German Bundesliga Review

Bayern Munich returned to the top of the Bundesliga with their fifth straight win after seeing off Schalke 2-0.

Nils Petersen and Thomas Muller scored the goals for a Bayern side who did not even need to move out of first gear to beat the Royal Blues, who succumbed to their second straight defeat.

Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, making his first return to the Arena AufSchalke since his summer transfer between the two clubs, was nothing more than a spectator for 90 minutes, as he had been as a young boy on the terraces of Gelsenkirchen's Park Stadion.

In Sunday's other game, Hannover struck twice in the last five minutes to win 2-1 and condemn Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund to a third defeat of the season.

Dortmund looked set for their first away win of the campaign on the back of Shinji Kagawa's well-taken 63rd-minute strike.

But with four minutes to go Karim Haggui struck an equalizer and Didier Konan then kept his cool to win it in the dying seconds.

The result means Dortmund have lost three of their opening six games after waltzing to the title last season.

On Saturday, Lukas Podolski inspired Cologne to a 4-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in Stale Solbakken and Robin Dutt's first Rhineland derby in charge of the respective local rivals.

Podolski created Cologne's first goal for Milivoje Novakovic just before half time before scoring the second just after the interval.

Podolski's second and Cologne's third sealed the win in the 54th minute before Simon Rolfes grabbed a consolation for the home side.

Andre Schurrle was sent off late on before Mato Jajalo completed the scoring with Cologne's fourth deep in stoppage time.

Borussia Monchengladbach climbed to second in the standings for 24 hours with a narrow 1-0 victory at rock-bottom Hamburg.

Igor de Camargo headed home the game's only goal in the 66th minute to send Lucien Favre's side level on 13 points with Werder Bremen.

Nurnberg fought back to secure a hard-fought 1-1 draw in horrendous conditions against 10-man Bremen.

Heavy rain made playing conditions almost impossible and the visitors were hardly helped by the early dismissal of goalkeeper Tim Wiese.

Mehmet Ekici put Werder ahead against the run of play but Philipp Wollscheid earned his side a deserved point with his second-half goal.

Hoffenheim kept up the pressure on the leaders as two goals from Roberto Firmino guided them to a 3-1 victory over Wolfsburg.

Former Liverpool forward Ryan Babel opened the scoring after 20 minutes before Brazilian Firmino doubled the lead three minutes later.

Ashkan Dejagah pulled one back before Firmino struck again four minutes from time, after Wolfsburg goalkeeper Marvin Hitz was sent off for abusive language.

Kaiserslautern came from behind to win their first Bundesliga match of the season, beating local rivals Mainz 3-1 at the Betzenberg.

Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting gave the visitors the lead after a quarter of an hour, but an own goal from Bo Svensson brought the home side level within 10 minutes.

Itay Schechter put the Red Devils in front in the 54th minute before Christian Tiffert sealed the win in the 73rd minute.

Augsburg survived the late dismissal of Sebastien Langkamp to hold on for an decent 2-2 draw on the road at Hertha Berlin.

Hajime Hosogai fired the visitors into the lead in the first half but goals from Christian Lell and Tunay Torun early in the second period put Hertha in the driving seat.

Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker's strike on 64 minutes secured a point for the promoted side, although they endured a nervy final few minutes after Langkamp saw red for a professional foul on Raffael.

On Friday night, Martin Harnik scored twice as Stuttgart gained a 2-1 victory at Freiburg.

The Austria forward netted in each half to put the visitors firmly in control, Papiss Cisse's 85th-minute effort coming too late for the hosts.

Anelka Wants To Leave Chelsea

Andre Villas-Boas has revealed Nicolas Anelka wants to leave Chelsea as his contract nears expiry.

Anelka, 32, was linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge in the summer and, though no move transpired, he will be a free agent come next year.

He has shown signs that he can play a big role in Villas-Boas' debut season in charge at Chelsea but, although the Blues are eager to extend the striker's contract, it appears there is little prospect he will sign.

"It might not be the player's expectancy to renew," he said. "Nico as a person is very, very happy. He belongs to Chelsea in the last year of his contract, performing.

"We will make our efforts for him to renew but Nico has his own decision to make and I am not sure he will be willing."

Asked whether Anelka had indicated he wanted to leave, Villas-Boas replied: "Yes."

Didier Drogba is another player whose contract expires at the end of the season. He has been offered a new deal, but as yet there has been no agreement.

Asked for the details of the impasse, Villas-Boas said: "I would not like to share it with you as you would speculate with it for the rest of the season."

Chelsea Striker Set For January Loan

Chelsea misfit Fernando Torres could be loaned out in January if he fails to rediscover his form, according to the Sunday Mirror.

Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas is considering shifting the striker back to Spain on a short-term loan deal as he attempts to solve Torres' goal scoring problem.

The Spanish international, who arrived from Liverpool for £50m in January, has scored just one goal for the west London club, may accept a move back to his homeland to revive his stuttering career.

Villas-Boas, who has said Torres is not guaranteed a place in his side, is concerned the former Atletico Madrid man will continue to struggle if he’s left on the bench.

They Portuguese tactician will continue to monitor his form until the transfer window reopens in January which gives the striker plenty of time to turn the corner at Chelsea.

They have not considered selling Torres because his poor form has decimated his market value.

Cash-rich Malaga could offer him temporary sanctuary.

Mancini Dismisses Sergio Aguero Link To Real Madrid

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has rejected claims that star striker Sergio Aguero could be heading back to Spain at the end of the season.

Aguero has been the subject of speculation linking him with a move to Real Madrid, but Mancini has been quick to rubbish any such rumours, and stated that Aguero has a contract to fulfil at the Etihad Stadium.

Mancini told The Sunday Express: “It will be difficult for him to join Real Madrid because he has signed a five-year contract. I don’t think this will happen.

“It was important that we qualified straight into the Champions League and since then have brought in more good players. I am happy because we are playing very well.”

Stories have been circulating around La Liga that Aguero could join Real Madrid, with the unwritten rule preventing Atletico Madrid selling directly to their rivals encouraging him to join Manchester City for a year.

One aspect of this speculation is the rumour that Aguero only joined Manchester City on the proviso that the club would not stand in his way if Real Madrid made a formal approach for the forward’s services.

However, Mancini has dismissed all these claims, and will be looking for Aguero to continue his stunning form so far this season.

Neymar Passes Medical With Real Madrid

Santos forward Neymar has undergone a medical examination at the request of Real Madrid, according to news daily Estadao.

Brazilian sources suggest the 19-year-old was Friday evening at Hospital Sao Luiz in the Sao Paulo district of Morumbi in the company of his agent, Wagner Ribeiro, and Madrid's medical chief, Carlos Diez.

It is believed that Neymar will sign on Monday the contract which will see him move to the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer of 2012, this way playing the Club World Cup for Santos, in December, and being present at the club's centenary, in April.

Reports in Brazil suggest Barcelona were very close to signing Neymar in a €60 million deal, but Madrid's last-minute offer made Santos call off negotiations with the Catalan club.

Meanwhile, Wagner Ribeiro has made no secret he prefers Madrid over Barcelona as his client's destination, telling radio Transamerica: "If he was my son, I would take him to play at Real Madrid.

"That is the best option to play in Europe, because the president of Real Madrid is already rich and runs the club with passion, and I cannot say the same about Barcelona's president."

The talented youngster's agent admitted other clubs have come asking for his charged, but ruled out every single of them.

"AC Milan was interested, but they said they could not pay €45m," Ribeiro added.

"Anzhi Makhachkala also wanted to sign Neymar, but that is an ideal club for players who are older than 35. For example, Jucilei, who went to play there, is no longer remembered today and is not an option for the Brazil national team anymore."

Barcelona To Battle Tottenham For Cahill

Barcelona is weighing up a £5million bid for Bolton Wanderers defender Gary Cahill to help sure up their backline.

The 25-year-old is available on a free next summer and has been widely tipped with a move away from the Reebok Stadium in January as the Trotters will not let him leave for nothing.

The England international has been strongly linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Arsenal in the previous transfer window but no club matched his £17million release clause.

It was the reported interest from the Gunners that alerted Barcelona to Cahill’s ability, and manager Pep Guardiola has been keeping tabs on him since.

With doubts over Carlos Puyol’s long-term future and worries about Javier Mascherano’s ability to play at centre-half, the Catalans are keen on signing a new defender.

Cahill is available at a bargain price and will not be cup-tied for the Champions League which are both attractive for the Spanish and European champions.

Guardiola is also believed to have consulted new signing Cesc Fabregas about the Bolton’s centre-back with the ex-Arsenal captain singing Cahill’s praises.

Thiago Silva Invites Hamsik To Milan

Milan defender Thiago Silva has asked Napoli star Marek Hamsik to join him at San Siro.

The Rossoneri have been linked with a move for Slovakian midfielder and Silva is hoping Hamsik will eventually end up at San Siro.

“It would be so much better if Hamsik were playing this game with a Rossoneri jersey,” smiled Thiago Silva in La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“He has incredible technique and class. I hope he can be my Milan teammate next season.”

The Brazilian defender was then quizzed on the latest interest from Barcelona.

“I personally did not say no to anybody, but that’s because I was never contacted.

“In any case, I consider it unfair to reject any option out of hand, as you never know what could happen in future. I did the same in Brazil.”

Louis Saha Set To Leave Everton

Everton forward Louis Saha could soon leave Goodison Park after he reacted angrily at David Moyes’ decision to leave him out of the squad for the Wigan game.

The 33-year-old immediately left Goodison Park after finding out that he wasn’t part of the 18-man squad to face Wigan.

The Frenchman later vented his frustration via his Twitter account.

“I am not good enough. Absolutely destroyed,” Saha tweeted.

He later added: “It’s coz I’m confident in my ability that I’m gutted.”

Saha’s time at Everton appears to be running out and he will probably request a permission to leave the club in January.

Despite his poor record with injuries and somewhat fiery character, several Premier League clubs are interested in his services.