Talking Fussball Talking Fussball

Germany's relegation playoffs may not involve teams that play champagne football, but the storylines they offer up are plenty tantalizing. After another loss (this time to Stuttgart), what can the increasingly desperate HSV do to get back to the top flight? Are Bielefeld doomed after sealing their second straight drop with a loss to Wiesbaden? And what should we look forward to in next year's second and third tiers now that we know who's playing in them? Nik, Jasmin and Maik get into it...

He's a football legend, a tabloid mainstay, a prodigious teller of tall tales and a symbol of postwar Germany itself. Franz Beckenbauer is the biggest name to ever emerge from the Bundesliga, and it's appropriate that Uli Hesse, the man who wrote the book on the league (Tor! - if you haven't read it, drop everything and start) should take on the task of writing a new biography of him. It's called The Three Lives of the Kaiser, and the author is on the pod this week to talk with Nik Wildhagen about it...

Wild times on the final weekend in the 2. Bundesliga (oh my Heidenheim!) and the 3. Liga too, where Wiesbaden's promotion party was abruptly cut short by Osnabrück. Join Nik, Jasmine and Maik for a re-cap of all the drama and a preview of what's to come in the two big relegation playoffs: Hamburg vs Stuttgart and Wiesbaden vs. Bielefeld.

We now know SV Darmstadt 98 are headed back to the Bundesliga next season, but there's still plenty to play for for the likes of promotion hopefuls Hamburger Sport-Verein and FC Heidenheim as well as the relegation-threatened Eintracht Braunschweig, 1. FC Nürnberg and Arminia Bielefeld. Nik talks through all the permutations with Maik and Jasmine, as well as take a trip down to the 3. Liga.

When the last Aufstieg edition came out, Hamburger Sport-Verein were riding high off a derby win over FC St. Pauli and edging toward the automatic promotion places. Not so much anymore - their two losses on the trot, as well as a timely defeat for league leaders SV Darmstadt, mean there's still much to play for as the league heads into the final three rounds. Nik, Maik and Jasmine are here to chew the fat over all the action, as well as let you knwo what storues are bubbling under from the lower divisions.

Here in 2023, football leagues selling a stake to a strategic partner is nothing new...but it sure would be for Germany's top flight. The DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga) has been looking for a private equity firm who might help them bankroll a few projects - everything from media rights sales to international marketing - but not everyone is on board. Could it all blow up in the Bundesliga's face? Nik and Terry let you know what's at stake and who's on what side of the issue...