The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann and Kevin Hatchard to reflect on the final weekend of the Bundesliga which saw Werder Bremen become the latest 'blue chip' club to fall into the second tier. As well as pondering whether that was one of the most avoidable relegations ever we also bring you the Steilcast end of season awards including The Best Player Who Isn't Named Robert Award, Best Coach, Best Transfer, Game of the Season and our combined Bundesliga Best...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann and Kevin Hatchard for their take on the penultimate Bundesliga weekend, with Dortmund qualifying for the Champions League just days after winning the cup we assess the changing mood at BVB and ponder the future of interim head coach Edin Terzic. There's praise for Wolfsburg who have also made into next season's Champions League thanks to a point at Leipzig coupled with Schalke's surprise victory over Frankfurt. We also delve...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Steilcast stalwart Christoph Biermann to reflect on Bayern Munich winning their 9th consecutive Bundesliga title - we try to look at the positives surrounding this team before once more pondering whether their continued dominance is good for the league as a whole. Plus there's a big win for Dortmund over Leipzig in the dress rehearsal for Thursday's DFB-Pokal final, and things are heating up at the bottom of the table as Koln's 4-1 loss to...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by regulars Christoph Biermann and Kevin Hatchard for their take on all the big stories from the Bundesliga this weekend. We welcome special guest Mara Pfeiffer onto the pod to reflect on a stunning win for Bo Svensson's Mainz as they beat Bayern 2-1 to delay the title party, and lead to more people wondering whether Svensson is the next superstar coach to graduate from the Mainz academy. There's also a look at Augsburg sacking Heiko Herrlich,...

The Athletic's Raphel Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann and Kevin Hatchard to discuss the fallout from the Super League debacle, looking at whether after years of being outliers German fans may now be caught up by their English counterparts when it comes to organised fan power. There's also reaction to the midweek games in the Bundesliga as a wobbly Marco Reus keeps Dortmund's Champions League hopes alive, ugly scenes as Schalke are finally relegated, and a big win for Mainz gives...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein & Steilcast ultra Christoph Biermann convene to discuss the fallout from Hansi Flick's announcement live on TV that he wishes to leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season, plus there's reaction to the story that shook European football on Sunday night with the announcement of a new Super League by 12 of Europe's biggest clubs - not currently including anyone from Germany. Will Bayern and Dortmund cave in or stand firm? All this plus the usual...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann and special guest award-winning author & journalist Ronald Reng for a look at all of the big stories coming out of the Bundesliga this week We focus on Ronnie's beloved Frankfurt as he gives us insight into their superb season which sees them looking good for a Champions League place Christoph gives us his take on the latest behind-the-scenes drama at Bayern with problems brewing between Hansi Flick and the hierarchy Plus...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Steilcast ultra Christoph Biermann for a look at a weekend in the Bundesliga which perfectly encapsulated the current state of affairs at the top of the division - Borussia Dortmund flattering to deceive in a defeat against Frankfurt that leaves them staring at catastrophe, and Bayern grind out a 1-0 win over Leipzig to squash any hopes of a title race There's also reflection on Germany's disastrous defeat to North Macedonia, plus we check in on...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann for a special Mannschaft edition of Steilcast as they wonder whether Joachim Low's farewell tour may turn out better than first thought. As well as their take on the wins over Iceland and Romania there is also a look at Uli Hoeness' performance in the TV studio and an eyebrow raised at the German FA's latest PR own goal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Athletic's Raphel Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann and Kevin Hatchard for their take on another eventful week in the Bundesliga - including the breaking news that Xabi Alonso is lined up to replace the departing Marco Rose at Gladbach. There's also discussion about the latest episode in Schalke's nightmare of a season, Bayern winning 4-0 with ten men, and our latest thoughts on the future of Dortmund's Erling Haaland All this plus we ponder the question - are Leverkusen losing...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann and Kevin Hatchard for their take on the biggest story in German football right now - the news that Joachim Löw will be stepping down as coach of the German national team after the Euros. We discuss how this could have a knock-on effect at Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig as Hansi Flick could replace Low, with Nagelsmann the favourite to head to Bayern if the job does become available, plus there's talk of how the news could affect...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann and Jasmine Baba for their take on all the big stories across the Bundesliga and Champions League where German teams are concerned. We react to Bayern Munich coming from two goals down to defeat Borussia Dortmund and ponder whether Dortmund might actually walk away from this result feeling quite good about themselves? Plus we look at how Leipzig are shaping up ahead of their Champions League second-leg against a crisis-stricken...

Raphael Honigstein and Christoph Biermann focus on some notable strugglers in this week's Bundesliga podcast from The Athletic. The axe fell at Schalke, but it wasn't just the manager who felt the icy blade. Hertha Berlin are winless in nine, and Peter Bosch is in trouble at Leverkusen. Plus; Rapha tries to drum up some enthusiasm for the title race, and we consider the odd relationship German clubs have with the Europa League. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein & Christoph Biermann bring you their take on all the biggest stories in the Bundesliga. We start with Eintracht Frankfurt's stunning victory over Bayern Munich, and a look at how Frankfurst also showed Bayern how it should be done off the pitch after they sensitively remembered the victims of the Hanau shooting in stark contrast to Karl-Heinz Rummenigge's unimpressive performance on German TV when being asked about Bayern's relationship with Qatar. Plus...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by regular conspirators Christoph Biermann and Kevin Hatchard for their take on all the biggest stories in the Bundesliga and German football. We react to Bayern Munich's snowy 3-3 thriller with Arminia Bielefeld, plus take a look at the latest grumblings from Hansi Flick after Thomas Muller has been told to quarantine following a positive covid test. There's discussion of the news that, as we've been saying for months, Marco Rose will be leaving...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein & Christoph Biermann bring you their take on the biggest stories in the Bundesliga. We look at the latest noise coming from Bayern Munich after they were left stranded on an airport runway following their victory at Hertha Berlin. There's focus Köln's fight for survival as an Elvis Rexhbecaj brace gave them the win at rivals Gladbach. Plus we unpick yet more despair at Dortmund as their loss at Freiburg lead to further questions about the status of...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann and Kevin Hatchard to roundup all the big stories in the Bundesliga. We take a look at the somewhat unloved VfL Wolfsburg who have snuck up the table into 3rd place, there's off-field politics to discuss at Stuttgart and Bayern Munich, plus a lesser-spotted routine win for Dortmund at Augbsurg. There's also discussion of Ralph Rangnick's coaching legacy in German football as his raft of proteges continue to progress in the...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann for a look at all the big stories from the Bundesliga - Bayern have strengthened their lead at the top, Leipzig and Dortmund suffered yet more disappointing defeats, Frankfurt bagged a big win, and Mainz gave themselves a glimmer of hope at the bottom. Hertha correspondent Marc Schwitzky joins us to work out what's gone wrong for the Berlin club as they get set to part company with manager Bruno Labbadia in the wake of a...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann for a look at all the results and stories from the 'Englische Woche' round of midweek games Schalke and Mainz are looking increasingly doomed at the bottom, Dortmund are still flattering to deceive and now find themselves ten points off the top spot, but there is good news for challengers Leipzig and Leverkusen as they pick up wins to stay in touch despite the Bayern juggernaut marching on with a win at Augsburg. All this and...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann for a look at all the big stories from the Bundesliga, starting with another fine result for Union Berlin as they beat Leverkusen 1-0 but concerning developments off the pitch as Union's Florian Hubner stands accused of racially abusing Leverkusen's Nadiem Amiri. Elsewhere there were disappointing draws for Dortmund, Leipzig and Gladbach, all of which saw Bayern Munich restore a healthy lead at the top of the table but that's...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann and Kevin Hatchard to roundup a very eventful weekend in the Bundesliga - Bayern lost to Gladbach, Dortmund reminded everyone they're still in the title race by beating RB Leipzig, and Schalke actually WON A GAME, avoiding becoming the worst Bundesliga side in history at the last possible moment. All these games plus talk of Stuttgart, Union Berlin, and there's a look at whether Thomas Tuchel may return to the Bundesliga sooner...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann to roundup all of the action from the first Bundesliga weekend of the year. Bayern had a scare against Mainz, finding themselves 2-0 down at half-time before winning 5-2, Schalke's quest to rob Tasmania Berlin of their long-held winless record continued as they lost 3-0 to Hertha, and there was yet another impressive victory for Union Berlin who are still in the mix for the Champions League places as we head into the second...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Patrick Strasse who is the Bayern reporter for Munich-based Abendzeitung newspaper, and together they reflect on Bayern's extraordinary treble-winning year in 2020. Starting with the final days of Niko Kovac's doomed reign we chart the journey of this immortal Bayern side from Hansi Flick's unassuming start to life as head coach, his reinvigoration of key players Lewandowski and Muller, peaking with the 3-0 domination of Chelsea in the Champions...

The Athletic's Raphael Honigstein is joined by Christoph Biermann for a round-up of the final Bundesliga weekend of 2020, where we saw Bayern do what Bayern do and edge out title rival Leverkusen in the last minute. There's also discussion of Leroy Sane's immediate future as he was subbed off after being brought on and received some chastening words from Hansi Flick post-match. Elsewhere we look at the continued struggles of Dortmund after their 2-1 loss to Union Berlin, the mounting problems...