Remember Julian Green? The 21-year-old American who scored against Belgium in the 2014 World Cup never managed to make much of an impact with Bayern Munich, so he moved to Stuttgart at the beginning of January.
Green scored his first goal for his new club Monday in a 2-0 win over Fortuna Dusseldorf, and showed the type of skill that made him think he would make it at Bayern.
For years now, the top dog of the Bundesliga has been FC Bayern Munich. Apart from winning the Bundesliga championship 26 times on a consistent basis ever since the 1968-69 season, Bayern has been able to establish themselves as a powerhouse of Germany football.
If ever there was a time to come up against Bayer Leverkusen, this was it. Hamburg, sitting 17th in the 18-team Bundesliga, were at home, and Leverkusen were without the injured Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and still rocking from the news of midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu’s four-month suspension.
Hamburg have the distinction of being the only German club to have played in the top tier of German football since their inception — a staggering 96 years straight. With half the season gone, Hamburg are staring relegation in the face.
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez finally ended his goal drought dating back to October 1st by scoring against Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday. Chicharito’s sixth goal of the campaign arrived in his 17th league match amidst rumors of a possible January transfer exit.
19-year-old Frenchman Ousmane Dembele was highly coveted by almost every club around Europe following his breakout season with Rennes in the French Ligue 1 over 2015-16. Like so many others of late, he was attracted to Borussia Dortmund’s track record in developing young players and letting them play regardless of age.
Those who seek sustenance on unfounded transfer gossip and rumor mill nonsense will now need to look beyond Christian Pulisic for nourishment — the 18-year-old American attacker has extended his deal with Borussia Dortmund until 2020.
Perhaps watching fellow Scandinavian prodigy Martin Odegaard struggle for minutes at Real Madrid while youngsters like Christian Pulisic, Ousmane Dembele and Emre Mor flourished at Borussia Dortmund was all 17-year-old Swedish phenom Alexander Isak needed to see. Sweden’s youngest ever goalscorer has opted to join BVB over Real Madrid for a fee of €10 million.
The Bundesliga returned from its winter break on Friday, and Bayern Munich defeated Freiburg after Robert Lewandowski blatantly cheated to score in the 91st minute.
He trapped the ball with his chest, which wasn’t fair, juggled it, which was a clear foul, and rolled a shot in off the post, which should earn him a lifetime ban. Poor Freiburg, they didn’t deserve to lose, not like this.
How did he do that?
According to reports from German weekly sports magazine Sport Bild, Bayern Munich midfielder and Spanish legend Xabi Alonso is planning to retire at the end of the season. Alonso, who still plays a key role for the Bavarian club in the center of the park, is said to have informed the club of his decision to hang up his boots at the conclusion of this season.
Christian Pulisic scored another goal for Borussia Dortmund in a friendly over the Bundesliga winter break, notching the opener in his sides 3-0 victory over Belgium’s Standard Liege.
For Pulisic, it was his second goal in two games following his strike against PSV Eindhoven last weekend.