Talking Fussball

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