Continental, Sponsoring Partner of Bayern Munich

German football giant Bayern Munich has got Continental (German manufacturer of tyre and automotive components) as its sponsoring partner till 2015.

Nikolai Setzer, Continental’s executive board member and the head of the Passenger and Light Truck Tires division said, “We are delighted with the attractive possibility our role as exclusive tyre partner offers to link two premium brands, Continental and FC Bayern Munich. This adds a further component to our international football sponsoring strategy. Hooking up with Germany’s most successful football club and the one best known around the world boosts the image of the premium Continental brand as a tyre renowned nationally and internationally for its safety and braking performance.” He added that, “After achieving a further double victory and making it into the final match of the Champions League this past season, FC Bayern Munich now plays in televised Bundesliga (Germany’s national football league) action to a growing fan community in the millions in- and outside of Germany. This certainly includes viewers in growth markets we have targeted in Asia. The team’s numerous international appearances outside of regular competition further boost FC Bayern Munich‘s very high degree of visibility in connection with our premium Continental brand. FC Bayern Munich stands for a highly professional and impassioned approach off the playing field, too. These are attributes that perfectly match our products and our brands.” (as reported by Eufootball.biz)

Continental will be sponsoring DFB football cup competition in Germany and has announced a deal with Major League Soccer in the US also recently.

Luca Toni Has Achilles' Tendon Injury

Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni has a right Achilles' tendon injury that could keep the Italian international out of the defending champion's Bundesliga game against Cologne on Saturday.

"He's been carrying it for a week already," Bayern coach Juergen Klinsmann said Sunday, one day after his team's 2-1 loss at Hertha Berlin.

Bayern's second loss in three games dropped it to third place in the table, two points behind Hertha, who took over the Bundesliga lead with Saturday's victory.

Luca Toni started the match but was forced to leave after 35 minutes.

News Courtesy: USAToday.com

Bayern Munich's Willy Sagnol Retires from Soccer

Bayern Munich's French Defender Willy Sagnol Retires

Willy Sagnol

Wife and Daughter of Willy Sagnol

Bayern Munich's French defender Willy Sagnol has retired from football after failing to recover from an Achilles tendon injury.

The 31-year-old French international suffered the injury at Euro 2008 and he has not played since.

It brings to an end an illustrious career which included five league titles with Bayern Munich, four German Cups and also an UEFA Champions League winner's medal in 2001.

Sagnol was also part of the French team which finished runners-up to Italy at the 2006 World Cup.

Announcing his retirement, he said: "The evidence is there - it's an injury which won't heal. Surgery is not possible. The only solution is to stop."

Keanu Reeves's Film angers Bayern Fans

A scene form "The Day The Earth Stood Still" where Allianz Arena stadium being blown out

Supporters of German sports club Bayern Munich are boycotting Keanu Reeves” ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ after seeing their stadium being blasted by aliens in the new science fiction thriller.

The trailer of the movie had raged soccer fans after it was aired on the club’’s giant TV screens, depicting the Allianz Arena stadium being blown to bits by aliens.

The club’s media director Markus Hoerwick said that they had no idea about the scene until it was screened in the match-day trailer.

Image Courtesy: http://www.bild.de/

Bayern Munich In Hunt For Ivica Olic

Bayern have now officially joined Juventus and Valencia in the chase to capture the 29-year-old Ivica Olic.

"We are convinced that Ivica would ideally suit our two strikers Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose," Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told Bild.


Ivica Olic joined Hamburg in January 2007 from CSKA Moscow and has scored 24 goals in 65 Bundesliga appearances.

French Mid-Fielder Franck Ribéry Back in Training At Bayern Munich

French midfielder Franck Ribéry took part in full training with Bayern Munich on Thursday for the first time since his Euro 2008 ankle injury and expects to play again by the end of September.

Having torn ankle ligaments in June, Ribery, 25, trained with his team-mates under new Bayern coach Jurgen Klinsmann in Munich watched by more than a thousand fans.

"He is working day after day with more energy, Franck is getting more and more confidence," said Klinsmann.

The Bayern boss expects Ribery to return for the German giants on September 27 for the Bundesliga match against Hanover.

The Frenchman damaged his ankle playing for his country in the 2-0 defeat at the hands of Italy on Tuesday June 17 during the Euro 2008 group stages and underwent surgery two days later.

No Fun For Lukas Podolski in Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich striker Lukas Podolski has admitted it was a mistake to move to the Bundesliga champions two years ago.

The Germany international joined Bayern from Cologne in 2006.

Podolski has not managed to hold down a regular starting berth in the Bayern first team over the past two years and, despite impressing in pre-season, does not seem set to do so this season either.

"Obviously, it is not so much fun at Bayern right now," he said.

"If things go on like this then I will have to consider my options.

"I would be a bad footballer if I were to be happy with a place on the bench. I am not moaning, I am just angry not to be starting games."

Podolski's affection for Cologne remains strong, though, and should they be able to accumulate enough funds to buy him in January, the Germany striker would not think twice.

"Cologne would always be an option for me and everybody knows that," he added.

"If I were to receive offers, it would be negligent of me not to consider them.

Bayern's next game is against Cologne and, should Podolski score, he has promised not to celebrate - like when he scored against Poland, his family's home country, at Euro 2008.

News Courtsey: Sportinglife.com

Bundesliga : Bayern Munich To miss Luca Toni And Ribery In Bundesliga season's opener

Italian striker Luca Toni will be out of Friday's Bundesliga season's opener for Bayern Munich against Hamburger SV.

Luca Toni topped Bundesliga last year with 24 goals and the Italian played a major role in Bayern's march to the championship and the German Cup title.

"We won't have him yet," Bayern's new coach Juergen Klinsmann said Wednesday.

Toni has been nursing a calf injury and is also recovering from a tooth operation.

Bayern Munich will also be without French midfielder Franck Ribery. Ribery is expected to be out at least through mid-September following ankle surgery for an injury he picked up at the European Championship in June.

German Super Cup : Bayern Munich -1 vs Borrussia Dortmund -2

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Last years German double winners, Bayern Munich, were embarrassed to lose new coach Jurgen Klinsmann's first chance of a trophy yesterday.
They were beaten 2-1 by Borrussia Dortmund, who gained revenge for their narrow defeat in the Cup Final last season.

Dortmund took control in a lively first half when they scored twice within five minutes after half-an-hours play. Jakub Blaszczykowski scored the first from Mladen Petric's pass, and the advantage was doubled just four minutes later when Tamas Hajnal's 20-yard free-kick gave Bayern keeper Michael Rensing no chance.

In the second half, Klinsmann made five changes, and they finally pulled one back through substitute Mehmet Ekici, but they couldn't improve on that.

Munich were missing Ribery, who was badly injured in the Euro2008 tournament, but with Podolski, Klose, Toni, Schweinsteiger et al on the pitch, would have expected a better showing than that.

First Round Schedule Of German Cup Announced

First Round Schedule Of German Cup
The first round matches will be played between 7th and 10th August

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Rot-Weiß Erfurt v/s Bayern Munich

Eintracht Nordhorn v/s Werder Bremen

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FC Homburg v/s Schalke

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Hamburg v/s FC Ingolstadt

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Stuttgart v/s Hansa Lüneburg

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Wolfsburg v/s FC Heidenheim

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VfB Fichte Bielefeld v/s Borussia Mönchengladbach

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen v/s Bayer Leverkusen

FSV Frankfurt v/s VfL Osnabrück

Rot-Weiss Ahlen v/s Nürnberg

Rot-Weiss Essen v/s Borussia Dortmund

Lukas Podolski May Leave Bayern Munich

"For me what matters at the moment is the Euros. And afterwards I will think about everything else.”

"But if I can't see the possibility of playing under Jürgen Klinsmann, you have to ponder the future.

"I am not a footballer to sit on the bench." These are the words Lukas Podolski of Germany told Bild.

After Euro 2008 quarter-final match against Portugal, Podolski hinted that he may leave Bayern Munich if he did not feature in the playing-11. He was kept to a role as a substitute last season in Bayern Munich.

In the recent weeks, Podolski has been linked with EPL clubs like Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City.

Juventus Eyes Schweinsteiger

Juventus coach, Claudio Ranieri has eyed on German international Schweinsteiger to bring him in Juventus for the coming season. Schweinsteiger now plays football for Bayern Munich where he made his debut in 2002.

However Bayern Munich's new boss Jürgen Klinsmann is reluctant to idea of selling Schweinsteiger and only a lucrative offer would make Klinsman sell his main palyer to Juventus.

Hans-Jörg Butt Signs For Bayern Munich From Benfica

Bayern Munich have signed in goalkeeper Hans-Jörg Butt to a 2 year contract. Butt played for Portugal side Benfica last season. Bayern Munich have now a back up goalkeeper to their number one Michael Rensing.

Hans-Jörg Butt played for Bayern Leverkusen (2001-02 season), but lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League final 1-2.

Bayern Munich bids farewell to Oliver Kahn with a 3-0 win

Adieu Oliver Kahn

Ze Roberto of Bayern Munich in action


Bayern Munich - 3 v/s Mohun Bagan - 0

This match was the formal exit of one of the great goalkeepers of all times-Oliver Kahn. He was replaced by Michael Rensing in 55th minute, signalling the end of a carrer of more than two decades. Kahn's grand exit was witnessed by more than 120,000 spectators in the field. During the break he was gifted a miniature football with 8648 diamonds in it.

Striker Zan Schlaudraff and Ze Roberto scored in the 1st half and again Schlaudraff scored his 2nd and team's third in the 55th minute. 2 red cards was shown in this exhibition match. In the 84th minute Bayern's Breno and Mohun Bagan's Branco was shown the red cards. A 82nd minute shot by Lalkamal Bhowmick of Mohun Bagan hit the bar and went out of play.

Apart from this incident, Kolkatans witnessed a memorable football match and the exit of one of the celebrated golakeepers of the world.

Bayern Munich: Oliver Kahn (Michael Rensing 55); Breno, Christian Lell, Uwe Schlottner, Andreas Ottl, Mark van Bommel, Ze Roberto (Taygun Kuru 77), Jose Ernesto Sosa (Diego Contento 46), Viktor Bopp (Gianluca Simari 68); Toni Kroos, Jan Schlaudraff.

Mohun Bagan: Sangram Mukherjee (Chirodeep Chattopadhyay 89); Habibur Rehman Mondal (Naveen Kumar 70), Anand Vasin, Rakesh Masih, Rahul Kumar; James Singh, Lalkamal Bhowmick, S. James Singh, Ishfaq Ahmed, Henry Gangte (Tapan Maity 59); P.C. Lalawmpuiya (Branco Cardozo 64).

Oliver Kahn's Last "Venue"

Oliver Kahn in Kolkata

Salt Lake Stadium aka Yuva Bharati Krirangan

Kolkata Gears Up For The Final Match of Oliver Kahn

Actually, I am bit lucky to witness Oliver Kahn's last international match. His team Bayern Munich will be playing an exhibition match today in my city, Kolkata (India), starting from 18.50 IST. Apart from Oliver Kahn, Kolkatans will witness the magic and power of European football and see the skills of other players like Van Bommel, Ribery, Ze Roberto to name a few.
The stadium where they will be playing has a capacity of 130,000 and its the world's second largest stadium. Local name of the stadium Yuva Bharati Krirangan. Bayern Munich will be playing against Mohun Bagan, India's National Club, which happens to be my rival club (my football club: Kingfisher East Bengal, which happens to have results against foreign clubs).

Probable Bayern Munich team: Oliver Kahn, Jose Roberto Da Silva (jr), Andreas Ottl, Mark van Bommel, Jan Schlaudraff, Jose Ernesto Sosa, Michael Rensing, Bernd Dreher, Christian Lell, Toni Kroos, Breno Vinicius Borges, Dominik Rohracker, Taygun Kuru, Uwe Schlottner, Viktor, Bopp, Gianluca Simari, Diego Enrique Pizarro Bosio, Diego Contento

Probable Mohun Bagan : Sangram Mukherjee, Habibur Rehman Mondal, Rakesh Mashi, Anand Vasan, Rahul Kumar, James Singh, Henry, Isfaq Ahmed, James Singh (jr), Lalkamal Bhowmick, P.C. Lalawmpuia

Match will start 18.50 today...catch you tomorrow for this and other sports updates.