Tough tests
August 21, 2009
Felix Magath's Schalke lost their 100 percent record on Friday night when it tied 0-0 with host Hoffenheim.
The mostly slow game was watched by 30,150 spectators. Both defenses were only tested occasionally and despite threats by Sejad Salihovic and Vebad Ibisevic for Hoffenheim, Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer managed to keep the hosts out.
"We didn't have any clear goal chances and we have to to be satisfied with the point here," said Neuer, as his team provisionally rose to the top of the Bundesliga.
Wolfsburg have started where they left off last season by securing two impressive victories over Cologne and VfB Stuttgart.
But fellow northerners Hamburg have also started solidly under new coach Bruno Labbadia and will relish the chance of leapfrogging Wolfsburg on Sunday - and gaining revenge for two painful defeats to the Wolves last season.
"They really took us down a peg last season," said Hamburg captain David Jarolim, recalling a 3-0 defeat in Wolfsburg and a 3-1 loss at home in March when Hamburg had briefly topped the league. "I don't want to talk about revenge as we only had ourselves to blame for the two defeats, but we want to make up for it."
Hamburg, who defeated Borussia Dortmund last weekend, will be hoping Thursday's Europa League trip to French side EA Guingamp will not prove overly taxing.
Meanwhile Wolfsburg coach Armin Veh will probably see no reason to change his strike duo of Edin Dzeko and the Brazilian Grafite - who scored 54 goals between them last season - despite a good start by 10-million-euro ($14.2 million) signing Obafemi Martins.
The Nigerian missed training on Wednesday with a cold, but is expected to recover by Sunday, probably to take a place on the bench.
Bayern looking for first win
Bayern Munich, meanwhile, will be looking for a first victory after two draws under Dutch coach Louis van Gaal when they travel to promoted Mainz on Saturday.
Van Gaal will be without the injured Martin Demichelis in defense and captain Mark van Bommel in midfield, but is hoping French international Franck Ribery will be available.
Ribery has been suffering from a groin strain which has restricted his training but van Gaal is anxious to see how he fits into a new central role behind the strikers.
Italy striker Luca Toni has returned from Italy to begin training following an Achilles tendon injury but is not fit enough to challenge Mario Gomez and either Miroslav Klose or Ivica Olic.
The arrival of Gomez and Olic seems to have relegated Toni to the bench but chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has warned against writing off the 32-year-old.
"He is mentally strong and I am convinced that after returning from Italy he will be training hard and working on his comeback. I think we'll still have a lot of fun with him in Munich," he said.
Basement battlers looking for first points
At the other end of the table the arrival of striker Lukas Podolski from Bayern has not translated to points for Cologne who are bottom following two defeats ahead of Saturday's visit by Eintracht Frankfurt.
Cologne will feel it's a must-win game as tough matches follow against Hamburg, Schalke, Stuttgart, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.
"We have to stay calm and not get hectic. We have shown that we can match opponents like Wolfsburg (a 3-1 home defeat). But the two first games have shown that it's going to be a tough season," Podolski told Kicker sports magazine.
Hanover, who visit Nuremberg on Saturday, are also looking for a first win as well as a new coach after Dieter Hecking threw in the towel late Wednesday.
Werder Bremen - boosted by the signing of last season's on-loan striker Claudio Pizarro - are another side seeking a first win, with Borussia Moenchengladbach the visitors on Sunday.
Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart - both fancied to do well this season - meet on Saturday, while Leverkusen are at promoted Freiburg in the day's other game. The remaining game Sunday sees Bochum face visiting Hertha Berlin.
hf/nda/AFP/dpa
Editor: Nathan Witkop