The returning Jupp Heynckes has breathed new life into Bayern, but with their rivals spluttering, it is hard to judge by exactly how muchWhen Jupp Heynckes agreed to retake the position of head coach at Bayern Munich for the remainder of the season, it seemed impossible he could enhance his reputation. Just over three weeks later – five games, five wins, and only one goal (a penalty) conceded – and maybe he has begun to do just that, at the age of 72.All is far happier in the house of Bayern, certainly, with Saturday’s 2-0 win over Leipzig taking the champions back to the top of the table, in combination with Dortmund’s loss at Hannover, before Der Klassiker at Westfalen...
After a week of ultras-related outrage and public relations damage in Italy, the only surprise, regrettably, is that anyone should still be surprisedOf all the stadiums Lazio could visit on Wednesday, it had to be the Renato Dall’Ara. Their week had begun amidst outrage after ultras affixed anti-semitic stickers, including mocked-up images of Anne Frank in a Roma shirt, to plexiglass barriers inside their own Stadio Olimpico. Now supporters travelling to their away game against Bologna would occupy a stand dedicated to the memory of Arpad Weisz.A Jewish Hungarian, Weisz came to Italy late in his playing career and stayed on afterwards to move into coaching. He remains the youngest manager ever to win Serie A, having led Inter –...
Valencia have changed everything from their players’ diets to the players themselves, and the revolution at the club has sent them second from topValencia’s players were hungry. It was two years since they’d had a decent run of results and it felt almost as long since they’d had a decent meal.For the 13th time in five years they were under new management and this time things were actually going to change. Not just the coach but the culture, everything from the president to the players to what was put on their plate. If you are what you eat, it was time to eat something good. At Paterna, the club’s training ground, food was prepared for them, but not much of...
Peter Bosz’s side let slip a 2-0 lead at Frankfurt as injuries and suspensions hit the backline in a Bundesliga season that is opening up into a three-way fightAfter Borussia Dortmund threw away a two-goal lead at Eintracht Frankfurt and were forced to settle for a draw, the journey home proved pretty memorable, too. With the motorway closed, and the team coach and fans alike stuck in traffic, near the town of Haiger, two dozen or so supporters took it on themselves to serenade the stationary team bus with an impromptu rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone. Gänsehaut – goose bumps, Dortmund said. Following Die Schwarzgelben is rarely dull.There was the entertaining heavy metal football under Jürgen Klopp, they scored...
The prospect of the Argentinian and all that is built around him leaving Barcelona would create such a frenzy it is difficult to imagine it being possibleWe all have our favourite Victorian engineering folly. Mine is the SS Great Eastern, Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s super-ship powered by a hundred furnaces, a vessel so vast it could carry 10,000 passengers, so vast it became a symbol of grandiose, stovepipe-hatted ambition, and so vast that it turned out it couldn’t actually sail anywhere.Completed in November 1857, the Great Eastern stayed moored at Millwall on the Thames for two months, unable to move because of its own mind-boggling size. Several times a launch was attempted and then abandoned. Eventually the Great Eastern left its dock...