Sportblog | The Guardian — Bundesliga RSS

Sep 27, 2016

Sinking Hamburg wield the axe again but problems come from up on high | Raphael Honigstein

Based in a big, wealthy city, supported by millions and dripping in history, the northerners should be a force but meddling at the top is dragging them downHis team courageously, stubbornly, managed to hold off the visiting champions until a Joshua Kimmich strike in the 88th minute but for Bruno Labbadia, the game was up long before. The Hamburger SV coach knew full well that he had been cynically cast in the role of the patsy on Saturday afternoon, heaved on to the bench by the club manager Dietmar Beiersdorfer in order to fall down a final time and thus smooth the passage for the appointment of his successor, Markus Gisdol.Labbadia, a man high on genuine passion and a bit...

Sep 19, 2016

After 20 years and for one night only, Cologne reach Bundesliga summit | Raphael Honigstein

Fans in Germany’s happiest city deliriously celebrated after victory over Freiburg, but even Toni Schumacher sees that feet must remain on the groundLong before the final whistle, the crowd had broken into song, about the team, the club, the city and the immeasurable joy of a most magical relocation. As per usual, the 47,000 were gathered to worship at the cathedral to Kölsche self-love, the Rhein-Energie-Stadion, on Friday night, but the 3-0 half-time lead meant that everybody was suddenly somewhere completely different, out of their seats. In the stars.In Germany’s happiest place, the citadel of carnival, people don’t need much of an excuse to have a shindig in the streets: for them, being from and in Cologne is cause enough...

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