Four former winners with 16 triumphs between them – FC Barcelona, AC Milan, AFC Ajax and Celtic FC – were pitted together in the UEFA Champions League group stage draw. … FC Barcelona and AC Milan, 11-time winners between them, top the bill in Group H. The pair will meet in Europe’s premier club competition for […]

Champions League Final: Is fussball coming home?
With Borussia Dortmund playing Bayern Munich in the Champions League final on Saturday, thousands of German fans will be heading to the home of English football, Wembley. But is it also the home of German football? “Fussball is coming home” ran the headline in the Bavarian-based Sueddeutsche Zeitung early in May, as Bayern Munich beat […]

The Germans are coming!
Guest Post by Cathal – 17 year old Irishman, best known as ‘The FM Guru’ on Youtube, and Twitter @TheFMGuru — German teams in Europe this season can feel very optimistic indeed. The prospect of an all-German final in the Champions League has left many wondering whether or not this is the beginning of a golden […]

Should the Bundesliga be worried about suffering ‘a Spanish situation’?
– it’s all coming together in one big, German dream this spring. For years, the Bundesliga had learned to feel happy about its largely unnoticed lot, like some provincial, discreet industrial tycoon. It had convinced itself that it didn’t need the praise of outsiders, that there was nothing to prove to the wider world. But now that […]

Lessons from Germany
The resurgence of German soccer began, like the country’s economic comeback, after a long slide toward stagnation amid dire prophecies of impending irrelevance. The sick man of Europe, as Germany was known a decade ago, could as easily have been called the sick man of soccer. After a disastrous European Championships in 2000 when the […]

Why all is not well with German football
It’s 1.30pm on a Wednesday. Frankfurt is freezing. Yet football fans are gathered outside one of the German city’s business hotels. They’re not waiting for a new signing to emerge in a sports car. The majority do not support a local club. They have travelled miles just to show the people inside that they exist […]

Germany leads England in football’s recovery
Secrets of the Bundesliga’s success range from cheaper tickets to standing room in stadiums and supporters on club boards. David Conn looks at the Bundesliga and how it differs from England. ” At their first home Premier League match this season, Chelsea, owned by the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, beat Reading 4-2 in front of […]

Bayern Munich and the weight of expectation
Tomorrow, Bayern Munich welcome Borussia Dortmund to their Allianz Arena for the 2012 DFL Supercup, the beginning of the Bundesliga season, and the resumption of German football’s great modern rivalry. Yet, the contest – although as provocative as ever – has been a stale dispute in terms of a victor for the best part of […]