When the Bundesliga timetable drawn up at the start of the season FC Bayern against newly-promoted SC Paderborn 07 looked like one of the more lopsided fixtures, but when the two teams walked out onto the Allianz Arena for the season’s first Englische Woche match thoughts would be very different. While Bayern had started their first four matches unbeaten despite struggling to get out of first year, the Bundesliga newbies had found themselves at the top of the table – creating what was arguably the most popular top of the table snapshot in a long time. Continue reading FCB v SC Paderborn 07 →
The first Bundesliga “Englischer Woche” of the season sees the visit to the Allianz of new boys SC Paderborn 07, a team that would surprise everybody last season by winning promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history. The small team from eastern North Rhine-Westphalia would start the season as everybody’s whipping boys, but would get off to a great start with a 2-2 draw at home against Mainz before thrashing HSV 3-0 in their first Bundesliga game on the road.
Everyone is expecting Bayern to win this one and win easily, but Paderborn have certainly shown that they cannot be taken lightly.
After the last-minute euphoria of the Champions’ League win over Manchester City in midweek, it was largely expected to be a return to business at usual at the Imtech Arena against HSV. Struggling near the foot of the the table, the northerners came into the game with a new coach at the helm, with Under-23 coach Josef Zinnbauer replacing the sacked Mirko Slomka. Continue reading Hamburger SV v FCB →
After a break for the opening round of international fixtures Bayern would return to Bundesliga action with a home game against VfB Stuttgart, a team that had started as it had finished the previous season – struggling at the wrong end of the table. Starting without Arjen Robben of Franck Ribéry – the Frenchman would start on the bench – the Bayern team would have a distinct lack of pace about it; Dante and Juan Bernat would come in for Sebastian Rode and Xherdan Shaqiri as Pep Guardiola continued with his policy of rest and rotation. Continue reading FCB v VfB Stuttgart →
With three points in the locker after the hard-fought opening day win against VfL Wolfsburg, FC Bayern’s first Bundesliga road trip would take them to Gelsenkirchen and a meeting with perennial title rivals Schalke 04. The game would see the much-anticipated debut of Spanish international defensive midfielder and former Real Madrid stalwart Xabi Alonso, while at the same time the somewhat less heralded Sebastian Rode – signed from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer – would also make his first Bundesliga start. Continue reading FC Schalke 04 v FCB →
Finally! After an exciting summer with Germany winning the World Cup in Brazil and a weeks of transfer shenanigans, the penultimate week of August would see a welcome return of Bundesliga action. FC Bayern’s opening fixture would pit them against 2008/09 champions VfL Wolfsburg, genuine title challengers who had brought in a number of new signings over the summer. Continue reading FCB v VfL Wolfsburg →
