The home shirt for the new season is available in all VfB fan shops as of now. In the 130th year of the club’s existence, the badge is returning to the middle – and to start with there’s a limited edition with no sponsor logos.

Union are back in the quarter-final of the DFB Pokal after a two-year absence, beating Hertha Berlin 3-1 in their own backyard. A strike from Andreas Voglsammer gave Union a slender first-half advantage, while Niklas Stark’s own goal made it two early in the second half. Rani Khedira touched in an own goal from Suat Serdar’s effort, but Robin Knoche fired in the third to restore Union’s two-goal cushion at the Olympic Stadium. With 200 away supporters in attendance, the Köpenick will go into the draw for the last eight which takes place on Sunday January 30.

Asked about the 29-year-old’s readiness to do so, head coach Howe said: “That was the reason for taking a player of his profile. He has experience of the big games, so I’ve got no doubt or issue over his ability to step in.”

Youssoufa Moukoko (to Sky): “I saw that the player wanted to play it to his goalkeeper. Then I gambled and then there I was. It’s striker’s instinct. Berlin just suits me. The coach said to me beforehand: when you come on, you’ll decide the match. I absolutely wanted to play, but I’ve also been injured for a long time. The coaching staff are doing a very good job of building me up slowly. I’m optimistic that I’ll play many games yet.”

Further dates confirmed for pre-season During their summer training camp in Tegernsee, the Foals will play...

Justin Njinmah will continue his journey at SV Werder Bremen. The 22-year-old, who was most recently on loan at Borussia Dortmund, has signed an early contract extension with the Green-Whites and will begin the pre-season with Werder on Monday.

An examination on Wednesday in Munich revealed the diagnosis: Dallmann tore her left anterior syndesmosis ligament (FCBayern.com). She will undergo an operation on Friday, March 3. As the club itself acknowledged, “the diagnosis unfortunately means a premature end of the season for the twenty-eight year old.”

After the planned start of training on Schenckendorffplatz was cancelled on Monday due to the bad weather, the Hertha players finally made their way onto the pitch the day after. Just like the day before, however, the weather was quick to change, with sun at the beginning, showers in the middle and then more sunshine at the end. The group of 23 players kept their hard work and spirits up despite this, however, with Henrik Kuchno taking care of both of these. The players were working hard at the start of the 90-minute session with a Bleep Test, which examined each individual’s fitness level. After that, the first proper session after the summer break included different small-sided games and finally a ten-on-ten match on a smaller pitch.

(1.) As a striker, scoring goals is your favourite thing to do. How do you celebrate...

Mainz are travelling to Gelsenkirchen to face Schalke 04 on Wednesday evening (20:30 CET). At least 800 Zerofivers are making the trip to the VELTINS-Arena to support their team in what will be the final away game of the calendar year. Although the Royal Blues find themselves bottom of the table, Bo Svensson is fully aware of the tough test that awaits his side: “Tomorrow is an important game and it will be difficult. It will be hectic, emotional and physical. We’ll have to be mentally prepared for that and be ready for the challenge,” he explained. There are two more games remaining until the World Cup and the gaffer was keen to point out that there is still plenty of work to do: “We not only need to be in good spirits, we also need to pick up the three points. We want to be in good shape for the second half of the season,” said the Dane. Following the clash in Gelsenkirchen, Mainz are due to host rivals Eintracht Frankfurt at the MEWA ARENA on Sunday (15:30 CET).