He left Chelsea in 2019 to join La Liga giants Real Madrid for a fee of around £85m.

The next match in the 3. Liga could be a special one: the Black and Yellows have the opportunity to overtake their two rivals from the Ruhr area, Rot-Weiss Essen and MSV Duisburg, in the table with a home win. The fact that this is possible illustrates the development of the U23s in recent weeks, as both teams were out of reach just a few weeks ago.

When news went official on Friday that Bayern Munich had agreed on a contract extension with striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, it was met with excitement from many fans. Others, however, lamented that the Bavarians are likely out on Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane, while another sect of folks worried that overpaying for Choupo-Moting might prevent Bayern Munich from making other moves.

Two penalty kicks, one half with an extra player, but still the win remained out of reach: the Germany U21 team were held to a 1-1 (1-1) draw with Israel in the opening game of their U21 EURO campaign. The young German side were left to rue several missed opportunities: after just two minutes of play, Borussia Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko failed to convert a penalty kick. In the 20th minute, Israel hit coach Antonio Di Salvo’s team on the counter, with Dor Turgeman applying the finishing touches to make it 1-0. Despite the setback, Germany continued to control proceedings, and just six minutes later, they found themselves back on level terms. TSG midfielder Angelo Stiller delivered a free-kick into the area, where Yann-Aurel Bisseck was on hand to head the ball into the back of the net. Stiller was again at the heart of the action in first-half injury time, as he was felled to the ground by Eden Karzev, who received a second yellow card and was sent to the dressing room for an early shower. Germany pressed hard for a winner in the second half, but the goal remained elusive. The biggest chance again came from the penalty spot, the second of the night. This time it was Hertha BSC’s Jessic Ngankam who took on the responsibility, but he too was unable to hit the target. Angelo Stiller played the full 90 minutes, while Finn Ole Becker was an unused substitute. 

The Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL) have announced the dates and timings for matchdays 31 to 33. The Zerofivers will face Schalke 04 (Friday, 5th May, 20:30 CEST), Eintracht Frankfurt (Saturday, 13th May, 15:30 CEST) and VfB Stuttgart (Sunday, 21st May, 15:30 CEST) in the season run-in, before ending 2022/23 away at Borussia Dortmund (Saturday, 27th May, 15:30 CEST).  

Union’s last home game of the year ended in a goalless draw against SC Freiburg. After bouncing back from Sunday’s defeat at Greuther Fürth, Union picked up the levels and were the side on top in the second half in Köpenick. Andreas Luthe made a number of important interventions at the restart from Vincenzo Grifo and Lukas Kübler, but Union recovered. A corner kick on the hour mark led to a goalmouth scramble with Timo Baumgartl unable to finish off from close range before Kübler remarkably blocked the ball on the line from Rani Khedira. A draw was a fair result for Union against Christian Streich’s side that included two familiar faces in Nico and Keven Schlotterbeck.

Indeed, Evertonians have protested in their thousands in recent weeks against the likes of Kenwright, club CEO Denis Barrett-Baxendale and Moshiri himself, for taking the club backwards over the last few years.

Borussia Dortmund are away to VfB Stuttgart on Saturday. Kick-off is at 15:30 CET. We have...

João Cancelo’s arrival from Manchester City on loan during the January transfer window, combined with the long-term injury to Lucas Hernandez, has given Pavard the perfect opportunity for Julian Nagelsmann to use him often at center back. In Bayern’s last six matches across all competitions, Pavard has actually featured as a center back with Nagelsmann’s tactical switch to using a back three system ever since the 4-0 win over FSV Mainz in the DFB-Pokal round of 16.

Christoph Baumgartner’s move further underlines TSG’s status as the league’s “transfer kings”. Hoffenheim sit atop the ranking of clubs with the best transfer balance sheet over the past decade by a wide margin. “Developing young players and thus creating added value, which in turn benefits our academy through transfer revenues, is part of the core of our DNA,” says TSG director of football Alexander Rosen, who has overseen the club’s extremely successful work in the transfer market for over ten years. “As a club, we depend on these transfer revenues – and at the same time, we are proud that we repeatedly succeed in the demanding balancing act of economic necessity and sporting competitiveness,” says Rosen, adding: “His development into one of the league’s top players and his departure in close friendship and respect is a great example of this.”