Sorry for the little bit of a delay this week as I have no internet access at my hotel here in Sophia, so I'm using free wifi in the park near the stadium and in the railway station as opportunities allow. If you are familiar with last week's rankings, however, you are pretty familiar with this week's as well.

It was obvious. As soon as the camera zoomed in on Wayne Rooney's face at the end of the match in the Allianz Arena, United fans knew their team would win neither the Premier nor Champions League. The ‘positive' prognosis the next day offered little comfort. The margin between success and failure for United in the 2009/10 season was four days wide.

Bayern Munich to send 1860 into administration?
Disturbing news filtered through to EFW Towers today that 1860 Munich look set to face administration due to a farcical situation with their tenants Bayern Munich. We immediately reached for the phone to dial up our good friend and 1860 fan Michael Stoffl who takes up the story:

Today our very popular 1860 chairman Manfred Stoffers resigned just one day after the club lost a decisive court case against FC Bayern.

Well, we have only ourselves to blame. We made a proper mess of the easiest group and somehow contrived to finish second, and will get a purple-and-blue gift wrapped Jack-in-the-box on Valentine's Day as a result. Arsenal have had more than decent luck in Champions League draws over the past few years, but good luck today would have meant getting Schalke, who topped their group and have Raul and Huntelaar playing up front.

The second day of UEFA Champions League Round of 16 action kicks off today with another pair of quality match-ups as Arsenal takes on FC Porto and Bayern Munich faces Fiorentina.

Arsenal comes into its match in Portugal with a bunch of injuries, but will still be favored to take the series.

Sir Alex Ferguson ready to cut his losses on Old Trafford flop.

Win the Club Shirt Of Your Choice Simply by Speaking Your Mind!

Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich are ready to bid big to snap up Manchester United's troubled forward Dimitar Berbatov. Louis Van Gaal looks to be interested in the former Tottenham man and is said to see the 29 year old as a potential addition to his Allianz Arena side and a move for the misfiring Old Trafford man will become even more likely should they fail to keep hold of Franck Ribery this summer.

Bayern Munich choreo display, Allianz Arena, Champions League semi-final vs. Lyon, 21 April 2010.

Photo credit: probek on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

Bayern Munich man ready to take good form into World Cup campaign.

Find, Compare and Buy 2010 World Cup Tickets at

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

Germany supporters will be hoping that Bayern Munich wing back Philipp Lahm can continue his fine club form into this summer's World Cup campaign because right now he is at the top of his game and can at times be almost unplayable.

Bayern Munich man ready to put missing Champions League Final through suspension behind him for World Cup showdown.

Find, Compare and Buy 2010 World Cup Tickets at

Win the Club Shirt Of Your Choice Simply by Speaking Your Mind!

Bayern Munich will be greatly pleased by the fact that French playmaker Franck Ribery put pen to paper on a new five year deal to stay at the Allianz Arena, one could imagine that had the former Marseille man not done so, then every bit of skill and flair the 27 year old displayed would surely have been greeted with concern as the Bundesliga champions readied themselves for yet more interest in one of their prized assets.

Who: Bayern Munich vs. Manchester United
What: CL Quarter-Final First Leg
When: 2:45pm EDT
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany
U.S. TV: Fox Sports Net
Preview I
Preview II
Preview III
David Pleat: Key Clashes
James Skinner: Clash of different financial philosophies
Who: Lyon vs.

Bayern Munich went goal crazy as they cemented their spot at the top of the Bundesliga with this seven goal annihilation of relegation threatened Hannover. Arjen Robben continued this fine season with a hat-trick at the Allianz Arena.

Win the Club Shirt Of Your Choice Simply by Speaking Your Mind!

Die Allianz Arena ist super, aber das Publikum war nicht immer super. Es ist wie bei Ajax Amsterdam und Barca. Das ist Theater-Publikum.

Louis van Gaal, Trainer des FC Bayern München, vor dem letzten Heimspiel der Saison 2009/2010 gegen den VfL Bochum.

Magonza avanti tutta. Dopo il pokerissimo di vittorie (gi di per se strabiliante), serviva la conferma nella prova del fuoco a casa Bayern, in Baviera. Ed è arrivata. Infatti, Il miracoloso team di Thomas Tuchel espugna l'Allianz Arena con il risultato di 2 a 1, e soprattutto con una prova di grande forza, concedendosi il [.

Looks Suspiciously Like Tottenham's Gareth Bale....

After some of yesterday's shock results, Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim have the chance to capitalize on their rivals' mistakes. Bayern Munich host Nurnberg, and Hoffenheim host Freiburg.

Bayern Munich v Nurnberg

Bayern Munich will be boosted by the return of both Franck Ribery and Mark van Bommel, but this match will be anything but easy.

Bayern Munich continued their fine run of form with this easy win over Mainz at the Allianz Arena.

Buy Bayern Munich Tickets at Fantastic Prices!

We've been nominated for a shiny award, please VOTE FOR US!

1-0 Van Buyten

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

The second day of UEFA Champions League Round of 16 action kicks off today with another pair of quality match-ups as Arsenal takes on FC Porto and Bayern Munich faces Fiorentina.

Arsenal comes into its match in Portugal with a bunch of injuries, but will still be favored to take the series.

Bayern Munich grabbed the top spot of the bundesliga in germany after its 1-0 victory over Hamburg at the Allianz. Bayer Leverkusen continues its undefeated streak, but was held to a scoreless draw against FC Cologne. Hertha Berlin's remains at the bottom of the standings after a -0 defeat at home to Hoffenheim.

The Champions League quarter-finals are here already? They certainly are. This evening Bayern host Man Utd to the Allianz Arena (although UEFA would prefer you say Fußball Arena München, since that particular sponsorship deal has nothing to do with them) while Lyon welcome Bordeaux to Stade de Gerland.

After last night's round of quarter final fixtures, Arsenal, Barcelona, Inter Milan and CSKA Moscow take to the pitch tonight in what is expected to be another fascinating night of football. Last night Bayern Munich beat Manchester United 2-1 at the Allianz Arena a remake of the final 11 years ago where Manchester beat Bayern with a similar score margin.

class="alignleft src="http://www.trulyreds.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Waynesmall.jpg" height="98" first. defeat Allianz revenge as are portray even result was was was for we ...
Continue to the full story

Wayne Rooney will be fit for the World Cup, but will face between two and four weeks on the sidelines.

It was déj Vu as England's talisman had the whole nation shouting the words, ‘not again' as he fell to the ground clutching his ankle, in what was originally feared to be another metatarsal injury.

Ducky's Note: Prashanth is back just in time to make up for the lack of Mancunian posts on this blog. However, if you thought he was going to show fellow feeling with the rest of us and go boo hoo about the last week, think again. Here's a slightly different perspective on our last two games in the famous 'squeaky bum time'.

Manchester United lost to Bayern Munich in their first leg of Champions League quarter final. The score line stays 2-1 in favour of the German giants, but the tie is not over yet! United got off to a dream start as Rooney scored his 34th goal of the season just after 64 seconds. At that time it looked like the Red Devils will have an easy game at the Allianz Arena.

Manchester United has a date with Franck Ribery as they clash with Bayern Munich tomorrow in their Champions League quarter-final. Sir Alex Ferguson has urged his players to go for an all-out attack at Allianz Arena and gun for goals. United had followed a similar philosophy against AC Milan in the previous round.

Bayern 2 - Manchester 1
Muy buen partido en el Allianz Arena. Empezó de manera fenomenal el partido para los reds ingleses ya que al minuto Rooney aprovechó una torpeza de Demichelis, se resbaló, y puso el 1 a 0, cuando nada había pasado.
El partido fue bueno en todo su desarrollo ya que el Bayern iba y el Manchester se mostraba peligroso en cada contra.

Bayern Munich 2-1 Manchester Utd: Observations

When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored that dramatic goal in Nou Camp all those years ago, dejected Bayern Munich players hobbled off the pitch knowing they could have done more to prevent the United fight back.

If I'd eventually got round to writing a Bundesbag last week the theme would have been on missed opportunities after Bayern Munich's defeat at Frankfurt. While the leaders unbeaten run was coming to a halt, the door was open for Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke to walk through. As it happened they both declined.

It was a night that started with ecstasy, but ended in potential tragedy; that was the story of United's first leg Champions League quarter final tie with Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena.United got off to a flying start when Rooney gave the visitors a shock lead in the opening minutes. The opening goal had more than a slice of good fortune about it; the ball was floated into the Bayern penalty

Seit mehr als 50 Jahren hieß der Deutsche Meister nicht mehr "FC Schalke 04″. Zuletzt scheiterten die Königsblauen in einem Kopf-an-Kopf-Rennen gegen den VfB Stuttgart im Jahr 2007 knapp am Titelgewinn. Doch genau der VfB Stuttgart war es, der es den Schalkern gestern ermöglichte, die Tabellenführung in der Fußball-Bundesliga zu übernehmen.

Ich habe Old Trafford mit seinen roten Sitzen gesehen – das würde der
Allianz Arena auch sehr gut zu Gesicht stehen. Wir alle würden einen
Auszug sicher nicht verhindern, aber es liegt an den Löwen.

Christian Nerlinger, Sportdirektor des FC Bayern München, beteiligt sich nach dem Champions League Spiel gegen Manchester United wieder an der Stadiondiskussion in München.

Steve Cherundolo and Hannover had a rough day in the Allianz Arena as their survival chances took a hit while Michael Bradley and the Foals hardly fared better on their visit to Schalke.

Thanks to an excessive amount of volcanic ash clogging up the sky, our intrepid players are making the trip to Germany the old fashioned way on wheels! The club decided to ditch the team bus and instead opted to travel in a caravan of ten minivans. I'm not sure what the reasoning is behind the idea, but since it's a ten hour road trip, I'm guessing it's because the vans offer more legroom (plus splitting up the team into smaller groups will help them stay sane).

Well it's time for the semifinal predictions for the Champions League and Europa League. I keep reading about how the clubs will have to take busses or trains in order to make it to the matches this week. If they travel by train through France, especially from Barcelona, I'm going to be pissed because France wouldn't let me travel to Barcelona from Montpellier by train because of the French rail strike.

>> Click Here To Watch Bayern Munich Vs Lyon Live Now <<

Bayern Munich Vs Lyon Live Streaming & Match Preview
Champions League – Bayern Munich Vs Lyon Live Online Click Here
Wednesday, 21st April 2010
Kick Off : 19:45 BST
Venue : Allianz Arena, Munich

The interesting Champions League semi-final first leg fixture between Bayern Munich and French side Lyon will be played at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday 21st April 2010, kick-off set for 7:45 PM.

Bayern v Lyon Well, those typical Germans are here again, against the typical French in a typical Champions League semifinal first leg in an atypical arena. In fact, let's venture off the mandated course for a second here: Is the Allianz Arena the most spectacularly photogenic stadium in the world? It must be at least from [.

What: Champions League Semi-Final First Leg
Who: Bayern Munich vs. Lyon
When: 2:45pm EDT
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany
U.S. TV: Fox Soccer Channel
Preview I
Preview II
Paul Marshall: Lyon on road to success
Paul Doyle: Lyon's Lloris one of the best

Bayern Munich 1 - 0 Lyon
Report I
Report II
Mark Lomas at Allianz Arena
Player Ratings

Bayern Munich 1 - Lyon 0
En el renovado Allianz Arena el local, con gol de Arjen Robben desde afuera del área, derrotó a los franceses por la mínima.
Partido en el que fue expulsado el tan mentado por estos días, Frank Ribery, esta vez no por sus notables condiciones futbolísticas sino por escándalos sexuales, por una plancha sobre Licha Lopez.

Arjen Robben once again proved that class remain permanent. The injury-prone winger/striker injected pace and a shoot-on-sight policy to help Bayern claim a slim one-goal lead in the Champions League semifinal at Allianz Arena.
There is a graphics representation of the Robben goal in the Malay Mail.

'A few French teammates will battle it out for a spot in the Champions League Final' After a big let down from Barcelona it will be interesting to see the hype around today's semifinal match between Bayern Munich and Olympique Lyon. The odds are in, which heavily favor the German side playing at Allianz Arena.