Towards the triple?

Bayern Munich was powerful when they defeated Werder Bremen 4-0 today to take the German Cup title. They are now all-powerful in Germany, and in one week can crown themselves champions of Europe if they take the CL title against Inter. It will be hard without Frank Ribery though, and against a team that is also looking to win the triple.

A team that could have been there as well, is Chelsea. Today they won the "double" of England by winning the FA Cup on a 1-0 victory against Portsmouth, after winning the Premier League title last week. But that is all they will get this year (as if it weren't enough...).

Wolfburg champions

This weekend Wolfburg won their first ever Bundesliga title after an impressive 5-1 victory against the UEFA Cup finalists from Werder Bremen. Under Felix Magath, the team has grown, and it is a pity that he will be leaving for Schalke 04 for the next season. It will be interesting to see how Wolfburg will do without Mr. Magath, but also how they will do in next seasons' Champions League, where German teams have not done well lately.
In any case, until then, congratulations to all Wolfburg fans!

The bundesliga

I follow the German Bundesliga superficially; I always have. This season the Bundesliga is more exciting than ever; differenly from all other European leagues, that seem pretty set or just a petty fight between two, or max three, teams, the German league is a contest where many teams have a shot at the title with only three matches left!
This season's sensation, Vfl Wolfburg is still top of the league with 60 points, and may still win their first title ever under Felix Magath. However, the defending champions, the southern German giants of Bayern Munich, in spite of a poor season (where coach Jurgen Klinsmann was recently fired), are second, with 60 points as well, and looking to put pressure on Wolfburg. And putting pressure on these two teams, are Hertha Berlin and VfB Stuttgart, on third and fourth place, with 59 and 58 points respectively, and thus with a good chance of taking the title as well. For Hertha Berlin, the major team from the capital, it would be great to take the German title they have never taken since the 1930s. VfB Stuttgart won the title in 2007, and is eager to win it again.
Finally, Borussia Dortmund and Hamburger SV have 55 point each, and also a chance of taking the title (although I must add, that as I write this, HSV has one match less, and thus, potentially 58 points. HSV is playing against Werder Bremen, and will surely want revenge after being denied the UEFA cup final spot last weekend when losing 2-3 at home!).
There are some exciting matches in the last three rounds: Wolfsburg-Dortmund and Bayern Munich-VfB Stuttgart. The two top teams are the ones with two home matches, while Hertha Berlin and VfB Stuttgart has two away matches, while Hamburger SV also has two (on paper easy) matches at home, and one away.

In any case, the Bundesliga is currently the most exciting league in Europe, and is probably only going to be decided in the last round, and be sure that all the teams will do their utmost to get the title!

Hamburg SV-Manchester City

The UEFA Cup is often an underestimated tournament, standing at the shadow of the Champions League. Nevertheless, this is a bit unfair, as the quality is often as good as in the CL, and one gets to see some other excellent European teams which are more rare in the CL, that too often seems dominated by the same ten teams or so.
So last night I was in O'Leary's in Copenhagen with some friends to drink beer and watch the exciting quarterfinal in the UEFA Cup between Mancherster City and Hamburg SV, and it proved no disappointment: Manchester City scored after some 30 seconds, but then Hamburg played a splendid match to carry a well-deserved 3-1 victory home!
In another quarterfinal Werder Bremen defeated Udinese 3-1, and we may thus be looking at an all-German semifinal (and so, German football is not only symbolized by Bayern Munich's disaster in the CL) on the one hand, and an all-Ukrainian semifinal on the other, as both Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev managed to get good results against Olympique Marseille and Paris St. Germain respectively.

December 7th

I missed the pathetic loss of Valencia at home to Werder Bremen. Why? Because I was following the democratic process in Ghana, by being an observer at the presidential and Parliamentary elections. As the game was starting, I was sitting in a small school in the Volta region. It was dark, hot, full of mosquitos, I was tired, and sitting listening to a guy counting votes for 3 hours.
I could not stop thinking of the game! Today, I see Valencia was pathetic, the team lost without grace, Angulo was shown a red card, and Mr. Ranieri even stated that he understood the attack against referee Anders Frisk in Rome.
This must be time for Mr. Ranieri to be fired. He is destroying a team with proud traditions of team spirit, pride and good football. He was incompetent in Chelsea, and I am tired of him also bringing his negative football to Valencia.

What a lousy day for my 30th birthday.