Good 1st half by Bayern, poor 2nd half hosting Dortmund, but me managed to cling on. Dortmund did well though, so I'm pleased Bayern handed them their first loss since the World Club Cup. Kane produced one of the most dominant displays I've seen, taking control from defense and midfield throughout, scoring, and providing numerous exceptional long range passes. Olise did well again. Kimmich looked very good too, sharp precise and driven, few mistakes, and seemingly back to his good old, world-class days. Diaz, while having good skills, is looking a bit wasteful at finishing goals himself, but he gets good assists, and he's certainly producing more than Wirtz is at the moment. Schalke better get promoted soon, or this so-called "biggest rivalry" won't be much bigger than our current rivalry with 1860. I don't see the Stuttgart game as anything special, as they generally pose no threat to us. It might have been different in the 90s, or a single season in the 2000s.
Schalke actually doing well in 2.Bundesliga but as it is Schalke you'll never know how this season ends. Promotion or chaos? They belong in the top tier, a club who has a season average of over 61.000 doesn't belong in the 2.Bundesliga. (they even topped HSV's nearly 57.000. OK, the reason is that the Veltins Arena has 5.000 more capacity than the Volkspark but anyway) btw: Elversberg is phenomenal. Still #1 spot in front of Schalke edit: St.Pauli lost for the 4th time in a row. 0-3 at home agains "Hoppenheim". What's going on suddenly? They started so well into the season (too well I want to add ).
Is that some undecipherable German pun? (If not, I too celebrate Canada’s giant of the film & TV industry: https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mel-hoppenheim )
see: Dietmar Hopp - Wikipedia Brought his childhood club from the lowest ranks of the German Football Pyramid to the Top Tier due to his financial backing. btw: One for @Jason (as I know you understand German) Der beste Harry Kane der Welt I like the title (as if there's more Harry Kanes in the world ). "Bayerns Tor- und Grätschengarant" (maybe: Bayern's goal and tackle guarantee) The kids love him. Lots of him reminds me of Kevin Keegan, when he came over from Liverpool to HSV in 1977. We kids immediately loved him, his work ethic and that he was just such a normal guy and not the star that he already was. Kane is as likeable as Keegan was back then. One negative about him, though, that he's playing and scoring for Bayern (and that he's born in England and not in Germany (as Harald Kahn, younger brother of Oliver )
Zucker Vati Sometimes these 1:1 translations don't work. Tbh I don't know a German expression for it, we mostly just use the english expression Dietmar Hopp transferred his voting majority to the parent club in 2023, so that TSG Hoffenheim is de facto now also a "50+1" club but he still continues to support TSG Hoffenheim, not in the way he did before, though. The man's now 85. btw: Here's the official statement of it: Dietmar Hopp to relinquish special status
Friday results in 1./2.Bundesliga: 1.BL: Werder Bremen vs Union Berlin 1-0 Werder's 2nd home win in a row (I hope HSV can do the same today against Wolfsburg) 2.BL: Fürth vs Karlsruhe 1-4 Schalke vs Darmstadt 1-0 The "Minimalists" again. 8th win in 10th match for Schalke and #1 spot (Elversberg today away in Bielefeld). They scored only 14 goals in those 10 matches but gained 24 points (tbh they only conceded 5 goals). Looks like they're for real this time...ok better wait until the winter break is over ) ******************* HSV today at home against Wolfsburg. Can't wait to go. At least we have the traditional Bundesliga kick-off time of 15:30 (3:30pm for you) back. Love it. In 2.Bundesliga we had to play at 1pm on Saturdays (if it wasn't the evening top game) so it was all a bit hectic for me to get ready in time Wolfsburg actually a bit out of form but I think they'll be on fire against HSV to show that they're better than their actual standing suggests (15th place 1W-2D-4L). HSV form was good the last few matches (even in the last away loss at Leipzig we could've reached more) but I'm still not fully convinced that this isn't just a "Strohfeuer" (flash in the pan?). I know that over the past 15 years (since 2010), I've become more and more of a sceptic because of HSV's form. As a teenager and young adult in the late 70s and early 80s, it was very different. "We'll beat them (every opponent no matter if it was Real Madrid or Bochum) without a doubt" was our motto. Today, it's more "Hopefully we get a point or three." Whether sceptical or optimistic, "Nur der HSV" (only HSV ) is still the motto.
Unbelievable that we lost this match. We had chances for 2 matches, goalpost shots, even a penalty in the 45th min. All wasted. Shots on Goal was HSV 27 and Wolfsburg 6 HSV's xG value was 2.77, Wolfsburg's only 0.37, but they scored the only goal. No wonder, considering you don't even have our best striker of recent years, Robert Glatzel,in the squad, and instead have Königsdörffer, who hasn't scored in weeks (and, of course, missed the aforementioned penalty miserably). That was one of the most unnecessary defeats ever. Damn, three points thrown away carelessly. Hopefully, that doesn't come back to haunt you in the end.
2nd round of the DFB Pokal: Tuesday results: 2 penalty shootouts ("i.E" means "im Elfmeterschießen" (in penalty shootout). St.Pauli luckily equalized in stoppage time of the extra time (120+2nd min) and won the penalty shootout. Surprise result is of course Bochum's 1-0 away win in Augsburg and Kiel's 1-0 away win in Wolfsburg. OK, both played 1.Bundesliga last season, so only a little surprise. HSV with a 1-0 away win in Heidenheim due to a soft penalty. Wednesday matches:
Friday matches: 1.BL: FC Augsburg vs Borussia Dortmund The Bavarian-Swabians under pressure already, or better new Coach Sandro Wagner. Last weeks 0-6 loss at home against Leipzig was a disaster. They can't afford to lose this one, too. Dortmund, though, coming from a penalty shootout win in the Cup in Frankfurt is still on a high. 2.BL Preußen Münster vs Holstein Kiel SV Elversberg vs Hannover 96 Top match in Elversberg: It's #3 vs #4 Elversberg lost the top spot last weekend with a 0-2 loss in Bielefeld whereas Hannover could win the prestigious "Lower Saxony Derby" at neighbour Braunschweig with 3-0. ************* HSV on Sunday in Köln in a match of "2 Newbies" in the Bundesliga Nah, serious. Both are just promoted but also founder members of the Bundesliga in 1963. Köln was even the 1st Bundesliga Champion. Just checked the stats: Quite even the stats in the Bundesliga, although with a slight advantage for HSV (same for the other competitions, 2.BL, Cup and in the pre Bundesliga era the matches in the final round of the German Championship. There we both met only a few times because both clubs played in different Oberligen back then (Köln in Oberliga West and HSV in Oberliga Nord) Although HSV was continuously for 55 years in the Bundesliga,until relegation in 2018, we only played 94 matches against Köln (that's 47 seasons). Means that Köln played longer in the 2nd tier than HSV I hope we get at least a draw in Köln. After 2 very unlucky losses in Leipzig and against Wolfsburg where we both could've (and should've) get points we can't afford to give away all 3 points again edit: Results: Preußen Münster vs Holstein Kiel 2-1 SV Elversberg vs Hannover 96 2-2 FC Augsburg vs Borussia Dortmund 0-1, just finished.
Kompany doesn't think much of Leverkusen then Lots of rotation today. No Olise, Kane, Diaz or Upamecano in the starting 11.
I don't think it was disrespect to Leverkusen but more what we call in German "Belastungssteuerung", a bit of rest and the chance for others. They play PSG on Tuesday, so imo it was ok to rest Kane, Olise, Diaz for 60 min and bring them after an hour (although the match was already decided). They are still winning all their matches this season. Let's see if PSG is the first club this season to get at least a point (or three) from Bayern. Doesn't help the Bundesliga though, if PSG gets a result ******** Anyway, other clubs have real problems St.Pauli lost for the 6th time in a row. Maybe they thought winning the Hamburg Derby at matchday 2 was their season highlight. This time they even lost 0-4 at home against Gladbach who was winless until now. What's going on at our neighbours right now, especially in the defence? That was their best part last season and now this. Leipzig set a new starting record in their (short) Bundesliga time: 22 points after 9 matches (remember that they started the season with a 0-6 away loss at Bayern , after that they won 7 and draw one)
I get that Kompany was thinking about PSG with his decision but it's an interesting game to make that decision. Leverkusen have been one of the best teams in Germany in recent seasons, that's not a game you'd expect Bayern to rotate in. It was the right decision though. They won comfortably without the star players.
Should be a cracker on Tuesday that. Kompany is succeeding in making Bayern fearful across Europe again. Leverkusen have been horrible since Xabi left along with Wirtz, Frimpong, etc. They'll finish towards the CL spots I reckon but lightyears behind Bayern. Witnessing the end of Köln/HSV on the box. 2 red cards for the notherners but they did manage to keep the score at 2-1 until two injury time goals settle the issue and confirm the home win. Looked like a good game.
yes, but not in this season. They are miles away from the team that won the Bundesliga title 2 seasons ago and also from last season's team. Yes, It was a very good match. 2 yellow red cards for HSV in the last 10 mins of regular time really made the difference. Until then it was only 2-1 for Köln and HSV on the brink to equalize (got also 2 goals annulled by var). With only 9 men Köln could score 2 goals in stoppage time (12mins!), in the 94th and 99th min. So the 1-4 loss looks way more bad than it really was. HSV made a good match (like the last 2 matches where we also got nothing from it). I still can't believe that our coach gives Königsdörffer again the starting job instead of Bobby Glatzel. Today he was again a total failure. blocked a good chance for us and had a big chance himself which he failed miserably. He must be benched immediately ffs
Sure. PSG rested Marquinhos entirely yesterday, started a midfielder at center-forward, and only brought in Dembele and Ramos at 72’ mark. (And they only won 1-0 with Ramos scoring at the death when I was rooting for Nice to draw, ouch.) Both clubs played midweek last week as well, so it was sensible for both to give some minutes off for the Heavy Artillery, that we all hope to witness discharging Shock-And-Awe projectile barrages in Paris on Tuesday night.
