European Leagues

[dandannieldanok]

Benfica v sporting tonight

might give that a watch

I watched it, wasn't a great spectacle but Benfica definitely deserved the win after ramping up the pressure in the second half. Aimar's finish was tidy. Sporting have had a very poor season.

[Darkzzz_]

Barcelona are playing some superb football against Depor.

Great strike Pedro and great to see big Yaya on the score sheet.

[MC Prussian]

Kaiserslautern, 97/98 Bundesliga champions, are back in the highest German football league after a 2-2 draw at Koblenz.

Following them is... St. Pauli, who won 4-1 away at Greuther Fuerth.

FC Augsburg, who'll play the third from bottom from the Bundesliga over two legs for the final spot, would need to win their last match this season by a +15 margin or sommat if they wanted to overtake St. Pauli in the final standings.

Good stuff, really. Two classy clubs back to where they belong.

And I do hope they mix up the Bundesliga by giving Gayern some troubles in 2010/2011.

[Fosse Boy]

:banana:

Floating Fox, ARAB and JME are lucky bastards for being at the Pauli game today. I'm unbelievably jealous of them at the moment.

[CosbehFox]

And I do hope they mix up the Bundesliga by giving Gayern some troubles in 2010/2011.

Recent quote from St.Pauli chairmen....'St Pauli might change Bundesliga but Bundesliga won't change us!'

I salute you sir!

[StanSP]

Just read BBC's blog on St Pauli's magnificent achievement - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philminshull/2010/05/st_pauli_ready_to_hoist_the_jo.html

Congratulations

Reminds me of Hoffenheim creeping their way up into the top flight and being very successful there!

[purpleronnie]

Recent quote from St.Pauli chairmen....'St Pauli might change Bundesliga but Bundesliga won't change us!'

I salute you sir!

I hear it has, ticket prices have apparantly increased a lot.

[lcfc_jme]

Kaiserslautern, 97/98 Bundesliga champions, are back in the highest German football league after a 2-2 draw at Koblenz.

Following them is... St. Pauli, who won 4-1 away at Greuther Fuerth.

FC Augsburg, who'll play the third from bottom from the Bundesliga over two legs for the final spot, would need to win their last match this season by a +15 margin or sommat if they wanted to overtake St. Pauli in the final standings.

Good stuff, really. Two classy clubs back to where they belong.

And I do hope they mix up the Bundesliga by giving Gayern some troubles in 2010/2011.

St Pauli were abysmal in the first half, really never got going and went in at the break 1-0 down. Also saw an early injury to their 'keeper, looked REALLY bad; lay out cold for a minute or two, got up and was bleeding from the mouth, before collapsing in a heap after he tried to move. Did this twice more and didn't move at all the 3rd time. Second half, they were unbelievable. Scored 4, had 1 disallowed and just generally looked dangerous every time they went forward.

Scenes in the stands were pretty awesome as well, reckon they'd only have been improved by having a roof on the away end. Saying that, Pauli had the entire end behind one goal, and half of each side stand as well. Quality stuff.

:banana:

Floating Fox, ARAB and JME are lucky bastards for being at the Pauli game today. I'm unbelievably jealous of them at the moment.

Unbelievable mate, really was. Like I said, first half was pretty flat but the 2nd half was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life. Mass standing (in both the seated area and obviously the terrace), party atmosphere, beer soaking and a fcking mental pitch invasion at the end. Which was not policed in the Nazi-like way it is over here and passed without any trouble at all. Vids will be going up on Facebook later!

I hear it has, ticket prices have apparantly increased a lot.

Ticket was hardly expensive when I went this weekend, and judging by the numbers Pauli took, it hasn't really put anyone off or done any drastic damage. £14 for an adult ticket at an away game in the 2nd tier of your country's league is an extremely fair price, based on what gets charged here.

----------------------------------------------

On top of the Pauli game, we went to watch Wacker Innsbruck, who managed to win 2-1 despite being down to 10 men. Beautiful scenery on the train from Munich to Austria through the mountains, unbelievably picturesque ground / surrounding area. Also became part of their ultras group for the game - must've looked like locals! Needless to say being part of their smoke bomb / flares / flags displays in the game was amazing, and I reckon I can safely say for everybody it was an awesome experience.

Saw Bayern play Bochum at the Allianz on Saturday afternoon as well, sensational atmosphere from the Bayern fans, they were loving it. Their family stand was louder than any home end in the country - definitely. The gulf in class was easily visible, Ribery had a stormer as did Muller, and the Bayern defence was rarely troubled due to their midfield smothering everything and anything before it developed. When news filtered through of Bremen's goals, the noise was sensational - even from the Bochum fans.

Couldn't help noticing as well at the end of the games, the interaction between the players and the fans far, far surpassed anything that would ever be likely to happen here, Players starting songs and dancing with the fans is fantastic to see, better than the applause and mooching off we see here. Pretty sure it brings fans closer to their team and makes them feel that little bit more appreciated. Fans were quality off the pitch as well, particularly at Bayern where they even apologised for winning the game as it sent Bochum into the relegation zone! They offered support and said they'd be cheering on Bochum next weekend 'cos they didn't want them to go down - none of the goading and piss-taking of little mongoloids like at Stoke when we went down. Different culture, different world, brilliant.

[CosbehFox]

Just read BBC's blog on St Pauli's magnificent achievement - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philminshull/2010/05/st_pauli_ready_to_hoist_the_jo.html

Congratulations

Reminds me of Hoffenheim creeping their way up into the top flight and being very successful there!

It's not. Hoffenheim's rise was funded by a benefactor. They have moved out of their village and play 25 minutes down the road. (There's another team on their way too! RED BULL LEIPZIG!)

St Pauli is a club which have been there for years, working it's socks off.

PR, maybe the increase is to fund the ground capacity increase?

[Fosse Boy]

It's not. Hoffenheim's rise was funded by a benefactor. They have moved out of their village and play 25 minutes down the road. (There's another team on their way too! RED BULL LEIPZIG!)

St Pauli is a club which have been there for years, working it's socks off.

PR, maybe the increase is to fund the ground capacity increase?

Yeah was gonna say, the stories behind Pauli and Hoffenheim are almost polar opposites.

[Shrenchel]

I know all the krauts think they're wankers but Hoffenheim hardly bought their success like clubs in this country have done. They never really waxed tens of millions of euros on transfers. Most the coin was spent on training facilities, the ground and the youth academy. Was far more about investing in a good young team and making sure the success is sustainable in the future. I think if it had happened in this country then most people would think it was pretty endearing.

[CosbehFox]

I know all the krauts think they're wankers but Hoffenheim hardly bought their success like clubs in this country have done. They never really waxed tens of millions of euros on transfers. Most the coin was spent on training facilities, the ground and the youth academy. Was far more about investing in a good young team and making sure the success is sustainable in the future. I think if it had happened in this country then most people would think it was pretty endearing.

You have a fair point there Shrenchel.....their rise is more akin to Fulham than Chelsea I suppose.

[MC Prussian]

St Pauli were abysmal in the first half, really never got going and went in at the break 1-0 down. Also saw an early injury to their 'keeper, looked REALLY bad; lay out cold for a minute or two, got up and was bleeding from the mouth, before collapsing in a heap after he tried to move. Did this twice more and didn't move at all the 3rd time. Second half, they were unbelievable. Scored 4, had 1 disallowed and just generally looked dangerous every time they went forward.

Scenes in the stands were pretty awesome as well, reckon they'd only have been improved by having a roof on the away end. Saying that, Pauli had the entire end behind one goal, and half of each side stand as well. Quality stuff.

Unbelievable mate, really was. Like I said, first half was pretty flat but the 2nd half was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life. Mass standing (in both the seated area and obviously the terrace), party atmosphere, beer soaking and a fcking mental pitch invasion at the end. Which was not policed in the Nazi-like way it is over here and passed without any trouble at all. Vids will be going up on Facebook later!

Ticket was hardly expensive when I went this weekend, and judging by the numbers Pauli took, it hasn't really put anyone off or done any drastic damage. £14 for an adult ticket at an away game in the 2nd tier of your country's league is an extremely fair price, based on what gets charged here.

----------------------------------------------

On top of the Pauli game, we went to watch Wacker Innsbruck, who managed to win 2-1 despite being down to 10 men. Beautiful scenery on the train from Munich to Austria through the mountains, unbelievably picturesque ground / surrounding area. Also became part of their ultras group for the game - must've looked like locals! Needless to say being part of their smoke bomb / flares / flags displays in the game was amazing, and I reckon I can safely say for everybody it was an awesome experience.

Saw Bayern play Bochum at the Allianz on Saturday afternoon as well, sensational atmosphere from the Bayern fans, they were loving it. Their family stand was louder than any home end in the country - definitely. The gulf in class was easily visible, Ribery had a stormer as did Muller, and the Bayern defence was rarely troubled due to their midfield smothering everything and anything before it developed. When news filtered through of Bremen's goals, the noise was sensational - even from the Bochum fans.

Couldn't help noticing as well at the end of the games, the interaction between the players and the fans far, far surpassed anything that would ever be likely to happen here, Players starting songs and dancing with the fans is fantastic to see, better than the applause and mooching off we see here. Pretty sure it brings fans closer to their team and makes them feel that little bit more appreciated. Fans were quality off the pitch as well, particularly at Bayern where they even apologised for winning the game as it sent Bochum into the relegation zone! They offered support and said they'd be cheering on Bochum next weekend 'cos they didn't want them to go down - none of the goading and piss-taking of little mongoloids like at Stoke when we went down. Different culture, different world, brilliant.

Glad you lot enjoyed your Continental Trip. Hope you get to see some French, Italian or Swiss league football at one point - if you haven't done so already.

What did you make of the Austrian way of advertising every inch of a player's football kit? And what do you think of our Eastern neighbour's standard of football?

Btw, there's a long-lasting fan friendship between Gayern and Bochum. That explains the Bavarian sympathies at the end of that home game.

And you can't get season tickets for the AllianzArena - there's a four-year waiting list I heard.

[lcfc_jme]

Glad you lot enjoyed your Continental Trip. Hope you get to see some French, Italian or Swiss league football at one point - if you haven't done so already.

What did you make of the Austrian way of advertising every inch of a player's football kit? And what do you think of our Eastern neighbour's standard of football?

Btw, there's a long-lasting fan friendship between Gayern and Bochum. That explains the Bavarian sympathies at the end of that home game.

And you can't get season tickets for the AllianzArena - there's a four-year waiting list I heard.

Can't say I noticed the sponsors on the shirts too much over the singing, dancing, smoke and flags, but I'll concede that their standard of football (well, their 2nd tier, anyway) is atrocious. Seriously. I reckon we could put a decent side together on here and compete for honours in that league!

Will definitely start going to more games abroad, most will be German though I'll get involved in other countries the more time and money I get. Definitely an experience I'd recommend to anybody who enjoys what goes on off the pitch as well as on it, or wants to sample other fan-cultures.

As for the Bayern-Bochum friendship, I knew it kind of existed due to seeing plenty of Bochum-Bayern scarves in and around the ground. Down to a mutual hatred of Schalke? Still, was nice to see them being as friendly as they were, can't imagine that happening many places over here regardless of any "friendships"!

[Fosse Boy]

Getting more interested in the Swiss fan scene. Look pretty nuts over there.

[FoxyPV]

A load of the boys at football go to see Roma a couple of times a season and one time got their tickets from a tout and ended up in the Lazio end.

[CosbehFox]

Getting more interested in the Swiss fan scene. Look pretty nuts over there.

Only thing is that the franchise and 'joining together' of teams seems particularly vogue over there.

Next year, I'd like to see the Berlin derby at the Olympic Stadium or catch a few games in Holland as they are spread pretty madly across the weekend.

[MC Prussian]

Found this nice clip of an English dad (former Liverpool scout and currently a coach for Southend) & lad combo from Banfleet that cheer for St. Pauli:

(You might be able to understand them in spite of the German speaker):

You could ask yourself what they have in common with the Kiez Club, but when you hear them moaning about the prices of going to London matchdays compared to the costs of seeing St. Pauli, it makes sense.

And it speaks for what is going wrong at the highest English football level.

[LCFC-ARAB]

The weekend in Austria and Germany was probbaly the best weekend of my life

Being an Austrian FC Wacker Innsbruck ultra for the day on Friday

Watching Bayern Munich win the Bundesliga on Saturday

Then pitch invading with Sankt Pauli fans after they got promoted on Sunday

Unreal

Cannot wait till next season to go again

I have fallen in love with Germany, best country i have ever been too

[StanSP]

BBC Sport saying that McLaren has agreed to take over as manager of Wolfsburg.

[MC Prussian]

BBC Sport saying that McLaren has agreed to take over as manager of Wolfsburg.

Looking forward to listening to his semi-German post-match comments then.

First ever English manager in the Bundesliga?

EDIT: Apparently.

[dandannieldanok]

Good luck Steve. Probably a good time to move; Twente have peaked can't go any/much further (without millions more Euros pumped in), and Wolfsburg are at a pretty low ebb so virtually anything will be an improvement on this season.

[Fosse Boy]

Sol Campbell to Pauli?

[dandannieldanok]

Tony Adams to manage Azerbaijan club

[Edmund]

Only just seen Fulham lost to Athletico in the final 2-1 ET. It's been a bad night for English clubs all round.