Bayern Munich's Jupp Heynckes completes 1,000 Bundesliga matches

FC Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes yesterday in the match against SV Werder Bremen only became the second person in the history of German football to complete a 1,000 Bundesliga matches as player and coach.

"It's an imposing total," commented Jupp Heynckes, whose career top-flight total is considerably greater due to coaching spells in Spain and Portugal. In the Bundesliga, he is only behind the legendary Otto Rehhagel, the first individual to pass the 1,000 barrier with 1,033 matches, 201 as a player and 832 as a coach.

Heynckes had started his Bundesliga career on August 14, 1965 as a 20 year old for Borussia Mönchengladbach in a match against Borussia Neunkirchen, which had ended one-all. He played 389 matches for Mönchengladbach and Hannover 96 before hanging-up his boots. Then came his second career having now completed 631 matches as coach of Borussia Mönchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt, FC Schalke 04, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and at Bayern FC Munich

Yesterday 67 year old Jupp Heynckes completed that magic number of 1,000 Bundesliga matches, over 47 years after he first played in the German Bundesliga.

"It shows you how the years have flown by," said Heynckes, who further added, "as a player, I could never have dreamed of it. It's a long history and I could tell you all kinds of tales. There's enough material to write not just one book but several – although I'm not going to do that."

UEFA Europa League: Playoffs draw out

The draw for the final round of qualifiers for the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League was carried out earlier today in Nyon, Switzerland. There are some well known sides who are fighting to survive to play in continental competitions this season.

Last season finalists Athletic Bilbao from Spain face Finnish side HJK Helsinki, while former champions Liverpool FC take on another British team in Heart of Midlothian FC and while FC Vaslui host 2010 UEFA Champions League winners Inter Milan.

The UEFA Europa League qualifiers for the group stage will be played on August 23 and 30 with the group stage to be drawn on August 31 in Monaco.


UEFA Europa League - Play-off Round

FC Anzhi Makhachkala (RUSSIA) - AZ Alkmaar (NETHERLANDS)
APOEL FC (CYPRUS) - Neftçi PFK (AZERBAIJAN)
Atromitos FC (GREECE) - Newcastle United FC (ENGLAND)
Tromsø IL (NORWAY) - FK Partizan (SERBIA)
FC Vaslui (ROMANIA) - FC Internazionale Milano (ITALY)

Heart of Midlothian FC (SCOTLAND) - Liverpool FC (ENGLAND)
Athletic Club Bilbao (SPAIN) - HJK Helsinki (FINLAND)
CS Marítimo (PORTUGAL) - *FC Dila Gori (GEORGIA) or Anorthosis Famagusta (CYPRUS)
Molde FK (NORWAY) - sc Heerenveen (NETHERLANDS)
Debreceni VSC (HUNGARY) - Club Brugge KV (BELGIUM)

FC Sheriff (MOLDOVA) - Olympique de Marseille (FRANCE)
Trabzonspor AS (TURKEY) - Videoton FC (HUNGARY)
FC Midtjylland (DENMARK) - BSC Young Boys Bern (SWITZERLAND)
WKS Slask Wroclaw (POLAND) - Hannover 96 (GERMANY)
FC Dinamo Bucuresti (ROMANIA) - FC Metalist Kharkiv (UKRAINE)

AC Horsens (DENMARK) - Sporting Clube de Portugal (PORTUGAL)
Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC (ISRAEL) - F91 Dudelange (LUXEMBOURG)
Feyenoord (NETHERLANDS) - AC Sparta Praha (CZECH REPUBLIC)
Motherwell FC (SCOTLAND) - Levante UD (SPAIN)
FK Crvena zvezda (SERBIA) - FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRANCE)

KSC Lokeren OV (BELGIUM) - FC Viktoria Plzen (CZECH REPUBLIC)
S.S. Lazio (ITALY) - ND Mura 05 (SLOVENIA)
AIK Solna (SWEDEN) - PFC CSKA Moskva (RUSSIA)
Legia Warszawa (POLAND) - Rosenborg Trondheim BK (NORWAY)
Bursaspor (TURKEY) - FC Twente Enschede (NETHERLANDS)

FC Steaua Bucuresti (ROMANIA) - FK Ekranas (LITHUANIA)
FC Slovan Liberec (CZECH REPUBLIC) - FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (UKRAINE)
VfB Stuttgart (GERMANY) - FC Dinamo Moskva (RUSSIA)
PAOK FC (GREECE) - SK Rapid Wien (AUSTRIA)
FC Luzern (SWITZERLAND) - KRC Genk (BELGIUM)
FK Zeta (MONTENEGRO) - PSV Eindhoven (NETHERLANDS)

*Subject to the CDB decision

Bundesliga Column - Round 34: Cologne relegated, Hertha Berlin get relegation spot

As is usual in the last couple of German Bundesliga rounds all nine matches of Round 34, the final match day of the 2011/12 season were played simultaneously at 15.30 CET on Saturday. This is to ensure same chances for everyone fighting for the title, places in Europe and against relegation.

And what a match day it turned out to be though key decisions on champions, first team to be relegated and who gains places for Europe next season had already been taken. Champions Borussia Dortmund trashed an inform SC Freiburg 4-0 to finish with 81 points, a new record in the history of the Bundesliga.

The eyes were all on the relegation battle between 1.FC Köln and Hertha BSC Berlin, who would get relegated directly and who would get a second chance in the relegation playoff against the third-placed side in the 2.Bundesliga. FC Cologne that the difficult task of facing record champions FC Bayern Munich at home, while Hertha BSC Berlin faced 1899 Hoffenheim who had nothing to really play except that their coach Markus Babbel had been Hertha coach earlier on in the season.

As one would have expected Cologne suffered a 1-4 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich, but Hertha Berlin won 3-1 against Hoffenheim to push Cologne into Division 2 while they face Fortuna Düsseldorf in the relegation playoff in the coming days to decide to play Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga next season.

The last Europa League spot was grabbed by Hannover 96 who beat relegated 1.FC Kaiserslautern 2-1 while VfL Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen and 1.FC Nürnberg all lost in their quest for European football next season.


Round 34 Results

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

PIO Harmeet Singh to join Hannover 96?

21 year old Norwegian international of Indian origin Harmeet Singh is a summer transfer target for German Bundesliga side Hannover 96, who are scouting the Norwegian market after the successful signings of Didi Ya Konan und Mohammed Abdellaoue over the last couple of seasons. Harmeet besides his Vålerenga Oslo club mate Mohammed Fellah are being looked at by the North German club.

Midfielder Harmeet Singh was born on November 12, 1990 in the Norwegian capital Oslo and after starting his career in the Oslo Youth Multi Sports Club Furuset IF he joined Vålerenga's Youth team.

Besides playing for Vålerenga's youth teams and then making it as a professional Harmeet has been a regular in the Norwegian youth teams from Under-15 over U-16, U17, U-18, U-19 until U-21s. Only in January 2012 he made his full international debut for Norway when he came on as a substitute against Denmark.

If Harmeet signs for Hannover 96 he would become the first Player of Indian Origin to play in the German Bundesliga, the second person of Indian origin to be active in the Bundesliga following coach Robin Dutt.


Here a video of Harmeet Singh in action

VIDEO: Lars Stindl Dream Goal in Europa League

Hannover 96s Lars Stindl scored a gem of a goal for his club last Thursday in the UEFA Europa League against FC Copenhagen, it was the 2-1 winner. But once more, the technical ability Stindl shows while scoring the goal was simply brilliant, which you rare see in football.

Here the video clip of that great goal

Bundesliga: Heading for an interesting finish

The 2010/11 German Bundesliga season is heading for an interesting finale at the top and bottom with three rounds to go. Match day 31 had some interesting surprises in store, which has opened up the table even more and things seem to be changing week by week.

A couple of weeks back Borussia Dortmund seemed to be losing the plot and Bayer 04 Leverkusen closing in to snatch the title away from them, then last week Leverkusen got trashed 5-1 by Bayern Munich and it seemed all over. This is how fast things can change in football.

Now this Saturday Dortmund lost the battles of the Borussia's against bottom placed Moenchengladbach to stay on 69 points and Leverkusen meanwhile had to work their way through to a 2-1 win against 1899 Hoffenheim to move to 64 points. And suddenly the gap has come down to only five points with nine points still to be played for. And some see the young Dortmund side feeling the pressure, while Leverkusen who are known as Vize-kusen (always finish second, but never first) could be in with a late chance.

The race for the third and final UEFA Champions League spot is even tighter. Last week FC Bayern Munich after the win against Leverkusen were a point ahead of Hannover 96 on 55 points, but a draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday after Hannover had won 3-1 at SC Freiburg on Thursday left the Bavarian giants one point behind their northern rivals.

There is also a fight for the fifth spot which would guarantee Europa League next season. And the two clubs fighting over the spot met earlier today in Nuremberg with 1.FC Nuremberg playing a goalless draw against FSV Mainz 05. Mainz now on 49 points stay two points clear of Nuremberg.

Down in the relegation zone things are slower getting clearer. It is now a matter of five and not eight/nine clubs who could get relegated. Currently FC St. Pauli and Borussia Moenchengladbach are at the back of the pack with 29 points, while VfL Wolfsburg with their first win under old-and-new coach Felix Magath by beating FC Cologne 4-1 are now on 32 points in the 16th playoff spot. Above them are Eintracht Frankfurt on 34 points, while FC Cologne are on 35 points.

All this guarantees an interesting three weeks until the Bundesliga season ends on May 14, but it will be interesting to see who wins the title, qualifies for Europe and gets relegated.

Bundesliga 2010: Tops & Flops

The German Bundesliga after 17 of its 34 rounds is having its usual winter break with no games over a four week period. And it has been an interesting, sometimes crazy first half of the season with Borussia Dortmund as the surprise league leaders and other smaller clubs like Mainz 05, Hannover 96 and SC Freiburg in the top six of the league. Meanwhile league giants Bayern Munich are only fifth, but other clubs like VfL Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen could be fighting relegation while VfB Stuttgart are in the relegation zone. Their club managements will have something to ponder over the holiday break.

Here are the tops and flops of the first half of the 2010/11 Bundesliga season.


TOPS

1. Borussia Dortmund - The Juergen Klopp coached side are one of the youngest teams in the league, but have had an incredible run with 14 wins from 15 matches ater losing their first and then the last match. 43 Points from 17 matches is the second best ever record in the Bundesliga and the youngsters proved their class. Turkish midfielder Nuri Sahin is the man in the middle with captain Roman Weidenfeller the oldest and most experienced player at the back. Young central defenders Mats Hummels and Nevin Subotic have been playing together for a while though still in their early twenties and then there are teenage sensation Mario Goetze and Japanese surprise Shinji Kagawa plus striker Lucas Barrios, who have all played their part. Klopp over the last two and a half years has wisely put together a squad with talent and now they are proving what they can achieve.

2. FSV Mainz 05 - The early league leaders and the biggest of all surprises. Mainz was expected to fight relegation, but from the start they have been on top with great attacking football and a rotation within the team, which allowed coach Thomas Tuchel to keep his young bunch on course. Mainz did have a few bad games towards the end, but still they recovered and are second in the league. And 37 year old Tuchel is the architect of this surprise success. Tuchel is said to be thorough in his match preparations and that has so far paid off.

3. Hannover 96 - Last season after the suicide of goalkeeper Robert Enke the club was totally out of sorts and the team nearly got relegated. This season a number of new players came in, the club has been able to shrug off last seasons events, but coach Mirko Slomka was a top candidate to be fired first. Slomka was able to form a unit and Hannover have stayed amongst the top clubs through the first half of the season. But the question remains if they can retain their form after the break.


FLOPS

1. Werder Bremen - They have been the most consistent German club after Bayern Munich over the last decade, but somehow this season things haven't been going right for the Thomas Schaaf coached side. The club sold Mesut Özil to Real Madrid in the summer, they thought no replacement was needed as they generally have a good squad, but after these five months they have had a rethink and look to strengthen their squad over the winter.

2. VfL Wolfsburg - They took a gamble by signing Steve McClaren as the first English coach in the Bundesliga. So far the experiment has failed, but McClaren wasn't fired as had been expected and has been given more time to turn things around. The Volkswagen backed club has spend millions on players over the years, build infrastructure and now expects the Wolves to be playing in European competitions year in and year out. A tough ask for coach McClaren, who said he doesn't have a team but a group of individuals. He has a few weeks to sort it out otherwise someone else will be given a chance.

3. VfB Stuttgart - In Stuttgart history seems to repeat itself each winter, but it hasn't been as bad as this season. The club is 17th and fighting to stay in the Bundesliga. They fired their coach in autumn like in the last two years, but only named an interim coach in Jens Keller and then brought in Bruno Labbadia before the two matches against Bayern Munich, which the club lost. Like Bremen they lost a player in Sami Khedira to Real Madrid plus Jens Lehmann retired and the club suddenly seemed to lack a leader on the pitch. In the last three years the club has been amongst the best in the second half of the league, in 2007 they actually went on to win the Bundesliga title. But this season it is different and difficult too.