Just put it in the net!” – the Bundesliga Blog: 22 match of the season

“Just put it in the net!” my trainer always said to me. It’s that simple in football. “Just thump the ball into goal!” Or did your’s instead tell you: “Don’t drink too much the night before the match.”? That is probably one of the most common suggestions in football. At least in the lower-order amateur leagues in the 18-plus category. And without doubt that coach’s instruction was to be heard all over Germany last weekend, if it had not been carnival night and the federations had sensibly opted to ordain there would be no play on Sunday.

German team prior to kick-off in Moscow Photo: picture-alliance

German shouts and celebrations punctuated the night in the frigid Moscow air. A close 1-0 victory had just seen Germany beat Russia in this crucial World Cup qualifier. While the German players exchanged high-fives, Russian heads drooped and the players withdrew into the bowels of the Luzhniki stadium to rue their missed opportunities.

Swiss referee Massimo Busacca denied the Russians a clear cut penalty in the dying minutes of a hard-fought match. In the 88 minute, substitute Arne Friedrich slid into a tackle, taking Bystrov down while the ball bobbled out of play. The referee, despite being only a few meters from the incident, failed to award the spot-kick for the Russians.

Bayer Leverkusen has moved to top spot in the Bundesliga on goal difference. A convincing 4-0 win against visitors Nürnberg have seen the ‘Werkself’ edge past Hamburg who beat a desolate Hertha Berlin 1-3.

Leverkusen got off to a promising start with Toni Kroos, one of the most highly-rated talents in Germany, circling a free-kick around the wall into the top-left corner from 20 meters out with only 2 minutes played. Kroos was again in the middle of things when he was upended in the box in the 28 minute. Captain and Germany international  Simon Rolfes coolly stroked home the ensuing penalty to the joy of the Leverkusen faithful.

With a series of company bosses held hostage in their offices in France recently, it would be easy for the casual observer to come to the conclusion that the relationship between the French worker and boss had become somewhat strained.

Monsieur Ribéry, however, provides a refreshing antidote in the current calamitous economic climate. Not only is he a hard worker who happens to be excellent at his job – the little Frenchman even tries his very best to save his bosses’ jobs.

Following his two goals for France to secure two 1-0 World Cup Qualifier wins and his coach’s job, Franck Ribéry set about providing some job security for his beleaguered club coach Jürgen Klinsmann.

There was a collective gasp by Bundesliga fans watching the top match between VfL Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich. Not only had Grafite just scored an outrageously brilliant back-heeled goal that sent the broadcasters into a replay-showing, superlative-searching frenzy – it also happed to be the fifth goal in a 5-1 demolition of Bayern that put Wolfsburg top of the league.