[RedForceRising]

Welcome to the Deutsche Bundesliga thread.

The current table will be updated on the first page, while Fixtures and Results will be updated as they happen.

Hope you enjoy and Jetzt geht's los.



Current Standings - Erste Bundesliga 2008/09

After Matchday 12, Bayer Leverkusen find themselves at the top of the Bundesliga on 25 points, with Hoffenheim in second place on goal difference after suffering an unexpected defeat to Hertha Berlin.

Bayern Munich seem to have gotten out of their rut and are just 1 point behind the league leaders in 3rd place after beating Schalke 1:2.
Martin Jol's HSV are in 4th place and Werder Bremen continued their poor start to the season with a 0:0 draw at Bochum - leaving them in 10th place.

[RedForceRising]

[RedForceRising]

Matchday 1



Matchday 2



Matchday 3



Matchday 4

[RedForceRising]

Matchday 5

[RedForceRising]

Werder demolition job in Munich



Bremen issued the clearest possible signal of their title ambitions with this walloping of champions Bayern München on their own turf.


There was not much to cheer for Bayern as the Munich's famous Oktoberfest got underway, as a rampant Bremen side took them apart, winning 5-2 (2-0) after at one point leading 5-0. It was the biggest home defeat for FCB since losing 4-0 to Arminia Bielfeld back in March 1979.

Markus Rosenberg (30./67.), Naldo (45.), Mesut Özil (54.) and Claudio Pizarro (59.) fired Bremen onto easy street before former Werder man Tim Borowski got a late brace (71. /85.) for the outclassed home side.

Bremen on fire

Werder went on the offensvie from the start in front of a 69,000 crowd in the Allianz Arena against an out-of-sorts Bayern and could have taken the lead on 18 minutes, Pizarro lobbing narrowly wide.

They deservedly went in front on the half-hour mark, Mesut Ösil brilliantly splitting the home defence for Rosenberg to slot the ball past FCB keeper Michael Rensing. Minutes later it was 2-0, when Rensing pushed Özil's free-kick onto the feet of Naldo, who just had to knock the ball over the line.

Klinsmann rings changes

Bayern coach Jürgen Klinsmann brought on Borowski and Massimo Oddo at half time, but it just went from bad to worse for the home side. Diego put in Özil for number three, and Rosenberg set up Pizarro to make it 4-0. And it was not over yet. Rensing, having a truly bad day, dropped a Diego cross, leaving Rosenberg with the easiest of chances to make it five.

Bayern's two late strikes saved them from complete humiliation, but it still left them on the wrong end of a home defeat unparallelled in recent times.

[Lucky7]

Bayern Munich 2-5 Weder Bremen

Werder Bremen earned them an impressive 5-2 victory away to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. Following a frustrating Champions League opener in midweek, the visitors took the game to Bayern and used a combination of tenacious defence and deadly finishing to go ahead 5-0 by the 67th minute.

It was clear sailing after that, although the home side were able to pull two back with a brace from Tim Borowski.

[RedForceRising]

Some interesting results this weekend.

Besides Werder bremen's 2:5 thumping of Bayern Munich there were other eye-catching results:

Hamburg, who had been leading the table, were unceremoniously barged off the top after a 3-0 drubbing by VfL Wolfsburg.

An interesting fact about Wolfsburg is that the city was founded for the purpose of housing the workers who built the Volkswagen Beatle.

VfL Wolfsburg are sponsored by Volkswagen and are generally not very well liked amongst many German football purists, because they have a bit of a rap like Chelsea. Small team, small stadium, hardly any history, but rich owners, who can afford Felix Margath and the salaries of some demanding pros.

Another interesting result was newly-promoted Hoffenheim beating Dortmund 4:1.

Yes, you read correctly. The ones mighty Borrusia Dortmund have fallen on challenging times and are no longer the powerhouse they once were.

Hoffenheim are owned by spend-management solutions giant, SAP, and enjoy a good rap, because they have an Arsenal-like philosophy of cultivating the best young talent into stars.


And finally.....

Just to give you some updates from the second Bundesliga, my hometown team SC Freiburg are currently leading the second division table


Strikers to the fore
Freiburg romped to the top of the table in style, FSV Frankfurt bagged their first win of the season and Ingolstadt also came out on top at home. bundesliga.de has a round-up of all the Sunday action.



SC Freiburg - SV Wehen Wiesbaden 5-0 (1-0)

Freiburg maintained their 100 percent home record in impressive fashion, and more importantly moved to the top of the table with this trouncing of Wiesbaden.


Idrissou and Jäger do the business

Forward duo Mohamadou Idrissou (53., 83., 90.) and Jonathan Jäger (33., 64.) between them scored the goals for the home side, who could have won by an even higher margin if they had converted some of their numerous first-half chances.

For Wiesbaden, defeat leaves them anchored second from bottom on three points.

Freiburg were quick to establish control of the midfield, and in the wake of Jäger's opener hit the bar twice in quick succession, with a Heiko Butscher header (36.) and a Tommy Bechmann free-kick (40.).

The home side kept up the pressure after the break and were eventually rewarded in the hard currency of goals, with Idrissou wrapping up his hattrick right at the death.

[Jazz 16]

Impressive thread RFR. Ill be keeping an eye on it as the BL is good to watch
and its always good to nerd up on other top footballers.

[RedForceRising]

Originally Posted by Jazz 16

Impressive thread RFR. Ill be keeping an eye on it as the BL is good to watch
and its always good to nerd up on other top footballers.

Cheers for the compliment, Jazzy!


Here are some updates:

Klinsmann tries to get up for cup
http://www.teamtalk.com/football/sto...180910,00.html

Jurgen Klinsmann has urged Bayern Munich to bounce back from their 5-2 Bundesliga thrashing when they host Nurnberg in the DFB-Pokal.



Club president Franz Beckenbauer advised Klinsmann to drown his sorrows after the humiliating home defeat to Werder Bremen with two litres of beer at the annual Oktoberfest celebrations, which began on Saturday, but the coach turned him down.

"I usually take his advice, but not this time," he said.

Klinsmann was in no mood for celebrations after the German champions conceded more than four goals for the first time in 32 years against a rampant Bremen outfit.

The 44-year-old could not afford a hangover on Sunday as he wanted to turn his attention immediately to the next challenge in the cup on Wednesday.

"The important thing when you are down on the ground is to get up as quickly as possible and show a reaction," he added.

"And we will certainly do that - maybe even stronger than before."

The cup holders struggled into the second round with a 4-3 win over Rot-Weiss Erfurt in Klinsmann's first game in charge since taking over from Ottmar Hitzfeld in the summer.

That set up a tie with second division side Nurnberg, who come into the game in a similar state of disarray after losing at Mainz on Friday.

"We have got to get a win really, really quickly," said their new coach Michael Oenning, who has yet to win a game since taking over from Thomas von Heesen earlier this month.

The first round of the DFB-Pokal was an upset-free affair with all 18 Bundesliga sides successfully coming through to the second round, but five top-flight teams will definitely be eliminated this week.

Energie Cottbus or Borussia Monchengladbach will be the first to go when they meet on Tuesday evening while Schalke or Hannover will follow later on Tuesday night.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Bremen travel to Erzgebirge Aue and Cologne have a tricky tie at Mainz. Eintracht Frankfurt host Hansa Rostock with Bayer Leverkusen travelling to Augsburg.

One second division side is guaranteed a place in the third round on Tuesday when 1860 Munich host Duisburg at the Allianz Arena.

On Wednesday, Borussia Dortmund or Hertha Berlin will have to end their cup final dreams, as will either Hamburg or Bochum and Stuttgart or Arminia Bielefeld.

Wolfsburg will expect to defeat the lowest-ranked side left in the competition, FC Oberneuland, while Karlsruhe and Hoffenheim also face lower-league opposition in Offenbach and Freiburg respectively.

Wehen and Alemannia Aachen meet in another all-second division clash and Jena host FSV Frankfurt with another low-ranked side guaranteed a place in the last 16.


Dortmund apologise for fan abuse
http://www.teamtalk.com/football/sto...180862,00.html

Hans-Joachim Watzke has apologised to the owner of Hoffenheim for the abuse aimed towards him from Dortmund fans on Sunday.



Several Dortmund followers vented their frustration at their side's 4-1 defeat at Hoffenheim against the multi-millionaire owner of the Bundesliga newcomers Dietmar Hopp.

Dortmund general manager Watzke, who was sat just a few seats away from Hopp in their temporary home of Mannheim on Sunday, admitted he had felt very uncomfortable.

"What happened in Mannheim was embarrassing, shameful and unworthy," he said on the Westphalian club's website.

"We will do all we can to ensure people who no longer abide by the values of a BVB fan no longer damage BVB's reputation."

One fan held up a personally insulting banner against Hopp, whose millions have helped Hoffenheim from non-league obscurity into the Bundesliga recently.

He has already been identified and is likely to receive a ban from all stadia throughout Germany.

[Grif SA]

I'm going to be wearing my Werder Bremen kit with some pride this coming week.