FC Bayern Munchen News

Borussia Monchengladbach, Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg dominate Goal’s XI after an entertaining weekend in the German top flight

Round two of the Bundesliga produced a total of 26 goals, some stunning results and performances worthy of inclusion in Goal‘s Team of the Week.

The biggest winners of the weekend were Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg, who beat Hamburg and Schalke respectively by four goals and, unsurprisingly, both are heavily represented.

Roberto Firimo and Anthony Modeste, who grabbed a double apiece respresent Markus Gisdol’s side, while Diego, Naldo and new signing Luiz Gustavo are flying the Volkswagen Arena flag.

Borussia Monchengladbach claimed an impressive 3-0 win over Hannover and have Max Kruse, Raffael, Filip Daems and Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the XI, while Emir Spahic helped Bayer Leverkusen see off Stuttgart.

Finally Jonas Hofmann scored one and won a penalty late on for a struggling Borussia Dortmund at home to Eintracht Braunschweig.

The club’s sporting director is refusing to accept excuses for the squad’s fitness and wants the whole team ready to play twice a week if necessary

Bayern Munich sporting director Matthias Sammer has demanded more from the team, despite a perfect start to the Bundesliga campaign.

Pep Guardiola’s men defeated Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 on the opening day of the season before securing a 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

However, the former Germany international is adamant that his side must get into better shape following two unconvincing performances in as many Bundesliga games.

“We need to see as soon as possible that we have reached a high work-rate, to be able to play two or three games in a week,” he told Bild.

“Only one or two players have done that so far. The players need to do more to get into the absolute top condition.

“[Against Frankfurt] it was hard, it was warm and the grass was like two feet tall. But all these cannot be excuses.”

Bayern will continue their defence of the Bundesliga title against Nurnberg on Saturday, with kick-off at 18:30CET.

The Bayern Munich midfielder was forced to sit out his side’s 1-0 win over Frankfurt on Saturday and the club’s sporting director has slammed the RFEF

Matthias Sammer has hit out at the Spanish Football Federation after Javi Martinez was unable to feature for Bayern Munich on Saturday.

Die Roten had to make do without the 24-year-old midfielder as they edged to a 1-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt thanks to Mario Mandzukic’s early strike.

Martinez did not travel with the squad, deemed unfit after flying back late from Spain’s 2-0 win over Ecuador on Wednesday, and Sammer was highly critical of how the Spain camp treated the Bayern player.

“Javi came back in a state,” 45-year-old German fumed.

“I have absolutely no sympathy for the Spanish Association. This is an outrage for the player. These players are glad and happy to work for [their national team].

“But what is expected of them is an outrage. Javi was completely empty. Therefore, the coach did not take him [to Frankfurt].”

Sammer went on to call on national team federations to communicate better with clubs in order to avoid a repeat of the incident.

“Communication is a disaster,” he continued.

“Invitations to the internationals come too late. And then we also learn quite late, when our players come back. How can you deal with that!”

The Dutchman was thrilled his side were able to grind out a result after the tiring international break, although Toni Kroos feels they should have won more comfortably

Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben admits his side struggled for top form during their 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

Mario Mandzukic put the Bavarians in charge early on, but Pep Guardiola’s men failed to build on their lead as they laboured in front of the opposition goal, and Robben believes the victory was crucial given the exploits of a number of players during the international break.

“The games when players come back from international duty are always difficult,” the 29-year-old told AZ.

“One’s travelling from South America, one from Asia, but they can only train on Thursday, then just a bit on Friday.

“The players had a little break, but the ones you notice are the ones who aren’t at 100 per cent. But you have to go on, and wanting to win a game is a mental thing.

“At the start, the most important thing is to win games. A 1-0 is always tight. We had enough opportunities to make it 2-0. If you don’t, then it stays tight until the end.”

Toni Kroos was also thrilled at the result, but acknowledges his side could well have been made to pay for their profligacy.

“We all know it’s never easy in Frankfurt, because they’re a very good team,” he told the club’s official website.

“However, we still dominated the game for the full 90 minutes. We let them have very few chances, but we have to point the finger at ourselves for not wrapping it up much earlier.

“It would have been a lot calmer at the end.”

Schalke suffered a second-half meltdown against Wolfsburg while Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen recorded wins

Eintract Frankfurt remain rooted to the bottom of the Bundesliga after a narrow 1-0 defeat to champions Bayern Munich on Saturday.

Mario Mandzukic’s goal after 13 minutes was enough to ensure Pep Guardiola’s men kept up their winning start to the season at the Commerzbank-Arena having beaten Borussia Monchengladbach in their first game. 

However, the result leaves Frankfurt propping up the table on goal difference after their 6-1 thumping at the hands of Hertha Berlin in their opener.

Leverkusen also enjoyed a 1-0 win but needed a first-half own goal from Daniel Schwaab to secure all three points at Stuttgart and move them joint-top with Bayern. 

Braces from Roberto Firmino and Anthony Modeste helped Hoffenheim to a 5-1 victory over Hamburg, and that emphatic scoreline was enough to push Markus Gisdol’s fifth in the table – two points behind Werder Bremen, who also gained three points.

Mehmet Ekici’s goal after 23 minutes was enough to give them the win against Augsburg, who remain in 17th place without a win or a goal so far in 2013-14. 

Elsewhere, Schalke’s disappointing start to the season continued, as they conceded four goals in 35 second-half minutes away at Wolfsburg.

Gladbach bounced back after their opening-day defeat at the Allianz Arena to hit three past Hannover without reply. Max Kruse, Christoph Kramer and Filip Daems were the men on the scoresheet for Lucien Favre’s side. 

Meanwhile, a late Sebastian Freis goal proved insufficient for Freiburg as they slipped to their second defeat of the season, losing 2-1 at home to Mainz.