Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer has named Chelsea coach Guus Hiddink as the man he would most like to see in charge of his club next season.

The Bavarians are searching for a new coach after sacking Jurgen Klinsmann on Monday.
Jupp Heynckes was appointed on an interim basis until the end of the season, but a new man must be found who “earns the respect of the players,” according to chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

That man, according to Beckenbauer, would be Hiddink, although the Kaiser knows he is unavailable.

“I hope we can get a coach who is somewhere in the class of Guus Hiddink,” he told the Bild newspaper.

Candidates are already emerging with former Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini, ex-Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari and the out-of-work Frank Rijkaard and Bernd Schuster believed to be in the frame.

Armin Veh and Mirko Slomka are options from within Germany while a return of Felix Magath, who could lead Wolfsburg to the title this season, is not out of the question.

However, since Klinsmann and his coaching team can expect a large pay-off following their dismissal yesterday, Bayern are unlikely to go for a coach who is already employed elsewhere.…

(CNN) — German champions Bayern Munich have sacked coach Jurgen Klinsmann and appointed the experienced Jupp Heynckes as his replacement for the final five games of the Bundesliga season.

Klinsmann’s fate was sealed after Bayern Munich’s 1-0 home defeat by Schalke on Saturday.

Klinsmann’s fate was sealed after a meeting with club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, general manager Uli Hoeness and director Karl Hopfner on Monday morning.

The 44-year-old took charge of Bayern last July, after leading an unfancied Germany side to the 2006 World Cup semifinals on home soil.

However, despite taking the club to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, he has been dismissed after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Schalke left the club three points adrift of league leaders Wolfsburg.

Saturday’s defeat, following the 5-1 Champions League aggregate reverse to Barcelona, and elimination by Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup, has proved he final straw for the club’s board, eager to ensure qualification for next season’s Champions League.

A statement on the Bavarian club’s official Web site confirmed the decision: “The board have informed Jurgen Klinsmann that we have decided to end our co-operation. This also applies to the assistant coaches Martin Vasquez and Nick Theslof.

“The …

Bayer Leverkusen scored three goals in extra time to overcome plucky second division side Mainz 4-1 and reach the German Cup final on Tuesday.

Goals from Arturo Vidal, Simon Rolfes and Michal Kadlec finally broke the sprit of the underdogs who had struck a late equaliser through Arisitide Bance to force the extra period.

In the May 30 final at the Berlin Olympic stadium Leverkusen, Cup winners in 1993, will face Hamburg SV or Werder Bremen who meet in the last four on Wednesday.

The Bundesliga side, who briefly led the standings before dropping to ninth place after one win in their last eight league games, had to work hard against a disciplined Mainz defence.

But the visitors, third in the second tier and fighting for promotion, ran out of steam allowing Leverkusen to cling on to the hope of playing in the Europa League next season.
“We showed great character out there,” Leverkusen coach Bruno Labbadia told ARD television. “The team did well. We wore the opponents down.”

It took Leverkusen 20 minutes to carve out a chance through striker Patrick Helmes, who struck a low close-range shot that sailed across goal and just wide of the far post.…

… Read more »

Brazilian striker Grafite scored twice including a late winner as VfL Wolfsburg beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 on Saturday to maintain their three-point lead in the Bundesliga.

Champions Bayern Munich, in second place with 54 points, edged hosts Arminia Bielefeld 1-0 thanks to a second half Luca Toni header to stay in the hunt with six matches remaining.

Wolfsburg went ahead in the 23rd minute when the league’s top scorer Grafite scored with a penalty after he was brought down by Manuel Friedrich.

Minutes later Zvjezdan Misimovic, who has been a crucial part of coach Felix Magath’s offensive engine, set up the Brazilian with a defence-splitting 20-metre pass but Grafite failed to beat Leverkusen keeper Rene Adler.

The visitors stepped up a gear in the second half and quickly levelled through Toni Kroos when he fired home from inside the box.

They then missed a bagful of chances through Patrick Helmes and Renato Augusto, and hit the woodwork through Simon Rolfes with Wolfsburg seemingly overwhelmed, before Misimovic again set up Grafite to slot past Adler in the 85th minute.

Grafite’s second goal took his tally to 22 and extended his team’s winning run to 10 successive games, matching Borussia Moenchengladbach’s record …

German clubs are still a long way behind the European pace-setters from England and Spain, according to Bayern Munich captain Mark van Bommel.

He was powerless to prevent his team from exiting the Champions League after a 1-1 draw against Barcelona was not enough to prevent a 5-1 aggregate defeat.

And the former Barca midfielder claimed there is still too big a gulf between German and Spanish football.

“I am not criticising German football when I say that football in Spain is a lot better,” he said. “It is all down to the money. I think if the team which is 18th in the Bundesliga came up against the side which is 18th in Spain, the German club would not win very often.”

Van Bommel, who was part of the Barcelona team which won the Champions League in 2006, is in a good enough position to make such a judgment.

He also knows what it takes to get to where Barcelona are, but remains sceptical of Bayern achieving it.

“They are the best team in the world,” he said. “They are playing so well and can win three titles this year. All you need is one bad game against them …

Bayern Munich are faced with a season-saving rescue mission to defend their Bundesliga title following Tuesday’s exit from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage.

With seven matches remaining, the German champions are three points behind leaders Wolfsburg and coach Juergen Klinsmann said every game was now a final after their 1-1 home draw against Barcelona consigned Bayern to a 5-1 aggregate defeat.

Klinsmann, who saw his team eliminated from the German Cup and thrashed 4-0 in Barcelona within the space of a month, knows failure to win the title could also spell the end of his coaching career at Bayern after only a season.

“These seven league matches are finals for us. We have to get points, points, points,” Klinsmann told reporters. “We have to get maximum points and I still believe we will win the championship.”

Fans booed the coach again on Tuesday, chanting former manager Ottmar Hitzfeld’s name and held aloft banners with “Klinsmann raus” (Klinsmann out) written on them.

“Of course such a situation is not comfortable,” the coach said after the match. “But I understand that after the 4-0 in the first leg people are angry.”

However, it was not just the first leg defeat …

A stoppage time goal by striker Mario Gomez gave hosts VfB Stuttgart a 1-0 win against Hamburg SV on Sunday and revived their hopes for a European spot.

The defeat left Hamburg in third place, level on 51 points with Bayern Munich who beat Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 on Saturday. Stuttgart moved to within a point of fourth-placed Hertha Berlin who are on 49 points.

Vfl Wolfsburg still top the standings with 54 points after defeating lowly Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1 on Saturday.

Stuttgart were the more aggressive side and deserved the win, while Hamburg looked tired after their mid-week 3-1 win against Manchester City in the UEFA Cup.

In the only other match of the day Bayer Leverkusen lost ground in their bid to claim a European spot when they drew 1-1 with Werder Bremen. They dropped to ninth place on 42 points.

(Reuters)

…