Bundesliga Kicks Off Again
January 20, 2005
The first match of the second leg on Friday evening begins with a classic north-south rivalry -- Bayern Munich vs. Hamburg.
Bayern do not give up many points at home against HSV. In fact, it has been 23 years since Hamburg have won in the Bavarian capital. But Hamburg is flying high under new coach Thomas Doll, who took over for the deposed Klaus Toppmöller last Fall.
Former Munich midfielder David Jarolim believes Hamburg can rewrite history. The team's chances increase with Bayern's midfield leader Michael Ballack on the sidelines serving a one game suspension.
The home crowd at Munich's Olympic Stadium will also welcome back an old face. Bixente Lizarazu, who left the team after last season to play out his career in his native France, returned to Munich after a disappointing stint at Olympique Marseille.
Schalke, Bremen clash
On the field, the most attractive game on Saturday is definitely Schalke vs. Bremen. Off the field, Bremen have frequently been in the headlines during the winter break.
The high point was a fight between Fabian Ernst and French midfielder Johan Micoud. Ernst came away with eight stitches over his eye. Thomas Schaaf's midfielders have apparently settled the matter, but not before Ernst considered leaving the club, according to the kicker sports magazine.
Schalks's excitement has been limited to the front office, where manager Rudi Assauer has been engaged in a war of words with Bayern manager Uli Hoeneß. Ralf Rangnick's crew is even on points (34) with Bayern Munich and looking to distance themselves from the defending champions Bremen who stand six points back.
Third place side Stuttgart travel to Mainz. The biggest news out of Stuttgart is that international goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand will not return to the club after this season.
Mainz played exciting football throughout much of the first leg before running out of energy towards the end. They are strong at home and coach hopes to give a good start to his second leg goal of staying in the top league.
Gladbach busy in winter
Borussia Mönchengladbach were one of the busiest teams in the break. Coach Dick Advokaat has been given practically carte blanche in reshaping the squad.
He brought in five new faces, including former Belgian league scoring champion Wesley Sonck from Ajax Amsterdam and Schalke’s unhappy midfielder Jörg Böhme. 15th place Gladbach hosts Arminia Bielefeld.
Last place Freiburg used the five week break to fetch another three players and true to its international character, Freiburg and coach Volker Finke brought in three non-Germans. Two of them are meant to shore up Freiburg’s suspect defense. The final man is Dutch striker Samuel Koejoe who should help an equally suspect offense, which found the net only 14 times in 17 first leg matches.
To start the second leg Freiburg travels to 17th place Rostock. Rostock failed to win a single home match in the first leg and Freiburg is particularly weak on the road. Smells like a draw.
Traditional powers in trouble
Wolfsburg faces a struggling Dortmund side. Wolfsburg led much of the first leg before faltering in the last few matches. Still they stand in fourth place. Dortmund, who won the league title in 2002, are just four points away from the relegation zone.
Another traditional powerhouse struggling this season is Kaiserslautern. Their starting goalkeeper Tim Wiese is out and so they signed Austrian Jürgen Macho to take his place.
Up front they also have problems. "It is not an exaggeration to say our whole offense Kaiserslautern might be out," Coach Kurt Jara told kicker magazine. Kaiserslautern travels to Nuremberg.
Berlin looks to continue string
Falko Götz's Hertha Berlin squad finished the first leg on a high note. Since the end of October they did not lose a single match. Now they find themselves even on points with fifth-place Bremen. To start the second half of the season, they must travel to Bochum on Sunday.
Bochum has been wallowing in the relegation zone most of the first leg. One thing that favors Peter Neururer's side is Bochum's startling success against Berlin -- they have won 14 of 16 matches. Bochum has sought to improve their decimated goalkeeping situation by bringing in Danish international keeper Petr Skov-Jensen.
Also on Sunday, Hanover hosts Leverkusen. A lot is riding on this match for both squads if they want to stay in the hunt for a spot in European club competition. Hanover had a surprisingly strong first leg and lie in seventh place.
Eighth place Leverkusen have played well in the Champions League and would like to now carry that over to the Bundesliga.