Bayern who?

[alfie]

Bolton are 2nd from bottom of the EPL and draw away at Bayern
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 076603.stm

What's up with that Doc

[Der Echte]

You didn't think that you could post that one and it go unanswered very long, did you? Yeah, we muffed it and our "B" striker, Lukas Padolski, scored a brace that was wasted. Bayern's position is still good. We will surely advance. This current phase of where teams play twice a week for a month is interesting and a test of the total squad, both first selection and backups. We get over this busy spell and it gets even better. I think we must relocate DTop's excuse generator and fire it up. it will all be good.

[Peter C]

Bayern looked good going forward with Ribery on the park and he was their best player on the night.

Ribery's substitution I suspect was down to a fitness issue as he was really playing well. It was noticeable how Bayern faded as an attacking force after his substitution; a surprise considering how much talent there is at the Bayern.

Klose was disappointing, i expected him to be more of a goal threat. Luca Toni didn't get going either.

Podolski's first goal was the best of the game due to the quality of the passing, the set up pass from Ribery and a quality finish with the outside of the boot, curling the ball just inside the post. His second goal also featured a good piece of skill by Ribery to set it up.

Bolton played well on the night considering how many first team regulars were out through injury. Kevin Davies should have put Bolton 2-0 up in the first half, but missed the target. His late equaliser was well taken though.

Bayern will still be good enough to qualify from the group and Bolton have made the group more interesting regarding who is likely to qualify for the next stage with them.

[speedplay]

Bolton are 2nd from bottom of the EPL and draw away at Bayern
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 076603.stm

What's up with that Doc

ROFL!

Thats right, you go get him Alfie!

I enjoyed that result, a second rated Premiere league team got a draw against the mighty Bayern. Bayerns spending hasn't helped, they are still only able to dominate the German league, they will never conquer Europe.

[Der Echte]

Bayern WERE dominating the Bundesliga, but now Hamburg has grown up like a weed to contend. We are also facing champions (They are not in the mix for C.L. but we should call them champions until we take the title from them) this coming Matchday. I am not worried about conquering Europe this year... we are in the "Losers League"  However, we will make lemonade outta these lemons we brought upon ourselves from last year.

[Peter C]

Speedplay

Perhaps that's part of Bayern's master plan.

They realise that clubs like Barcelona, Sevilla, Arsenal, Manchester United and AC Milan are more likely to win the Champions League, so they decided it made sense not to qualify for it through league position.

They feel they have a better chance of  a European trophy by winning the UEFA cup instead.

[speedplay]

Might be so Peter, but to achieve that, they do have to beat teams like Bolton on their way. Anyone noticed the Swedish sensation where Helsingbors IF did beat Galatasaray, on away turf? Thats not an easy game and I was like    when I saw the result. Perhaps the Swedish league finalli is about to raise in level? Then again, the other Swedish team went 1-6 vs Fiorentina...

[Der Echte]

We just got our clock cleaned by Stuttgart 3-1 (away game). We lost our discipline to go down to 10 men. I just wanna puke, but European football seasons are long, with periods of heavy schedules, so you can expect somewhere along the line to stumble, especially against top teams. Bayern is still on top of the table, but not by much. Bremen, our old nemisis, has crept up to second. I really want to play them again and see them go down. We will get our chance at that later.

[Der Echte]

Bayern jut signed an 18 year old superstar Brazilian defender from Brazil and beat Juve and Real Madrid to the punch to get him. (Breno)

http://http://www.fcbayern.t-home.de/en/news/news/2007/14490.php?fcb_sid=a4ce2b9a0a24bae004cfec6e6c5c979a

Man, is Willy sagnol gonna be pissed! He was already sore at Bayern management. H was hurt and recovering from injury, but felt ready to play, although he is getting no playing time. Bayern are probably pushing to ship him out for what they can get. I don't understand why. You NEVER have enough quality on your team. Football gets everyone dinged up and hurt. You simply have too much contact at high speed and the season is super busy and long. Bayern already got Lucio, Lahm, Van Buyten, and Demichelis before they sold off Ismael. maybe they keep Sagnol and keep him pissed off, then unleash him on the pitch like a monster that has been chained up. Either way, it will be harder for opponents to score off an alredy stingy defense. Khan got himself suspended. I bet he did that to let Rensing get some time in the net again. Rensing is practically undefeated subbing for Kahn. Bayern will move into the break well on top of the table.

[alfie]

in a few years time when he gets good United will take him off you  

[Der Echte]

How is the Owen Hargraves deal working out ??

[alfie]

he has been injured but he is now back,a very good stable midfielder

[Der Echte]

After Bayern's game tonight, we should say Aris who? Bayern cleaned their clock 6-0 at Munich. Luca Toni scored 4 (FOUR) goals that match, which is more than some strikeers score all season. Most of these goals were gifts from the defense and keeper, but pretty work by the Bayern defense to get the ball, nice work to give it to Ribery, great shredding of the defense, and the rest is in the books. Heck, two of our defenders even scored going forward.  Man, what a brutal way to get ass-kicked out of the competition. I knew Bayern was going to go for the throat, but, wow, 6-0 and it could have/should have been more not for numerous close misses. Aris could have called in two divisions of Korean riot police and still not stopped Bayern running riot tonight.

in other news, Bolton advances by a one point margin. WTG. I hope they fare wel against a group winner in the knockout phase group of 32.

[speedplay]

Nice work Bayern, advancing from the group stage, just like the Swedish team Helsingborg IF. Kind of shows that it's not a classy competition

[Der Echte]

Exceptionally good week for Bayern. We defeated the Romanian side to secure a birth in the knockout stages of the Champion's League, (Still one match left to secure first place) we defeated Bayer Leverkusen, the second place team in the Bundesliga to leapfrog over them into second place, then we defeated the table leader Hoffenheim with a last second goal to move level on points/behind in goal difference atop the table. We did this without several stud players, such as Willy Sagnol, Marcell Jansen, and Hamit Altentop. Klose is scoring in almost every game we plays and Luca Tony is getting called for only 6 offsides a game and scores every three matches. Heck, with Schweinsteiger, Ze Roberto, Lahm, and Ribery passing the ball, your sister could score ten Bundesliga goals for Bayern!

[Der Echte]

Last game of first half of season at Stuttgart, Bayern is up 2-1, then Oddo gets a stupid red card, Bayern goes down to ten men and concedes equalizer goal. Jens Lehman, Germany's national keeper, joined they scrum in front of the goal from the corner kick set piece to distract Rinsing from stopping the ball from going in the net. Yeah, Lehman interfered (but a wily vet like him knows how to rattle his juniors), but Rinsing has to learn how to cope with that stuff if he wants to become elite, like say Castillas or Buffon, so the result was deserved. Teams ought to score on you when you go down to ten men.  Final score 2-2.

Now Bayern on Tuesday got to go back to Stuttgart to get their RACHE (Revenge) in a German Cup game a few days before the start of the second half of the league season. What does Bayern do? Go up 3-0 at the half. Ribery felt so bad for Stuttgart, he did a baby chip shot right at Lehman on a penalty kick. Scweinsteiger wasn't so generous and blasted his penalty kick into the back of the net to earn a brace and Bayern was up 5-0 before even 60 minutes was past! American Striker L. Donovan subbed in and made a play near the goal. He apparently jawed with Lehman and Lehman looked really offended. He called over Germany's national Striker on Bayern (Klose) to tell him something pointing his finger -  Lehman looked PISSED. We can only guess what was said. I think Donovan said something like...

 "Hey Jens, you having a bad day at the office? 5 goals? Still a LONG way to go? It could be even worse. You are real lucky we didn't make it 7 or 8-0. I bet Oliver Khan could come back drunk from retirement, film two Star Wars movies as Chewbacca, step in goal and keep your team in the game. You still think you're better than Olli you sorry sack of second rate goalkeeper buzzard puke!"

Well, whatever Donovan said, it sure got Lehman's attention. Stuttgart , Hamburg and Werder Bremen have been pains in Bayern's side in the 2000 decade. We get to open the second half of the league season tonight vs Hamburg (2030 European Central Time). We slapped Stuttgart hapless to tell the rest of the league that we mean BUSINESS. Stuttgart had zero excuses going for them. It was smackdown! Look out Hamburg, we are a comin' tonight to tear up your pitch and scoreline!

[JKC]

How did Bayern get on this week the Der Echte? I must have missed the result due to my busy playing schedule. :twisted:  

[speedplay]

How did Bayern get on this week the Der Echte? I must have missed the result due to my busy playing schedule. :twisted:  :twisted:

[Der Echte]

Bayern got mauled by Wolfburg straight up. That didn't help Bayern's effort's to claim a piece of Number 1 in the table. Going down 4 goals to Barca in the first half was crushing and depressing. Let's see if we give up 5 goals on the reverse end of the tie or pick them up and shake goals out of them. I like Frankfurt and believe they belong in the 1st league middle of table. I used to live minutes away from them for almost a decade. I still had no problem with Bayern running a spear through them 4-0 yesterday. I also feel the same about Nurnburg. They belong on the 1st division table and are right now battling Furth for the playoff spot to ascend to 1st division. Ironically, Furth is a city that is joined right a the hip to Nurnburg. They are so close, it is like one city. You can easily get lost driving downtown Nurnburg, but they have the BEST Christmas Market in all of Germany, maybe even Europe. Mainz is solidly in second place ready to take a rightful place in the 1st division. Too bad Jurgen Klopp (Their longtime charismatic Harry Potter tall lookalike coach) is now Dusseldorf's coach. I could through a few rocks and find myself in Mainz. (They have the best Fasching Karnival parade.) A few more weeks will tell the tale with the Bundesliga. Never before has Bayern assembled such a powerful team and had such a hard time taking 1st place. This isn't because of 90s Hollywood like dysfunctional team synergy. (We used to be called FC Hollywood) It is clearly because there are several really really good teams making it rough. Hamburg is no joke. Berlin is for real. Wolfburg is now like a Pheonix darkhorse who moved in front and actually leads the league by 3 points. Stuttgart is stingy not a pushover. Hoffenheim were tough for a spell, but now are like toothless. All this shows that Bayern can't just walk over the league without fighting to the last drop of blood. This also shows that this year, and hopefully the future as well, that the Bundesliga isn't a second class league and can build into what popularity and prestige that Spanish and English leagues enjoy.

[JKC]

Speaking of Frankfurt, I went to watch them play a home match against Stutgart 22 years ago whilst on an exchange visit to Germany. They won 3-1. I bought my first proper table tennis bat in Heidelburg (a Joola G. Bohm {sorry, don't have an umlaut} with GX75 rubber) whilst I was there.

[Der Echte]

Ehrlich? Super. You were there before I was.

[Peter C]

I didn't see any of the Barcelona v Bayern Munich Games, but i did watch the Manchester City v Hamburg games.

Hamburg's performance in the first leg was impressive and they could easily have won by more. They rode their luck a bit in the second leg, but they still looked good going forward.

[Der Echte]

I am back in the States now and couldn't watch any of the matches. In Iraq, I had a dish pointed at Hotbird Sat and an Al Jazeera Sports Smart Card. I don't miss being away from family, but sure miss hanging out with our friends drinking Iraqi tea and watching endless hours of class football while talking smack/playing dominoes. Even playes a few matches with the Iraqi army unit there.

Glad I didn't see the slaughter. I guess that is the pecking order in Europe. Bayern crush Sporting by a rediculous margin and get crushed like a mortor petal at Barca. That shows why Barca was so heavily favored, although at this stage, there are no pushovers. Bayern got got Wolfsburg to deal with for the Bundesliga title. Those jokers won 10 matches on the run and haven't slowed down yet. i think Bayern will kep the pressure on them and Wolfsburg wll fail to win a couple matches. That should be the only opening Bayern will need. Hamberg has certainly given us some trouble this year, but I count them out of the race for the title - it is a race between Wolfsburg and Bayern down the final stretch with Wolfsburg one length ahead.

[Peter C]

The Bundesliga seems as close as the Premiership title race.

The Champions league semi final between Chelsea & Barcelona should prove interesting. I notice that Barcelona are considered the favourites to win the Champions League, but Chelsea still get my vote to reach the final because they are strong enough to beat anyone.

[Der Echte]

I hope Barca wins it all, so at least I know it was the Champions that took us out.

[Peter C]

No disrespect to Barcelona, but i'd rather to see Chelsea in the final of the Champions league, to set up another all English final..
 

[Peter C]

Der Echte

Who is your choice for manager of Bayern now that klinnsman has been sacked?

The BBC reckons it could be Martin Jol of Hamburg, ex Tottenham.

[Der Echte]

We got Heynckes, a coach from way before I started liking Bayern. He will do until the season ends and then it is up in the air. As for who I want, it is of course the "General" Otmar Hitzfeld - no nonsense guy who is the only one out there who has kept the Bayern Board of Directors at bay for any length of time. the way Hoenis runs the show, HE might as well be the head coach. Hitzfeld is the only Bayern coach I know who told Hoenis that he can sit by the bench with his permission and still keep his job. Trappatoni is out of the question. Who the Board will hire? Who knows?

As for the players, they know they are on the chopping board as well and know that if they are around next term, that they had damed well better impress the daylights outta whoever takes over if they want any chance at all of continuing to get big money contracts. I'd trade off Luca Toni straight away, but he seems to have the coaches in a trance and maybe sells too many jerseys to toss him aside like rag he so deserves for what Bayern pays him. Your sister could get ten offsides calls a match, miss the open net ten times a match and still score ten goals a term with the likes of Scheinsteiger, Lahm, Lucio, Altintop, Ze Roberto, and Ribery making world class runs and setup passes. We got rid of Elber, Pizzaro, and Makkay to name a few in favor of signing Toni. Clearing the house to obtain Klose was a good move, but it obviously wasn't enough.

Bayern will still get at least 2nd place and qualify directly for the C.L. and even 3 points behind with 4 matches left have a 50/50 chance of finishing 1st.

[pingpongrob]

How about a picture of the teams - or a link to their website.

[speedplay]

No disrespect to Barcelona, but i'd rather to see Chelsea in the final of the Champions league, to set up another all English final..
 

Yes, that might even include a Englishman or two ::)

I must say that I prefer when it is teams from different leagues that face each other as that is what gives it that special feeling. Chelsea vs Man U in the final is to me no more exciting then watching Chelsea vs Man U in the league.