The king is dead, long live the king! The dust has hardly settled on Julian Nagelsmann’s shock sacking by Bayern Munich and new boss Thomas Tuchel has taken his first training session and it preparing feverishly for the potential title-deciding Klassiker against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. It’s a fresh start (even at this late stage of the season), so which players are going to benefit from the change in coach and which ones are perhaps going to rue the day Nagelsmann got his marching orders? Much will depend on the formation and tactics chosen by Tuchel, but if we assume he’ll play his fav ..read more

When the 96th Bundesliga Rheinderby between 1FC Köln and Borussia Mönchengladbach kicks-off of Sunday there will be no love lost between the two sets of fans as one of Germany’s fiercest rivalries plays out. The two clubs are however bonded by one man, who serves as a hero for both- the legendary coach Hennes Weisweiler. Across three decades Weisweiler proved one of Germany’s most successful coaches and managed to do what few have done- win Bundesliga titles at both Köln and Gladbach turning himself into a cult figure at both clubs in the process. When 1FC Köln formed in 1948 Hans Weisweiler w ..read more

As the dust begins to settle and the players begin to return to the club from international duty the job of preparing for the title crunch match with Borussia Dortmund looms large in the wake of Julian Nagelsmann’s removal as Bayern head coach. Contradicting reports have emerged regarding the former coach ‘losing the dressing room’ with the club saying one thing and some players saying the opposite. It’s fair to say the Bayern squad has mixed feeling and is not a 100% harmonious unit right now. “The constellation between coach and team was not right,” sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic expla ..read more

As the dust begins to settle and the players begin to return to the club from international duty the job of preparing for the title crunch match with Borussia Dortmund looms large in the wake of Julian Nagelsmann’s removal as Bayern head coach. Contradicting reports have emerged regarding the former coach ‘losing the dressing room’ with the club saying one thing and some players saying the opposite. It’s fair to say the Bayern squad has mixed feeling and is not a 100% harmonious unit right now. “The constellation between coach and team was not right,” sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic expla ..read more

As we emerge from Winter and enter Spring and the closing stage of the season, it is time to nominate the Bundesliga’s best player and best goal from the month of March. As usual there were plenty of candidates and the task of whittling them down was a tough one. So, who caught the eye the most in March? Player of the Month: Raphaël Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund) Unleashed by Edin Terzic from his fullback role and pushed into a midfield role, the Portuguese produced two fantastic displays against Schalke and Köln to earn this month’s Player of the Month award. The 2-2 draw in the Revierderby on ..read more

Following the comfortable win over Peru on Saturday, Bundestrainer Hansi Flick has turned his attention to the tougher assignment that Belgium will provide the Nationalmannschaft on Tuesday at the Rhein-Energie Stadion In Cologne. “We have made the first step, but now we are facing an opponent of a quite different quality” Flick said at Monday’s press conference. “We are looking forward to the game in Cologne. Belgium have a new coach and a new spirit. You can see that they have outstanding footballers in their squad. “They defend compactly and know how to use their possession, especially on t ..read more

Borussia Mönchengladbach sporting director Roland Virkus is wasting no time in lining up new signings for next season with the Foals set to lose a number of key players this summer. The squad planner is sending out feelers in France, Switzerland and Greece as he looks to provide trainer Daniel Farke with the resources he needs. With Marcus Thuram, Ramy Bensebaini and Lars Stindl all set to leave the Borussia Park at the end of the current season, Gladbach are definitely going to be in the market for a forward, a left back and an attacking midfielder at the very least. Other players like Manu K ..read more

With 1FC Köln admitting defeat in their hopes on keeping influential midfielder Ellyes Skhiri at the club beyond this summer, a host of Bundesliga clubs are set to go head-to-head to keep the Tunisian in Germany. The Billy Goats had hoped to be able to persuade the 27-year-old defensive midfielder to extend his stay at the Rhein-Energie Stadion, but have now given up with the player’s mind set on a move. “I don’t see that happening,” Köln’s sporting director Christian Keller told the Kölnische Rundschau at the weekend. “If the player says that at a crucial age in his career, he wants to try to ..read more

Two years before Germany’s golden generation were to become World champions on home soil, they won the European Championship for the first-time beating Belgium in the semi-final to dash the hosts title dreams. The Germans qualified for their first European final tournament after overcoming Poland, Albania and Turkey with ease in the group stage before dispatching ‘old enemy’ England in the quarter-finals thanks largely to their 3-1 first leg win at Wembley. The finals tournament was a four-team affair with Belgium, the Soviet Union and Hungary involved in the competition hosted by the Belgians ..read more

With the majority of the players away on international duty the fallout from the sacking of Julian Nagelsmann and his replacement with Thomas Tuchel will not be fully felt at Bayern Munich until the middle of next week when their stars return to the Säbener Straße. Captain Joshua Kimmich may be one of those most affected by the departure of the coach with the two having a particularly close working relationship. When the news broke on Thursday that Bayern had savagely ditched coach Julian Nagelsmann with nine Bundesliga matches left this season, it is fair to say the decision took everybody by ..read more