Magath, who has had major success in the Bundesliga with both Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg, has been struggling at Schalke for some time. They are currently 10th in the league.

A place in the Champions League quarter-finals could not save Magath, as chairman Clemens Toennies told Kicker Magazine: “We need to pull the emergency cord, totally independently from the Champions League”

“Things are ablaze at the club behind the scenes.”

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Second placed Schalke 04 are three points behind with vastly inferior goal difference, so in order to claim the German league title from Munich, they would need Bayern to somehow contrive to lose to bottom club Hertha BSC Berlin – as well as beat tenth placed Mainz by up to seventeen goals to nil.

Had Schalke 04 beaten Werder Bremen in the previous round of fixtures, the race would still be on, but instead it looks to be impossible for them to overhaul the Bayern juggernaut.

Bayern München are the giants of German football. The Munich side boasts superstars such as Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben, as well as a brilliant range of young players such as Thomas Müller, Diego Contento, David Alaba and Mehmet Ekici. With the constant boosting of their ranks from the academy as well as new signings expected in the summer, there will be much work for Bayern’s Bundesliga rivals in order to keep up.

Still, every season one team seems to play out of their skin and challenge, which is why in the last decade there have been five different champions. In the Bundesliga, this isn’t considered getting ideas above one’s station. This is the result of it being the most competitive league in Europe.

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After a disappointing start to the season, Bayern Munchen have recaptured their cutting edge, and between 29th November 2009 and 13th February 2010 they won nine straight matches – scoring an average of over three goals a game. They first gained the top spot in the Bundesliga after 18 matches had been played, and since then have only relinquished it for two weeks before regaining the lead.

The challengers to Bayern’s throne are numerous, for the title race in Germany is more open than most European leagues. Over the last ten years, Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen, VfB Stuttgart and VfL Wolfsburg have been worthy champions. This season, the nearest contenders are Schalke 04 and Bayer Leverkusen, who are 2 and 3 points adrift respectively. With games against both to come as the Bundesliga reaches its climax, the big matches look set to decide the recipient of the title.

Meanwhile, Wolfsburg are looking to improve their disappointing league campaign with a recovery from mid-table. The Lower Saxony club won the Bundesliga title in the 2008-2009 with the help of their brilliant strikeforce of Grafite and the much sought-after Bosnian, Edin Dzeko. If Wolfsburg’s season is underwhelming Hertha Berlin’s is quite disastrous. After finishing a very credible fourth in last season, they currently rest at the foot of the table with just 15 points from 25 games – a points-to-games ratio that is worse than Premier League strugglers Portsmouth.

It is quite clear then that there are a number of important games coming up this March in the Bundesliga, and Tixdaq.com has tickets to all the following games and more:

March 13th 2010 – Schalke 04 vs. VfB Stuttgart
March 20th 2010 – Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayer Leverkusen
March 20th 2010 – VfL Wolfsburg vs. Hertha Berlin
March 27th 2010 – Bayern Munchen vs. VfB Stuttgart
March 27th 2010 – Borussia Monchengladbach vs. Hamburger SV

Of course, you can always browse the full list of fixtures available too:

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With this kind of financial dominance over its domestic rivals and similar status to Europe’s leading clubs, one would assume that Bayern Munich would be challenging for every trophy they contend. However, in the years following the 2001 Champions League triumph, the club have not progressed further than the quarter finals of the competition. In the same ten years in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen, VfB Stuttgart and VfL Wolfsburg have interrupted Bayern’s reign at the top of the table, while Bayer Leverkusen doing particularly well this year.

While almost every other top division in Europe seems to be dominated by a two or three teams, the Bundesliga has the unusual feature that any team can win any match, and ultimately, the league. Bayern Munich may be the top earners and at the table’s summit, but the other sides in the division are constantly snapping at their heels, and this year looks to be more captivating than ever before as we enter the season’s climax.

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The Bundesliga returns from its winter break on January 15th with Bayern Munich hosting the league’s first match of 2010 against Hoffenheim.

The Bavarian giants had an erratic first half of the season with the team initially sliding down the table putting new coach Louis Van Gaal under considerable pressure. A falling out with striker Luca Toni as well as persistent injuries to wing wizards Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery were systematic of Bayern’s malaise but an excellent December has revived fresh hope amongst the followers of Germany’s biggest football club.

Bayern won their last four league matches of 2009 but the coup de grace was their astonishing qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League. Needing to win in Turin against Juventus, the visitors fell behind to an early David Trezeguet goal only to regroup and smash in four goals in reply.

With their star players returning to fitness and the team in third place in the league – just two points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen – the New Year could well be a successful one for Bayern Munich.

Tickets for Bayern Munich v Hoffenheim are still available to compare and buy at tixdaq.com.

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This weekend sees the last set of fixtures before the Bundesliga breaks up for Christmas.

The most intriguing match on the coupon sees fifth place play fourth as Hamburg face Werder Bremen in the Nordbank Arena.

The match is a re-run of last season’s UEFA Cup semi-final in which Werder Bremen prevailed courtesy of Claudio Pizarro though the subsequent supension of midfield maestro Diego meant that Werder were overturned by Shakhtar Donetsk in the final.

The game should not lack for excitement as it pits two of three most potent attacking teams against each other. Hamburg’s threat comes from all over the field with Mladen Petric and Paolo Guerrero striking from the front while Eljero Elia and veteran Ze Roberto chip in from midfield.

Werder, meanwhile, can call on Pizarro as well as Aaron Hunt, Hugo Almeida and the midfield trickery of Mesut Ozil to cause defences problems.

Neither team has been in particularly good form of late with each recording just one win from their last five matches.

Both teams sit on 28 points and while a win for one team would obviously open up a three point gap to the other, the psychological boost it would provide to the victors before they signed off for their four-week break would be immeasurable.

It would also keep them right in the title race with leaders Bayer Leverkusen currently just four points ahead of them both.

The Bundesliga is as open as ever and once again has a rightful claim to be the most competitive league in Europe.

Tickets for Hamburg v Werder Bremen are still available via this website and are priced from £44.

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After the conclusion of Matchday 6 in the UEFA Champions League the group stage has finally come to an end giving us the names of all the 16 teams that will fight it out in the knockout section of the competition.

No nation is currently dominating the competition though England’s Barclays Premier League and Spain’s La Liga both had three group winners – those teams constituted their total amount of representatives after Liverpool and Atletico Madrid fell at the first hurdle. There are also three teams from Italy’s Serie A left in the competition while France’s Ligue 1 and Germany’s Bundesliga each have two teams  left in the tournament. The final three spots are made up of one team each from Portugal, Russia and Greece.

The list of qualifers for the second round in full:

Bordeaux (FRA)

Manchester United (ENG)

Real Madrid (ESP)

Chelsea (ENG)

Fiorentina (ITA)

Barcelona (ESP)

Sevilla (ESP)

Arsenal (ENG)

Bayern Munich (GER)

CSKA Moscow (RUS)

AC Milan (ITA)

FC Porto (POR)

Lyon (FRA)

Inter Milan (ITA)

Stuttgart (GER)

Olympiacos (GRE)

The draw for the second round will take place on December 18.

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There is still much at stake for each team in Group G of the UEFA Champions League with the exception of Rangers.

The SPL champions have had a woeful campaign with their home form particularly poor and they sit bottom of the pile with even their chances of UEFA Europa League football non-existent.

Sevilla top the group and face the Glasgow team at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in what must be considered a formality for the highly impressive Spanish side. A win would guarantee them top spot though – having already qualified – they could manage it even with a defeat.

The final qualification place will be decided when Stuttgart play host to Dan Petrescu’s Unirea Urziceni with the hosts having to win to go through. The German side have just sacked their coach, former Liverpool defender Markus Babbel, after a 1-1 draw at home to Bochum left them in the bottom three of the Bundesliga table.

With such a big match coming up it seems like an odd decision to make though often teams in turmoil can be galvanised by a change at the helm. That said, Unirea have surprised everyone with their skill and enterprise and may feel that Stuttgart are there for the taking as they bid to make history.

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Manchester United may have safely qualified for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League but there are still a few issues to be sorted out in Group B.

The Red Devil’s shock 1-0 home defeat to Besiktas on Matchday 5 means that they need a point from their trip to Wolfsburg to guarantee top spot and a supposedly favourable draw in the next round but they must not take this match lightly.

Wolfsburg lie in second place three points behind Manchester United and know that they need a win to make sure they qualify alongside the English side. A point may be enough for the Bundesliga champions but with CSKA Moscow sitting on the same points as them they need to match or better the Russian team’s result away at Besiktas to be in the hat for the second round.

A win for Wolfsburg would probably see them through as group winners due to their head-to-head record and with a strikeforce of Edin Dzeko and Grafite playing against what will almost certainly be a makeshift United defence, it is a definite possibility.

It’s all to play for on Tuesday night.

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Bayern Munich face a Borussia Monchengladbach this weekend in a Bundesliga fixture that has more significance than initially suspected.

The Bavarian giants have underperformed this season despite splashing the cash in the summer and boss Louis Van Gaal is under mounting pressure to turn things around.

Bayern have stuttered through their league campaign so far winning less than half of their 14 games – a record that leaves them six points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen. Their displays in the UEFA Champions league have also left something to be desired with the previously fancied side now faltering in third spot in Group A.

They must win their final game against Juventus at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin to qualify for the knockout rounds but Van Gaal has insisted that his players forget about that match and concentrate on domestic matters for the time being.

“The mark of a top professional is the ability to concentrate on the next game, which is Gladbach. Juventus has to wait,” said Van Gaal. “The really decisive match is against Moenchengladbach.”

The outspoken Dutch manager has alienated some of his charges with his allof persona and his strict regime with striker Luca Toni now actively looking for a January transfer away from the club – West Ham are believed to be monitoring the situation. But Van Gaal has also had his fair share of bad luck as talisman Franck Ribery and marquee summer signing Arjen Robben having alreay missed a large swathe of the season.

With Schalke 04, Werder Bremen and Leverkusen all currently sitting above Bayern in the Bundesliga standings, a win against Monchengladbach would be the first step towards redemption.

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