Hannover 96 supporters went to new lengths to show their frustrations with German soccer's plans to sell 8% of the media rights. Protests have been common throughout the German soccer divisions over recent weeks. Yet, most of the time, fans throw fake money or tennis balls on the field. This also features banners in the […]

On Friday UEFA conducted the draws for the Champions League and Europa League play-off rounds. In the Champions League, Vfb Stuttgart will be matched against FC Timisoara of Romania’s Liga 1. Timisoara finished as runners-up in last year’s Romanian Championship, and boast the likes of Costa Rican international striker Winston Parks. Having successfully avoided the […]

0 – The number in Frankfurt's win column (still, and I'll keep on mentioning this until Frankfurt take note and do something about it) 5 – Difference in points between 1st (Hamburg) and 11th (Bayern). 6 – Number of goalscorers Hamburg and Werder Bremen have in the top 12 (ie, those who have scored at […]

Having had the time to digest Bayern's 2-5 mauling by Bremen (no need to rehash things here, if you need a refresher check out the excellent post at Deutsche Welle's Ballspiel or the video highlights at 101 Great Goals), I wanted to know exactly how bad it was for the Bavarians. No matter what your […]

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 […]

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 […]

The unexpected bookend to yesterday's surprising transfer of Marcell Jansen to Hamburg is Bayern's acquisition of right back Massimo Oddo on a season-long loan from AC Milan. The 32-year old brings both international class and a warm body to shore up the team's dangerously thin defense. According to Bayern's general manager, Uli Hoeneß, the team […]

Defender Marcell Jansen has transfered from Bayern München to Hamburg today. The 22-year old played 73 games over 3 seasons for Borussia Mönchengladbach before switching to Bayern. Now after only a single year and 17 games in Bavaria he has moved north to Hamburg for an undisclosed sum. He reportedly signed a five-year contract that […]

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 new Bundesliga season is just days away, so Bundesliga Talk writers Mark Moll and Double Pivot decided to interview one of the preeminent writers and authors on the topic of German soccer, Raphael Honigstein. Many readers may know Honigstein best from his appearances on the Football Weekly Podcast by The Guardian. Here's the transcript […]

It's finally official, Rafael van der Vaart the Netherlands midfielder and Hamburg's captain is on his way to Real Madrid pending the results of a medical. The Bundesliga's own version of the Ronaldo affair has come an end. Although the clubs themselves have not released the details regarding the transfer fee, reports in the German […]

As of August 1, GolTV – the 24/7 soccer network – has been removed from DISH Network due to a contract dispute. According to GolTV, "this occurs despite efforts to continue GolTV's availability to Dish customers." DISH Network, in retort, inserted this message when you hit the INFO button where GolTV's channel used to be: […]

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 […]

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 […]