So the thousands of fans chanting “Klinsmann out!” at the end of Bayern’s 1-0 defeat at home to Schalke on Saturday have got their way.

Bayern announced on Monday that Klinsmann was being relieved of his post with immediate effect. The man to replace him, at least until the end of the season, is Jupp Heynckes (officially the unluckiest coach in European football).

For Bayern to sack Klinsmann now, with the team just three points behind leaders Wolfsburg and with five games left to make up the difference, serves as a reminder of just how ruthless Bayern can be. Other clubs might have hung on until the chance of the championship was gone … but not the Bavarians, who probably had the right to expect more from the new training regimes, the army of backroom staff, the philosophising and the supposed new commitment to attack (see this Spiegel article in English for a feel of what Klinsmann’s coming was like) .

I read over the weekend that the heavy defeat against Barcelona in the Champions League was making the coach’s position uncomfortable but I suspect it was the club’s domestic form that was really causing the board consternation. Anyone can lose heavily to this Barcelona team, but Bayern should not be looking so sheer bloody ordinary in the Bundesliga.

So what next for Klinsmann? Will he try his luck at another big European club (I’m sure there’ll be plenty willing to take a chance) or will he return to California and steer clear of coaching? I certainly hope that’s not the last we see of him … even if his teams haven’t always lived up to their promise, football’s more interesting with him around.

PHOTO: Juergen Klinsmann runs ahead of Italian forward Luca Toni and French midfielder Franck Ribery during his final training session as Bayern Munich coach, April 26, 2009. REUTERS/Alexandra Beier

Manchester United and Villarreal must find some misplaced form to get the away results they need in Wednesday’s Champions League second legs.

United, who visit Porto, have not looked like European and English champions recently and have a lot to do to reach the last four after last week’s disappointing 2-2 draw with the Portuguese side at Old Trafford.

Late goals by 17-year-old Federico Macheda scraped victories over Sunderland and Aston Villa in their last two Premier League games to keep them top following defeats by Fulham and Liverpool.

Jose Mourinho, Porto coach when they knocked Alex Ferguson’s men out on the way to winning the competition in 2004, said United are a very different prospect from the side who eliminated his Inter Milan last month.

“Manchester United are in great difficulty at the moment,” Mourinho told a news conference. “Porto went there, they played a good match and the result was fair. But the return leg is still open.”

Like United, Spanish contenders Villarreal also need a win or a high-scoring draw to progress after being held 1-1 at home by Arsenal. (more…)

“Perhaps if they only bring eight men to Munich then we have a chance.”

Bayern’s Mark van Bommel, a former Barcelona player, was brutally honest after Barca’s 4-0 win in the Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Nou Camp.

The rest of his team mates had nothing to say in the dressing room after the thrashing.

“After the match it was very quiet in our dressing room and nothing was said,” said Bayern coach Klinsmann, whose side also lost 5-1 at Wolfsburg last weekend.

“We were taken apart in the first half by a team that is currently setting the standard in Europe.”

Barca overwhelmed the Bavarians and were 4-0 up by halftime after a double strike from Lionel Messi and goals from Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry. Bayern rarely threatened and in truth the Catalans could have scored more.

Chelsea were almost as impressive in winning 3-1 at Liverpool in their first leg.

Sadly for them the draw for the semi-finals has already been made…..is there anyway they can beat Barca in this form?

PHOTO: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (C) dribbles past Bayern Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger (R) and Breno during their Champions League quarter-final, first-leg match at the Nou Camp, April 8, 2009. REUTERS/Albert Gea

German media have already decided that Grafite’s brilliant 77th-minute solo goal in Wolfsburg’s 5-1 win over Bayern Munich on Saturday is the goal of the year.

He somehow managed to elude five Bayern players before scoring with a cheeky backheel.

It may seem a bit early to be choosing the “Tor des Jahres” with nine months left in 2009 but even the normally reserved public TV broadcast “Das Aktuelle Sportstudio” proclaimed it “the most spectacular goal in Bundesliga history”.

The electrifying goal has featured in German newscasts all weekend.

Grafite’s goal, coming two days after his 30th birthday, also served as a fitting metaphor for the season as it helped Wolfsburg jump to the top of the Bundesliga in front of Hamburg SV, Hertha Berlin and Bayern.

The small club from the northern town made famous by the Volkswagen factories have now won eight of their nine matches since the winter break (the only blemish a draw at Cologne) after ending the first half of the season back in ninth place and nine points behind Bayern.

It is hard to get enough of the Brazilian’s magical 12-touch goal, which was his second of the match and 20th in the Bundesliga this season, putting him alone at the top of the scoring charts.

Grafite first beat Bayern’s Andreas Ottl and Christian Lell on the left and then dodged lunging goalkeeper Michael Rensing before duping compatriot Breno and Philipp Lahm with the quick backheel just as he appeared to be dribbling away from danger.

“Grafite makes record-champs Bayern look like fools,” read Kicker.de’s headline.

Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath said: “You only get one goal like that in a lifetime.”

Grafite, whose father died in October, was his usual modest self afterwards.

“I had my 30th birthday a few days ago so this was a nice present.”

PHOTO: VfL Wolfsburg’s coach Felix Magath (L) shakes hands with Grafite during their Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich, April 4, 2009. REUTERS/Thomas Bohlen

So, here we go again. For the fifth successive season, Liverpool will face Chelsea in the Champions League.

Quarter-finals:

Villarreal v Arsenal

Manchester United v Porto

Liverpool v Chelsea

Barcelona v Bayern Munich

Semi-finals:

Manchester United or Porto v Villarreal or Arsenal

Barcelona or Bayern Munich v Liverpool or Chelsea

Liverpool will perhaps be marginal favourites in the all-English quarter-final after knocking Chelsea out at the semi-final stage in 2005 and 2007 but their fans will need no reminding that last season, when Chelsea got to play the second leg at home, it was the Londoners who came through.

This year? Once again, Chelsea will be at home for the second leg. Will that make the difference again?

Otherwise, Man Utd must be pretty pleased with a draw that pits the holders against Porto in the quarter-finals, with a possible semi-final to come against Villarreal or Arsenal (and Arsenal will be pretty pleased as well, you’d think … at least with the first bit).

All those expecting an all-English final, watch out for Barcelona, who should have too much for Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, with a clash against Liverpool or Chelsea up for grabs.

Barcelona v Man Utd in the final?

What a Bundesliga season! Exciting, fast-paced and at least five teams in the running for the title and believe it or not, Bayern are not top of the table.

But next season may be very different. Many of the league’s top players who have carried their teams into title contention could leave at the end of the campaign.

Hertha Berlin strikers Andriy Voronin and Marko Pantelic have fired their team to the top but are on their way out.

Voronin, who has scored eight goals in the past six matches, is on loan from Liverpool and with Hertha’s budget shrinking for next season, the more goals he scores the more difficult it will be for them to keep him. Only a Champions League spot could help finance his stay.

Pantelic, with six goals, looks even more certain to leave after recovering from injury but then being left on the bench for the past two matches as strained ties with club and coach continue.

Surprise package Wolfsburg, four points behind, could see strikers Grafite and Edin Dzeko, who have scored a combined total of 30 league goals, packing their bags with several English clubs reportedly circling for the pair.

Speculation about whether Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery will stay has been growing and much is riding on a Champions League berth for next season.

Werder Bremen, who are through to the last 16 in the UEFA Cup after ousting AC Milan, could lose their own pillars in midfield and attack.

Brazilian Diego, among the league’s most exciting and gifted players, looks poised to move to a bigger European club with media reports suggesting Juventus are his preference. Peruvian Claudio Pizarro, on loan from Chelsea, is also unlikely to stay despite his 12 league goals.

Werder are hesitant about buying him because of an ongoing investigation into his co-ownership of a management firm embroiled in a financial affair that led to the resignation of Werder’s chairman.

By the time next season starts, the Bundesliga could look a lot poorer in terms of talent.

The credit crunch is biting into German soccer, with teams starting to consider the idea of salary caps to further reduce annual running costs.

It was Bayern Munich manager Uli Hoeness who first warned some time ago that the financial downturn would hit Bundesliga clubs, especially mid-table ones, who would not be able to balance their budgets. Now Bayer Leverkusen sports director Rudi Voeller and, more surprisingly, Hoffenheim billionaire backer Dietmar Hopp have come out in favour of salary caps.

Salary caps, financial limits on the total amount spent on players’ wages, already exist in all professional sports leagues in the United States.

“I hope there will be an upper limit for players’ wages,” Voeller, who earned the best money of his long career in Italy and France. “We have reached the top limit.”

Hopp has poured just under 200 million euros into Hoffenheim to help bring the club from the lower regional divisions to the Bundesliga. The tycoon has turned them into title contenders and built a new stadium as well, but even he said contracts were now too high.

“What players earn is too much. If this crisis continues we will go under,” Hopp said after admitting that his shares had lost value worth about 2 billion euros in the stock market fall.

Germany has been hit hard by the crisis and while its clubs have always been less exuberant than their Italian, Spanish or English counterparts, they could soon decide to spend even less.

Several clubs have hinted they would look into reducing salaries from next year. It may sound bad for the quality of football but isn’t it ultimately better for the sport’s social responsibility?

PHOTO: The boot of TSG Hoffenheim’s Sejad Salihovic lies on top of the net during their Bundesliga match at VfB Stuttgart Feb. 21, 2009. REUTERS/Thomas Bohlen

Juergen Klinsmann won almost everything there was to win as a player, enjoying success in Germany, Italy, France and England, but as a coach it’s been a different story.

Granted, taking over Bayern Munich on the back of their league and Cup double last season iss no easy task, especially if it is your first club level job.

But more than halfway through his first season at the club, things are not going as well as he and the club must have hoped.

Bayern are fifth in the league, albeit only four points off the top, but largely because the teams in front of them have also been dropping points.

On Wednesday the title holders spectacularly crashed out of the German Cup in a 4-2 defeat against Bayer Leverkusen. On the other hand they are almost certain of a place in the Champions League quarter-finals after their 5-0 away win against Sporting Lisbon.

But it is not so much the results that have raised questions of how long the Bayern bosses will allow him to stay on. It is the team’s overall performance that worries manager Uli Hoeness, director general Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and president Franz Beckenbauer.

The defence, which last season conceded 21 goals all season, has already let in 30 after only 22 matches. Against Leverkusen they let in three goals in 16 minutes.

In their three league defeats out of five matches since the winter break, Bayern defenders were largely to blame for individual mistakes that allowed Hertha Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne to leave victorious.

Even Franck Ribery, whose midfield acumen and creative play helped win the domestic double last season, has been complaining about the defence. Can they expect Ribery, the Bundesliga’s biggest star, to stay on if he does not have a shot at winning major European titles?

Former Bayern manager Felix Magath won the double in consecutive seasons only to be sacked halfway through the following campaign when the team dropped to fourth in the league back in 2007.

If Klinsmann’s team do not turn things around quickly, should the Bayern top brass do the same again?

PHOTO: Bayern Munich’s coach Jurgen Klinsmann (L) and manager Uli Hoeness react during the German Cup defeat by Bayer Leverkusen in Duesseldorf March 4, 2009. REUTERS/Johannes Eisele

Juergen Klinsmann, who has turned German soccer upside down the last four years with a dynamic and modern approach to the game, has once again managed to silence the domestic naysayers, at least for the time being.

Bayern’s 5-0 thrashing of Sporting Lisbon put an abrupt halt to the media speculation that Klinsmann’s job was on the line after Bayern lost three of their first four Bundesliga matches since the start of the second half of the season in January.

Never mind that Bayern opened 2009 with an awesome performance in destroying VfB Stuttgart 5-1 in a German Cup match, those losses (in which Bayern played well) combined with one truly dreadful effort last week, a 2-1 defeat at home against Cologne, suddenly had the poets in the press box writing Klinsmann’s obituary. (more…)

We’ve already blogged on Hertha Berlin’s surprise win over Bayern Munich at the weekend but I thought I’d mention one more aspect to the game and the result — this was one of those rare occasions when Dieter Hoeness got one over on his more famous brother Uli.

Uli is a year older than Dieter, almost to the day. They both spent most of their playing days at Bayern but their careers were still very different.

Uli was the flamboyant attacking midfielder, Dieter the scruffy workhorse. Uli was known for his graceful counter-attacking skills and blond hair, big Dieter is best remembered for his headers and for a photograph of him bleeding on the pitch, his head heavily bandaged in a match he went on to score in.

Uli won the 1974 World Cup at the height of his career against a superb Dutch side and also bagged the 1972 European Championships, making 35 appearances for Germany. Dieter only ran out six times for his country, coming out of semi-retirement to lose in the 1986 World Cup final against Diego Maradona’s Argentina.

Uli won the European Cup with Bayern Munich three times, Dieter instead had to settle for two bitter European Cup final defeats in 1982 and 1987.

As Bayern Munich manager Uli has celebrated 16 Bundesliga titles, Dieter has so far won only one with VfB Stuttgart in 1992, where he worked as manager.

When Hertha Berlin climbed to the top of the table on the weekend for the first time in more than two years, it must have been a very sweet moment for Dieter, General Manager at the Berlin club.

While Uli has managed Bayern for 30-odd years with spectacular success and is tipped to take over from Franz Beckenbauer as club president next year, Dieter has quietly worked at Hertha since 1996/97, seeing the team gain promotion to the Bundesliga in 1997.

Since 1999 Hertha have qualified for European competitions five times. This may not be much compared to Uli’s success at Bayern but speaks volumes of Dieter’s commitment to the game.

Uli, sitting dejectedly on the Bayern bench, said after the match in Berlin that Hertha were now major contenders for the Bundesliga title.

Dieter, from experience, was quick to reject the favourites’ tag.

“We certainly are not serious title contenders. Our aim remains a (qualification) place for the Europa League but if there is more in it for us we certainly won’t turn it down.”

With a German championship evading Hertha since 1931, Dieter would for once make a bigger splash than his brother if he brought the “Meisterschale” to the capital.

* or Hoenesses, if you think that sounds better

PHOTO: Bayern Munich’s manager Uli Hoeness arrives for his team’s German first division Bundesliga match against Hamburg SV, January 30, 2009. REUTERS/Christian Charisius