VIDEO: Bayern Munich 9-2 Hamburger SV - Goals!

German giants FC Bayern Munich last night demolished Hamburger SV 9-2 at the Allianz Arena to close in on their 23rd Bundesliga title. Here a video clip of all the 11 goals!

Bundesliga Column - Round 31: Derby win propels Dortmund closer to title

Round 31 of the 2011/12 Bundesliga season was about derbies in the west and the north of the country. While Dortmund won 2-1 away to Schalke to close in on defending their Bundesliga title, Mönchengladbach trashed FC Cologne 3-0 to keep their direct Champions League qualification hopes alive while Cologne's relegation worries grew even further and Hamburger SV scored a vital win against Hannover 96 in their fight to avoid relegation.

Borussia Dortmund just three days after winning against FC Bayern Munich had to dig deep to beat archrivals FC Schalke 2-1 in a closely contested Ruhr valley derby. With Bayern Munich only drawing goalless against 1.FSV Mainz 05 this derby win puts Dortmund eight points clear at the top with three matches to go and now remaining undefeated in their 25 straight game setting a new Bundesliga record.

In the race to avoid relegation Kaiserlautern are just one point away to confirm their 2.Bundesliga status next season. Another loss, this time 0-2 against 1.FC Nürnberg didn't help their cause. But Hertha BSC Berlin, who are in 17th place, fought back from two goals down against Bayer 04 Leverkusen to even go 3-2 ahead but they had to settle for a 3-3 draw which in their situation isn't enough.

FC Cologne went into the Rhine derby against Borussia Mönchengladbach under a new interim coach in Frank Schaefer, but they lost 0-3 to stay in the relegation playoff spot. But the gap to the teams above them widened then Hamburger SV won at home against Hannover 96, while FC Augsburg scored a surprise 2-1 away win to VfL Wolfsburg.

The Bundesliga title looks decided, the first relegated team is also clear but everything else is to play for with three rounds of matches remaining.


Round 31 Results

VfB Stuttgart 4-1 SV Werder Bremen
FC Schalke 04 1-2 Borussia Dortmund
Hamburger SV 1-0 Hannover 96
1.FC Kaiserslautern 0-2 1.FC Nürnberg
VfL Wolfsburg 1-2 FC Augsburg
Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3-3 Hertha BSC Berlin
FC Bayern München 0-0 1.FSV Mainz 05
Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-0 1.FC Köln
SC Freiburg 0-0 1899 Hoffenheim

Bundesliga Column - Round 30: Dortmund on way to title!

Round 30 of the 2011/12 Bundesliga season was all about the top of the table clash between Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich at the Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund on Wednesday evening. Meanwhile in the relegation battle the bottom five all lost which close to ensures Kaiserslautern's relegation while Hamburg, Augsburg, Cologne and Hertha Berlin fight for survival.

The match BVB vs FCB was about one against two in the table, defending champions vs record champions, it was billed as the match of the season. It had a slow start as Dortmund were in control in the first session, but after the break Bayern Munich had more of the game but it was Dortmund who scored through a great flick from Robert Lewandowski of a Kevin Großkreutz shot. Arjen Robben was the unlucky man for Bayern Munich as his penalty was saved by Roman Weidenfeller and close to the end shot over from about five yards out. Dortmund are now six points ahead with four matches to play and anything but the title would now be a big surprise.

In other matches VfB Stuttgart maintained their impressive run with a 3-1 away win in Augsburg to stay fifth ahead of Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Hannover 96 who also won their games, while 1.FC Nürnberg trashed FC Schalke 04 4-1, Freiburg won 2-1 away to Hertha BSC Berlin while 1.FSV Mainz 05 hammered 1.FC Köln 4-0 to all move away from the relegation zone.

This leaves now five instead of eight clubs to fight for survival. In the relegation battle things did not look good for Hamburger SV (0-4 in Hoffenheim), FC Augsburg (1-3 at home against Stuttgart), FC Cologne (0-4 in Mainz), Hertha BSC Berlin (1-2 against Freiburg) and Kaiserslautern (1-3 in Leverkusen)


Round 30 Results

Hertha BSC Berlin 1-2 SC Freiburg
FC Augsburg 1-3 VfB Stuttgart
1.FSV Mainz 05 4-0 1.FC Köln
SV Werder Bremen 2-2 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Dortmund 1-0 FC Bayern München
1.FC Nürnberg 4-1 FC Schalke 04
1899 Hoffenheim 4-0 Hamburger SV
Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3-1 1.FC Kaiserslautern
Hannover 96 2-0 VfL Wolfsburg

Rene Adler: Stay or leave Leverkusen?

Bayer 04 Leverkusen goalkeeper Rene Adler has been having a tough time for a while due to numerous injuries. It started ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup with Adler on the verge of going into the tournament as Germany's number one goalkeeper, but it would be the tournament that Manuel Neuer would establish himself as Germany's number one amongst the new generation of goalkeepers.

Then before the start into this season 26 year old Rene Adler once more got injured and Leverkusen signed teenager Bernd Leno on loan from VfB Stuttgart as a stop gap shot stopper. A gamble, but one which paid off as Leno did well and Adler wasn't recovering fast enough from his injury that Leverkusen signed Leno on a long-term contract from Stuttgart, which has put Adler in a spot.

As Adler continues to be injury prone Leverkusen will likely bet their future success on the younger, healthier Leno; while Adler who is said to have had interest from Manchester United and other European top clubs last season is left on the bench and now has to look for alternative options.

Bundesliga rivals Hamburger SV are said to be interested in the German international, but HSV will surely not make any move in the winter transfer window as their Director of Sports Frank Arnesen has said. The risk in Hamburg like in Leverkusen could be for Adler that the current number one Jaroslav Drobny would be also there as competition.

The German Bundesliga season so far

The 2011/12 German Bundesliga season is still very young. Only 5 rounds have been played, but there have already been a number of major surprises and upsets besides things one would expect. Bayern Munich lead the table along with Werder Bremen, while Bundesliga founding member Hamburger SV is at the bottom with only a point to their name.

That Bayern Munich head the table isn't that big a surprise, then the record champions have invested heavily in new players to correct last seasons weaknesses. It seems to be working under new coach Jupp Heynckes though the club lost their first match unluckily 0-1 against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Thereafter the Bavarians have been on a winning streak - 1-0 in Wolfsburg, 5-0 against Hamburger SV, 3-0 in Kaiserlautern und then the highlight so far, a 7-0 trashing of SC Freiburg at the Allianz Arena. 16 goals, none against in those four matches. An impressive figure so early in the season and Bayern Munich can still get even better, then superstar Arjen Robben has often been missing due to injuries.

Also positive to note is that teams like Werder Bremen, Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Schalke 04 have been able to find themselves in the upper third of the table after spending most of last season in and around the relegation zone. Gladbach actually needed the playoffs against Bochum to stay in the Bundesliga top tier.

Defending champions Borussia Dortmund started their campaign with an impressive 3-1 defeat of Hamburger SV, but soon it became clear that HSV isn't going to be the yardstick for this season. Thereafter Dortmund has had a mixed season which culminated in a 1-2 home defeat against promoted Hertha BSC Berlin. The club from the capital meanwhile has been doing fine so far with a mid-table place, but FC Augsburg, who also gained promotion, have been struggling, have no wins so far, only two points to their name and are in 16th place.

Clubs like FSV Mainz 05 and SC Freiburg have been struggling compared to last season. Both teams have lost a number of influential players, while Freiburg also has a new coach in Marcus Sorg.

The big disappointment of this Bundesliga season so far has been Hamburger SV. Under young coach Michael Oenning and the new Director of Sports Frank Arnesen the club has to rebuild their squad as the management had to cut down on the clubs budget. Stars like Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ze Roberto, Frank Rost, Joris Mathijsen and Piotr Trochowski had to leave the club, while the club signed talented youngsters, five of them from Arnesen's former employers FC Chelsea.

The players who have caught the eye of the public so far are those from Bayern Munich, but especially striker Mario Gomez has been the player of the last few weeks. The Bayern striker has scored eight goals in the last three games and if he continues to score at this rate then Gerd Müllers record of 40 goals from the 1971/72 season could be in danger. Last season Super Mario scored 28 goals, now he continues where he left off.

After only five rounds of matches one thing is clear. The 2011/12 champions will either be Bayern Munich or they will have to be better then them. Their investments and the return of Jupp Heynckes has been working excellently so far. The reds are not only playing good football, but are also amongst goals and standing perfectly in defence. But teams like Werder Bremen, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund and others will try to make it difficult for Bayern Munich. One can really look forward to the remainder of the Bundesliga season.

Dortmund win LIGAtotal! Cup 2011

Defending Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund won the four team LIGAtotal! Cup in Mainz on Wednesday night with a 2-0 win against Hamburger SV. The BVB are ready for the new season to begin with the German Super Cup on Saturday against archrivals FC Schalke 04, the German Cup winners.

The final wasn't the best of matches with both sides facing each other on equal terms until the 50th minute when Brazilian Felipe Santana scored Dortmund's lead with a header off a perfect cross from Ivan Perisic. Just over a minute later Egyptian Mohamed Zidan would double the lead of a rebound to seal the title for the yellow-blacks.

In the third place playoff earlier in the day FC Bayern Munich won 7-6 on penalties against hosts 1.FSV Mainz 05. The match had ended 2-2 after the regular 2x30 minutes in which the tournament was played and a direct penalty shootout followed.

In an open game Nikolce Noveski gave Mainz an 11th minute lead through a header, but on the stroke of half-time Austrian teenager David Alaba equalised for the Bavarians. Three minutes from time it looked Bayern Munich had won the game when Nils Pedersen scored of a penalty but Anthony Ujah would equalise for Mainz a minute from time.

In the penalty shootout Mainz looked like the clear winners as they scored their first four penalties, but Bayern turned a 2-4 deficit into a 5-4 win as the regular time goalscorers Noveski and Ujah couldn't score. It meant Bayern Munich did finish third in the tournament, but a lot of work remains for Jupp Heynckes and his men.

A day earlier in the semifinals Borussia Dortmund played an impressive match against FSV Mainz 05, but only won 1-0; while Bayern Munich were stunned 2-1 by Hamburger SV where South Korean teenager Heung-Min Son scored a brace.

LIGAtotal! Cup 2011 in Mainz

The German Bundesliga season kick-off is still more then two weeks away, but four clubs - FC Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV, FSV Mainz 05 - will be testing how well prepared their are for the season ahead in the LIGAtotal! Cup in Mainz tonight and tomorrow.

The new 33,500 seater Coface Arena will be hosting its first major football tournament with hosts FSV Mainz 05 taking on defending Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund, while in the second game record champions FC Bayern Munich take on Bundesliga founding member Hamburger SV.

The winners of the two matches will play each other in tomorrow's final, while the two other sides will face each other in the third place playoffs to be played just ahead of the big final. All matches will be of 2x30 minutes duration with a straight penalty shootout if matches are drawn.

The biggest interest is in how the new look FC Bayern Munich team will perform. German international goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Brazilian right back Rafinha and young striker Nils Pedersen are set to start while recent additions Jerome Boateng and Takashi Usami are to sit on the bench.

Hamburg sign third Chelsea talent

Bundesliga side Hamburger SV yesterday signed Turkish junior international Goekhan Toere, who is now the third youth or reserve team player from English Premier League giants FC Chelsea London under contract. Earlier the North Germans had signed English U-21 international Michael Mancienne and Italian junior international Jacopo Sala.

The 19 year old Toere is Cologne born and had joined Chelsea only in January 2009 from Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Toere is an attacking midfielder and has been given a contract until 2014. Toere is looking forward to be back in Germany after the 30 months in London with his aim to establish himself in the Bundesliga.

New Director of Sports at HSV Frank Arnesen is said to be in talks with further players at his former club FC Chelsea. Dutch international Jeffrey Bruma is said to be the top candidate whom Arnesen would like to tempt to come to Hamburg, while other names like English teenager Joshua McEachran, French midfielder Gaël Kakuta and Italian Fabio Borini had been linked earlier to a move to Hamburg.

Hamburg under new Director of Sports Arnesen and young coach Michael Oenning are banking on young, talent players as Hamburg are cutting down on their wage bill which had grown over the last few years as the club pushed for UEFA Champions League and Europa League spots, but they haven't been able to ensure regular European competitions.

Already people in Hamburg are questioning Arnesen's signings. The people knew Arnesen would bring players from Chelsea, but they would have hoped for bigger names and not players to develop.

Hamburger SV looking at Chelsea talent

This summer German Bundesliga side Hamburger SV is looking at young talent coming out of FC Chelsea London. The reason is simple then the new HSV Director of Sports is Frank Arnesen, who until recently was the chief scout and Technical Director at the English Premier League club. And Arnesen knows that big spending Chelsea have young talent which isn't good enough for the Blues but would surely strengthen a new, rebuilding Hamburg.

Arnesen was in England over the weekend to speak to his former club, players of interest and their agents to convince them to move to the North German club. Hamburg are in the process of rebuilding their team for the new season as costly players like Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ze Roberto and Frank Rost are being off-loaded as the club has to reduce their wage bill.

The first signing was officially announced yesterday in England Under-21 international Michael Mancienne, who has penned a four year contract with HSV. Chelsea are getting a transfer fee of around 2 Million Euros for the defender and defensive midfielder, but 23 year old Mancienne has played most of the last three years on loan at EPL rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Frank Arnesen said on the signing, "I knew Michael from my time at Chelsea, I have followed his progress over the years and I know he has great potential."

Mancienne said, "Hamburg is a huge club with a fantastic tradition and supporters. It's a big challenge to be able to play for them."

And Mancienne could only be the first of a few Chelsea starlets who could join Hamburg over the summer. The next on the list is 19 year old Dutch defender Jeffrey Bruma, but he is currently away with the Netherlands on an international tour to South America and is said to be undecided on the next step in his career.

Hamburg might also try and work out a deal with Chelsea where young talent is loaned to the German club as they are said to be interested in English teenager Joshua McEachran, French midfielder Gaël Kakuta and Italian Fabio Borini.

Coach Roulette in the Bundesliga

German football is experiencing something which it has never ever seen before. The clubs are in a hire-and-fire mode with even established clubs joining the mayhem which is resulting in coaches being exchanged like never before likewise the news is out this month on coaches leaving or forced to leave at the end of the season.

Veteran coach Jupp Heynckes had said before the weekends matches, "At the moment, the Bundesliga is a madhouse. The average football fan has trouble understanding it."

Now yesterday Heynckes himself became part of this carousel for coaches by announcing that he would not extend his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. This meant Bayer 04 where now searching for a replacement and they found that in Freiburg in Robin Dutt, who is leaving them with a year still left on his contract and the reserve team coach Marcus Sorg will replace him. In Leverkusen Heynckes left it open if he would retire or return to his former club FC Bayern Munich.

At Bayern Munich things looked fine with coach Louis van Gaal after the club won the double and reached the final of the UEFA Champions League last season, but this term things weren't working out with the club having problems in league. For Bayern reaching the Champions League is a must and once it became clear that this aim was in danger the club was on the verge of firing van Gaal. They in the end didn't but decided it was time to part ways at the end of the season. And Bayern wanted former coach Heynckes as the replacement though rumours have said that the club has also shown interest in Germany coach Joachim Loew before he signed an extension, German technical director Matthias Sammer, Turkey coach Guus Hiddink, while in England the rumour has made rounds about former Bayern player and current Fulham boss Mark Hughes coming to the Saebener Strasse.

Elsewhere at FC Schalke 04 things looked similar in the summer. The Ruhr club finished second, Champions League football guaranteed, all looked fine for the royal blues. But Magath like he has done at earlier clubs started to rebuild the squad by buying and selling numerous players. But one of the main strengths of Schalke is the identification of the fans with the club. That was getting lost with Magath even on the board of the club. The club had reached the German Cup final and the last eight of the Champions League, but in the Bundesliga the results weren't good. The club was looking for reasons, so the many transfers and discrepencies there seemed to be the route out. A board meeting was conviened and out was Magath.

But not even 48 hours later Magath was back in the Bundesliga. His former club VfL Wolfsburg are fighting against relegation with a squad which cost owners Volkswagen tens of millions. The experiment with the first English coach in the Bundesliga in Steve McClaren failed and his assistant Pierre Littbarski also couldn't turn things around, so in a desparate attempt the VW bosses got in touch with Magath and suddenly he was back with most of the powers he had when he left the club in 2009 as Bundesliga champions.

Schalke 04 have since named former coach Ralf Rangnick as the new coach, who had left the club due to differences with the board in 2005 and the same people are still in charge. Rangnick meanwhile had left 1899 Hoffenheim in the first few days of the year in mutual consent. Hoffenheim supremo Dietmar Hopp and manager Ernst Tanner had sold a player without the okay from the coach, then his assistant Marco Pezzaiuoli took over.

The same happened at Hamburger SV about 10 days back when Armin Veh was fired after a 0-6 trashing against Bayern Munich. It had been decided that Veh would leave the club at the end of the season, but events on the field forced the club to act swiftly and they promoted Veh's assistant Michael Oenning to the top job. Oenning has until the end of the season to prove himself, if he can convince the management then he might get an extension. But in all this turmoil the club also lost their managing director Bernd Hoffmann, who had to leave the club too; while the search for a director of sports had been a topic for close to 20 months but there the club found an answer in Frank Arnesen.

And today the mayhem continued with Eintracht Frankfurt firing their coach Michael Skibbe and seasoned Christoph Daum is set to take over. What makes this firing even more bizarre is the fact that Frankfurt won their match against FC St. Pauli over the weekend. While over a month back bottom of the table Borussia Moenchengladbach had already fired Michael Frontzeck and brought in Swiss coach Lucien Favre, but still they are bottom of the league.

Luckily this week there is an international break, so the fans can check who is actually coaching which club. And one never knows more might be in store for us...

Chelsea's Arnesen to join Hamburger SV

German Bundesliga side Hamburger SV has finally found a new Director of Sports in Dane Frank Arnesen, who will join them from English Premier League giants FC Chelsea in the new season. This ends the never ending HSV story of finding a replacement to Dietmar Beiersdorfer who left the club to join Austria's Red Bulls Salzburg two summers ago.

Since then the search has been a major failure and somewhat of an embarrassment for one of the biggest clubs in Germany. First after playing a season without a Director of Sports it had been finalised that after the 2010 FIFA World Cup Germany's head scout and analyst Urs Siegenthaler would join, but then he remained with the German FA (DFB). So the club appointed former player Bastian Reinhardt as their new Director of Sports, but the rookie hasn't been able to convince the club management and fans that he is ready for the tough assignment. Then this winter it was somewhat final that Germany's Director of Sports Matthias Sammer would join the North German club, once more the deal fell through at the last moment.

Now the club has been able to make the big signing it was looking for in 54 year old Arnesen, who has signed a three year contract. And he will bring Chelsea's chief scout Lee Congerton with him to become Hamburg's new technical director. Bastian Reinhardt will remain at the club and work under Arnesen as part of a expanded management team.

"I am delighted that we have found this fantastic solution," commented Hamburg's chairman Ernst-Otto Rieckhoff. "Frank Arnesen has not only the aptitude that is very meaningful to us for our future thanks to his experience as a manager at top clubs in Europe, but in particular due to his focus on youth development."

Arnesen experience is something which Hamburg will want to build on. His off the field career started in 1991 as assistant coach to Bobby Robson at PSV Eindhoven before he went on to become PSV's sporting director in 1994. Arnesen remained at the club for 10 years before he left for England. In 2004 he joined as Tottenham Hotspurs as Director of Sports before he switched to London rivals FC Chelsea a year later. Now he leaves southwest London after he had not extended his contract beyond the summer.

"HSV is a special club with a great tradition and fantastic conditions to work in. I am convinced that we will develop something huge with the energy we have got and with the right decisions," Arnesen said after the contract was signed.

Ruud van Nistelrooy back to Real Madrid?

It could be the surprise transfer of the winter. Will seasoned Dutch star striker Ruud van Nistelrooy return from German side Hamburger SV to Spanish giants Real Madrid? The Spanish side have a striker problem upfront with Argentinian Gonzalo Higuain to remain out for a while and are looking to replace him adequately.

And Real Madrid has been linked a lot of quality strikers across Europe, but it seems that only a year after releasing Ruud van Nistelrooy to join Hamburg they want their striker back. Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho thinks that van Nistelrooy knowing the club would settle in quickly.

Real Madrid TV presenter Andy May had tweeted on his Twitter page andymaytvradio a few days ago: "It's still not official but it looks like RVN is returning to Real Madrid. Keep an eye on realmadrid.com for the announcement," said

According to Spanish sports daily Marca Real Madrid have made an offer of 2 Million Euros plus Hungarian striker Adam Szalai to Hamburger SV, but the Germans have turned down the offer saying that they would only discuss an offer from Spain of around 4 Million Euros.

But then yesterday the HSV media officer Joern Wolf had said, "All rubbish. We don't want to release Ruud and we have not been made a formal offer which included another striker."