Schalke ended a five-match losing streak on Wednesday evening after they pulled off a last-minute win away to Freiburg. Few could see, after so many disappointing defeats, how Magath's side would be able to pick themselves up with morale seemingly in the dumps throughout the squad. Despite that, Felix Magath's side grabbed their first win […]

3 – Likely number of German top goalscorers over the past 10 years by season's end. With Ibisevic's injury cementing his tally at 18, it seems likely that Patrick Helmes (17), Mario Gomez or Grafite (14 each) will end up with title of Torschützenkönig. BUT if Grafite were to win, it'd increase the number of […]

I wanted to point out this great collection of pictures available at Auswärtssieg! (away win!) a German Schalke blog. Unfortunately for Auswärtssieg! Schalke went down 2-1 to Leverkusen, but that shouldn't prevent us from enjoying these great pictures. Here are a few to whet your appetite: You can look at the rest of them here.

0 – Number of wins by Frankfurt, the last remaining winless team 5 – Total number of shots by Gladbach in their 0-1 defeat to Hamburg 7 – Goals scored by Patrick Helmes this season, that's equal to or more than 8 teams (Hertha, Köln, Hannover, Karlsruhe, Bochum, Cottbus, Frankfurt, and Gladbach) 8.06 – The […]

1 – Number of weeks Hamburg spent at the top of the table 2 – Number of 0-0 draws after five weeks 5 – Clean sheets, tied (alongside week 4) for the most in one week 8 – Minutes it took sub Jonas Kamper to score in Bielefeld's 2-0 win over Köln 11 – The […]

Football is not always a beautiful game; sometimes bookings are necessary. Thankfully, we're on hand to keep all these bookings straight. There are 34 distinct offences that the DFB considers bookable. In their honor I've written this paean to the punished: We are here not to castigate but to celebrate these masters of misconduct, ballerinas […]

While this is expected to become a weekly column, I have decided to hand out the first Weekly XI based on the cumulative efforts of the first three weeks. I will use a 3-4-3 formation for my picks. GK: Mathias Schober (Schalke 04) – The veteran backup has taken over during Manuel Neuer's injury and […]

st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } 1. Parity Okay, let’s not kid ourselves. Not any team can win the Bundesliga. But since the inception of the EPL in 1991, four teams have won the title: United, Blackburn, Chelsea and Arsenal, but United has won 11 of those titles. In that same span, five teams have won the title in […]

Schalke, currently sitting at the top of the Bundesliga, have surged ahead to the peak of another, less prestigious table – the goalkeeper injury table. First choice keeper Manuel Neuer has yet to make an appearance this season, having broken his fifth metatarsal during a pre-season friendly against SpVgg Erkenschwick (currently playing in the equivalent […]

I have just returned from my summer holidays, where I had a lovely respite from footie. However, here we are with the season two weeks deep and I am behind. But I am afforded the luxury of making my tactical analysis on two games rather than one, which can be useful. I decided to spend […]

1st Schalke What You Know: If baseball's Chicago Cubs had a baby with the Red Sox prior to 2004, Schalke would be the offspring. What You Don’t: All things both good and bad must end. What to Expect: Yes, Campeones! I say that, bucking all trends, and knowing full well that Schalke could be leading […]

The Deutsche Presse Agentur released a poll yesterday about predictions for the upcoming season. Bayern Munich was the unanimous favorite of Bundesliga coaches to repeat as champions. The most common reason given was the quality of Jürgen Klinsmann's squad. What follows is a hasty translation of what each of the 18 gaffers had to say […]

Continuing our series introducing the Bundesliga's newest gaffers is Jürgen Klopp now with Borussia Dortmund. For those of you at home wondering why Klopp was chosen to follow Klinsmann wonder no more. Was it to juxtapose the long-serving Klopp with the journeyman Klinsmann? Was it because both were football commentators for the German public television […]

The fixtures for the opening day of the 2008/2009 Bundesliga season have been announced. All of these matches will be played on Saturday, August 16: FC Bayern v Hamburg Schalke v Hannover Wolfsburg v Cologne Bayer Leverkusen v Borussia Dortmund Eintracht Frankfurt v Hertha Berlin Karlsruhe v Bochum Energie Cottbus v Hoffenheim Arminia Bielefeld v […]

The 45th season of the Bundesliga has come to an end with comparatively little drama or theatrics. Bayern all but guaranteed itself the title with a busy summer in the transfer market, spending 70 million Euros on Luca Toni (the league's top scorer), Franck Ribery (world class playmaker) and the rest. While this investment was […]