The Bundesliga reps had a decent start in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals – however it should have been better. Bayern München dominated against Juventus, and really should have won more than 2-0. Bayern had several clear cut chances to turn this into a rout and end this pairing immediately. Instead wasteful finishing means that the Italian side has a chance to regroup. Borussia Dortmund got a scoreless draw away to Malaga, but again, the Neons had a multitude of chances to win outright and basically end this tie. Dortmund will of course be heavily favored at the rematch in Germany, but wasting chances for a knockout is never a good idea.

Overall, one would expect that both Bayern and BVB advance at this point, but they could have made it easier on themselves. Real Madrid already has one foot in the semis, and it seems like Barcelona will be heavily favored to advance against PSG, so there will likely be an attractive Germany vs. Spain clash in the cards for the semis or final.

In news closer to home, in the 3.Liga makeup matches, VfB Stuttgart II defeat Rot-Weiss Erfurt 1-0, and SV Wehen upended Halle FC 2-0. The only implication is that things are still grim for Erfurt, barely treading above relegation.

Speaking of relegation, Bundesliga side Hoffenheim fired their coach again, giving the short-shrift to Marco Kurz (haha) and appointing Markus Gisdol. Who? you might ask…Actually Gisdol is one of the few leftovers from the successful Rangnick regime, he coached the Hoffenheim II squad.