Bayern Munich directors must be feeling very uncomfortable at the moment. Their team are sixth in the Bundesliga and almost out of the Champions League.

So far their chosen successor to Juergen Klinsmann, who was sacked a few weeks before the end of last season for failing to secure any silverware, has had a worse run than the former striker.

Louis van Gaal, handpicked for what Bayern said was his discipline and teaching skills, was supposed to make everything good again after the Klinsmann experiment.

The Dutchman also got a roster boosted by more than 70 million euros worth of new signings including record Bundesliga transfer Mario Gomez, Croat striker Ivica Olic, Dutch midfielder Arjen Robben and Russian defensive midfielder Anatolyi Tymoshchuk as well as Croatia international Danijel Pranjic and Dutch defender Edson Braafheid.

Throw in 20-year-old Thomas Mueller’s superb current form and you have arguably a much stronger side. Klinsmann was begging for players but both Tymoshchuk and Olic, who were signed in December, joined in the summer.

Despite all this, Klinsmann still comes out on top on a head-to-head after 11 league matches played. Under him Bayern were in third place on 21 points with six wins, three draws and two defeats, with 25 goals for and 17 against.

Van Gaal’s Bayern are in sixth place after 11 matches on 19 points, with five wins, four draws, and two defeats. Goals are 17-9. So Klinsmann’s Bayern may have been conceding more goals but they also scored eight more in 11 matches. Without Gomez.

By this stage Bayern were already through to the next round of the Champions League under Klinsmann, all but out under van Gaal.

PHOTO: Bayern Munich’s coach Louis van Gaal watches his players during a team training session in Munich November 2, 2009. Bayern Munich will play Girondins Bordeaux in a Champions League soccer match on Tuesday. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle

Franck Ribery’s knee injury has flared up again and the problem could not have come at a worse time for Bayern Munich.

Ribery picked up the injury in pre-season training at the height of Real Madrid’s efforts to sign him.

He has played only a handful of matches, his last three weeks ago, and now he is out again, for at least a month, maybe more. He will likely miss France’s World Cup qualification play-off against Ireland and by the time he returns for Bayern there won’t be many matches left before the long mid-season break.

This raises the question: does anyone at Bayern regret not selling the player to Real?

They could certainly have done without another injury saga. Frustrated 30-million-euro striker Mario Gomez has been relegated to the bench, Dutchman Arjen Robben and Mark van Bommel are only just recovering from injury, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is reportedly unhappy in Munich and emotions seem to be running high after Thomas Mueller and Daniel van Buyten were both sent off in the Champions League defeat by Bordeaux this week.

It is not the start coach Louis van Gaal had envisaged. So would they they have been better off with Ribery sold to Real and many millions in the bank?

PHOTO: Bayern Munich’s midfielder Franck Ribery reacts during the Champions League game against Juventus in Munich September 30, 2009. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle

The Champions League is back and our reporters are currently wringing out their wet things (Mitch Phillips at Chelsea)/basking in the evening sunshine by the River Manzanares (Iain Rogers at Atletico) and undergoing all climactic variations in between.

Tonight’s first tranche of eight matches includes a repeat of the very first Champions League final, with AC Milan visiting Marseille, plus the European debut of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka for Real Madrid, with the Spaniards visiting Zurich.

We also have Manchester United at Besiktas, Wolfsburg hosting CSKA, Atletico at home to APOEL, Bayern Munich visiting Maccabi Haifa and Juventus against Bordeaux.

We’ll have every goal as they go in here, plus a few bits of commentary from me, and our reporters if the comms hold up, along the way.

I really appreciate comments, so please give your views in the comment section below. And can you name the player in the photo…?

 - - - -

FC Zurich 2 Real Madrid 5: Cristiano Ronaldo responded to some less than flattering chants among the home fans by scoring from a free kick from the edge of the area. 1-0 in the 27th minute and Real Madrid are on their way to, well, Madrid. Seven minutes later and it’s 2-0 Real. This time Raul, who tapped in Gonzalo Higuain’s shot and is closing in on that record for goals in the European Cup. Let me have a rifle through the stats book… But in the mean time, Higuain has bagged the third himself. Too easy for Real… or is it?

The crowd livens up again with a 64th minute penalty from Xavier Margairaz and a minute later Silvan Aegerter makes it 2-3. Game on? Well, it got nervy for Real bu another free kick from Ronaldo sealed matters, with Guti’s effort in the 95th minute the cake icing.

Marseille 1 Milan 2: First goal of the 2009-10 edition of the Champions League goes to Milan, and Filippo Inzaghi. A superb cross from Seedorf for Inzaghi, left unmarked at far post, and he taps in from close range. 1-0 to the Italians in the 27th minute. Marseille level four minutes after the restart through the former Manchester United and Real Madrid defender Gabriel Heinze, who heads home a Benoit Cheyrou free kick. 2-1 to Milan with another Inzaghi goal with 16 minutes left on the clock.

Wolfsburg 3 CSKA 1: Wolfsburg have taken to the Champions League like a duck to water. The Brazilian Grafite, a much underrated player I remember well from my time in Germany, scored the first two goals, the first after 35 minutes, the second a penalty five minutes later. Alan Dzagoev pulls one back with 13 minutes to go. But Grafite completes his hat-trick three minutes from time and surely this is over now!

Chelsea 1 Porto 0: Don’t know what happened to my earlier udpate. Chelsea are ahead in the second half after Nicoals Anelka saw his first effort stopepd and then managed to fire on from a tricky angle.

Juventus 1 Bordeaux 1: Vincenzo Iaquinta puts Juventus up in the 63rd minute but Jaroslav Plasil evens things up with 15 minutes to go.

Maccabi Haifa 0 Bayern Munich 3: It’s raining goals now. The Germans are away thanks to a goal from Daniel van Buyten. Most of these matches going to form now and Bayern duly wrap up the win with two late goals from Thomas Mueller. Not a bad week for Mueller, who also scored two as Bayern beat Dortmund 5-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Besiktas 0 Manchester United 1. United are finally awake. It was a powerful shot by Nani that led to the goal in the 77th minute. The keeper parried it and Paul Scholes nodded in off the post, from a reasonable way out. Good header that.

The only match to finish goalless is Atletico Madrid v APOEL.

PHOTO: A mystery Chelsea player at training in Cobham, south of London, September 14, 2009. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Arjen Robben arrived in Munich and passed a medical exam on Friday, scored two goals after coming on in the second half with his new teammate Franck Ribery on Saturday, and then left his new home town on Monday to meet up with the Dutch international team in Enschede.

It was a remarkable weekend trip to the Bavarian capital. In just 27 minutes Robben and Ribery — Munich’s new dynamic duo quickly dubbed “Robery” by German headline writers — combined for two spectacular goals to lead Bayern to their first win of the season, 3-0 against defending champions VfL Wolfsburg.

“Robery” managed to dissipate the gloom surrounding the success-spoiled Bayern fans in just 27 minutes following the agony of their month-long “Fehlstart” — just two points from their first three matches in August and an incredible 16th place in the table before Robben arrived.

“I couldn’t have wished for a better start,” said Robben, who also rejuvenated Ribery after months of controversy over his apparent efforts to get a transfer to Real Madrid. “I’ve haven’t scored two goals in many matches before and never in my first match. But this is just the start. I came here to win matches and titles.”

Bild newspaper columnist Franz Josef Wagner usually writes about German politics. But he couldn’t resist devoting his page 2 column in Germany’s best-selling daily on Monday to Robben: “We’ve seen football the way Mozart or Rembrandt would have it played… What wonderful choreography with Ribery. Full-risk football, courageous football. Arjen Robben is worth every cent of the 24 million euros Bayern paid. Three cheers for Uli Hoeness. He’s invested the money in an artist and not a thug.”

PHOTO: Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery celebrate during Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga victory over VfL Wolfsburg, August 29, 2009. REUTERS/Michael Dalder

If reports in Spain are correct and Real Madrid have agreed to sell Arjen Robben to Bayern Munich for 25 million euros, that would seem to be an excellent piece of business for the Spanish club.

Real paid a king’s ransom to take Robben from Chelsea a couple of years ago — when £24 million pounds was a lot more in euros than it is now — and I think it’s fair to say that he didn’t quite make the impact the fans were hoping for.

Injuries have been a consistent problem, just as they were at Chelsea, and I’m sure Real will be delighted to recoup another chunk of the 250 million euros they’ve spent on players so far this close season.

With Wesley Sneijder also on his way, for perhaps 15 million euros, it’s been a lucrative week for Real, but there are plenty of doubers out there (see The Real Liga for a flavour).

As the linked article notes, having players like Robben and Wesley Sneijder to turn to as substitutes might make the difference between getting through that tight Champions League game and making another early exit.

Real have made huge improvements to their first team by signing footballing royalty like Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka … but, as in Florentino’s first spell as president, will they end up regretting the decision to cull the ‘middle classes’?

PHOTO: Arjen Robben reacts after missing a chance during Real Madrid’s Peace Cup match against Al Ittihad at the Bernabeu, July 26, 2009. REUTERS/Juan Medina

Louis van Gaal came to Bayern Munich because the Bavarians were looking for a “soccer teacher“, someone who would rid the club of former coach Juergen Klinsmann’s experiments — the innovative training methods, the meditation sessions and the Buddha statues – and bring the club back to basics.

So far so good. By the time Van Gaal arrived in July, Bayern had already signed strikers Ivica Olic, Mario Gomez and defensive midfielder Anatoliy Tymoshchuk.

Whether or not he would have agreed to all these transfers is unknown. But fact is Tymoschchuk, worth 14 million euros, would not be starting any time soon if captain Mark van Bommel had not been injured.

“My captain will always play,” said Van Gaal, pointing to the bench as the temporary place for the Ukrainian.

Van Gaal’s first Bundesliga match in charge was unimpressive. Mind you they were missing Franck Ribery, Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose and Martin Demichelis.

But apart from injuries there are other issues that come into play. Ribery is fuming for not being allowed to sign with Real Madrid, Toni could still leave in the hope of getting a starting spot at another team ahead of the 2010 World Cup while Demichelis has failed to recover his stinging form of the 2007/8 season. And Tymoshchuck doesn’t like the idea of the bench.

If anyone knows how to get the best out of a player is van Gaal. He did it in the mid ’90s with Ajax Amsterdam, though mainly with a group of talented youngsters, more open to the discipline of the Dutchman.

With Barcelona in the late ’90s he was successful only in Spain, failing to win any major European trophies. He flopped with the Dutch national team but again enjoyed domestic success last season with AZ Alkmaar, again with a group of relative unknowns.

Bayern is littered with big personalities. Ribery, van Bommel, Tymoschchuk, Toni and even Klose. Whether or not he will succeed in translating this energy into silverware looks to be this Bundesliga season’s most exciting story.

PHOTO: Bayern Munich’s coach Louis van Gaal looks up before their friendly match against Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen July 19, 2009. REUTERS/Thomas Bohlen

The departure of Kaka from AC Milan to Real Madrid marks the end of the Italian era in European football. Not only can Italian clubs not attract the best players in the world to play in Serie A but now, when they unearth a talent like Kaka, they can’t stop them from leaving.

Italians used to describe their Serie A as ‘il campionato piu bello del mondo’ , the most beautiful championship in the world. It was not just because Italians love nothing more than talking themselves up — Serie A was the first league in the world to sign up top foreign stars, bringing in international talent at a time when the English league, for example, stretched no further than Scotland in search of players.

Beginning in the late 1950’s when the likes of Brazilian Jose Altafini (AC Milan) and Welshman John Charles (Juventus) were among the top performers, Serie A prided itself on being the league that had the money to bring in the best in the world.

After the 1966 World Cup, where Italy was humiliated by North Korea, foreigners were banned as part of an attempt to strengthen the domestic talent base and the national team, but when the rule was relaxed in 1980, the top clubs began importing talent again and before long Italy had become the first league to truly take on global status.

Frenchman Michel Platini at Juventus led the new wave and then the biggest name of all, Diego Maradona almost single-handedly led Napoli to titles in 1987 and 1990. The great Milan sides of Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello were built around foreign stars — the Dutch trio of Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten helped transform Serie A from a league dominated by cautious and defensive teams into a showcase for the world’s best talent.

Germany’s Lothar Matthaeus and Andreas Brehme helped Inter to the title in 1989, and by the nineties, any player in the world who could be considered a match-winner was being snapped up by an Italian team.

Just ten years ago, the top teams in Serie A included players such as Ronaldo at Inter, George Weah and a young Andriy Shevchenko at Milan, Gabriel Batistuta at Fiorentina, Hernan Crespo, Pavel Nedved and Juan Sebastian Veron (all at their peak) at Lazio and the best of his generation, Zinedine Zidane at Juventus. It was the departure of the latter to Real Madrid in 2001 that suggested Spain was beginning to replace Italy as the place where the world’s best could get paid best.

Since then though, England’s Premier League, flush with television cash, has begun gobbling up players that in the past would have headed to Serie A. In the 1990’s the likes of Fernando Torres, Michael Ballack, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Didier Drogba would have almost certainly been Serie A players. Real and Barcelona in Spain and Bayern Munich in Germany have also proven stronger in the transfer market that Italy’s top teams. It would have once been unthinkable that Italian World Cup hero such as Luca Toni would choose to play in the Bundesliga rather than in Milan or Turin.

A week after Milan captain Paolo Maldini, who played with or against all those great talents from the late eighties onwards, finally hung up his boots, Kaka leaves Milan for a fee of around 68 million euros and Adriano Galliani, who runs Milan on behalf of tycoon and prime minister Silvio Berlusconi conceded the golden era of Serie A was now over: “Ten years ago Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could have played in Italy but now no one even considers it,” he said.

That is the painful truth for Italian fans — it is not so much that Italian clubs cannot compete with Real’s occasional obscene bouts of cash-throwing that hurts but that Italian clubs are no longer even considered as likely destinations for the world’s best or most promising.

Berlusconi talked up Ronaldinho as the man who will now be the standard-bearer for Milan but the impression is that he moved to Italy after his best years, served with Barcelona, were over.

Money is the main reason for Italy’s relegation from Europe’s elite — Milan, Inter and Juventus no longer have the resources to compete with England and Spain’s top clubs. Italian clubs ignored marketing and merchandising as they presumed their wealthy owners — the Berlusconi, Moratti and Agnelli families — would take care of everything. Moratti still finds the cash but Milan and Juve now operate in the world of budgets rather than blockbuster transfer deals.

With the lack of foreign quality and top wages, Serie A has lost the sheen of glamour that once led fans from all over the world to tune in and watch. The days when Ronaldo and Zidane were face to face in an Inter-Juve match, with a supporting cast of quality Italians and exciting foreign players, is over. Does anyone watch Serie A on satellite or cable anymore?

The proof that this really is the end of an era is the way that the Italian media and fans have just shrugged their shoulders at the departure of Kaka. They know they cannot turn down offers of that size — offers their own teams used to make every summer.

KAKA: Kaka attends Brazilian training at Arruda stadium in Recife, northeastern Brazil, June 8, 2009. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes

ZIDANE: Zinedine Zidane shows his Juventus shirt at a news conference announcing his move to Turin, July 3, 1996. REUTERS/Claudio Papi

Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery is a joy to watch. His acceleration, ball control and creative play have quickly elevated him to the Bundesliga’s biggest asset.

But come next week the Frenchman could be gone as the pulling power quickly fizzles out of the German league.

Werder Bremen’s Diego has already left for Juventus. Hertha Berlin strikers Andriy Voronin and Marko Pantelic have said goodbye to their fans and Wolfsburg’s Edin Dzeko also looks set to leave.

The potential departure of Ribery, rumoured to be close to a deal with Chelsea, Real Madrid and every other major European club while his wife is reportedly looking for a house in Barcelona, largely depends on him.

Despite a contract to 2011, if Ribery decided he wanted to move on there would be little stopping him, even with a 50-60 million price tag. Ribery happens to be one of these players who can turn a match around and few teams would hesitate to come up with the cash.

Bayern have said he is not on the market, but this looks more like a feeble attempt to ward off any predators. Bayern manager Uli Hoeness then said this week he would not even pick up the phone if the figure was around 40 million euros. But somehow neither Hoeness nor general director Karl-Heinz Rumenigge have ruled out he could indeed go.

Bayern have tried to keep Ribery happy during a troubled season. They did finally secure second spot winning automatic qualification for the Champions League, which seemed to be a minimum requirement for the gifted French playmaker to stay on.

Then they dished out about 30 million euros for Stuttgart’s Mario Gomez and hinted another big name could come after consultation with new coach Louis van Gaal. Ribery had long said the team needed strengthening and now the club is coming through.

Then there are the fans. Adored in Munich like no other, it is unlikely that he will find a major European club where he will enjoy the kind of superstar status only he enjoys in Bavaria.

Bayern may be kind to Ribery now. They could be equally ruthless though if the right buyer came along. With Hoeness planning to become club president in the new year, the business-minded manager, who has long said the credit crunch is going to bite even deeper, would be delighted to take over with an injection of 50 or 60 million in cash.

New signigns Anatoliy Timoschuk, Ivica Olic, Alexander Baumjohann and Gomez will also keep them competitive even without Ribery.

PHOTO: Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery celebrates his goal after scoring against Bayer Leverkusen during their German first division Bundesliga soccer match in Munich, May 12, 2009. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

It says more about the value of the pound than it does the value of Franck Ribery that the sum United are supposed to be prepared to pay for him is so high — 63 million pounds, if there’s anything to the story in this morning’s Guardian.

That sum is a shade over 70 million euros, which is a slightly less ridiculous amount than the 100 million euros it would have been a year or two ago but is still, of course, vastly overinflated.

Ribery is a remarkable player — so quick and direct with the ball at his feet that he looked in an altogether different class when he arrived in the Bundesliga in 2007.

I’m sure he’d be menacing in the Premier League as well — Albert Riera is considered to have had a decent first season so heaven knows what sort of plaudits Ribery could expect.

But would he be capable of filling the boots of Cristiano Ronaldo, if United are indeed considering selling the Portuguese winger and replacing him with the Frenchman?

I’d back him to embarrass the weaker defences, to win free kicks against everyone and to shrug off the weight of the price tag quite easily. But could he contribute as many goals as Ronaldo? Would he be so effective in the Champions League? Would he provide the same value to the Untied brand?

Signing Ribery would work well for United in another sense, in that it would stop him moving to Barcelona or Real Madrid.

A while back the Spanish sports press seemed convinced that Barcelona were about to sign him and it’s easy to see why Barca would want one of the few players around as technically gifted as the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Messi. Ribery could slot straight in on the left of that attacking trio, in place of Henry, or take a freer role behind the centre-forward.

Then again, Florentino Perez is said to be interested in doing a deal for Ribery to boost his bid for another shot at the Real Madrid presidency.

Anyway, if United’s reported intent is genuine, the money being talked about would surely rule anyone else out. Neutrals in England may feel that Ribery would be a better fit at Arsenal, but at 60-odd million quid, that’s not going to happen.

Would Bayern be prepared to let him go? His departure would be a painful blow to the Bundesliga, just when the league is enjoying a boom, but Bayern are nothing if not pragmatic and trebling the 25 million euros they paid for him a couple of years ago would allow for a major rebuilding job for their new coach. Arjen Robben, Diego or Rafael van der Vaart, a couple of defenders and a new centre forward could all be theirs for that sort of money…

PHOTO: Franck Ribery watches Bayern’s Bundesliga match against Borussia Moenchengladbach from the tribune in Munich, May 2, 2009. REUTERS/Alexandra Beier

Bayern Munich’s decision to sack Juergen Klinsmann five rounds before the end of the season with the team just three points out of first place might end up working out for the club, with the title still very much up for grabs, but it’s sad news for the Bundesliga.

It is also sad for fans of the exciting, attacking style of football that the former Germany striker brought to Munich. Klinsmann had won myriad new enthusiasts for soccer in general and Bayern Munich in particular with his innovative approach — quite an achievement considering Bayern were probably the most hated club in Germany outside Bavaria.

Under Klinsmann, Bayern’s insatiable appetite for goals could make them a joy to watch going forward. Unfortunately for the coach, the defence also seemed to enjoy seeing goals scored too and let in far too many.

Bayern were brilliant on some nights: their 5-1 win over VfB Stuttgart in the German Cup and the one-sided wins in the Champions League against Sporting Lisbon (5-0 and 7-1) spring to mind.

But on other occasions they were pretty dreadful, like when they lost 2-1 against Cologne and 5-1 at VfL Wolfsburg — to say nothing of the humilating 4-0 defeat at Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

So why didn’t Bayern bosses hold tight and wait and see how the season played out? Five wins from their last seven Bundesliga matches had left them just three points behind Wolfsburg and one behind Hertha Berlin — two teams with no experience of a pressure-packed title run. Surely Bayern’s chances were pretty good.

Perhaps pressure from the German media, particularly the relentless criticism from Bild newspaper, just became too great.

There will certainly be many enjoying a sense of Schadenfreude after the move but there are plenty who will be saddened as well.

“Man trifft sich immer zweimal im Leben” is a German phrase that basically means “what goes around, comes around”. Don’t be surprised to see Klinsmann on the bench of another top European club before long. And don’t be surprised if Bayern live to regret firing Klinsmann.

Maybe even by next month.