Football Update: Bundesliga preview
The German football season has started with some action packed and riveting football that has kept the fans on the edge of their seats, as the battle for supremacy is well and truly underway.
Reigning champions, Bayern Munich had to wait for a winner in the stoppage-time from their leading striker Bastian Schweinsteiger to ensure that they went past VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 and successfully kick off their Bundesliga title defence.
The renowned German club is coached by Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal, Gaal brought onto the field a new look team made of some aggressive central defence.
The line-up included the likes of Holger Badstuber, who partnered with Daniel van Buyten.
The Munich team left out Argentine Martin Demichelis, who was disappointed with his exclusion from the playing line-up and refused to sit on the substitutes' bench before the commencement of the match.
The showpiece encounter of the weekend was being beamed LIVE in 197 countries, and the big names in both team ensured that they provide a closely fought match to attract more and more viewers from around the world.
The man of the moment for Bayern was the star of their campaign in the World Cup held in South Africa, Thomas Mueller.
Muller was the joint top scorer in the event and he rifled in a goal for the hosts in the ninth minute of the match after a mesmerizing performance which saw him combine with Toni Kroos.
The striker was brought in the line-up after a brief loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen.
The match captured the imagination of all and sundry with the head German coach Joachim Loew amongst the stands.
The match was also a fine individual effort for Frenchman Franck Ribery, who had to stay on the sidelines most of the last season due to an injury; he was at his usual best making some penetrating runs on the left wing.
The match sprung into action in the first two minutes after the half time as Wolsburg's Croatian playmaker Mario Mandzukic scored a beautifully-curled, low shot into the net.
Their coach Steve McClaren pushed them on for more effort and it helped them in the 55th minute, as Edin Dzeko scored the equalising goal.
The Bosnian striker rose above Daniel Van Buyten to slot home a corner via a header from a corner taken by substitute Zvjezdan Misimovic.
The hosts hit back in the dying minutes of the match when they scored in the first minute of extra time scoring a goal when Schweinsteiger assisted by Ribery scored.
In another match, Hamburg SV beat last season's runners-up Schalke 04 2-1, the winners were indebted to a brace of goals by former Dutch forward Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The Dutch great was in great nick in the first half and made a real impact in the second half, as barely a minute after the break Van Nistelrooy volleyed Hamburg into the lead.
However, his celebrations were dampened a great deal as he was booked by the referee for celebrating with fanatic fans outside the perimeter of the pitch.
Sparked by the goal, the Hamburg team went on the imitative as their opponents were reduced to 10 men following the sending of Benedikt Hoewedes.
The hosts than had to pay a price for the lacklustre approach in the last few minutes of the match as Peruvian striker Jefferson Farfan scored a delightful goal latching on an opportunity created via a Ivan Rakitic free kick.
The match was levelled in the 80th minute, yet it was Van Nistelrooy who had the last laugh, as he slotted home, a Ze Roberto pass barely three minutes after Schalke’s effort.
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