⬤ Germany kick off the Women's World Cup qualifiers with these games: Bulgaria (18 Sep 2021) Serbia (21 Sep) Israel (21 & 26 Oct) ⬤ In club football's biggest matches last season, Bayern Munich got a victory and a draw vs Wolfsburg, and Bayern became the women's Bundesliga champions of 2021, their first title for five years. Their only league loss was 3-2 to Hoffenheim, who won 3rd place and a European qualification. Also, Wolfsburg knocked Bayern out of the DFB-Pokal, and then won the cup final against Frankfurt in extra time - Ewa Pajor's 118th-minute strike gave Die Wölfinnen their 7th cup in 7 years, really an amazing record. ⬤ And on the transfer scene, there's already been a lot of activity in the summer: Sofia Jakobsson, new at Bayern (img Anders Henrikson, cc-by)
A reason why I love German: other languages tend not to make sentences like "Das Problempotenzial ist noch riesig." (The problem-potential is still gigantic.) ...A shock start in their second qualifying match, and Germany were down 0-1 to the confident Serbians at the half-time break. Afterwards, some Lea Schüller brilliance turned it around, in Chemnitz: Germany 5 - 1 Serbia (1st half video) / (2nd half) They'd had fewer problems in the first match (7-0 vs Bulgaria), without the first-choice XI in these games, but still a bit lacklustre. "After [Bulgaria], a certain dissatisfaction had spread, in view of the initial bumpiness, nervousness and lack of precision of the clear favourites. 'All in all, we have to be a little cleverer', Voss-Tecklenburg demanded, but on Tuesday saw early on how her players were, again, struggling" - (Anna Dreher, Süddeutsche Zeitung) ● In the league, Wolfsburg surprisingly drop the points in match round 4, a great result for Freiburg in 9th place: Freiburg 2 - 2 Wolfsburg (Büchele 30', Kayikci 50' / Waßmuth 3', Janssen 54') youtube.com/watch?v=aNyzvJHfmo0 Also, two undefeated sides went head-to-head: Hoffenheim 2 - 1 Frankfurt (Jana Feldkamp 34', Nicole Billa 55' / Camilla Küver 26') youtube.com/watch?v=BaNTTUJpI5s This weekend is the season's first matchup of two current Champions League clubs and 1st v 3rd in the table, Bayern-Hoffenheim on Saturday.
An almighty struggle for goals in Israel, a missed penalty by Sara Däbritz, and arguably Germany's worst scoreline for three years: (Full match / Match report, ARD) Six team changes by Germany in the return game vs opponents Israel, ranked No.71 in the world - that match ended 7-0 (Jule Brand 2) in Essen. The biggest game in the group is coming up, Portugal-Germany on 30 Nov. ● Euro 2022 is now set, and (in that thread) major misgivings over Germany's chances! But I understand that the close followers are often the harshest critics. Actually, I've crunched the numbers in my Euros Machine, and it says their chances are 1.50%, so in a way, you're both right. How far do you think they will go? They've just had some horrible luck in the draw: Spain, Denmark & Finland in Group B, and only the top 2 reach the quarter-finals. Before their 2-1 quarter-final loss to Denmark in 2017, Germany were champions until fairly recently. I'd find it hard to believe if they did worse than 2017; I think they will equal it. This squad has the potential to surpass expectations, even if its form isn't good. In any case, I can't wait for the Euros - not just because it's a great tournament, but also on this issue, something has to give, and it'll be fascinating to see. ● Bundesliga drama: Bayern played like champions when they beat Hoffenheim 3-1, but then a surprise loss puts them into a three-way points tie: Frankfurt 3 - 2 Bayern Munich (Shekiera Martinez 68', Laura Freigang 88', Sjoeke Nüsken 90' / Maximiliane Rall 80', 83') youtube.com/watch?v=muRhHaa-5kU Four goals in the last 11 minutes, and Frankfurt joins Bayern on 15 points (W5, L1) at the top - alongside Bayer Leverkusen, who won 2-1 in Freiburg, as Milena Nikolić got her 3rd goal of the season. Wolfsburg had a bad day at Hoffenheim and blew their chance to take 1st place outright. Wolfsburg sits in 4th place, 13pts, prior to today's Friday night game (5 Nov) at home to Frankfurt.
In five minutes starts the Bundesliga top game between Bayern and Wolfsburg 🔥 #FCBWOB START-XI!!! 🔥Holt euch den Heimsieg, Mädels! 🔴⚪️ #MiaSanMia #FCBayern #DieLiga pic.twitter.com/ugMK9BWvmK— FC Bayern Frauen (@FCBfrauen) November 13, 2021 Die 🐺-Startelf!📺➡ @NDRsport, BR und Magenta Sport#FCBWOB #VfLWolfsburg pic.twitter.com/zDolRfeR0T— VfL Wolfsburg Frauen (@VfL_Frauen) November 13, 2021
⬤ More World Cup qualifiers this week, one already played: an 8-goal win vs Turkey. Today, Germany are in southern Portugal for the likely biggest match in the group. Hat-trick scorer Lea Schüller says, "We mustn’t underestimate Portugal", though earlier, Portugal did underestimate Turkey and drew 1-1 away. Who's overrating who? Today's game is on ZDF.de, which usually geoblocks them (whereas bitter rival the ARD usually streams them abroad. It's confusing). ⬤ Amazing season in the Bundesliga, it's heading for a very competitive title race. The top 5 clubs are 3 points apart now. Wolfsburg had a great few weeks and went into the familiar 1st place - Kathrin Hendrich's header beat Bayern, her old club, 1-0. That game followed on from this crazy comeback of 3 Dutch goals, when Frankfurt thought they had won it but left with nothing: Wolfsburg 3 - 2 Frankfurt Janssen 34', 90+4', Roord 66' / Prašnikar 4', Freigang 20' www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE8-JKRBf_4 Hoffenheim showed their strength with a 7-1 over Leverkusen, but it was a different story in the 9th match. Potsdam isn't beating the top teams, but is still there with them: Turbine Potsdam 3 - 3 Hoffenheim Cerci 8', 70', Kössler 14' / Steinert 46', De Caigny 84', Bühler 90' www.youtube.com/watch?v=l648dNdQmPE And Frankfurt got an important win 1-0 at Leverkusen, another goal for Slovenia's Lara Prašnikar. Top six in the standings, after nine games: Wolfsburg 22pts, Bayern 21, Frankfurt 21, Hoffenheim 20, Potsdam 19, Leverkusen 15; and adrift at the bottom, 11th/12th, are Jena and Sand.
I am a little bit worried about my Bayern players and fellow Icelanders, Glódis Perla Viggósdóttir and Karólína Lea Vilhjálmsdóttir. Viggósdóttir seems to have lost her place in the starting 11 and Vilhjálmsdóttir has been in and out of the team roster (only played one game this season, and many are wondering here in Iceland if it was a good idea by the 20 year old to move to Bayern). I really can't fathom the idea of Viggósdóttir not being a regular starter, the most solid player I have known to wear the Icelandic jersey, and Vilhjálmsdóttir is one of Iceland's biggest prospects. If Bayern can not use her this season, then I really hope they will put her on loan so she can develop her game even further. What can you guys tell me about the Bayern coach?
Perhaps Bayern has too many stars on the team so she may have been benched. Its like Lyon. Some players complain about lack of minutes even if they are good. So they left the team.
Hey Pall, Bayern coach Scheuer likes to rotate his squad all the time. Glodis is still as close to a starting player as one can get in such circumstances. You can look at Soccerdonna and sort by the last column to see how much playing time each player got so far this season. Kumagai and Dallmann are pretty much the two exceptions to the rule, Glodis is still the 2nd most played defensive player after Kumagai. Karolina's lack of playing time is indeed a little worrying. Though she is new, relatively inexperienced and the youngest in the whole squad, the squad is quite big and well balanced overall. In general players with less playing time are bound to play more in the second half of the season when the more overplayed players are being rested more. So while I would love to see her more often, I wouldn't worry too much just yet.
⬤ Germany won in Portugal, 3-1, so the crisis and panic is at an end... for now. In February, it'll be mini-championship time for them in England, alongside Spain and Canada, in the Arnold Clark golf tournament. ⬤ The Bundesliga continues to produce - another big set of results in the last games (and a non-result) kept up the intrigue through the Christmas/New Year break. Round 11 seemed custom-made to attract lapsed NWSL fans: Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1 : 1 VfL Wolfsburg SC Sand 1 : 1 TSG Hoffenheim Turbine Potsdam 1 : 1 Bayern München Letting the side down: Freiburg 2 : 2 Köln Jena 0 : 4 Essen Werder Bremen 1 : 0 Eintracht Frankfurt Shock of the day, 10th-placed Bremen downed a top team, with Michelle Ulbrich's penalty. But equally significantly, the relegation certainties SC Sand (in blue) took the lead, and held the European qualifiers to a scrambling draw, for Sand's second point of the season. Sand 1 - 1 Hoffenheim Emily Evels 21' / Judith Steinert 64' www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCd0ZaiyEfo No upset scores in round 12, but Covid reared its ugly head. An hour before kickoff, the biggest game of the weekend was postponed by a month to this Saturday afternoon, 29 Jan. So, to open 2022, what better way than 5th v 3rd? Well, Potsdam and Wolfsburg both have a game in hand - the visiting Wölfinnen can go into 1st place by 1 point from Bayern, if they win today. Due to injury Alexandra Popp's comeback is off for a further month. Potsdam are adept at drawing with the top 4 recently and thrashed teams for fun in the break, but they'll need their first big league win today, if they want to stay with the title-chasing pack.
While we were laughing about granular material, Wolfsburg and Potsdam proved what a difference 4 months doesn't make: their last meeting had opened the season with a 3-0 win for Wolfsburg, and last Saturday, Highlights: Turbine Potsdam 0 - 3 VfL Wolfsburg - (DFB) Lena Lattwein 3', Tabea Waßmuth 22', 82' - Match report: NDR "Only the injury-related replacement of Lena Oberdorf, who was dazed after a collision, clouded the joy a little. Substitute Sveindis Jane Jonsdottir, who had just switched to VfL, should have made it 4-0 in added time, but shot wide", wrote Florian Neuhauss. About Oberdorf, a Real Madrid apologist sub-tabloid blubbered: "From Italy they assure that Lena Oberdorf is already a white player", so, that's confusing. Top six after twelve rounds, ten games to go: Wolfsburg 29pts, Bayern 28, Hoffenheim 27, Frankfurt 25, Potsdam 21, Leverkusen 19 But yesterday, 4 Feb, Hoffenheim missed a chance to take 1st place for a day and dropped two more points: Ireland's Amber Barrett outpaced everyone to score a late leveller for Cologne, who could even have won from there. Sitting in 7th, they're finally set to survive in the top division this year, at their 4th attempt: Hoffenheim 1 - 1 Cologne Nicole Billa 10' / Amber Barrett 85' www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qrgzmkev_U
From Italy, I've no idea what they're talking about and anyway why from here we should know more than them.
Sounds like something a Lazio fan might've told them. Anyway, I feel dirty for linking to such a bad blog, let's move on. Round 13! The weekend shifted the needle, and finally put some daylight between teams at the top. Frankfurt (4th) saw a winnable home match drain away in the rain, and Freiburg rise to 7th with a winning goal by Erëleta Memeti - debutant Sara Doorsoun was sent off for Frankfurt too, in her first game after transferring from Wolfsburg. Frankfurt 1 - 2 Freiburg Freigang 45' / Kayıkçı 36, Memeti 71' www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdfW45s8dA Other than that, Wolfsburg averted a slip-up, came from behind and beat Bremen 3-1, Bayern beat Sand 4-0, and the usual top 2 have a few points' advantage for the first time. Leverkusen (6th) drew and fell further behind, but Potsdam (5th) won 6-0 at Jena to keep Turbine in the Champions League chase. - "Women's Football Talking Points: Hoffenheim and Frankfurt lose ground" - (Alina Schwermer, DW.com)
Shocking stuff about the DFB, "seen by many as a federation whose values fit the 70s rather than the present day", in this report. The league broadcasting deal will also change, but not until 2023. - "DFB sets new goals for Frauen-Bundesliga and German national team" - (Helene Sophie Altgelt, Her Football Hub) Some said the whole federation including kitchen staff should be sacked - (spiegel.de) There's been pressure on the DFB from clubs unhappy at the slow growth - the women's league may eventually leave to join the DFL, like the men's Bundesliga. Longtime head of Bayern women, Karin Danner, called for an all-professional league as a priority. ANYWAY, football! Sand 2 - 1 Leverkusen Sand 1 - 2 Wolfsburg ...Apart from the massive story of Sand trying to escape the relegation quicksand mud, there is also the small matter of the title: Hoffenheim 2 - 4 Bayern De Caigny 14', Hagel 63' / Dallmann 18', Feldkamp 28', Rall 68', Damnjanović 90+3' www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLPZ2_tYe5k After sixteen rounds, the top six were: Wolfsburg 41pts, Bayern 40, Frankfurt 34, Potsdam 33, Hoffenheim 31, Leverkusen 21 Champions League distractions lie ahead, but Bayern went back to the top with Friday's comeback win. It's up to Wolfsburg to match that today in round 17 - their game is live on NDR and hopefully streaming too, at the links below. Bayern 4 - 2 Frankfurt Rall 5', Schüller 51', Asseyi 79', Damnjanović 90+4' / Freigang 27', Anyomi 42' www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR8R7VWs9Hc VfL Wolfsburg - TSG Hoffenheim live (Saturday 13:00 GMT, 14:00 CET) - NDR Sport live / on demand
In the week's European adventures, German clubs showed they can do more than cope - Wolfsburg outclassed the English title-chasers, and Bayern surely would've joined them in the semis, had Covid not disrupted their squad. The Bundesliga looks pretty darn good, I think, even versus the marketing behemoths of PSG and the WSL. Though there is a rumour SC Sand could face hefty European Union sanctions. Well, there is now. Anyway, 'VfL Wolfsburg and FC Bayern: No respite in the top game' - (S Schaap, cc) "At club level, there isn't a title that Almuth Schult hasn't won. ... It is not without a certain piquancy that an opinion leader in German women's football can still win all three titles in her farewell season with the Lower Saxons. 'Three games decide the complete outcome of the season, whether we played a good season or not,' the 31-year-old said during the week." - (ARD) ▶ Sunday's game is simply called "a final" by Bayern's Jens Scheuer. Can his depleted team possibly repeat Paris, and get another win in 90 minutes? The match (12:00 GMT, 14:00 CET) will be streamed by BR Sport and by NDR live/on demand.
it seems that the 120 min PSG-Bayern match has been fatal for both team. After the WOB- BAYERN 6-0 today , WOB leads by 4 points Affter the PFC - PSG 0-0 today, OL leads by 5 points WOB and OL likely champion of their respective championship
Yikes! Even with tiredness, Wolfsburg aren't that much better... So, Bayern has no "depth", or...? How many players were they missing? Wolfsburg 6 - 0 Bayern - (Huth 8', Wedemeyer 33', Waßmuth 39', Popp 77', Oberdorf 82', Pajor 90') 3 matches to go - Potsdam are 3rd, ahead by 3 points, but missing the top-scorer Selina Cerci with an ACL injury, and the club has the most difficult schedule from now. Next round it's Hoffenheim v Potsdam, both seeking that European place. Turbine Potsdam 2 - 0 Cologne - (Mesjasz 27', Weidauer 39')