After a rollicking 2. Bundesliga season, there was lots of heartbreak for Germany's second tier sides in the relegation/promotion playoffs. Fortuna Düsseldorf blew a big lead to fail to go up to the top flight and at the other end Wehen Wiesbaden couldn't hold off Jahn Regensburg, who'll take their place in the league next year. Listen in as Nik, Maik and Jasmine wrap up all the stories from the second tier and below! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

With just one more match day to go, a lot has become clear in the various races for promotion and relegation in Germany's lower leagues - but not everything. Nik, Jasmine and Maik take you through all the celebrations, permutations and more as the 2. Bundesliga, 3. Liga and more head into the final stanza. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

A new Bundesliga champion? Check. A German side in the UEFA Champions League final? Check. It's been a magical season for fans of German football...as long as you're not a fan of FC Bayern München. Matt, Nik and Terry recorded too early to chronicle the Rekordmeister's frustrating exit from the UCL, but did chat about their difficulties finding a new coach. They won't be the only club on that market this summer, though Union Berlin are likely to be shopping in a different part of the trainer store... --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

Just three games left in the 2. Bundesliga season and precisely nothing has been decided thus far. FC St. Pauli have the inside track on promotion, but would be glad to seal their not-yet-assured promotion with a win away to their old rivals HSV. Nik and the gang (both Jasmine and Maik this time) weigh up the promotion race, watch the coaching carousel go by, and remark on the return of Max Kruse to the football pitch at the amateur level in Berlin. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

It is just us or can you feel a fresh wind blowing through the Bundesliga? Leverkusen's title win last week was restorative on the home front; this week FC Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund helped the league show out across Europe. Matt and Nik revel in the good vibes, as well as check in on the teams battling to beat the drop...and the one that isn't battling much at all! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

Unlike the top flight, where Bayer 04 Leverkusen ran away with the title (congrats, Werkself fans!), the race at the top of the 2. Bundesliga has taken a turn for the thrilling in recent weeks. Serial league leaders FC St. Pauli have had a wobble, and Holstein Kiel (and increasingly Fortuna Düsseldorf) have been ready to take advantage. Nik and Jasmine talk through the permutations involved in the last five match days, check in on the races at the bottom of the division and the top of the 3. Liga, and much more. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

We were trying to play it cool for a while, but that no longer seems necessary. Bayer 04 Leverkusen are going to win the league, and after FC Bayern München lost in Heidenheim(!), they might well do it next week. Matt and Nik let that reality sink in over the course of the podcast, discussing how Bayer's season stacks up in history, where Bayern goes from here, and what way the three-team relegation death match at the bottom of the table is likely to go. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

The world of football, like other walks of life, harbors its share of idiots - our latest episode puts the spotlight on a few. Nik and Maik turn their attention to some childish behavior surrounding a banner, some regrettable chants in Austria that's had consequences for the players who shouted them, and how a few particularly egregious fans' behavior called off a whole weekend of football. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

Foals fans at the Borussia-Park may have feasted on a see-saw six-goal thriller, but their team's return - just one point -had to sting. Their opponents 1. FC Köln will have cherished an away draw in the Rheinderby, but time is running short on the billygoats' bid to stay out of relegation trouble. Matt and Nik put the spotlight on the two western giants on a weekend where Bayern hit Mainz with an eight ball, Leverkusen compounded Wolfsburg's misery and much more. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

There's never a dull moment in Germany's second tier. Just when you think you've sussed out who's good and who's not so good, you get a week like round 24 - one in which every team in the top eight failed to record a win. The full Aufstieg gang of Nik, Jasmine and Maik get together to try and work out what that means, how a miscreant in Rostock made it on to the pitch, and more. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

After a weekend in which FC Bayern München made up no ground in the title race, they still managed to test Bayer 04 Leverkusen's balance. Thomas Tuchel will vacate his job on Säbener Straße at the end of the season, and Xabi Alonso is the hot favorite to take over. Matt and Terry talk through how much that storyline matters with Leverkusen in a commanding position. Dortmund's weak week also comes up, along with some thoughts on the wider fan frustration with modern football (modern capitalism? modern life?) that helped fuel the recent fan protests. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

If you thought there was an end in sight to Germany's fan protests, think again - they're just getting started. Nik, Maik and the returning Jasmine weigh in on the wave of game-stopping events that swept across the 2. Bundesliga, Steffen Baumgart's arrival at HSV, the latest indignity perpetrated at 1. FC Kaiserslautern, and an attendance milestone that proves the Zweite Liga is Germany's #1 football league. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

We can say it matter-of-factly now: Bayer 04 Leverkusen are on an inside track to win the league. Their 3-0 win against FC Bayern München opened up a five point gap at the top - and since this year's Leverkusen side aren't in the business of losing games, ever, that cushion may well be enough to earn them the club's first Bundesliga title. Matt and Terry talk over the pharmaceuticals' big win as well as address the wave of protests that Germany's organized fan scene hope will bring about a re-think on the DFL's plans for outside investors. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

A wave of protests over outside investors lashed the shores of Germany's second division this past week. If you know the Aufstieg pod's Nik and Maik, you'll not be surprised to hear it captured their attention. The duo talk over FC Schalke 04's struggles, some slight turbulence for FC St. Pauli, and a wild story from SV Lohberg in deepest Bavaria... --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

The gap at the top of the Bundesliga is back to a slim two points! Results on Match Day 19 led us there, as did FC Bayern München's win over 1. FC Union Berlin - three points the Bavarians had to wait about two months to pick up. Speaking of two months, that's going to seem like the blink of an eye compared to the drawn-out saga we're going to get regarding who'll be Jürgen Klopp's successor at Liverpool, so Bayer 04 Leverkusen fans need to be ready to strap in. Matt, Nik and Terry take all this in along with Nenad Bjelica's future at Union, Jadon Sancho's return to playing like himself, Werder Bremen's resurgence and more. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

It's not often that news about a boardroom-level figure takes over the football conversation in Germany, but Hertha BSC President Kay Bernstein's untimely death hit the game hard. Nik invites TF's resident Hertha-head Matt on to talk about what legacy the ultra turned head man might leave behind. Maik, meanwhile, helps explain why a fan group in Glasgow is exposing a political rift within the FC St. Pauli community. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

The Winterpause is a thing of the past - Germany's top flight sides got back to business this past weekend, and more than a few clubs gave debuts to newcomers who came in through the open transfer window. Nik and Terry run through all the most interesting moves, as well as take a moment to remember Germany's biggest football icon, the late Franz Beckenbauer. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

The season is only half done in the 2. Liga, but it's already been a wild ride. After weeks and weeks on top, FC St. Pauli surrendered the Herbstmeisterschaft to Holstein Kiel, and multiple teams have seen their fotunes change drastically in the space of a couple of months. Nik sits down with Jasmine to talk over the biggest storylines form the Hinrunde, as well as tell you about which players have proven their worth most richly as we head into the Winterpause. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

When Germany's most engaged football fans speak in near-unison, as they did on MD15, it's time to listen up. Matt and Nik look to unpack ultras' concerns about the DFL's decision to seek a strategic investor to help them keep pace with the Premier League's skyrocketing media rights valuations. Heading into the final round before the Winterpause, Leverkusen, Bayern and Leipzig each notched big wins, but BVB were the latest side to encounter tougher-than-expected going in Augsburg. Marie Schulte-Bockum returns to the pod to fill us in on what's got FCA going so strong. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

Coming off a 2. Bundesliga-tastic round in the DFB Pokal, it feels appropriate to zoom in on Hertha Berlin and Hamburger Sport-Verein, two teams that squared off in an instant classic. Winners in that match, Hertha are beginning to look like a side that could scale a few rungs higher in the league. HSV, meanwhile, are going off the boil. Nik and Jasmine talk through these storylines (especially the latter), as well as bring you up to speed on stories from the lower leagues. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

The end of the Hinrunde is drawing nearer and it's looking ever more likely that Bayer 04 Leverkusen will stay on top of the league for the winter. That's mostly down to them still not having lost a single game, but at least this weekend they can thank the weather too. With Munich buried in snow, FC Bayern didn't manage to get their game against 1. FC Union Berlin in on Match Day 13, which meant the pharmaceuticals' home draw with Borussia Dortmund didn't cost them first place - at least not yet. Matt, Nik and Terry chat about that big clash, set up a few games to watch in the DFB Pokal this week, and chew the fat about the goings on in the Bundesliga. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

With their win away to Hansa Rostock on match day 14, FC St. Pauli are sitting pretty on top of the 2. Bundesliga for a seventh straight week. That suits our Maik just fine, of course, but he, Nik and Jasmine know that the stakes of Friday's big Hamburg city derby against HSV are still massive. The gang also takes a look at Tobias Schweinsteiger's exit from VfL Osnabrück, a scary incident in Dresden, and more from the lower leagues. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

Over the past five years, sometimes it's felt like 1. FC Union Berlin could only go up. The Köpenickers' rise from little-club-that-could to European contender has been among the best in world football over that span, but now it's come to an end after Urs Fischer, the coach who took them from the 2. Bundesliga to the UEFA Champions League, decided they'd be better off without him. For a little insight on how it all went down, Matt turns to Kit Holden, who covers the Irons for Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper, as well as talks it out with Nik and Terry. They also get into what might be ailing the suddenly lame Borussia Dortmund and investor talk swirling around Werder Bremen and the league as a whole. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

FC St. Pauli continued to set the pace in the 2. Bundesliga on MD13, even as they slumped to a 0-0 draw at home to the rising Hannover 96. But enough about the result, the real story at the Millerntor was the Polizeieinsatz, which felt to many like an overreaction. Nik and Maik talk that incident over, try and figure out what's gotten into two of the 2. Liga's newly-promoted sides, and much more from the lower divisions. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

As you might have heard, FC Bayern München went to Dortmund and took their hosts BVB apart...but that's the way the Klassiker seems to go in recent years. Nik and Terry dig into that and other stories, including a tempestuous week for Mainz 05 that ended with a win, Cologne's persisting troubles, coming changes at the top for Werder Bremen and more. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

With nearly one-third of the season in the books, FC St. Pauli look a good bet to go up to the top flight. Nik draws out our resident Pauli fan Maik on what's going so right at the Millerntor, and whether the club's lengthy unbeaten run is at rick anytime soon. Jasmine weighs in on whether Eintracht Braunschweig is beyond help, and the gang break out their rain gear to talk about the sodden mess in Saarbrücken that wrought havoc in the 3. Liga and the DFB Pokal. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

With Bayer 04 Leverkusen riding high, it was high time for a check-in with one of their biggest fans Eric Bruehl. He and Nik have been busy putting together the new TORWART series on the TF Patreon, so we thought getting them together for a discussion of Match Day 8 was a natural. Matt steers things toward a discussion of Leverkusen's hot start before entering the choppy waters of FSV Mainz 05 and FC Bayern München's social media messaging around the Israel-Palestine conflict. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

Nik is back with Maik and Jasmine to talk over the lay of the land in the 2. Bundesliga and the German lower leagues! FC St. Pauli are still riding high, FC Schalke 04 have looked to the West for assistance in getting out of the latest ditch they've fallen into, and a legal fight in Karlsruhe continues. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

What in the world has gotten into 1. FC Union Berlin? After a string of tight low-scoring losses, the irons got a bit more ambitious this past week. They scored two goals in both their UEFA Champions League and their Bundesliga fixture...and still managed to lose them both. Matt talks over the Köpenickers' troubles with Terry, along with the recent steady play of Borussia Dortmund - is it just good vibes or something more? They also address the sense of thrill that watching Bayer 04 Leverkusen tends to engender lately, Serhou Guirassy's unreal scoring form, and much more. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

Recent seasons have not always been kind to Germany's northern Traditionsvereine, but their luck may be changing in the 2. Liga. Take a glance at the table and you'll find the two Hamburg clubs in first and second, followed closely by Hannover 96 and Holstein Kiel. What's behind all the success? Find out as Nik and Maik (northerners both) talk you through all the top storylines from Germany's non-top-flight football leagues... --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

Five games into the 2023-24 Bundesliga season, FC Bayern München, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and RB Leipzig are - as expected - looking pretty damn good. But there are a number of surprises: TSG Hoffenheim and VfB Stuttgart are also setting a blistering pace, while 1. FC Köln, Borussia Mönchengladbach and 1. FSV Mainz 05 have yet to record a win. Matt, Nik, and Terry are ready to talk all those teams' prospects over, as well as take a look at what Julian Nagelsmann might do in his new job. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

Sometimes it's all about timing. With Jasmine taking a break from the podcast this week, Nik spends the hour with Maik, whose beloved FC St. Pauli busted loose with a thundering win on Match Day 6. Holstein Kiel went to the Millerntor on a high but got thrashed 5-1 and our panelist has plenty to say about it. Hertha BSC, meanwhile, also picked up three points but have some choice comments from owners 777 Partners to contend with, and the DFB have turned to a man with deep lower league roots to help turn the men's national team program around. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

With the Bundesliga on a break, the German football world turns its attention to the national team. For the last half-decade or so, that's been a pretty unappealing prospect as the team has played a lot of uninspiring football. Hansi Flick's disappointing two-year spell at the helm came to a close on Sunday, so Matt, Nik and Terry took the opportunity to talk through what's been ailing the DFB Team and how they might get back on track. The boys also examine a few winners and losers in the transfer window as well as whose fans will be happiest with their European away days this fall. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

Would you believe Germany's lower divisions have been serving up more offbeat stuff over the past two weeks? If you're a devoted fan of this pod, I think you would! After Nik's repeated hat tips to A-ha last week, this time out he makes sure Jasmine is driven to tears by references to another group of 1980s giants as they talk through questionable police tactics at St Pauli, ticket price conflicts, and the licensing shenanigans behind a fixture in the Hessenliga... --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

Two games into the Bundesliga season, we still don't know much - but we think we know a few things: Harry Kane is going to fit in just fine at FC Bayern München, 1. FC Union Berlin appear to have bought well over the summer, and SV Werder Bremen are in for a long season. Matt, Terry and Nik mull over some early results as well as get into stories off the pitch - from shots fired in Augsburg to Dortmund's new cat fancy. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

We sometimes go on about how tough and unpredictable the 2. Bundesliga is and, well...the two sides relegated from the top flight are proving us right thus far! FC Schalke 04 have just one win from their first three games, and Hertha BSC are rock bottom - no points, no goals, no clue. Nik and Jasmine welcome Maik back to the fold to talk through the goings on in the second tier, as well as a string of stories from the Regionalligen. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

The Bundesliga is back, and so is Talking Fussball's coverage of the top flight of German football - for a 12th season running! After all this time, we've just about seen it all, but there are a few new wrinkles. First, while English Premier League clubs continued to buy up the Bundesliga's best, one also saw fit to sell an established star in Harry Kane - how will he fit at FC Bayern and Germany? Second, this season is the first since 1965-66 that the German capital is only represented by one club that is not Hertha BSC - are 1. FC Union Berlin ready for their maiden UEFA Champions League challenge? Join Matt Hermann, Nik Wildhagen and Terry Duffelen for all this and much more. Subscribe to Terry's Dortmund Dispatch newsletter here Support Talking Fussball on Patreon here --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/talking-fussball/support

The 2. Bundesliga is up and running, which means Nik Wildhagen and Jasmine Baba are ready to talk some Fussball! They run you though the key transfers into the league, a string of youngsters to watch as the season unfolds, and their all-important (and perhaps controversial) picks for promotion and relegation come May 2024. Strap in!

Germany's relegation playoffs may not involve teams that play champagne football, but the storylines they offer up are plenty tantalizing. After another loss (this time to Stuttgart), what can the increasingly desperate HSV do to get back to the top flight? Are Bielefeld doomed after sealing their second straight drop with a loss to Wiesbaden? And what should we look forward to in next year's second and third tiers now that we know who's playing in them? Nik, Jasmin and Maik get into it...

He's a football legend, a tabloid mainstay, a prodigious teller of tall tales and a symbol of postwar Germany itself. Franz Beckenbauer is the biggest name to ever emerge from the Bundesliga, and it's appropriate that Uli Hesse, the man who wrote the book on the league (Tor! - if you haven't read it, drop everything and start) should take on the task of writing a new biography of him. It's called The Three Lives of the Kaiser, and the author is on the pod this week to talk with Nik Wildhagen about it...

Wild times on the final weekend in the 2. Bundesliga (oh my Heidenheim!) and the 3. Liga too, where Wiesbaden's promotion party was abruptly cut short by Osnabrück. Join Nik, Jasmine and Maik for a re-cap of all the drama and a preview of what's to come in the two big relegation playoffs: Hamburg vs Stuttgart and Wiesbaden vs. Bielefeld.

We now know SV Darmstadt 98 are headed back to the Bundesliga next season, but there's still plenty to play for for the likes of promotion hopefuls Hamburger Sport-Verein and FC Heidenheim as well as the relegation-threatened Eintracht Braunschweig, 1. FC Nürnberg and Arminia Bielefeld. Nik talks through all the permutations with Maik and Jasmine, as well as take a trip down to the 3. Liga.

When the last Aufstieg edition came out, Hamburger Sport-Verein were riding high off a derby win over FC St. Pauli and edging toward the automatic promotion places. Not so much anymore - their two losses on the trot, as well as a timely defeat for league leaders SV Darmstadt, mean there's still much to play for as the league heads into the final three rounds. Nik, Maik and Jasmine are here to chew the fat over all the action, as well as let you knwo what storues are bubbling under from the lower divisions.

Here in 2023, football leagues selling a stake to a strategic partner is nothing new...but it sure would be for Germany's top flight. The DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga) has been looking for a private equity firm who might help them bankroll a few projects - everything from media rights sales to international marketing - but not everyone is on board. Could it all blow up in the Bundesliga's face? Nik and Terry let you know what's at stake and who's on what side of the issue...

The Bundesliga title race is still tight after another stumble by the team who entered the match day in the lead. As you'll hear in this edition, Matt and Adam Khan are pretty sure a few refereeing clangers played a part in BVB's slip, but the question remains: does anybody want to win the league? Plenty on the rest of the match day too, including what finally halted Mainz's charge, which teams at the bottom seem to be in driver's seat to stick around next year and more...

It's not every week that it's plausible to argue that a second-tier match might well have had the best atmosphere in Europe, but the Hamburger Stadtderby is an exceptional fixture. The most recent edition saw both teams fighting for promotion heading in...and just one looking up to it at game's end, as Hamburger Sport-Verein took down FC St. Pauli in a 4-3 that allowed them to open up a nine-point gap on the chasing pack. Nik, Jasmine and Maik (poor Maik) talk the clash over in detail, as well as dissect how promoted side 1. FC Magdeburg have managed to distance themselves from the relegation fight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well what do you know? Against all expectations, on Match Day 29 it was Bayern - not Dortmund - who faltered in the title race, surrendering top spot to the Schwarzgelben. Under the top two the most compelling story, however, might be Leverkusen, who cruised into the Europa League semifinal at midweek and then bopped Leipzig to notch their eighth straight match unbeaten. Guest host Marie Schulte-Bockum invites on Kara Head (formerly of Bayer 04) for a chat about all the storylines from the weekend... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's gotten into Borussia Mönchengladbach? After spending much of the last decade in a renaissance that occasionally rekindled dreams of the club's 1970s heyday, the foals last three seasons have left them flirting dangerously with a return to the lean years of the 90s and 00s. Nik invites Gladbach obsessive Manuel Breuer on for a detailed chat on what's gone wrong and how it might get better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With just seven games left on the 2. Bundesliga docket, the race for promotion is getting serious...which is often the time of year Hamburger Sport-Verein's hopes of getting back into the top flight starts to fade. Will this season be different? HSV got a big win last weekend, but events off the pitch are ensuring the club can't breath too easy. Listen in as Nik, Jasmine and Maik break down events in the Hansestadt, the comings and goings across the league, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bayern strolled it against Dortmund on this past weekend. It was an outcome few apart from their own fans were excited about, but it was one that reminded us just how versatile this Bayern side can be when they want to be. Matt talks the big Klassiker win over with his old pal Abel Meszaros, who also shares a few thoughts about a rising Leverkusen side and about Stuttgart who, hapless as ever, made another coaching change. Dig in! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ready for the 2. Bundesliga restart? Nik, Jasmine and Maik are, and they're here to bring you up to speed on what's been happening since they last convened. Rostock have a new coach...and have been living up to their reputation on social media, the Lower Saxony derby turned out to be one to remember, FC St. Pauli's race up the table continues apace, and much more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As of last fall, when the Bundesliga was entering the World Cup break, Eintracht Frankfurt were flying. The Eagles were in the top four and had successfully battled their way out of their UEFA Champions League group in their maiden season in the competition. These days their chances of mixing it up in the Königsklasse next season seem thin. Nik invites Brian Sanders of the Hey! Eintracht Frankfurt podcast on to find out how the wheels came off since the re-start and how they might get their mojo back in the season's nine remaining games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Looky there - it's Borussia Dortmund on top of the Bundesliga! Bayern's advance (and Dortmund's failure to) in the UEFA Champions League seemed like it might hold some eventual benefit for the Schwarzgelben, but boy did it come fast, setting up a mouth-watering Klassiker after the international break. Matt welcomes back Jake Payne of 50 Plus Döner for a chat about the shuffling of places in the race for Europe and the teams racing to beat the drop...as well as a conversation about whether his beloved EffZeh might soon be in that latter cluster after a miserable run capped off by the 6-1 hiding they took at the Westfalenstadion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"A St Pauli fan and a Werder Bremen fan walk into a HSV bar..." sounds like the start of a very particular type of German football joke, and is more or less the premise for this episode of Talking Fussball Extra. Nik and Maik clue you in on how the mighty Hamburger Sport-Verein ended up in the 2. Bundesliga, how they have managed to stay there so long, and how they hope to get out this season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every time the Revierderby comes around, you can always depend on a hard-fought game and a volcanic atmosphere - sometimes you get a brilliant game as well. So it was this past match day, as FC Schalke 04 underscored their recent resurgence by going toe to toe with Borussia Dortmund in the Revierderby. The Royal Blues may not have dazzled, but few would argue that their fight didn't merit a draw. Listen in as guest host Marie Schulte-Bockum talks with ESPN+'s Derek Rae about the big result, as well as the rest of the action from MD24. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They're back! Nik is back from a well-earned break in the Oman sunshine and ready to preside over a lower division roundtable. Jasmine and Maik join him to give you the lowdown on Dieter Hecking's return to the touchline in Nürnberg, FC St. Pauli's resurgence, and much more from the 2. Liga and lower down the German football pyramid. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1. FC Union Berlin had a chance to shake up the Bundesliga on MD22. The overachievers from Köpenick clawed their way back to the top of the table with a strong start to the back half of the season. Now all they had to do to hang on there was beat 10-years-running Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, away from home and on short rest. Gentle listener, that result was not on the cards. Matt and Terry hash out the Spitzenspiel that wasn't, Dortmund's win in Sinsheim, why we have Schalke to thank for a tightened-up relegation battle, and more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How often has the Bundesliga seen a three-way tie at the top after 21 matches? Just a tiny handful times, and not once in the three-points-for-a-win era that started nearly 30 years ago. That's another reminder of what an unusually close title race we're having, and what a treat these last 13 games are likely to be. Listen in as Matt is joined by Marie Schulte-Bockum again to hear how we ended up in this unaccustomed place. Why can't Bayern beat Gladbach? What made Schalke such a tough opponent for Union? And did Dortmund's win over a fairly tidy Hertha side illustrate why they might have what it takes to go all the way? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Borussia Dortmund have done nothing but win since the Bundesliga restart, which has put them back in the title mix, just three points back of FC Bayern München. It's a tight race between the two biggest clubs in the division, but both teams will be turning their attention to the UEFA Champions League this week as they take on Chelsea and PSG respectively. Union Berlin still may have something to say - they racked up another come-from-behind win this week, this time at RB Leipzig. Matt talks it all over with Marie Schulte-Bockum... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What a time to be alive - here we are into February and the top of the Bundesliga table is still something of a traffic jam! After Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund dispatched their opponents on Saturday afternoon, Bayern Munich actually needed to win away to Wolfsburg on Sunday to stay top. Matt and Terry talk over all the action at the top, all the static off the pitch surrounding Manuel Neuer's big vent, Gio Reyna's scoring tear, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At last the German second tier has returned from its looooong break - one even longer that the big boys in the top flight. Plenty to talk about after a weekend of action there in the 2. Bundesliga, and plenty more to dissect from the rungs below as well. Nik Wildhagen is back with Jasmine and Maik to take it all in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Could 1. FC Union Berlin be on the verge of something truly magical? They brushed aside their cross-town rivals Hertha for the fifth derby on the trot and are now within one point of FC Bayern München. After the Rekordmeister limped through the English week with nothing but draws, there's a chance their season could end without (gasp!) the usual multi-trophy celebration. With Union and Bayern topping the docket, who else could Matt turn to but Kit Holden? The Scheisse! We're Going Up! author joins TFD from Vietnam - the lucky guy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can you believe it's been 10 WEEKS since we've had Bundesliga football to watch? It seems much of the league was more than ready to go, as fans saw 41 goals across the match day, including a 7-1 result, a 6-0, and no fewer than six games with four goals or more. Interestingly, Bayern and Leipzig's Spitzenduell was among the less eventful affairs on Match Day 16. Matt and Adam Khan break down what's happening with those two high-profile sides, what's gotten into Wolfsburg, whether BVB should part with a club legend, and which mid-table sides could risk a slide into the relegation scrap if the have a poor englische Woche. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So you thought all was well up in Hamburg? Think again. Despite rounding out the pre-World Cup part of the season with a big win, a couple of negative stories emerged to rain on their parade. Meanwhile, down in Fürth, helter-skelter football merchant Alexander Zorniger has led the Kleeblätter on a real tear. Listen in as Nik, Jasmine and Maik lead you through all those stories and more from the 2. Liga and the lower leagues in Germany... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a roller coaster of a first almost-half of the season, we're back to where we started. FC Bayern München are top of the league and in the kind of form that should make the rest of the league quiver. Still, plenty of intrigue just a little below: SC Freiburg proved they are the darkest horse in the title picture, hammering 1. FC Union Berlin, and RB Leipzig head into the winter break with all kinds of wind in their sails. All that and more as Matt and Marie take stock in the state of the league ahead of that one tournament in Qatar... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A mighty entertaining weekend in the 2. Bundesliga - league leaders SV Darmstadt dropped points to St. Pauli, while Hamburg shook off the poor form of recent weeks to come back and beat SC Paderborn. Nik, Maik and Jasmine talk the chaos over (including a new chaos-bringer on the job ion Fürth), before moving on to stories from the lower leagues and a tantalizing ground-hopping recommendation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Another week, another piece of evidence that 1. FC Union Berlin might well mean business about this title challenge thing. They went down early to an up-for-it Borussia Mönchengladbach side, but showed resilience and adaptability to eke out a win. Will it be enough to hold off the Rekordmeister? FC Bayern München have had an uneven start to the season but reminded everyone just how much firepower they've got by hanging a 6-2 result on FSV Mainz 05, heretofore one of the league's best defenses. Matt calls up Ronan Murphy for a chat about all that, VAR trouble in Frankfurt and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Red Bull, the energy drink brand that sponsors football clubs across the world, lost its co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz this week, so we felt it might be a good time to look at the company's legacy. Nik calls up Jasmine for a chat about RB's rise over the last 35 years, the brand's big investment in German football, and how the RB coaching tree has influenced tactics across Europe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bundesliga sides didn't show much restraint or moderation on Match Day 11. We were treated to blowouts as in Dortmund and Mainz, we got top-level sides showing pretenders how it's done as in Sinsheim and Freiburg; we had topsy-turvy see-saw score draws in Leverkusen and Augsburg; hell, we even had Bochum, the team that went into the match day bottom of the league, pick off table-toppers Union Berlin. Plenty to talk about for Matt and Terry - dig in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a strong start to the season for Hamburger Sport-Verein, it was only a matter of time before they let their fans down. This week HSV got spanked 3-0 at the Millerntor by cross-town rivals FC St. Pauli. Is this sort of thing simply in the club's nature, or do they just love the 2. Bundesliga too much to leave it behind? Nik and Jasmine explore this question, along with new table toppers SV Darmstadt 98's prospects of hanging around the promotion fight to the end, Greuther Fürth's coaching change and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hertha BSC barely escaped relegation last season, and they're still hanging around the lower reaches of the table after nine games. But somehow, the atmosphere around the club is anything but panicked. Coach Sandro Schwarz appears to be forming a decent side in the capital, even if the results haven't quite come around just yet. Listen in as Nik twists Matt's arm and gets him to open up about the club he usually frets so much over, but suddenly has a pretty chill outlook on. Don't worry, it's not all roses - Hertha's unscrupulous moneybags Lars Windhorst and his Israeli security firm make an appearance, and it's a wild tale indeed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

More of this please! We here at TF love all Bundesliga match days; just some more than others. When one comes along with this many late-game thrills, this many matches packed with goals, and this many eyebrow-raising results, you have to savor it. This week Matt speaks to Marie Schulte-Bockum about Anthony Modeste's big night of redemption, Borussia Mönchengladbach's derby win over 1. FC Köln, Bayer Leverkusen's breakout performance under the tutelage of a Hugo Boss model, and whether Pellegrino Matarazzo might be in trouble at VfB Stuttgart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coaching carousel time! After significant spending in the summer, 1. FC Nürnberg finally lost patience with Robert Klauß and turned to a familiar face. FC St. Pauli didn't dazzle on the weekend (a 0-0 draw with Heidenheim) but they did make waves over the international break by suggesting the DFL get serious about closing the loopholes that exist in the 50+1 rule. Nik, Jasmine and Maik are back to talk over all this and more on a new TFE Aufstieg edition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Bundesliga returned to regularly scheduled service after the international break on MD8, kicking off a six-week whirlwind stretch that will see plenty of teams play no fewer than 12 games across multiple competitions. So who got off to an auspicious start? FC Bayern München snapped their four-game winless run by beating Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt got a statement win over league leaders Union Berlin, and Werder Bremen really stirred the pot by putting five past Borussia Mönchengladbach. We take in all those results of course, but did you notice the big team we didn't mention? Ye,s, Matt chews the fat with Substacker extraordinare Adam Khan about Borussia Dortmund too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sailing into the international break, we've learned a few things. Reports of Eintrcht Braunschweig's imminent demise were premature, FC St. Pauli have well and truly hit the skids, and Frank Schmidt might well remain coach at FC Heidenheim until 2037. Plenty more going on, of course - Nik, Jasmine, and Maik take you through all the big stories from the 2. Bundesliga and the lower leagues here on the Aufstieg edition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Forgive us if we're feeling woozy. It's been twelve years since FC Bayern München got off to a start this poor, and more than 20 since they went four games without a win. It's a lot to take in, especially with a Revierderby on the docket, as well as a supremely confident performance from table-toppers 1. FC Union Berlin. Borussia Dortmund: A History in Black and Yellow author Terry Duffelen returns to the pod to talk through all the action from Match Day 7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're offering up something a bit special today - a small taste of what you'll find over on our Patreon page! Our resident Bundesliga history buff Nik Wildhagen has curated another season of Historic Matchday Moments, a series of shorts about some of the biggest happenings in German top flight history, doled out week by week. This week Nik speaks with Michael Pahl of the FC St Pauli museum, who gives us a window on the Hamburg club's development from a fairly sleepy football club to the international symbol of swashbuckling punk-rock progressivism we know today. You could say it all started in 1977, when they got one over on their eternal rivals HSV. We hope you enjoy it - if you do, please become a patron of the pod, for as little as $3 a month! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They said it was a one-team league. If it was, at the moment that one team would be 1. FC Union Berlin, the low-budget side from the capital that's been getting high-end results all season. (With FC Bayern München slightly adrift, someone has to take up the mantle.) This week Matt welcomes a new guest, Jake Payne of the 50 Plus Döner show, to talk over the unfamiliar order at the top, the triumphant return of Marco Rose, and a string of puzzling VAR decisions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Once again, it's only been two weeks since our last peek into the non-elite levels of the German football pyramid, and there's more than enough to talk about. 1. FC Nürnberg lost their assistant coach (Bastian Schweinsteiger's brother Tobias) to VfL Osnabrück, Frank Schmidt and Heidenheim keep hanging around the upper reaches of the table, and Hannover 96 look like they've turned a corner...but have some challenging fixtures ahead. Listen in as Nik, Jasmine and Maik break it all down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Another week, another Bayern draw and lo and behold - we've got a new team at the top! SC Freiburg (of all clubs) are now sitting pretty after a gritty comeback win in Leverkusen and a stout defensive display from Union Berlin. Borussia Dortmund's win meant they passed up the Bavarians too, so we've got quite a logjam in the upper reaches of the table. Matt sits down with the delightful Eva-Lotta Bohle (2. Bundesliga Pod, Rasenfunk) to talk through how it all went down, as well as how all the Bundesliga's many teams in European competition are looking as they face down an intense couple of months of group stage toil. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you like attacking football and loads of goals at both ends, you need to be watching Werder Bremen. The venerable northern German club have played just four games since coming back to the 1. Bundesliga, and in those games the back of the net has been tickled no less than twenty times - ten for and ten against. The club's return to the top flight has given us plenty to talk about - it's up to Nik and Jasmine (each of whom have a strong connection to the club) to do the talking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Boy did we ever praise Bayern to the skies last week after they put the hurt on a Bundesliga opponent for the second time in three games! But this past weekend, on the fourth match day, Borussia Mönchengladbach came to the Allianz - and if you know your recent history, that means trouble for the Rekordmeister. This time, the trouble was named Yann Sommer, who stonewalled Bayern into a 1-1 draw. Matt invites the excellent Derek Rae (ESPN, EA Sports FIFA series) on to talk the result over, to get his thoughts on the draws of all eight BuLi sides in UEFA competition, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 2. Bundesliga season is just five games old but there's already plenty of drama - Hamburger Sport-Verein basically melted down on the pitch last week, Arminia Bielefeld fired their coach, and Hansa Rostock fans showed their true colors when FC St. Pauli fans came to town. Nik, Jasmine, and Maik have all that and more, as well as lots of news from the lower leagues as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The evidence is getting overwhelming - FC Bayern München are too good for the Bundesliga. We've had ten long years of dominance, but this particular Bayern might be better than ever. With a gaudy +14 goal difference after just three games, what other conclusion can we come to? Matt brings on Ronan Murphy of footballtransfers.com to talk about what makes them so good, as well as to chat about Borussia Mönchengladbach's strong start, Dortmund's legendary late loss, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you look at the Bundesliga table at the moment, you'll see some familiar sights - Bayern first, Dortmund second - but you'll also find at least one big surprise: Bayer 04 Leverkusen are rock bottom. With just two games played, it's very early days, but for a team accustomed to playing in Europe year after year, any time spent on the relegation rungs is concerning. Nik calls up Eric Bruehl of the Neverkusen Podcast to find out what's gone awry for the Werkself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's a familiar sight at the top of the Bundesliga: FC Bayern are first, followed by Borussia Dortmund, followed by 16 other teams. It's early days, but as yet, Germany's two heavyweights are making a good case for being the class of the division again. Top guest Marie Schulte-Bockum joins Matt on the pod to talk through the duopoly's strong start, as well as how she's feeling about whether her beloved FC Schalke 04 are prepared to mount a credible campaign to stay in the top flight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 2. Bundesliga kind of got a jump on Talking Fussball Extra crew this season. With three match days already in the books, we're joining the action mid-stream, and that means there's a lot to cover! Luckily Nik Wildhagen, Jasmine Baba, and Maik Krükemeier are back to fill you in on news in Germany's second tier and below. The trio share their picks for promotion, relegation, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Bundesliga is back and so are we! The first TFD of the season takes you through the big storylines of the week - Bayern's bright start in the first league game of the post-Lewandowski era; Dortmund getting past Leverkusen in a clash of the title hopefuls...and then buying Anthony Modeste - as well as a word on each fixture. Matt also speaks with Kit Holden about 1. FC Union Berlin's fourth straight derby win over Hertha BSC, as well as his new book Scheisse! We're Going Up! (pre-order link), which tracks the Köpenick club's history from its beginnings in the DDR to its recent rise to 1. Bundesliga success in today's unified Germany. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nik Wildhagen and Terry Duffelen, author of Borussia Dortmund: A History in Black and Yellow are ready to put the lid on our three-part series on Borussia Dortmund. Part three zooms in on a significantly more positive narrative than last week. Instead of a great fall, it's the story of BVB's rebirth under Jürgen Klopp. Listen in to hear how the former FSV Mainz 05 coach harnessed the club's passionate support off the pitch and established a progressive tactical framework on it to take the Schwarzgelben back to the top. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nik Wildhagen and Terry Duffelen, author of Borussia Dortmund: A History in Black and Yellow are back with part two of our three-part series on Borussia Dortmund! We left off part one with BVB hoisting the UEFA Champions League trophy in 1997 - still the biggest title the club has ever won. It seemed like Dortmund might be on the verge of a period of dominance...until reality hit. A series of blunders on the transfer market, in managerial appointments, and at the boardroom level sent the club into a tailspin. Listen in for a story of a great fall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here comes the first episode in a three-part series on Borussia Dortmund. Over the next three weeks Nik Wildhagen and Terry Duffelen, author of Borussia Dortmund: A History in Black and Yellow will walk you through a few pivotal phases in the history of a special club. BVB enchants fans all over the world - with so many young stars playing attacking football in front of one of the greatest in-stadium atmosphere in sports, it's an easy club to fall for. It's a sporting and commercial powerhouse, and it's widely seen as the second force in German football (after the all-conquering FC Bayern München). But it wasn't always this way. BVB underwent a fundamental transformation in the 1990s, which brought a first Bundesliga title and a determination to play in the financial big leagues. As you'll hear, however, it wasn't all smooth sailing... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What a season we've just put in the rearview mirror here on the Aufstieg edition. Wild scenes in the relegation playoffs, disappointing late-season collapses from SV Darmstadt and FC St. Pauli, and who could forget Markus Anfang's falsified vaccine passport? Nik and Jasmine certainly couldn't - and they've got plenty of other memories to share too, along with teams of the season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's one of those special German things: Relegation playoffs pitting the third-best team in a lower division against the third-worst team from the division above. This time out, Hertha BSC staged a second-leg comeback to ensure they'd stay in the top flight at Hamburger Sport-Verein's expense, while in the lower-tiered clash, 1. FC Kaiserslautern exited the 3. Liga by beating SG Dynamo Dresden 2-0 away after a scoreless first leg at the Betzenberg. Listen in as Nik and Jasmine take you through the drama, as well as mull over what it means for Hertha to stay up, HSV to stay down, and for 'Lautern and Dresden to swap divisions.... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was fun while it lasted for them, but Werder Bremen made it out of the 2. Liga after just one year. Hamburg may join them after their four-season stint, but they still have to knock off Hertha to seal the deal. Lost of other promotion and relegation drama across the lower leagues - Nik and the gang are here to wrap it all up in a bow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well wasn't that a rousing way to end a season? VfB Stuttgart's last gasp winner (combined with BVB's late go-ahead goal) was enough to let the Swabians stay put in the top flight, and send Hertha BSC into the relegation play-off. Lots to discuss from MD34, as well as plenty to ponder about which teams can feel satisfied heading into the offseason. In fact, Matt and Terry sort out where all 18 teams stand on the satisfaction scale... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's a heady time of year, what with all the lower league promotion races coming to a head - you might say it's Aufstieg season. Nik and Jasmine talk over all the big stories from the 2. BL on down: FC Schalke 04 are ready to re-join the top flight; Werder Bremen, Hamburger SV, and SV Darmstadt are still in with a shout; 1. FC Kaiserslautern pick a mighty fine time to remind people it's got a huge capacity for madness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's only natural that a few questions got answered on the second-to-last match day of the 2021-22 Bundesliga season. Union and Cologne were delighted to know they'd reached Europe next year, Leverkusen got on next year's UEFA Champions League train, and Eintracht Frankfurt will have a chance to join them now that they've reached the Europa League final. Brian Sanders of the Hey Eintracht Frankfurt podcast joins Matt to talk about the Eagles' latest sensation, relegation battle intrigue and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This might be the second-to-last match day of the season but, and this might hurt, this will be the last Talking Fussball Fantasy episode. They won't be leaving you hanging next week - JT and Flo will be hosting an extended Twitter Spaces Q&A/happy hour/hang next week at 8:00 p.m. CET. In the meantime, listen in as they offer all the tips that are fit to pod right here... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Another week, another turn of the worm in the battle for promotion out of the 2. Bundesliga - FC Schalke 04 and (gasp!) Hamburger Sportverein are on the rise, while FC St. Pauli and SV Werder Bremen came away disappointed. Plenty left to play for over the last two weeks, but one of the division's biggest clubs (who've been far off the pace all season) have been furiously turning their attention to the future. Hannover 96 have been making moves aplenty - listen in as the gang explore whether they think they'll do the trick in turning the club around. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After all the love JT and Flo got over the past week, they were rearing to go ahead of Match Day 32. It's a straightforward affair in this episode, as they boys run through all the games on the hunt for difference-makers. (Don't worry though - they find time for plenty of digressions on refereeing controversies, JT's appearance on the 2. Bundesliga Podcast, and Flo's delight over Werder Bremen...) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With so many aspirants for promotion to the top flight, you'd think at least one would have sewn it up by now. Not so - no fewer than six clubs can still dream of going up (or at least making it into the play-off), and none can yet rest easy, as all their good work could come to naught with a bad run over the final three rounds. (A nice change from the state of affairs in the 1. Bundesliga, no?) Meanwhile in the third tier, former deutscher Meister 1. FC Kaiserslautern may well be set for a return to the big time - and this being the Aufstieg edition, you know what division we mean. All that and much more from Nik, Jasmine and Maik. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Asking for a friend - is it normal for one team to win the league ten years in a row? Whichever way you might answer that question, it's the reality we Bundesliga fans live in, now that FC Bayern München claimed all three points in a comparatively limp Klassiker on Match Day 31. Matt rounds up Lewis Ambrose for a chat about the Bavarians' pathological dominance, some real movement in the relegation battle, Anthony Modeste's latest goal celebration highjinks and more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Bundesliga is winding down with just four games to go, and our pundits are ready to give it their all, week by week until the bitter end. Speaking of endings, JT and Flo have an announcement about the future of the show. Listen in for that, and for all the tips you need to get ready for MD31. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For most of the season, Nik's Werder Bremen, Jasmine's SV Darmstadt, and Maik's St. Pauli have been trading places, week by week, at the top of the 2. Bundesliga table. My how times have changed. On this edition of Aufstieg, Nik and Jasmine break down FC Schalke 04's surge to the top of the table, the 3. Liga promotion race, and the continued controversy surrounding Monday fixtures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's not much of title race on, but just below the top two things get very interesting. RB Leipzig, SC Freiburg, 1. FC Union Berlin and 1. FC Köln all picked up wins on the weekend, and depending on results over the final four weeks, each team from third to eighth could find itself in Europe next season - or out in the cold. Meanwhile, FC Bayern München have all but won the league and are nonetheless in the midst of a major malaise.Matt rounds up Adam Khan to share his views on the goings on. Subscribe to his newsletter here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you've watched German football over the past decade and a half, you'll know that FC Schalke 04 has long maintained a close relationship to Gazprom, the Russian natural gas giant. But ever since Vladimir Putin sent the Russian army on a brutal campaign to invade Ukraine, many in Germany were forced to reckon with their business ties to Russia...and came to the conclusion that those ties needed to be severed. Nik Widhagen called up Schalke reporter Ron Ulrich to talk about the steps the club has been taking to move on from its dependence on Russian largesse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1. FC Union Berlin made it three for three in the German capital's Stadtmeisterschaft this past weekend, giving everyone another plum opportunity to gawk at the mess Hertha BSC has become. After an extra day to survey the wreckage, a crestfallen Matt hauls in Kit Holden for their traditional tête-à-tête. They talk about the derby, Union's chances of heading back to Europe next season in a crowded field of aspirants, what Bayern need to do to get past Villareal, Leipzig and Eintracht's chances in the Europa League and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As you may have heard (on Monday's TF Direct among other places), FC Bayern München didn't quite manage to stick to just 11 men on the pitch at one time this past weekend. A few choice comments this week from Julian Nagelsmann that sounded like blame-shifting meant JT and Flo couldn't resist going in on the coach of the Rekordmeister. They'll let you know if that brouhaha might have any fantasy implications, whether it's time to shell out for Erling Haaland, and which Saturday games to tilt toward when selecting your team this wekeend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Could FC Schalke 04 actually be getting itself back on on track? It may be too soon to tell, but the Royal Blues' three-game win streak has put them back in the thick of the race for promotion back to the top flight. Nik and the gang talk through Schalke's chances for a speedy return, St. Pauli fans' chilly reception by police in Rostock, Türkgücü's financial flameout, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If there was much doubt that RB Leipzig are the form team in the Bundesliga, they erased that on Match Day 28, putting four past Borussia Dortmund in the Schwarzgelben's big full-house return to the Westfalenstadion. Matt gets hold of Terry Duffelen to mull over the consequences of that bog result, engage in some mutual head-scratching over Bayern's failed substitution in Freiburg, and look over the World Cup draw from a Bundesliga fan's perspective. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Bundesliga is entering the final stretch - just seven games to go. Most importantly for all the #BLFantasy managers out there, this window is the last one to offer UNLIMITED TRANSFERS. There might not be whole lot of season left to show off your re-vamped team, but that's no reason not to re-vamp it in the first place. Listen in as JT and Flo let you know all the best bets for big points in the run-in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It came as something of a shock when Hertha BSC named Felix Magath as their interim coach last week. The coaching icon who's been out of the German top flight for a decade may be in the capital on a limited appointment, but the announcement rocked the German football world, crashing web sites and attracting extraordinary media attention. So what makes the man they call 'Quälix' such a big deal? To get you up to speed on all the laurels, legends, and lore that punctuate Magath's career, Nik Wildhagen called on Matt Hermann and Flo Reinecke. As you'll hear, there's a lot to talk about... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plenty of the Bundesliga's biggest clubs have felt that sinking feeling at one time or another this season - none more so than VfB Stuttgart and Hertha BSC. There are reasons to think that might change after both were winners on Match Day 27. Listen in as Matt talks with The Athletic's Chris McCarthy about Hertha's coaching change, Stuttgart's radical embrace of continuity, BVB's latest disappointment and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The twists and turns continue in the 2. Bundesliga promotion race, as the candidates swapped spots at the top with just eight games left. The Coronavirus pandemic came roaring back this week, throwing a worrying wild card in the to mix as well. Listen in as Nik, Maik and Jasmine fill you in on all the latest from the second tier and below... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No TF Direct this week - we've got something completely different, and completely urgent to current events. Nik speaks with Eastern European football expert James Montague about Ukrainian ultras - how they've been deeply enmeshed in the country's conflict with Russia for years, and what they're up to as Russia's assault intensifies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a week off in light of the desperate situation in Ukraine, JT and Flo are back in the saddle to help you take your mind off of it. Listen in to find out: which elite striker to keep (and which to sell), whether Florian Wirtz is a must-have this weekend, which English translation of Anschlusstreffer hits the nail on the head and much more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're going deeper into German football history and culture studies this week - that means it's time to meet a few more clubs from the country's third-tier division for the western part of the country, the Regionalliga West. What clubs will you meet via Nik, Jasmine and Maik? Not one but two Rot-Weisses, a near-Borussia and one from the city with the most fascinating railway in Germany. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you're a club in the bottom six places after 25 games, it's time to face it: the remainder of the season is about survival - no more, no less. This past weekend, a couple of clubs seemed to get the picture...while quite a few others did not. Matt sat down with Eva-Lotta Bohle of the 2. Bundesliga Podcast to get her thoughts on Arminia Bielefeld's recent defensive troubles, Borussia Mönchengladbach's irreconcilable differences, the shocking fragility of Hertha BSC and all the rest of the problems of the downtrodden. (Don't worry, they talk about the good teams in the league too...) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plenty of news from the 2. Liga. Werder Bremen prevailed over Hamburger Sport-Verein in an action packed Nordderby, Schalke realized after all these years that their main sponsor had some dodgy connections, and a return to form from SV Darmstadt in a win in Dresden. Speaking of Darmstadt, their assistant coach Maximilian Hahn joins the pod for some on-the-ground insight. Listen in as he talks all things lower leagues with guest host Jasmine Baba and Maik Krükemeier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Now are you ready to crown FC Bayern München Bundesliga champions-in-waiting? After a limp draw for Borussia Dortmund at FC Augsburg on Match Day 24, the Rekordmeister's win at Eintracht Frankfurt restored their lead to eight points and may just end talk of a title race once and for all this season. But there's plenty more to talk about, like how to interpret Eintracht's enigmatic up-and-down season. For that, and all other subjects this week, Matt turns to Brian Sanders of the Hey Eintracht Frankfurt podcast. Plenty on tap about the Europa League draw, potential peril for Stuttgart and Hertha, and more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Match days come and march days go, but this one's special...at least for JT and Flo. As residents of Cologne (Germany's Karneval capital), our fantasy fellas had to squeeze in this episode prior to joining the days-long festivities. They've got all the advice that's fit to print, including the best way to replace the injured Patrik Schick, which injured players you shouldn't get rid of, and more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This one's for the crate-diggers, truffle-hounds, and off-the-beaten-path walkers of football fandom. Nik, Maik, and Jasmine take you down to one of Germany's fourth-tier leagues, the Regionalliga West. That might sound a bit obscure, but today's Regionalliga West is chock full of clubs with fascinating histories, which the gang are ready to tell you about: KFC Uerdingen, Fortuna Köln, Alemannia Aachen and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Germany's big three - FC Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund, and RB Leipzig - all ran riot on Match Day 23, collectively outscoring their (admittedly lowly) opponents 16-2. It was a big about-face from the three teams' patchy performances in Europe at midweek. Matt gets hold of goal.com's Ronan Murphy for a chat about the teams on either end of those big blowouts, about the probabilities of scissor kicks, and (because Ronan's still on a high from last weekend) about the L.A. Rams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a two-week layoff from match day podding, James Thorogood and Flo Reinecke are back in the saddle. That means a whole slew of your questions about line-ups, transfers, and more will be answered at length. Lots of high-scoring potential out there this week, so make sure to listen in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just as in the Bundesliga, Germany's second tier is heading into the final third of the season and the time has come to take a closer look at the promotion prospects of the various sides hoping to make the jump to the top flight. At least six sides have a legitimate chance at promotion, so Nik, Jasmine and Maik have their hands full figuring out which are the best bets. Thy also tell us how 3. Liga fans have been working hard to be able to do something else with their Monday evenings than watch football... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's not every week we get a result as shocking as FC Bayern München's 4-2 loss to promoted side VfL Bochum. It's also not every week that a Bayern first-team regular decides to leave the club...for Borussia Dortmund. And it's certainly rare that the big conversation in German football all week has been about whether North American-style playoffs are a good idea for the Bundesliga. So there was plenty to talk about when Matt rang up Lewis Ambrose - all the aforementioned and much more, including the magic of Max Kruse, Christopher Nkunku's will-he-or-won't-he flirtation with the Congolese national team and other topics. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the face of all the commercialization baked into the modern professional game, it's easy to feel a bit romantic about amateur football. After all, that's where players play for the love of the game...right? Arne Steinberg, one of the producers behind a new documentary broadcast on German TV network ARD found otherwise. Listen in as he tells Nik Wildhagen about how Germany's non-professional divisions have become an unregulated wild west. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yes I know you probably put away any notion of a title race weeks ago, but the math heading into round 21 allowed us to believe (just a little bit) otherwise. No more. Not after the Rekordmeister gutted out a win over a very game RB Leipzig, and certainly not after Dortmund ended up overmatched against Leverkusen in their own house. Listen in asa Matt gathers with Adam Khan to talk about big games, at-home touchline tirades, and a potential shift in the winds of success after Max Kruse's move up the tracks to Wolfsburg from Union Berlin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Max Eberl, one of the towering figures of the Bundesliga over the last decade and a half, made a bold decision last week: he walked away. The Borussia Mönchengladbach sporting director said he was exhausted, and that he had lost any sense of joy in his work, so he called a halt to his tenure at the venerable club. His press conference was a tearful exit, not least because it was evident to all involved how much he cared for Gladbach - and how much he had accomplished prior to a patchy season this term. How did it come to this? Nik Wildhagen wanted to find out, so he called up Vollraute Abroad podcaster Manuel Breuer for a good long chat on Eberl's body of work, and what might come next for the foals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 2. Bundesliga only just got back up and running about 10 days ago, but there's plenty to talk about already. St. Pauli's loss to their cross-town rivals handed Darmstadt the opening they needed to take over at the top, Fortuna Düsseldorf find themselves in major upheaval, and Werder Bremen kept on rising after a wild win. Listen in as Nik, Jasmine, and Maik walk you through these stories, along with a few from the lower divisions too. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So we had a number of late scratches from starting line-ups last week - not least the one involving a certain Frankfurt winger. JT and Flo talk through strategies on how to make the best of these bad situations, give you their player picks and answer a number of your listener questions. Listen in and be ready for Match Day 20! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With 19 match days in the books, Berlin's rising force from Köpenick are knocking on the door of the UEFA Champions League places - held back, in fact, by nothing more than goal difference at the moment. Considering they spend less than all but a handful of clubs in the division, how are they pulling it off? Listen in as Nik Wildhagen gets the inside dope from our resident tactical analyst Jasmine Baba. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plenty to talk about from the weekend - Erling Haaland did his best to match the goalscoring exploits of Thomas Meunier and fire Dortmund to victory against Freiburg, Union Berlin kept on burnishing their European bona fides ahead of a big DFB Pokal Berlin derby clash, and Robert Lewandowski made Bundesliga history for the umpteenth time. Matt rings up Terry Duffelen to make sense of it all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lots of tasty fixtures in store in Bundesliga this weekend - not least the Dortmund-Freiburg clash in store for Friday night, so Match Day 19 will be getting off with a bang! ...Speaking of fast starts, we got off to one this week with our recording time, so JT and Flo weren't able to answer any of the questions you sent via Twitter. Not to worry - they did their best mind-reading act and answered a few of the ones you sent anyway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Bundesliga has long been known as an incubator for young North American phenoms, but FC Augsburg's purchase of Ricardo Pepi is different. It's the biggest Bundesliga move of the January transfer window thus far, it's the second-biggest-ever sale price for a MLS player, and it's the most FC Augsburg has paid for any player ever. A lot riding on the El Paso native's shoulders...but at least one reporter who knows him well thinks he'll but up to the challenge. Listen in as Texas soccer writer Jon Arnold tells Matt about Pepi's meteoric rise, his pedigree from the vaunted FC Dallas academy, and what Bundesliga fans should expect from the center forward going forward... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Bundesliga rang in the new year with rollicking Rückrunde action on Match Day 18. Listen in as Matt Hermann speaks to Jasmine Baba about: How Bayern's Covid-struck skeleton crew proved they're just as good as the club's first choicers by dropping points to Gladbach, How Dortmund managed to prevail in another wild west shootout against Eintracht, and whether the jury on who's actually a European-quality side is very much still out for half the league. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back! Have a nice couple of weeks? A happy new year? We hope you enjoyed your break, because the Official Fantasy Bundesliga is getting back to work. The big issue at the moment for fantasy managers? Making sure you make the most of the last unlimited transfer period until March. With perhaps the biggest match of the weekend up in the air due to a Covid outbreak, JT and Flo are taking a wait-and-see approach to a few decisions. Still, they've got loads of advice as well as answers to a string of your questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever wonder what's cooking over on our Patreon page? Well at the moment we've got a series that we're excited to share - one we hope will shed light on some sordid chapters in German football history. We call it SKANDAL! and we're sharing the first episode here on the man feed. This edition is about one of the biggest scandals of all - one that's had repercussions as recently as Der Klassiker in this year's Hinrunde. Remember what Jude Bellingham said about referee Felix Zwayer having fixed a match? This episode will explain how Mr. Z got mixed up in all that, as well as go deep on the referee who stood at the center of the story - Robert Hoyzer. Episode 2, about the bombshell memoir that cost a Germany international his DFB career, is already available on Patreon, Episode 3 goes up this week and the series is set to continue for the next couple of months. Subscribe now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we move into the winter break, it's time to take stock of a very tight race for promotion in the 2. Bundesliga. FC St. Pauli and SV Darmstadt are riding high, but after that no fewer than SEVEN sides are within three points of the playoff spot. Nik, Maik and Jasmine step in to break it all down, as well as to discuss a game in the 3. Liga that was abandoned after racist chanting. So much going on in the lower leagues, so little time... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a few flirtations with the idea of a title race earlier this season, the Bundesliga has decided to settle down with its long-term partner - FC Bayern München domination. The Rekordmeister are back to putting the hurt on opponents (VfB Stuttgart and VfL Wolfsburg most recently), and that's not something Borussia Dortmund - or anybody else for that matter - can really keep up with. Matt sits down with Marie Schulte-Bockum for a chat about Bayern's current brilliance, Dortmund's woes in Berlin, the streaking Eintracht Frankfurt and why their win against Mainz should not be underestimated, and where the league seems to be at right now heading into the Winterpause. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you take a look at the Bundesliga table, it's hard not to come to the conclusion that the most disappointing team of the season is Gladbach. The foals have been European challengers for much of the last decade, but this year under new coach Adi Hütter that reputation is very much under threat. Gladbach sit way down in 13th after 15 games, and a poor English week to end the first half of the season could see them fall even further. Nik rings up Vollraute Abroad podcaster Manuel Breuer to find out what's gone wrong and how to stop the bleeding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lots going on this time of year, eh? You might be busy with holiday parties, extra shifts, or final exams, but the Bundesliga is cramming in the matches...and this week's guest has been taking in as many as he can. Matthew Marshall is back on the pod, and he sits down with Matt to give his impressions of Frankfurt's blazing comeback, Hoffenheim's smash-and-grab in Freiburg, Cologne's surprising slip-up against Augsburg and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bundesliga sides are about to sprint toward the Hinrunde finish, playing three games in the space of just over a week in an englische Woche. Lots of permutations to consider when there's three times the fixtures to contend with, but JT and Flo are here to help you sort out where the smart money is. As the Winterpause starts on 20 December, this will be the final TF Fantasy preview of 2021 - but look out for a Twitter spaces chat with the boys on Monday 13 December. Best of luck! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ah, the ups and downs of the 2. Bundesliga. Our own Nik Wildhagen's Werder Bremen side were on the ups under new coach Ole (or should we say Olé?) Werner, while Jasmine Baba's SV Darmstadt were definitely down this past weekend. As for Maik Krükemeier's beloved St. Pauli, they won - but then again, they do that just about all the time these days! Tune in for a full run-down of the main storylines from recent weeks down in the 2.BL, a look at how lower league sides are dealing with another Covid lockdown, and much more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well that was a more than half decent Klassiker, wasn't it? Five goals, end-to-end action, goals from the star strikers...and a whole heal of controversy and acrimony. Matt sits down with Terry Duffelen - whose new BVB history book is out now - to talk about his team's defensive dunder-headed-ness, Bayern's penchant for a ruthless goal, and young Jude Bellingham's willingness to dredge up a refereeing scandal that the DFB thought it had buried. They also explore the issues surrounding Jesse Marsch's exit from RB Leipzig, a couple of six-goal wins and more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Bundesliga promotional machine has been in overdrive this week, pumping up fans around the world about Der Klassiker. With such a close race at the top at the moment, that's only natural - but there's a lot more afoot in the league, especially for Fantasy managers. Listen in as JT and Flo let you know which players to consider in each match, with a little extra on the big Dortmund-Bayern clash. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yes it's called Der Klassiker, but will Saturday's game truly be a classic? Do FC Bayern München's recent less-than-imperious results mean there's a decent chance Borussia Dortmund can win and take over top spot? And how many (if any) fans will be in the Westfalenstadion this weekend to witness it? Nik Wildhagen and Jasmine Baba take a break from musing on the 2. Liga to stare deeply into the irresistible eyes of Der Klassiker... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dortmund shook off their Champions League flame-out with a big win in Wolfsburg; Bayern limped to a narrow home win over Bielefeld. The gap between the two sides is still just a point, and with a Erling Haaland back in action and scoring goals, something other than a Bayern runaway seems possible ahead of Der Klassiker. Matt gets hyped up with Adam Khan (breaking the lines, German Football Newsletter) about the big one next week, about the future of Jesse Marsch, Ralf Rangnick's big English adventure, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you've read anything about Germany this week, you'll know that Covid cases are skyrocketing. It stands to reason that the Bundesliga will have its share of cases, and indeed the likes of Joshua Kimmich, Thorgan Hazard and others will be sitting out Match Day 13. Listen in as JT and Flo walk you through how to replace some of those players, and tackle many, many other issues as well! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We keep thinking we can get out of talking about Covid and get back into talking about football...but Markus Anfang keeps pulling us back in. The Bremen coach's apparent vax card flim-flam is the story that's swallowing German football at the moment, and as it's taking place in the corridors of a 2. Bundesliga side, it's right on the Aufstieg edition's turf. Listen in as Nik, Jasmin and Maik talk the bizarre affair over, as well as discuss a number of other stories from the lower leagues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's not every week Bundesliga fans witness Bayern slip up and lose to a side in the relegation zone - and see the Rekordmeister's main challenger win to keep the pressure up. But dang if Augsburg and Dortmund each played their parts and pulled it off. Thanks to that - and perhaps a self-inflicted case of COVID knuckle-headery on Säbener Strasse, a fresh wind of competition now blows through the Bundesliga. Matt invites AFP's Kit Holden on the pod to talk that over, along with a certain fixture that wasn't very competitive - the Berlin derby, at which Kit's 1. FC Union Berlin basically mopped the floor with Matt's Hertha BSC. Listen in as a new Stadtmeister is crowned! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back! Just in time to get you ready for the Bundesliga re-start after the international break (and to recount the boys' Karneval get-ups), TF Fantasy is here with a new episode! Listen in as JT and Flo give you all the tips you need to rebuild your team while transfers are still unlimited, as well as what line-ups are likely to give you the best chance for the most points on a potentially high-scoring match day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hard to ask for much more from a match day than what we got from round 11. A couple of heavyweight clashes - Bayern-Freiburg and Leipzig-Dortmund - that stayed close on the scoreboard even if not in the balance of play, and a string of games with major plot twists in the final few minutes of action. Matt sits down with Matthew Marshall, who's been all over the country this week reporting for Get German Football News, to figure out what to make of it. Can SC Freiburg challenge for Champions League football next season? Are RB Leipzig more or less certain to get back there? And why can't the DFL just let Cologne play with miniature bow ties attached to their collars? All this and more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lots of intriguing match-ups on tap on Match Day 11 - and lots of opportunities to take a flutter on some long shots ahead of another unlimited transfer window (when you can clean up whatever mess you might make). Listen in as JT and Flo guide you through all the best picks for the weekend... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are you ready to Aufsteigen? We hope so, because Nik, Maik and Jasmine are ready with an update on the 2. Bundesliga and lower leagues. Among the topics: St. Pauli are still riding high, but didn't quite get the late win in Bremen they thought they did for a moment; HSV shake up the spelling on their shirts for a positive reason; Hannover 96 fans aren't too keen on their club's Covid-19 ticketing system; much more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whenever FC Bayern München lose big, there's bound to be fallout. This last stinger, a 5-0 reverse against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the cup, generated plenty of headlines, and on Bundesliga Match Day 10, plenty of headaches for 1. FC Union Berlin. Listen in as Matt talks through Bayern's unexpectedly humbling week, Eintracht's grand larceny, and Wolfsburg's rebuilt transmission with Lewis Ambrose, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you heard about blind football? It's a little different from the game we all know so well, but it's a way for people with severe visual impairments to get a chance to play the beautiful game. Blind football has made deep inroads in Germany, with many of the country's biggest clubs fielding a team, as you'll find out as Nik talks to his Aufstieg edition pal Maik Krükemeier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mark van Bommel, we hardly knew ye. No really, we only got to see you coach VfL Wolfsburg for nine games before you got the sack. Seems a bit harsh after a loss to SC Freiburg (which could happen to anyone these days), but that's the nature of the business. Matt rounds up Matthew Marshall, who's been doing plenty of ground-hopping lately, to get his thoughts on teams from around the league. According to him Mainz are back, Eintracht are sputtering, and Marco Rose might not be all he's cracked up to be... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the first week following unlimited transfers - a time to get used to your line-up decisions and circumscribed purchase options taking on a bit more importance. On a weekend with relatively few marquee matchups between elite sides, it's well worth weighing up each fixture to figure out where the best values lie. Listen in as JT and Flo do precisely that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When other podcasts go high, we here at Talking Fussball Extra go low. In another Aufstieg edition, Nik Wilhagen convenes his crack panel of Jasmine Baba and Maik Krükemeier for a lower league chat. Where do 2. Bundeliga newcomers FC Schalke and Werder Bremen stand, 10 games in? How the hell did St. Pauli bust loose in Heidenheim and how long can they stay on top? And what stories have been roiling the lower reaches of Germany's football pyramid? Listen and find out... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sometimes a team puts in a performance reminiscent of an avalanche - one whose sheer power and unstoppability feels so like a force of nature that their opponent seems unlucky to be the ones standing in the way. Such was FC Bayern München's first half in Leverkusen on MD8, a performance well worth waxing lyrical over. Join Matt and Terry for a bit of that hot wax, as well as Dortmund's sunny new outlook with a healthy Erling Haaland, Cologne's coming gut-check, Union Berlin's continued rise and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Club football's only been on pause for a week and a half, but already our pundits are reaping the benefits of a wee pause in the action. We're still in the midst of an unlimited transfer period, so there's plenty of time to overhaul your squad before Match Day 8 kicks off on Friday. Listen in as JT and Flo weigh up the benefits and costs involved in all sorts of decisions surrounding some tasty match-ups like Freiburg vs RB Leipzig, Union Berlin vs Wolfsburg, and Leverkusen vs Bayern. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An episode where we ponder a few questions with one of football media's great ponderers. What's driven little SC Freiburg to the top four this season? Will the club start thinking bigger now that they've moved into a brnd new stadium? What makes the club so preternaturally steady? Matt and Jon Mackenzie mull over these questions and more, as well as get to the bottom of what make Jon fall so hard for the club and the city. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After seven match days in the 2021-22 Bundesliga season, Bayer 04 Leverkusen are flying high. We've seen this kind of early success from the Pharmaceuticals before of course, only to see it melt away, but this time fells like things might be different. Listen in as Nik sits down with Eric Bruehl, host of the Neverkusen podcast, about the big changes new coach Gerardo Seoane has made in the team's tactical outlook, about Patrik Schick and the blossoming cluster of attacking talent around him, and what might lay ahead as the season progresses. A deep dive into the Werkself well worth digging into. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a Bundesliga-centric podcast, we here at Talking Fussball love all Bundesliga match days...just some more than others. MD7 was irresistible: a robust 3.4 goals-per-game average, two bicycle kick goals, and three come-from-behind wins - including one from Eintracht Frankfurt in FC Bayern München's Allianz Arena, a venue at which the eagles had literally never won. So Matt had more than a little to talk about with Marie Schulte-Bockum, including Leverkusen's uncharacteristically steady ascent this season, Gladbach's righting the ship in recent weeks and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Will he or won't he? He's a walking fantasy bonanza and he's been out of the lineup lately...but for how long? Can you afford to sell Haaland, at least until the unlimited transfers period in the international break? Listen in as JT and Flo address this pressing issue and many more ahead of Match Day 7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lots of change in the second tier. We're just eight games in and already four sides - Erzgebirge Aue, SV Sandhausen, Holstein Kiel and FC Ingolstadt - have parted ways with their coaches. Listen in as Nik WIldhagen, Jasmine Baba and Maik Krükemeier weigh in on each and attempt to diagnose what could right the ship. The gang then explain why it was that fourth-tier 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig's attempt to merge with VfB Leipzig made national news in Germany. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Bundesliga's twin towers, FC Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund, each stumbled into some 10-man adversity for half of a game of football, give or take. Only one managed to survive the ordeal and come away with a three-point haul. Matt and Terry get into the details of how it all went down and what we can learn from Gladbach's win (and Fürth's loss). They also pay a little tribute to SC Freiburg's Dreisamstadion, which will cease to be the club's top flight home from now on. All that and the rest of the antics from Match Day six... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We all had ideas about who to buy going into the season. We had ideas about who to play after the first week or two. Now, with five match days in the books, we know a few things moving forward. Bayern are such a shot (and goal) machine that it makes some of their expensive players seem affordable, Cologne's Anthony Modeste is a good value pick-up, and Freiburg defenders might be worth a flutter. Listen in as JT and Flo address these topics and much more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After years of resistance and denial, some in football are beginning to wake up: plenty of players take performance-enhancing drugs. That has big implications for the sport, but one of the most pressing problems isn't what you think - many footballers are mis-using legal drugs to help them with pain. Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) like Ibuprofen are given out "like smarties" by football clubs and can have alarming long-term effects. Listen in as Nik Wildhagen talks to ARD doping reporter Arne Steinberg about his work and what it means for the Bundesliga... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Round about five o'clock on Saturday afternoon, the Bundesliga was having a bad day. Just fifteen minutes remained in the afternoon's slate of matches, and not only had seven of the eight teams in action failed to score (snooze), but also the one team that had scored - champions for the last nine years and counting FC Bayern München - had already put six past their hapless opponents on their way to a 7-0 win. Could it be that it's true that this league is just going through the motions? Join Matt Hermann and Terry Duffelen as they wrestle with this proposition, with Dortmund's alarmingly flaky brilliance, with Jesse Marsch's future in Leipzig, and a lot more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With all the UEFA competitions under way, the games are coming thick and fast for more than a third of the teams in the Bundesliga. And while you might wish you could copy-and-paste Christopher Nkunku's numbers from this week's Champions League game in Manchester, it doesn't quite work that way. Listen in as JT and Flo provide you with strategies for dealing with squad rotation, lopsided match-ups (there are potentially several on MD5), and more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ready to dig into some stories from the lower rungs of German football? Nik Wildhagen sits down with Jasmine Baba and Maik Krükemeier for a good hour's chat about the highest-impact transfers in the 2. Bundesliga, the unsettling persistence of SV Sandhausen, and much more from the 3 Liga, Regionalligen and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was the Saturday we'd been waiting for all week - one with not one but two mouth-watering fixtures featuring four of the Bundesliga's top teams. The first was tasty indeed - the second lacked balance. Listen in as Matt talks with his old pal Ronan Murphy about BVB's stirring victory in Leverkusen, Leipzig's surrender at home to FC Bayern, all the Bundesliga sides' prospects in Europe, and which coaches are shopping at Dan Flashes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The subject of unlimited transfers came up in the course of our last episode - many of you are likely to have made a few moves to re-make your squads in the meantime. After you listen to JT and Flo's advice, you might need to make a few more. With two colossal clashes taking place this Saturday - Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig vs FC Bayern München - you'll really want to have your house in order before kick-off... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Remember the Royal Blues? They're the second-biggest membership club in Germany, they're a club with one of the most vaunted youth academies in Europe, they're one half of the biggest rivalry in the Bundesliga...and as of this season, they play their football in the 2. Bundesliga. Nik Wildhagen rounds up freelance journalist Ron Ulrich to get an update on what's going on with FC Schalke 04 in their new sporting environment - and hear what it might take for them to get out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is it time to take a break already? I suppose if we really want to have a World Cup in Qatar next year (debatable), we'd better get cracking on qualification. And while that means the Bundesliga has to go into standby mode for a couple weeks, at least many of the league's top teams gave us plenty to cheer about on MD3. Matt Hermann rings up Marie Schulte-Bockum to talk about Wolfsburg's solid start under Mark van Bommel, Dortmund's thrill-seeking behavior (and whether it's healthy), German teams' European draws, the newcomers in Hansi Flick's first squad, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some of you will be pleased with your haul from the first three match days...and some will not. In either case, Match Day 3 will be the last one before you can either sand off a few edges, or engage in a total tear-down of your squad. That's right, UNLIMTED TRANSFERS are just around the corner! Listen in as JT and Flo get you ready for the weekend's action, and give you tips on how to renovate over the international break.... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Want an hour on the 2. Bundesliga? You've come to the right place on this week's Talking Fussball Extra. Nik Wildhagen sits down with Jasmine Baba and Maik Krükemeier to dissect the opening weeks of Germany's second tier, which this year features a staggering string of the country's biggest clubs. Buckle up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Another goal-filled weekend of Bundesliga football - Jesse Marsch and Leipzig topped Pellegrino Matarazzo's Stuttgart in Germany's first face-off between two American head coaches, Leverkusen may have surprised even themselves by how convincingly they beat Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Cologne were far sprier than expected despite falling to FC Bayern. Matt Hermann and Terry Duffelen take in all this and more in this week's pod, which also casts a concerned glance at the shaky launch of Bundesliga coverage at the league's new UK broadcast partner Sky. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Another match day, another massive score from Erling Haaland. Or was it? If the big Norwegian is going to rack up points through assists as well as goals this season, JT and Flo may need to re-think his role in their fantasy universe. Plenty of other points to ponder from the opening weekend, including how much to trust your RB Leipzig stars, whether Stuttgart can keep up their blistering shot rate, and more. If you haven't done so already, sign up for Official Fantasy Bundesliga and play along with us this season! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

FC Bayern München and German National Team legend Gerd Müller died this past Sunday - his influence on both of those sides is difficult to overestimate. Der Bomber's otherworldly goalscoring record, his preternatural ability to appear at precisely the right place at the right time, and his down-to-earth personality made him one of German football's all-time icons. For this episode of Talking Fussball Extra, Nik Wildhagen sits down with someone with a unique perspective on Müller: Susie Schaaf, a lifelong Bayern and Germany fan, who grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she crossed paths with the man himself many times. The podcast ventures into some difficult, personal territory - Susie opens up not just about what Müller meant to her, but about her experience caring for and eventually mourning her mother, who struggled with Alzheimer's in the same years as Müller did. An emotional episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A boffo Bundesliga weekend in front of fans - it turns out that's what we'd been missing. We got goals galore, some head-scratching results, a few VAR controversies, goalkeeping heroics, and much more. Matt Hermann sits down with Nik Wildhagen to talk through the biggest goings on of Match Day 1, including Erling Haaland's latest stupefying actions, Bo Svensson's continued sorcery in Mainz, and an opening night fight between Gladbach and Bayern with some wild ebbs and flows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

And now...the second installment of our 2021-22 Bundesliga preview! This time out Matt, Nik and Terry profile the teams that finished from 7th place on down last season - and share in their predictions that they think a number of them may crack into the top six next year. Find out who the gang reckon bought well, hired poorly, and which coach they can reveal may have been a flat cap guy all along. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back Talking Fussballers! If you're not already counting the hours to the big Bundesliga kick-off on Friday, now would be a great time to start. To help you shave off one of those hours, here's the first installment of our two-part preview for the 2021-22 season. Matt Hermann sits down with Nik Wildhagen and Terry Duffelen to take in all the off-season doings at the heavyweights of the German top flight - last year's top six: FC Bayern München, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund, VfL Wolfsburg, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Unusually, ALL SIX have a new coach heading into the new season. Listen to the gang speculate wildly in this edition of TF... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're counting down the days until the 2021-22 - not only because so many of our favorite clubs and players are set to get back at it, but also because we can start playing Official Fantasy Bundesliga! Whether you're a committed player or a first-timer, this podcast is a great place to start when putting together your squad and selecting a team for Match Day 1. Listen in as JT and Flo break down the basics, explain the rules, and share their thoughts on getting the most out of your limited budget! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To cap off our four-part series on Bremen's demise, TF's two passionate Werder followers have decided to look forward to what they hope will be brighter days ahead. Which players could move on to lighten the wage bill? What moves need to be made to assemble a squad that can execute new coach Markus Anfang's system? And most of all, how long a stay in the second tier should fans expect? Listen in as Nik Wildhagen and Florian Reinecke take a closer look at all the changes the club has made to get ready for life in the 2. Bundesliga - and what still needs to get done... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The new 2. Bundesliga season is just about here, and for the first time in four decades, Werder Bremen is one of the clubs taking part. How precisely did the northern giants get there? If you've heard the last two episodes of Talking Fussball, you'll have heard our two crestfallen Werder fans Niklas Wildhagen and Florian Reinecke walk down memory lane through the good years of the 80s, 90s, and 00s as well as the last decade of decline. Now it's time to zoom in on the unhappy ending - listen in for Nik and Flo's post-mortem on how it all went wrong in the 2020-21 season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Where did it all go wrong for Werder Bremen? After last week's deep dive into the illustrious history of the club, this episode is all about the last decade-plus of decline. TF mainstays Nik Wildhagen and Florian Reinecke (both lifelong Werder fans) try to work out where it all went wrong. Strap in for a discussion about all the transfers gone wrong, all the coaches who never should have been hired, and all the players who never came close to reaching their potential. Yes, the 2020-21 season was a disaster, but the rot set in over time - so Nik and Flo have a lot to talk about... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Next season's Bundesliga will feature a Werder Bremen-shaped hole after the storied northern club failed to beat the drop this past May. For plenty of fans of the German game, that's a shame; for Talking Fussball's Nik Wildhagen and Flo Reinecke it's something closer to a tragedy. Both of them are life-long Werder fans, so they naturally have a lot to reflect on at the moment. So much, in fact, that Nik and Flo will be sitting down for a series of chats about their club - the highs and lows of its history, the key figures who built the club up, and what's gone wrong over the last decade. Up first in this episode, a look at the club's beginnings, as well as its rise to great heights in the 80s, 90s and 00s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well...Germany's group stage finale vs Hungary was a little dicier than Jogi and the boys had hoped, but the job got done. Now they just have to get ready to play England, at Wembley. Matt and Nik sit down to talk another ropey performance over, as well as what might be learned in time for Tuesday's round of 16 game. They also reflect on Robert Lewandowski and Poland's exit, Denmark's inspirational advancement, and a few transfers back in the ol' Bundesliga. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's been an up-and-down tournament for Germany thus far - perhaps more down-and-up, to be honest. Hungary, meanwhile, have only picked up one point but have put their fans in good spirits. The team's tireless defending (and occasional forward threat) meant they've been very much in the game with both Portugal and France, and they hope to make life difficult for Germany too. To find out more, Nik gets hold of Hungarian Journalist Gergely Marosi for a chat. They touch on the match, the tournament, and the conflict over symbols supporting gay rights coming to a head as Germany host Hungary... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

And they say history doesn't mean anything. Germany had been mostly rubbish coming into Euro 2020 (in 2021), but as soon as you pit them against Portugal, they dazzle. No surprise, according to precedent - Die Nationalmannschaft have absolutely owned Portugal throughout Cristiano Ronaldo's otherwise storied international career, handing CR7 FIVE losses in major tourneys. The victory means Matt and Nik are in a fairly buoyant mood for this one, recounting what went right for Jogi and the boys, thinking about what might lay ahead in the Group F finale, and which Bundesliga performers on other national teams have stood out so far. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was not a rousing start from Die Nationalmannschaft in Euro 2020 (in 2021), as Jogi and the boys went down 1-0 to France. They pushed the ball around more or less at will, but when it came to creating chances, they weren't able to get much going. But did that have more to do with Germany or with France? Matt Hermann rings up Matthew Marshall, who's been following the tournament for PortuGOAL, and find out what kind of challenge Germany are up against when they take on CR7 and co on Saturday... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's been an eventful first few days here in Euro 2020 (in 2021)-land. Viewers around the world were reminded just what a piffle the whole affair is compared to a person's life and well-being, a host of players (and even whole countries) have scored their first European Championship goals, and Germany are about to get off the mark against World Cup holders France. Matt Hermann rang up his old friend (and friend of the pod) Andy Brassell to talk about Les Bleus' preparations, how coach Didier Deschamps might set them up to play, and what he and the Football Ramble gang have planned for their daily coverage of the tournament. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ready for the Euros? Matt and Nik just about are, so they thought it was time to get together and get their heads around what's at stake for Bundesliga fans. Can Jogi Löw turn the narrative and go out on a high with a good performance from the Nationalmannschaft? What Bundesliga stars on other teams are likely to make a big impression on the tournament? And why does everybody have to criss-cross the continent on airplanes when there's still a pandemic on again? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're skipping the Best XI, and going further than naming a player of the season. The Bundesliga is done for the summer and Matt and Marie have been watching a lot of basketball, so they thought why not give out awards in the spirit of the NBA. What Eintracht player is our Most Improved Player? What speedy winger took home our Rookie of the Year? And is there even a question who was the MVP? Listen in and find out...  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt, Reiss and Nik had to give Bayern's Polish striking icon his due to open the show after surpassing Gerd Müller's seemingly unbreakable record, but let's be honest - Werder going down is a big deal too. What once was a club who regularly competed for titles has turned, over the past decade, into husk of its former self. Nik's naturally got a lot to say about that, so Matt makes sure to give him time to say his piece. Look on the bright side though - Reiss is also here to sell us on what looks to be an intriguing 2. Bundesliga next year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What a season it's been. Record-setting exploits from FC Bayern München and Robert Lewandowski; overachievement from the likes of VfL Wolfsburg, 1. FC Union Berlin and VfB Stuttgart; deep despair for fans of FC Schalke 04. There's one more shot at redemption, not only for the three sides still in relegation trouble (including Flo's beloved Werder Bremen) but also for every fantasy manager who's just points away from their goal. Listen in for tips on how to get there from JT and Flo! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did you ever expect anybody to hit that 40-goal mark again? The one that had stood for 50 YEARS? We weren't convinced it would even happen, but Robert Lewandowski didn't get the message. He drew level with Gerd Müller's mark with a game to spare on Match Day 33 and, well, that's kind of a big deal. Matt and Terry come together to praise the peerless Pole, suss out how Dortmund managed to save their season over the last month, and discuss the continued relentless churn of the Bundesliga coaching carousel.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week saw big-point jackpots from the usual subjects (Robert Lewandowski) and from some rather more surprising sources (Josip Brekalo). With seven of nine games taking place simultaneously, it's ever more important to get your squad right before kick-off time on Saturday. Listen in as JT and Flo give their top tips for players to pick up! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ready for another round of Borussia Dortmund vs. RB Leipzig? We sure are, after taking in the two teams' pulsating 3-2 encounter  on Match Day 32. Matt and Nik talk through how the two teams might set up for Thursday's DFB Pokal final, as well as what's keeping them from providing a somewhat sterner challenge for (re-)newly-crowned champions Bayern. More on Eintracht's troubles keeping up in the race for the Champions League, as well as which poor club will be the one to fail in the race to beat the drop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Hertha BSC out of action on the last two match days, there's been a decided lack of Ha Ho He on the podcast. A full-blown in-house coronavirus quarantine kept the team away from the pitch for two weeks, leading to a pile-up of make-up fixtures that struck fear in the hearts of many a Herthaner trying to make it through a relegation battle unscathed. Matt (Talking Fussball's resident Hertha obsessive) was beginning to feel a few pangs of withdrawal, so he decided to up the Hertha dial to 11. An anyway, the team's early results are in - a draw and a win in the first of two games in hand - and now the outlook is...pretty good! Listen in as he works through his cautious optimism with Joe Gould, co-host of the Don't Poke the Bearcast, a still-rather-new show dedicated to Hertha BSC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With just three match days to go in the 2020-21 Bundesliga season, there's not a lot of time left to rack up points - and not a lot of room for mistakes. Listen in as JT and Flo answer all your questions on whom to sell, buy, drop, put into your starting XI, and make your star man.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If wasn't already clear, 1. FSV Mainz 05 are up to something under first-year head coach Bo Svensson. They've crawled out of the mire they once shared with poor old FC Schalke 04 with alarming vigor, and are not just not bad anymore - they're good. FC Bayern München learned that the hard way this weekend; the Rekordmeister's loss makes goings on at both ends of the table just a little more interesting. Matt and Nik talk through developments in the relegation fight, the resurgence of the old guard of Champions League aspirants, where the coaching carousel is likely to spin for one Jesse Marsch and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's been a long week in the world of football, says JT about five minutes into this episode. You can say that again - it was enough to throw Flo off his game ahead of the midweek match day. What's great about an englische Woche, though, is you get a chance to make up for your mistakes nearly right away. Listen in for some strategies... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pretty hard to talk about anything but the plans for a European Super League, even for a podcast that  focuses on a league  whose leading lights decided not to go down that road. Matt and Nik get on the line with ESPN's Stephan Uersfeld to make sense of the big news, to sort out why so many coaches seem to want out of their contracts, and what Hertha's Covid crisis might mean for the relegation battle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Hertha BSC stuck in quarantine, we thought we'd zoom in on the capital club ahead of this week's match day wrap episode on Monday. Before the club's covid crisis, the big news coming out of Hertha was the uproar in Hungary - at the highest levels of government(!) - over the firing of Zsolt Petry. Nik gets hold of Hungarian Journalist Gergely Marosi to find out why... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ready for  three  games in 10 days? You'd better be, because it's englische Woche time in the Bundesliga. Fantasy managers need to stay on their toes with such a fixture pile-up, and JT and Flo have ideas on how to do just that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Never mind their 2-2 draw in Berlin; what's next for Gladbach? They're set to lose  coach Marco Rose at the end of the season and don't yet have  a successor lined up (though  Adi Hütter is getting closer and closer to signing), and they've got work to do if they want to secure European football next year. Nik rounds up Manni Breuer from the Vollraute Abroad podcast to help answer those questions, as well as address 1. FC Köln's call to the fire department and  gush over the beautiful 4-3 slugfest that was Eintracht vs. Wolfsburg. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just seven match days remain in the Bundesliga season, which means it may be time to re-examine your squad-building strategy. (Hopefully you like what you bought last week when the transfers were unlimited!) Listen in as JT and Flo help you figure out the players you'll want to keep and which to send to the discard pile. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you didn't know before, now you know. Bayern are going to win the league, Wolfsburg and Frankfurt are all but in next year's UEFA Champions League, and BVB are set to be out in the cold. (Or the Europa League. We're not sure which.) Listen in as Matt and Kit consider these storylines, review the Berlin Derby, and  more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The international break brought a shock Germany loss, a coaching change at Bayern 04 Leverkusen, and - most importantly - an injury for  the Bundesliga's top goalscorer. Robert Lewandowski is set to be out for a couple of games at least, so this week's unlimited transfers are a tempting juncture to make a few changes up front. Listen in as JT and Flo give their ideas on who to pick up, who might thrive under Hannes Wolf, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Xabi Alonso back in the Bundesliga? Borussia Mönchengladbach Sporting Director Max Eberl seems keen to make it happen, and who can blame him,  because wouldn't it be a  treat, just watching the Spaniard smolder up and down the touchline? The prospect gave Matt, Marie, and Reiss plenty to talk about - along with plenty on FC Bayern München's underhanded overpowering of VfB Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund's sense of frustration after a draw with lowly 1. FC Köln, and the fact that 1. FSV Mainz are actually good now. We also settle an interesting listener question that goes like this: "Which team in the league is most boring to watch, and why is it Augsburg?" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you're the Fantasy Fussballgott, you don't lose the title after one bad week. That's the ruling handed down by Judge JT - and lucky for Flo after he failed to pick up many points at all last weekend. The delightful duo talk strategy over whether to gamble on another unlimited transfer over the coming international break, where to put your money in the unpredictable RB Leipzig squad, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

FC Bayern München are back in front by four points after RB Leipzig found the going a bit too tough against Eintracht Frankfurt. Borussia Dortmund -along with fellow European aspirants VfL Wolfsburg and 1. FC Union Berlin - had a  positive week for themselves. And while it may sound hard to believe on a weekend during which they lost 5-0, FC Schalke 04 may have  hit a bigger jackpot than both of them after reports emerged that Ralf Rangnick looks set to join as Sporting Director. Matt and Nik talk through it all, an Reiss Tigwell drops by to pull an ol' rescue-o-rama. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's that time of the season - the one where your best-laid plans for the perfect line-up fall apart through no fault of your own. Amine Harit's late-breaking injury before Schalke's game against Mainz threw a monkey wrench into Flo's team last week, and you can be sure that a player or two you were counting on will do the same sometime soon. Listen in as the Fantasy Fussballgott and JT give you the good word on how to make your team a little less vulnerable to the slings and arrows of outrageous injury...  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Erling Haaland tried to make it a game. The strapping Norwegian opened Der Klassiker by scoring two goals inside of ten minutes, and BVB's bunkering act was nearly as good for the remaining 80. But you know what they say about nearly men. Suffice it to say there was a lot to chew on following the big game, and Matt and Nik are determined to gnaw out as much flavor as they can. Tune in for all the best (and rest) of match  day 24, plus a check-in on doomed side Schalke with Marie Schulte-Bockum and another edition of Reiss Tigwell's Rescued from Oblivion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All eyes in the  Bundesliga are on Der Klassiker - which shouldn't come as a surprise considering the history, the hype, and the circumstances surrounding the fixture this season. But as any good fantasy manager knows, many of the biggest points are in the more out-of-the-way corners of the league. JT and Flo answer all your questions ahead of MD24. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This one's a treat. When we heard the biggest German player in North America's top soccer league was starting a podcast, we had to find out more - by the time we got him for an interview, the show had just been born. Listen in as Julian Gressel tells Matt about Zee Soccer Podcast, his new show with fellow MLS kraut Fabian Herbers (Chicago Fire), his undying love for one particular Bundesliga club, how he came back from being cut loose by Greuther Fürth at age 15, and what his hopes are for the coming season at DC United. Enjoy! And if you (like Julian) are looking to start a podcast, consider submitting your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What in the world? FC Schalke 04 have just about topped their own lofty standards for chaos this time - firing no less than five key sporting-side employees in one fell swoop. Mind you, they're not alone in head-scratching personnel moves. With just 11 games left, Arminia Bielefeld are making a coaching change - one they say is to preserve their chances of long-term success.  Meanwhile, with der Klassiker looming next week, it's RB Leipzig who appear most poised to take advantage of a BVB win, should the Schwarzgelben manage to pull that off. Listen in as Matt and Nik take it all in. Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week was a bit patchy for Fantasy Fussballgott Flo (a fact that JT is not about to let go unnoticed), but this week's fixtures have plenty of promise. The episode is a little shorter than usual - JT was set to meet up with with some Young Boys in Leverkusen later that evening - but rest assured, you'll get all the fantasy advice you need ahead of match day 23. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This one's a break from the norm: A look at a form of football culture that transcends the Bundesliga (though it's a force there as well). James Montague comes on the show to talk about his book 1312: Among the Ultras: A journey with the world’s most extreme fans.  Nik and James talk through the origins of the Ultra movement, its political and social dimensions, and why it has spread across the globe. In Germany, Morocco, Argentina, Indonesia - just about anywhere the world's game is played - ultras are hugely influential in football and how we consume it.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're happy to report an uptick in excitement at the upper reaches of the table. FC Bayern München are slipping up, RB Leipzig are  looking steadier by the week, and  Eintracht Frankfurt have a rocket strapped to their back. Matt and Nik look at those teams' success, Borussia Dortmund's beatdown of the hapless FC Schalke 04, and Reiss Tigwell drops by to heap praise on VfL Wolfsburg. Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A lot to think about ahead of Match Day 22. We've got big scorers on both sides of the ball on Saturday as  FC Bayern München visits Eintracht Frankfurt - who do you put in your team? Borussia Dortmund come into weekend with a Champions League victory wind in their sails, but the Revierderby has thrown up weird results before - can FC Schalke 04 pull off a surprise? And with Coronavirus cases present in at least two squads this week, will there be some  last-minute scratches in store? Listen in as JT and Flo sort it all out... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you've been listening to the podcast this season, you have definitely heard Nik, Matt and others praise VfB Stuttgart's performances in its first season back in the top flight after a two-year absence. Attacking talents like Silas Wamangatuka, Nicolas Gonzales and others have been setting the Bundesliga alight and coach  Pellegrino Matarazzo has garnered plenty of praise for his intelligent tactical set-up. Yet all is not well at the club - a boardroom power struggle has stolen the headlines in the local press, and some fans worry it has the potential to endanger the club's return to success. Nik talks with Thilo Neumann of Der Spiegel, one of the reporters who has been instrumental in uncovering some of the key facts, in an episode designed to help you understand a verrrrry complicated story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When six out of eight games on the weekend end on level terms, you have to hand it to the teams that went out and won. A hearty round of applause to Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig for picking up three points when nobody else was up to the task. No, not even red-hot VfL Wolfsburg, who couldn't quite put a goal past Borussia Mönchengladbach. (Marco Rose is definitely off the Christmas list now, going public with his end-of-season move to Dortmund  after we recorded this pod but before we could release it.) Listen in as Matt and Nik talk about the torrent of draws, who's happy with them, and why Bayern  (who didn't play) lost in  the PR game despite winning Dayot Upamecano's signature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the dust settled on last weekend's action, the cancellation of the Bielefeld -Bremen match didn't end up being such a bad thing for some fantasy managers. Players were awarded their per-game season averages and we all got to move on. Will MD21 be another week of winter weather trouble, or maybe even a Covid outbreak-marred round? And if it is, what should you do? JT and Flo don't reckon that's likely, but it's well worth thinking through. That and a host of other fantasy dilemmas solved in this week's TF Fantasy... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can we call what Dortmund is going through a crisis now? The Talking Fussball crew is ready to ring that particular bell, so there's much to discuss. How did BVB lose in Freiburg, despite holding their hosts to next-to-no good chances? What's to be done about the goalkeeper position? And how has Edin Terzic succeeded where so many before him have failed - namely, stopped Erling Haaland from scoring? All that and a look at Gladbach's Rheinderby loss, Bayern's tarmac misadventures, Reiss's rescue of Mainz-Union, and goodness gracious great balls of Eintracht! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you've busted your budget on can't miss players up front (like a lot of us), you're always on the lookout for more modestly-priced options - especially at the back - to fill out your roster. JT and Flo share a few picks to solve that problem on Match Day 20, as well as remind you to follow the action in the TFF Pokal! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With FC Bayern München making sure there wouldn't be another slip-up against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, RB Leipzig needed full points on Saturday night to stay within touching distance of the top. They did just that, picking up their first win of the season against a fellow Spitzenmannschaft (top team) in Leverkusen. But who is a Spitzenmannschaft anyway? Adi Hütter reckons his Eintracht Frankfurt side are one at the moment, and VfL Wolfsburg might be too as they spend another week in the top four. Listen in as Matt and Nik hash the issue out, along with much more after an eventful Match Day 19. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A few of you were feeling laid up by the epidemic of penalty saves and misses, but don't get twisted: many of the guys who failed to convert are still going to be good earners going forward. JT and Flo are here to set you straight about who to put in your XI on a Match Day 19 that features a tricky fixture schedule. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thank goodness there was something to take our mind off the incredible disappearing title race. With Bayern making sure this season is likely to end much as the last eight did, Matt and Nik turn their primary attention to Hertha BSC. The capital club has been a basket case this season, but there's reason for hope.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We could talk about Yannick Gerhardt's non-appearance against Mainz after last episode's fanfare. We could talk about what marginal gains could be had by taking a look at who's playing when on the weekend, but STOP THE PRESSES - we have an unlimited transfer situation on our hands! JT and Flo are here to help you with that total squad renovation project you've been putting off all these weeks ahead of MD18. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're now 66.66% through the Bundesliga's latest englische Woche and the narratives are coming thick and fast. So fast it can be hard to keep track. To take the temperature of as many teams as he could, Nik recruits a string of voices from around the league to react to: Leverkusen's big win against Dortmund, a shock for Stuttgart in Ostwestfalen, Hertha's horror night against Hoffenheim and much more, in a konferenz-style speed round. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's a quick turnaround here before MD17 gets started on Tuesday, so we'll have to be quick...but not that quick. JT and Flo planned to bang out a tight 15 minutes for you here, and ended up closer to 30! Dig in for answers to plenty of your questions on big-money strikers, bargain defenders and much more - including a certain Werder Bremen player's contribution to the hip-hop canon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yes, we know it's January already but honestly we had to wait until now to crown FC Bayern München Herbstmeister. That peculiar title ('autumn champion') usually goes to the side in the lead going into the winter break, but this season's odd calendar means the designation was up for grabs until this weekend. What happened? Well, Bayern won and all the rest of the teams in the top four lost and the Bavarians claim the crown. That turn of events naturally makes this week's guest pundit Rick Joshua pleased - he and Nik talk about the title race slipping away, as well as the tarnish on Union's big win, the last minute drama in Stuttgart, and the swaggering return of Luka Jovic. Reiss' rescue this week: Bremen's battling win to get a leg up on the rest of the back of the pack.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a big haul for the likes of Amine Harit and Matthew Hoppe last week, is it time to invest in Schalke? How can you cash in on the increasingly fallible Bayern? And is it time to get off of a few assets who have failed to perform since the re-start...or show a little patience? With several mouthwatering fixtures (Union v Leverkusen, Leipzig v Wolfsburg, Stuttgart v Gladbach) coming up this weekend, you won't want to miss this podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some match days are bigger than others - this one was gigantic. The league leaders gave up three goals unanswered to lose in Mönchengladbach. Dortmund, up and down so much this season, got a signature win in Leipzig. Hapless Schalke rode Matthew Hoppe's goals to glory - their first three-point haul in nearly a YEAR. Suffice it to say there was plenty for Matt and Nik to talk about, and Reiss drops by to rescue Bielefeld's win over Hertha from oblivion. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The extra-short winter break ended a bit too soon for our fantasy mavens last weekend - but they've got you covered for Match Day 15. Listen in as James Thorogood and Florian Reinecke break down the best moves for the weekend, including listener questions on players from Freiburg, Leverkusen, Hoffenheim and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well that was quick. After the shortest Winterpause we've ever experienced, the Bundesliga got back down to business. The Rekordmeister went down early (again) and won (again), Wolfsburg failed to get a result against BVB (again), and Schalke trotted out a new coach and didn't win (again). Listen in as Matt and Nik talk through, as well as welcome Reiss Tigwell as part of a new feature we call Rescued from Oblivion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was fun while it lasted, folks. After a two-matchday exile from the top, FC Bayern München muscled Bayer 04 Leverkusen off the summit with a last-second winner from Robert Lewandowski. Matt and Nik talk the dramatic win over, as well as assess how the Bundesliga's various teams should feel about the season so far as they head into a wee break. Plenty on Dortmund's next move, Schalke and Mainz's predicaments, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We know it's not really our day of the week, but we thought we'd just drop in with a few perspectives on Match Day 12. First up, Nik and Terry D comb over their two teams' clash - the first one for Dortmund under new coach Edin Terzic - as well as a bit on the rest of Tuesday's action. Then, as all three of the tightly-packed top sides won on Wednesday, Matt calls up Jack Mangan of the Schalkemerica podcast for a chat about the Royal Blues' worrying situation... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We all knew it was coming - just not this soon. Instead of playing out the string until summer, BVB decided a 5-1 home loss to Stuttgart was all they needed to see to end Lucien Favre's tenure as the club's coach. Matt and Nik unspool how it happened, who might be in the frame to take his place, and more - including Leverkusen's climb to the top and the outlook ahead of a big English Week in the Bundesliga. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What do you do when you when the games start to come thick and fast? You plan ahead! We're heading into a week with THREE sets of fixtures in the space of ten days, so you'd better get your squad set before it begins. JT and Flo are here to help - listen in! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A thriller of a 3-3 draw between title hopefuls Bayern München and RB Leipzig was the headline game on Match Day 10. With draws and losses for the rest of the top six, it was Bayer Leverkusen who walked away the big winners. Apart from Hertha that is - the Old Lady held on to bragging rights in the Berlin derby. As is becoming tradition, Kit Holden drops by to talk with Matt about the big game; Nik acts as referee. Finally, Karan Tejwani is here to talk about his new book Wings of Change: how the world's biggest energy drinks company made its mark in football. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here we go again. While FC Bayern München's steely efficiency saw it through in Stuttgart, Dortmund fell prey to their old troubles with smaller sides. Matt and Nik chat about those two teams' fortunes on MD9, mull over how good Leipzig really is, consider next week's Berlin Derby, and sort through Schalke's multi-layered troubles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Everyone knows who the two best strikers in the Bundesliga are - but who's the third? ANd more importantly, who's going to score the most points on Match Day 9? JT and Flo are here to walk you through the answer to that question as well as many many others. Listen and learn... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just after it looked like the 2020 Golden Boy winner might have to stay home and quarantine, Erling Braut Haaland didn't just show up to play - he slayed. Four goals in a 5-2 win over Hertha Berlin sent Dortmund back into second, just a point back from Bayern, who had a surprisingly tough time against Werder. Matt and Nik talk the action at the top over, check in on the cellar dwellers, and hear a bit from this week's Patreon Deep Dive on VfB Stuttgart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The international break is finally over and the Bundesliga is back ! There's unlimited transfers ahead of Match Day 8 so get stuck in! JT and Flo get you ready for action. For more advice for the entire pre-Winterpause period, head over to our Patreon page for a bonus TFF! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here comes another peek behind the Patreon curtain folks - a little look at some of the wealth of bonus content you could have access to if you became a TF patron! First up Nik talks to Michael Wagg, author of The Turning Season, a book of reportage and cultural history that looks back on the pivotal 1989-90 DDR Oberliga season and the 30 years since. Truly a can't-miss interview. In the back half, you'll hear Nik and Vollraute Abroad podcaster Manuel Breuer dissect Broussia Mönchengladbach's performances thus far this season. A meaty chat with a true Foals expert, and a taste of what we're doing in all off the Deep Dive editions zooming in on a single team on Patreon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On a weekend of high spirits, we got a Dortmund-Bayern game that lived up to its billing as a Klassiker. Five goals, chances galore, and a run of play that suggested the loser may have come out on top on another day. Matt and Nik talk it all over, along with the seven-goal epic that was Leverkusen-Gladbach, the strong showing from the two Berlin sides, and a puzzling power struggle in Wolfsburg. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sometimes your absolutely nail it with your line-up...and sometimes your team is a bit of a shambles. Last week our panel was composed of one of each, as Flo's boys flew and JT's just didn't. Listen in as they look ahead to Match Day 7 and strategize a bit for the coming weeks as well.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A week ahead of the game which is set to swallow German football (Dortmund vs. Bayern), Matt and Nik take a moment to peer at the fortunes of a few of the other teams near the top of the table after Match Day 6. Gladbach followed up their near-misses in Europe with a huge result over Leipzig, who still seemed a little zonked from their bad night at Old Trafford. Leverkusen are thinking big now that Lucas Alario is finally getting in gear, and Augsburg stayed on a positive path as well.  We also announce winners in our opening salvo of prize draws for our subscribers on Patreon. Listen in to find out the next chance to win! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're thrilled with the response to our call for new subscribers to our Patreon page over the last week...and still we're hungry for more! Here comes a taste of some of the material we've been posting in recent days. Here are portions of two Deep Dives, long-form chats with journalists and podcasters who share intimate knowledge about one particular team. In the spotlight in this episode are Werder Bremen (with Christoph Bähr of the Weser Kurier) and FC St. Pauli (with Maik Krükemeier of the MillernTon pod). Enjoy...and consider becoming a patron! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Another mixed bag for Bundesliga sides in the Champions League. Bayern rolled as normal, Dortmund bounced back, Leipzig didn't show up, and Gladbach suffered more heartbreak. That's all well and good - but who among those sides' stars will be ready to suit up and play this weekend? JT and Flo have the answers...to the best of their knowledge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bayern and Dortmund breeze it; Leipzig and Gladbach endure tougher tests but show they're up to the task. Match Day five was a good day at the office for the Bundesliga's Champions League hopefuls. Matt and Nik get to the bottom of all that winning, and consult with Brian Sanders of the Hey Eintracht Frankfurt podcast to hear about the Eagles' first loss of the season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No fewer than SIX Bundesliga sides were in European action this week, and that means fantasy managers will have to keep on their toes heading into Match Day 5. Listen in as JT and Flo help you sort out who's in, who's out, and how you might keep as many options open as you can! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What with the UEFA Champions League and Europa League getting started this week, perhaps we shouldn't have been surprised to see a bit of a low-wattage weekend. Four 1-1 draws and only one team scoring more than two goals made for a few less fireworks, but didn't dent our enthusiasm for this week's guest. Matt sat down with his old pal Kit Holden, who's been working the Union beat for Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper. He's got lots to say about the Köpenickers' solid start, as well as ideas about which German sides have the best chances to put a real dent into European competition this season. In the middle of the show, Nik Wildhagen talks to Christian Woop, who's just completed a study on how the German press cover RB Leipzig - hear more of that interview on our Patreon page! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back from the international break - if you don't recognize us, it's because the recent unlimited transfers period means our rosters have experienced a LOT of turnover. Not to worry though - JT and Flo are still in the house, dispensing the sage advice you've come to depend on. Find out where you should be spending your money in a week where a real rebuild is possible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Bundesliga took this past weekend off - Talking Fussball didn't. Most of the action is over on our Patreon page, where you can get a slew of bonus material. This edition is a taster of some of the material you can get over there. First up is an extract of Nik's interview with Marco Timmer, a Dutch journalist with lots to say about Mario Götze's move to PSV to work with Roger Schmidt. You can hear more from Timmer if you become a patron. In the back half, you'll hear a portion of the newest Talking Fussball Extra, a show where we stretch out and go in depth on big issues facing the German game. Here Nik talks to DW's Felix Tamsut about some of the implications of the grand plan for German football's future set out by fan group Unsere Kurve. You can hear the whole episode if you become a patron for as little as $3 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bundesliga fans witnessed a masterclass on Sunday when Robert Lewandowski scored all four in a wild 4-3 win for FC Bayern München over upstarts Hertha BSC. Both teams were among the most active on deadline day, with some surprising faces entering and exiting the buildings at Säbener Strasse and Olympiapark.  Listen in as Matt and Nik run through all of Monday's biggest moves, all the 4-0 stompings on Match Day 3, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bundesliga fans were treated to a topsy-turvy match day last weekend - one which brought surprises and excitement...and a fiar bit of disappointment for Official Fantasy Bundesliga players. JT (73 points) and Flo (87 points) lick their wounds for a moment, then get down to the business of fixing things ahead of MD3. Listen in for all their tips as well as answers to your questions! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bayern had a hell of a run these last 10 months, beating just about all comers - on match day two they got a taste of their own medicine. Hoffenheim took down the champs, and Augsburg did likewise to last season's runners up Dortmund. Matt and Nik talk all this over, as well as where Schalke and Mainz now stand as they look for new coaches after disastrous starts. (We get help in the latter case from kicker's Mainz beat writer Michael Ebert!) All that and a bunch more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Opening weekend brought goals galore...and plenty of points for fantasy managers! JT and Flo are here to run through what worked, what didn't, and how you can find your own ace in the hole for Match Day 2. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If it's goals you're after, opening weekend in the Bundesliga was pretty dang satisfying. Bayern went ballistic, BVB unleashed the young lions...hell, even Hertha put up big numbers. Matt gets Nik WIldhagen on the line to talk over all the action, answer listener questions, as well as plug his new Historic Matchday Moments series over on the TF Patreon page.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maybe you're new to the Official Fantasy Bundesliga, maybe you're an addict of long standing. Either way, you're almost certain to learn something from this. Fantasy freaks James Thorogood and Flo Reinecke are back with tips galore on setting up your team for the 2020-21 Bundesliga season. This one's an extended player - enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bayern's big win in the 2020 UEFA Champions League final was just a few weeks ago...but it's already time for them to start defending their Bundesliga title. Matt rounds up podcast veteran Abel Meszaros for an in-depth discussion of how nailed-on another title is for the Rekordmeister, which of last year's top four will challenge for top spot, which Traditionsverein could be in relegation trouble, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So Bayern went and made it a double with a win in the DFB Pokal Final, while Werder Bremen got out of their two-legged relegation playoff without a win...but a ticket to the top flight ride for another year. Matt gets together with podcast stalwarts Terry Duffelen and Nik Wildhagen for a wide-ranging chat about the future of fallen giants Bremen, Bayern's dominance (and whether it'll ever cease), and a host of other topics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 2019-20 Bundesliga season reached its conclusion this weekend with one more big surprise in store: Werder Bremen shot past Fortuna Düsseldorf to reach the relegation playoff.  Matt calls up Marie Schulte-Bockum for a chat about the relegation drama, as well as about he profound anger being expressed by fans of her club Schalke 04 as they head into the offseason.  He's also joined by Eva-Lotta Bohle of the 2. Bundesliga Podcast for a bit of a primer on her club Arminia Bielefeld. An extended version of the chat will appear on the Talking Fussball Patreon page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bremen and Düsseldorf are in a dogfight for a chance to stay in the league, Gladbach and Leverkusen are racing for fourth place and Champions league status, and Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg still have to sort out sixth and seventh. That may not sound like a lot of teams with a lot left to play for, but it means most of the games on Saturday will feature at least one side going all out. JT and Flo are here to answer all your queries on this all-listener question special. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

33 of 34 match days are in the books, and the seven teams who'll play in Europe next season are already known. But who plays in which competition is not yet clear...and what the five remaining Bundesliga participants in THIS year's Champions and Europa Leagues will do with all their July downtime is not clear at all. Matt and goal.com's Ronan Murphy talk all this over, as well as the drama on relegation row, the future of a few high profile coaches and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Bundesliga is working overtime. It's an English week, with matches on Tuesday and Wednesday sandwiched between the league's usual weekend exertions. Matt rounds up Derek Rae - one of the world's great soccer play-by-play men - to talk over what went down on Match Day 31, as well as what's in store as the season comes to a close. Topics include: Which team looks likeliest to make the league's top five into a top six, how a former Bundesliga title winning club found itself bankrupt, and what could be in store as the league prepares to move to ESPN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So...we didn't have the best outing last weekend. A few poor picks and some schoolboy errors combined to torpedo both JT and Flo. Luckily, our two hosts have plenty of ideas to get it right on Match Day 31 - listen in as they figure out where to put your money up front, whether a certain Leverkusen superstar will be healthy and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jadon Sancho was the big star last week, scoring three goals and taking a stand against police violence and racism too. In this episode, JT and Flo commiserate over missing out on the young Englishman's big point haul - a mistake they won't make again - and discuss how to make room for him on Match Day 30. What else? Value picks from Frankfurt, which players to ride all the way to the end, and much much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So much went on in the Bundesliga as an English Week came to a close - perhaps nothing that had more impact than four players calling for "Justice for George Floyd."  Matt welcomes new guest June Pan (Unusual Efforts, Bundesliga Fanatic, Not a Football Podcast) on to the show for a wide-ranging discussion of the fan culture-sized hole in the Bundesliga, protest messaging in a stadium-as-brand-space, the title race that almost was, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The games are coming thick and fast at the moment - not much time to get ready for another wave here on Match Day 29.  Listen in as JT and Flo fill your cups with player picks, superschnäppchen, and some good-natured ribbing over their results from midweek action. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Another weekend of boffo Bundesliga action is in the books - and there's more to come in just a few short hours. Bayern and Dortmund cruised to victory ahead of their head to head match-up, while Hertha continued their surge by throttling cross-town rivals Union. Matt talks to Kit Holden (MailOnline, Tagesspielgel) this week, and the latter is sporting enough to let the former have a good gloat. (After all, it's only fair.)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good first week back? There were some funky line-ups for sure, but plenty of points to be had. Listen in as JT and Flo talk through the highs and lows of last weekend, figure out what we've learned, and set up the first "English Week" of the Bundesliga's post-pandemic season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did you watch the Bundesliga this weekend? Of course you did - it was the only football there was, and that suits us just fine. Longtime Bundesliga obsessive Matt rounds up Marie Schulte-Bockum to talk over Schalke's faceplant in Dortmund, Bayern's big win in Berlin, and the extremely weird sonic atmosphere across the league. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's been a long time - remember how to play Bundesliga Fantasy? JT and Flo sure do, and they're here to remind you what to do on Match Day 26. There are plenty of unusual variables at play as we get back from lockdown - listen in as they help you sort though them all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Not much longer now - Germany's state governors gave the green light to football resuming, and the DFL has set May 16 as the big day. Hot damn. Plenty of joy to be felt at the news, but plenty of questions too for Matt and Nik to wrestle with: Are the players really up for this? Is the start date too soon for teams who haven't yet had a full team training session? And will games without fans end up being be a huge bummer? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Bundesliga could be back as soon as May 9 - wheeeeee!!!! It might not be such a smooth road toward resumption, however, as Nik and Matt discuss in this definitely/maybe-flavored episode. Plenty of hypotheticals, moral quandaries and even a bit of history.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're still inside, and we're still reading. This week we have the author of one of Germany's most hotly anticipated football books, Der Schlüssel zum Spiel (The Key to the Game). Yes, in this episode Nik got old pal Tobias Escher of spielverlagerung.com on the line to talk over a few of the issues raised in his book, as well as plenty of fascinating further issues in the tactics-sphere from one of the big brains in the space. A real treat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we ease into our second month of isolation, what's better than spending time with a good book? Nik Wildhagen's been spending time with one written by his guest this week, Nils Henrik Smith. He's a novelist and football writer, and his latest book 11 meter - straffesparkets historie is all about the penalty kick. So put your earbuds in, tune out whatever pressure you're feeling, and just kick it as hard as you can into the corner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How are you holding up? We just want to check in, send a small signal that we're still here and hear how everyone is doing. Nik Wildhagen rounds up Terry Duffelen for a chat about Bundesliga finances, the morality of opening up sports in a crisis, and a bit of history - the Chemie Halle fire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With society in a public health crisis, groups with deep commitments to their communities can make a big difference. Lucky for Germany, its unique football fan culture means there are a LOT of those. Nik rounds up our pal Felix Tamsut for another chat - this time it's about how Ultras and other fan groups are banding together to do good in this difficult time we're all in.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the Bundesliga season on ice, How much trouble is German football (and other kinds of football) in? And what can be done about it? Nik Wildhagen runs the show this week, recruiting his old TF Extra pals Matt and Terry on to talk about the big four of FC Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen reaching out to help smaller clubs, some ominous recent words of Gianni Infantino, innovative fund drives in the lower divisions, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the new normal - a world without football for the foreseeable future...plus a looming life-and-death threat hanging over us all. What's not to like? Matt gets on the line with Nik Wildhagen to talk these strange times over in a fairly strange episode. They talk a lot about the implications of the Bundesliga's sudden break...and somehow get sidetracked before the end. Hope you enjoy, and be well! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Strange times. One week after we zoom in on the DFB's battle with the Bundesliga's most hardcore fans, we learn the league might have to do without all of their fans for a while. Yes, COVID-19 will come up in this podcast - but so will a Dortmund win guest Marie Schulte-Bockum calls meisterlich, a couple of great goals from USMNT stars, and the idea that German football (and other footballs, for that matter) needs to get a lot more feminine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The last thing they wanted was to miss another episode, so our the busy guys in our fantastic duo decided to jump the gun, record a podcast earlier than usual and do it just about off the dome. JT and Flo have recommendations on potential Cologne player picks for Friday night, how wary you need to be of RB Leipzig's squad rotation ahead of a big date in Europe, and much more.... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two teams of highly-paid pros participate in a joint kick-about for the final 15 minutes of Hoffenheim vs Bayern. Several other games disrupted after officials deem chants and banners from ultra fan groups to have crossed the line. Is this all really just about Hoffenheim owner Dietmar Hopp? On a weekend where results were overshadowed by events off the pitch, Matt speaks with Felix Tamsut, who makes it his business to report on fan culture and sports politics for DW. Wide-ranging discussion ensues. FT also happens to be a massive 1. FC Köln fan, so there's a lot of effzeh talk, as well as a run through title race and relegation battle implications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

FC Bayern München's usually indestructible Robert Lewandowski has gone and done his knee - who are you going to play up front for the next month (...or more)? Luckily JT and Flo's Karneval bacchanal has come to a close and they are back to answer that question - and many more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A hiding at home helps focus the mind - and minds in Gelsenkirchen and Berlin are focused as hell right now after 5-0 losses at the hands of Leipzig and Cologne, respectively. Matt gets Kit Holden on the line to talk over the fates of Schalke and Hertha, as well as the trouble in Bremen, the title credentials of RB and Gladbach, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There were good omens for both BVB and the Rasenballsportlers as the two Bundesliga sides head into the UEFA Champions League to face Paris Saint Germain and Tottenham Hotspur, respectively. Matt talks things over with Stefan Buczko, who as the host of the Yellow Wall Podcast has a lot to say about Dortmund especially. They move on to discuss whether or not there's going to be a Klinsi-shaped crater left behind at Hertha BSC, as well as break down the relegation fight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up with the points you might have earned in MD21's canceled Gladbach vs. Cologne clash? And how do you deal with all the big scorers facing off in Friday's BVB-Eintracht clash on MD22? JT and Flo are here with answers to those and many other questions! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Saturday and Sunday each brought an extra-consequential game near the top of the Bundesliga table. It's just that one of them was a lot more entertaining. Matt rounds up goal.com's Ronan Murphy for a chat about Leverkusen's 4-3 win over Dortmund, as well as the big 0-0 draw between Bayern and Leipzig. They also shine a light on high-flying Frankfurt - and even find time to talk marshmallows. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

German Cup midweek games saw 11 of the Bundesliga's 18 teams in action - that brought upsets and excitement, but also a good dose of fatigue and injury.  JT and Flo break down how you'll need to adjust your line-ups after all those fireworks to get ready for Match Day 21! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eventful weekend much? Match Day 20 had a change at the top, a further tightening of the top four, two red card controversies with actual meat on the bone, a club with multiple titles this century on a collision course with relegation, and much much more. Matt gets his old pal Nik Wildhagen on the line to talk it all over, as well as get a lesson - direct from Norway - on how to say Erling Braut Håland's name correctly. Listen and learn! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So at this stage in the season, you've probably identified your workhorses...but if you've got a few moves to make, there are some big names we'd like to sell you on. JT and Flo let you in on the best value players across the league who have worked their way back into starting XIs, the striker to keep ahead of the big Bayern-Leipzig match coming up, and what to do about your goalkeeper if you've been riding Markus Schubert lately. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We have Eintracht Frankfurt to thank for an even tighter title race after they beat RB Leipzig. A shutout win, no less - something nobody had done since October! Matt rounds up long-lost TF veteran Aidan Reagh for a chat on how to decide between another Bayern title and a first Meisterschale for RB...as well as whether the thundering arrival of Erling Haaland might change that reckoning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Soooo...is there any doubt you need to find a place for a certain young Norwegian in your team? If you have problems up top, might Erling Haaland be the answer? JT and Flo are here to take up that question and many others ahead of Match Day 19... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So...Erling Haaland is a bit special, isn't he? With three goals off the bench in his first game for Dortmund, he now has our full attention. Matt chats with Marie Schulte-Bockum about the Norwegian wonderboy, RB's increasingly consistent brilliance, Bayern's big last half hour, and her beloved Schalke's new attacking weapon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You've had a month to think things over. You've watched the Bundesliga's 18 teams make personnel moves (or stand pat) and you're wondering how to get your Rückrunde  off to a good start. Here come JT and Flo with some solid answers - listen up! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here we are, halfway through the Bundesliga season. RB Leipzig are Herbstmeister, Gladbach are number two, and Bayern are four points back in third. Matt rounds up Terry Duffelen for a good long chat about this topsy-turvy season, as well as give out the halfway awards! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've got something different this time out. Matt traveled to Germany this past week and got amazing access at Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Listen in to this quick special report for comments from Sporting Director Simon Rolfes and Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Leipzig, Leverkusen, Bayern and Dortmund are all taking on teams near the bottom of the table on Match Day 15. Time to go all out with your big-name guys? And what about the quick turnaround coming up with the englische Woche? JT and Flo have all the answers to make this weekend-plus a big one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Has Borussia Mönchengladbach's 2-1 win over FC Bayern München opened the door to an alternate universe? One where the Rekordmeister is just another title challenger? Matt rounds up Marie Schulte-Bockum to discuss this earth-shattering result, about her beloved Schalke, and about the many other intrigues at hand across the league. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

League leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach are headed into their biggest match of the season yet as FC Bayern München come calling on Saturday. Listen in as JT and Flo let you know how to navigate that mega-fixture, as well as the rest of Match Day as we head into the final rounds of the Bundesliga hinrunde. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey Bayern fans! USMNT fans! You of all people know that whenever Jürgen Klinsmann is around, drama is always in the room as well.  Matt rounds up Axel Falk to talk about Klinsi's losing return to the Bundesliga with Hertha BSC against Dortmund, as well as run through what might make each of the four main title challengers winners come May...or also-rans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

RB Leipzig and Borussia Mönchengladbach are flying high in the Bundesliga at the moment - their players should be keeping you soaring as well. Listen in as JT and Flo let you know which of their players to buy and stat, as well as which players across the league it's best to hold on to...or get off of quick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just when Gladbach were beginning to look like tidy toppers of the Bundesliga table, they go and shake our faith. The foals' loss in Berlin (east), coupled with wins for Bayern and RB means their lead is down to one slim point. Matt gets goal.com's Ronan Murphy on the line to talk over the leading trio, the divergent narratives of the two Ruhr valley clubs, the malaise at Bremen and Berlin (west), and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The boys are back from the international break and they are as confused as you are as to how this Bundesliga season will shake out - or who the sure bets are in Official Bundesliga Fantasy...aside from one guy. However, JT and Flo don't let all that volatility stop them from giving you some bright ideas that should work in the short term. Listen up for hot tips for Match Day 12! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It going to happen sooner or later. FC Bayern München were going tire of their non-superstar coach and his non-superstar way of coaching superstars and send him packing. Eintracht Frankfurt just happened to speed the process up with a rousing 5-1 win and Bob's your uncle, Niko's gone. Matt rounds up Kit Holden for a chat on the dear departed Kovac, the sorry spectacle that was the Berlin derby, Wolfsburg's first loss, Leipzig's crazy eight, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Match Day 10 coming on the horizon, most of you will have your team in a settled spot after more than two months of action. But still...if you can squeeze a little extra value with some bargain buys you might be able to afford a big-ticket player. Listen in as JT and Flo have some tips on high-scoring guys who are still relatively cheap, on who'll be in the lineup up top for Bremen this weekend, on who you should pick as your star man, and much much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The foals got back to winning this week, showing us what can happen when their attack is on song: A thrilling 4-goal performance that was enough to take down a very game Eintracht. Matt gets his old buddy Abel Meszaros on the line for a chat about that game, about the hard-to-judge qualities of this year's Bayern, the staying power of Wolfsburg and Freiburg, and yes, a little bit about the boring-ass Revierderby. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's that time again - time for the blue and white side of the Ruhr valley to test its mettle against the black and yellows in Germany's biggest derby, period. But what does it mean for your fantasy team? Are Jadon Sancho and Amine Harit yesterday's news? And what value can you find in all the other, less-insanely contested games this weekend? JT and Flo have all the Match Day 9 answers... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Well Bayern aren't running away with the title race...but then again neither are Dortmund, Gladbach, Wolfsburg, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Schalke, Leverkusen or freaking Freiburg for that matter. No, all NINE of these teams are within two points of each other, making the 'top half' a little too literal for comfort. Listen in as Matt and Terry try to make sense of the chaos, brought on by another week of what you might call unusual results. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's the October international break people - that means one thing: All the transfers you can can eat. JT and Flo bring a blockbuster episode to let you know how best to take advantage of this rare opportunity, not to mention what players to pick in the juiciest fixtures on Match Day 8. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We'd like to sat we saw this coming - that Borussia Mönchengladbach would be atop the Bundesliga after the dust had settled on Match Day 7 - but we're not clairvoyant.  Mark Lovell came close, correctly picking 7 of 9 matches over on whoscored this past round, but (understandably) missed on the shocker of the weekend: Bayern's 2-1 home loss to Hoffenheim. Matt sits down with Mark to talk over that result, the attacking explosion against Augsburg that steered the foals into first place, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Visitors reigned supreme on Match Day 6 in the Bundesliga - the first round of games in Bundesliga history to see EIGHT away wins. What all those results meant in practice, however, was that Bayern Munich are back in a place they feel very much at home - the top of the Bundesliga. Matt calls up the spectacular Marie Schulte-Bockum for a talk about the return of the kings, her high-flying Schalke, Dortmund's difficulties, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lord give me unlimited transfers...but not just yet. The Official Fantasy Bundesliga gods are nearly ready to smile on us with a true open season on transfers, but there's no reason to wait until then to fix your team, starting with the defense. Listen in as JT and Flo offer up cures for what ails your team - listen in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What a difference a few days can make. Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen, and especially Borussia Mönchengladbach underperformed in European action this past week...but on Match Day 5 all three got good results. Matt talks with Matthew Marshall, who saw all these teams in the past few days, about where they're headed and what will seal their success or failure in Europe this season. They also address RB Leipzig's title tilt, Hertha's overdue (and ugly) first win, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A string of Bundesliga sides were in action in the UEFA Champions (and Europa) League this week. With players in need of a rest, is that going to foul up your fantasy team? JT and Flo are here to dig into that subject and many more ahead of Match Day five. Listen in and score big. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Match Day 4 in the Bundesliga brings two absolutely massive fixtures: First, Borussia Dortmund host Bayer Leverkusen, and later that day Bayern Munich travel to Leipzig to take on Rasenballsport.  Since those teams are full of expensive players not every fantasy manager can afford, where's the real value in each of those games? JT and Flo have the answer to that question...and many more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've got something special for you all today - a look behind the Patreon curtain! Here's an episode of Talking Fussball Extra, Nik Wildhagen and Terry Duffelen's podcast that takes a wider view of the German football scene and appears every few weeks on our Patreon feed. This week they dig into some of the thorniest issues facing football in Germany and elsewhere. What do the fates of English clubs Bury and Bolton mean for the future of football finance in Germany? How much pressure is the sustained success of the Bundesliga's "plastic" clubs (RB Leipzig, Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg, Leverkusen) putting on the rest of the league to "modernize" their financial models? And how do clubs in areas with high support for far-right parties keep their supporters groups from becoming megaphones for hate? Nik and Terry nab one of the best possible guests on these topics: Felix Tamsut of Deutsche Welle, a leading voice in international coverage of German Football fan culture. Listen in as this thoughtful trio deliver a must-listen episode. If you like it, head on over to our Patreon page and sign up! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There may well be fireworks incoming on Friday night when two teams in European competition, Borussia Mönchengladbach and RB Leipzig, square off. You'll tune in - but should you go all in on your fantasy team? JT and Flo answer that query (among many others) to get you sorted out ahead of MD3. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just two games in, it's early days in the Bundesliga - but the present pecking order is interesting enough to get our gears turning. Matt rounds up Kit Holden of AFP for a discussion of which among the five teams with a 100% record so far will be up front in the first class carriage for the duration, and which will be back with the hoi polloi. They also talk Timo Werner's contract extension, Dortmund's depth, and the latest round of VAR frustration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a wild and wooly opening weekend, JT and Flo have plenty of thoughts. Should you try and squeeze big MD1 scorers like Marcel Sabitzer and Zack Steffen into your team? Are you wondering how to replace Milot Rashica? And is Robert Lewandowski still a must-have? Listen in and find out... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Bundesliga is finally under way...and already there's so much to talk about! Matt gets Marie Schulte-Bockum of Focus Online on the line for a chat about: Bayern's stutter-start against a lively Hertha; BVB's 5-1 throttling of a poor Augsburg side; RasenBallsport's raining on Union Berlin's (already quite rainy) opening day parade; how Gladbach and her beloved Schalke looked under new management...and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 2019-20 Bundesliga season is nearly here, so it's high time to make a few bold statements drawn from the crystal ball. Matt and Ronan Murphy (goal.com) talked an hour's worth of fussball and served up lots of prognostications to gloat over (or embarrass themselves with) come May. According to one of them, we'll have a new meister this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Look out folks - cuz this one's BIG. JT and Flo are back for what might be the most important Talking Fussball Fantasy episode of the year - the season preview, where our two hosts help you get your team in order for Match Day 1. Among the questions you'll see answered in the first 10 minutes of a 70+ minute show: How many players should pick up? How much should you spend on goalkeepers? Is a super-duper-star like Robert Lewandowski worth his monster price tag? With all that plus a thorough-going run through the full fixture list for round one, Fantasy managers cannot afford to miss this show...and those on the fence about making a team this season should listen, get informed and take that leap! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're back! Now that Bundesliga sides have concluded their pre-season tours of the US and their sleep-away camps in Austria, it was simply time to start taking the season to come a bit more seriously. And the first step down that path is to take the SERIOUS title that is the DFL Supercup EVER SO SERIOUSLY. So here Matt and Terry are, counting the takeaways from FC Bayern München's earth-shattering 2-0 defeat, including the one that says hmm...Borussia Dortmund may well win the league this year. They also zoom in on RB Leipzig and Bayern 04 Leverkusen, as well as rake FC Schalke 04's chairman over the coals for some pretty egregious behavior. As a bonus treat, there's an extract of Matt's interview with Hertha BSC executive board member and digital strategy supremo Paul Keuter, whom he caught up with earlier this summer on the sidelines of the team's practice in Madison, Wisconsin. (Full interview available on https://www.patreon.com/talkingfussball) Enjoy! We'll be back with another episode prior to the season's start, and TF Fantasy will be in your ears next week as well... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices