
Previewing the Bundesliga - Part 10/18: FC Schalke 04
Arguably the best team to have never won the Bundesliga are finally back. Uncompromising in their tactical approach, Schalke are here to ruffle feathers, not just to make up the numbers.
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Arguably the best team to have never won the Bundesliga are finally back. Uncompromising in their tactical approach, Schalke are here to ruffle feathers, not just to make up the numbers.

You may have heard of this team before. The Bavarian giants have taken enough scalps domestically, but is it time for them to return to the pinnacle in the Champions League?

Having spent the 20th century in lower league obscurity, Augsburg are remarkably entering their 16th consecutive Bundesliga campaign. But how many more do they have in them?

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Famously invincible just two years ago, are the pharmacists able to mount a title challenge under the next prodigious Spanish coach?

This Mainz team has some elite midfielders, but is struggling in other areas of the pitch. Can the year away from European competition save their league fortunes?

In 2004, this club's fans gave blood donations to receive money so that the club could avoid bankruptcy. If that doesn't get you to root for these East Berliners, I don't know what will.

If you ever wanted to see an actual goat as a football club mascot, then this is your team.

Five Bundesliga titles and seven DFB-Pokal titles between the 18 clubs, and an average attendance of over 28,000 on matchdays: here's a rundown of everything you need to know about the 2. Bundesliga.

No third tier in the world has a higher average attendance. We've got giants falling on hard times, provincial sides with passion, and village clubs with a point to prove: this is the 3. Liga.

My thoughts on all of the new home kits from the Bundesliga's 18 clubs, from the gorgeous to the ghastly.

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Many fans outside Germany and Switzerland may have been unfamiliar with him until a few weeks ago, but here is why he is worth every penny of the €60m that Villa are paying Freiburg.

Heidenheim, Elversberg, Union Berlin - there is no shortage of clubs that we’ve seen rise from the Regionalliga to the Bundesliga in recent memory.

Over the weekend, major sources in Germany reported the finalisation of Bayern Munich's signing of Nathaniel Brown. But who is he, and is the €55m price tag even a surprise?

Several years of disarray on the pitch has led Union to recruit a manager in red-hot form that thrives in chaos creation: Mauro Lustrinelli. But how will he go about bringing Union back into Europe?

Having steered the team away from relegation to the third-tier, the club from Saxony-Anhalt elected to keep their two head coaches in place for next season. But can it ever work long-term?

News broke on Saturday afternoon that Lennart Karl had suffered a muscle tear, but the player named as the replacement for the 18-year-old Wunderkind has raised a few eyebrows: Assan Ouédraogo.

One player from the Bundesliga that you should keep an eye on in each of the 12 World Cup groups.

The tactical reasons why Germany's options to start up front could become an issue.