Scissors Kick

“So near but yet so far. Freiburg’s dream of playing Champions League football next year was quashed by Schalke 04 after the away side took a 2-1 away victory at the MAGE-SOLAR Stadion. Goals by Julian Draxler and an own goal by Julian Schuster were enough to give die Königsblauen the result they needed to secure 4th place. Jonathan Schmid scored for Freiburg but it was not enough as Freiburg will have to ‘settle’ for Europa League football next year.” Bundesliga Fanatic

“829 goals have been scored in the Bundesliga so far this season. That is an average of almost three goals a game in another season of high octane attacking football and goals galore. Last year was a prolific season for many of the league’s top strikers and it is no different this time around. 356 of those 829 goals have been scored by strikers, a little under 50% of the total. Of course, in today’s game, the line between striker and midfielder is blurrier than ever before and many of the league’s outstanding players and biggest goal threats are players usually classified as midfielders. In fact, more goals were scored by midfielders this season than by strikers. 360 goals to be exact.” Bundesliga Fanatic

“After looking to be heading towards a European spot before the winter break, 1. FSV Mainz have become one of the most inconsistent team in the Bundesliga and have slipped to tenth in the League with two matches remaining, winning just once since January. Coach Thomas Tuchel’s Mainz ended the Hinrunde on a high note, beating VfB Stuttgart 3-1 in December and held the sixth position going into winter break with an 8-2-7 mark (albeit only by a point over Schalke, Borussia Mönchengladbach and the Swabians). Thus, the question is; where did it all go wrong?” Bundesliga Fanatic

“Greuther Fürth’s inaugural season in Germany’s top flight has definitely been one to remember, albeit for all the wrong reasons. The Franconian side sits firmly rooted at the bottom of the Bundesliga table, a spot they’ve had all to themselves since the 15th match day and will likely continue to occupy for the remainder of the season, barring some form of divine intervention. With 5 matches to go the goal now must be to both save a little face and avoid setting a record for Bundesliga futility. While not yet mathematically relegated, Fürth are currently 15 points back of 15th place Fortuna Düsseldorf with a vastly inferior goals for and against record, -33 to Fortuna’s -10. Suffice to say automatic safety is pretty much out of the question.” Bundesliga Fanatic

“Robert Lewandowski, Jakub Blaszczykowski, and Lukasz Piszczek are three of Borussia Dortmund’s deadliest players. “Polonia Dortmund,” as they are called in Germany, were major parts in Dortmund’s league and cup double last term, and seem to be replicating that scintillating form for the second year running. It comes as no surprise then, that Lewandowski, Blaszczykowski, and Piszczeck are linked with moves to numerous of England’s top clubs, and in the case of Piszczek, even Real Madrid.” EPL Talk

“Sensational title, eh? Here it comes–the outlandish claim of a rift between Bayer Leverkusen’s Tandem Trainer Saschimi Lewandyypia (see what I did there?) for the site hits! There’s a battle brewing in the North Rhine-Westphalia that might spell DOOM for Leverkusen’s remaining league campaign! Champions League football will be lost–lost I tell you!–if this is allowed to blister in the strengthening spring sun! What’s the limit on exclamation points to start a blog post, by the way?” Bundesliga Fanatic

“In some parts of Germany, this past Monday was the most important day of the year – Rosenmontag. The name translates as Rose Monday and is the day the English know as Shrove Monday. Rosenmontag is the high point of the German carnival season and a bank holiday in the strongholds of this particular form of organised merriment, most of which are dotted along the Rhine. In Mainz, Cologne and Dusseldorf, literally millions of people take to the streets (and bars) dressed in fancy and elaborate, and sometimes bizarre, costumes to – as they stubbornly maintain – party, celebrate and have fun.” ESPN

“Three months is a long time in football. Back in October when Schalke 04 won at arch rivals Borussia Dortmund in the Ruhr Valley Derby, life looked rosy for the Royal Blues. They were third in the Bundesliga, seven points behind leaders Bayern Munich and just two behind surprise package Eintracht Frankfurt. Now they`re in freefall, a huge 22 points behind runaway leaders Bayern and ten behind champions Dortmund.” Bundesliga on Eurosport2

“Jupp Heynckes is one of the few people who probably has to employ a cleaning lady just for his trophy cabinet. Even as a professional footballer he has won almost every trophy there is in European football. The striker has scored most of his goals for the club that belongs to the city of his birth: Mönchengladbach. He scored 218 goals for Die Fohlen which combined with the 25 goals he scored for Hannover, where he spent three years, made him the third best goal scorer in the history of Bundesliga. Whilst being at Gladbach he won the German Bundesliga title for four times, the DFB-Pokal once and the UEFA Cup during the 1970s. He was also successful with the German National-team and can proudly call himself European Cup and World Cup champion.” Bundesliga Fanatic

“Not long ago, the German national team was so short of decent center forwards that manager Berti Vogts had to dig out a German grandmother for (Brazilian-born Leverkusen striker) Paolo Rink and personally intervene with the government to secure Sean Dundee’s fast-track naturalization — even if the South African ended up never wearing the White and Black.” SI

“Bayern Munich officially announced last week that they had hired Pep Guardiola to manage the illustrious club next season. Bayern’s interest in Guardiola wasn’t a secret. Last June Sport-Bild cited news of a meeting between then-sporting director Christian Nerlinger and Pep’s brother and agent, Pere Guardiola. But the news has shocked many pundits in the UK, who believed (somewhat arrogantly)that Pep was destined for a job in the Premier League.” Think Football