Bayern hunt eighth straight win at Wolves

February 6, 2010


Bayern Munich are expected to be without French midfielder Franck Ribery when they hunt their eighth straight Bundesliga win against defending champions Wolfsburg on Saturday.

Bayern’s winning run has bolted them up to second in the table, just two points behind league leaders Leverkusen, and an eighth win at Wolfsburg would keep the pressure on with the leaders at strugglers Bochum on Saturday.

With Munich’s Dutch play-maker Arjen Robben chasing his third consecutive league goal after curling in free-kicks against both Werder Bremen and Mainz in recent weeks, Ribery should be on the bench.

With his contract set to expire in June 2011, Ribery is expected to announce whether he will stay at Bayern in the next few weeks, but coach Louis van Gaal is trying to return him to the side after recovering from a knee injury.

“Ribery is getting ever more fitter, you can see it in training,” said van Gaal.

“I must integrate him back into the team, but that is difficult, because I must do that in a league game.”

Ribery’s agent has said his client is being chased by European giants Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

“He would love to play alongside (Barcelona star Lionel) Messi, that would be phenomenal,” Ribery’s agent Alain Migliaccio told Spanish radio.

“There is no door closed, neither to Real Madrid nor to Barca or to Manchester.

“With Bayern we will see how things go up to the beginning of March.”

Van Gaal insists his side have put last season’s 5-1 hammering at home to Wolfsburg out of their heads and Wolves, who sacked coach Armin Veh nearly a fortnight ago, are chasing their first win for 10 games.

Germany striker Mario Gomez has scored six goals in his last eight league games and is relishing facing Wolfsburg.

“For me personally, this is the best it?s ever been in my career,” the 24-year-old said after scoring in last Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Mainz.

Meanwhile, Wolfsburg are desperately trying to keep hold of their striker Edin Dzeko with their hot-shot striker being chased by a number of top European clubs, including Manchester United.

Wolfsburg’s caretaker coach Lorenz-Guenther Koestner is undefeated after his side drew 1-1 at Hamburg, but morale is rock bottom at the defending champions.

Leverkusen, the only unbeaten team in the Bundesliga, are at Bochum with the league’s top-scorer Steffan Kiessling back to scoring ways having netted in last weekend’s 3-1 win at Freiburg.

Schalke are at Freiburg and are defending a six-game unbeaten record which has put them amidst the title contenders and just three points off Leverkusen.

Saturday

VfL Wolfsburg v Bayern Munich, Cologne v Hamburg, Freiburg v Schalke 04, VfL Bochum v Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim v Hanover 96, Nuremberg v VfB Stuttgart

Sunday

Mainz 05 v Borussia M’gladbach, Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt

BERLIN (AFP)

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Flying Dutchman Robben puts Bayern back on top

January 30, 2010


Dutch winger Arjen Robben scored his second goal in two matches to seal Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win over Bochum on Saturday to put his side top of the Bundesliga and give them their seventh straight league win.

Having scored the winner in the 3-2 win at Bremen the week before, Robben curled in another free-kick to give Louis van Gaal-coached Bayern three more Bundesliga points.

With Leverkusen facing strugglers Freiburg on Sunday, Bayern can expect to lose their place at the top of the table, but for now they enjoy a single-point lead.

Bayern’s Mario Gomez and Daniel Van Buyten had fired the German giants into the lead before Robben stepped up with the third goal.

The home side took the lead amidst heavy snow when Van Buyten headed home after a cross from Robben on 58 minutes.

French winger Franck Ribery, who continues to work his way back to fitness after a knee injury, came off the bench with 30 minutes remaining.

Ribery and Robben combined to free Germany defender Philipp Lahm down the right flank who fired in a cross which Gomez slotted home on 75 minutes before Robben struck with four minutes remaining.

Elsewhere, Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf is in a precarious position as his side have now gone seven German league games without a win after they went down 4-3 at midtable Borussia Moenchengladbach.

The home side raced into a 3-0 lead after just 18 minutes before Mesut Oezil and Claudio Pizarro pulled goals back for Bremen and captain Torsten Frings converted a penalty with six minutes left to guarantee a frantic finish.

Second from bottom Nuremberg picked up only their second win in their last 10 games when they won 3-1 at Hanover and the result leaves bottom side Hertha Berlin five points adrift after they drew 0-0 with Bochum in the capital.

Cologne are up to 12th after their second consecutive win having beaten Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1.

With defending champions Wolfsburg drawing 1-1 at Hamburg on Friday, fourth-placed Dortmund face Stuttgart on Sunday.

Under former Tottenham Hotspur boss Christian Gross, who took over from Markus Babbel in December, Stuttgart have moved up to 13th in the table.

BERLIN (AFP)

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Bayern must keep winning, says striker Gomez

January 30, 2010


Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez believes the German giants will need to win all of their remaining Bundesliga games to be sure of the title – starting with Mainz on Saturday.

Bayern are second in the table, two points off leaders Leverkusen who host strugglers Freiburg on Sunday.

Having let a 2-0 lead slip to a 2-2 draw against Bochum last weekend, third-placed Schalke will be hoping to take advantage of Hoffenheim’s slump in form when the sides meet on Saturday.

The fate of this season’s Bundesliga title could well be decided when Bayern visit Leverkusen on the second weekend of April, but until then Gomez says Bayern must keep winning.

Louis van Gaal’s team suffered a shock when they were beaten 2-1 at Mainz last August, but with Bayern locked in a fierce battle with Schalke and Leverkusen, Gomez says only consistent victories will put them top.

“I think we?ll need to win nearly all our games to take the title,” said Gomez, who is set to travel to June’s World Cup with Germany, with 15 league games left to go.

Mainz beat Hanover last weekend to pick up their first Bundesliga win in seven games, but Bayern boss van Gaal will want three more points with his side having won all of their last eight games in all competitions.

Bayern have a good chance of making the Champions League’s quarter-finals as they play Fiorentina in the last 16 next month, but the men from Munich are focused on the German league for the time being.

“The only thing which can stop us now is ourselves,” said midfielder and rising star Thomas Mueller who was called into the Germany squad for fitness testing last week.

But unbeaten Leverkusen continue to resist Munich?s march up the standings from eighth place after 12 matches.

“Bayern have overtaken us twice but we?ve hit back on both occasions. We?ve shown real durability,” said Toni Kroos, who is on loan from Bayern to Leverkusen.

The Rhineland outfit have earned a reputation for dramatic losses of form in the second half of the campaign, but no-one at Bayern thinks that will happen this time.

“Leverkusen are playing consistently well right now. We need to focus on ourselves and win our matches, and success will follow automatically,” said Bayern goalkeeper Joerg Butt.

“We have to keep winning, and see how the others react,” said Butt.

Munich were top of the league for 26 hours last weekend.

“What matters is being first in May,” said Butt. “And it?s all still in our own hands.”

Saturday

Borussia M’gladbach v Werder Bremen, Eintracht Frankfurt v Cologne, Hertha Berlin v VfL Bochum, Bayern Munich v Mainz 05, Hanover 96 v Nuremberg, Schalke 04 v Hoffenheim

Sunday

VfB Stuttgart v Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen v Freiburg

BERLIN (AFP)

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Robben wonder goal sends Bayern top

January 23, 2010


Dutch star Arjen Robben hit a second-half wonder goal on Saturday as Bayern Munich came from behind to win 3-2 at Werder Bremen as the German giants went top of the league.

Robben’s stunning direct free-kick gave Louis van Gaal-coached Bayern their sixth straight league win while the Holland star hit his fifth league goal of the season.

The flying Dutch winger, who signed for 24 million euros (33.9 million US dollars) from Real Madrid last summer, hit a curling free-kick which gave Bremen’s Germany goalkeeper Tim Wiese no chance of saving on 78 minutes.

It was a bitter blow for the home side who had opened the scoring after midfielder Aaron Hunt slotted home from close range after 10 minutes.

Bayern hit back when rising star Thomas Mueller scored after good work by Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger on 25 minutes before Croatia striker Ivica Olic netted from a Philipp Lahm cross ten minutes later.

It left Bayern 2-1 up at the break as they welcomed back French midfielder Franck Ribery, who came on for Olic in the second-half to make his first appearance for Munich since suffering a knee injury on October 3.

Bremen equalised when Portugal striker Hugo Almeida slotted home a top-class goal on 75 minutes before Robben’s stunning winner.

An injury time goal from Bochum’s Slovakia striker Stanislav Sestak robbed Schalke of the chance to go top as the Royal Blues were held 2-2.

Schalke took the lead when Uruguay striker Vicente Sanchez converted a pass from Jefferson Farfan in the fifth minute before ex-Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi made it 2-0 to the hosts just before the half-time whistle.

The result left Felix Magath-coached Schalke third in the table, but second-placed Leverkusen have the chance to regain the lead on Sunday providing they win at Hoffenheim.

And defending champions Wolfsburg host struggling Cologne also on Sunday while fourth-placed Hamburg have the opportunity to get back into the league race if they win at fifth-placed Dortmund on Saturday night.

Having picked up only their second win of the season last weekened, bottom side Hertha Berlin were held 0-0 at home by Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Hertha’s Czech Republic goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny kept his side in the game when he saved a first-half penalty from ‘Gladbach’s midfielder Juan Arango from Venezuala while Nuremberg drew 1-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Having taken over from Andreas Bergmann as coach last week, new Hanover boss Mirko Slomka got off to a losing start when his side were beaten 1-0 at mid-table Mainz – their eighth game without a win.

BERLIN (AFP)

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Fighting-fit Klose keeps the pressure on at Bayern

January 23, 2010


Germany’s Miroslav Klose plans to fire both his country and Bayern Munich to success in the coming weeks as the German giants look to keep up the pressure on Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen.

The 31-year-old, the top-scorer at the 2006 World Cup, scored his first German league goal of the season in last weekend’s 2-0 win over Hoffenheim which leaves Bayern two points behind Leverkusen.

But Saturday’s clash at his former club Bremen promises to be a battle royal and, although he is set to start on the bench, Klose looks sure to be used by Bayern coach Louis van Gaal.

Munich have scored 17 goals in their last five league matches and the return of the killer instinct in front of goal has sent the club off on an impressive winning run as they are now 11 league games without defeat.

Mario Gomez (five goals in the last six games) and Ivica Olic (four in the last five) have claimed regular status up front, but now Klose is pushing hard to win back his place in the starting line-up.

“My goal is to become a regular again as fast as possible,” he said having suffered a string of injuries including ankle surgery and a sprained elbow which hampered his autumn.

“Provided I?m fit and avoid injury I?ll be picked to play, at Bayern and for Germany, because when I?m fit, I?m the best,” he said with the World Cup in South Afria now five months away.

With three quality strikers fighting for two places at Bayern, Klose intends to carry the fight to Germany’s Gomez and Croatia’s Olic.

But Klose may have to be patient in terms of his first start since mid-November, as van Gaal reaffirmed his faith in Gomez and Olic after the Hoffenheim game.

“I won?t change anything for the trip to Bremen,” he said.

Bayern are expected to welcome back midfielder Franck Ribery, but will be up against a tough Bremen midfield which includes rising Germany stars Mesut Oezil and Marko Marin.

Ribery has been out of action with a troublesome knee injury since October 3 and is expected to play some role in the clash against sixth-placed Bremen.

Both Bayern and second-placed Schalke, who are at Bochum on Saturday, have the chance to take top spot in the league with leaders Leverkusen travelling to play Hoffenheim on Sunday.

Bottom side Hertha Berlin are looking for their second straight win at home to Moenchengladbach having finally broken their winless run at Hanover last weekend.

Saturday

Werder Bremen v Bayern Munich

VfL Bochum v Schalke 04

Mainz 05 v Hanover 96

Nuremberg v Eintracht Frankfurt

Hertha Berlin v Borussia M’gladbach

Borussia Dortmund v Hamburg

Sunday

VfL Wolfsburg v Cologne

Hoffenheim v Bayer Leverkusen

BERLIN (AFP)

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Kuranyi proves his worth to fire Schalke second

January 17, 2010


Ex-Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi proved his worth by sealing Schalke 04’s 1-0 win over Nuremberg on Sunday, to put the Royal Blues second in the Bundesliga, despite nearly being sold over the winter break.

The 27-year-old, who notoriously walked out on the Germany team in October 2008, struck in the 48th minute with his ninth league goal of the season to put Schalke second, a point behind leaders Leverkusen.

Before the game, Schalke coach Felix Magath admitted he had wanted to sell the striker to English side Sunderland earlier this month for a reported four million euros to ease the club’s debts, but the player had scuppered the deal.

“We reached an agreement with a club, but Kevin decided he wanted to stay and achieve something with Schalke this season,” said Magath.

Last December, Kuranyi became one of a select few players to have scored 100 goals in the Bundesliga and is out of contract in June.

On Saturday, VfB Stuttgart kept their unbeaten record under coach Christian Gross with a 3-1 victory over champions VfL Wolfsburg to seal their first Bundesliga win since September.

Former Tottenham boss Gross took over after Markus Babbel was sacked last December and having put his side in the Champions League’s last 16, Gross recorded his first Bundesliga win and it came against the defending champions.

This was Stuttgart’s first win in 11 games with goals by Robert Hilbert, Pavel Pogrebnyak and Timo Gebhart with a consolation from Edin Dzeko.

The win leaves Stuttgart 12th in the league while Wolfsburg are now ninth and will buoy Gross’s side with Stuttgart set to face defending European champions Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League next month.

Earlier, Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to beat mid-table Mainz 4-2 and reclaim top spot after Bayern Munich had temporarily taken charge.

Bayern’s 2-0 win over Hoffenheim on Friday night had briefly given them a one-point advantage, but Leverkusen regained pole position.

Bottom side Hertha Berlin got their 2010 off to a great start as they enjoyed a 3-0 win at Hanover in what was only their second win since the opening day of the season.

Polish midfielder Lukasz Piszczek netted in the 30th minute to get the capital club on the way before Brazil’s Raffael made it 2-0 after 33 minutes and Greek striker Theofanis Gekas hit the third with 10 minutes remaining.

Berlin are still three points from nearest rivals Nuremberg and eight points from escaping the bottom three, but the win will have boosted their confidence.

Hamburg are now fourth after their 2-0 win at home to Freiburg as Germany midfielder Marcell Jansen and Croatia striker Mladen Petric scored either side of half-time.

Werder Bremen are sixth after their 1-0 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt – their fourth straight league defeat.

BERLIN (AFP)

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Klose breaks goal drought to fire Bayern top

January 16, 2010


Germany striker Miroslav Klose came off the bench to help fire Bayern Munich back to the top of the Bundesliga after more than 600 days away as the German giants beat Hoffenheim 2-0 on Friday.

Despite being top-scorer at the 2006 World Cup, this was Klose’s first league goal of the season and he started the game as third-choice striker behind Germany team-mate Mario Gomez and Croatia’s Ivica Olic.

Klose, 31, took over from Olic after 63 minutes and then netted from close-range on 86 minutes to hand Louis van Gaal’s Bayern a single-point lead at the top of the table as action resumed after the long winter break.

“It is good to be league leaders again and it was nice to be able to get a goal,” said Klose.

It was the best proof to van Gaal that Klose is back in business and the Dutchman said the victory is a clear message to the rest of the Bundesliga – Bayern are back in business.

“I think the rest of the league has seen we have a good team,” said van Gaal.

“I have always wanted us to spread some fear through the other teams and I think we did this today. In the first-half, we did not play well and we gave away too many passes.

“We played much better in the second-half and we created many chances, not all of which were taken.”

Argentina centre-back Martin Demichelis had opened the scoring for Bayern in the first half, but despite the win, Bayer Leverkusen could regain the lead on Saturday when they face mid-table Mainz.

Bayern have been crowned German champions 21 times, but May 17, 2008 was the last time they had sat on top of the Bundesliga.

The hosts took the lead at Munich’s Allianz Arena after 35 minutes when Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger crossed in the ball from the right and Hoffenheim defender Josip Simunic headed the ball onto the back post.

Demichelis, who is set to play for his country against Germany in a pre-World Cup friendly in Munich in March, stabbed the ball home from five metres out.

Klose, who has only made eight league starts this season due to injury, proved his status as Germany’s number one striker with some clinical finishing to make sure van Gaal’s team claimed the three points.

Dutch winger Arjen Robben passed back to captain Mark van Bommel on the edge of the penalty area and his speculative shot was stabbed home by Klose, who was the fastest to react.

With 48 goals for Germany in 93 appearances, Klose showed just why he is, injury permitting, almost sure of being in Joachim Loew’s squad for the World Cup in South Africa in June.

The defeat leaves Hoffenheim seventh, but Bayern could still finish the weekend only third if both Leverkusen and Schalke, who face second-from-bottom Nuremberg on Sunday, pick up three points.

BERLIN (AFP)

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Koller signs for Cannes

January 5, 2010


Former Czech international striker Jan Koller, out of contract with Russian first division side Samara, has signed for 18 months with French third division side Cannes, his agent confirmed Monday.

“He preferred a peaceful life with his family despite offers from German and Chinese clubs,” agent Pavel Paska told the CTK agency.

Koller, 36, was also targetted by German Bundesliga club Hamburg.

The top Czech scorer in the history of the national team with 55 goals in 91 matches, Koller played for Monaco from 2006 to 2008 and owns a home in the Principality along the coast from Cannes.

“At 36 years, I no longer have big ambitions, I want to play football for fun,” said the 2.02m striker.

He started his career at Sparta Prague, also playing for Belgian sides Lokeren and Anderlecht and German clubs Borussia Dortmund and Nuremberg.

PRAGUE (AFP)

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Bayern loan Breno and Ottl to Nuremberg

January 2, 2010


Bundesliga strugglers Nuremberg have taken Brazilian defender Breno and midfielder Andreas Ottl on loan from Bayern Munich until the end of the season.

Neither player has been able to command a regular place in the starting line-up under Dutch trainer Louis van Gaal who has also made it clear he wants to offload some of his squad.

Bayern have already loaned out unsettled Italian striker Luca Toni to Roma as he seeks to seal a place in his country’s World Cup squad.

The 20-year-old Breno was bought by Bayern for 12 million euros in January, 2008, but has never neen able to establish himself and recently made it clear that he would prefer a move back to Brazil.

The 24-year-old Ottl is a product of the Bayern youth development programme but he too has seen few first team starts.

Nuremberg, who are second bottom of the first division, recently appointed Dieter Hecking as head coach in a bid to avoid the drop.

BERLIN (AFP)

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Five-star Gomez hoping to fire Bayern top

December 19, 2009


Germany striker Mario Gomez is hoping to score his sixth goal in seven games for Bayern Munich against Hertha Berlin on Saturday as his side aim to enter the winter break as Bundesliga leaders.

The 24-year-old started his purple patch in the 1-1 draw with league leaders Leverkusen on November 22.

Since then he has scored in all of the last three German league games plus a top class effort in the 4-1 win at Juventus which put Bayern in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Bayern have risen up the Bundesliga table from eighth and go into the weekend third in the league, just two points behind leaders Leverkusen.

A win over Hertha, who have failed to record a single league success since their victory on the opening day of the season, would give them a chance of finishing the year on top of the league.

Leverkusen would need to lose at Borussia Moenchengladbach and second-placed Schalke would have to fail to beat Mainz on Friday night, but Louis van Gaal-coached Bayern have a chance to claim the lead.

“I am not only scoring goals, I am creating them too,” said Gomez who is hoping for his sixth consecutive goal at Munich’s Allianz Arena.

“I had a chat with the coach (van Gaal) and he explained what he expects of me, since then everything has worked well and I feel liberated now.”

And for his partner up front Ivica Olic, who scored twice in last weekend’s 5-1 win over Bochum, Gomez is justifying the 30 million euros Bayern paid Stuttgart for him last summer.

“The combination works well,” said Olic. “I always have fun playing with a striker like Mario. He is showing why Bayern paid so much money for him.”

Bayern, who have gone 11 home games without a Bundesliga defeat, should have few problems against Hertha.

A 70th minute goal by Gojko Kacar was enough to see Berlin reach the last 32 of the newly-formed Europa League against Group D leaders Sporting Lisbon last week, but they are six points adrift at the foot of the Bundesliga.

Leverkusen have announced they will loan striker Theofanis Gekas to Hertha as they look to consolidate their place at the top of the table and victory at home to ‘Gladbach will see them finish the year on top.

Stuttgart coach Christian Gross will be without banned Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann who picked up a three-match ban after being sent off in the 1-1 draw against Mainz last Sunday.

Gross replaced Markus Babbel as coach earlier this month, but is still chasing his first Bundesliga success since taking over at Stuttgart as his side, who are 15th in the table, host Hoffenheim on Saturday.

Friday

Schalke 04 v Mainz 05

Saturday

Bayern Munich v Hertha Berlin, Borussia Dortmund v Freiburg, Bayer Leverkusen v Borussia M’gladbach, Hanover 96 v VfL Bochum, Eintracht Frankfurt v VfL Wolfsburg, VfB Stuttgart v Hoffenheim

Sunday

Hamburg v Werder Bremen, Cologne v Nuremberg

BERLIN (AFP)

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