Bundesliga 2019/20

[Vienna_70]

Back from a Slovakia>Czechia>Germany>Czechia trip. Will just focus on the Germany aspect of it here.

I spent a couple of days based in Dresden. Considering it was flattened, they have done an absolutely fantastic job of rebuilding it. In terms of "points of interest", I'd say that its only bettered by Berlin in my opinion. The square around the Frauenkirche and Brühl's Terrace were both places I could have happily sat with a beer just people watching for an entire day. But there was football to watch....

I took the train to Chemnitz (formerly Karl Marx Stadt) on the Saturday morning and had about 2 hours to look around. That was probably about 1 and a half hours more than I needed. Not much to see - a big statue of Karl Marx's head and a nice town hall square were the highlights. Given what I had read about the right wing in Chemnitz, I was surprised to find an "intercultural festival" taking place in the town square. Lots of stalls with information on culture and foods from different countries - eg Pakistan, Lebanon, Ukraine, Hungary, Turkey. There were a few people at this, but the whole City just felt a bit quiet - there were hardly any cars on the roads, so it was just a bit eerie.

Walked to the stadium which was about 15 mins from the station. You have to walk under the train tracks through a tunnel. Presumably because it was a bit of a derby, there was quite a big police presence at the station and at the ground but if there was going to be any trouble, it would have taken place in the tunnel I reckon and there were no police there. Didn't see any trouble myself though.

The ground has been completely redeveloped and was a smaller version of Mainz's ground, but still quite large for 3.Liga. Admittedly I didn't understand every word of every song, but I didn't detect any political views and it felt like I could have been at any ground in Germany. Good beer, and good bratwurst as always, some status quo in the build up and mercifully no YNWA.

Chemnitz beat Carl Zeiss Jena 3-2 with a goal late on, but it was undeserved in my opinion and the game was generally lacking in quality. Not surprising it was the bottom two teams and CZJ look to have been cut adrift already at this point in the season. Could be a long season for both on the basis of what I saw.

I got the train back immediately after the game, and in the 15 minutes I spent walking from the ground to the train station - back in England, City had kicked off and had scored 5 goals. Not the best game I could have chosen to skip!

On Sunday, having spent the morning exploring more of Dresden, it was time for Dynamo Dresden v Regensburg. This was the 40th different ground in Germany I've been to and the supporters were up there with the best. Neither team had started the season particularly well but the terrace behind the goal was absolutely filled to the brim with people. If they ever get to the Bundesliga again they could fill a ground twice the size of the current one I reckon. The ground itself was very similar to Augsburg from memory (with different coloured seats), and fairly unimaginative and indistinctive on the outside. The whole ground seemed pretty full as far as I could tell, apart from the away section which was about half full, but they still made plenty of noise.

Dresden won it 2-1 with a late goal, but I thought their equaliser was a bit contentious - not sure if its been spoken about in the German media. The new rule this season that the game is stopped if the ball touches the referee was implemented. He ordered a drop ball about 25 yards out, and about 20 seconds later Dresden had scored without a Regensburg player touching the ball.

Would go back to Dresden in a heart beat, and would recommend anyone going.

No further German trips booked at this stage, but I have 6 teams left in Bundesliga 2 that I need to get to at some point.

40 German grounds?

That’s very impressive

 

[cptaidan88]

40 German grounds?

That’s very impressive

Cheers. In the course of doing this, I have made a couple of German friends - one from Münster and one from Aschaffenburg, who have both completed "The 92" in England, so ultimately I suppose I'm trying to complete "The 56" which they tell me isn't really a thing. I don't go to Germany as often as I used to though so it will take while, but I always enjoy going.

 

[Vienna_70]

Cheers. In the course of doing this, I have made a couple of German friends - one from Münster and one from Aschaffenburg, who have both completed "The 92" in England, so ultimately I suppose I'm trying to complete "The 56" which they tell me isn't really a thing. I don't go to Germany as often as I used to though so it will take while, but I always enjoy going.

I love Germany and German football, but I just don’t have the time nor the money to go across nowadays.

I’ve seen games in Berlin, Hamburg, Hanover, and München (1860) and Frauen Bundesliga in Potsdam and I’d love to go to more.

Maybe in the future.

 

[franksinatra]

Never dreamed of watching City play in Europe as a kid but ever since we played Schalke in 2007 I've been properly hooked. Started going the weekend before or stayed the weekend after a City European game, then just started going whenever I could afford to go somewhere new. Focussed on going to Germany to begin with because I enjoyed those City trips the most, and they stagger their games over the weekend so you can get to a few in a weekend. I got lots of help and advice from this forum. One poster even got tickets and drove me on a 4 hour round trip so I could go to a game I wouldn't have been able to get to on public transport.

As a supporter I think you're treated much better in Germany, in every single aspect. Cheaper tickets, transport included, able to have a beer, proper standing sections. Better atmosphere is a direct consequence of the above. I still enjoy visiting Spain and Italy though and I have trips booked to each before the end of the season (Milan with City in Nov, Brescia and the Genoa derby in December, and Real Sociedad and Osasuna in January).

To be honest though, I mainly enjoy traveling and visiting new places and the football just gives me an excuse.

Thoroughly enjoyed the two Czech games I went to last weekend. I'd been to see City play in Plzen but hadn't been otherwise. Bohemians v Zlin - £5 to get in and £1 a pint. Good atmosphere in the terrace behind the goal too. 2nd game was the Prague derby between Sparta and Slavia. The bus back from Dresden was 45 mins late so it frustratingly meant I missed the first 5 mins of the game and any choreos from the two sets of supporters, but it was still a good atmosphere for the rest of the game. Plenty of pyro and even a severed pig's head - not things I've seen too often at the Etihad. Slavia battered them 3-0 though so the home crowd weren't particularly happy.

Yes I can fully understand where you are coming from and felt very similar after the Schalke and Hamburg games myself.

Did pretty much the same thing and went over for Frankfurt v Schalke and Bremen v Bayern circa 2009. Thoroughly enjoyed both occasions but particularly Bremen as from memory it was pretty centrally located and accessed by a walk along a river. Also found a great bar near the ground before kick off playing music etc which added to the experience.

Last year I managed to get over to Italy for Fiorentina v Atalanta and Roma v Lazio. Naturally, based on the two matches, I had lesser expectations for the Fiorentina game but being of the Channel 4 Batigol generation really wanted to visit the ground and I was blown away by the atmosphere. The ‘hardcore’ stand on the second tier and so its easy to stand just below and fully immerse yourself in the atmosphere. The ground is a bit of a mish mash, particularly that stand, and so you have the surreal sight of a packed curva bouncing with drums etc while below little kids play a game of football oblivious to the match on the pitch and presumably watched over by their dads while simultaneously choreographing the match support and watching the match.

I also got to the lisbon derby which was memorable for the locals telling me about Joao Felix and the Benfica mascot, an eagle, circling the pitch before landing on the club crest.

Incidentally visiting the Luigi Ferraris and seeing the Lantern derby has always been on the bucket list but presumed getting tickets might be reasonably tricky. Have you found a decent website to buy tickets for this match or do you expect to pick one up outside before kick off?

 

[Cellarite]

Something that I’ve wondered for a while that cptaidan 88, Bembeltown or Rhineland might know is whether they do match programmes in Germany. I can’t recall seeing any for sale at Dortmund last year but would like them as souvenirs from my (hopefully) 5 planned upcoming matches.

 

[Cellarite]

Btw - anyone wondering the attraction of the Bundesliga, flick to 417 now (bt3) and look at Union Berlin v Eintracht Frankfurt.

It looks like the fucking Kippax on a good day. Immense atmospheres they create over there. Cheap tickets, standing up, beer served as you watch, free travel. They have everything we would like.

 

[bavarian blue]

Something that I’ve wondered for a while that cptaidan 88, Bembeltown or Rhineland might know is whether they do match programmes in Germany. I can’t recall seeing any for sale at Dortmund last year but would like them as souvenirs from my (hopefully) 5 planned upcoming matches.

Buying programmes isn't a big thing in Germany but they are usually available, just have to look a bit harder for them.

 

[Blue Hefner]

Btw - anyone wondering the attraction of the Bundesliga, flick to 417 now (bt3) and look at Union Berlin v Eintracht Frankfurt.

It looks like the fucking Kippax on a good day. Immense atmospheres they create over there. Cheap tickets, standing up, beer served as you watch, free travel. They have everything we would like.

I’ve been to a Union Berlin game and it was top. I got off the train, which I could actually sit down on unlike to Metrolink at City games, and bought 2 very large glass bottles of beer for around €2 each

 

[Bembeltown]

Something that I’ve wondered for a while that cptaidan 88, Bembeltown or Rhineland might know is whether they do match programmes in Germany. I can’t recall seeing any for sale at Dortmund last year but would like them as souvenirs from my (hopefully) 5 planned upcoming matches.

I am usually not looking for match programmes but there are usually guys outside every stadium/arena selling them. In Frankfurt you get older programmes at the mobile fan shops all around the ground as well. I remember when @cptaidan88 was over here his dad was looking for programmes and I think he got the older ones for free, but as @bavarian blue mentioned buying them is not particular popular in Germany so I am not an expert.
Seems to be a more british thing. :-)

Fun match between Union and Frankfurt yesterday. 2460 Frankfurt fans made the 900 km round trip on a Friday evening which just shows how popular matches against proper clubs like Union are. Great old school ground as well.

Stupid amounds of flares in the away end which will once again get us into trouble.



Fun story from a couple of years ago when both Union and Eintracht still played second Buli.

We were playing away in Berlin and due to some "incidents" in the previous games we were not allowed any away fans. Frankfurt supporters still managed to get an almost full allocation of tickets and sneaked undercover into the ground and then started to take over the empty away section.

The video shows the away section from the Berlin end and Union supporters start chanting stuff like "Let them over, the wall has to go" (reference to the German reunification).

When Frankfurt fans finally made it over both sets of fans start chanting against the DFB, stuff like "Football Mafia DFB", "Fuck the DFB" etc. The whole "different colours, but united for the good of football" is pretty popular in Germany even between rivals like Dortmund and Schalke.

 

[Rhineland]

Something that I’ve wondered for a while that cptaidan 88, Bembeltown or Rhineland might know is whether they do match programmes in Germany. I can’t recall seeing any for sale at Dortmund last year but would like them as souvenirs from my (hopefully) 5 planned upcoming matches.

I am not 100% sure, but I think they don't sell the "Geißbockecho" on matchdays any more. It has turned into a members' magazine (only?) for every home match and they can choose wether they want to get a printed paper version, a download pdf file (at the members' web site) or a multi media eMag for their smartphone.