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Looky there - it's Borussia Dortmund on top of the Bundesliga! Bayern's advance (and Dortmund's failure to) in the UEFA Champions League seemed like it might hold some eventual benefit for the Schwarzgelben, but boy did it come fast, setting up a mouth-watering Klassiker after the international break. Matt welcomes back Jake Payne of 50 Plus Döner for a chat about the shuffling of places in the race for Europe and the teams racing to beat the drop...as well as a conversation about whether his beloved EffZeh might soon be in that latter cluster after a miserable run capped off by the 6-1 hiding they took at the Westfalenstadion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"A St Pauli fan and a Werder Bremen fan walk into a HSV bar..." sounds like the start of a very particular type of German football joke, and is more or less the premise for this episode of Talking Fussball Extra. Nik and Maik clue you in on how the mighty Hamburger Sport-Verein ended up in the 2. Bundesliga, how they have managed to stay there so long, and how they hope to get out this season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every time the Revierderby comes around, you can always depend on a hard-fought game and a volcanic atmosphere - sometimes you get a brilliant game as well. So it was this past match day, as FC Schalke 04 underscored their recent resurgence by going toe to toe with Borussia Dortmund in the Revierderby. The Royal Blues may not have dazzled, but few would argue that their fight didn't merit a draw. Listen in as guest host Marie Schulte-Bockum talks with ESPN+'s Derek Rae about the big result, as well as the rest of the action from MD24. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They're back! Nik is back from a well-earned break in the Oman sunshine and ready to preside over a lower division roundtable. Jasmine and Maik join him to give you the lowdown on Dieter Hecking's return to the touchline in Nürnberg, FC St. Pauli's resurgence, and much more from the 2. Liga and lower down the German football pyramid. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1. FC Union Berlin had a chance to shake up the Bundesliga on MD22. The overachievers from Köpenick clawed their way back to the top of the table with a strong start to the back half of the season. Now all they had to do to hang on there was beat 10-years-running Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, away from home and on short rest. Gentle listener, that result was not on the cards. Matt and Terry hash out the Spitzenspiel that wasn't, Dortmund's win in Sinsheim, why we have Schalke to thank for a tightened-up relegation battle, and more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How often has the Bundesliga seen a three-way tie at the top after 21 matches? Just a tiny handful times, and not once in the three-points-for-a-win era that started nearly 30 years ago. That's another reminder of what an unusually close title race we're having, and what a treat these last 13 games are likely to be. Listen in as Matt is joined by Marie Schulte-Bockum again to hear how we ended up in this unaccustomed place. Why can't Bayern beat Gladbach? What made Schalke such a tough opponent for Union? And did Dortmund's win over a fairly tidy Hertha side illustrate why they might have what it takes to go all the way? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Borussia Dortmund have done nothing but win since the Bundesliga restart, which has put them back in the title mix, just three points back of FC Bayern München. It's a tight race between the two biggest clubs in the division, but both teams will be turning their attention to the UEFA Champions League this week as they take on Chelsea and PSG respectively. Union Berlin still may have something to say - they racked up another come-from-behind win this week, this time at RB Leipzig. Matt talks it all over with Marie Schulte-Bockum... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What a time to be alive - here we are into February and the top of the Bundesliga table is still something of a traffic jam! After Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund dispatched their opponents on Saturday afternoon, Bayern Munich actually needed to win away to Wolfsburg on Sunday to stay top. Matt and Terry talk over all the action at the top, all the static off the pitch surrounding Manuel Neuer's big vent, Gio Reyna's scoring tear, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At last the German second tier has returned from its looooong break - one even longer that the big boys in the top flight. Plenty to talk about after a weekend of action there in the 2. Bundesliga, and plenty more to dissect from the rungs below as well. Nik Wildhagen is back with Jasmine and Maik to take it all in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Could 1. FC Union Berlin be on the verge of something truly magical? They brushed aside their cross-town rivals Hertha for the fifth derby on the trot and are now within one point of FC Bayern München. After the Rekordmeister limped through the English week with nothing but draws, there's a chance their season could end without (gasp!) the usual multi-trophy celebration. With Union and Bayern topping the docket, who else could Matt turn to but Kit Holden? The Scheisse! We're Going Up! author joins TFD from Vietnam - the lucky guy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can you believe it's been 10 WEEKS since we've had Bundesliga football to watch? It seems much of the league was more than ready to go, as fans saw 41 goals across the match day, including a 7-1 result, a 6-0, and no fewer than six games with four goals or more. Interestingly, Bayern and Leipzig's Spitzenduell was among the less eventful affairs on Match Day 16. Matt and Adam Khan break down what's happening with those two high-profile sides, what's gotten into Wolfsburg, whether BVB should part with a club legend, and which mid-table sides could risk a slide into the relegation scrap if the have a poor englische Woche. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So you thought all was well up in Hamburg? Think again. Despite rounding out the pre-World Cup part of the season with a big win, a couple of negative stories emerged to rain on their parade. Meanwhile, down in Fürth, helter-skelter football merchant Alexander Zorniger has led the Kleeblätter on a real tear. Listen in as Nik, Jasmine and Maik lead you through all those stories and more from the 2. Liga and the lower leagues in Germany... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a roller coaster of a first almost-half of the season, we're back to where we started. FC Bayern München are top of the league and in the kind of form that should make the rest of the league quiver. Still, plenty of intrigue just a little below: SC Freiburg proved they are the darkest horse in the title picture, hammering 1. FC Union Berlin, and RB Leipzig head into the winter break with all kinds of wind in their sails. All that and more as Matt and Marie take stock in the state of the league ahead of that one tournament in Qatar... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A mighty entertaining weekend in the 2. Bundesliga - league leaders SV Darmstadt dropped points to St. Pauli, while Hamburg shook off the poor form of recent weeks to come back and beat SC Paderborn. Nik, Maik and Jasmine talk the chaos over (including a new chaos-bringer on the job ion Fürth), before moving on to stories from the lower leagues and a tantalizing ground-hopping recommendation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Another week, another piece of evidence that 1. FC Union Berlin might well mean business about this title challenge thing. They went down early to an up-for-it Borussia Mönchengladbach side, but showed resilience and adaptability to eke out a win. Will it be enough to hold off the Rekordmeister? FC Bayern München have had an uneven start to the season but reminded everyone just how much firepower they've got by hanging a 6-2 result on FSV Mainz 05, heretofore one of the league's best defenses. Matt calls up Ronan Murphy for a chat about all that, VAR trouble in Frankfurt and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Red Bull, the energy drink brand that sponsors football clubs across the world, lost its co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz this week, so we felt it might be a good time to look at the company's legacy. Nik calls up Jasmine for a chat about RB's rise over the last 35 years, the brand's big investment in German football, and how the RB coaching tree has influenced tactics across Europe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bundesliga sides didn't show much restraint or moderation on Match Day 11. We were treated to blowouts as in Dortmund and Mainz, we got top-level sides showing pretenders how it's done as in Sinsheim and Freiburg; we had topsy-turvy see-saw score draws in Leverkusen and Augsburg; hell, we even had Bochum, the team that went into the match day bottom of the league, pick off table-toppers Union Berlin. Plenty to talk about for Matt and Terry - dig in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a strong start to the season for Hamburger Sport-Verein, it was only a matter of time before they let their fans down. This week HSV got spanked 3-0 at the Millerntor by cross-town rivals FC St. Pauli. Is this sort of thing simply in the club's nature, or do they just love the 2. Bundesliga too much to leave it behind? Nik and Jasmine explore this question, along with new table toppers SV Darmstadt 98's prospects of hanging around the promotion fight to the end, Greuther Fürth's coaching change and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hertha BSC barely escaped relegation last season, and they're still hanging around the lower reaches of the table after nine games. But somehow, the atmosphere around the club is anything but panicked. Coach Sandro Schwarz appears to be forming a decent side in the capital, even if the results haven't quite come around just yet. Listen in as Nik twists Matt's arm and gets him to open up about the club he usually frets so much over, but suddenly has a pretty chill outlook on. Don't worry, it's not all roses - Hertha's unscrupulous moneybags Lars Windhorst and his Israeli security firm make an appearance, and it's a wild tale indeed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

More of this please! We here at TF love all Bundesliga match days; just some more than others. When one comes along with this many late-game thrills, this many matches packed with goals, and this many eyebrow-raising results, you have to savor it. This week Matt speaks to Marie Schulte-Bockum about Anthony Modeste's big night of redemption, Borussia Mönchengladbach's derby win over 1. FC Köln, Bayer Leverkusen's breakout performance under the tutelage of a Hugo Boss model, and whether Pellegrino Matarazzo might be in trouble at VfB Stuttgart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices