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Prospects for teams in 2001-02 Bundesliga
( 2001-07-26 10:41 ) (7 )

Following are the prospects for German teams in the 2001-2002 Bundesliga season, which starts on Saturday.

BAYERN MUNICH

The European Champions are again favourites heading into a new season after strengthening their squad with careful purchases over the summer, notably striker Claudio Pizarro from Werder Bremen, midfielder: Pablo Thiam and the Kovac brothers Niko and Robert.

However, the distraction of defending their European crown as well as fighting a domestic campaign may not prove easy for Ottmar Hitzfeld's men and could provide a way in for pretenders to Bayern's throne, in Germany or further afield.

Bayern have made a number of acquisitions, but they have not made the big purchase that everyone was expecting. Their rivals will be hoping the departure of defensive stalwart Patrik Andersson could unsettle Bayern's famously solid defence.

SCHALKE 04

Schalke lost out on the title last season by a whisker and had to content themselves with the German Cup. They remain strong contenders, although they will lack the element of surprise which boosted them last season.

The arrival of Victor Agali from Hansa Rostock will boost their impressive strike force of Belgium's Emile Mpenza and Denmark's Ebbe Sand, while the return of Marc Wilmots will give the Gelsenkirchen side more width in midfield.

Sven Vermant from FC Bruges will also strengthen the midfield which already boasts a revived Andi Moeller.

BORUSSIA DORTMUND

The 1997 European champions have been chronic underachievers since their domination of the domestic and European game in the mid-to-late 1990s but the club has renewed ambitions this year and were the biggest spenders in the Bundesliga over the summer.

Coach Matthias Sammer will hope that Dortmund's major purchases, Argentine striker Marcio Amoroso and the Czech giant Jan Koller, will give them an edge in the championship and securing a place in Europe is a priority.

BAYER LEVERKUSEN

Like Borussia, Leverkusen have found it difficult to match ambition with results in recent years. Klaus Toppmoeller has taken over from Berti Vogts and will seek to impose order in the ranks after turbulence at coach level for the last year.

In comes Hamburg's goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt and midfielder Yildiray Basturk but the team also bid farewell to some key players, including Robert Kovac, Joerg Reeb, Andreas Neuendorf and Robson Ponte.

The numerous departures make the championship look unlikely but Leverkusen will be battling for one of the three Champions League places.

HERTHA BERLIN

Hertha have made numerous noises that this will be their year. Their win over Schalke in the League Cup was largely inspired by their new Brazilian Marcelinho, and came hard on the heels of wins over Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.

Marcelinho combined well with compatriot Alex Alves to make for what could be one of the Bundesliga's most exciting attack duos next season and a fit Marko Rehmer and Stefan Beinlich should give the team from the capital the depth it needs.

SC FREIBURG

Freiburg played entertaining, open football last season and their high finish in the table reflected this. Their style of play was largely dictated by the contributions of the five Georgians in the squad, particularly the gifted Levan Kobiaschwili.

With the top teams making expensive acquisitions, modest Freiburg may find it difficult to repeat their performance but look good for at least a mid-table slot.

WERDER BREMEN

Werder will find it a difficult prospect to fill the gap left by ace striker Claudio Pizarro, who went to Bayern Munich, and look more likely to continue their mid-table performances of the past six years.

Striker Robert Silva joins the north German team for four million marks (US$1.7 million) as does Hungarian midfielder Kirsztian Lisztes and defender Stefan Blank.

"For us it will be a great achievement if we reach the UEFA Cup," says trainer Thomas Schaaf.

KAISERSLAUTERN

Kaiserslautern have also suffered from under-achievement in the years since the late 1990s, when they won the second division in 1996/97 and the first division the following season.

"We've brought in a lot of new blood. We've put our weak points behid us as best we can. We have a compact team and our goal is to become a force at home," says trainer Reinhard Stumpf.

Among Kaiserslautern's new signings are two midfielders club record-signing Lincoln, who moves from Atletico Mineiro for 7.5 million marks (US$3.3 million) and Stefan Malz, from Arsenal.

VfL WOLFSBURG

In the four seasons since they rose to the ranks of the Bundesliga, Wolfsburg have been surprisingly consistent, finishing in the top ten in the last three seasons and could come up with a few surprises this time around.

Fresh signings this summer include midfield allrounder Miroslav Karhan from Besiktas, Bulgarian international Martin Petrov, who gives Wolfsburg more attacking options on the left and Brazilian Robson Ponte, who will perform the same function on the right.

"Robson Ponte and Martin Petrov will increase the creativity of the team. These players can turn games with individual moves," said trainer Wolfgang Wolf.

COLOGNE

Cologne were the big surprise of last season, finishing a comfortable 10th in their first season back in the Bundesliga and their assured performance suggests they will be looking for a place in Europe next season.

Cologne have bought few players, including Kaiserslautern striker Marco Reich and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Joerg Reeb, but trainer Ewald Lienens says quality not quantity was the key.

"Having few new players this time around also has its advantages. You can't integrate six or eight new players every year," Lienens said.

TSV 1860 MUNICH

The key to the success of "Munich's other team" will be to see if midfielder Thomas Haessler can still produce the goods as he enters his 36th year and whether striker Martin Max can rediscover the deadly goalscoring form of two seasons ago.

New signings Didier Dheedene, Michael Wiesinger, Sascha Roesler, Markus Weissenberger und Samuel Ipoua should help 1860 Munich edge up the placings, but a UEFA Cup place still looks only a remote possibility.

HANSA ROSTOCK

Hansa Rostock trainer Friedhelm Funkel has said that the team's goal this season is to avoid relegation and has put the emphasis on defence to win points, centred around his libero Andreas Jakosson.

He has strengthened the midfield with Ronald Maul from Hamburg SV and Freiburg's Marko Weisshaupt but the team lacks an inspirational leader in the centre of the park and will also feel the loss of Victor Agali to Schalke 04 keenly.

HAMBURG SV

Hamburg's inconsistency cost them dear last season, with them shifting from championship favourites to relegation candidates in just a few short weeks and forecasting what this season will bring remains a precarious exercise.

They will feel the loss to Bayer Leverkusen of penalty-scoring goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt and Niko Kovac's move to Bayer Leverkusen will reduce their midfield options.

They will look to Joerg Albertz, just arrived from Rangers, to make up some of this deficit and they also rely heavily on their Croation striker Sergei Barbarez. But where Hamburg end the season remains anyone's guess.

ENERGIE COTTBUS

Most wrote Energie Cottbus off as automatic relegation candidates last season, as they remained fastened to the bottom of the table for most of the year. But trainer Eduard Geyer pulled off an amazing coup to keep the east German side afloat in the Bundesliga.

The plan for this season is to repeat that performance and Geyer hopes that midfielder Radoslav Kaluzny and striker Brasilia can add spark to Energie's tired strike force.

But as one of the Bundesliga's poorest clubs, Cottbus's days in the top flght may be numbered.

VfB STUTTGART

The 1992 champions, VfB Stuttgart barely escaped relegation last season and lost a lot of players during the summer break. Their goal this season will again be to avoid going down.

Their sole signing was the defender Manuel Rui Marques from Hertha Berlin, while debts at the club meant they had to stand and watch midfielders of the calibre of Pablo Thiam, Kristijan Djordjevic, Roberto Pinto and Stefan Blank leave.

NUREMBERG (1, SECOND DIVISION)

Trainer Klaus Augenthaler hopes his young team can prevail in the first division -- his team have an average age of 25.7 years and his goal is a midtable finish.

"I don't want to be trembling right until the end of the season. If everything goes well, we can play the same role as Cologne did last season," Augenthaler says.

His biggest signing was the striker Kai Michalke from Hertha Berlin and he also secured the services of Dieter Frey from Werder Bremen, Anthony Sanneh from Hertha Berlin and Marco Villa from Panathinaikos, while former German international goalkeeper Andi Koepke retired.

BORUSSIA MOENCHENGLADBACH (2, SECOND DIVISION)

After dominating European football in the 1970s, Borussia Moenchengladbach remains a name to conjure with, despite its financial difficulties of late which led to relegation last season.

The club still has its debts and had to dig deep to buy two big summer signings -- defender Markus Muench, from Besiktas and striker Joerg Stiel from FC St. Gallen.

ST PAULI (3, SECOND DIVISION)

The team from Hamburg will be hopeful of staying up in their first season back in the top flight, with few changes to the battling side famous more for its team spirit than its individual stars.

St Pauli scored 70 goals last season, the biggest tally in German professional football.

Trainer Dietmar Demuth, described as "St Pauli's 12th man", had a war-chest of just 11 million marks (US$5 million) this season and brought in Ugur Inceman, a midfielder from Alemannia Aachen, 2.75 million marks (US$1.23 million) and Cory Gibbs, a US midfielder from Miami Fusion on a free transfer.