mattered little the goals scored either side of it by the opposition. Or that the resulting reversal set the league’s longest winless streak at six. Or that the defeat left Köln rock bottom of the Bundesliga after five matches. These wer mere details. They broke the bank to get their man, and now he was paying them back. This was to be the first of many decisive interventions that would carry the Köln all the way to salvation. Schalke looked to the details for consolation.
In their last 15 matches against Köln, the Royal Blues have failed to score only once, and it took less than two minutes for an Ivan Rakitic corner to find Gerald Asamoah unmarked at the back post, who nodded the ball back across for Jefferson Farfan to beat a static defence to the loose ball and glance home a header in the 2nd minute. However, Schalke have failed to score in two successive matches for the first time since early 2008 and nerves re-surfaced when Maniche found Fabrice Ehret, who slid a ball into Lukas Podoloski, who did the rest. The German international and local pin-up ghosted past Marcelo Bordon, stretching to control with his right before burying the ball at the near post with his infamous left foot.
What may have appeared to be salvation to the home supporters resembled temporary relief to the rest, and so it turned out when Levan Kobiashvili utilized the acres of space that he was offered to deadly effect by guiding the ball into the far corner for the wnner a minute after the restart, ironically crushing any false hope of victory at the same end that it had been given to them by their Prince when the contest was just 6 minutes old. This well-earned win puts Felix Mageth’s boys into 3rd ahead of their clash with Champions Wolfsburg next Friday night.
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
Bundesliga Beginnings
With 111 new players and 10 new coaches, the Bundesliga takes on a fresh new look this season. And with attendances up and Sky’s arrival set to boost the league’s global profile the Germans are in predictably buoyant mood ahead of the new campaign.
Here is how the 18 clubs have progressed so far:
VfL Wolfsburg
Reigning Fußballer des Jahres and Torschützenkönig Grafite appeared to have picked up where he left off last year for the league Champions with an opening day goal in a 2-0 win over Stuttgart. A 3-1 win in Köln gave new boss Armin Veh further cause for optimism before consecutive defeats at home to Hamburg then at the Allianz Arena, conceding 7 goals in the process, now mean that former coach Felix Magath’s shadow looms large over the VW-Arena once more. The fact that star striker Grafite has failed to add to his week 1 tally is significant, as is the loss of club captain Josue with a knee injury that caused him to miss the 3-0 defeat in München. After successfully resisting offers from all over Europe for prodigal frontman Edin Dzeko during the summer, they will also expect him to add heavily to his current 1 goal haul over the course of the campaign, while new boy Obafemi Martins will add further firepower, having already bagged 2 from 3 appearances. The Wolves sit 7th and face a home clash with in-form Bayer Leverkusen next before travelling to Magath’s Schalke during a crucial 2 week period in September.
FC Schalke 04
2009’s Trainer des Jahres Felix Magath started out life at Schalke in impressive fashion, 2 straight wins - in Nürnberg and at home to Bochum - alleviating any early fears he may have held of being able to replicate success in his new surroundings. However, his team have not found the net in their last 2 games, picking up a solitary point in a goalless draw in Hoffenheim before unthinkably succumbing to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of promoted SC Freiburg at the Veltins Arena on Saturday. The club have been unusually quiet on the transfer front as Magath intends to try and get the best out of what he has for now, but they have picked up promising German youngster Lewis Holtby from Alemannia Aachen and former Brazilian international Mineiro for free after the defensive midfielder was discarded by Chelsea. Schalke are now 4th in the table with impending trips to Köln and Dortmund sandwiched by their titanic encounter with Magath’s former employers Wolfsburg in 2 weeks’ time.
Hertha BSC Berlin
This season is very slowly starting to take shape for Hertha BSC. The Berliners have had to come to terms with father figure Dieter Hoeneß seeking pastures new as well as the departures of influential frontmen Marko Pantelic and the on-loan Andriy Voronin. Results have not been good, a 1-0 win over Hannover on matchday 1 being their only success to date and 3 losses in a row – against Mönchengladbach, Bochum and, most recently, Werder Bremen – have cranked up the pressure on new Manager Michael Preetz. The club did announce the arrival of 3 new players on transfer deadline day, including that of ex-Dortmund midfield stalwart Florian Kringe, and this, allied with Sunday’s greatly improved performance during the defeat to Werder at the Olympiastadion should give the supporters hope for the season ahead. The team also made it through to the 2nd round of the DFB-Cup and the group stage of the UEFA Europa League, thanks to a miraculous comeback against Brondby inspired by on-fire Serbian maestro Gojko Kacar. The boys from the capital still lie in the danger zone in 16th place but can look forward to fixtures against 2 promoted sides, Mainz and Freiburg, in the upcoming weeks.
Eintracht Frankfurt
The return of club captain Ioannis Amanatidis after a lengthy lay-off has proved to be the catalyst for an upsurge in his side’s form and fortune this season. A high-octane start to the campaign saw Frankfurt take all 3 points from Bremen in a 5-goal thriller at the Weserstadion, and draws against Nürnberg, Köln and Dortmund leave the team who finished 13th last season unbeaten after 4 games with Amanatidis having netted on 4 occasions. They have looked revitalized under new trainer Michael Skibbe and on current form the fans will relish a trip to Freiburg before eagerly playing host to Hamburg in matchday 6.
HSV Hamburg
Dutchman Martin Jol was another trainer lured away from the Bundesliga in the summer – destination Ajax back in his Holland homeland. His successor Bruno Labbadia, formaerly of Leverkusen, has enjoyed a terrific opening spell in charge, an opening day draw in Freiburg the only blemish on an otherwise perfect scorecard. Wins over Köln (3-1), Dortmund (4-1) and away to Champions Wolfsburg (4-2) have been impressive aesthetically, as well as efficiently. Neuzugang Marcus Berg has yet to cement a place in the starting 11, the young Swede having had to play second fiddle to Peruvian hitman Paolo Guerrero, who has 4 goals in as many matches this term. However, his addition to an already exciting playing roster should in time prove an astute move from Labbadia, as should the acquisition of vastly experienced playmaker Ze Roberto from Bayern. HSV sit atop the pack, as do local rivals St. Pauli in der zweite Bundesliga, making Hamburg Germany’s top football city at the moment. Hamburg face Stuttgart next before visiting Frankfurt in two early tests of their title credentials.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Jupp Heynckes is the division’s oldest coach at 64, yet his energetic Leverkusen outfit lead the way alongside Hamburg as we enter September. 2nd only on goals scored, this well-balanced side has been offered depth and assurance with the signing of Sami Hyypia from Liverpool to shore up their rearguard – so often a stumbling block to success last season – and Heynckes’ attacking style has been rewarded with a big win over Freiburg along with narrow victories over Hoffenheim and Bochum, with a point gained from their week 1 match in Mainz. Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok has been bought from Basle but it is Stefan Kießling who has shone, with 4 in 4 games thus far representing an admirable return for a striker who aims to force his way into Joachim Löw’s World Cup plans next year. His team’s next 2 games could be pivotal as they meet Wolfsburg and then Werder within a vital 2-week stretch.
Werder Bremen
Wilkommen zu Hause Claudio Pizarro is the cry from the Weserstadion as the Peruvian pin-up has finally made his switch from west London permanent, celebrating in style with 2 goals in his 1st game back helping his new employers overturn what had threatened to become another disappointing start to a season. Storms heard brewing after the home loss to Frankfurt were tempered with their well-earned draw at the Allianz Arena followed by hard-fought wins over Mönchengladbach and Hertha Berlin to take Thomas Schaaf’s team 3rd. On top of Pizarro’s comeback, Tim Borowski has also returned to the club after a brief stint in Bavaria and attacking options have again been added in the form of Bolivian Marcello Moreno from Shaktar Donetsk and der Flügelflitzer Marko Marin from Gladbach. Hannover visit Bremen next, while a colossal clash with Leverkusen follows in week 6.
SC Freiburg
Aufsteiger Freiburg began with an encouraging home draw with Hamburg and, despite being comprehensibly beaten by both Stuttgart and Leverkusen in the 2 contests that followed, the month culminated in a famous win for the new boys of the Bundesliga at the Veltins Arena, a 1st half Du-Ri Cha strike enough to see off the top-flight’s early pace setters in week 4. Cha, a journeyman defender signed from TuS Koblenz in July, is 1 of 6 new signings in a squad which hopes to escape a prolongued season of turmoil by avoiding a repetition of scorelines such as the 5-0 reversal at home to Leverkusen in week 3. Frankfurt and Hertha provide the opposition on their next two outings as they sit just 1 spot outside the relegation places.
1 FC Köln
Prince Poldi’s procession was met with promises of proliferation but these seem to have been premature as Köln prop up the pile having scored only 2 goals in 4 games so far this term, with the returning boy wonder yet to get off the mark during his long-awaited 2nd stint at the club. Sebastien Freis has also been picked up from Karlsruhe but he, too, is yet to score and Maniche has been drafted in from Athletico Madrid to play alongside his countryman Petit in the middle of the park. New coach Zvonomir Soldo has stepped in to fill the void created by the departure of Christoph Daum to Turkey but has not yet found the winning formula with his side having picked up only a single point - that by way of a stalemate with Frankfurt 2 games ago. Setbacks against Dortmund, Wolfsburg and Hamburg either side of that unimpressive deadlock have not been unmerited, but with games featuring Schalke and Stuttgart to come in their next 2 fixtures their will be no let up in the challenge to improve on last season’s mid-table finish.
Borussia Dortmund
As one of the relatively few coaches to have survived the cull in the Bundesliga since May, Jürgen Klopp must cherish the stability he has nurtured in Dortmund. However, he must also be aware that this is to be a key season in the development of his young side, as several 1st-teamers have moved on and it will be down to the likes of Mohammed Zidan to step into the breach, as he did on Sunday with a vital goal away to Frankfurt that earned his side a share of the spoils. Dimitar Rangelov, recently signed from Energie Cottbus, should give the team greater creativity while Argentinian attacker Lucas Barrios offers an alternative up top. 1-1 draws with Frankfurt and Stuttgart as well as an opening day defeat of Köln will give the management heart but the 1-4 reversal in Hamburg on day 2 was surely the stuff of Klopp’s worst nightmares. Up next is the visit of Bayern Munich to Signal Iduna Park before a more apt appraisal of their season may be drawn from their trip to Hannover the following week.
VfL Bochum
Having eventually come through a tumultuous campaign last time out relatively unscathed, Jo-Jo side Bochum will hope for an easier escape route from the drop this year. But with only striker Zlatko Dedic to show for an entire transfer window’s worth of work, and with the team presently on 14th in the standings, it seems set to be another season of struggle at the rewirpower Stadion. In one of the craziest kits seen in many a long year, so shocking in its design that it resembles Oxfam retail at its worst that has been through 1 too many washes, their home form has actually been encouraging. A high-scoring draw with Mönchengladbach and a 1-0 triumph over Hertha Berlin testify to this. Defeats at Schalke and Leverkusen seemed inevitable, though, and they now face a long journey to Hoffenheim before returning to the relative security of a home fixture with Mainz.
Borussia Mönchengladbach
This summer’s managerial merry-go-round took Michael Frontzeck from Arminia Bielefeld to Mönchengladbach in the wake of Hans Meier’s decision to step down after leading the club to safety, having taken over at the start of the calendar year with the club rock bottom. The turbulent times look to be behind Gladbach now as they reflect on a pleasing start to the season from the giddy heights of 5th place and a Europa League berth. Wins over Hertha and Mainz at Borussia Park and a 3-3 draw with Bochum in week 1 were offset by a 3-0 drubbing in Bremen but the squad largely assembled by Meier seems set up sufficiently to hold their own at this level. Games against Nürnberg and Hoffenheim will be a test of their temperament as the competition heats up in the autumn.
FSV Mainz 05
Serious injuries sustained by both 1st and 2nd choice goalkeepers against Mönchengladbach on Friday night dampened the mood at the end of what turned out to be a hugely productive and entertaining month for the supporters of Mainz. New manager Thomas Tuchel has had to contend with a tough early fixture list but his players have responded with a win and 2 draws from their opening 4 games. The highlight was undoubtedly their astonishing conquest of Bayern Munich on matchday 3, the 2-1 scoreline fully deserved by the home side and their fans now have a moment to savour from this season whatever happens in May. Draws with Leverkusen and Hannover also provided confidence before the setback versus Gladbach at the weekend. But the new boys should not be disheartened as they have played some scintillating stuff at times, with imposing Burkina Faso international striker Aristide Bance terrorizing defences on a regular basis and the club awaiting meetings with Hertha Berlin and Bochum from a comfortable 11th position.
1 FC Nürnberg
Nürnberg are back in the top tier of German football once again after a 1-year sojourn in the 2nd division but they have not started out in a particularly convincing manner. They lie 17th in the table and have just 2 draws to their name as of September 1st, the low point coming during a 0-2 home defeat to Hannover in week 3. The 46,000 sell-out crowd at the easyCredit-Stadion on day 1 were unfortunate to see their side go down 1-2 to Schalke after a spirited display but they would have been far less impressed with their side’s showing against Hannover, while draws with Frankfurt and Stuttgart have also failed to convince of the team’s ability to avoid slipping back down come May. It may be up to the experienced heads of players such as midfielder Marek Mintal and Greek forward Angelos Charisteas to negotiate a path to safety from now until then. Next up is Mönchengladbach where the passionate home support will expect a far better showing, before they travel to take on Bayern in Bavaria.
Hannover 96
The first managerial casualty of the season came in Hannover where Dieter Hecking parted company with the club just 2 games into the new campaign. Extended periods of pressure amid unrest within the squad and the stands seemed to have rendered his position untenable long before he was replaced by former youth team coach Andreas Bergmann, who has been appointed on a caretaker basis until the end of the season. Hannover were beaten in Berlin by a very average Hertha side before being held to a depressing draw with Mainz in front of their own fans immediately before Hecking walked. Since then the team has been reborn, led by the evergreen Jiri Stajner, and a marginal loss to Hoffenheim at the AWD-Arena was preceded by a justified 2-0 win in Nürnberg. Games against Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund are fast approaching, however, and the next crisis is never too far over the horizon in Hannover it seems.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Last season’s Herbstmeister Hoffenheim built their early-season success of 2008 upon an unquenchable thirst for goals, Vedad Ibisevic grabbing 18 of their 42 in just 17 matches played before Christmas. Unforunately, having returned from over 6 months out with knee ligament damage, the Serbian centre forward has found more goals hard to come by, and his team have notched just 2 in their opening 4 fixtures. Coach Ralf Rangwick can still console himself by reflecting on the wise purchase of Timo Hildebrand in January, as the pressure on his side to find the back of the net has been eased considerably by the former German international stopper’s exploits between the sticks, in co-ordination with the efforts of new recruit from Hertha, Josip Simunic, in central defence. Having conceded just 1 goal so far has helped keep momentum going with the team poised in 10th amid a challenging set of fixtures, a point apiece gained from games against Bayern and Schalke, and defeat by the slightest of margins in Leverkusen rectified by a win over Hannover by the same scoreline 2 weeks later. Bochum and Gladbach are their next 2 opponents.
VfB Stuttgart
If Stuttgart had been offered 30 million euros for Mario Gomez a year ago they may well have bitten Bayern or anyone else’s arm clean off. However, after a run of form under Markus Babbel that saw the German international into the runner-up spot for Fußballer des Jahres, it was with some reluctance that they allowed their star striker to fly south in the summer. Babbel has put together a strong squad, though, and with Pavel Pogrebnyak signed from St. Petersburg along with the lesser-known Alessandro Riedle, 18, from Zurich, there is certainly hope for the future of the frontline. Add to that the big-match caliber of Alexander Hleb, back on loan from Barcelona to the club where he made his name, and the resurgent side who finished 3rd last time look ready to battle for big honours in 2010. Results have not been quite as complimentary, as injury to Hleb and the time required for Pogrebnyak to settle in have hampered Stuttgart, and since being outclassed by Wolfsburg on day 1, they have only beaten lowly Freiburg, with only draws having been taken from Dortmund and Nürnberg, and Köln and Hamburg next to come.
FC Bayern München
New coach Louis van Gaal’s exhilarating acquisition of countryman Arjen Robben from Real Madrid at the end of August should bolster Bayern’s attack and give an already top-heavy group even greater options going forward. “Robery” is the term being used to describe the relationship between Robben and Frenchman Franck Ribery and that is what it must feel like to many. Bayern now boast an attack of Miroslav Klose, Luca Toni, Mario Gomez (signed from Stuttgart), Ivica Olic (formerly of Hamburg), Alexander Baumjohann (ex-Mönchengladbach) and Thomas Müller (an exciting youth product) supplemented by Ribery, Robben and Bastian Schweinsteiger and supported by new signings Anatoliy Tymoschchuk and Daniel Pranjic (from Zenit St. Petersburg and Heerenveen respectively). Therefore, when the Bavarians lost to Mainz the result was understandably met with great joy, as well as enthusiasm for another unpredictable Bundesliga season in which Bayern might, conceivably, not win it. Again.
That was before the recruitment of Robben. Within 17 minutes of his debut the Dutchman had come off the bench and scored twice to rubber-stamp a victory over Champions Wolfsburg (assisted by Ribery - another substitute) effectively nullifying the loss in Mainz as well as the two draws against Hoffenheim and Werder that preceded it and turning the season on its head. If Robben stays fit, and that is a big if, Munich could have the title wrapped up early enough to afford placing sole focus on the Champions League knockout stages in February. Dortmund away will be the next test for Robery and Bayern followed by Nürnberg at the Allianz Arena. Robben’s 1st contribution took them from 16th to 7th place. Who knows where the next one might lead?
Here is how the 18 clubs have progressed so far:
VfL Wolfsburg
Reigning Fußballer des Jahres and Torschützenkönig Grafite appeared to have picked up where he left off last year for the league Champions with an opening day goal in a 2-0 win over Stuttgart. A 3-1 win in Köln gave new boss Armin Veh further cause for optimism before consecutive defeats at home to Hamburg then at the Allianz Arena, conceding 7 goals in the process, now mean that former coach Felix Magath’s shadow looms large over the VW-Arena once more. The fact that star striker Grafite has failed to add to his week 1 tally is significant, as is the loss of club captain Josue with a knee injury that caused him to miss the 3-0 defeat in München. After successfully resisting offers from all over Europe for prodigal frontman Edin Dzeko during the summer, they will also expect him to add heavily to his current 1 goal haul over the course of the campaign, while new boy Obafemi Martins will add further firepower, having already bagged 2 from 3 appearances. The Wolves sit 7th and face a home clash with in-form Bayer Leverkusen next before travelling to Magath’s Schalke during a crucial 2 week period in September.
FC Schalke 04
2009’s Trainer des Jahres Felix Magath started out life at Schalke in impressive fashion, 2 straight wins - in Nürnberg and at home to Bochum - alleviating any early fears he may have held of being able to replicate success in his new surroundings. However, his team have not found the net in their last 2 games, picking up a solitary point in a goalless draw in Hoffenheim before unthinkably succumbing to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of promoted SC Freiburg at the Veltins Arena on Saturday. The club have been unusually quiet on the transfer front as Magath intends to try and get the best out of what he has for now, but they have picked up promising German youngster Lewis Holtby from Alemannia Aachen and former Brazilian international Mineiro for free after the defensive midfielder was discarded by Chelsea. Schalke are now 4th in the table with impending trips to Köln and Dortmund sandwiched by their titanic encounter with Magath’s former employers Wolfsburg in 2 weeks’ time.
Hertha BSC Berlin
This season is very slowly starting to take shape for Hertha BSC. The Berliners have had to come to terms with father figure Dieter Hoeneß seeking pastures new as well as the departures of influential frontmen Marko Pantelic and the on-loan Andriy Voronin. Results have not been good, a 1-0 win over Hannover on matchday 1 being their only success to date and 3 losses in a row – against Mönchengladbach, Bochum and, most recently, Werder Bremen – have cranked up the pressure on new Manager Michael Preetz. The club did announce the arrival of 3 new players on transfer deadline day, including that of ex-Dortmund midfield stalwart Florian Kringe, and this, allied with Sunday’s greatly improved performance during the defeat to Werder at the Olympiastadion should give the supporters hope for the season ahead. The team also made it through to the 2nd round of the DFB-Cup and the group stage of the UEFA Europa League, thanks to a miraculous comeback against Brondby inspired by on-fire Serbian maestro Gojko Kacar. The boys from the capital still lie in the danger zone in 16th place but can look forward to fixtures against 2 promoted sides, Mainz and Freiburg, in the upcoming weeks.
Eintracht Frankfurt
The return of club captain Ioannis Amanatidis after a lengthy lay-off has proved to be the catalyst for an upsurge in his side’s form and fortune this season. A high-octane start to the campaign saw Frankfurt take all 3 points from Bremen in a 5-goal thriller at the Weserstadion, and draws against Nürnberg, Köln and Dortmund leave the team who finished 13th last season unbeaten after 4 games with Amanatidis having netted on 4 occasions. They have looked revitalized under new trainer Michael Skibbe and on current form the fans will relish a trip to Freiburg before eagerly playing host to Hamburg in matchday 6.
HSV Hamburg
Dutchman Martin Jol was another trainer lured away from the Bundesliga in the summer – destination Ajax back in his Holland homeland. His successor Bruno Labbadia, formaerly of Leverkusen, has enjoyed a terrific opening spell in charge, an opening day draw in Freiburg the only blemish on an otherwise perfect scorecard. Wins over Köln (3-1), Dortmund (4-1) and away to Champions Wolfsburg (4-2) have been impressive aesthetically, as well as efficiently. Neuzugang Marcus Berg has yet to cement a place in the starting 11, the young Swede having had to play second fiddle to Peruvian hitman Paolo Guerrero, who has 4 goals in as many matches this term. However, his addition to an already exciting playing roster should in time prove an astute move from Labbadia, as should the acquisition of vastly experienced playmaker Ze Roberto from Bayern. HSV sit atop the pack, as do local rivals St. Pauli in der zweite Bundesliga, making Hamburg Germany’s top football city at the moment. Hamburg face Stuttgart next before visiting Frankfurt in two early tests of their title credentials.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Jupp Heynckes is the division’s oldest coach at 64, yet his energetic Leverkusen outfit lead the way alongside Hamburg as we enter September. 2nd only on goals scored, this well-balanced side has been offered depth and assurance with the signing of Sami Hyypia from Liverpool to shore up their rearguard – so often a stumbling block to success last season – and Heynckes’ attacking style has been rewarded with a big win over Freiburg along with narrow victories over Hoffenheim and Bochum, with a point gained from their week 1 match in Mainz. Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok has been bought from Basle but it is Stefan Kießling who has shone, with 4 in 4 games thus far representing an admirable return for a striker who aims to force his way into Joachim Löw’s World Cup plans next year. His team’s next 2 games could be pivotal as they meet Wolfsburg and then Werder within a vital 2-week stretch.
Werder Bremen
Wilkommen zu Hause Claudio Pizarro is the cry from the Weserstadion as the Peruvian pin-up has finally made his switch from west London permanent, celebrating in style with 2 goals in his 1st game back helping his new employers overturn what had threatened to become another disappointing start to a season. Storms heard brewing after the home loss to Frankfurt were tempered with their well-earned draw at the Allianz Arena followed by hard-fought wins over Mönchengladbach and Hertha Berlin to take Thomas Schaaf’s team 3rd. On top of Pizarro’s comeback, Tim Borowski has also returned to the club after a brief stint in Bavaria and attacking options have again been added in the form of Bolivian Marcello Moreno from Shaktar Donetsk and der Flügelflitzer Marko Marin from Gladbach. Hannover visit Bremen next, while a colossal clash with Leverkusen follows in week 6.
SC Freiburg
Aufsteiger Freiburg began with an encouraging home draw with Hamburg and, despite being comprehensibly beaten by both Stuttgart and Leverkusen in the 2 contests that followed, the month culminated in a famous win for the new boys of the Bundesliga at the Veltins Arena, a 1st half Du-Ri Cha strike enough to see off the top-flight’s early pace setters in week 4. Cha, a journeyman defender signed from TuS Koblenz in July, is 1 of 6 new signings in a squad which hopes to escape a prolongued season of turmoil by avoiding a repetition of scorelines such as the 5-0 reversal at home to Leverkusen in week 3. Frankfurt and Hertha provide the opposition on their next two outings as they sit just 1 spot outside the relegation places.
1 FC Köln
Prince Poldi’s procession was met with promises of proliferation but these seem to have been premature as Köln prop up the pile having scored only 2 goals in 4 games so far this term, with the returning boy wonder yet to get off the mark during his long-awaited 2nd stint at the club. Sebastien Freis has also been picked up from Karlsruhe but he, too, is yet to score and Maniche has been drafted in from Athletico Madrid to play alongside his countryman Petit in the middle of the park. New coach Zvonomir Soldo has stepped in to fill the void created by the departure of Christoph Daum to Turkey but has not yet found the winning formula with his side having picked up only a single point - that by way of a stalemate with Frankfurt 2 games ago. Setbacks against Dortmund, Wolfsburg and Hamburg either side of that unimpressive deadlock have not been unmerited, but with games featuring Schalke and Stuttgart to come in their next 2 fixtures their will be no let up in the challenge to improve on last season’s mid-table finish.
Borussia Dortmund
As one of the relatively few coaches to have survived the cull in the Bundesliga since May, Jürgen Klopp must cherish the stability he has nurtured in Dortmund. However, he must also be aware that this is to be a key season in the development of his young side, as several 1st-teamers have moved on and it will be down to the likes of Mohammed Zidan to step into the breach, as he did on Sunday with a vital goal away to Frankfurt that earned his side a share of the spoils. Dimitar Rangelov, recently signed from Energie Cottbus, should give the team greater creativity while Argentinian attacker Lucas Barrios offers an alternative up top. 1-1 draws with Frankfurt and Stuttgart as well as an opening day defeat of Köln will give the management heart but the 1-4 reversal in Hamburg on day 2 was surely the stuff of Klopp’s worst nightmares. Up next is the visit of Bayern Munich to Signal Iduna Park before a more apt appraisal of their season may be drawn from their trip to Hannover the following week.
VfL Bochum
Having eventually come through a tumultuous campaign last time out relatively unscathed, Jo-Jo side Bochum will hope for an easier escape route from the drop this year. But with only striker Zlatko Dedic to show for an entire transfer window’s worth of work, and with the team presently on 14th in the standings, it seems set to be another season of struggle at the rewirpower Stadion. In one of the craziest kits seen in many a long year, so shocking in its design that it resembles Oxfam retail at its worst that has been through 1 too many washes, their home form has actually been encouraging. A high-scoring draw with Mönchengladbach and a 1-0 triumph over Hertha Berlin testify to this. Defeats at Schalke and Leverkusen seemed inevitable, though, and they now face a long journey to Hoffenheim before returning to the relative security of a home fixture with Mainz.
Borussia Mönchengladbach
This summer’s managerial merry-go-round took Michael Frontzeck from Arminia Bielefeld to Mönchengladbach in the wake of Hans Meier’s decision to step down after leading the club to safety, having taken over at the start of the calendar year with the club rock bottom. The turbulent times look to be behind Gladbach now as they reflect on a pleasing start to the season from the giddy heights of 5th place and a Europa League berth. Wins over Hertha and Mainz at Borussia Park and a 3-3 draw with Bochum in week 1 were offset by a 3-0 drubbing in Bremen but the squad largely assembled by Meier seems set up sufficiently to hold their own at this level. Games against Nürnberg and Hoffenheim will be a test of their temperament as the competition heats up in the autumn.
FSV Mainz 05
Serious injuries sustained by both 1st and 2nd choice goalkeepers against Mönchengladbach on Friday night dampened the mood at the end of what turned out to be a hugely productive and entertaining month for the supporters of Mainz. New manager Thomas Tuchel has had to contend with a tough early fixture list but his players have responded with a win and 2 draws from their opening 4 games. The highlight was undoubtedly their astonishing conquest of Bayern Munich on matchday 3, the 2-1 scoreline fully deserved by the home side and their fans now have a moment to savour from this season whatever happens in May. Draws with Leverkusen and Hannover also provided confidence before the setback versus Gladbach at the weekend. But the new boys should not be disheartened as they have played some scintillating stuff at times, with imposing Burkina Faso international striker Aristide Bance terrorizing defences on a regular basis and the club awaiting meetings with Hertha Berlin and Bochum from a comfortable 11th position.
1 FC Nürnberg
Nürnberg are back in the top tier of German football once again after a 1-year sojourn in the 2nd division but they have not started out in a particularly convincing manner. They lie 17th in the table and have just 2 draws to their name as of September 1st, the low point coming during a 0-2 home defeat to Hannover in week 3. The 46,000 sell-out crowd at the easyCredit-Stadion on day 1 were unfortunate to see their side go down 1-2 to Schalke after a spirited display but they would have been far less impressed with their side’s showing against Hannover, while draws with Frankfurt and Stuttgart have also failed to convince of the team’s ability to avoid slipping back down come May. It may be up to the experienced heads of players such as midfielder Marek Mintal and Greek forward Angelos Charisteas to negotiate a path to safety from now until then. Next up is Mönchengladbach where the passionate home support will expect a far better showing, before they travel to take on Bayern in Bavaria.
Hannover 96
The first managerial casualty of the season came in Hannover where Dieter Hecking parted company with the club just 2 games into the new campaign. Extended periods of pressure amid unrest within the squad and the stands seemed to have rendered his position untenable long before he was replaced by former youth team coach Andreas Bergmann, who has been appointed on a caretaker basis until the end of the season. Hannover were beaten in Berlin by a very average Hertha side before being held to a depressing draw with Mainz in front of their own fans immediately before Hecking walked. Since then the team has been reborn, led by the evergreen Jiri Stajner, and a marginal loss to Hoffenheim at the AWD-Arena was preceded by a justified 2-0 win in Nürnberg. Games against Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund are fast approaching, however, and the next crisis is never too far over the horizon in Hannover it seems.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Last season’s Herbstmeister Hoffenheim built their early-season success of 2008 upon an unquenchable thirst for goals, Vedad Ibisevic grabbing 18 of their 42 in just 17 matches played before Christmas. Unforunately, having returned from over 6 months out with knee ligament damage, the Serbian centre forward has found more goals hard to come by, and his team have notched just 2 in their opening 4 fixtures. Coach Ralf Rangwick can still console himself by reflecting on the wise purchase of Timo Hildebrand in January, as the pressure on his side to find the back of the net has been eased considerably by the former German international stopper’s exploits between the sticks, in co-ordination with the efforts of new recruit from Hertha, Josip Simunic, in central defence. Having conceded just 1 goal so far has helped keep momentum going with the team poised in 10th amid a challenging set of fixtures, a point apiece gained from games against Bayern and Schalke, and defeat by the slightest of margins in Leverkusen rectified by a win over Hannover by the same scoreline 2 weeks later. Bochum and Gladbach are their next 2 opponents.
VfB Stuttgart
If Stuttgart had been offered 30 million euros for Mario Gomez a year ago they may well have bitten Bayern or anyone else’s arm clean off. However, after a run of form under Markus Babbel that saw the German international into the runner-up spot for Fußballer des Jahres, it was with some reluctance that they allowed their star striker to fly south in the summer. Babbel has put together a strong squad, though, and with Pavel Pogrebnyak signed from St. Petersburg along with the lesser-known Alessandro Riedle, 18, from Zurich, there is certainly hope for the future of the frontline. Add to that the big-match caliber of Alexander Hleb, back on loan from Barcelona to the club where he made his name, and the resurgent side who finished 3rd last time look ready to battle for big honours in 2010. Results have not been quite as complimentary, as injury to Hleb and the time required for Pogrebnyak to settle in have hampered Stuttgart, and since being outclassed by Wolfsburg on day 1, they have only beaten lowly Freiburg, with only draws having been taken from Dortmund and Nürnberg, and Köln and Hamburg next to come.
FC Bayern München
New coach Louis van Gaal’s exhilarating acquisition of countryman Arjen Robben from Real Madrid at the end of August should bolster Bayern’s attack and give an already top-heavy group even greater options going forward. “Robery” is the term being used to describe the relationship between Robben and Frenchman Franck Ribery and that is what it must feel like to many. Bayern now boast an attack of Miroslav Klose, Luca Toni, Mario Gomez (signed from Stuttgart), Ivica Olic (formerly of Hamburg), Alexander Baumjohann (ex-Mönchengladbach) and Thomas Müller (an exciting youth product) supplemented by Ribery, Robben and Bastian Schweinsteiger and supported by new signings Anatoliy Tymoschchuk and Daniel Pranjic (from Zenit St. Petersburg and Heerenveen respectively). Therefore, when the Bavarians lost to Mainz the result was understandably met with great joy, as well as enthusiasm for another unpredictable Bundesliga season in which Bayern might, conceivably, not win it. Again.
That was before the recruitment of Robben. Within 17 minutes of his debut the Dutchman had come off the bench and scored twice to rubber-stamp a victory over Champions Wolfsburg (assisted by Ribery - another substitute) effectively nullifying the loss in Mainz as well as the two draws against Hoffenheim and Werder that preceded it and turning the season on its head. If Robben stays fit, and that is a big if, Munich could have the title wrapped up early enough to afford placing sole focus on the Champions League knockout stages in February. Dortmund away will be the next test for Robery and Bayern followed by Nürnberg at the Allianz Arena. Robben’s 1st contribution took them from 16th to 7th place. Who knows where the next one might lead?
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