Feb 19-21st : Leverkusen and Bayern Munich held to draws

A round-up of the top results in Germany's Bundesliga over the weekend.

Werder Bremen 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen

Leverkusen returned to the top of the table with a point in a 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen.

Eren Derdiyok put Leverkusen ahead in the 29th minute but Claudio Pizarro equalised five minutes later. Toni Kroos put Leverkusen back in front in the 57th minute but Per Mertesacker earned Bremen a draw in stoppage time.

The point still extended Leverkusen's unbeaten record to 23 games, equalling the record set by their own coach, Jupp Heynckes, in the 1988/89 season with Bayern.

Nurnberg 1-1 Bayern Munich

Bayern went temporarily top of the table despite their winning run came to an end with a 1-1 draw at Nurnberg.

Bayern looked set for a 14th consecutive victory in all competitions when Thomas Muller gave them the lead after 38 minutes, but Ilkay Gundogan levelled nine minutes into the second period to hand Nurnberg an impressive point.

Wolfsburg 2-1 Schalke

Wolfsburg dealt a blow to Schalke title hopes with a 2-1 win on Sunday.

Wolfsburg took the lead through Kevin Kuranyi on the half-hour mark.

It stayed that way until 19 minutes from time when Grafite headed the equaliser. And Wolfsburg wrapped up the win six minutes later as the striker grabbed his second.

Hamburg 0-0 Entract Frankfurt

Hamburg failed to follow up their Europa League victory over PSV Eindhoven with another win in the Bundesliga as they maintained their unwanted record as Germany's draw specialists, being held 0-0 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.

The swift return to action following Thursday's win against the Dutch giants was clearly not to Hamburg's suiting as they failed to find a goal and had to settle for a 10th draw in 23 German league outings this season.

Borussia Dortmund 4-1 Hannover

Borussia Dortmund ended a three-match losing streak with a comfortable 4-1 win at home to Hannover.

Neven Subotic scored a late first-half opener before an own goal and Nelson Haedo Valdez's strike made it 3-0. Arouna Kone pulled one back late on before Kevin Grosskreutz completed the rout.

German Bundesliga Top Six Standings

Team              Pl  W  D L Fr Ag Pts 
Bayer Leverkusen  23 13 10 0 50:20  49 
Bayern Munich     23 14  7 2 49:20  49 
Schalke 04        23 13  6 4 34:17  45 
Hamburg           23 10 10 3 43:25  40 
Borussia Dortmund 23 11  6 6 35:30  39 
Werder Bremen     23  9  8 6 46:28  35 

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Feb 12th-14th : Leverkusen lead Munich by +1 goal difference

A round-up of the weekend's football in Germany.

Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Wolfsburg

Leaders Bayer Leverkusen were made to sweat against Wolfsburg before securing a 2-1 win at the BayArena.

Stefan Reinartz put the home team ahead in the 48th minute before an own goal from the luckless Andre Lenz doubled their advantage in the 68th minute.

A goal from Edin Dzeko 10 minutes from time had Leverkusen panicking, but they managed to hold on.

Bayern Munich 3-1 Borussia Dortmund

Bayern Munich moved back level with Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga and improved their goal difference in the process with a solid 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund.

Mohamed Zidan put the visitors ahead in the fifth minute but Mark van Bommel equalised midway through the opening period.

Arjen Robben put Bayern ahead five minutes into the second half before Mario Gomez's goal ensured there is now only one goal between the leaders Leverkusen and Bayern at the top of the table.

Schalke 2-0 Cologne

Schalke moved to within three points of the top of the Bundesliga with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Cologne at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen.

Goals from Joel Matip and Jefferson Farfan secured the win as the Royal Blues prepare for a run of winnable fixtures that could decide their fate in the title chase with games against Wolfsburg, Borussia Dortmund, Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich on the horizon.

Stuttgart 1-3 Hamburg

Ruud van Nistelrooy scored his first goals for Hamburg to inspire his new club to a 3-1 win at in-form Stuttgart.

The veteran Holland striker joined the club from Real Madrid last month and, in only his second appearance, proved his quality as he stepped off the bench to score a match-winning double.

Marcus Berg had opened the scoring for the visitors after 23 minutes before Christian Trasch equalised 10 minutes after half-time.

Van Nistelrooy, who was given a brief debut in Hamburg's 3-3 draw with Cologne last week, was introduced in the 65th minute and 10 minutes later he was on target to open his account before firing in a second two minutes after that to ensure the win.

German Bundesliga Top Six Standings

Team              Pl  W D L Fr Ag Pts 
Bayer Leverkusen  22 13-9-0 48:18  48 
Bayern Munich     22 14-6-2 48:19  48 
Schalke 04        22 13-6-3 33:15  45 
Hamburg SV        22 10-9-3 43:25  39 
Borussia Dortmund 22 10-6-6 31:29  36 
Werder Bremen     22  9-7-6 44:26  34 

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Feb 6-7th : Bayern Munich grab share of lead in Bundesliga

Bayern Munich moved level on points with leaders Bayer Leverkusen thanks to an impressive 3-1 victory at Wolfsburg.

Wolfsburg 1-3 Bayern Munich

Arjen Robben put Bayern ahead in the second minute and Daniel van Buyten added a second before the break.

The visitors were three up just before the hour when the ball ended up in the home net after Andrea Barzagli attempted to clear under pressure from substitute Franck Ribery.

Grafite missed a penalty but grabbed a late consolation for the struggling champions in the last minute.

Bochum 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen

Leverkusen saw their two-point advantage at the summit evaporate as their four-game winning streak ended with a 1-1 draw at Bochum.

Leverkusen went ahead in the 45th minute through Eren Derdiyok, who collected a pass from Stefan Kiessling on the left, turned and struck into the bottom-left corner.

But Bochum equalised in the 68th minute when Lewis Holtby found Zlatko Dedic, who poked the ball past the out-charging goalkeeper.

Freiburg 0-0 Schalke

Schalke twice hit the woodwork and had a goal cruelly disallowed in a 0-0 draw at Freiburg as they missed a chance to gain meaningful ground on leaders Leverkusen.

Kevin Kuranyi hit the post with a header from from eight yards out, although Freiburg hit the goal frame themselves 10 minutes later with Mohamadou Idrissou's header striking the crossbar after a free-kick.

Schalke were robbed of a goal three minutes after the restart as Marcelo Bordon headed off the underside of the crossbar and the ball clearly crossed the goalline, television replays showed.

German Bundesliga Top Eight Teams

Team                Pl  W D L Fr Ag Pts 
Bayer Leverkusen    21 12-9-0 46:17  45 
Bayern Munich       21 13-6-2 45:18  45 
Schalke 04          21 12-6-3 31:15  42 
Hamburg             21  9-9-3 40:24  36 
Borussia Dortmund   21 10-6-5 30:26  36 
Werder Bremen       21  8-7-6 39:25  31 
Eintracht Frankfurt 21  8-7-6 28:29  31 
Mainz               21  8-6-7 25:29  30 

Stumble It!

30-31st Jan : Round-up of Bundesliga Results

Leverkusen are the league's only undefeated team and registered their fourth straight victory to improve to 44 points, giving them a two-point lead over second-placed Bayern Munich.

Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Freiburg

Bayer Leverkusen scored three goals in four minutes late in the first half as they surged back to the top of the Bundesliga with a 3-1 victory at home over Freiburg.

Stefan Kiessling opened the scoring in the 36th minute and was followed just a minute later by Eren Derdiyok, before Sami Hyypia made it 3-0 after 39 minutes. Felix Bastians cut the deficit to 3-1 in the 66th minute.

Bayern Munich 3-0 Mainz

Bayern Munich claimed a comfortable 3-0 win over Mainz at a wintry Allianz Arena.

After a frustrating first half, Bayern finally went ahead in the 58th minute through Daniel van Buyten. Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben completed the scoring to seal the Bavarians' seventh straight victory.

Schalke 2-0 Hoffenheim

Schalke's fifth home win in a row kept them in the chase for the Bundesliga title and condemned Hoffenheim to their seventh game without a win.

Kevin Kuranyi put Schalke ahead in the 19th minute and Lukas Schmitz sealed the 2-0 win for the Royal Blues early in the second half.

Stuttgart 4-1 Borussia Dortmund

Stuttgart scored three goals in the final 15 minutes to sink Borussia Dortmund 4-1 and continue their climb up the table.

Stuttgart went ahead after 15 minutes after Dortmund defender Felipe Santana's own goal before Lucas Barrios equalised in the 55th minute.

But Zdravko Kuzmanovic made it 2-1 for the hosts with his free-kick in the 77th minute, Ciprian Marica added an 86th-minute third and Christian Trasch netted two minutes later as Stuttgart extended their winning streak to four games.

Hamburg 1-1 Wolfsburg

On Friday, a last-gasp strike by substitute Piotr Trochowski earned Hamburg a 1-1 draw against Wolfsburg to keep them within touching distance of the top four.

The hosts looked to be heading for only their third defeat of the season at their AOL Arena as they trailed to a first-half goal from Edin Dzeko.

But Trochowski struck in the second minute of stoppage time to snatch a draw for Hamburg and move them a point behind fourth-placed Borussia Dortmund.

German Bundesliga Top Six Standings

Team               P W D L  Fr Ag Pts  
Bayer Leverkusen  20 12-8-0 45:16  44 
Bayern Munich     20 12-6-2 42:17  42
Schalke 04        20 12-5-3 31:15  41 
Borussia Dortmund 20 10-6-4 28:23  36 
Hamburg           20  9-8-3 37:21  35 
Werder Bremen     20  7-7-6 37:24  28 

Stumble It!

German Bundesliga Round-up : Leverkusen still on top

Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Hoffenheim

Bayer Leverkusen stormed back to the top of the Bundesliga with a 3-1 win at Hoffenheim on Sunday.

Leverkusen were ahead after 11 minutes through Sami Hyypia. Toni Kroos (51) and Tranquillo Barnetta (72) added a cushion in the second half.

Werder Bremen 2-3 Bayern Munich

Bayern moved temporarily back to the top of the table by edging a five-goal thriller at Werder to secure their sixth successive win.

Aaron Hunt put Bremen ahead in the 10th minute, but Bayern responded with goals from Thomas Muller and Ivica Olic to deservedly lead at the break.

The Bavarians missed chance after chance and were punished when Hugo Almeida levelled in the 75th minute, but Arjen Robben sealed three points for the visitors three minutes later.

Schalke 2-2 Bochum

Schalke passed up the chance to move top as they conceded two goals in the final eight minutes, including a stoppage-time equaliser, to draw 2-2 at local rivals Bochum.

Vicente Sanchez gave Schalke the lead after just five minutes and Kevin Kuranyi made it 2-0 in the 42nd minute.

But Vahid Hashemian pulled a goal back for Bochum in the 82nd minute - the first goal Felix Magath's side had leaked in five games - and Stanislav Sestak shocked the visitors with the leveller two minutes into added time.

Dortmund 1-0 Hamburg

Borussia Dortmund beat Hamburg 1-0 to climb above their opponents into fourth place. Nelson Valdez scored the only goal of the match in the 36th minute.

German Bundeliga Top Six Standings

Team              Pl  W D L  Fr A  Pts 
Bayer Leverkusen  19 11-8-0  42:15  41 
Bayern Munich     19 11-6-2  39:17  39 
Schalke 04        19 11-5-3  29:15  38 
Borussia Dortmund 19 10-6-3  27:19  36 
Hamburg           19  9-7-3  36:20  34 
Werder Bremen     19  7-7-5  34:20  28

Stumble It!

Leverkusen, Schalke, Bayern Munich and Hamburg all win to maintain status quo

Bayern Leverkusen 4-2 Mainz
Leverkusen recovered from going a goal down to lead 3-1 by the half-hour mark on their way to another home win and retaining their one ponit lead at the top of the Bundesliga.

Tim Hoogland put Mainz into a surprise lead after eight minutes, but Leverkusen hit back with goals from Michal Kadlec (15), Tranquillo Barnetta (19) and Toni Kroos (30).

Niko Bungert pulled one back for Mainz after 67 minutes but Eren Derdiyok settled home nerves with a fourth two minutes from time.

Bayern Munich 2-0 Hoffenheim
Bayern Munich moved to top of the Bundesliga table for a short while after winnig on Friday, notable becasue it was the first time Munich have led since May 2008.

Martin Demichelis slid home the first against Hoffenheim in the 35th minute before Miroslav Klose wrapped up victory four minutes from time to give Bayern Munich their fifth straight league win.

Schalke 1-0 Nurnberg
Kevin Kuranyi's grabbed the match winner early in the second half as Schalke beat Nurnberg 1-0 at home and continue their strong run.

Hamburg 2-0 Freiburg
Hamburg kept pace with the leaders with a solid 2-0 victory at home over Freiburg. Marcell Jansen opened the scoring in the seventh minute and Mladen Petric made it 2-0 after 55 minutes.

German Bundesliga Top Six Standings

Team              P   W D L  Fr Ag Pts 
Bayer Leverkusen  18 10-8-0  39 15  38 
Schalke           18 11-4-3  27 13  37 
Bayern Munich     18 10-6-2  36 15  36 
Hamburg           18  9-7-2  36 19  34 
Borussia Dortmund 18  9-6-3  26 19  33 
Werder Bremen     18  7-7-4  32 17  28

Stumble It!

Champions League Group stages complete - 16 teams for second round named

The lineup for the UEFA Champions League first knockout round was completed on Wednesday when the group stage concluded with holders Barcelona, Inter Milan, VfB Stuttgart and Olympiacos taking the final four places.

Generally, the group winners are the stronger section with the five shorted priced sides in the Winners group, but with Inter Milan, Olympique Lyon and Bayern Munich lurking as dangerous runners-up opponents.

Group winners
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Bordeaux (FRA)
Manchester United (ENG)
Real Madrid (ESP)
Chelsea (ENG)
ACF Fiorentina (ITA)
FC Barcelona (ESP)
Sevilla (ESP)
Arsenal (ENG)

Group runners-up
------------------------------
Bayern Munchen (GER)
CSKA Moskva (RUS)
AC Milan (ITA)
FC Porto (POR)
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
Internazionale Milano (ITA)
VfB Stuttgart (GER)
Olympiacos (GRE)

Knockout Draw
------------------------------
The draw will take place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland at 12.00CET on Friday 18 December.

The UEFA Champions League first knockout round first-leg ties will take place on 16/17 and 23/24 February 2010 (with two games each day) with the second legs to be played on 9/10 and 16/17 March.

Outright Winner Betting Odds :
------------------------------
Barcelona 4.50 @ Betfred
Chelsea 5.00 @ Eurobet
Real Madrid 7.00 @ Bet365
Manchester United 9.00 @ Ladbrokes
Arsenal 11.00 @ Eurobet
Internazionale Milano 17.00 @ Eurobet
Sevilla 21.00 @ Centrebet
Bayern Munchen 23.00 @ Centrebet
AC Milan 23.00 @ Bet365

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Manchester United win in Wolfsburg while Bayern Munich thrash Juventus

Bayern Munich clinched their place in the Champions League knockout stages with a come-from-behind 4-1 victory over Juventus which saw the Italians eliminated.

Bayern earned the win at Juventus despite the Serie A side taking an early lead in Turin through David Trezeguet.

Bayern goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt levelled from the penalty spot and Ivica Olic put the visitors in front seven minutes into the second half.

Late goals from Mario Gomez and Anatoliy Tymoschuk sealed the German side's progression - to leave Juventus with the consolation of a Europa League place.

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Michael Owen scored a hat-trick as Manchester United made light of their injury woes to record a 3-1 win over German champions Wolfsburg.

Edin Dzeko's 56th-minute header cancelled out Owen's first-half opener, but the English international struck twice in the closing stages of the second half to leave Wolfsburg contemplating a place in the UEFA Europa League.

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Champions League draw kind to English clubs

The four English clubs in the Champions League were handed favourable draws for the group stage of the competition.

Arsenal have been drawn against AZ Alkmaar, Olympiakos and Standard Liege in Group H.

Last season's finalists Manchester United take on CSKA Moscow, Besiktas and Wolfsburg in Group B.

Liverpool are top seeds in Group E and face Olympic Lyon, Fiorentina and Debrecen.

Chelsea are the ranked club in group D and will play Porto, Atletico Madrid and APOEL Nicosia.

Remaining Groups :

Group A
Bayern Munich, Juventus, Bordeaux, Maccabi Haifa

Group C
AC Milan, Real Madrid, Marseille, FC Zurich

Group F
Barcelona, Inter Milan, Dinamo Kiev, Rubin Kazan

Group G
Sevilla, Glasgow Rangers, Stuttgart, Unirea Urziceni

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FRANCK RIBERY SAYS : IT'S REAL MADRID OR NOTHING

FOOTBALL: Franck Ribery has told Bayern Munich that he wants to leave and join Real Madrid.

Franck Ribery has told Bayern Munich that he wants to leave the club and join the new generation of "galacticos" at Real Madrid.

The France international has been at the centre of a long-running saga over the past six months, with Real and Premier League champions Manchester United chasing his signature.

Bundesliga runners-up Bayern have remained adamant that they will not be selling £30m rated Ribery, but their star asset has now announced his desire to move away from Germany.

The 26-year-old wants to follow Raul Albiol, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in agreeing a big-money, summer move to the Bernabeu, delivering another transfer blow to United.

Sir Alex Ferguson chased Benzema, but the Frenchman snubbed Old Trafford and Ribery looks set to do the same.

"I have made up my mind, I want to leave," Ribery told L'Equipe. "It will be Real or nothing."

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Real Madrid still making the most money in revenue league

Real Madrid remain top of the Deloitte Football Money League in terms of revenue generated for the fourth successive season.

But English clubs dominate the list with seven Barclays Premier League sides are among the top 20.

The Manchester United money men saw last seasons double success increase their revenues to £257m, an increase of £45m on the previous season.

It saw United receive a bumper pay-out in terms of broadcasting revenue while their income from commercial contracts also saw a healthy increase. In addition, sell-out crowds at their 76,200 seater stadium saw matchday revenues grow by a staggering 10 per cent to £101.5m last season, meaning that 39 per cent of their total revenue comes from home games.

Chelsea's overall revenue grew by 12 per cent, largely thanks to a 30 per cent increase in money from broadcasters.

While Arsenal may be sweating in Champions League qualification this season, the move to the Emirates Stadium continues to be a success story.

While there are suggestions that the cost of building the 60,000-seat arena has tied manager Arsene Wenger’s hands in the transfer market, matchday revenue of £94.6m last season, which represents 45 per cent of Arsenal’s total revenue, is difficult to argue against.

Liverpool's need to press ahead with the construction of a new stadium is highlighted by their relatively low matchday revenue figure of £39.2m despite an average crowd at Anfield of 43,500.

Even Tottenham's smaller White Hart Lane home generates more matchday revenue than Anfield, while they, too, have a plans for a new stadium in place. Spurs continue to do well from broadcasting and commercial revenue streams, but the Deloitte survey points out that they must return to the days of challenging for a Champions League place to stand a chance of regaining a top 10 spot.

Manchester City return to the top 20 thanks mainly to the revenue generated by the new broadcast deal and a reviewed ticket price structure, which saw the average gate at Eastlands rise by five per cent, keeping matchday revenue constant at £18.5m.

Deloitte Football Money League - 2007/08 revenue
1 (1) Real Madrid £289.6million
2 (2) Manchester United £257.1m
3 (3) FC Barcelona £244.4m
4 (7) Bayern Munich £233.8m
5 (4) Chelsea £212.9m
6 (5) Arsenal £209.3m
7 (8) Liverpool £167.0m
8 (6) AC Milan £165.8m
9 (11) AS Roma £138.9m
10 (9) Internazionale £136.9m
11 (12) Juventus £132.6m
12 (13) Lyon £123.3m
13 (16) Schalke 04 £117.5m
14 (10) Tottenham £114.8m
15 (15) Hamburg £101.3m
16 (19) Marseille £100.4m
17 (14) Newcastle £99.4m
18 (-) Stuttgart £88.3m
19 (-) Fenerbahce £88.1m
20 (-) Manchester City £82.3m

(previous year in brackets)

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Champions League Knockout Draw : Italy vs England x 3

The champions league draw for the last 16 was made in Nyon on Friday and it has thrown up some mouthwatering clashes as English clubs face three Italian opponents ...and Real Madrid as well.

Manchester United will face Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Former Tottenham boss Juande Ramos will return to England with Real Madrid as they take on Liverpool, with the second leg to be played at Anfield.

Arsenal will have the first leg at home as they play AS Roma, while Chelsea will clash against Juventus who are managed by former boss Claudio Ranieri for their .

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE KNOCKOUT DRAW
Chelsea v Juventus
Villarreal v Panathinaikos
Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid v FC Porto
Lyon v Barcelona
Real Madrid v Liverpool
Arsenal v Roma
Inter Milan v Manchester United

The ties will be played on 24/25 February and 10/11 March as the Champions League knockout phase begins.

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Round 14 : Village side Hoffenheim stand top of the Bundesliga

Hoffenheim went three points clear at the top of the German Bundesliga with a 3-1 win at Cologne in the Bundesliga on Saturday afternoon.

Hoffenheim, the village team with multi-millionaire backing, went ahead through Demba Ba and clinched victory as Vedad Ibisevic struck his 15th and 16th goals of the season.

It was enough to take them back to the top ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, who suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat away to Arminia Bielefeld.

Bayern Munich beat Energie Cottbus 4-1 helped by another goal from Franck Ribery who scored with a terrific 20 yard free kick making it his sixth league game in a row that he's scored.

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Leverkusen on top of the Bundesliga - but watch out for Bayern !

Bayern Munich moved to within a point of leaders Bayer Leverkusen when Luca Toni and Franck Ribery gave them a 2-1 win at Schalke 04 on Sunday, while Hoffenheim lost 1-0 away to Hertha Berlin.


Toni, back after a rib injury, supplied a cool finish to give Bayern an early lead at one of their least favourite grounds.

Schalke were level almost immediately through Jefferson Farfan but Ribery, a different class to everyone else, scored his fourth goal in four league games to earn the champions a fifth successive league win.

Hoffenheim have surprised everyone this season but the wealthy village team slipped up on Sunday as their five-match winning run came to an end at the Olympiastadion losing 0-1 to Hertha Berlin.

The much-vaunted trio of forwards Vedad Ibisevic, Demba Ba and Chinedu Obasi had a collective off-day and Hertha nicked a win when Andriy Voronin beat the offside trap and scored with 20 minutes to go.

Leverkusen moved top the top of the table on goal difference following their 3-3 draw away to Karlsruhe on Saturday.

Leverkusen and Hoffenheim each have 25 points from 12 matches, with Bayern third on 24.

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