Steilcast - A show about the Bundesliga & German football

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann and Kevin Hatchard to roundup a very eventful weekend in the Bundesliga - Bayern lost to Gladbach, Dortmund reminded everyone they're still in the title race by beating RB Leipzig, and Schalke actually WON A GAME, avoiding becoming the worst Bundesliga side in history at the last possible moment.

All these games plus talk of Stuttgart, Union Berlin, and there's a look at whether Thomas Tuchel may return to the Bundesliga sooner than we expected.

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The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann to roundup all of the action from the first Bundesliga weekend of the year. Bayern had a scare against Mainz, finding themselves 2-0 down at half-time before winning 5-2, Schalke's quest to rob Tasmania Berlin of their long-held winless record continued as they lost 3-0 to Hertha, and there was yet another impressive victory for Union Berlin who are still in the mix for the Champions League places as we head into the second half of the season.

We are also joined by our Stuttgart correspondent Oliver Trust with insight into the brewing civil war between club president Claus Vogt and CEO Thomas Hitzlsperger ahead of the upcoming elections in March.

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The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Patrick Strasse who is the Bayern reporter for Munich-based Abendzeitung newspaper, and together they reflect on Bayern's extraordinary treble-winning year in 2020.

Starting with the final days of Niko Kovac's doomed reign we chart the journey of this immortal Bayern side from Hansi Flick's unassuming start to life as head coach, his reinvigoration of key players Lewandowski and Muller, peaking with the 3-0 domination of Chelsea in the Champions League before the season halted due to covid.

Once we've looked at their formidable post-lockdown run which saw them clinch the Bundesliga with ease and famously destroy Barcelona 8-2 on their way to winning the Champions League we cast an eye to the future and wonder whether this team and Hansi Flick could be the first Bayern side since the 70s to win back-to-back European cups.

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The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann for a round-up of the final Bundesliga weekend of 2020, where we saw Bayern do what Bayern do and edge out title rival Leverkusen in the last minute.

There's also discussion of Leroy Sane's immediate future as he was subbed off after being brought on and received some chastening words from Hansi Flick post-match.

Elsewhere we look at the continued struggles of Dortmund after their 2-1 loss to Union Berlin, the mounting problems at Hertha Berlin after a 4-1 trouncing at the hands of Freiburg and there's Schalke's ongoing quest to become the worst Bundesliga team in history as they failed to win for the 29th consecutive game.

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It's the episode we've been waiting for all year! The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Steilcast regular Christoph Biermann and The Yellow Wall Pod's Lars Pollman to react to what felt like the inevitable sacking of Dortmund head coach Lucien Favre following a 5-1 defeat to Stuttgart on Saturday.

They discuss what went wrong for Lucien and why the players had publicly turned, and there's also a look at the possible contenders to replace him with Gladbach's Marco Rose the front-runner, but perhaps we can't rule out Mauricio Pochettino just yet?

We also roundup the rest of the Bundesliga action after a weekend that saw Leverkusen go top after Bayern could only draw with Union Berlin

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The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann and Kevin Hatchard to reflect on the Bundesliga weekend which included a three-for-all between Bayern and Leipzig, Leverkusen moving into the title picture with a win at hapless Schalke and a goal straight out of the playground from Stuttgart's Silas Wamangituka

Plus in what is fast becoming a weekly feature there is a look at Dortmund's latest underwhelming result as Lucien Favre's men could only draw with Eintracht Frankfurt.

All this plus the rest of the Bundesliga headlines discussed in Steilcast!

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The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein sits down with Steilcast regular Christoph Biermann to go through the mailbag and answer your questions on all things Bundesliga and German football

Topics covered include the ongoing grumblings around Lucien Favre at Dortmund, talk of potential successors ranging from Marco Rose to Mauricio Pochettino, there's mention of Bayern's sluggishness, plus questions on Wolfsburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and plenty more besides.

Away from club matters there's also some searching queries regarding the state of the German national team and the future of the 50+1 rule.

All this plus a review of the Bundesliga weekend which saw Bayern stay top, Dortmund lose ground, and a thriller between Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen

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The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann and Oliver Muller to reflect on a Bundesliga weekend that saw Bayern's lead shortened as they were made to look like mere mortals in a draw with Werder Bremen while Erling Haaland scored four in Dortmund's 5-2 win over Hertha Berlin.

There's also discussion of yet another miserable performance from Schalke who find themselves rooted to the bottom and staring at one of their worst seasons in decades

Plus we have a thorough post-mortem of Germany's 6-0 defeat to Spain last week and what it means for the immediate future of Joachim Low

Subscribe to The Athletic for access to Raphael Honigstein's unrivalled coverage of the Bundesliga and German football including his recent profile of the league's youngest ever player - Dortmund's Youssoufa Moukoko - head to theathletic.com/steilcastpod to sign up for just £1-a-week

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The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann and Lars Pollman to reflect on Der Klassiker with Bayern coming out on top in a five goal thriller, but does Dortmund's spirited performance give us hope for a genuine title race this season?

Elsewhere we ponder whether Bayer Leverkusen may be an underrated threat this season after they beat Gladbach 4-3 in a thrilling encounter, plus we look at Union Berlin's surprisingly strong start to the season as they find themselves up in 5th place following a 5-0 thrashing of Bielefeld

Access to The Athletic is currently just £1-a-week - sign up for Raphael Honigstein's unrivalled coverage of the Bundesliga by heading to theathletic.com/steilcastpod

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The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann and Kevin Hatchard to look back at the weekend's Bundesliga action, with a particular eye on how Bayern and Dortmund are faring ahead of their clash next weekend.

Elsewhere there is talk about David Alaba's future as it appears Bayern won't give him the new deal he's asking for, and we look at the excellent starts made by Bayer Leverkusen and Gladbach and whether either of them has what it takes to muscle their way into the top two.

Subscribe to The Athletic for Raphael Honigstein's unrivalled coverage of the Bundesliga and German football - including his recent interview with RB Leipzig's Marcel Sabitzer - head to theathletic.com/steilcastpod to sign up for just £1-a-week

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