By losing 1-0 at home to 10-man Augsburg, Borussia Dortmund remain bottom of the Bundesliga table with an astonishing 11 losses in 19 matches this season. Their baffling tumble from second to worst has their supporters just as frustrated and angry as the players and as the boos rained down after the latest home loss, captain Mats Hummels and goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller took it upon themselves to try and ease tensions between those in the stands and those on the pitch.
Category: Germany
Pep Guardiola celebrates goal by hugging fourth official
After getting thumped by Wolfsburg in their first game back from the winter break, Bayern Munich faced another test against Schalke when Jerome Boateng was sent off in just the 17th minute. Despite this disadvantage, Bayern still managed to score first, prompting Pep Guardiola, who decided to wear a blanket around his neck for some reason, to hug the fourth official.
DTotD: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar gets six-match ban for kicking out at opponent
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was shown a red card for kicking Manuel Schmiedebach’s legs from behind during Schalke’s 1-0 loss to Hannover 96 on Saturday and now he’s been banned six matches for it.
Here’s the challenge in question…
Bayern lose first Bundesliga match this season, double their goals conceded in 73 minutes
Bayern Munich went into the Bundesliga’s winter break undefeated and with only four goals allowed in 17 matches. In their first match after the break, that changed rather drastically, though.
Borussia Dortmund CEO thinks Bundesliga clubs have stopped trying against Bayern
The Bundesliga returns from its winter break this weekend and Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke is wondering why they even bother. League champions Bayern Munich currently have an 11-point cushion atop the table (while Dortmund sit in the relegation zone, 30 points back) and Watzke is convinced that clubs have stopped trying when they face Bayern.
Marco Reus autographs a Real Madrid shirt, which basically means they own his soul forever
Marco Reus signing a Real Madrid shirt. pic.twitter.com/7QmSwv7ras
— SocialRMadrid (@SocialRMadrid) January 17, 2015
Following reports that Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marco Reus has agreed to personal terms with Real Madrid ahead of a potential transfer, the player’s agent said all of it was “blatant nonsense.” But now Reus has autographed a Real Madrid shirt after playing a friendly against Steaua Bucharest in Alicante, Spain, and as the ink seeped into the cloth, so did the club into the very essence of his being.
He might continue to play for Dortmund, but now he belongs to Madrid in the two most important places: the gossip columns and that random dude’s shirt.
Thomas Muller says it’s harder to win in Bayern training sessions than in Bundesliga matches
Since teammate Dante couldn’t take his brand of gentle ribbing about the most painful moment of his life, Thomas Muller has now turned his banter gun to everyone else in the Bundesliga with a statement that isn’t all that surprising, but still hits where it hurts. By saying that Bayern Munich’s training sessions are more difficult than their matches against Bundesliga opposition.
From Sportal:
“We have a very high level in training,” the Germany international told the DPA news agency.
“The defending team are part of Bayern and it is often more difficult to win against our training team than perhaps against a team in the Bundesliga.
“[This is] precisely because the tactical level is identical because, of course, everyone has the same understanding.”
At the top of the table with an 11-point cushion during the winter break, Bayern are once again making easy work of the Bundesliga. If this continues much longer, the German football association might have to create a new top tier where Bayern just play against themselves every week in order to keep things interesting.
Dante asked Thomas Muller to stop making jokes about Germany 7-1 Brazil
We all know people who like to take a joke too far and run into the ground and for Brazilian defender Dante, Bayern Munich teammate Thomas Muller is that person. In the wake of Germany’s 7-1 win against Brazil at last summer’s World Cup — the loss that devastated the host nation and plunged it into a chasm of unending despair and sadness — Muller apparently decided it would be super funny to repeatedly stab Dante in his open wound.
In an interview with Globo, Dante said, “After [Germany] were champions and we came back, Thomas Muller, who always likes to play here and there, made some jokes. Then I came to him and said, ‘We can joke, but for me that’s not cool, it’s not time yet.'”
Dante added that Muller then apologized to him and the jokes about that game ended right there. Or Muller and the rest of the German players just started saving their jokes about it for after he leaves the room.
And now that Dante has made this known, opposing fans in Germany will probably make whatever Muller said to him seem comparatively compassionate.
Borussia Dortmund toaster ruins Christmas by making Bayern Munich toast
This has been a miserable season for Borussia Dortmund and their fans. So when one supporter got the official BVB musical toaster for Christmas, at least they would be able to smother their sorrows in club-branded carbs. But, in perhaps the most accurate reflection of a real life ever encapsulate in toaster form, even that couldn’t go Dortmund’s way.
Marco Reus was driving around with a fake Dutch license
Bild first reported that in March of this year, Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marco Reus was stopped by police while driving his Aston Martin home from training and was found to doing so without a valid license. For three seven years.