“To reach the chicest sports spot on Earth in the first week of September of 2013, get the train to Marienplatz. Change to the U6 line and ride north through Odeonsplatz, Dietlinderstr, Studentenstadt and eight other stops. Disembark at Frottmaning, and remember an old sports dynamic: the act of seeing something for real after seeing it only on TV. Remember how Augusta National always seemed to have a castle and a moat and turned out to have, humorously, a boulevard of aggressive ugliness just out front. Lambeau Field exceeded the imagination and wrought a little gasp.” Sports On Earth

“‘Hi Uli,’ Michael wrote. ‘I came across SC Westfalia Herne, the first team of Hans Tilkowski. That was quite surprising. I consider myself very knowledgeable on German football, but never heard about this club before.’ He added: ‘Checked the internet and found out that you, most probably, have never written about it. So here is an idea — maybe you should. I’d like to know more about them.'” ESPN

“Lothar Emmerich throws his hands in the air. SV Werder Bremen ‘keeper Klaus Lambertz, his head towards the goal-line, has been beaten by Friedhelm ‘Timo’ Konietzka, who turns away celebrating. A Bremen player is down on the ground, shocked. The old stadium clock at Bremen’s Weserstadion still shows 5pm. It is August 24, 1963. Konietzka, born on August 2, 1938, in Lunen, a small town north of Dortmund, has scored the first ever Bundesliga goal.” ESPN (Video)

“Bayern Munich have hardly played a game that did not end with some suit thrusting a trophy into their hands underneath a ticker-tape shower in recent months. On Thursday night, last season’s European champions, German league and cup winners were at it again, horsing around in front of an advertising board, the Audi Cup in hand.” Guardian

“Marcus Berg’s departure this week to Panathinaikos on a free transfer was confirmation that the Swedish striker has been a huge Bundesliga flop. However, he is not the first (and won’t be the last) player to cost a club millions of euros, not perform and leave for a small fraction to another club, or even for nothing at all. This is not a list of the most expensive transfers or even the biggest transfer flops; this is a list of the worst bits of business that Bundesliga clubs have made.” Bundesliga Fanatic – Part 1, Part 2

“Last season Bayern Munich already boasted arguably the deepest squad in recent football history. This offseason they added to that depth with two of the world’s biggest talents in Mario Götze and Thiago Alcantara, which will once again make them favorites not only domestically, but internationally as well. All the while, there are several questions surrounding Bayern’s transfer policy and squad management going into the new season.” Bundesliga Fanatic

“Borussia Dortmund suffered a massive loss when Mario Götze announced his deal with Bayern Munich. They were wounded and now it’s time to heal. It’s a delicate situation. He was the creator, the trickster, the man with the rabbit in the hat. The young German allowed Reus to cut in and play one-twos around corners and into channels; he’d drift out and create gaps for Lewandowski, or even Gündoğan to burst through. He was all four corner pieces to Klopp’s jigsaw. And now he’s gone.” Think Football

“Germany underwent Reunification in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. East and West Germany became one and it was a time of great joy for Germans, especially those who had lived on the Eastern side of the border. With it came reunification for German football, with the members of the East German Oberliga rejoining their Western counterparts. However, at least in this 2012-13 edition of the Bundesliga, there are no teams from what was formerly known as East Germany. So what has contributed to the continued inability of the East German clubs to compete consistently with teams from the West?” Outside of the Boot

“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