Bundesliga Football News
BAYERN DRAW AGAIN AS HAMBURG CLOSE GAP
Bayern Munich manager Ottmar Hitzveld has urged his midfielders to ease the pressure on strike duo Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose as the Bundesliga frontrunners lead was cut to just two points on Saturday.
Bayern’s new strike partnership had started the season in blistering form, firing the Munich club to the top of the table and a seemingly inevitable title run, however they have now failed to score in their past two matches.
This has allowed Hamburg, who beat Hertha Berlin 2-1 to cut the gap at the top of the table to two points after Bayern followed last weeks 0-0 draw with Borussia Dortmund with a similar scoreline against Eintracht Frankfurt, despite having an incredible 38 shots at goal.
“We need a goal out of midfield now and then when it gets tight up front,” he said.
“We cannot always concentrate on Klose and Toni.
“We had four or five excellent chances and that should be enough for at least one goal, but we lacked the killer instinct.”
Nevertheless, Hitzfeld was happy with his side’s performance, saying they had played “not just well, but very well”.
“This is the beauty of football that you can even lose games like this when you are so dominant,” he continued.
“We did not have to say much to the team.”
Werder Bremen stay third after defeating Hansa Rostock 1-0, while Stuttgart contined their mini-revival with a 1-0 win at Nurnberg which lifts them to 11th in the table.
On Friday, bottom club Energie Cottbus shocked FC Schalke by 1-0 while Borussia Dortmund’s woes continued as they were beaten 2-1 by Hannover who move up to 5th in the table, two points behind Kalrsruhe who kept up their impressive form with a 1-0 win over MSV Duisburg.
NURNBERG BOSS RELISHES EVERTON CLASH
FC Nurnberg manager Hans Meyer has admitted that Thursday’s midweek UEFA Cup clash with Everton comes as a welcome distraction from his clubs poor domestic form.
A defeat by Stuttgart on Saturday left the German cup holders in the relegation zone - having also crashed out of the competition in midweek.
“We are not playing badly at home, just without success,” he said.
“We can only ease the pressure ourselves on the pitch and have the next chance to do so on Thursday.
“I am already really looking forward to the visit of Everton.”
Nurnberg have enjoyed a good run in the UEFA Cup this season, having eliminated highly rated Romanian side Rapid Bucharest in the knockot stages. Meyer is now relishing the match with the Premiership outfit.
He added: “I cannot criticise the players at all.
“We even had the chance to turn the game around in the end, but we cannot master certain situations.”
