The massively experienced Bibiana Steinhaus, who will officiate this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League final, has been promoted to refereeing the Bundesliga after six seasons in the second division. Steinhaus will become the first female referee in the history of the Bundesliga when she officiates a match next season.
With European league seasons winding down, summer transfer speculation has begun in earnest with what you'd expect:
Marc Bartra, the only player with serious injuries after Borussia Dortmund's team bus was bombed before their Champions League match against Monaco last month, is back in training.
Bartra's injuries were to his right hand and arm, but he and the team are lucky things weren't worse.
Guadlajara native Marco Fabian has scored four goals in the past four games for Eintracht Frankfurt. Fabian's good form has helped Eintracht Frankfurt into the DFB-Pokal final, where they will face Borussia Dortmund on May 27th.
Fabian and Eintracht Frankfurt will be looking for some revenge, as the last time these two teams played Dortmund won 3-1.
The 14-point gap separating rivals Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga was never going to be a factor here. Even the home advantage Bayern enjoyed at the Allianz Arena in this DFB-Pokal semifinal was no reason to believe that this latest version of Der Klassiker had a clear favorite.
According to various media reports, police in Germany have determined that the attack on Borussia Dortmund's bus ast week, which injured defender Marc Bartra, was likely carried out by far-right extremists. At first, it was believed the attack was the work of Islamic terrorists, but several inconsistencies have indicated the attack was meant to sway public opinion against Muslims.
From The Times:
Frauke Koehle, a spokeswoman for Germany’s federal state prosecutor in Karlsruhe, has confirmed that the three explosives that were detonated outside the Borussia Dortmund team bus were pipe bombs capable of traveling more than 330 feet. One of the three explosive devices contained metal strips, according to prosecutors, including one pin that pierced a headrest of a bus seat.
There are any number of farm and construction machines Bayern Munich could be accurately compared to: a threshing machine, for example. I think the best comparison, though, is the steamroller, because there's nothing you can do to a steamroller that will stop it from crushing you. Nothing.
Borussia Dortmund played the part of asphalt Saturday as Bayern Rolled over them, 4-1.
Don't expect a competitive affair in tomorrow morning's Der Klassiker with both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund looking ahead to their upcoming Champions League quarterfinals. Expect both teams to rest quite a few of their star players as they try to conserve energy and fitness for these huge games.
Borussia Dortmund will have one eye on AS Monaco, Ligue 1's only remaining club. Monaco did more than prove themselves in the round of 16 after defeating Pep Guardiola's Manchester City. That match comes on Tuesday, only three days after Der Klassiker.