Features news coverage of Bayern Munich and its players, including match reports, transfer rumours and general football news.
Today’s transfer roundup won’t be too long, because I’m being generous. I’m sure you all have much better things to do than to sit and read for an extended period of time…right?
Written by Eddie Griffin. One comment
Today’s transfer roundup starts with transfer-related news, but not a big rumor. Instead, I give two thumbs-up to Real Madrid’s Wesley Sneijder for looking out for his brother’s best interests, as he stepped in to prevent Real from making an offer to former club Ajax for his brother Rodney, a promising youth team player.
Written by Eddie Griffin. Leave a response
Today’s transfer roundup starts up as the last one did, so Arsenal fans, feel free to jump a couple of paragraphs.
Written by Eddie Griffin. 15 comments
According to Forbes.com Manchester United have been valued at $1.8 billion, ahead of the club traditionally known as the richest club in football (Real Madrid, $1.285 billion) and their chief domestic rivals Arsenal ($1.2 billion), Liverpool ($1.05 billion) and Chelsea ($764 million).
Have fun sorting the lists according to different criteria. Here are some highlights:
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 3 comments
This can be a difficult time of the season for strong recommendations as title hopes evaporate; teams get lost in mid-table mediocrity with little to play for and those resigned to their fate fail to perform to expectation.
But there are some interesting clashes this weekend as in Serie A six of the top seven take each other on. In the Premier League, Arsenal’s season will finish early unless they can win at Old Trafford. There’s much to be decided at the bottom of the Bundesliga as any three from five could still be relegated and two of them meet this weekend. Ligue 1 is even less defined as only six points separates 12th from 19th and four of the bottom five have the same number of points. Only in Spain could nearly everything top and bottom of the table be resolved this weekend.
Written by Soccerlens. Leave a response
Luca Toni saved Bayern Munich’s blushes against courageous 10-man Getafe here Thursday with a late extra time double to put the German giants into the UEFA Cup semi-finals on away goals.
The high achieving Spaniards, who were down a man after just six minutes, produced another heroic performance after eking out a crucial 1-1 draw in the first leg of this quarter-final in Munich last week.
But despite going 3-1 up on the night in the opening minutes of extra time Italian World Cup winner Toni’s double left the aggregate score at 4-4 with the Germans going through on away goals.
They now face Zenit St Petersburg in the last four.
Written by Soccerlens. One comment
First-timer meets long-timer in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup, as European newcomer Getafe face off against Bayern Munich.
While Getafe are experiencing Europe for the first time, Bayern have been there and done that, six times in fact (four European Cup/Champions League titles, one Cup Winners’ Cup title, and one UEFA Cup title).
Written by Eddie Griffin. Leave a response
Bayern Munich’s superstars Franck Ribery and Luca Toni can expect to sleep on the job next season as new coach Jurgen Klinsmann introduces radical changes - including beds in the team room.
Klinsmann is set to replace Ottmar Hitzfeld as Bayern coach on July 1 and has already given instructions for a number of bold changes including an eight-hour working day for the players and a luxury team room with beds.
Speaking with German magazine Stern, the Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said:
Written by Ahmed Bilal. Leave a response
I write a lot about the English Championship and in that league the top four, Stoke City, Bristol City, Watford and West Brom, are all doing their level best not to get automatic promotion. Only Stoke have won in their last two games, and that is one in five for them. The rest of the teams can’t buy a win. Despite that, the chasing pack are making no inroads because they can’t win either.
I thought this was because it was a tough league and there were no outstanding teams in it. However, a glance around the top leagues in Europe will show that teams at the top everywhere are trying not to win their leagues.
What is going on? Worldwide corruption? Teams unable to handle the pressure?
Written by Graham Fisher. 21 comments
Friday, 22 February, 2008.
A very good morning to you, dear Soccerlens readers. Got an email this morning from Hugo telling me that he was emailing a few organisations to see if he could find some slaves for us. Or something to that effect. I’m pleased, of course, but a bit concerned Hugo - are we going for this or this?
Anyway, on to the real stuff.
Written by Ahmed Bilal. One comment
It was a great night, for the most part, for British sides in the UEFA Cup on Thursday night, as four of the five British participants still in the competition advanced to the round of 16.
Written by Eddie Griffin. Leave a response
BBC Scotland unimpressed with their recent decision regarding the broadcast of this week’s UEFA Cup matches.
As some will know, Rangers take on Panathinaikos in Greece on Thursday and Bayern Munich play Aberdeen at the Allianz Arena in Germany that same day. But unfortunately for non-travelling fans, both matches are contested at roughly the same time. Which means that the BBC can only broadcast one - out of interests of “fairness” to viewers.
They’ve gone for the Rangers match. Which means that any Aberdeen fans unable to make the journey to Germany won’t be able to watch the second leg of the tie, where they still have a chance of making it to the last 16.
Written by Alan Worrall. 13 comments
Things are looking good for the English clubs in the UEFA Cup after Everton, Tottenham, and Bolton each won the first legs of their round of 32 ties.
Written by Eddie Griffin. 3 comments
Nine goals conceded in two games, only two scored. Numerous injuries, confidence low, and a visit from Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich. Sounds like the sort of thing nightmares are made of. But Jimmy Calderwood and his Aberdeen side almost made it a dream come true with a fantastic performance against the tournament favourites in the UEFA Cup.
Written by Alan Worrall. Leave a response
As a sportsman he has already written a chapter for himself in German footballing history, and is widely acknowledged to be one of the finest strikers to have graced European football in the 1990s.
As a businessman he’s less known (neither Wikipedia nor the countless news stories covering his reign as Germany manager or the speculation on his management future after that include the name of his company) but equally effective; Klinsmann is vice president and partner in SoccerSolutions, a US-based sports marketing and business development firm, and has been nicknamed the ‘Rainmaker’ for his positive contributions to the company.
As a manager he has a limited CV (a role in the LA Galaxy management and 2 years at the head of the Germany national team) but like his career (football and commercial), he has tasted success wherever he has went. A strong showing in the 2006 World Cup cemented his place as a progressive and capable manager, and his next appointment - a 2 year contract (2008-2010) as Bayern Munich manager - is the perfect stage for Klinsmann to prove that he is as capable of delivering results with a football club as he was on the pitch, as a consultant and as a national team manager.
How then, do you describe Klinsmann?
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 3 comments
It’s Friday, so I know that you who are reading Soccerlens at work, you can’t wait to skate through the rest of your day and get home for the weekend, but that doesn’t mean you can do the same with the transfer roundup, because if you click, you read to the bottom - no return policy, and no money-back guarantees.
Written by Eddie Griffin. One comment
Today’s transfer roundup is pretty light, so you don‘t have to worry about your lunch getting cold while you read.
Written by Eddie Griffin. 2 comments
Finally, Nicolas Anelka is off to Chelsea, so we can breathe a collective sigh of relief. Everyone has what they want, as Anelka is finally on the move again (it took long enough, didn’t it?), Chelsea have their striker (and didn’t ‘overpay’), and Bolton have the money to do a little spending.
And, after finally getting what they wanted for Anelka, Bolton now have the task of finding his replacement, and that could be Johan Elmander, who I mentioned in the last roundup. Funnily enough, the Goal.com article that mentions this tidbit called him Johan Redknapp. I’m sure it was just a typo, and that someone didn’t have their morning coffee, but I suppose if you squint hard enough, he does look a little like Harry.
Written by Eddie Griffin. 7 comments
After the World’s Top Goalscorer of 2007, the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History & Statistics) has done the impossible: make yet another controversial ranking, and make some more thousand-something fans pissed off about it.
This time, it’s the All-Time Club Rankings.
Written by Marco Pantanella. 19 comments
Finally, we have some signings, because it can get a little boring talking about speculation sometimes.
Written by Eddie Griffin. One comment
While football accomplishments and failures are usually measured season to season, the end of an year gives an opportunity to view a team’s (or a player’s) performance from a different perspective.
Here’s a look at the teams and people who deserve to be nominated as the worst performers in 2007, allowing for slumps in form and what not.
Written by Jay Maniyar. 51 comments
It’s time to take a trip around Europe once again to see how some of the other leagues in the continent are shaking out as we head towards the new year (you did know that there was football beyond the English Premier League, right?).
Written by Eddie Griffin. 2 comments
The UEFA Cup group stage wrapped up this week, with the rest of the slots for the competition’s round of 32 being filled.
There was at least one place up for grabs in several of the eight groups, which meant for several sides, there was much to celebrate the past two nights, and for others, nothing but disappointment and heartbreak.
Written by Eddie Griffin. Leave a response
As the temperatures cool down and the new year rapidly approaches, the transfer gossip is heating up with rumours flying thick and fast.
Written by Eddie Griffin. 2 comments
Hardly a day passes by when you don’t hear the words FC Barcelona, Ronaldinho and AC Milan in a single sentence. Today is no exception as the Spanish press goes on and on about the Ronaldinho circus that has reached almost to the point of insanity.
Written by Subhankar Mondal. 4 comments
Today’s top transfer rumours:
Written by Subhankar Mondal. 5 comments
Our European tour starts in France, where Lyon, as is to be expected by now, are standing alone atop the Ligue 1 standings, but aren’t running away with their seventh straight title just yet.
With their upcoming Champions League clash with Rangers in mind, Lyon manager Alain Perrin sat several key players for Saturday’s tie at Caen, and as a result, may have sacrificed three points, as the home side used an early goal to pick up a 1-0 victory.
Written by Eddie Griffin. One comment
Sir Alex Ferguson wants to buy an experienced defender, probably a full back, during the January transfer window. He knows it, we know it and now so do the Glazers after the usually reticent Old Trafford boss spoke at length about the latest injury setback suffered by Manchester United club captain Gary Neville.
Written by Betfair. 4 comments
The Topper Harley-like power dive of the Bavarians ended three meters below the surface of the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, due to the critical loss of the right wing. Gomez was all happy to take good advantage of it and still wearing his Halloween hangman costume showed no hesitation to carry out the sentence. However, he may never have succeeded if it weren’t for self-nominated robicarlos Ludovic Magnin, who provided excellent box to box play.
Expectable as it was, the Reds could have only been defeated two ways in Bundesliga – either with an out of bunker strike as Frankfurt t(r)ied, or with kamikaze attacks from the very beginning hoping to score before you die - knowing the inconsistent defence the VfB have, no wonder the young&wild opted for version B.
Written by Henrik Hegedus. Leave a response
Bolton weathered a second half onslaught from a Bayern Munich side inspired by the talismanic Franck Ribery to claim a highly impressive UEFA Cup point at the Allianz Arena tonight.
Written by Anthony. One comment
