now, come on, stop comparing the leagues. That´s nonsense. They have a different history, the approach to capitalism is different in england and germany (in general and in football), also the role football plays in society.it´s different, but no sense in endless debating what is the better system

Yes.....


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There is always surprises. Like today when Bundesliga Hoffenheim lost 4:0 against a fourth league club in the German Cup...

Expecting big things from Reus this season, i think he would have been an excellent signing for us. Pacy and direct, goalscoring wide player. Excellent for when we go into that counter-attacking mode after taking the lead.

yes, think Dortmund could be the right place for him

watched this match today live in Berlin. Great laugh

Back on topic:

the 18 teams (part two)

7. Hannover 96, Founded 1896, Club members: 5,700
Stadium: Niedersachsenstadion, (sponsor name: AWD-Arena)
Capacity: 49,000 (8,000 stands and 41,000 seats)
Titles:
German champion: 2
German cup: 1
Club team manager; Jörg Schmadtke, Coach: Mirko Slomka
Team:
Zieler – Pander, Felipe, Haggui, Cherundolo-, Pinto, Stindl- Huszti, Schlaudraff - Abdellaoue, Diouf
Key Subs: Schulz, Ya Konan, Schmiedebach
Average Team age: 25,7

8. VfB Stuttgart, Founded 1893, Club members: 44,503
Stadium: Mercedes-Benz-Arena, Capacity: 60,300 (11,000 stands and 49,300 seats)
Titles:
German champion: 5
German cup: 3
Club team manager; Fredi Bobic, Coach: Bruno Labbadia
Team:
Ulreich – Molinaro, Niedermeier, Tasci, Hoogland – Gentner, Kvist- Okazaki, Hajnal, Harnik - Ibisevic
Key Subs: Boka, Torun, Kuzmanovic
Average Team age: 25,9

9. 1899 Hoffenheim, Founded 1899, Club members: 5,700
Stadium: Rhein-Neckar-Arena, Capacity: 30,150 (9,150 stands and 21,000 seats)
Titles: -
Club team manager; Dirk Rittmüller Coach: Markus Babbel
Team:
Wiese – Johnson, Compper, Delpierre, Beck – Salihovic, Rudy - Usami, Roberto Firminho, Vucevic– Derdiyok
Key Subs: Josuelo, Braafheid, Weis
Average Team age: 23,9

10. Werder Bremen, Founded 1899, Club members: 40,400
Stadium:Weserstadion, Capacity: 42,100 (31,500 stands and 10,600 seats)
Titles:
Cup winners cup: 1
German champion: 4
German cup: 6
Club team manager;Klaus Allofs, Coach: Thomas Schaaf
Team:
Mielitz – Schmitz, Sokratis, Prödl, Gebre Selassie – Bargfrede, Hunt, Fritz, Elia, Arnautovic- Petersen
Key Subs: Affolter, Trybull, Lukimya
Average Team age: 22,8

11. 1. FC Nürnberg, Founded 1900, Club members: 13,355
Stadium: Frankenstadion, Capacity: 50, 000 (36,771 stands and 13,299 seats)
Titles:
German champion: 9
German cup: 4
Club team manager: Martin Bader, Coach: Dieter Hecking
Team:
Schäfer–Pinola, Klose, Marcus Antonio, Chandler – Simons, Balitsch, – Esswein, Kiyotake, Gebhart – Pekhart
Key Subs: Mak, Cohen, Feulner
Average Team age: 24,3

12. SC Freiburg, Founded 1904, Club members: 4,500
Stadium: Dreisamstadion (Sponsor name: Mage Solar Stadion)
Capacity: 24, 000 (10,000 stands and 14,000 seats)
Titles: -
Club team manager: Dirk Dufner, Coach: Christian Streich
Team:
Baumann – Sorg, Diagne, Ginter, Mujdza –Makiadi, Schuster, –Caliguiri, Schmid, – Freis, Rosenthal
Key Subs: Flum, Dembele, Jendrisek
Average Team age: 24,0

More to laugh today. Now it is 6 Bundesliga clubs that went out by clubs of minor leagues in the first round. They are in a little advantage as their leagues already started some weeks ago and Bundesliga will start next - but when it is 2 or 3 leagues difference that should not be that big advantage.

But it is that what Bayern face every week in their away matches - for the other club it is the match of the year in front of their home fans and everybody is motivated and running his ass off.

Always had a soft spot for Alemmania Aachen after watching them in UEFA v Lille at Koln.Had a good crack with their fans in Koln so very sad to see them in 3rd tier this season.Keep on meaning to get over and see them when City are not playing but work and finances stop it!

They get support from the benelux countries as well due to their location.

great goal 2-1 dortmund

Yes it was, but did not think it was a great game. Dortmund left too much space at the back and the attack did not link up well. Reus was class as expected. Gotze came on and got his goal, he will be one of the best in the world very soon. Arnautovic was a handful. Looks like he iscarrying weight, but great acceleration. Hunt good too. To me Germany blew the Euro's. They are very close to Spain's level but picked the wrong team and payed for it.

Bayern have to be favourites now. They have really strengthened the team this year and don't look to have finished.

What really surprised me when I read the statistics about the match was the pass quotes of Dortmund and the bad passes - they will get killed in the CL if they keep that.

Bayern won three zero at relegated Greuther Fürth with goals of Müller, Mandzukic and an own goal. Difficult match at the beginning as Fürth tightened their defense but easier when Müller had made the opener at the end of the first half.

Dortmund - Bremen (Fr.) 2:1 (1:0)

Fürth - FC Bayern 0:3 (0:1)

Freiburg - Mainz 1:1 (0:0)

Augsburg - Düsseldorf 0:2 (0:0)

Hamburg - Nürnberg 0:1 (0:0)

Gladbach - Hoffenheim 2:1 (1:0)

Frankfurt - Leverkusen (Sa.) -:- (0:1) current - started at 18:30

Stuttgart - Wolfsburg starts tonight at 20.45
Hannover - FC Schalke (So.) -:- (-:-)

Stuttgart - Wolfsburg starts tonight at 20.45 -> Wolfsburg won 1-0

Frankfurt - Leverkusen (Sa.) -:- (0:1) current - started at 18:30 -> We managed to nick 3 points from Leverkusen and won 2-1 after going down 0-1!

I am a happy camper considering that we played a team that will most likely fight for places 3 to 5 while our goal is to stay in the first division.

Unfortunately we were only allowed 25000 people (roughly half the capacity) for our first home game after getting back to the top flight. Reason for that was the use of flares and the pitch invasion versus Achen and 1860 München last season when we celebrated getting back up.

Besides cutting the capacity no standing was allowed which caused some interesting "mix ups" between the hardcore fans from the standing sections sitting on the main stand with the prawn sandwich brigade. ^^



Atmosphere was still pretty decent despite playing Leverkusen who didnt even manage to sell out the 5000 tickets they got allocated.