Bundesbag Finale - Bayern crowned Champions and Hannover escape the drop

Of course, we already knew the fate of the Bundesliga title before coming into the last round. However, there was the formality of ensuring that the most freakish of results did not take place before Bayern Munich lifted the trophy at the Olympiastadion, Berlin.

The Bavarians left nothing to chance and dispatched an already relegated Hertha Berlin. It was Ivica Olic who opened the scoring. The Croatian has been magnificent this season in both league and cup. As the Bundesbag has pointed out in the past, his brief spell on the sidelines earlier in that campaign can be linked to Bayern's dodgy form at around the same time. He is not able to manipulate the ball with the same skill as Arjen Robben or Franck Ribery, but he is an incredibly focused player with tremendous industry. These attributes can, at times, overshadow his fantastic ability. When Bayern signed Olic, along with Mario Gomez, in the Summer it was thought that the Stuttgart striker would be the more important signing. Not so. For me, Olic is a colossus and as instrumental in Bayern's success as Robben who scored the second and third goals to cancel out Adrian Ramos' equaliser for Hertha.

As for the Berliners, one can only imagine how shell shocked their fans are. This time last year they were challenging for the title and securing a place in Europe. Now they are bottom with nothing to look forward to next year other than a local derby against Union Berlin. You'd imagine that they will bounce straight back but it doesn't seem to work like that in the Germany. Kaiserslautern were relegated in 2006, less than a decade after winning the Bundesliga, yet it has taken them until this season to gain promotion back into the top flight. It may be some time before we see Hertha on these web pages again.

Meanwhile, in Mainz, Schalke, almost out of deference to the new champions had to rely on their keeper Manuel Neuer to stop them going down to the home side. Neuer saved a penalty and the game finished 0-0. Schalke's disappointment is not as severe as the last time they finished second in 2007. Back then they had the title wrenched from them by Stuttgart on the last game of the season. This year, their fans could not have expected to be in contention so late into the season. Riven with financial problems and breaking in youngsters, this was supposed to be a season of transition under Felix Magath. Next year, expectations will be higher and the Royal Blues will also have the rigours of Champions League to contend with.

As will Werder Bremen who have snuck into the third spot at the death. Claudio Pizarro scored his 15th goal of the season to take the lead against Hamburg. Ruud van Nistelrooy made things a shade more interesting and equalised but the point was enough for Werder who, had they started the season as strongly as they finished it, would surely have pushed Bayern very hard for first place.

The point may have proved enough for Hamburg to grab a Europe League spot and salvage something from their wretched season. Denied a dream final at their home stadium by Fulham, their coach sacked amidst rumours that he'd lost the dressing room (usually the last place you look) the Northerners have had yet another anti climactic season. Worse still, in their dying breath, they could not prevent their local rivals from going to the Champions League on the last day. Whoever their new coach is next season, he will have to face a new challenge from even closer because the People's Republic of FC St Pauli are coming to the Bundesliga. The self styled social utopia from the Rieperbahn district of the city would like nothing more that to stick it to those herberts in the suburbs. Hamburg's world has become a little more complicated.


The award for comeback kings has to go to Stuttgart. As the Bundesbag never tires of reminding you, it tipped the Reds to qualify for Europe as early in the season as November when they were languishing in the bottom three. And of course it was right. A 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim settled matters on that score. It should also, very briefly,be observed that Jen Lehmann has retired to go and live on his helicopter farm.


But whither Leverkusen, you ask? For so long, leaders of the Bundesliga the Werkself broke the all-time league unbeaten record. But they can look to a March and April from Hell for where it went wrong. In this two months they only won twice and lost five games. They couldn't even manage to beat a disinterested Borussia Monchengladbach side this weekend and have slumped to fourth. Next season, attention must be given to enhancing their talented squad with more experienced players. They also need a more regular goalscorer to support Stefan Kielßling in attack and a replacement for the fantastic Toni Kroos must be found, assuming he goes back to Bayern.

Rounding off the European qualifiers are Borussia Dortmund who are rewarded for a solid season with fifth place.

At the bottom, it's a miracle for Hannover 96 who have survived the drop to the second division. Nine goals in the last two games has yielded them the six points they needed to escape the relegation zone. Their final game was a sechs punkter at fellow basement dwellers Bochum, who had sacked their coach Heiko Herlich in a desperate attempt to stop their atrocious form which had seen them gain only one point from the last nine games. Goals from Arnold Bruggink, Mike Hanke and Sergio Pinto sealed a 3-0 win and sent the home team down. Coach Mirko Slomka's team can count themselves lucky they they hit form just as their rivals were losing theirs. Nurnberg's four game losing streak cam to an end against Koln but it was not enough to pull them out of the mire. They, at least, have another chance of redemption via a two legged play off with the third-placed .2 Bundesliga team, against Augsberg.

However, the 96ers deserve their luck. Any group of players that had suffered such personal tragedy as they did, following the death of their team mate and goalkeeper Robert Enke was always going to struggle. Indeed, for a while it did appear that the squad had given up. Not so though. Rousing victories against Schalke and 'Gladbach gave them their shot and now, at least, their loss has not been compounded by the considerably less important matter of relegation.

That's it for this season. Results and tables here. The Bundesbag will be back next season, albeit on another website. More information on that will become apparent on Twitter over the next few weeks. Until then, enjoy the World Cup. Come on England!

Bundesbag Vodcast - Week 32 Preview

Bundesbag Week 12 Round Up

It was Tim Vickery who said that of all the unimportant things in the world, football is the most important. So while Germany comes to terms with the death of Robert Enke, let us take a few moments to reflect on trivial yet happier matters, namely last weekend's Bundesliga action.

Bayern Munich have problems. Eighth in the Bundesliga, all but out of the Champions League and handing out fines to players for indiscipline and loose tongues. Under pressure boss Louis Van Gaal substituted Luca Toni at half time in the game against Schalke on Saturday. The Italian international didn't take the decision too well. His response was to get dressed and bugger off. The player was fined for breaching club discipline and the incident can be added to the list of reasons why Toni left Bayern when he eventually does.

More serious was a controversial interview given by Phillip Lahm. The German international criticised the club's transfer policy and generally expressed his unhappiness at the way things were going. These comments were particularly damaging, not because of what was said - more who said it. A loan spell in Stuttgart notwithstanding, Lahm is pretty much Mr Bayern. A player who, as Raphael Honigstein reminds us, was offered gigs at Manchester United and Barcelona but turned them down after receiving assurances from Uli Hoeness that the club were investing in the squad at levels which will satisfy Lahm's ambitions. Given the deficiencies in the Bayern squad and their current position in the Bundesliga and the Champions League, Lahm has every right to feel stitched.

Lahm has been fined more money than any other Bayern player and his since expressed his regret for opening his mouth. But the worms have wiggled free now and the much discussed failings at Bayern have become legitamised by Lahm's words. The question now is how will the club respond?

Of course at times like this the last thing you need during a massive domestic is an old family member to turn up at your place. So when former coach Felix Magath turned up he must have repressed a wry smile as the club that sacked him after winning back to back league and cup doubles were thwarted by an 18-year-old debutant for Magath's current club Schalke. Daniel van Buyten gave the Bavarians the lead after 31 minutes, but the visitors equalised 12 minutes later thanks to young Joel Matip whose playing record reads 'played one, scored one'.

The draw keeps Schalke in fourth behind Hamburg and Werder Bremen who themselves could only manage a point. The former rather spunked their lead against Hanover after Tomás Rincón brought down Jiri Steiner in the 86th minute. The Czech international got up and took the penalty himself. Bremen looked to have the measure of Borussia Dortmund after Mesut Ozil scored the goal of the weekend (a beautiful first time shot taken on the full). However they flagged as the game went on and BVB equalised thanks to a goal from who else but Lucas Barrios.

The match also enjoyed the distinction of having one of the three disallowed goals last weekend. The others were at Mainz where Nurnberg were denied an equaliser and Bochum should have taken the lead against Freiburg only to have the goal disallowed incorrectly. To make things worse, Stefan Reisinger scored for the visitors to claim the three points and really piss off Bochum's new coach Heiko Herrlich (who looked very dashing in his duffel coat, by the way).

Elsewhere, Leverkusen extend their lead at the top to three points after thrashing Frankfurt 4-0. Grafite returned to the Wolfsburg first team and scored in their 2-1 win at Hoffenheim. Stuttgart had Markus Babbel has Jens Lehmann to thank for their 0-0 draw against 'Gladbach. He made some quite sensational saves.

Finally, let us take a moment to observe the goings on in the German capital as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Wall. Bottom club Hertha welcomed fellow strugglers Koln in an atrocious match that ended 1-0 to the visitors thanks to a goal from Slovenian international Milivoje Novakovic. It was another wretched performance by the home team and are in danger of being out of sight by the time the Winter Break comes along.

The other prominent club in Berlin are of course 1. FC Union Berlin who received some coverage on these web pages earlier in the season. The Iron Union were an East Berlin club before the Wall came down and played in the DDR Oberliga. They were a strong anti-Stasi club though and didn't fare too well. The club struggled after German unification but have recovered to the extent that they now sit fourth in the 2.Bundesliga. If they fail to gain promotion they can console themselves with the prospect of playing Hertha next season.


That's it. Results and tables here.

Bundesbag Week 11: After you. No after you.

Every league experiences them, sometimes more than once. That's a weekend where the championship contenders all contrive to lose the initiative.

We'll begin with a shock defeat to Hamburg who were at home to 'Gladbach. A fixture, rare in the Bundesliga as one in which you should have been able to put the house on a home win. However, if the homeless population of the Rieperbahn increased over the weekend it's because the away side stormed back from 2-1 down to win 3-2 thanks to a winner from substitute Rob Friend.

Bruno Labbadia's squad is missing the odd striker or twelve and is said to be interested in signing Andrei Voronin. However, their problems at the back require urgent attention and lend credence to my earlier contention that Bremen are emerging as the title favorites given their strength at the back. At least it would if Werder had not surrendered two goals to Nurnberg and had to chuck the kitchen sink at them to salvage a point.

That draw was enough to briefly move Bremen to the top of the table on Saturday afternoon. The way was clear then for Leverkusen to extend their morning lead or for Schalke to top the table by beating the Bayer club in the 5:30 kick off later that day. Needless to say the pressure got to both of them and the game finished with another 2-2 draw. The result could have been so much more for Leverkusen after going 2-0 up with goals from Toni Kroos and Stefan Kiesling. However, Kevin Kuranyi and Vincente Sanchez lifted the roof off the Arena Auf Schalke with two late strikes to keep their guests on top while narrowing the gap at the top AND bringing Hoffenheim into the fray. Yes, Hoffenheim are back on the agenda after an impressive 1-0 win at Freiburg on Sunday.

Immediately behind them are Bayern Munich who could have sealed Stuttgart coach Marcus Babbel's fate had they won at the Mercedes Benz Stadium. As it happened, the home side busted a gut for their coach and claimed a point in a goalless draw. Babbel lives to fight another day but will fear what awaits them in Sevilla in the Champions League this week. Bayern on the other hand were to suffer the indignity of losing to a French team last night.

Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund are slowly progressing up the table after beating Hertha 2-0 at the Westfalon. BVB had to work hard for their result which was not completely assured until Lucas Barrios scored a late nerve-settler. Improving Hannover should be well pleased with their away win at Koln. Bochum, meanwhile, are not improving and lost again, this time to Frankfurt.

Finally, Mainz have made a great start to the season. They have 18 points, only one behind Bayern and level with their opponents last weekend, Wolfsburg. Much of their success is down to the six goals and five assists from attacking midfielder Andreas Ivenschitz. He was on the mark once again last Saturday. The champions took the lead with two goals from Obafemi Martins. Chadri Amri and Ivenschitz and brought it back to 2-2. Then Misimovic scored The Wolves' third and that looked to be that until Tim Hoogland struck late to round off this weekend of meaningful draws.

In the Second Division, Armenia Bielefeld stay top thanks to goals from Giovanni Federico and Christopher Katongo in their 2-0 win against Cottbus. Second are Kaiserslautern followed by St Pauli.

That's it. Results and tables here. Follow the Bundesbag on Twitter.

Bundesbag Week 10 and DFB Pokal 3rd Round: Stuttgart and Dortmund feel the magic

It is very likely that Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel may be out of the job after the forthcoming weekend. He received the dreaded vote of confidence after their 1-0 defeat to improving Hannover 96 last Saturday but the club's Sporting Director Horst Heldt made it clear that he was looking for a response against the 2 Bundesliga side Greuther Furth in the German Cup (DFB Pokal) on Tuesday. He didn't get one. With a largely unchanged side, Stuttgart were defeated 1-0 and are out of the Cup.

The Reds didn't start last season too well either and Armin Vey last his job as a consequence. However they did win half of their first ten matches in the 2008/09 Bundesliga campaign. This season they have only won two league games in the first eleven and have lost their last five matches in all competitions. Their Champions League campign is in tatters and they are effectively joint second from bottom of the Bundesliga sharing points with 'Gladbach, Nurnberg and Bochum. Babbel is a young and inexperienced coach and people may argue that he needs more time but if recent history is any judge, he will not get it. He has received muted backing from the board this morning (Thursday) but their next game is at home to the unpredictable Bayern Munich. Lose that game and surely it's curtains for Babbel.

Bayern themselves are not exactly having a great time of things and their coach Louis van Gaal needs a convincing result on Saturday to keep on Uli Hoeness' good side. They squeezed past Frankfurt in the league last weekend only to be confronted by them once again in the cup last night. This time the going was much easier and the Bavarians ran Eintracht Frankfurt into the ground with a 4-0 win. Miro Klose scored a brace along with Tommy Muller and Luca Toni who is returning to fitness.

While Stuttgart's cup exit is bad because it is part of a broader context. Dortmund's 3-2 defeat to Third Division Osnabruck was more of an up front embarrassment. A late goal by Lucas Barrios added a veneer of respectability to the result but no-one should be fooled into believing that it was anything less than a convincing win. Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp certainly isn't and was fulsome in his praise of Osnabruck after the match. The good news for Dortmund fans is that Barrios keeps scoring. His consolation was his fourth in four matches following on from BVB's 0-0 draw with Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen last weekend.

There will be a another lower division team in the quarter final draw thanks to the all-second division clash between Duisberg and Augsberg, the latter winning the game 5-0. Apart from that the rest of the round was free of upsets. Hoffenheim hammered Koblenz 4-0 which brings their goal tally to seven games in two after beating Nurnberg at the weekend. Koln could only manage a goalless draw with 'Gladbach at the weekend but are safely through in the cup at the expense of Trier. Bremen are in no mood to take any jip from anyone right now. They thrashed Bochum 4-1 on Sunday and went slightly easier on Kaiserslautern last night, only winning 3-0.

While the news from Schalke's accountants is grim, on the pitch things are looking up for the Royal Blues. A pulsating 3-3 draw with Hamburg (including a last gasp equaliser from Kevin Kuranyi), pegged the League leaders back and keeps them in contention in the Bundesliga. They are also still in the cup thanks to a 3-0 win at 1860 Munich.

It was a quiet mid-week for Wolfsburg and Hertha. Last week I suggested that the only way the Berliners would improve is by dragging the opposition down to their level. Given that they held the Champions to a 0-0 draw last weekend, it looks like they are doing just that.

That's it. Results and tables here.

Bundesbag Week 9: Werder emerge from the pack

I think the jury is still out on Bayer Leverkusen as title contenders. So far this season Jupp Heynckes team have beaten Hoffenheim, Freiburg, Bochum, Wolfsburg, Koln and Nurnberg. Of those six results, only two were against teams from the top half of the table. More pertinently, when they have played fellow contenders Bayer have come up short.

They were held to a scoreless draw by Werder Bremen at the Bayarena and last Saturday, amidst much fanfare, they played their full part in a turgid bore draw at the injury hit Hamburg. In the next four weeks, Leverkusen have to play a resurgent Dortmund and resilient Frankfurt and make trips to Schalke and Bayern Munich. If they come through those fixtures intact, then and only then can Leverkusen be considered the real deal.

They certainly look more assured at the back with Sami Hyppia at centre half. What's more they have Patrick Helmes to return from injury which, assuming he settles back in quickly, will give their forward line an extra boost. I'm not saying they aren't up to the challenge - I'm just saying that we can't be certain yet.

Leverkusen maintained their place on top of the table with Hamburg two points ahead of Schalke who are quietly going about their business. Well as quietly as a football obsessed city with an enormous stadium can be, at least. The Gelsenkirchen club's win at Stuttgart was impressive. The home side played well but have had their confidence shaken by poor results and an indifferent Champions League campaign. After three straight home defeats Stuttgart are officially in crisis and that's before they welcome Sevilla in the Champions League.

Right behind Schalke are Werder Bremen who made an impressive win against Hoffenheim look routine. The game was settled by two first half goals from Claudio Pizzaro and Per Mertesaker. However, that wasn't the whole story. Tim Wiese saved a penalty, Marko Marin and Mesut Osil looked fearsome in attack and their is a swagger about Bremen. They look like a team that is up for the Championship. Why? Because they have the best defensive record in the Bundesliga. That's right, the team that has made a virtue of the devil-may-care 'score at all costs' approach to football has gone five games without conceding a goal. Look it up if you don't believe me.

Elsewhere, Wolfsburg manager Armin Vey left Grafite on the bench in favour of Obafemi Martins for their game against 'Gladbach. Apparently he took it pretty well but he has been critical of his coach's decisions to substitute him in recent games. Since the champions won on the day, the decision was passed off without much controversy. Presumably Grafite will be ready for what promises to be a real battle against Besitkas on Wednesday.

Koln could have scored a hatful against Mainz. As it was they settled for just the one goal from Milivoje Novakovic which was enough for three more points. Lucas Barros is now two for two. He scored the opener in Dortmund's 2-0 derby win against Bochum. Frankfurt jumped straight back on the wagon with a good result against Hannover (2-1). Bayern's 2-1 win at Freiburg was notable for the return of Luca Toni from injury and one of the stupidest own goals by Freiburg defender Du-Chi-Ra that you'll ever see.

Finally, we arrive at Hertha. Occasionally, there is a car crash on a motorway that is so bad that other drivers slow down to have a look and satisfy their ghoulish curiosity. That car crash is Hertha. Their awfulness is positively compelling. You have to go some way to make Nurnberg look good but by Paul Breitner's Mighty Perm they managed it. Burdened still by their hapless keeper Sascha "Was ist das" Burchert they succumbed to a 3-0 defeat. Once again Burchert demonstrated his comedy ball distribution skills which led to the second goal.

In all the years I've spent following football I have rarely seen a team decline so dramatically in such a short space of time. Last season they were two games away from the title. A few months later and they're worse than Portsmouth. The best their new coach Friedhelm Funkel can hope to achieve is to drag their opponents to their level and slow them down to the point where they end up having crashes of their own. Create the footballing equivalent of an accident black spot, if you will.

In 2 Bundesliga, Armenia Bielefeld are top after a 1-0 win over Aachen. They are level on points with Kaiserlautern who could be readying themselves for a return to the big time which would be something. Union Berlin are fourth having slipped somewhat in recent weeks.

That's it. Results and tables here.

Bundesbag Week 7: Hamburg stake their claim | Favre pays the price

There is something reassuring about a 1-0 win, particularly in top of the table clashes. 1-0 says a keenly-contested game between two well-matched teams. 1-0 says attrition, tension, hard work and good defending. 1-0 says a hard-fought, well-earned win. Unlike your 4-3 which says knockabout hi-jinks and grown men wearing party hats.

And so it was, last Saturday evening, the Bundesliga's top club Hamburg faced their stiffest test of the season so far as they welcomed Bayern Munich to the Nordbank Arena. Down the years, this is the moment when the upstart pretender is brought back to Earth by the moustache-twirling Bavarians who gleefully put them back in their place. But that was the Bayern of old. The new Bayern are like Liverpool in the early 90's, a diminished force trading on past glories with a dodgy back four.

You'll gather from the preceding paragraphs that events did not go too well for Bayern and you'd be right. Hamburg won the match, you guessed it, 1-0 thanks to a second half goal from Croatian international striker Mladen Petric. Having said that, if the Bayern coach hadn't dropped goalkeeper Michael Rensing earlier in the season, the result could have been more like 6-0. Thankfully for the Munich club, Hans Jorge Butt is made of stronger stuff and made some big saves in the match.

For Hamburg, who have struggled in recent Cup fixtures, the result is a clear marker. The season is beginning to take shape and Hamburg have beaten Wolfsburg and now Bayern. Bruno Labbadia has placed the club flag in the centre circle and declared their intention to win the League and it's too late to take it back now.

Keeping pace with Hamburg at the top are Bayer Leverkusen. They also won their weekend game 1-0. While their opponents were the less illustrious Koln, this fixture is a keenly contested derby match and was settled by Leverkusen's captain Simon Rolfes. To combine the Koln fans misery, they also had to watch their Portuguese playmaker Maniche get sent off for stamping on Arturo Vidal's goolies.

Meanwhile, further up the Rhine, the big Ruhr Derby took place at the Westfalon between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04. BVB have had a poor start to the season with some of the new signings not settling in too well, one of them being Lucas Barrios. The Argentine had thought that he'd finally got off the mark for his new club against the best possible time with a shot from distance which rebounded off the crossbar and across the line. Unfortunately the linesman was not up with the ball and the goal never stood. To make matters worse for BVB and better for Schalke, Jefferson Farfan (a player rejuvenated under new boss Felix Magath) popped up to score the game's only goal.

While we're here, we may as well wrap up the 1-0 scorelines with an excellent win for Bochum on Friday at Nurnberg. Diego Klimovicz scored the goal on 7 minutes and his team mates held on to give interim coach Frank Heinemann his first win in his first Bundesliga match.

Elsewhere, champions Wolfsburg warmed up for their visit to Old Trafford on Wednesday with a 4-2 victory over Hannover. Claudio Pizzaro was on the mark twice for Werder Bremen as they beat Mainz 3-0. Eintracht Frankfurt's unbeaten run came to an end at home to Stuttgart, two goals from the young forward Julian Scheiber plus one from Thomas Hitzlsperger doing the damage. Freiburg beat 'Gladbach by the same scoreline which keeps them comfortably in mid-table for now.

In Hoffenheim it was a day of great joy and sorrow. The Hoff's Bosnian striker Vedad Ibisevic has been waiting to get back on the scoresheet after missing half of last season with injury. On Sunday, the floodgates opened and he scored a whizz hat-trick as the home side destroyed Hertha 5-1. The result proved to be too much for the Berliners who decided to sack their coach Lucien Favre on Monday.

Favre had led his team to fourth place last season and could still have won the title on the penultimate game. However, the sale of Josep Simunic to Hoffenheim and the failure to retain Andrey Voronin for another season clearly left a gaping hole in the side. Hertha have conceded eleven goals in the last three Bundesliga matches and were knocked out of the German Cup by 1860 Munich. It's hard to see any manager recovering from such a mauling, frankly. To make matters worse, Lothar Matthaus is tipped to replace Favre.

It's not all doom and gloom in the capital. While the top club in the city may be about to become the biggest car crash of the season, down the road at Stadion An Der Forestei, Union Berlin keep on winning in 2. Bundesliga. Their latest victory was against Rot Weiss Ahlen puts them second in the table. Kaiserlautern are top on goal difference after beating Karlsruhe 2-0.

That's it. Results and tables here. Follow the Bundesbag on Twitter.

Bundesbag Week 6: Koller gets his cards

When Thomas Tuchel took charge of Mainz on the eve of the Bundesliga season, eyebrows were raised and concerns expressed. What chance would a newly promoted club have? What chaos must they be in to change managers before a ball is kicked? Well, it looks as though we needn't have worried. Tuchel seems to have things under control and in the 18-year-old Andre Schurlle, they may have uncovered a gem.

The German Under-19 international forward was promoted from the second team for this season and has played in every game so far. On Saturday Schurlle scored his first goals of the campaign at Bochum. The first was to draw his side level after going 2-1 down from strikes by Mimoun Azaouagh and Diego Klimowicz for the home team. He scored once again to clinch three valuable points on the road. The value of the win can't be understated. A good season for Mainz would still see them not far off the relegation zone. So an away win at Bochum would be seen as priceless when you consider that their opponents are a familiar fixture in the Bundesliga's nether regions.

Unfortunately, the Bochum board arrived at the same conclusion and consequently sacked their coach Marcel Koller. "We owe Marcel Koller a lot," said club sports director Thomas Ernst "We are in our fourth consecutive year in the top flight under him and that had not happened since our first relegation in 1993. We wish him all the best." Unfortunately, the draft press release to be used in the event that the board decided to sack him after their meeting on Sunday was published a day early on the official website. Koller didn't know about it but it's still a shitty way to treat someone. Needless to say the club were embarrassed and apologised. Let's hope Koller finds another job soon but it should be said that from what I've seen of Bochum this season, they are rubbish and will struggle to stay up.

The result put Mainz in sixth place, level on points with Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich. The Hoff are back in the groove and came back from 2-0 down away from home to win 4-2 with goals from Sejad Salihovic, Maicosuel, Denbar Ba and Chinedu Obasi. Their opponents? Who else but 'Gladbach.

Bayern faced local rivals Nurnburg who were buoyant after their first win of the season, last week. However, goals from Ivica Olic and Daniel van Buyten saw off their neighbours in a workmanlike performance.

Elsewhere, Hannover seem to be shoring themselves up defensively under new coach Andreas Bergmann. They managed a 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund who just can't seem to get going this season. Frankfurt are at it again. This time thwarting leaders Hamburg with a 1-1 draw. Wolsfburg carried on after their stout work in the Champions League and beat Schalke. Edin Dzeko scored both goals in a 2-1 win at Gelsenkirchen, much to Felix Magath's chagrin. Bayer Leverkusen v Werder Bremen promised goals goals goals on Sunday but delivered zzz as the game ended 0-0. Hertha are in trouble, Freiburg are in dreamland. The Bundesliga new boys thrashed the Berliners at the Olympic Stadium 4-0. A brilliant result for Robin Dutta's men but wither Berlin? A dreadful result.

Koln were clearly stung by the Bundesbag's scathing criticism and responded with a 2-0 win at Stuttgart. Sebastian Freis and Wilfried Sanou scored the goals. Sanou's came courtesy of a moment of colossal clownary by Jens Lehmann. The Stuttgart keeper took possession of the ball and decided to advance up the field with it in order to launch the ball deeper into the Koln half. Only problem was that he was not aware of the presence of Sanou behind him. Sanou promptly took the ball off him and stroked it into an empty net from 25 yards. Presumably there was no call from Lehmann's team mates which tells you something. The former Arsenal man was so miffed that he decided to drown his sorrows in Munich at the Oktoberfest. Unfortunately for him, he did so without the club's permission and has been disciplined and dropped. One suspects that communication should be top of Marcus Babbel's ever growing list of things to do.

In 2.Bundesliga, Union Berlin are back on top of the table after a sensational 5-4 victory against Paderborn at An der alten Försterei. The Iron Union are still unbeaten after six games.

That's it. Results and tables here. Follow the Bundesbag on Twitter.

Bundesbag Week 5 and Champions League Update - Two and a half out of three

Public displays of fake unity are never entirely convincing. Take Brown and Blair in the 2005 election campaign or Ritchie and Madonna in the final days of their marriage. However, the post-goal celebration between Franck Ribery and his boss Louis van Gaal was positively coital in its intensity. It had been suggested that the pair had been at odds but all that was put to one side as Franck, a second half substitute in Bayern Munich's game at Dortmund, scored from a magnificent free kick and ran into the arms of his beloved coach. Were the majority of the 80,000 spectators at Dortmund's Westfalon Stadion not so miserable they would have turned away in mild embarrassment.

The match ended 5-1 and put the cap on what has been a largely miserable weekend for yours truly. But while Franck stole the headlines, the match should also be remembered for two fantastic goals by Thomas Muller, making only his 9th Bundesliga appearance for Bayern. Muller turned 20 only last Monday and added to his tally on Tuesday against Haifa in the Champions League. The Bundesbag advises the discerning to keep a close eye on the young Muller.

With Bayern, seemingly back in business (although I'm far from convinced by their defence) the current champions Wolfsburg are having a decidedly mixed time of things. They welcomed joint table-toppers Leverkusen to the VW Arena hoping to end their run of two defeats. After half an hour, the Wolves had their keeper Diego Benaglio sent off for a professional foul. Things went downhill from there as the Bayer club took full opportunity of the man advantage with two goals from Rolfes (one being a harsh penalty in my view) and a third from Kiesling.

However, the Champions recovered themselves and scored two in reply. While they still lost the game 3-2, they remain unbowed. They can console themselves with their maiden Champions League win on their first ever appearance in that competition. Grafite was the hat trick hero as they beat CSKA Moscow 3-1. An impressive result. It also represent coach Armin Vey's first win at that level after his dismal run with Stuttgart a couple of seasons back.

Stuttgart are the Bundesliga's other Champions League team. Their preparation could have been better after going down 3-1 to the league's other leaders Hamburg. Coach Bruno Labbadia had some bad news after the World Cup qualifying weekend as Paulo Guerrero and Colin Benjamin returned with long term injuries. Fortunately, his squad is deep and goals from Mladen Petric, Eljero Elia and the excellent Ze Roberto sealed the win for the northerners. Russian international striker Pavel Pogrebnyak scored Stuttgart's consolation goal. He scored once again in the Champions League against Rangers. The game finished 1-1 and capped off an unbeaten start for the German clubs, although you suspect that Stuttgart will be dissappointed with a point.

Elsewhere, Frankfurt's decent start to the season continued at Freiburg with a 2-0 win to take them to fourth in the table. Berlin's wretched start to the season continued at Mainz with a 2-1 defeat. Hoffenheim's Vedad Ibisevic has yet to score since his return from injury but that's OK because the rest of his chums seem happy to fill in for him. Hoff beat Bochum 3-0. Nurnberg are finally off the mark thanks to a 1-0 home win against 'Gladbach. Bremen encountered stiff opposition against Hannover and had to settle for a point in a goal less draw.

Rooted to the bottom are Koln who will need to improve massively if they plan on being anywhere else. While Lucas Podolski equalised after Jefferson Farfan's 2nd minute opener, the German international looked wayward and undisciplined in attack. The two midfielders Petit and Maniche look unfit and more concerned with trying to win free kicks (although they can both play when they want to). To be blunt, they seem short of answers and deserved to lose 2-1 after Kobiashvili scored the winner. There is much work for their coach Zvonimir Soldo to do, unless of course, he is part of the problem.

Meanwhile, the .2 Bundesliga top spot is being shared by two of the coolest clubs in Europe, Union Berlin and FC St Pauli. Union shared 9 (nine) goals at the weekend with Paderborn at An der alten Försterei. It finished 5-4 to the Berliners.

That's it. Results and tables here.

Bundesbag Week 4: A little R 'n' R

There is a good reason why I'm a mere football blogger and Louis Van Gaal is a successful football manager and here's it is. When the news broke that Arjen Robben was signing for Bayern Munich I scoffed. "Pah!" I said "What do Bayern need another winger for. They need an attacking central midfielder, not competition for Franck Ribery."

Little did I know of course that Robben was to be played as an attacking midfielder. I was soon to find out and so were Wolsfburg. They were on the receiving end of the Dutchman's second half debut which resulted in him scoring two goals and linking up with Ribery like they'd played together for years. In 45 minutes Bayern had gone from a stuttering, uncertain team to Bundesliga contenders.

The problem is that a season doesn't last 45 minutes and the Munich club still have pressing issues at the back. Were it not for the intervention of Hans Jorge Butt in goal and Phillip Lahm on the goal line, Wolfsburg would have scored at least two goals and the outcome may have been different. On the plus side, the brilliant Anatoliy Tymoschuk not only nullified the Champion's attacking midfielder Zvjezdan Misimovic but was able to distribute the ball to the forward line superbly. Once they got past him mind, things got a bit tense and Bayern, in my opinion, remain vulnerable to wide balls and set pieces.

But what's this? The third Bundesbag in a row which has started with Bayern? What's this - the Bavarianbag? Why are we concerning ourselves with a mid-table outfit struggling to recover past glories when we should be looking to the top of the table and Hamburg?

There were no last minute transfer rabbits pulled from the hat up north. Bruno Labbadia had settled on his side in good order and he is reaping the dividends. The Red Shorts are brimming with attacking zeal in the likes of Paolo Guerrero, Mladen Petric, Piotr Trachowski and Ze Roberto. They may not be international household names but these guys know how to score goals. It was Guerrero who took centre stage on Sunday with a brace against Koln. Trochowski scored the third in the 3-1 win from the spot. The penalty was won under contentious circumstances with Koln keeper Mondragon claiming he never touched Ze Roberto, implying therefore that the Brazilian had dived. Unfortunately, there were no Scotsmen around to get a definitive opinion.

Koln didn't look as bad as the scoreline suggests. If they can find Lukas Podolski's 'on' switch and stop making stupid defensive mistakes they should be OK. You sense that they'll be fine after their first win.

Joint top of the table are Bayer Leverkusen who had to come back from a goal down after a mistake from Manuel Friedrich led to Diego Klomowicz giving their opponents Bochum a 1-0 lead. Friedrich made up for his error with an equaliser before Stefan Kießling restored order. 2-1 was the final score at the Bayarena.

In third are Werder Bremen and it's great to see them back at their knockabout best in a cracking 3-2 victory over Hertha Berlin at the Olympiastadion. Mesut Ozil was on target yet again. His third goal in 4 games. Could he be this season's Vedad Ibisevic?

Last season's Vedad Ibisevic was of course Vedad Ibisevic. He's struggling to find his scoring boots since his return from injury but that's OK because his team Hoffenheim are off and running with their first win of the campaign. Carlos Eduardo scored with an absolute scorcher at Hannover who have given interim coach Andreas Bergmann the gig full time.

Elsewhere, Stuttgart are struggling to get their groove on. They could only manage a 0-0 draw with Nurnberg. Eintracht Frankfurt may prove to be difficult to beat this season and they had a perfectly good goal ruled offside in their 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund. Also, I had a feeling that Mainz would not have returned to Earth after their magnificent win over Bayern in Week 3 and for once I was right. They lost 2-0 to Borussia Monchengladbach thanks to Raul Bobadilla's first goal since his arrival and a wonderful solo effort by Marco Rues. Remember the name.

Felix Magath's position at Schalke 04 was strengthened further last week as he took on the operating duties of the club president and effectively became part of the Board. He would have like to have celebrated his elevation with a comfortable home win against lowly Freiburg. Instead he suffered a 1-0 home defeat to the same. South Korean striker Du-Ri Cha was the pain provider. While it's still early in the season you can't help but wonder if Magath is simply being given a few extra yards of rope to hang himself with. We'll see.

In the 2 Bundesliga, FC St Pauli are the new leaders after an emphatic 4-0 (gerd) mullering away at Karlsruhe. Union Berlin are level on points with the Rieperbahn club after only managing a 1-1 draw at Augsburg.

That's it. Results and tables here. Follow the Bundesbag on Twitter.

Bundesbag Week 3: Bayern stripped bare

Anybody who uses the phrase "Hat's off!" is my kind of fella. That's why I like Mainz coach Thomas Tuchel. Not only has he taken control of his squad with less than a week's notice prior to the start of the season following the dramatic dismissal of his predecessor, but when he masterminded his team's magnificent 2-1 victory over the mighty Bayern Munch at the weekend, he proudly uttered the words "Hats off to my team". I had no idea the expression had a place in the German language. I wonder how it translates?

As for Bayern: Epic FAIL! Louis Van Gaal talks big but has so for been unable to contrive a win. Now he and his club have been embarrased by a newly-promoted team managed by an eccentric who uses expressions like "Hats off"!

In fairness, Van Gaal cannot take all of the blame for Bayern's malaise. If you follow the Bundesbag on Twitter you may have picked up a couple of links to blog posts by a Bayern fan who spells out, in gruesome detail, the systematic failure in the club's recruitment and youth policy. Also, look at Bayern's defence which has gone from Massimo Oddo, Lucio, Martin Demichelis and Phillip Lahm to two Edson Braafheid, Holger Badstuber (both youngsters), Daniel Van Buyten and Lahm. Demichelis will be back from injury in due course but some will argue that he was part of their defensive problems last year.

Goalkeeper Michael Rensing it criticised for not instilling enough confidence in his team-mates and not saving enough goals. I'm told that Van Gaal's insistance on playing Bastien Schweinsteiger in the central attacking midfield position is just plain wrong. Ask a Bayern Munich fan about that position and the answer you'll get will be something along the lines of "We should have signed Diego instead of Gomez".

But where are my manners? Forget Bayern, what of Mainz? This was a magnificent victory and by the looks of things it was a joyous occassion. The home side took the lead thanks to a hideous goalkeeping error by Rensing who should have saved from Andreas Ivanschitz shot. Their second came from Aristede Bance who beat Van Buyten in the air to head home. The first half was all Mainz. The second was a different story. Young Thomas Muller was among the substitutes made by Van Gaal and he breathed some life back into the Bavarians. Their goal came from a Mainz player, Nikolce Noveski who out through his own net. It wasn't enough though and Thomas Tuchel's face on the final whistle was a sight to behold. Hats off to him.

Mainz' fellow promoted sides, Freiburg and Nurnberg are not finding the going so easy. Although in fairness, they had the disadvantage of having to play a good team (unlike Bayern) and a side that is celebrating the departure of their moribund coach (also unlike Bayern but you never know) respectively. Both teams went down to heavy home defeats. The heaviest being Freiburg's whose philosophy of attractive football is making them vulnerable it seems. They were thrashed 5-0 by Leverkusen. Tranquillo Barnetto was far from tranquil as he scored a brace which took the Bayer club to the top of the table. Nurnberg meanwhile also lost to Hannover... yes Hannover. Now free of their coach Dieter Hecking the squad could relax and play a bit of football. Czech striker Jiri Stajner scored both goals in his club's first win of the season.

Elsewhere, Felix Magath's unbeaten record at Schalke contuned thanks to a 0-0 snorefest at Hoffenheim. Frankfurt have a zero in their Loss Column to go with the one in their goalless draw with Koln who are struggling to get started. Bochum were victorious over Hertha who are in for the mother of all hangovers following their Voronin inspired heroics last season. Werder were impressive against 'Gladbach and won 3-0 thanks to goals from Naldo and new/old siging Claudio Pizzaro who is finally back on the payroll at Bremen. BVB licked their wounds after their 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Hamburg with a 1-1 draw with Stuttgart.

And it was another four star performance from Hamburg this weekend which has firmly established them as title contenders. They travelled to the champions Wolfsburg and returned with four goals and three points - the first team to do so in an age. The Wolves were a shade unlucky for the first two goals. Guerrero's shot hit the post and rebounded off Wolfsburg keeper Diego Benaglio and into the net. The second from Eljero Elia had a suspicion of offside in the build up. Nevertheless, it was be churlish to suggest that Hamburg did not deserve their half time lead. However, upon the restart, Wolfsburg showed the resiliance of champions as they clawed their way back to 2-2 with strikes from Misimovic and Martins. Hamburg were not to be denied though and Mladen Petric scored their third followed by a quite beautiful run and strike from Romeo Castelan.

In the 2 Bundesliga Union Berlin won again. This time against Rostock. John Jairo Mosquera scored the only goal at An der alten Försterei which was his second of the season. It's still early days but do we dare imagine a Berlin Derby in the 1 Bundesliga next season - assuming, of course, Hertha stay up?

That's it. Results and tables here. Follow the Bundesbag on Twitter and on Goalpostr.

Bundesbag Week 2 - Hecking moves closer to the edge

OK so we're only two games in but could we be seeing the early signs of how the new Bundesliga season is going to shape up? At the end of last season, most pundits believed that Wolfsburg might dip somewhat following their magnificent success last season and the inevitable departure of their best forwards, not to mention that of Svengali coach Felix Magath. However, with Dzeko, Grafite and Misimovic safely in harness, the Wolves have picked up where they left off last season with two straight wins.

Their most recent triumph was at Koln. The home side played well and took the lead through Fabrice Ehret. The champions piled on the pressure in the second half and eventually Grafite scored the equaliser. Unwilling to leave it at that, Armin Veh's team pushed on and forced a ricket out of Koln midfielder Pierre Wome who's glancing header ended up in the back of his own net. New signing Obafemi Martins finished the job and flattened the partisan home support.

That's the sort of start that would have you sat proudly atop the fledgling league. However, Wolfsburg were to be denied that honour by their former coach, the aforementioned Felix Magath whose Schalke team beat local rivals Bochum 3-0. Magath has promoted a number of young players into the first team, presumably in the hope that it will change the dynamic in the dressing room. One of them is Christophe Moritz who scored a lovely goal to get things going. The other goals were scored by Heiko Westermann and Jefferson Farfan, both of whom seem much improved from the moribund days under Fred Rutten last season.

Missing from the top of the table are Bayern Munich. This time they were thwarted by a resilient Werder Bremen side still smarting from their home defeat to Frankfurt last week. Mesut Ozil seems to be slipping comfortably into Diego's shorts and put his team 1-0 up with a technically difficult shot in the penalty area. Franck Ribery started on the bench for Bayern and it took his guile to finally break down Werder's resolve. Mario Gomez scored his first league goal for his new club, from a Phillip Lahm cross, to level the game up. 1-1 was the final score.

Gomez' old side Stuttgart look like they'll do just fine without him. His replacement is Pavel Pogrebnyak and like Gomez, he scored his first goal on his home debut in his new club's 4-2 win over Freiburg. That's four goals conceded in two games though which suggests that Markus Babbel may need to swat up on defensive tactics while he is doing his coaching badges.

Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen returned to the new and improved Bayarena after a pretty disastrous half-season at Dusseldorf. They immediately made themselves comfortable with a handy 1-0 win over Hoffenheim. Stefan Kiessling had the honour of scoring the first league goal at the revamped stadium. Frankfurt's first home game wasn't quite as impressive as their win at Bremen but a 1-1 draw against a decent Nurnberg side keeps their unbeaten run going at least. Marcus Berg started paying back his record transfer fee by contributing to Hamburg's 4-1 demolition of BVB. 'Gladbach will win many friends with the attacking verve of Juan Arango and Karim Matmour. However, if the latter continues to go on the attack deep into injury time when his team are 2-1 up and he is handily placed near the corner flag they will certainly drop points over the course of the season. On this occasion no harm was done and 'Gladbach promise to be good value this season and not among the worst teams in the Bundesliga.

Unlike Hannover 96 who are pretty awful. Coach Dieter Hecking was under pressure before the 1-1 draw with Mainz. His position as coach is now under direct threat after the game. The club's board have publicly backed him, however if he comes through the next two fixtures at Nurnberg and at home to the Hoff without a decent points haul, he could be gone assuming he lasts that long.*

The official Bundesbag 2 Bundesliga Game Of The Week was the clash between the two new boys and top two teams in the division, Union Berlin and Fortuna Dusseldorf. There was a cracking atmosphere at An der alten Försterei which has been completely refurbished during the close season using labour and materials supplied entirely by the supporters. Their hard work and dedication was rewarded by a home win. Kenan Sahin was the scorer in Union's 1-0 victory. Hat's off to the Iron Union.

That's it. Results and tables here. Follow the Bundesbag on Twitter and on Goalpostr.

*Hannover 96 parted company with Dieter Hecking on Wednesday 19th August

Bundesbag Week 1 - Big Sami

There are few sweeter occasions in the football calender than the opening day of a northern European season. The sun shines down on the supporters of every club who turn up in their droves to welcome the players back. The players themselves, grateful to be back in business after the tedium of pre-season, can't wait to get started. And for at least one week, everyone can cast aside the angst, cynicism and pessimism to embrace unbridled optimism, even if it's only for one game. Which, in Werder Bremen's case is all they got.

The loss of Diego to Juventus was always going to be a blow for Werder. However, the re-emergence of Mesut Özil plus the arrival of Marko Marin and return of Tim Birowski suggested that Bremen were well equipped to challenge for a European place and they still might. However, a pre-requisite for success and a surefire way of pouring a bucket of water over early season hopes is to lose to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Without going to all the trouble of collecting any statistics I'm pretty certain that Frankfurt have appeared in the "Elsewhere" paragraph of Bundesbag's passim more than any other club. They have been, in recent years, probably the most banal, mediocre football club in the Bundesliga. Too useless to do anything exciting, not useless enough to get seriously involved in a relegation scrap. This season however, they have have made the boldest of statements of intent by involving themselves in a five goal thriller at the Weserstadion and headed home with the points.

Iaonnis Amanatidis opened the scoring after six minutes only for Özil to equalise from the spot on thirteen. Amanatidis was on the mark a second time with a classic poacher's strike. Boubacar Sanogo got the home side level and with the crowd behind them pushed on for the winner. Then calamity. After 71 minutes Frankfurt's usually hapless Martin Fenin found the ball coming towards him while he stood only feet from the goal line. Fighting his own instincts to try and intervene (and consequently spoon the ball over the bar) he did nothing and watched as the ball bounced off his leg and into the net. For a striker whose goal-scoring record is closer to that of a full back, it was a great moment and perhaps the break he needs to finally live up to his early promise.

The final whistle was greeted with boos from an angry Weserstadion, furious that their early season buzz should be harshed in such a manner. And if they were angry, imagine the dismay of the Bayer Leverkusen fans who traveled to newly promoted Mainz.

Tim Hoogland put the home side ahead after five minutes to get the crowd jumping. Bayer hit back with two goals before half time from Eren Derdiyok on his debut and a delightful strike by Stefan Kiesling. Then controversy. Mainz substitite Aristide Bancé came into slight contact with Leverkusen's Sami Hyypia. He collapsed in a heap and won a free kick. Direct from the spot kick Daniel Gunkel scored with an impressive strike. Understandably, Leverkusen felt hard done by and even the clubs mild-mannered sporting director Rudi Voller felt moved to criticise Bancé's theatrics: “He’s three-metres tall, Yet a mosquito lands on his back and it’s enough to knock him down.” I wouldn't describe big Sami as a mosquito but you can see where he's coming from.

That wasn't the end of it though. Leverkusen continued their attack and Mainz were forced to clear their lines. The ball was played back toward the home goal and 'Fanis Geikas did well to spring the offside trap and slip in between two retreating team mates from an onside position to score. His celebrations died in his mouth as the linesman mistook Geikas for one of the offside players and disallowed the goal. An easy mistake to make for a schoolboy but extremely amateur for a top class assistant referee. Let's hope the powers that be remind him of the standards he is expected to keep.

On the other hand it was a great day for Mainz and their new coach Thomas Tuchel.

Elsewhere, Wolfsburg became the first team since Werder in 1993 to be top of the table on the first day of a season after having been top on the last day of the season before. This is thanks to goals from Misimovic and Grafite in their 2-0 win over Stuttgart (who went down to ten men due to injury). Bayern Munich skipper Marc Van Bommel (left) faces a long lay off after stubbing his toe in the 1-1 draw against Hoffenheim. BVB were all over Koln at the Westfalon but thanks to some brilliant keeping by Faryd Mondragon the score was kept down to 1-0 to Dortmund (and even that was an own goal). Felix Magath's first priority as new manager at Schalke would have been to shake Kevin Kuranyi out of his stupor. And he seems to have succeeded. The former German international scored two in the Gelsenkirchen club's 2-1 win at new boys Nurnburg (another set of fan's bubbles burst). Hertha squeezed a result out of the dogged Hannover 1-0. Freiburg can be pleased with a home point against Hamburg on their return to the Bundesliga.

On Sunday, last season's strugglers Borussia Monchengladbach and Bochum met at the Rewirpower Stadion for a six goal ding-dong. 'Gladbach took a 3-0 lead in the first half thanks to goals from new boy Juan Arango then Roberto Colautti and Roel Brouwers. If the first half was chalk then the second was cheese. Bochum struck back after 51 minutes with a thundering strike outside the area from Mimoun Azaough. 'Gladbach's inability to close down long-range shots down was demonstrated still further a minute later as Azaough struck again to make the score 3-2. The home side piled on the pressure, restricting their guests to a handful of chances. Dante was sent off for 'Gladbach on 60 minutes and Bochum finally equalised three minutes later thanks to Stanislav Sestak. A brilliant and richly deserved comeback.

Meanwhile, in 2 Bundesliga, the day couldn't have gone better for newly promoted Union Berlin and Fortuna Düsseldorf. Both teams won 3-0. Düsseldorf's victory was at home to Paderborn while Union's was away at Oberhausen. It should be a great occasion for Union in their first home fixture of the season this weekend as they will face none other than Fortuna in the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.

US readers may be interested to learn that former FC Dallas striker Kenny Cooper scored on his debut for 1860 Munich in their 2-1 win over Koblenz.

That's it. Results and tables here. Follow the Bundesbag on Twitter here.