Bundesliga 20/21

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Paderborn and Dusseldorf will be heading to Bundesliga 2 for the season, a real pity for the former as they provided some of the most exciting football for the 19/20 season. Not often you can say that about a team that came last.

Replacing them are VFB Stuttgardt, still not sure how they ended up relegated, and Arminia Bielefeld, a team with a rather interesting name. I have often wondered what the banners would display if they ever faced A.S. Roma.

That leaves the relegation-promotion play-off. Surprise 16th placed side Werder Bremen are facing a team who are having their first crack at the Bundesliga and who come from one of the prettiest parts of Germany, Heidenheim. Interestingly Heidenheim have an almost entirely German squad, one Austrian managed to sneak in. Their coach, Frank Schmidt, is not only German but born in Heidenheim. I think I like this mob and wish them luck against the behemoth that is Werder Bremen.

In some early movement news, it looks as if Hwang Hee-chan will be moving from RB Salzburg to RB Leipzig to replace Timo Werner. A nice bit of business if true and no doubt something Sevengoals will know more about.

Re: the Aussies - I guess we will wait and see. Leckie was getting a look back in at Hertha but wasn't terribly happy and Borello seemed to drop off at Freiburg, though I am unaware of the fitness status of either player.

Joshua Laws may have a chance to move into Fortuna's squad now they are in Bundesliga 2 and hopefully Jacob Italiano gets a chance to move into the Mochengladbach first team squad, though that is a bigger ask. Same with John Iredale in Wolfsburg's reserves. That said, none of them are listed at the moment so I am not sure what their status is; possibly stuck in Australia.

[sevengoals]

Yes, it looks like he is ready to follow Haaland and Minamino out of RB Salzburg to a bigger club.
What ever you think of the RedBull concept they sure know how to bring players through.

By the way RB Salzburg just won their 8th Austrian league title on the trot.
As an interesting side note, the Linz club LASK had a 3 point lead over RB Salzburg when the Corona Virus forced the league to stop playing.

When it was agreed to start playing again there were some very, very strong rules in place regarding team training and distancing between players and coaches during these initial weeks when professional football was allowed to resume work.
But LASK broke these rules in the first weeks and were caught out by some Video cameras that had been placed in their stadium by persons unknown ...

The resulting punishment for going against the Fair Play Rules that had been agreed by all clubs and put in place by the league was a 6 point deduction and a € 75,000 fine which meant that RB Salzburg now had a 3 point lead over LASK when games resumed.
The point deduction was reduced on appeal to 4 points but by that time LASK had lost the plot loosing the first 3 of its first four games and drawing the other one.
They must beat RB Salzburg in today's last game at home to have any chance of making 4th place and a Europa Cup qualifying slot.

We were all hoping that LASK would win the title to break up the RB monopoly and they were actually playing some really good football but they farked up big time and their chance was lost.
By the way ex-AU player James Holland plays for LASK.

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1st leg of the promotion/relegation game is 0-0. Return leg at Heidenheim tomorrow morning (for us at least!).

[sevengoals]

1st leg of the promotion/relegation game is 0-0. Return leg at Heidenheim tomorrow morning (for us at least!).

0-1 for Bremen after 10min ...

Own goal.

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1st leg of the promotion/relegation game is 0-0. Return leg at Heidenheim tomorrow morning (for us at least!).

0-1 for Bremen after 10min ...

Own goal.

Oh dear. Still 0-1 at 61' .

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Heidenheim score in the 85'! Wow, I thought Weder Bremen had them done and dusted. Guess again.

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And Bremen score at 90+4' followed closely by a Heidenheim penalty! 2-2, and the whistle goes.

With 2 away goals it will be Werder Bremen making up the last position for 20/21. Good news for Yuya Osako (assuming he stays at Bremen), less so for the romantics who'd have loved to have Heidenheim in the league.

[sevengoals]

And Bremen score at 90+4' followed closely by a Heidenheim penalty! 2-2, and the whistle goes.

With 2 away goals it will be Werder Bremen making up the last position for 20/21. Good news for Yuya Osako (assuming he stays at Bremen), less so for the romantics who'd have loved to have Heidenheim in the league.

Bummer but we still have Union Berlin.

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Bummer but we still have Union Berlin.

Too true!

Every year I hope St Pauli get up. Now there is a club with a distinct culture.

Sorry to hear about LASK as a break-up of the Salzburg monopoly would be welcome. Still, as you noted they certainly can spot young talent and bring it through the ranks.

Any Australians likely to be heading to Germany for 20/21? McGree would fare well there and both Mainz and Köln look lighter in the midfield creative department than they should be.

[Stuckey]

By the way ex-AU player James Holland plays for LASK.

He seems to have featured a fair bit this season including a lot of Europa League games. I wonder if that helps his Socceroos chances?

[sevengoals]

By the way ex-AU player James Holland plays for LASK.

He seems to have featured a fair bit this season including a lot of Europa League games. I wonder if that helps his Socceroos chances?

He is a fixed starter in the first 11 and going by form and first team playing time IMO he should figure for the national team.

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What a season for Schalke. It is hard to believe such a big club has performed so poorly. They've been shooting below par for several years, so maybe this is what the club needs.

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Great work from Caletti then on top of the box