Christmas came early for the Marseillais as on the verge of elimination, Mathieu Valbuena’s monumental late goal sent Olympique de Marseille to the Champions League round of sixteen via a 3-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund at Westfalenstadion.

Entering the contest the situation looking trying for the Côte d’Azur side as the day would play out with Olympiacos overcoming Group F winners Arsenal, only a victory would suffice. For defending Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund the day was more about pride than the glimmer of chance in claiming a spot in the Europa League but true to form they started in confidence. Mid-point of the opening half and after testing l’OM goalkeeper Steve Mandanda smartly twice, Borussia opened the scoring as a long throw-in from the right into the box was headed high by Sebastian Kehl, played back to Jakub Błaszczykowski by Robert Lewandowski with the mercurial Polish international drilling the ball in from six metres. Die Schwarzgelben were in rapture as following continued pressure, match-day referee Howard Webb signalled a penalty on Stéphane Mbia after high contact with Sebastian Kehl, which proved to be a further problem for Borussia as the veteran skipper was forced out of the contest. However in the ensuing effort, Mats Hummels struck a low beaming effort to the bottom left corner of the net and suddenly Borussia’s dream of a four-goal margin of victory did not seem so unrealistic. Les Phocéens clawed an important goal back in the fourth minute of added-time shy of the break as Morgan Amalfitano’s sublime right wing cross was nodded in from close range at the back post by a surging Loïc Rémy.

At the re-start, l’OM manager Didier Deschamps summoned Benoît Cheyrou for Stéphane M’Bia whereas BVB’s charge continued to be dampened with injury as Mario Götze was forced out and the attacking efforts of Jürgen Klopp’s side slowed considerably. After solid chances on both ends of the pitch came up for naught prior to the hour, the Marseillais tactician added Jordan Ayew for Lucho González, with Mathieu Valbuena for Loïc Rémy shortly thereafter. l’OM was hanging on by the thinnest of threads when, at the eighty-fifth minute, Morgan Amalfitano’s corner from the right was headed powerfully into the net by André Ayew. In need of the goal Mathieu Valbuena stepped into the heroes light with a stunning piece of artistry as he accepted a throw-on on the left, moved into the box before completely leaving İlkay Gündoğan grasping at the air as he pulled the ball back his right foot and then fired a dipping effort over the outstretched arms of Borussia ‘keeper Roman Weidenfeller and into the net. Up by one, the hosts were unable to respond with Olympique de Marseille claiming the 3-2 victory and a spot in the Champions League round of sixteen.

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Via a late equalizer from Mike Hanke, Borussia Mönchengladbach earned a 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund in a critical encounter in match-day fifteen of the Bundesliga. With the result, both sides remain level at the second spot of the table, a point shy of leader Bayern München.

Coming off their battle with rivals Schalke 04, Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp made three changes to his line-up as his side travelled south-west to nearby Mönchengladbach with Kevin Großkreutz, İlkay Gündoğan and Shinji Kagawa entering for Jakub Błaszczykowski, Moritz Leitner and Lucas Barrios. His counterpart, Die Fohlen manager Lucien Favre summoned Martin Stranzl and Raúl Bobadilla for Roel Brouwers and potent goal-scorer Marco Reus from last weeks romp over Köln.

Quick to the draw, both sides attacked in ruthless intent with the hosts narrowly missing an early opener as Raúl Bobadilla chipped Juan Arango’s provision over the Dortmund ‘keeper only to see Łukasz Piszczek halt the goal bound effort. Dortmund quickly launched its own riposte with Mario Götze’s opportunity snuffed out by Filip Daems before the young virtuoso could do damage. Dortmund continued to pressure their hosts with Robert Lewandowski seeing an open goal beckoning before being dispossessed of the ball. However Dortmund’s efforts would eventually be answered as with five minutes shy of the break, Robert Lewandowski, from six metres, added his seventh goal of the campaign as he nodded Mario Götze’s corner from the right off the mitts of goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen and into the net.

After the break play slowed as Dortmund were comfortable with the margin and rarely a notable chance arising lest a set-piece opportunity that came up empty near the hour by Dante. Finally with points on the line, the hosts levelled with eighteen minutes remaining as Raúl Bobadilla linked the ball to Mike Hanke, who then sent a booming low effort to bottom left corner from twenty-two metres. Dortmund immediately went in pursuit of the go-ahead goal but it was not forthcoming and the match concluded as a 1-1 draw, honours even.

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Though languishing on the domestic front, Olympique de Marseille stormed to the top of Group F in the Champions League with an opportunistic 3-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund at Stade Vélodrome. With the result l’OM sit atop the group two points clear of Arsenal with the Bundesliga champions well off pace with a single point.

Coming off the disappointing draw with Valenciennes that saw l’OM surrender a last gasp goal, manager Didier Deschamps made two adjustments to his starting eleven with César Azpilicueta and Charles Kaboré entering for Rod Fanni and Morgan Amalfitano. Contrary to the score-line, BVB were the aggressors with Jürgen Klopp’s forces pushing early but with each turn of the screw l’OM goalkeeper Steve Mandanda was up to the challenge include a brilliant stop of Mario Götze just past the hour. However at the twentieth minute, BVB’s keeper Roman Weidenfeller’s night as a spectator ended as Lucho González and Loïc Rémy connected on the right before the latter shifted ball out to André Ayew on the left with the Ghanaian international firing a low effort to the opposite corner of the net from the edge of the area to the delight of the Marseillais. Moments later Kevin Großkreutz’s cross from the left was inadvertantly flicked on to the back past where Mario Götze volleyed the ball off the woodwork and safely into the mitts of Steve Mandanda.

Clearly Marseille were sticking to a more disciplined approach that in recent league play and looked confident absorbing pressure and waiting for the opening. After seeing young-gun Mario Götze rasp Kevin Großkreutz’s cross off the woodwork with the open goal beckoning l’OM doubled its advantage on a defensive blunder two minutes after the hour. Coming via what should have been a routine headed clearance from Mats Hummels, an aggressive Loïc Rémy chased down the ball on the right side of the area and after bringing down with control fired the ball to the low near corner of the net. BVB must have been shaking their collective heads being down by two goals in an otherwise strong performance but only seven minutes later the match was fait accompli when André Ayew connected from the spot. In a silky smooth build-up of play André Ayew played through Mathieu Valbuena who then crossed for Loïc Rémy, only go see the French international fouled by Sebastian Kehl and match-day referee Jonas Eriksson point to the spot. BVB continued to press for a consolation goal but Steve Mandanda was impossible to beat and though the hosts would lose Jordan Ayew to his second yellow-card in the third-minute of added-time though clearly the call was questionable, nothing could slow the Marseillais celebration as their side claimed the 3-0 victory.

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Defending Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund started the new campaign where they left off with a 3-1 devastation of visiting Hamburger SV in front of a capacity crowd at Westfalenstadion.

The evening got underway with the adoring faithful in full song, celebrating the championship season and for that matter their voices were heard throughout ninety minutes as Jürgen Klopp’s men dominated from start to finish.

Despite being without Paraguayan international Lucas Barrios, Marcel Schmelzer and Neven Subotić due to injury, the Dormunders attacked with the finest of technical efficiency. Slowly sizing up their visitors from the north, BVB began to carve out openings and at seventeenth minute struck the telling blow with a quick counter on the right as Kevin Großkreutz wisely distanced himself on the far left. Via the brilliant service of nineteen year-old Mario Götze, Kevin Großkreutz received the ball on the left and from the edge of the area delivered off the far corner past HSV goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobný. Die Schwarzgelben billowed with confidence and after seeing two efforts rasp off the woodwork doubled the margin a minute shy of the half-hour. Penetrating the HSV defenders Mario Götze received the ball back from Robert Lewandowski in a sumptuous back-heeled one-two and without fail slotted in past the goalkeeper. While there was still an hour to play the match appeared to be fait accompli as the Dormunders were imposing, confident and made not the slightest of errors.

In search of a solution, HSV manager Michael Oenning summoned Marcell Jansen for Eljero Elia at the break but BVB showed no mercy and added to their lead at the forty-eighth minute. With Mario Götze at the helm, the young gun combined with Sven Bender on the right to shift the ball to Kevin Großkreutz, who after seeing his initial close-range effort denied slotted the rebound in for his second of the evening. Merciful Jürgen Klopp’s men eased back on the petrol and though Robert Tesche spoiled Roman Weidenfeller clean sheet with a scrappy goal from ten metres at the seventy-ninth minute, it mattered little as Borussia Dortmund claimed a resounding 3-1 victory.

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In an intensely controversial ending, Mainz 05 scored at the last gasp to pull out a 1-1 draw with Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund at Westfalenstadion. With the result, the Dortmunders maintain a ten-point advantage over second-place Bayer 04 Leverkusen, whilst Mainz 05 pushes two points above Nürnberg for the all-important fifth spot.

Coming off their disappointing loss to 1899 Hoffenheim, BVB manager Jürgen Klopp summoned the mercurial Jakub Błaszczykowski in for Robert Lewandowski in what proved to be a tactical gem of adjustments from both managers.

After a heart-pounding opening that both sides showed intent, BVB charged in front at the eight minute as Nuri Şahin free kick into the Mainz box was headed on by Mats Hummels to which the visiting goalkeeper Christian Wetklo misplayed the ball and saw it cross the line. Eight minutes later, Lucas Barrios was brought down in the area by the ‘keeper, with match day referee Dr. Felix Brych giving BVB a chance from the spot. In the ensuing effort, the ‘keeper made a brilliant stop of Nuri Şahin to maintain the one goal deficit. The stop seemed to energize the visitors, who thereafter were the better of the two but were unable to break through and went to the break down by one.

After the break, BVB charged forward with Polish international Jakub Błaszczykowski sending a blistering effort over the bar from inside the area before the momentum shifted back into the visitor’s favour however it was much ado of nothing as most chances were of the low probability kind. Shy of the hour, Mainz looked to have levelled but Karim Allagui’s close range effort was chalked off as offside. With fourteen minutes remaining in regulation, FSV manager Thomas Tuchel added Marcel Risse with Petar Slišković and Florian Heller to soon follow. BVB looked to have closed out the visitor’s chances before the shocking end at the eighty-ninth minute with Neven Subotić going down to injury and Mainz continued to play on. Marcel Risse surging down the right before delivering a cross into the box that Petar Slišković right footed into the net from eight metres for the shocking conclusion.

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John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook , Renegade Training™’s, as well as or Twitter.

In addition to Europa League News, John Davies writes on the “Beautiful Game” for Russian media giant Sport-Express. (Спорт-Экспресс) as well as Spartak Moscow.

Borussia Dortmund continued its march toward the Bundesliga crown as they followed up last weeks convincing victory over Bayern München with a comfortable 1-0 defeat of Köln at Westfalenstadion. The Dortmunders now hold a garish fifteen point advantage over nearest rivals, thereby requiring a complete collapse for them not to hoist the hardware, whereas Köln sits mid-table at the eleventh spot.

In front of BVB’s deeply loyal supporters, manager Jürgen Klopp made two changes to his most recent line-up with Roman Weidenfeller returning as “number one” and Felipe Santana entering for Mats Hummels.

From match day referee Günter Perl’s opening whistle Schwarzgelben surged forward with purpose. Köln goalkeeper Michael Rensing was up to the test as he stretched out fully to stop effort Neven Subotić’s effort at the tenth minute and fortune ruled shortly thereafter when Kevin Pezzoni cleared Lucas Barrios’ goal-bound offering off the line. Köln continued to dig in their, firmly displaying they were concerned with the near champions elect attack and barely uttered a serious advance. Near the half hour mark the Köln ‘keeper stood tall as he stopped Felipe Santana’s header via a corner from Nuri Şahin. Despite Köln’s noteworthy defending, it was only “time” until the Dortmunders when on top and a minute shy of the break, former Lech Poznań man Robert Lewandowski latched onto Nuri Şahin lofted pass and after a controlling nudge to create space he lashed a left-footed half-volley from the aged of the area to the bottom right corner for the 1-0 lead.

After the break, BVB showed a champion’s composure as they dictated the contest yet unwilling to give up any space to their visitors. Excluding an off-course effort Milivoje Novakovič shy of the hour mark after Mato Jajalo, Köln did not disturb Roman Weidenfeller and it was otherwise a matter of safely killing off balance of time. With seventeen minutes remaining in regulation, the BVB tactician injected pace into the line-up with Jakub Błaszczykowski entering for Kevin Großkreutz and his side continued to press for an insurance marker but Köln goalkeeper Michael Rensing was having a career highlight gave and continuously voided their efforts. Following a Lucas Barrios chip that rasped the ball off the woodwork with just over ten minutes remaining, Nuri Şahin did the same from a probing effort from outside the area and though they were unable to extend the margin, they were pleased with the three points coming from the 1-0 victory.

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The Author: John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook, Twitter with his business leadership and motivational video logs on his YouTube channel. In addition to writing for Europa League News, his Football reports appear for pre-eminent Russian media outlet Sports-Express (Спорт-Экспресс), the legendary Spartak Moscow.

Within the sporting world, his work is widely regarded as some of the most influential in the sport. Whether it you refer to it as Football, Fútbol, Fußball, Футбол, Calcio or Soccer, his protocols are a cornerstone in training circles across the world. For more information on his sports training practice please visit Renegade Training™ and join their group on Facebook.

In a convincing display, Borussia Dortmund defeated Bayern München 3-1 in front of a sold-out Allianz Arena. With the result, Jürgen Klopp Dortmunders look to be clear sailing toward the Bundesliga crown as they hold a commanding thirteen point lead over second-place Bayer 04 Leverkusen, whilst Bayern are a place removed at the third spot.

Entering the contest, die Schwarzgelben faced a mighty test as they had not claimed a victory in München since the autumn of 1991 and needed to award goalkeeper Mitch Langerak his debut as “number one” Roman Weidenfeller was out due to injury.

As expected the affair started at a feverish pace with top sides advancing with purpose. Following an early advance by BVB came up empty they brought their 10,000 plus travelling supporters to their feet with a go ahead goal at the ninth minute as Lucas Barrios accepted the ball from Kevin Großkreutz, after he dispossessed Bastian Schweinsteiger and sent it he ball to the bottom left corner of the net. The lead did not last long as seven minutes later Luiz Gustavo volleyed Franck Ribéry’s corner from the left past the young goalkeeper and into the net. Now level at one, BVB charged forward and two minutes later restored their lead as Nuri Şahin from just outside the area, per Lucas Barrios’ provision, curled the ball past Bayern ‘keeper Thomas Kraft to put his side in front 2-1. The breathtaking pace continued as Franck Ribéry pushed his side forward with Bastian Schweinsteiger narrowly missing the target with a header via a cross from the French playmaker and a debatable offside call chalked off a Mario Gomez marker

At the restart, Louis van Gaal summoned Breno for Holger Badstuber as the hosts went in search for the leveller as BVB looked to absorb their pression However at the hour mark the match was fait accompli as Mats Hummels headed Mario Götze’s corner into the net to give BVB the decisive two-goal advantage. Bayern continued to press but the back line of the Dortmunders was up for the challenge and young Mitch Langerak shone brightly, hold back the advances as Borussia Dortmund claimed the stunning 3-1 triumph in München.

The Author: John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook, Twitter with his business leadership and motivational video logs  on his YouTube channel. In addition to writing for Europa League News, his Football reports appear for pre-eminent Russian media outlet Sports-Express (Спорт-Экспресс), the legendary Spartak Moscow.

Within the sporting world, his work is widely regarded as some of the most influential in the sport.  Whether it you refer to it as Football, Fútbol, Fußball, Футбол, Calcio or Soccer, his protocols are a cornerstone in training circles across the world. For more information on his sports training practice please visit Renegade Training™ and join their group on Facebook.

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Courtesy of last gasp strike from Jan Morávek, Kaiserslautern earned an important point in its fight to avoid relegation with a 1-1 draw against runaway leaders Borussia Dormund at Fritz-Walter-Stadion in match day twenty-two of the Bundesliga. The result leaves Jürgen Klopp’s Dortmunders ten-points ahead of second-place Bayer 04 Leverkusen, whilst Kaiserslautern eases to the fourteenth spot.

Coming off the hard fought draw against bitter rivals Schalke 04 in the legendary Revierderby, BVB manager Jürgen Klopp made two changes to his starting eleven with Neven Subotić and Robert Lewandowski coming in for Felipe Santana and Jakub Błaszczykowski.

With only a single point to show for their efforts since the start of the Rückrunde, Kaiserslautern manager Marco Kurz made three changes to his line-up from last weeks loss to 1899 with Martin Amedick, Jirí Bílek and Adam Hloušek entering for Mathias Abel, Florian Dick and Oliver Kirch.

Quickly after the opening whistle, the contest kicked into high gear as barely four minutes in Lucas Barrios sent Robert Lewandowski’s provision off the woodwork from sixteen metres. Moments later the host posted there own threat as Christian Tiffert delivered a probing effort from distance off the crossbar, with the action end to end. The hosts continued to wait for a countering opportunity and near the twentieth minute BVB goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller did well to stop Ivo Iličević. The Dortmunders were controlling much of the attacking vision with Kevin Großkreutz and Mario Götze denied in rapid fire my host ‘keeper Tobias Sippel.

Eight minutes after the re-start, Mario Götze surged clear into the area but once again the host goalkeeper was up to the challenge as he stopped the highly promising eighteen year-old. Seeing his side languish in the attack, Jürgen Klopp summoned Mohamed Zidan for Robert Lewandowski with a quarter hour remaining and six minutes later BVB took the lead. Initiated through the cunning work of Łukasz Piszczek, the Polish international sent the ball to Mario Götze, only to see his effort blocked before Sven Bender latched onto the rebound and sent the ball heroically into the net from eight metres. With five minutes remaining in regulation time, match day referee Florian Meyer handed Neven Subotić his second yellow-card, forcing BVB to play with a man disadvantage. Marco Kurz quickly added former Rapid Wien star Erwin “Jimmy” Hoffer for Stiven Rivic as the host went in search of the leveller. In the first minute of added-time, Jan Morávek brought the home supporters to the feet as from the edge of the area he volleyed a corner into the back of the net to bring the match to a 1-1 draw, honours even.

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Despite ninety-minutes of aggressive play, the legendary Revierderby derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 ended as a scoreless draw in front of capacity crowd at Westfalenstadion. With the result, the Schwarzgelben maintain their stranglehold at the top of the Bundesliga table with a twelve-point gap over Bayer 04 Leverkusen, whilst Felix Magath’s struggling Gelsenkirchen side are well off pace at the ninth spot.

Coming off their demolition of VfL Wolfsburg, BVB manager Jürgen Klopp made one change to his starting eleven with Felipe Santana coming in for Serbian international Neven Subotić out due to suspension.

Without the services of Angelos Charisteas, Tim Hoogland, Levan Kenia and Christoph Moritz, Felix Magath once again trotted out is formidable attacking duo of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Raúl, with a further four changes Lukas Schmitz, Atsuto Uchida, Anthony Annan, and Jose Jurado for Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Christian Pander, Christoph Moritz
Peer Kluge and Ciprian Deac.

Despite the broad distance between the two, the 137th edition of Revierderby brings out the heated rivalry and as expected, tension was high. From the opening stages, the seemingly championship bound Dortmunders went on the attack, with Jakub Błaszczykowski’s pace a particular problem for the visitors. Pounding away at the Schalke 04 end, the clear hero of the evening was goalkeeper Manuel Neuer who stopped Mario Götze and Jakub Błaszczykowski from high probability range in the opening five minutes. BVB continued its attacking assault with efforts shortly thereafter Mats Hummels and Jakub Błaszczykowski, but each was off-course. The final quarter-hour before the break saw chances sparse as the sides when to the change rooms deadlocked.

There was little change of play after the re-start though Lucas Barrios was presented with an acute angle chance well shy of the hour but he steered it off course. On the hour, the Paraguayan striker narrowly missed breaking the deadlock when he rasped Łukasz Piszczek’s provision off the woodwork. BVB was pushing the ball forward now with Sven Bender foiled by in-form Manuel Neuer. With thirteen minutes remaining in regulation time, Schalke 04 saw its best chance come up empty as José Jurado, after getting on the end of Raúl’s sumptuous provision on the right channel, saw his effort bound off BVB ‘keeper Roman Weidenfeller with Łukasz Piszczek heading the ball off the line. Moments later Robert Lewandowski raced towards a long ball but was stopped by Manuel Neuer, only to Mario Götze’s lob from the right pulled down by the goalkeeper. At the eighty-fifth minute, Mario Götze was unable to convert on a high probability opportunity as he sent the ball off the woodwork after navigating around the ‘keeper and without further incident the match concluded as a nil draw.

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Borussia Dortmund continued its charge to the Bundesliga title with an overwhelming 3-0 defeat of VfL Wolfsburg at Volkswagon Stadion on Saturday afternoon. With the result, the Dortmunders climbed eleventh points ahead of second-place Bayer 04 Leverkusen, with Steve McClaren’s Wolfsburg languishing too close to the relegation zone for comfort at the twelfth spot.

BVB manager Jürgen Klopp made two adjustments to his most recent starting eleven with Lucas Barrios and Sven Bender coming in for Robert Lewandowski and Antônio da Silva.

With a hearty travelling lot of supporters, BVB took the contest by storm two minutes after match-day referee Knut Kircher’s opening whistle as a flanking assault penetrated the hosts porous defending with Lucas Barrios volleying Mario Götze cross from the right into the net, after the young midfielder had been played through by Nuri Şahin. Die Schwarzgelben swarmed the hosts, narrowly missed doubling the lead moments later only to see Josué clear Lucas Barrios goal bounder header cleared off the line. Wolfsburg, a shadow of its former attacking self when Zvjezdan Misimović steered the attack was showing little going forward as BVB were in complete control. BVB continued the pressure Wolfsburg and after a number of efforts came up for naught finally doubled the margin as the fortieth minute when Nuri Şahin latched onto a close range rebound, albeit a questionable handball of a defenders, of Mario Götze and send his fifth goal of the campaign to the back of the net.

At the re-start, Steve McLaren summoned Thomas Kahlenberg for Sascha Riether and while Wolfsburg was showing promise, BVB’s polished defending was up to the challenge. Maintained a tight, organized midfield BVB allowed few serious chances as much of the play was box to box. . The Wolfsburg tactician continued to look for the right make-up calling upon Fabian Johnson for Mario Mandžukić seven minutes past the hour with Dieumerci Mbokani for an ineffective Grafite moments later. If there was hope for a comeback that ended with nineteen minutes remaining in the contest as following a corner on the right, the ball came back to Nuri Şahin who then delivered a cross into the box that Mats Hummels redirected into the net. Now, fait accompli, BVB took advantages of their host’s desperation but could not crash though Wolfsburg’s ‘keeper Diego Benaglio net and had to be satisfied with a 3-0 victory ahead of next weeks Revierderby against Schalke 04.

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