Six Bayern players in Eurosport’s Bundesliga team of season

Such has been Bayern Munich’s dominance of the 50th Bundesliga season that some might be surprised that a mere six of Jupp Heynckes’ men have made Eurosport’s team of the season, writes Andreas Evagora.
With the season drawing to a close, eight Eurosport Bundesliga commentators and correspondents picked their team of the season based on a 4-2-3-1 formation. They were also asked to name a coach of the season and flop of the campaign.
With Bayern holding a record 22-point lead with one round of matches left, it was perhaps tempting to pick Bayern’s entire first 11. Record after record has fallen with Bayern garnering the largest number of points in Bundesliga history. But our team of voters spent as much of the season watching Augsburg and Greuther Furth as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, so looked beyond the confines of the Allianz Arena for the season’s star performers. Meanwhile a good sign for Germany one year before the World Cup: only three foreigners made the best 11. There was much lobbying at the Eurosport coffee machine, but voting was made in secret. Here are the results. Drum roll….

Bundesliga: Adler saves Hamburg again

Goalkeeper: Rene Adler, Hamburg (3 votes). Games started: 31, goals conceded: 51. Conceding nine goals in a single match against Manuel Neuer’s Bayern Munich didn’t stop our panel picking the former Bayer Leverkusen stopper ahead of Germany’s No. 1. The fact that HSV are in with a shout of European football has much to do with Adler’s shot-stopping behind a leaky defence.

Right back: Phillip Lahm, Bayern Munich (6 votes). Starts: 27, goals: 0. Lahm’s habit of easing through matches didn’t disguise the Bayern captain’s superb positioning and laser-like tackling. It was fitting that he held the champions’ trophy aloft last week.

Left back: David Alaba, Bayern Munich (7 votes). Starts: 21, goals: 3.
Alaba has a claim to be the most improved defender in Germany. He didn’t even start the season as Bayern’s first choice left back, but Holger Badstuber’s injury gave the Austrian his chance. Such is the faith in his abilities that, at 20, Alaba is already Bayern’s penalty taker.

Dante: the toast of Munich

Centre back: Dante, Bayern Munich (8 votes). Starts: 28, goals: 1. Dante, Dante, Dante, Dante, Dante, Dante, Dante, Dante. The likeable Brazilian was the only unanimous pick, but Bayern President Uli Hoeness said Dante was originally bought as a back-up centre half. There was even some doubt about the pronunciation of his name (it rhymes with ‘‘canter’’). Near-faultless season from a player given his first Brazil call up this season.

Centre back: Mats Hummels, Borussia Dortmund (3 votes). Starts: 27, goals: 1.
Dante had three different centre back partners this season and perhaps that allowed a non- Bayern player to crash the back four. It was fitting the nod went to an ex-Bayern man, Hummels, who made more than his usual share of mistakes this term but remains a class act.

Defensive midfielder: Bastian Schweinsteiger , Bayern Munich (7 votes). Starts: 26, goals:7.
The man Heynckes calls “the best midfielder in the world” and the “brains of the Bayern team’’ has upped his game in the face of increased opposition in the squad. Missed a penalty in last season’s Champions League final, but like his team, has shown great character in putting that defeat behind him.

Defensive midfielder: Ilkay Gundogan, Borussia Dortmund (7 votes). Starts: 25, goals: 3. Gundogan had the unenviable task of filling Nuri Sahin’s boots, and struggled at first. Now the cog in Dortmund’s wheel, but has said he doesn’t feel comfortable about the idea of playing in a more advanced role next season.

Attacking midfielder: Marco Reus, Borussia Dortmund (6 votes). Starts: 26, goals:14. The bad news for Dortmund was that they rejected Reus as a youngster, believing him too lightweight to cope with the rigours of top flight football. The good news is that they bought him back for a bargain €17m. It says something about Reus that he has outshone Bayern Munich-bound Mario Götze for much of the season.

Attacking midfielder: Thomas Muller, Bayern Munich (5 votes). Starts: 24, goals: 13. To say that Muller excels in two positions would do a disservice to the Bavarian-born star. Muller has an uncanny ability to crop up in any part of the pitch at the right time. Though this was strictly a Bundesliga poll, Muller’s eight Champions League goals must have swung a few floating voters.

Bundesliga: Ribery back to his best

Attacking midfielder: Franck Ribery, Bayern Munich (4 votes). Starts: 23, goals: 8.
‘As important to this team as Rummenigge was in his time?’’ said Paul Breitner. If he could reproduce his Bundesliga form for France, Les Bleus could have a serious shot at winning the next World Cup.

Centre forward: Stefan Kiessling, Bayer Leverkusen (5 votes). Starts: 33, goals: 24. The lanky Leverkusen forward may not have convinced national coach Joachim Low, but his 24 goals and seven assists, did enough to win over our jury.

Coach: Christian Streich (Freiburg) It takes something special to beat Heynckes this season, and Streich’s record since taking over in January 2012 reads won 21, drawn 15, lost 14. With barely a euro to spend, Freiburg will finish in a top four Champions League spot if they beat Schalke on Saturday. No wonder Mainz’s respected coach Thomas Tuchel calls Streich ‘’the best educator in Germany.’’

Honourable mentions: Our panel agreed that Neuer was desperately unlucky not to make the team; as was Hiroshi Kiyotake, having almost single-handedly kept Nuremberg away from the relegation zone; while Toni Kroos would surely have been a shoo-in but for his hip injury.

Flop of the season: Tim Wiese. Started the season as one of Hoffenheim’s best-ever paid players, but conceded 25 goals in 10 games. Fined in mid-season for what police called ‘‘rude’’ behaviour in a men’s toilet at a party while dressed as a prisoner, the former German international has not played since January.

Andreas Evagora
Deputy Head, Eurosport2
Eurosport2 has live Bundesliga action on Saturday with Freiburg v Schalke. (15:30) and the important goals from the other matches in the last round of matches. Coverage in North and East Europe.

Relegation dogfight

Werder Bremen 14th – 33pts

Five minutes is a long time in football. Ask Werder Bremen.
Last Saturday, with just five minutes to play, Thomas Schaaf’s men were leading 2-0 against Hoffenheim, another relegation-threatened side. “The Green and Whites” just had to hold on till the final whistle to all but guarantee their safety.
Victory would have given them a five point lead over Fortuna Dusseldorf and Augsburg and an eight point lead over Hoffenheim. Instead, typical of their underwhelming season, Werder blew it allowing “Die Hoffe” to come back and snatch a 2-2 draw and what could yet prove to be a precious point.
That made it 11 games without a win for Werder, whose 32-year stay in the Bundesliga is under increasing threat.
Thomas Schaaf the longest serving coach in the Bundesliga has become a master of stating the obvious. “It was a hectic final few minutes. We lacked the calmness we needed and sadly, we didn’t hold on until the end,” said Schaaf. “We will look forward though.”
This Saturday it won’t get any easier as they host the season’s surprise package Eintracht Frankfurt who will be going all out to book a place in the Europe League. Werder hope to welcome back Serbian international Aleksander Ignjovksi from a knee problem for the last home match of the season at the Weser Stadium which is sold out. They will need all the drive and energy of the 42 thousand fans to help them stay up. Two players who don’t lack drive and energy will be missing. Austria forward Marko Arnautovic and Dutch midfielder Eljero Elia have been suspended for the rest of the season after they were caught speeding on a German motorway late at night at the end of April.
If Werder lose, they will have to save their very forgettable season with a victory at Nuremberg on the last matchday.

Fortuna Dusseldorf 15th – 30pts

One team who can vouch for Eintracht Frankfurt’s resurgence is Fortuna Dusseldorf. Last Saturday they lost 3-2 at Frankfurt in their third consecutive defeat. Norbert Meier’s team have lost all momentum. They haven’t won any of their last 10 games and their last victory was against bottom club Greuther Furth back in February.
In their favour, Fortuna look to have have the easiest run-in, against two teams who have nothing to play for. This Saturday they host Nuremberg whose Bundesliga survival was guaranted last week despite their home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen who in turn booked their ticket for next year’s Champions League. They finish against Hannover.

Augsburg 16th – 30pts

Augsburg too are finding out that the margins between success and failure are very fine. Last Saturday Markus Weinzierl’s side took the game to Europe League chasing Freiburg. They had four golden chances to take the lead in the first half only to be denied by inspired goalkeeper Oliver Baumann. Christian Streich’s team rode the storm and their luck and it was they who scored the vital first goal through Cedric Makiadi. That knocked the stuffing out of the Bavarians who went on to lose the match 2-0 leaving the Black Forest in a black mood.

This Saturday, Augsburg face the unenviable trip to face Champions Bayern in Munich. Some might say it’s a good time to face the record champions who will have one eye on the final of the Champions League on May 25th. The only problem is that Bayern’s second side is as good as most other team’s first choice.

It seems likely that Augsburg will have to save their season with a win at home to already relegated Greuther Furth. Ominously for ‘Die Fuggerstadter’ now the pressure is off Furth, new coach Frank Kramer has got them enjoying their football and they’ve won their last two away games. Last season under Jos Luhukay, Augsburg escaped the drop. Will lightning strike twice ?

Hoffenheim 17th – 28pts

On paper, Hoffenheim are favourites for relegation as they are in the automatic drop position, three points behind the other three relegation contenders. However they will have been boosted by their comeback draw last week in Bremen thanks to two goals from super substitute Sven Schipplock, including a dramatic stoppage time equaliser. The 24 year old striker took both his chances for only his fifth goal this season and his first goals in five months

New coach Markus Gisdol oozed belief at the end of the game.
“Our second goal was fully deserved and an emotional moment for everyone. I am very proud. The decisive factor was that we never gave up and got our reward in the end,” said Gisdol. “The best thing of all is that we didn’t do anything silly, we just kept on playing football.”

Gisdol is Hoffenheim’s fourth coach this season and their seventh in the last three years. Since he took over, they have only lost one of their last five games and have momentum. But is it a case of too little, too late ?

This Saturday ‘Die Hoffe’ host Hamburg who are still dreaming of Europe in what should prove to be a tough match. Things go from bad to worse for Hoffenheim when they have to travel to Borussia Dortmund on the last matchday. They can only hope that Jurgen Klopp is going to wrap his best players in cotton wool a week before the Champions League Final against Bayern Munich at Wembley.

The side built by the software billionaire benefactor Dietmar Hopp are staring relegation in the face for the first time since they were promoted five seasons ago. The fairytale seems to be over for the village side who rocketed up from the fifth division to the Bundesliga top flight. Could there yet be a dramatic twist and a great escape ?

Tony Jeffers Eurosport 2 Commentator

Robben pays the penalty for missed chances

Arjen Robben’s virtuoso performance for Bayern Munich against Barcelona in the Champions League could be his last for the Bavarians at the Allianz Arena.

The Dutchman doesn’t fit into the plans of incoming coach Pep Guardiola and is set to end a four-year stint in Munich that began with trophies but will be remembered for on-pitch fights with teammates, injuries and missed penalties that cost the club dear.

The 29-year old’s fine individual effort in the 4-0 first leg semi-final win against Barcelona showed just what the talented Robben is still capable of.

A brilliant dribbler, Robben is blessed with a near unparalleled first touch – and ego.

But the chances of Robben still being at Bayern Munich in September are as great as the Dutchman offering one of his teammates the chance to take a penalty in a big match.

‘‘I have a contract until 2015 but I wouldn’t close the door on anything,’’ Robben said recently. Galatasaray, Inter Milan and Tottenham have been touted as possible destinations.

The emergence of Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos has marginalised Robben, who is only back in the first team because of the latter’s injury.

Happier times: Robben and Ribery for Bayern

Next season, Kroos is back. Bayern have already agreed to buy Germany’s outstanding young talent Mario Götze for €37 million. And Guardiola is known to be a fan of summer buy Xherdan Shaqiri.
Yet it all stated so well. Following a €25 million transfer from Real Madrid in 2009, the club’s new No.10 made his debut as a substitute against Wolfsburg on a bright August evening, banging in two smart goals in a 3-0 victory.
And what a first season it was in Bavaria: under fellow Dutchman Louis van Gaal, the free-scoring Robben led Bayern to the German league and cup double, netting 16 goals in 24 league matches, and was crowned 2009-10 Bundesliga player of the season.

Robben seemed a class apart in the Bundesliga: time after time, he would cut in from the right, skin a bemused defender or two before firing home with his left foot.
At that stage in his career, Robben seemed to be a lucky charm. This was the man who had won the Dutch Eredivisie with PSV in 2003, the Premier League with Chelsea in 2005 and 2006 and La Liga with Real Madrid in 2008.
Holding championship trophies aloft seemed to come easy: has any other footballer won five league titles, in four different countries, in the space of eight seasons?

There was plenty of cup success too, with Robben winning the FA Cup once and League Cup twice under Jose Mourinho in England.

Bayern: Robben on the losing side

In 2010, Robben converted a penalty as Bayern routed Werder Bremen 4-0 in the German Cup final. But that spot kick seemed to mark the turning point in his career: from being a winner, Robben turned into football’s nearly man.
First, there was the 2010 Champions League final against Inter Milan back on his former turf at the Bernabeau, where Robben cut a jaded figure in a 2-0 defeat. His stunning quarterfinal goal that knocked out Manchester United that season was quickly forgotten.
Worse was to come months later at the World Cup final in Johannesburg. Legendary status beckoned when Robben was one-on-one against Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas in the second half, but the Bayern winger spurned the chance and ever since has been blamed by his countrymen for wasting the Netherlands’ best ever chance of winning a World Cup.
The next season Bayern missed out on the Bundesliga title and last season some wondered if Robben was becoming a liability.

During a match in Bremen, a frustrated Robben punched Muller after a counterattack broke down. Robben has never been one to endear himself to teammates and his explanation of the Bremen incident hardly helped : ‘‘I shouldn’t have acted like that on the pitch, I should have done it in the dressing room.’’
As Muller’s stock has risen, so has Robben’s embarrassment over the affair. Last season another Champions League final was lost, with Robben missing an extra time penalty that would surely have won the final in Munich against Chelsea.

Earlier that month, Robben did score a penalty but was on the losing side as Borussia Dortmund crushed Bayern 5-2 in the German cup final. Weeks earlier, Robben had missed a critical penalty at Dortmund in a Bundesliga six-pointer that was won by Jurgen Klopp’s men.
It can’t be forgotten that Robben has been badly hampered by injuries since his 2010 high point.

But Bayern knew they were taking a risk on the player when he arrived.
Most Bundesliga players are formally placed on an injury list after one month on the sidelines, after which they are paid the princely sum of €183 a day in lieu of their megabucks wages. The Dutchmen’s advisers insisted on what is known as the ‘‘Robben Clause’’ which stipulates that the player receives full pay for three months when injured.
That proved to be a master stroke for Robben, who has been restricted to 76 Bundesliga appearances over four seasons (albeit with an outstanding strike rate of 44 goals).

Even when he is playing, Robben has few ties to the dressing room. When Bayern celebrated clinching the title on the pitch at Eintracht Frankfurt, Robben was nowhere to be seen. German TV has even observed that his wife Bernadien never sits among the other Bayern WAGs in the VIP box at the Allianz Arena. Robben was rested for Bayern’s home match at the weekend, signalling a likely start for Wednesday’s second leg at the Nou Camp. A Champions League final beckons: what a rich irony it would be if Robben ends his Bayern career with another penalty kick.

Andreas Evagora
Deputy Head Eurosport2
Eurosport2 has live Bundesliga action on Friday with Hertha v Aue (18:00) in the second division, before Mönchengladbach v Schalke (20:30). Then on Saturday don’t miss Nuremberg v Leverkusen (15:30) and Dortmund v Bayern (18:30). On Sunday there’s Freiburg v Augsburg and Hamburg v Wolfsburg. Coverage in North and East Europe.

Champions League triumph caps Bayern’s memorable day

In the space of 24 hours Uli Hoeness was involved in a tax avoidance scandal, the transfer coup of the season and a mauling of Barcelona in the Champions League semis. All in a day’s work for the Bayern Munich president, surely the most colourful football official in Europe.

Hoeness isn’t the first German multimillionaire to open a Swiss bank account but when he turned himself in on Monday there was genuine surprise and anger, in and outside football.

That’s because Hoeness is much more than the president of Germany’s biggest club: ‘‘Mr. Bayern’’ has become the go-to man for journalists looking for honest, but juicy, comments on matters of economics and finance.
He is hailed as the financial wizard who learnt to balance the books of his parents’ grocery as a boy in Ulm, before turning around Bayern’s economic woes in the 1980s.

As the earnest German magazine Der Spiegel put it, Hoeness has ‘‘gained a reputation as a voice of reason on political issues and even as something of a moral authority, attacking corruption and tax evasion.’’
The investigation into his tax affairs reached the highest levels of German politics, with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman saying: ‘‘Many people in Germany are now disappointed in Uli Hoeness. The Chancellor is among these people.’’

Bundesliga: Gôtze heading to Bayern

But while Germany went to bed on Monday reading headlines cursing Hoeness, it woke up to a transfer sensation: Borussia Dortmund wunderkind Mario Götze was heading to Bayern at the end of the season.
Whether these two events were linked, only Hoeness knows, but the timing of the announcement, a day before Dortmund hosted Real Madrid in the other Champions League semi-final, led many to cry foul play.
There were cries of anguish that Bayern’s use of their considerable cheque book would kill off competition, and make the Bundesliga a one-horse race.

Only weeks before, Hoeness had predicted the Bundesliga would turn into a Spanish-style duopoly, with Bayern and Borussia overpowering domestic rivals in the way the pairs’ semi-final rivals do in Spain.

Tellingly, Dortmund coach Jorgen Klopp replied by telling an 18 April news conference that a Scottish-style monopoly, with Bayern in control, was far more likely. What Klopp knew then (and we know now) is that Götze had already told Dortmund he wanted to quit the club.

So having pulled off the managerial coup of the season by persuading Pep Guardiola to come to Munich, Hoeness has done the same with arguably Germany’s finest young talent.

So is this the end of competition in the Bundesliga?

Probably not, and Götze’s €37 million switch is not necessarily a bad thing for ‘‘Bundesliga Inc.’’The 20 year old’s release clause was significant but not mind boggling (it was less than Bayern paid for Javi Martinez) and suggests that the player fancied a transfer well before the end of his contract. Had Götze not moved back to Bavaria, where he grew up, he would surely have ended up in Spain or England: that would have been the Bundesliga’s loss.

Indeed, had Bayern Munich splashed the cash on another player, their fee would probably have gone to a foreign club and not stayed in Germany. With Bayern’s cash, Dortmund have a substantial sum to boost their squad.
Klopp has proved savvy in the transfer market in the past, with four-goal hero Robert Lewandowski a snip at €4 million.

Poaching the best of the rest in Germany is nothing new for Hoeness (Manuel Neuer from Schalke, Mario Gomez from Stuttgart, Miroslav Klose from Bremen and Lukas Podolski from Cologne are four examples in recent years).
The result has been domination, but only on a par with big clubs in other countries. As things stand, Barcelona have won the last five Ligas, Inter Milan the last five Serie A crowns and Manchester United the last five Premier League titles. How many times have Bayern been German champions in the last decade? You guessed it, five.
Perhaps this is some kind of law of nature in European football: the best teams win the league one season in two.
In any case there is too much focus on Dortmund. Schalke 04 and Hamburg have the tradition and potential to challenge for the title: that they have made too many mistakes on and off the pitch is not Bayern’s problem. How Hamburg must be ruing their decision not to hire Klopp before he went to Dortmund (legend has it that HSV’s punctilious board objected to Klopp turning up to his interview without a tie).
Hoeness’ unwelcome tax probe may have been unrelated to the Götze transfer but Bayern Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge saw a connection to the team’s 4-0 humiliation of Barcelona on Tuesday.

‘‘The Hoeness affair gave us even more motivation against Barcelona because Bayern is a family,’’ Rummenigge said.
Bayern came into the match with 19 wins in 20 matches in all competitions (Arsenal do have something to show for after all this season) and their last two Bundesliga matches read more like tennis scores than football results: Bayern beat Wolfsburg and Hannover (who were previously unbeaten at home in 2013) 6-1, 6-1.

Those performances were a mere warm up for Tuesday. Barcelona were perhaps preparing for the usual slow, slow, quick, quick, slow of Champions League semi-finals, but were blown away by the intensity and power of Bayern’s play from first minute to last. (Dortmund and Bayern, incidentally, both showed that possession statistics are among the most useless in football: Bayern had just 37 percent of the ball in their semi-final, Dortmund 44 percent).
Bayern: Robben scores against Barcelona
All this, remember, without top scorer Mario Mandzukic, and two players who were automatic first team choices before long-term injuries, Toni Kroos and Holger Badstuber.

So the week started with the most powerful man in German football being investigated for tax evasion, but by Tuesday night his Bayern team were the toast of football for signing Götze and humiliating Lionel Messi and Co.
Hoeness is now hoping those three incident will be overshadowed by three trophies at the end of the season. The Bundesliga title has already been won. Strugglers Stuttgart await in the German Cup final. A Champions League victory in London would round off an unforgettable season.

Andreas Evagora
Deputy Head, Eurosport2

Eurosport2 has live Bundesliga action on Friday with Ingolstadt v Braunschweig (18:00) in the second division, before Fürth v Hannover (20:30). Then on Saturday don’t miss Bayern v Freiburg (15:30) and Dusseldorf v Dortmund (18:30). On Sunday there’s Mainz v Frankfurt and Schalke v Hamburg. Coverage in North and East Europe.

Odd couple in fight for survival

Odd couple in fight for survival

Bundesliga: Ji-Force boosts Augsburg

Augsburg and Hoffenheim are like chalk and cheese but the clubs have a fight for survival in common as the Bundesliga season draws to a close.
At the winter break, the teams looked doomed to visiting the likes of Ingolstadt and Erzgebirge Aue in the second division next season: Hoffenheim had a mere 12 points from 17 matches, Augsburg 9.
But in their own ways, they have scraped together enough points to have a fighting chance of avoiding the dreaded drop.
The Bavarians of Augsburg, currently 16th, are the archetypal hard-up strugglers. The club nearly went bust a decade ago and only returned to professional football in 2006, yet played in the top flight for the first time last season.
Money is tight and 12 goals from their first 17 games told a tale of struggling journeymen, misplaced passes and backs-to-the-wall defending. Augsburg’s nickname, The Fuggers, is not an insult, but a reference to an industrial family that long controlled the city.
Think Wigan Athletic, without the charm.
But plucky Augsburg have been magnificent in 2013 –only four Bundesliga teams have won more points.
Meanwhile, one place behind are Hoffenheim. Bankrolled by billionaire software mogul Dietmar Hopp, they are Germany’s nouveaux riches. As one of only two Bundesliga clubs not owned by the fans (the other, Bayer Leverkusen can be forgiven because of their historic links with the club’s owners), Hoff are largely unloved by German fans.
While Hoffenheim, and fellow strugglers Greuther Furth and Wolfsburg chopped and changed coaches, Augsburg’s decision to stay loyal to 38-year-old Markus Weinzierl proved a masterstroke.
Weinzierl, who took over from Jos Luhukay last summer, got his tactics spot on in Sunday’s 2-0 win against Champions League chasing Eintracht Frankfurt.
Playing an attack-minded 4-1-4-1 formation, Augsburg dominated from first whistle to last.
Ji Dong-Won, on loan from Sunderland, scored two terrific goals, and had a third inexplicably ruled out in between. The South Korean has been astute signing, starting all 12 games in 2013. Now armed with ‘‘Ji- force,’’ Augsburg are starting to believe in a survival miracle. Paolo di Canio take note.
Elsewhere, former Arsenal keeper Alex Manninger, who has been through more clubs than Adam Scott, looked a reliable shotstopper, while Tobias Werner and rejuvenated Czech Jan Moravek were outstanding in midfield.
Every survival bid needs a talisman and Augsburg’s comes in the form of top scorer Sascha Mölders, one of those players who makes up in commitment what he lacks in talent.
Playing his 50th match for Augsburg, Mölders showed all his qualities against Frankfurt: tireless work rate, brave heading and a sitter missed in embarrassing style. After a career in the lower leagues, Mölders is relishing his moment in the spotlight.
Having badly smashed his nose in a vital win against Hoffenheim, a reporter asked Mölders if he had considered coming off.

‘‘No, I’ve got four kids, why should I care about my looks?’’ was the reply.

Augsburg fans certainly appreciate the burly forward: dozens wore plasters over their noses for the team’s next match.
Jokes aside, Mölders needs to recapture his goalscoring form: after five strikes in the first six matches of 2013, he has gone more than 500 minutes without finding the net.
Still, Mölders and Augsburg are used to Houdini acts. Last season they had just 15 points at Christmas, before amassing 23 in the second to survive. This term, they only have six wins under their belts, but four have come in the last seven games.

Bundesliga: Hoffenheim fight for survival

That’s the kind of experience missing at moneybags Hoffenheim, who began this season as they did last, targeting European qualification.
While Augsburg decided to hang on to one coach, Hoff dumped three.
Former Bayern Munich and Liverpool star Markus Babbel was shown the door in December, after less than a year in charge. Caretaker Frank Kramer was replaced by Marco Kurz, who was then sacked in favour of the little-known Markus Gisdol.
Early signs are promising for the former Schalke assistant coach. He started with a 3-0 victory against Fortuna Dusseldorf and was only denied a second win on Saturday by a late Wolfsburg equalizer.
After two wins and two draws in five matches, Hoffenheim’s expensively assembled squad is sensing survival. But one look at the club’s fortunes with goalkeepers gives the impression that fate is conspiring against them.
Babbel brought in former international Tim Wiese. Dubbed the ‘’Scandal Keeper’’ by the German press, 25 goals conceded in 10 Hoffenheim games now seem the least of his problems. Dropped and despondent, Wiese was fined by the club for what police called ‘‘rude’’ behaviour in a men’s toilet at a party while he was dressed as a prisoner.
This week Wiese, who has not played since January despite being the club’s best paid player, missed training after waking up with half a tooth missing. What of his replacement? Heurelho Gomes, loaned from Tottenham, started well, but broke a hand in the Dusseldorf win and is out for the season.
Ahead of this weekend’s fixtures, Augsburg are in the playoff spot on 27 points, with Hoffenheim three points back.
If Gisdol’s men get anything from a visit to third-placed Bayer Leverkusen, they will be full of confidence ahead of winnable home matches against Nuremberg and Hamburg.
Augsburg also have three away games left, starting with a visit to Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday. Trips to Freiburg and Bayern Munich look daunting, so Weinzierl will need maximum points from home matches against cup finalists Stuttgart and rock bottom Furth.
Above those two, 15th placed Fortuna Dusseldorf are now suddenly in real trouble and will be hoping Augsburg and Hoffenheim quickly return to their losing ways.

Andreas Evagora
Deputy Head
Eurosport2

Eurosport2 has live Bundesliga action on Friday with Bochum v St Pauli (18:00) in the second division, before Monchengladbach v Augsburg (20:30). Then on Saturday don’t miss Dortmund v Mainz (15:30) and Bremen v Wolfsburg (18:30). On Sunday there’s Stuttgart v Freiburg and Nurenberg v Furth. Coverage in north and east Europe only.

Bundesliga: Ji Force boosts Augsburg’s hopes

Bundesliga: Hoff making late bid for survival