Euro 2008 Final Germany v Spain

Hmmm...so this is hard one for me as you know I am strong supporter of German Football and anything else Der Kaiser related.

At the start of this tournament, my odds on bet to advance to the finals were the rather predictable Germany v Spain match we have today. However the route has been anything but predictable as Germany hasn't looked nearly as strong as I thought they would and Spain obliterated the Russian squad (and anything else in its wake). Along with the stunning disguise of San Mario and Faroe Islands squads as Italy and France left this Euro full of surprises

For this final match I can't help but side with German team simply "knowing how to win" and thus casting my chips on them. Spain has looked daunting at times but I think Joachim Löw's German squad with Michael Ballack will take a firm grip of the helm. For German fans, Michael Ballack's return to strength from a training injury is a key mix but I do not doubt for a moment he will be up to the challenge. In this star-studded affair watch for the continued growth of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski to offset the speed of the Spanish assault of led by Fernando Torres which will feel the enormous loss of David Villa.

19-11 after Spain ruined the possible German - Russia final I had been hoping for...

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.

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?).

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.

Bundesliga

The Bundesliga title is Bayern München's as they have an comfortable nine-point lead and will now push forward towards their goal of the treble and the culmination of their incredible turn-around from last season.

With eight matches left in the campaign the race for the European bids are wide open with at least seven teams in the running for four possible berths. Results from the weekend:

Friday
Energie Cottbus @ MSV Duisburg

Saturday
FC Schalke 04 1 FC Hansa Rostock 0
SV Werder Bremen 2 Hertha BSC Berlin 1
Arminia Bielefeld 1 Karlsruhe SC 0
clutch win by Arminia Bielefeld as they fight out of the relegation zone with a Leonidas Kampantais goal one minute into added-time.

VfB Stuttgart 1 Hamburger SV 0

FC Nürnberg 3 Eintracht Frankfurt 1
another clutch victory from a squad facing relegation.

VfL Wolfsburg 3 Hannover 96 2

Sunday
Borussia Dortmund 2 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1
terrible collapse by Leverkusen in allowing two late goals to give Dortmund the win.

Bayern München 3 VfL Bochum 1

	GP	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals	Against	Total
Bayern München	27	16	9	2	47	16	57
FC Schalke 04	27	13	9	5	41	26	48
Hamburger SV	27	12	11	4	37	20	47
SV Werder Bremen	27	14	5	8	55	39	47
VfB Stuttgart	27	14	3	10	45	40	45
Bayer 04 Leverkusen	27	13	5	9	47	30	44
VfL Wolfsburg	27	12	7	8	45	38	43
Eintracht Frankfurt	27	11	9	7	33	34	42
Karlsruhe SC	27	10	8	9	30	34	38
Hannover 96	27	9	8	10	38	45	35
Borussia Dortmund	27	9	7	11	41	45	34
VfL Bochum	27	8	9	10	41	44	33
Hertha BSC Berlin	27	9	5	13	29	35	32
Energie Cottbus	27	6	8	13	29	43	26
Arminia Bielefeld	27	6	7	14	26	51	25
FC Hansa Rostock	27	6	6	15	22	38	24
FC Nürnberg	27	5	8	14	30	43	23
MSV Duisburg	27	6	4	17	27	42	22

Friday
VfL Wolfsburg @ FC Nürnberg

Saturday
Arminia Bielefeld @ Energie Cottbus
MSV Duisburg @ Hamburger SV
Eintracht Frankfurt @ Hannover 96
FC Schalke 04 @ SV Werder Bremen
FC Hansa Rostock @ Karlsruhe SC
Hertha BSC Berlin @ VfL Bochum

Sunday
VfB Stuttgart @ Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Borussia Dortmund @ Bayern München

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.

Bundesliga

The Bundesliga heats up tomorrow in what is the closest race in all the major leagues with eight teams within nine points, three times are tied for third and five European bids available (excluding the top spot which Bayern München pretty much has sewn-up). However most of the matches this weekend are with teams from opposite ends of the table and shouldn't create any significant changes.

Friday
VfL Wolfsburg @ FC Hansa Rostock
Hansa Rostock hasn't won in five matches and this is a structurally important three points for Wolfsburg if they want to win a European bid.

Saturday
FC Bayern München @ FC Nürnberg
This is a straight-forward bottom of the table team facing one of the emergings team in all of Europe and my choice to win the UEFA Cup. Bayern München won't slip-up again as they are closing-in on the title.

Arminia Bielefeld @ Hamburger SV
Precisely the same conditions as the Bayern München - Nürnberg match with squads on opposite end of the table. Stunning as it may seem for Hamburger fans, this won't end in a tie.

Eintracht Frankfurt @ Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Leverkusen is emerging as one of the surprise teams Europe and only major slip-up was last weeks tussle against Bayern München. They need a full three points to keep up with Hamburger SV and a Champion League spot.

FC Schalke 04 @ Karlsruhe SC
Schalke is quite obviously one other Champions League surprises and have a tough match this week against FC Barcelona. Karlsruhe SC has been slipping down the table and I expect their problems to continue this weekend.

MSV Duisburg @ SV Werder Bremen
Borussia Dortmund @ VfL Bochum

Sunday
VfB Stuttgart @ Hannover 96
Hertha BSC Berlin @ Energie Cottbus

	GP	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals	Against	Total
Bayern München	25	15	8	2	43	14	53
Hamburger SV	25	12	10	3	36	18	46
Bayer 04 Leverkusen	25	13	5	7	46	26	44
SV Werder Bremen	25	13	5	7	52	36	44
FC Schalke 04	25	12	8	5	40	26	44
VfB Stuttgart	25	13	2	10	44	40	41
Eintracht Frankfurt	25	10	9	6	30	31	39
VfL Wolfsburg	25	10	7	8	41	36	37
Karlsruhe SC	25	10	7	8	30	33	37
Hannover 96	25	9	7	9	36	42	34
VfL Bochum	25	8	8	9	37	38	32
Hertha BSC Berlin	25	9	5	11	27	31	32
Borussia Dortmund	25	8	6	11	36	41	30
FC Hansa Rostock	25	6	6	13	22	36	24
Energie Cottbus	25	4	8	13	26	42	20
Arminia Bielefeld	25	5	6	14	24	50	21
FC Nürnberg	25	4	7	14	26	41	19
MSV Duisburg	25	5	4	16	25	40	19

Bundesliga

With today's matches still left to play, the Bundesliga title was surely wrapped up yesterday by Der Kaiser as Bayern defeated Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2 -1 in a dominating performance, even if the score didn't show it. Bayern is on course to for a treble with the DFB Pokal and UEFA Cup to give the great Oliver Khan the perfect send off to his illustrious career (insert Krombacher tag)

The battle for the combined four remaining Champions League and UEFA Cup spots are making for some very tightly played Football as eight teams are easily within reach with FC Schalke 04 and VfB Stuttgart tied for the final spot. Within other action VfB Stuttgart soundly defeated FC Hansa Rostock 4 - 1 and Hamburger SV and VfL Wolfsburg came to a 1-1 draw in a match that saw four red cards late in the match. The other three matches, VfL Bochum - FC Nürnberg, Karlsruhe SC - Borussia Dortmund and Hannover 96 MSV Duisburg came to 1-1 draws

	GP	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals	Against	Total
Bayern München	25	15	8	2	43	14	53
Hamburger SV	25	12	10	3	36	18	46
Bayer 04 Leverkusen	25	13	5	7	46	26	44
SV Werder Bremen	24	13	4	7	51	35	43
FC Schalke 04	24	11	8	5	38	25	41
VfB Stuttgart	25	13	2	10	44	40	41
Eintracht Frankfurt	25	10	9	6	30	31	39
VfL Wolfsburg	25	10	7	8	41	36	37
Karlsruhe SC	25	10	7	8	30	33	37
Hannover 96	25	9	7	9	36	42	34
VfL Bochum	25	8	8	9	37	38	32
Hertha BSC Berlin	24	9	5	10	26	29	32
Borussia Dortmund	25	8	6	11	36	41	30
FC Hansa Rostock	25	6	6	13	22	36	24
Energie Cottbus	25	4	8	13	26	42	20
Arminia Bielefeld	24	5	5	14	23	49	20
FC Nürnberg	25	4	7	14	26	41	19
MSV Duisburg	25	5	4	16	25	40	19

Upcoming matches

Today
FC Schalke 04 @ Hertha BSC Berlin
SV Werder Bremen @ Arminia Bielefeld

Friday
VfL Wolfsburg @ FC Hansa Rostock

Saturday
Eintracht Frankfurt @ Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Borussia Dortmund @ VfL Bochum
Arminia Bielefeld @ Hamburger SV
FC Schalke 04 @ Karlsruhe SC
FC Bayern München @ FC Nürnberg
MSV Duisburg @ SV Werder Bremen

Sunday
VfB Stuttgart @ Hannover 96
Hertha BSC Berlin @ Energie Cottbus

DFB Cup update

FC Bayern München defeaed VfL Wolfsburg 2 - 0 today in the the Deutscher Fußball-Bund-Pokal (DFB Cup) on second half goals by Franck Ribery and Miroslav Klose.

Bayern München now faces Borussia Dortmund,which defeated FC Carl Zeiss Jena yesterday, in finals this April 19th in Berlin.

DFB Cup

The Deutscher Fußball-Bund-Pokal (DFB Cup) continues today as VfL Wolfsburg @ FC Bayern München. Bayern is heavily favored to advance although they are coming off their worst match of the season against Energie Cottbus last Saturday and Wolfsburg is the top team in the Bundesliga since the returning from the winter break.

“We’re utterly determined to go to Berlin,” commented Bayern Head Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, who called on his men to make amends for consecutive defeats in the run-up to the Cup clash. “We have to restore our image and give our fans something to cheer."

Bayern will be without Luca Toni and Willy Sagnol who are injured, but Mark van Bommel and Martin Demichelis are available.











The winner of today's match will face Borussia Dortmund in Berlin in April. Dortmund easily put away FC Carl Zeiss Jena 3 - 0 yesterday with midfielder Tinga he netting a rebound on Mladen Petric header for the first goal in the thirteenth minute of the match and then later providing a nice pass to set up the second goal.

Bundesliga

Over the last few seasons the Bundesliga as re-emerged as one of the premier football leagues in the worldwide. Along with a national squad that is a continuing threat to win all international competitions the domestic league that not only contains some the top players world-wide but is a hot bed for developing young German talent.

Poised to win the Bundesliga as well as threaten (and my choice) to win the UEFA Cup as well as the DFB Cup, is the "highlight film" referred to as FC Bayern München. However with respect to Der Kaiser, the brilliant play of the Bundesliga is not limited to "the highlight film" and each of other the top five squads, Hamburger SV, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, SV Werder Bremen, FC Schalke 04 are capable of winning in the top European competitions. It's hard not to be a fan of the German game (smooth segue for Oktoberfest '08 tour and Krombacher tag).

With the top three teams earning Champions Leagues bids and the fourth and fifth spot UEFA Cup bids there is a great deal at stake for the balance of the campaign and much left unsettled. At this stage both Bayern München and Bayer Leverkusen are still in very good position in the final eight of the UEFA Cup to advance and face each other in an all-Deutschland semi-final.

With Jürgen Klinsmann succeeding Ottmar Hitzfeld as Manager of Bayern München this summer I full expect them to threaten to the top spot of Champions League next season as well as see the resurgence of all of Bundesliga football to continue.

	GP	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals	Against	Total
FC Bayern München	24	14	8	2	41	13	50
Hamburger SV	24	12	9	3	35	17	45
Bayer 04 Leverkusen	24	13	5	6	45	24	44
SV Werder Bremen	24	13	4	7	51	35	43
FC Schalke 04	24	11	8	5	38	25	41
VfB Stuttgart	24	12	2	10	40	39	38
VfL Wolfsburg	24	10	6	8	40	35	36
Eintracht Frankfurt	24	9	9	6	28	30	36
Karlsruhe SC	24	10	6	8	29	32	36
Hannover 96	24	9	6	9	35	41	33
Hertha BSC Berlin	24	9	5	10	26	29	32
VfL Bochum	24	8	7	9	36	37	31
Borussia Dortmund	24	8	5	11	35	40	29
FC Hansa Rostock	24	6	6	12	21	32	24
Energie Cottbus	24	4	8	12	25	40	20
Arminia Bielefeld	24	5	5	14	23	49	20
FC Nürnberg	24	4	6	14	25	40	18
MSV Duisburg	24	5	3	16	24	39	18

Upcoming matches

Thursday
Energie Cottbus @ Eintracht Frankfurt

Saturday
VfL Bochum @ FC Nürnberg
FC Hansa Rostock @ VfB Stuttgart
Hamburger SV @ VfL Wolfsburg
Karlsruhe SC @ Borussia Dortmund
Hannover 96 @ MSV Duisburg
Bayer 04 Leverkusen @ FC Bayern München HIGHLIGHT MATCH

Sunday
FC Schalke 04 @ Hertha BSC Berlin
SV Werder Bremen @ Arminia Bielefeld