Fairwell to King Khan

Bayern Munich beat Herta Berlin 4-1 to conclude their Bundesliga winning season, which was a perfect send-off to Oliver Khan and Ottmar Hitzeld who are retiring. With three goals, once again by Luca Toni and the other from Franck Ribéry, cruised to victory on this final emotional day.

With a career that started with his debut for Karlsruher SC in 1987, Khan was replaced with one minute left to a resounding ovation.

Zenit 4 Bayern 0

Just as Marseille and others found out, Zenit St Petersburg is a beast to play at home as they completely dismantled Bayern München today 4-0 in the UEFA Cup semi-final. Zenit now heads to the finals in Manchester and will face the winner of Rangers - Fiorentina.

The rout started early with Pavel Pogrebniak netting the first goal of the match at the five minute mark with Konstatin Zurianov scoring the second six minutes before the half. The humiliation of Viktor Faitzulin at the fifty-six minute mark and Pogrebniak scored his second at the seventy-third minute.

An incredible upset but also firmly establishes the growth of one of most powerful leagues in the world and one that few of us get to see, the Russian Premier League.

UEFA Cup: Bayern - Zenit

Just an hour away now from the second-leg of Bayern München and FC Zenit St Petersburg. The first match ended in a 1-1 draw and puts Zenit in a perfect position to pull-off a stunning upset. Without question they are in perfect position and teams that have ventured into St. Petersburg have found how difficult the challenge it is to beat them on home soil.

Zenit will have to do without Andrei Arshavin, Radek Sirl and Fernando Ricksen who are all suspended and Bayern is overjoyed to see the return of Luca Toni. Bayern will also have the services of Oliver Khan, who was injured in the first leg.

I believe the return of Luca Toni will be the deciding factor and see Bayern off the finals in Manchester. And yes, Der Kaiser will be happy (you really didn't think I'd pass up Franz Beckenbauer reference did you?).

UEFA Cup semi-finals

The first leg of UEFA Cup semi-finals are today with the following two great matchups:

FC Zenit St Petersburg @ Bayern Munich
Of course the big news for this match is that Luca Toni will miss the match as he is suspended and Franck Ribery will be counting on Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski to pick up the slack. There is some concern as well if if Klose is fit and if Schlaudraff will be pressed into duty. The experienced Zenit midfielder Anatoliy Tymoschuk has been deemed match fit, which is critical for them to control the powerful Bayern attack but they will be without Aleksandr Anyukov. To advance to the finals in Manchester, Bayern will need to take a decisive lead as Zenit is a force to contend with at home. This will be quite a show and all eyes will be focused upon Frank Ribery and Aleksandr Anyukov to lead both of their squads to victory.

ACF Fiorentina @ Rangers
The Rangers will be without Barry Ferguson and Kevin Thomson who are suspended for the match and have a litany of players out with injury included goalkeeper Allan McGregor,
Charlie Adam, Steven Naismith, Chris Burke and Lee McCulloch. Because of the horribly packed schedule the fatigue factor will wear on the Rangers and it is key that they open up a lead in the first leg of this semi-final before that have the drudgery of visiting Florence.

Fiorentina, which I think should be prefaced with "remarkable", as made an astonishing jump up from lower divisions and in only a few seasons threatening to go the finals of UEFA Cup and gain a Champions League bid for next season. With the exception of Tomas Ujfalusi they are completely healthy and their success will rest on the able shoulders of Adrian Mutu.

Bayern Munich wins DFB Pokal

Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund yesterday 2-1 in the DFB Pokal on (once again) a Luca Toni brace, the final at the 111th minute to end the stalemate.

Bayern is in line to win the treble with the Bundesliga title a lock and in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. It was a great send-off the the legendary goalkeeper, Oliver Khan and Ottmar Hitzeld who are retiring this season.

UEFA Cup : Getafe - Bayern München

UEFA Cup
Quarter-finals: first leg
Getafe CF @ Bayern München (Allianz-Arena, München)

Injuries:
Bayern München will be without Willy Sagnol while Lukas Podolski and Mark van Bommel are doubtful.

Getafe CF will be missing Daniel Diaz and Lucas Licht is suspended

Recent Form
Bayern München is well ahead in the Bundesliga title and has been out of sorts of late including this past weekends draw against Nürnberg.

Since defeating Racing Santander, and advancing to Copa Del Rey finals, Getafe have lost to Osasuna and Osasuna

Areas to Watch
To come out ahead Getafe will need to be at their defensive best, slow tempo and put up the all-important "away" goal. However Bayern München is certainly the favorite to hoist the trophy as well as accomplish the treble with the Bundesliga title and the DFB Pokal. Luca Toni, Franck Ribéry and company will not be deterred in their quest to send off Ottmar Hitzfeld and Oliver Kahn's perfectly in their final season.