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Back to the day job

Stefan Nestler / alNovember 28, 2014

Germany's top football clubs had a week to forget on the European stage losing heavily to mainly Premier League opponents. Bayern, Dortmund and the others now hope to get back into the swing of things in the Bundesliga.

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Schalke's Dennis Aogo ponders his team's 5-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea
Image: AFP/Getty Images/T. Schwarz

It's never, ever happened before: all four German Champions League teams lost on the same matchday earlier this week. In the Europa League on Thursday, it was more of the same too: Gladbach drew, while Wolfsburg were beaten by Everton.

In fact, of all the German teams involved in European competition this week, Bayern Munich have probably emerged the least concerned. Their 3-2 loss against Manchester City was down to two major blunders by two very experienced players, something they should be able to avoid in the future.

"It (the loss) didn't really cause any damage," said Bayern's chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge after the game.

When asked whether English Premier League clubs were doing something that Bundesliga clubs weren't, Bayern's coach, Pep Guardiola, seemed unconcerned too. "Last time the German teams all won. Playing Europe is just hard work."

For Bayern's weekend opponents, Hertha Berlin, the Champions League must seem like a world away. "There can always be a moment in the game when you can make something happen," said Hertha Berlin's coach Jos Luhukay ahead of the game in Berlin on Saturday. "But you've also got to have a bit of luck."

Champions League Leverkusen Stefan Kiessling
Leverkusen striker Stefan Kiessling hits the ground in his team's game against MonacoImage: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Augstein

Rock bottom

Schalke, like Bayern, are also looking for a quick turnaround in form. Their heavy 5-0 loss at home to Chelsea mid-week has seen club management start to get a bit nervous in Gelsenkirchen. Commercial manager Horst Heldt, who was criticized heavily on Twitter this week by former Schalke player Jermaine Jones for "ruining the club," has been especially jumpy.

The best way to settle things down is with a win against Mainz. Schalke's coach Roberto Di Matteo is asking everyone for a bit of patience though: "At the moment we are making two steps forward, then one step backwards."

After BVB's 2-0 loss to Arsenal, Jürgen Klopp seems a little clueless ahead of this team's match against Frankfurt. "We have to get hungrier again," said Klopp. "You have to make your own luck. What we need at the moment are results, and not just pretty football."

Fourth-placed Leverkusen are also licking their Champions League wounds. Their 1-0 loss at home to Monaco on Wednesday saw them miss out on winning their Champions League group early.

"We have to get over the Monaco game quickly," said Leverkusen's playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu ahead of his team's local derby against Cologne. Leverkusen will have to be on top of their game though on Saturday: Cologne are one of the strongest teams away from home in the Bundesliga and the last time the two teams played, in 2011, Cologne thumped Leverkusen 4-1.

"This derby comes just at the right time, so that we can start focusing on our own performance again, " said Leverkusen's coach.

Huub Stevens, Trainer des VfB Stuttgart
It took just 148 days: now Huub Stevens is back coaching VfB Stuttgart againImage: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Kahnert

Stevens is back

At the other end of the Bundesliga table, Stuttgart will take to the field with a new coach against Freiburg on Friday night: Huub Stevens. After helping the team avoid relegation last year, the 60-year-old Dutchman says he's looking forward to the challenge of taking the reigns at the new club. Stevens replaces previous coach Armin Veh, who quit his role at the club last Sunday, after the team sank to last place in the league.

Elswehere in the league, Augsburg play Hamburg, Bremen take on Paderborn, and Hoffenheim play Hannover. On Sunday the two Europa League teams, Wolfsburg and Gladbach also play against each other.

DW will have live blog coverage of Saturday afternoon's Bundesliga action, from 14:00 UTC here: www.dw.de/sports.