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Bayern Munich left bitter after Dortmund fans’ beer shower

Associated PressNov 12, 2018, 6:08 PM EST
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The beer showers usually mark the end of the season for Bayern Munich as players and coaching staff celebrate their latest Bundesliga title by dousing each other in beer.

Club president Uli Hoeness and chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge can’t have expected a beer shower after just 11 rounds of the league, but both were drenched by celebrating Borussia Dortmund fans after Paco Alcacer scored the winner in a 3-2 win over Bayern on Saturday.

[ MORE: PL Club Power Rankings ]

Bayern fell seven points behind Dortmund, which remains the only unbeaten team in the Bundesliga.

It had been an engrossing game, with Robert Lewandowski twice giving Bayern the lead against his former team only for Marco Reus to twice drag Dortmund level. After Alcacer put Dortmund ahead, Lewandowski thought he snatched a draw in injury time with his third, but home fans’ dismay turned to joy again when the linesman raised his flag for offside.

On Sunday, Hoeness promised changes to the squad to revitalize the side for next season, through he ruled out any January transfers to bolster the team during the season.

The Bayern president defended the current squad and said suggestions that it was too old were nonsense. He pointed to the injured Corentin Tolisso, 24, and Kingsley Coman, 22, as “the two most important young players that we signed in the past years.”

Hoeness highlighted what was arguably Bayern’s best performance of the season in Dortmund.

[ USMNT: Nagbe, Steffen out ]

“Anyone who saw our team in the first hour could see that we can play outstanding football,” Hoeness told Sky TV.

“The Bundesliga is fun again. One thing we can promise you – we will keep the title fight exciting to the last weekend.”

FRANKFURT’S NEW STAR

Luka Jovic continues to shine for Eintracht Frankfurt. The Serbian striker, 20, scored twice and set up the other goal as Frankfurt went fourth with a 3-0 win over Schalke on Sunday.

With nine goals so far, Jovic is the league’s top scorer, although five of those goals came in one game against Fortuna Duesseldorf. He scored eight goals last season after he joined on loan from Benfica.

“His development is absolutely sensational,” Frankfurt chairman Fredi Bobic said. “He had fallen off at Benfica, was in the second team and it felt like the third. But we remembered his youth in Belgrade, where he was outstanding.”

Frankfurt has the option of making Jovic’s loan deal from Benfica permanent for a fee of 10 million to 12 million euros ($11.5 million to $13.8 million) and Bobic expects the forward to get even better.

“If he understands that he sometimes needs to go another couple of meters, then he’s going toward world-class,” Bobic said.

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More AP Bundesliga coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/Bundesliga and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

Bundesliga: Hoffenheim wins late, Gladbach closes in on top

Associated Press
By Kyle BonnNov 10, 2018, 1:07 PM EST
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Borussia Monchengladbach jumped above Bayern Munich to move second in the German top flight with a 3-1 road victory over Werder Bremen thanks to a hat-trick from Alassane Plea in Saturday Bundesliga action.

Plea struck from all kinds of situations as he ended a personal three-match scoreless streak in a big way. He struck first in the 39th minute after good work against a double-team on the right side of the box, shooting a low curler with his left foot that tucked inside the far post.

The French international’s second came just after halftime as he charged towards a low corner delivery and cut the ball with his right foot through traffic and into the back of the net. He capped it off four minutes later by finishing off a great cutback from Oscar Wendt.

Elsewhere, Hoffenheim got a late winner for the home fans to savor as they beat Augsburg 2-1. 18-year-old English youngster Reiss Nelson was the man to cap the three points, catching the rebound off a saved turn-and-shoot from Adam Szalai and putting it into the empty net. The goal came just seven minutes from full-time after Andrej Kramaric and Alfred Finnbogason cancelled each other out just four minutes apart after halftime.

Fortuna Dusseldorf picked up a huge win, keeping pace with Stuttgart on the bottom with a 4-1 toppling of 10-man Hertha Berlin. Max Mittelstadt was sent off four minutes before the break for his second yellow card, and that left the visitors vulnerable. Dusseldorf scored all four goals after halftime, with substitute Benito Raman coming off the bench to finish with a brace.

Mainz scored a pair of goals inside the opening 20 minutes as they win 3-1 at Freiburg to jump their opponents and move into the top half of the table. Finally, Timo Baumgartl got the all-important opener as Stuttgart beat Nurnburg 2-0, although the win wasn’t enough to pull them off the bottom of the table thanks to Dusseldorf also picking up a victory.

Europa League wrap: Rangers lose thriller, 7 sides advance

Photo by Epsilon/Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaNov 8, 2018, 5:47 PM EST
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Seven teams clinched spots in the knockout rounds as the fourth match day of the Europa League group stage played out around Europe.

[ MORE: Welbeck injured | Full standings ]

Premier League sides Arsenal and Chelsea are joined by Eintracht Frankfurt, Lazio, Dinamo Zagreb, Bayer Leverkusen, and FC Zurich as clubs to reach the next stage with two matches remaining in this one.

Spartak Moscow 4-3 Rangers

There was no quit from Steven Gerrard‘s Rangers against their desperate hosts, but despite leading 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2, the Glaswegian side allowed goals in the 58th and 59th minutes to sink from the top of Group G to third.

Rangers are a point behind Villarreal, who they host on Nov. 29, and one above last place Rapid Vienna. Spartak has five points and the tiebreaker on the Scottish side with two matches to play.

Celtic 2-1 RB Leipzig

Now this is a statement moment for the Scotland’s Premiership, as Brendan Rodgers‘ men overcame a late equalizer within a minute to earn a big three points against the Bundesliga visitors.

Kieran Tierney scored in the 11th minute, but Jean-Kevin Augustin quelled the excitement at Celtic Park in the 78th minute. Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard scored in the 78th to keep hopes of the knockout rounds alive.

Celtic next visits 0-4 Rosenborg before finishing at home to 4-0 Red Bull Salzburg, who may have nothing at stake.

Full results
Fenerbahce 2-0 Anderlecht
Astana 2-1 Jablonec
Lazio 2-1 Marseille
Malmo 1-1 Sarpsborg 08
Genk 1-1 Besiktas
Dynamo Kiev 3-1 Stade Rennes
Rapid Vienna 0-0 Villarreal
BATE Borisov 0-1 Chelsea — RECAP
MOL Vidi 1-0 PAOK
Apollon Limassol 2-3 Eintracht Frankfurt
Krasnodar 2-1 Standard Liege
Akhisar Belediyespor 2-3 Sevilla
Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 FC Zurich
Real Betis 1-1 AC Milan
Slavia Prague 0-0 Copenhagen
Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 Spartak Trnava
Rosenborg 2-5 Red Bull Salzburg
Vorskla Poltava 0-1 Qarabag
Arsenal 0-0 Sporting Lisbon — RECAP
Olympiacos 5-1 F91 Dudelange
Bordeaux 1-1 Zenit St. Petersburg
Ludogorets 0-0 AEK Larnaca

Cherundolo to assist USMNT on next international break

Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images
By Nicholas MendolaNov 4, 2018, 2:53 PM EST
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One of the United States men’s national team’s most successful players is getting the chance to coach his alma mater.

According to The Washington Post’s Steven Goff, former Stuttgart assistant and longtime USMNT defender Steve Cherundolo will be on staff for the Yanks during the upcoming international break.

[ RECAP: Man City 6-1 Saints ]

Interim coach Dave Sarachan is making the most of the drawn out search to name a full-time coach by integrating both new players and coaches into the fold.

The U.S. plays England on Nov. 15 and Italy four days later. Goff reports that the USMNT will release its roster on Monday.

Cherundolo, 39, earned 89 caps with the USMNT during a 15-year career with Hannover 96 which saw the American named captain of the Bundesliga club.

He made three World Cup rosters and was nicknamed the “Mayor of Hannover” by fans of the German club.

Stuttgart was promoted last season, and Cherundolo joined the staff in January to help them survive a relegation battle. They did, but the club flipped its staff early this season and sits bottom of the table.

Would a new European Super League be welcomed?

By Joe Prince-WrightNov 3, 2018, 9:54 AM EST
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Following the reports from German publication Der Spiegel, citing documents released by Football Leaks, it appears several leading clubs across Europe have been seriously discussing setting up a breakaway “Super League” for 2021.

In the documents released there are several details about 16 clubs who have been talking about the idea secretly, and according to one of the more recent documents there is a growing sense for this to happen with clubs being asked to sign a document.

Premier League teams Manchester City, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea have all been named by UK media as being part of any potential Super League set up.

“Today, in November 2018, the Super League idea appears to have fresh impetus: According to the draft of a confidential term sheet that Real Madrid received just a few days ago from a consulting firm, 16 top clubs are to sign a document to establish such a league. According to the document, the league would begin operating in the 2021 season. One of the 16 clubs named in the document is FC Bayern Munich.”

Further details on the Super League from the documents have also been released.

  • The 17 teams with the strongest TV presences from England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France would compete permanently in a European league.
  • The Bundesliga clubs participating in the league would include Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04.
  • The 18th participant would be a team from Portugal, Russia, the Netherlands or Turkey.
  • The league would run for 34 weeks, with matches on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. There would be a knockout round at the end of the season.

In the video above our analysts discuss these revelations and whether or not a continental league would be welcomed by fans across all of the major soccer nations in Europe.