Winter brake is over, it was a short one for German standard.
I'll give you some updates about what happened.
Schalke 04
Back to the roots:
Alexander Baumjohann is back where his career started years ago. After only a half Season with Bayern (where he rarly played but when he played he was better than Schweini

) Magath brought him back to his old club. He is supposed to get a starting spot and help the the young team with his experience. But unfortunately he broke his hand yesterday and had to get a surgery, it's not sure whether he can play this weekend or not.
One more player that should bring experience is Peer Kluge from Nürnberg.
Rafinha showed again why he is not worth any penny, stayed away from training without permission and made himself a longer vacation. I hope Magath can wash his head though I doubt that he'll learn. He's lacking lots of respect and discipline.
Wolfsburg offered 20 Million for him and
Benedikt Höwedes. I don't think
Höwedes will leave but
Rafinha is free for 12 Million.
Two days ago a 10m x 10m piece of the Stadium roof broke down, maybe because of the tons of snow who laid on there for weeks but it's not sure yet. The defect part will be removed, some fans will get pretty wet this weekend when it starts snowing again.
Wolfsburg
Armin Veh is only a coach again from now on, he worked (like Magath the years before) as a Manager and a Coach in one person.
The new Manager is no one else than
Dieter Hoeneß who got kicked out in Berlin this summer.
Maybe he can turn things around for Wolfsburg who are struggling a bit.
They offered 20 Million for
Rafinha and
Höwedes, let's see what they'll get.
Bayern
Toni left,
Sosa left,
Breno left,
Ottl left,
Rensing will leave in summer,...
They decimated their squad and seem ready to get back to the top.
Only
Ribery still gives them a headache.He seems to turn into an new
Robben with his several mysterious injuries. First his knee for month, the moment he was back he was out again now with two infected toes, they had to open both to remove the pressure, seems to come from his nails and because after every training he wears NEW shoes

Actually this can turn out to be a huge problem for Bayern. They found their rhythm and team now, they play good football and everything works fine without
Ribery. But when he's fit and back again they need to destroy the fine working team to integrate this Primadonna.
Stuttgart
Christian Gross seems to be a very good choice for them. Within seconds he turned the team around and made them qualify for the next Champions League round. Now they want to turn things in Bundesliga around.
Their Captain
Delpierre is injured, so are
Rudy and
Elson.
Molinaro had a very good start for them. After training only 2 days with them he started the first test game and made two assists, one from a perfect cross. The second game was without assist but again with a very good defense performance and he got a special commendation from
Gross because he integrated himself so well.
Dortmund
Their injury list is still long,
Kehl, Tinga, Le Tallec, Rangelov, Feulner, Öztekin, Hajnal,..., are still out for a long time.
Barrios, Hummels and
Sven Bender (his twin brother plays for Leverkusen

) are doubtful for this weekend,
Zidan is away for Egypt.
They only have Primavera players left if someone gets injured.
I hope they can repeat their good performances and finish this season on an Europe League spot:cap:
Leverkusen
The League Leader: young team, attractive football.
Hopefully they won't end up as second again in the end. Vizekusen deserves more.
Helmes will be back from his knee injury, but they have to fear for
Toni Kroos. The youngstar who came on loan from Bayern had a big impact on the team in the first half of the season and showed his huge potential. Leverkusen want to keep and buy him, but Bayern see how well he plays and it looks like they'll take him back at the end of the Season. I hope for him and Leverkusen that he can stay, he won't play enough in Bayern and I fear he'll end up like Giovinco, Bayern are as smart as we are when it comes to talents.
Please let him stay in Leverkusen where he can develop under a very good coach.