Episodes
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After a rollicking 2. Bundesliga season, there was lots of heartbreak for Germany's second tier sides in the relegation/promotion playoffs. Fortuna Düsseldorf blew a big lead to fail to go up to the top flight and at the other end Wehen Wiesbaden couldn't hold off Jahn Regensburg, who'll take their place in the league next year. Listen in as Nik, Maik and Jasmine wrap up all the stories from the second tier and below!
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With just one more match day to go, a lot has become clear in the various races for promotion and relegation in Germany's lower leagues - but not everything. Nik, Jasmine and Maik take you through all the celebrations, permutations and more as the 2. Bundesliga, 3. Liga and more head into the final stanza.
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Missing episodes?
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A new Bundesliga champion? Check. A German side in the UEFA Champions League final? Check. It's been a magical season for fans of German football...as long as you're not a fan of FC Bayern München. Matt, Nik and Terry recorded too early to chronicle the Rekordmeister's frustrating exit from the UCL, but did chat about their difficulties finding a new coach. They won't be the only club on that market this summer, though Union Berlin are likely to be shopping in a different part of the trainer store...
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Just three games left in the 2. Bundesliga season and precisely nothing has been decided thus far. FC St. Pauli have the inside track on promotion, but would be glad to seal their not-yet-assured promotion with a win away to their old rivals HSV. Nik and the gang (both Jasmine and Maik this time) weigh up the promotion race, watch the coaching carousel go by, and remark on the return of Max Kruse to the football pitch at the amateur level in Berlin.
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It is just us or can you feel a fresh wind blowing through the Bundesliga? Leverkusen's title win last week was restorative on the home front; this week FC Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund helped the league show out across Europe. Matt and Nik revel in the good vibes, as well as check in on the teams battling to beat the drop...and the one that isn't battling much at all!
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Unlike the top flight, where Bayer 04 Leverkusen ran away with the title (congrats, Werkself fans!), the race at the top of the 2. Bundesliga has taken a turn for the thrilling in recent weeks. Serial league leaders FC St. Pauli have had a wobble, and Holstein Kiel (and increasingly Fortuna Düsseldorf) have been ready to take advantage. Nik and Jasmine talk through the permutations involved in the last five match days, check in on the races at the bottom of the division and the top of the 3. Liga, and much more.
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We were trying to play it cool for a while, but that no longer seems necessary. Bayer 04 Leverkusen are going to win the league, and after FC Bayern München lost in Heidenheim(!), they might well do it next week. Matt and Nik let that reality sink in over the course of the podcast, discussing how Bayer's season stacks up in history, where Bayern goes from here, and what way the three-team relegation death match at the bottom of the table is likely to go.
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The world of football, like other walks of life, harbors its share of idiots - our latest episode puts the spotlight on a few. Nik and Maik turn their attention to some childish behavior surrounding a banner, some regrettable chants in Austria that's had consequences for the players who shouted them, and how a few particularly egregious fans' behavior called off a whole weekend of football.
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Foals fans at the Borussia-Park may have feasted on a see-saw six-goal thriller, but their team's return - just one point -had to sting. Their opponents 1. FC Köln will have cherished an away draw in the Rheinderby, but time is running short on the billygoats' bid to stay out of relegation trouble. Matt and Nik put the spotlight on the two western giants on a weekend where Bayern hit Mainz with an eight ball, Leverkusen compounded Wolfsburg's misery and much more.
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There's never a dull moment in Germany's second tier. Just when you think you've sussed out who's good and who's not so good, you get a week like round 24 - one in which every team in the top eight failed to record a win. The full Aufstieg gang of Nik, Jasmine and Maik get together to try and work out what that means, how a miscreant in Rostock made it on to the pitch, and more.
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After a weekend in which FC Bayern München made up no ground in the title race, they still managed to test Bayer 04 Leverkusen's balance. Thomas Tuchel will vacate his job on Säbener Straße at the end of the season, and Xabi Alonso is the hot favorite to take over. Matt and Terry talk through how much that storyline matters with Leverkusen in a commanding position. Dortmund's weak week also comes up, along with some thoughts on the wider fan frustration with modern football (modern capitalism? modern life?) that helped fuel the recent fan protests.
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If you thought there was an end in sight to Germany's fan protests, think again - they're just getting started. Nik, Maik and the returning Jasmine weigh in on the wave of game-stopping events that swept across the 2. Bundesliga, Steffen Baumgart's arrival at HSV, the latest indignity perpetrated at 1. FC Kaiserslautern, and an attendance milestone that proves the Zweite Liga is Germany's #1 football league.
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We can say it matter-of-factly now: Bayer 04 Leverkusen are on an inside track to win the league. Their 3-0 win against FC Bayern München opened up a five point gap at the top - and since this year's Leverkusen side aren't in the business of losing games, ever, that cushion may well be enough to earn them the club's first Bundesliga title. Matt and Terry talk over the pharmaceuticals' big win as well as address the wave of protests that Germany's organized fan scene hope will bring about a re-think on the DFL's plans for outside investors.
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A wave of protests over outside investors lashed the shores of Germany's second division this past week. If you know the Aufstieg pod's Nik and Maik, you'll not be surprised to hear it captured their attention. The duo talk over FC Schalke 04's struggles, some slight turbulence for FC St. Pauli, and a wild story from SV Lohberg in deepest Bavaria...
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The gap at the top of the Bundesliga is back to a slim two points! Results on Match Day 19 led us there, as did FC Bayern München's win over 1. FC Union Berlin - three points the Bavarians had to wait about two months to pick up. Speaking of two months, that's going to seem like the blink of an eye compared to the drawn-out saga we're going to get regarding who'll be Jürgen Klopp's successor at Liverpool, so Bayer 04 Leverkusen fans need to be ready to strap in. Matt, Nik and Terry take all this in along with Nenad Bjelica's future at Union, Jadon Sancho's return to playing like himself, Werder Bremen's resurgence and more.
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It's not often that news about a boardroom-level figure takes over the football conversation in Germany, but Hertha BSC President Kay Bernstein's untimely death hit the game hard. Nik invites TF's resident Hertha-head Matt on to talk about what legacy the ultra turned head man might leave behind. Maik, meanwhile, helps explain why a fan group in Glasgow is exposing a political rift within the FC St. Pauli community.
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The Winterpause is a thing of the past - Germany's top flight sides got back to business this past weekend, and more than a few clubs gave debuts to newcomers who came in through the open transfer window. Nik and Terry run through all the most interesting moves, as well as take a moment to remember Germany's biggest football icon, the late Franz Beckenbauer.
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The season is only half done in the 2. Liga, but it's already been a wild ride. After weeks and weeks on top, FC St. Pauli surrendered the Herbstmeisterschaft to Holstein Kiel, and multiple teams have seen their fotunes change drastically in the space of a couple of months. Nik sits down with Jasmine to talk over the biggest storylines form the Hinrunde, as well as tell you about which players have proven their worth most richly as we head into the Winterpause.
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When Germany's most engaged football fans speak in near-unison, as they did on MD15, it's time to listen up. Matt and Nik look to unpack ultras' concerns about the DFL's decision to seek a strategic investor to help them keep pace with the Premier League's skyrocketing media rights valuations. Heading into the final round before the Winterpause, Leverkusen, Bayern and Leipzig each notched big wins, but BVB were the latest side to encounter tougher-than-expected going in Augsburg. Marie Schulte-Bockum returns to the pod to fill us in on what's got FCA going so strong.
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Coming off a 2. Bundesliga-tastic round in the DFB Pokal, it feels appropriate to zoom in on Hertha Berlin and Hamburger Sport-Verein, two teams that squared off in an instant classic. Winners in that match, Hertha are beginning to look like a side that could scale a few rungs higher in the league. HSV, meanwhile, are going off the boil. Nik and Jasmine talk through these storylines (especially the latter), as well as bring you up to speed on stories from the lower leagues.
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