Bundesliga top scorer Robert Lewandowski scored eight minutes from time to give champions Borussia Dortmund a nervous 2-1 win at 10-man VfB Stuttgart on Saturday and delay the all but inevitable Bayern Munich title party by at least a week.
Flawless Bayern Munich struck twice in three minutes to beat Schalke 04 2-0 on Saturday and stay top of the Bundesliga with four wins from four as rivals Borussia Dortmund lost 3-2 at Hamburg SV to end a 31-match unbeaten run.
Bundesliga leaders Hoffenheim won 2-0 on Friday to send Schalke 04 slumping to their third successive league defeat on Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar's debut.
Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk omitted Hamburg SV striker Ruud van Nistelrooy from his provisional 30-men squad for the World Cup on Tuesday.
Fulham, languishing in the lowest division only 13 years ago, marched into the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday to keep their Cinderella story on course for a fairy-tale ending. With Liverpool joining the unheralded Londoners in the last four, along with Hamburg SV and Atletico Madrid, Fulham's lack of European pedigree was clear, but they produced an impressive performance to beat VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 and 3-1 on aggregate.
Benfica's Paraguay forward Oscar Cardozo converted two second-half penalties to help them come from behind and beat 10-man Liverpool 2-1 as the Europa League dished up more drama in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Manchester City defender Jerome Boateng has agreed to join Bayern Munich for four years but the English club have not yet agreed the deal, the player said on Tuesday.
Five-times European champions Liverpool suffered a 1-0 defeat at Lille after a late goal by forward Eden Hazard while Juventus beat underdogs Fulham 3-1 in Europa League last 16 first leg matches on Thursday.
Leaders Schalke 04 surrendered their unbeaten Bundesliga record when they lost 1-0 at promoted Cologne on Friday. The visitors got away with a series of defensive lapses until Youssef Mohamad headed in for Cologne just before halftime after a long throw from Pierre Wome bamboozled the defence. Schalke remain top with 11 points from six matches followed by 1899 Hoffenheim, VfB Stuttgart and Hamburg SV on 10 points from five.
Germans reacted with shock and disbelief on Tuesday after national team keeper Robert Enke's apparent suicide at a train crossing near Hanover. According to Lower Saxony police the 32-year-old Hanover 96 was hit by a train at a crossing early on Tuesday evening, leaving fellow players, coaches and fans stunned by the news of his death.
Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal, whose club spent lavishly during the close season, remained upbeat on Wednesday even after his team failed to score for the second match in a row.
VfB Stuttgart have fined Romanian Ciprian Marica a reported 50,000 euros after he was sent off following a verbal attack on the referee in his team's 4-2 defeat by Hamburg SV on Saturday.
The champions of Italy, England, France and Germany continued to dictate the pace in the major European leagues at the weekend.
Fernando Torres will face his former club Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semi-finals after scoring twice to help Liverpool beat Benfica 4-1 at Anfield on Thursday.
Leaders Bayer Leverkusen set a Bundesliga record for the longest unbeaten start to the season when they drew 0-0 at home to Cologne on Saturday.
Bayern Munich defender Daniel van Buyten headed in a cross eight minutes from time to give his team a 2-1 victory over promoted Nuremberg on Saturday and lift them to third place in the Bundesliga.
They were joined in the second knockout round by Bayer Leverkusen, who enjoyed a 5-1 demolition of Galatasaray, and now meet league rivals Hamburg SV, who dispensed with FC Zurich. Werder Bremen cruised through 4-0 on aggregate against Braga.
Former UEFA Cup winners Galatasaray and Bayer Leverkusen will meet in the first knockout round of the UEFA Cup with a possible clash with Hamburg SV awaiting the winners.
Bayern Munich's domestic woes continued on Sunday when they were held 0-0 at Werder Bremen and slipped to fifth in the Bundesliga.
AC Milan's Kaka is the highest scorer in the competition this season with 10 goals.
UEFA Cup favourites AC Milan missed the chance to progress to the knockout stages as group winners when a late Mahir Saglik equaliser handed VfL Wolfsburg a 2-2 draw at the San Siro on Wednesday. As Group E's top side, Wolfsburg are guaranteed a tie against a third-placed side from another group in Friday's last 32 draw while seven-times European champions Milan must face a third-placed finisher from the Champions League group stage.
Italy striker Luca Toni scored twice to steer Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich to a 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
Swiss side Thun beat Hamburg SV, while English side Middlesbrough got the better of VfB Stuttgart in the UEFA Cup first leg knock-out round.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes their 3-1 victory over Hamburg SV in Europe will put an end to a costly Premier League jinx at their new Emirates Stadium.
Swiss internationals Johan Djourou and Philippe Senderos would be the main candidates to replace him on Tuesday.
AC Milan and Liverpool won their Champions League qualifying rounds.
Southampton have agreed to sign Werder Bremen's Netherlands winger Eljero Elia on loan until the end of the season, the Premier League club said on Tuesday.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich crushed Freiburg 4-0 on Saturday, recording their 13th successive Bundesliga victory and extending their league unbeaten streak to 46.
Franz Beckenbauer was for decades synonymous with Germany's success on the pitch, as player and then coach.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich stumbled to a 1-1 home draw against Hoffenheim on Saturday but stayed three points clear at the top as Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired four goals past Hamburg SV following his midweek ban. Bayern fell a goal behind when Kerem Demirbay's thundering shot in the 16th minute left keeper Manuel Neuer rooted on the spot.
Runaway Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich showed no signs of letting up as they brushed aside Werder Bremen 4-0 in a bad-tempered match on Saturday.
Borussia Dortmund eased past nine-man Hamburg SV 3-0 to keep their slim Bundesliga title hopes alive on Sunday as they moved seven points behind leaders Bayern Munich with four games remaining.
Bottom-of-the-table Dynamo will have to sit out at least the first two matchdays after two players tested positive for the coronavirus and the entire team was ordered into quarantine.
Robert Lewandowski struck twice to steer champions Bayern Munich to a 2-1 win at Hamburg SV on Friday that stretched their lead at the top to 11 points as the Bundesliga resumed following a one-month winter break.
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich face Borussia Dortmund on Saturday with relations between the German heavyweights seemingly at an all-time low.
Bayern Munich came from a goal down at home to beat Ingolstadt 3-1 on Saturday and make it three wins in three Bundesliga matches as they went two points clear at the top. The champions were far less convincing than in their Champions League 5-0 win over Rostov on Tuesday and were caught napping after eight minutes with Paraguayan Dario Lezcano slipping the ball through the legs of Manuel Neuer.
Bayern Munich's perfect Bundesliga start came to a screeching halt when they drew 1-1 with visiting Cologne on Saturday after winning their first five matches of the season.
Borussia Moenchengladbach's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League suffered a blow as they were beaten 2-0 at bottom club Hanover 96 on Friday.
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