Pro Eleven Headline News
Wolfsburg on brink of sealing Bundesliga title from Bayern, Stuttgart
The Bundesliga championship trophy will be in Wolfsburg on Saturday, while a replica is on hand in Munich. The German league is placing its bets with Wolfsburg, which needs only a draw to secure its first title this weekend.
Wolfsburg heads into the final round Saturday with a two-point lead over Bayern Munich and Stuttgart, who clash in Munich. Wolfsburg has 66 points, Bayern and Stuttgart have 64.
A draw against Werder Bremen at home should be enough for Wolfsburg to lift the trophy since it has a much better goal difference than either Bayern or Stuttgart. Werder could be tired mentally and physically after playing into extra time and losing to Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Cup final. Werder has nothing to play for in the Bundesliga.
"Should we be able to repeat 50 per cent of our recent performances, I don't think anything can go wrong in the last game," said coach Felix Magath, who could win the championship in his last game in charge of Wolfsburg.
The top league officials are all travelling to Wolfsburg and taking the trophy to be presented to the champion with them. A replica is going to Munich - just in case.
Magath is leaving for Schalke after two remarkable seasons in Wolfsburg, turning a team that was nearly demoted into a championship contender.
"We've played an extraordinary season, no matter what happens at the end," Magath said.
Magath is taking no chances and took the team into a training camp Thursday.
His players were confident that they won't let the title slip away.
"Our goal is to win the championship and that's why we only have this game on our minds," midfielder Christian Gentner said.
"We are very strong at home and if we play our game we should win against Bremen," key midfielder Zvjezdan Misimovic said, although Bremen won 5-2 in Wolfsburg in the quarter-finals of the German Cup.
"We respect them, they have a really good team but if we play as well as we have recently, I am sure we can win," defender Marcel Schaefer said.
Wolfsburg could win the title even if it loses, provided Bayern and Stuttgart play to a draw.
Two players have stood out for Wolfsburg throughout the season - strikers Edin Dzeko and Grafite. They have combined for 51 goals so far, and could even break the record set by Bayern's Gerd Mueller and Uli Hoeness, who scored 53 goals between them two seasons in row more than 35 years ago.
Grafite, a 30-year-old Brazilian, tops the league with 26 goals. Dzeko, a 23-year-old Bosnian, has 25. They have scored the last 15 of Wolfsburg's league-high 75 goals. Last week, Dzeko had three and Grafite two in the 5-0 win in Hannover.
Both were Magath's discoveries. Magath combined the duties of coach and manager and used the money provided by the club's chief backer, the giant car maker Volkswagen, to completely revamp the green-clad team.
"I came to Wolfsburg to take the club to the top and to make it stay there," Magath said. "The job is done, even before the final game. I am pleased with what I've achieved and I can be relaxed about the last game."
Magath, 55, won the German double as coach of Bayern two seasons a row, but still got sacked in January 2007. He went to Wolfsburg that summer.
"The championship with Wolfsburg would be something special because no one took us seriously before the start of the season. I also didn't think it possible until late in the season," Magath said.
Wolfsburg has only been in the top division for 12 years. Without the car factory, the town situated in the middle of Germany probably wouldn't even be there.
The Nazis build a factory there to produce the "people's car," which later became the Beetle. After the Second World War, Wolfsburg was in the British zone of defeated Germany and the British resurrected the factory with the help of imported labour. Wolfsburg now has 123,000 inhabitants.
Bayern has been in the similar situations before - most recently in 2000 and '01, when it won titles on the final day of the season. Stuttgart hasn't won in Munich for nearly 10 years, but the team boasts striker Mario Gomez, who has 23 goals. Bayern could also finish fourth - and out of the Champions League spots - if it loses and Hertha Berlin wins in Karlsruhe.
At the bottom, Karlsruhe with 26 points and Energie Cottbus and Bielefeld at 27 are all hoping to get 16th place, which means a relegation playoff with the third-place team from the second division. The bottom two are demoted.
In other matches, it's Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Hamburger SV, Energie Cottbus vs. Bayer Leverkusen, Arminia Bielefeld vs. Hannover, Cologne vs. Bochum, Borussia Moenchengladbach vs. Borussia Dortmund and Schalke vs. Hoffenheim. Canadian Press
Xavi and Messi ready for Rome
Barcelona stars Xavi and Lionel Messi are both desperate to start against Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League final on Wednesday.
The pair both failed to make the clash against Arsenal in 2006 after picking up injuries in the build up.
Messi failed to make the squad at all, whilst a half-fit Xavi could only make the bench - but he did not make it on.
Now both are in line to play starring roles against United in Rome.
"I am looking forward to it so much," Messi said.
"It's the biggest game of my life and I am desperate to play - I didn't have the opportunity in Paris but I have the opportunity now and it means so much to me."
And Xavi added: "It's very difficult to get to the final of the Champions League and who knows if we'll be there again while I'm around.
"It was fantastic to win in Paris and I felt a part of it, even though I didn't get on the pitch.
"But as a player you want to feel you are a protagonist, you want to contribute and hopefully I will have the opportunity on Wednesday - we're all looking forward to it." Skysports
