The Bundesliga finally returns to our television and computer screens after a two-week hiatus.
Boris Vukcevic is no longer in critical condition. This will only serve as good news for Markus Babbel’s side. His side will look to grab some points against newly promoted Greuther Fürth. ‘A rude awakening’ is the best way to describe Fürth’s current problems. They have scored a meager two goals and have won just once. They are stuck in the relegation zone currently alongside Augsburg and Stuttgart.
Augsburg on match-day seven played majestically as they took Bremen to the cleaners. The performance merited a first win of the season thoroughly. They play Nürnberg this week in a Bavarian derby. Nürnberg lost 3-0 to Freiburg. At 1-0 down, they had a great chance for an equalizer. Had that happened, perhaps Nürnberg would have had a draw.
Nürnberg’s fellow Bavarians, Bayern München, welcome Düsseldorf this week. Düsseldorf of-course holds the record for the largest defeat ever inflicted on Bayern. 7-1 was the score-line in the 1978 match between these two sides. This time, they will try to prevent Bayern from setting a new Bundesliga record (or in this case, reclaiming it) for largest number of wins at the start of a season.
The current record is held by Bayern, Kaiserslautern and Mainz. Mainz takes on Bayer Leverkusen in what should be an open contest. Leverkusen drew 2-2 against Stuttgart in their previous match. Stuttgart takes on HSV. Hamburg, after losing three straight games this season, bought Rafael van der Vaart.
Some players, aside from good performances, aid the team in mysterious ways. Van der Vaart has turned out to be one of those players. He is HSV’s talisman and has played his part in the club’s three wins and one draw in the last four matches. Against a Leverkusen side that has highs and lows as regularly as Uli Hoeness contemplates a new coach or a new transfer, HSV can take the full compliment of points.
HSV’s bitter northern rivals Bremen play Borussia Mönchengladbach. Gladbach finally managed to win a second game on the previous match-day against surprise package Eintracht Frankfurt. They essentially played to their strengths. Frankfurt was perhaps the better side but Gladbach grabbed two early goals. Of-course, Frankfurt has managed to come back from 0-2 down already this season but couldn’t do so on this occasion.
Eintracht’s next assignment is Hannover 96. The northern side stretched their home unbeaten run to 22 matches against Dortmund as Mame Biram Diouf grabbed a late equalizer. A draw in that match was perhaps a fair result considering the sheer number of chances both sides had. Dortmund plays Schalke in the biggest game this week.
The Ruhr derby is a much loved contest in the world of football. It brings out the best and the worst in both sides. Unfortunately recent derbies have been poor (aside from a 0-0 in 2011 where Manuel Neuer and the post denied the inevitable from happening) and results have gone almost always in Dortmund’s favour. Schalke has to beat the champions to announce themselves as contenders and to hold on to third place in the table, ahead of BVB.
Schalke is coming into this one following a 3-0 thumping of Wolfsburg. The hatred towards Felix Magath was turned into a wonderful display by the players. The fans joined in as they chanted ‘Felix Magath- never again!’ The hatred is unjustified to a certain extent considering his track record at Schalke but Magath of-course is nobody’s favourite person.
Currently, his job is not under threat due to his relationship with the owners of Volkswagen. Wolfsburg is in deep trouble. They play Freiburg. Freiburg’s Marco Terrazzoni scored a wonderful goal last week. Eric Jendrisek almost scored the goal of the season too. They will be looking to do the same against Wolfsburg.
The Bundesliga continues to excite; however, the title race already seems to be over considering Bayern’s form. Nonetheless, Marco Reus already feels that BVB will retain the title. Did he do his side a favour or did he try to play fire with fire?
We will find out more this week as Bayern takes on Düsseldorf and BVB welcomes Schalke.
Augsburg on match-day seven played majestically as they took Bremen to the cleaners. The performance merited a first win of the season thoroughly. They play Nürnberg this week in a Bavarian derby. Nürnberg lost 3-0 to Freiburg. At 1-0 down, they had a great chance for an equalizer. Had that happened, perhaps Nürnberg would have had a draw.
Nürnberg’s fellow Bavarians, Bayern München, welcome Düsseldorf this week. Düsseldorf of-course holds the record for the largest defeat ever inflicted on Bayern. 7-1 was the score-line in the 1978 match between these two sides. This time, they will try to prevent Bayern from setting a new Bundesliga record (or in this case, reclaiming it) for largest number of wins at the start of a season.
The current record is held by Bayern, Kaiserslautern and Mainz. Mainz takes on Bayer Leverkusen in what should be an open contest. Leverkusen drew 2-2 against Stuttgart in their previous match. Stuttgart takes on HSV. Hamburg, after losing three straight games this season, bought Rafael van der Vaart.
Some players, aside from good performances, aid the team in mysterious ways. Van der Vaart has turned out to be one of those players. He is HSV’s talisman and has played his part in the club’s three wins and one draw in the last four matches. Against a Leverkusen side that has highs and lows as regularly as Uli Hoeness contemplates a new coach or a new transfer, HSV can take the full compliment of points.
HSV’s bitter northern rivals Bremen play Borussia Mönchengladbach. Gladbach finally managed to win a second game on the previous match-day against surprise package Eintracht Frankfurt. They essentially played to their strengths. Frankfurt was perhaps the better side but Gladbach grabbed two early goals. Of-course, Frankfurt has managed to come back from 0-2 down already this season but couldn’t do so on this occasion.
Eintracht’s next assignment is Hannover 96. The northern side stretched their home unbeaten run to 22 matches against Dortmund as Mame Biram Diouf grabbed a late equalizer. A draw in that match was perhaps a fair result considering the sheer number of chances both sides had. Dortmund plays Schalke in the biggest game this week.
The Ruhr derby is a much loved contest in the world of football. It brings out the best and the worst in both sides. Unfortunately recent derbies have been poor (aside from a 0-0 in 2011 where Manuel Neuer and the post denied the inevitable from happening) and results have gone almost always in Dortmund’s favour. Schalke has to beat the champions to announce themselves as contenders and to hold on to third place in the table, ahead of BVB.
Schalke is coming into this one following a 3-0 thumping of Wolfsburg. The hatred towards Felix Magath was turned into a wonderful display by the players. The fans joined in as they chanted ‘Felix Magath- never again!’ The hatred is unjustified to a certain extent considering his track record at Schalke but Magath of-course is nobody’s favourite person.
Currently, his job is not under threat due to his relationship with the owners of Volkswagen. Wolfsburg is in deep trouble. They play Freiburg. Freiburg’s Marco Terrazzoni scored a wonderful goal last week. Eric Jendrisek almost scored the goal of the season too. They will be looking to do the same against Wolfsburg.
The Bundesliga continues to excite; however, the title race already seems to be over considering Bayern’s form. Nonetheless, Marco Reus already feels that BVB will retain the title. Did he do his side a favour or did he try to play fire with fire?
We will find out more this week as Bayern takes on Düsseldorf and BVB welcomes Schalke.
