The Bundesliga coaching carousel has begun once again. Holger Stanislawski and Michael Skibbe lost their jobs while Markus Babel returned to the Bundesliga just four match-days after his sacking.
Hoffenheim looked like a ‘life-less’ side match after match. The club had seemingly taken all the energies out of a lively and energetic Holger Stanislawski. Hoffenheim was sinking deeper and deeper into trouble with every passing week and a change had to be made. Hoffenheim then made a ‘safe’ decision and brought in the Bavarian Markus Babel.
Babel very nearly earned a win for his side in his opening match but was denied by Marko Arnautovic in the 89th minute of the contest against Bremen. Babel’s two former clubs meanwhile played out a one sided contest in Swabia. Stuttgart battered Hertha 5-0. The match saw the reign of Michael Skibbe come to a disappointing end after the coach failed to win a single game in his short tenure.
Meanwhile, Leverkusen seemed prepared to take on Barcelona as they allowed free-scoring Dortmund to punish them only once. Leverkusen’s attack must improve if they are to have any chance at all of winning at home on Tuesday against the Catalans.
Michael Ballack was passed fit to play but didn’t feature. He apparently sustained a calf problem and will thus miss Tuesday’s clash. Whether Ballack actually has a problem or whether his team doesn’t want him to play is anybody’s guess. Leverkusen has a tough fixture list coming up in the Bundesliga which includes an upcoming match against Bayern on the menu.
Speaking of the Bavarians, they continued to improve with a clinical 2-0 win over Kaiserslautern. It took Mario Gomez just six minutes to open the scoring after being set up by Franck Ribery. To Bayern’s relief, Thomas Mueller finally scored in the 30th minute to put an end to the barren run he was on.
Bayern’s conquerors and their upcoming opponents in the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal, Mönchengladbach hammered Schalke, 3-0. Schalke didn’t do any favours to their chances by drawing against Mainz last week, 1-1. While the title race continues to be four-way, the gap between the top side and the fourth placed side has now increased to five points.
Schalke is in Europa League action this week against Viktoria Plzen as is Hanover. Hanover takes on Club Brugge, perhaps hoping to avoid another draw. Hanover drew against Mainz; they equalized late on to take a point from Thomas Tuchel’s side.
HSV and Wolfsburg continued their gradual improvement up the table. Die Wolfe made rather heavy weather of a rather easy task as they beat Freiburg 3-2. HSV beat Köln 0-1; the match was heading towards a draw but Jose Paulo Guerrero conjured up a winner in the 88th minute to send HSV tenth in the table.
Next week, the fans are in for a real treat as the always fiercely contested northern derby returns. HSV and Bremen will battle it out in what should be a fantastic match.
Until then, I bid you adieu.
Babel very nearly earned a win for his side in his opening match but was denied by Marko Arnautovic in the 89th minute of the contest against Bremen. Babel’s two former clubs meanwhile played out a one sided contest in Swabia. Stuttgart battered Hertha 5-0. The match saw the reign of Michael Skibbe come to a disappointing end after the coach failed to win a single game in his short tenure.
Meanwhile, Leverkusen seemed prepared to take on Barcelona as they allowed free-scoring Dortmund to punish them only once. Leverkusen’s attack must improve if they are to have any chance at all of winning at home on Tuesday against the Catalans.
Michael Ballack was passed fit to play but didn’t feature. He apparently sustained a calf problem and will thus miss Tuesday’s clash. Whether Ballack actually has a problem or whether his team doesn’t want him to play is anybody’s guess. Leverkusen has a tough fixture list coming up in the Bundesliga which includes an upcoming match against Bayern on the menu.
Speaking of the Bavarians, they continued to improve with a clinical 2-0 win over Kaiserslautern. It took Mario Gomez just six minutes to open the scoring after being set up by Franck Ribery. To Bayern’s relief, Thomas Mueller finally scored in the 30th minute to put an end to the barren run he was on.
Bayern’s conquerors and their upcoming opponents in the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal, Mönchengladbach hammered Schalke, 3-0. Schalke didn’t do any favours to their chances by drawing against Mainz last week, 1-1. While the title race continues to be four-way, the gap between the top side and the fourth placed side has now increased to five points.
Schalke is in Europa League action this week against Viktoria Plzen as is Hanover. Hanover takes on Club Brugge, perhaps hoping to avoid another draw. Hanover drew against Mainz; they equalized late on to take a point from Thomas Tuchel’s side.
HSV and Wolfsburg continued their gradual improvement up the table. Die Wolfe made rather heavy weather of a rather easy task as they beat Freiburg 3-2. HSV beat Köln 0-1; the match was heading towards a draw but Jose Paulo Guerrero conjured up a winner in the 88th minute to send HSV tenth in the table.
Next week, the fans are in for a real treat as the always fiercely contested northern derby returns. HSV and Bremen will battle it out in what should be a fantastic match.
Until then, I bid you adieu.
