Bayern Munich Soccer News

STUTTGART, Germany (AP) _ Energie Cottbus lost its last game and dropped to the bottom of the Bundesliga, then fired the coach. Now comes a trip to Bayern Munich. Maybe best to head straight for the Oktoberfest. Even in the best of times, there was not much for Cottbus to hope from a trip to the Bavarian capital. In four games against Bayern, the club has four defeats, with only two goals scored and 13 conceded. That record ...

ROME (AP) _ Italy forward Luca Toni is at the top of Bayern Munich's acquisition list. ``He's a guarantee for goals. He has character, he always helps the squad and he's a special type of person,'' Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer was quoted as saying in an interview in Friday's Gazzetta dello Sport. ``I really hope he comes.'' The six-foot-four Toni is widely expected to leave Fiorentina at the end of ...

MUNICH, Germany (AP) _ Bayern Munich striker Lukas Podolski will miss the remaining four games of the Bundesliga season because of a knee injury, according to reports Thursday. There was no immediate confirmation from the club. Kicker magazine said Podolski had damaged cartilage in his left knee and required surgery, forcing him to sit out about three months. Bayern is fourth in the Bundesliga. Podolski could also miss Germany's next ...

Claudio Pizarro scored two goals Tuesday to help Bayern Munich earn a 2-2 draw at Spartak Moscow in Group B of the Champions League. Pizarro headed in a cross from Hasan Salihamimidzic in the 22nd minute to equalize after Maxym Kalynychenko had given the hosts the lead in the 16th with a curling free kick. The Peru international made it 2-1 in the 39th with a powerful shot from 28 ...

Stuttgart will remain ahead of Bayern Munich no matter what happens in their Bundesliga showdown Saturday (GolTV, 9:30 a.m. ET) at the Allianz Arena. With more than one-third of the season already gone, that's remarkable for the league's youngest team, which began the season by losing its first two home games. ``We didn't let ourselves get discouraged. We believed in ourselves and since then we've been playing really beautiful soccer,'' ...

Hannover 96 stunned Bayern Munich 1-0 on Wednesday to drop the defending champion six points behind leader Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga. Wednesday's loss was the fourth in 11 matches for Bayern, which lost only three all of last season. Hannover, which entered the game in last place, outplayed Bayern and scored the only goal two minutes before halftime. Jiri Stajner stole the ball from Martin Demichelis on the sideline ...

Werder Bremen beat Bayern Munich 3-1 Saturday in a battle of the Bundesliga's top two teams. Brazilian midfielder Diego scored the first goal in the 11th minute with a shot that went in off the crossbar and Pierre Wome made it 2-0 in the 34th with a free kick. Striker Roy Makaay pulled it back to 2-1 in the 37th after connecting with Claudio Pizarro's pass. Bayern defender Lucio scored an own-goal in the 61st. Bremen, cheered on ...

Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich head into their Bundesliga showdown bolstered by important Champions League wins. Saturday's match in Bremen (GolTV, 9:30 a.m. ET) brings together the two German league-leaders. Both have 13 points after seven games, with Bremen ahead on goal difference. Both are coming off major wins _ Bremen beat Levski Sofia for its first win in Group A to be level with FC Barcelona, while 10-man Bayern ...

Bayern Munich travels to Sporting Lisbon for a Champions League match on Wednesday with a wary eye on a 19-year-old midfielder. Sporting's Nani has pace and footwork that have earned him a place in the Portugal team and he has drawn interest from big European clubs. Paired with Joao Moutinho, a 20-year-old who has also made coach Luiz Felipe Scolari's Portugal side, Nani could provide plenty of problems for the ...

Lukas Podolski scored his first goal for Bayern Munich in a 4-2 win over Hertha Berlin that took the team to equal first in the Bundesliga. Bayern has 13 points from seven games, along with Schalke and Werder Bremen, which routed Bochum 6-0. Podolski's 78th-minute breakaway goal stopped Hertha's resistance after it had pulled back from 3-0 down to 3-2. Hertha had entered the weekend unbeaten and atop the standings. Bayern coach Felix Magath yielded to media pressure ...

Kevin-Prince Boateng has genetic soccer credentials that could hardly get any better. His uncle played for Ghana, and his mother played for a Berlin women's team. She comes from the Rahn family, as in Helmut Rahn, the legendary scorer of the goal that gave West Germany its first World Cup title in 1954. Boateng's father came to Germany a quarter of a century ago and Kevin-Prince was born in Berlin. ...