A delegation from Japan, including JFA management and Japanese youth internationals, paid a visit to VfB in early December. The trip included an exclusive meet-and-greet with Genki Haraguchi and a tour of the VfB Youth Academy.

Mornings in Campoamor are hardly any different for Parensen from those of his everyday life in Köpenick: Emails over breakfast, mostly. But it is after that things become a little more diffuse. There’s a lot of watching, a lot of planning and a lot of talking to be done.

Crystal Palace do sit 12th in the league table, but they are now just three points above the relegation zone.

“Borussia Dortmund versus 1. FC Cologne: that’s a tradition-steeped, great all-NRW clash right at the beginning,” said Hans-Joachim Watzke: “The next week we’re off to Bochum, where have recently always struggled. Overall, it’s a great, challenging start for the BVB fans with some emotional matches. We have to be at full strength from the beginning.”

Borussia will travel to Saarland to face 1. FC Saarbrücken in the DFB-Pokal quarter-final The Foals...

SVW came away with a 2-0 home win against Augsburg at the wohninvest WESERSTADION! A mixed first half ended with a goal for the Green-Whites from Stark (39’), before a much stronger showing in the second half was capped off by a Ducksch goal (65’), resulting in a 2-0 Werder win come full time.

In this special edition reaction (or rant) episode, INNN and Schnitzel talk about the following:

30th Bundesliga goal for Christoph Baumgartner | David Raum with fourth assist of the season | Success for RBL away from home

Even though the players will have only just returned to Germany, the game offers a chance to round off their intensive preparations. Nine full training sessions and two victorious friendlies against FC Augsburg in the south meant a heavy workload, but it’s still not not quite enough. This match will provide the final test before next week’s home game against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.