The worst thing Hamburg did was keep staying up by the skin of their teeth (like Sunderland for years). It stopped them rebuilding properly and makes the task harder in the long run.
It will be seen That was so typical HSV. Perfect scenario: Sell out crowd of 57.000, high expectations and then they blew it on the field. Although we had a fair amount of big chances in the first half, the win for Holstein was deserved. Anyway, it's only the first match of a long season. So maybe it's a warning shot to the right time that this season won't be a "no-brainer". Next week they'll have the chance to (Red Dead) Redemption, away at Sandhausen. My personal highlight was the little pre-match ceremony where HSV and Germany Legend Uwe Seeler was on the field. Good to see my childhood hero fit again after some health problems. He's nearly 82 now.
St.Pauli wins again, 2-0 at the Millerntor against the Lilies from Darmstadt (their first loss in the last 12 League matches). 6 points now from the first 2 matches. Not bad I have to admit. This great start reminds me of the HSV last season
yeah, 3-0 away. So now we're even. 2 of the 3 goals were gifts from the goalkeeper though but wgaf, goal is goal Transfer news: Schalke talent Thilo Kehrer (21) for 37 mio Euro to Tuchel's PSG. That will put an end to the Jerome Boateng to PSG rumours, I think. A bit surprising though because last week it seemed that Kehrer and Schalke wanted to extend the contract which lasts until 2019. But 37 mio Euro are hard to withstand for Schalke. So PSG will now have 4 Germans (3 players and a coach) At 8:30 pm (7:30pm UK time) we'll see the "Super Cup" match between Bayern and Eintracht Frankfurt
I switched off after the 2-0. This was clear from the beginning that Frankfurt will lose. What to expect when their new coach is named Adolf "Adi" Hütter and comes from Austria. This sounds all too familiar
1st round of the DFB Pokal and already some typical Cup results: Biggest surprise of course the exit of last seasons Cup winners Eintracht Frankfurt against 4th tier SSV Ulm. 3 months after winning the final against Bayern they embarrassed themselves again (after last weeks 0-5 hammering in the Super Cup). Plenty of work to do for Adolf H from Austria. If this goes on he won't survive the winter break. Another surprise was the exit of last seasons (late) high flyers VfB Stuttgart against Hansa Rostock (the former Bundesliga club is actually playing in the 3.Liga). Bloody Dynamo Dresden out too against 4th tier Rödinghausen. Well done! HSV got the work done, not without some embarrassment (of course), 3 Goals conceding against a 5th tier club is too much but that's the Cup. And when you score 5 then, it's okay.
As per normal every year I will be keeping my eye out for Borussia Dortmund results and news because in my army days I was stationed in Dortmund so myself and my wife have fond memories of our time in Germany, living around the Dortmund, Hemer & Iserlohn areas.
It ain't over till the fat lady sings. Axel Witsel with the equaliser in stoppage time (95th min) and Marco Reus with the winning goal at the end of the extra time (121st. min) Lucky, lucky Lucien!
Today the Bundesliga starts into its 56th season. The opening match will be between the actual (or should I say "eternal" ?) Champion Bayern and last years 3rd Hoffenheim. It'll be the only Bundesliga match (besides the Cup final, of course) with the national anthem, the Deutschlandlied, at the beginning. Hoffenheim with Julian Nagelsmann in his last season before he moves to RB Leipzig should be contesting Bayern more than the ones in the last years but I don't think that the end-result will be different to it though. Anyway, they were a "ray of hope" in an otherwise dull season for German football, national and international. Although they lost 2 key players in Niklas Süle and Sebastian Rudy to Bayern before the start of last season (and during the Winter break another one in Sandro Wagner), they could improve their already best Bundesliga season (4th) with a 3rd place finish and first time appearance in the Champions League (last season they failed to qualify as 4th against the PL 4th, Liverpool). Match will be shown live in German Free TV (ZDF), as usual. One of few matches nowadays. ( Champions League Football is now out of Free tv beginning from this season.)
Such a silly penalty to concede. Poor penalty from Lewandowski too but didn't matter. Retaken and scored Edit* 3-1, defending for the third was terrible.
Wolfsberg defeated Schalke 2-1 today in a compelling match. Two red cards were handed out. One for each team.
The 2nd red card for Wolfsburgs Weghorst was "downgraded" to yellow by VAR intervention. And the VAR discussion (after yesterdays Bayern vs Hoffenheim match) has again started. Frankfurt with the first win, 2-0 at Freiburg. 2 Chances 2 Goals, that's efficiency. Former HSV player Nicolai Müller scored (the one who injured himself last season at the 2nd matchday after celebrating his goal and was out the whole season then. Maybe that's why he celebrated very cautiously this time? )
