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Played in Germany

Football dispatches from a patchwork nation. Played in Germany is a regular, English-language dispatch on German football and what it tells us about the country at large.

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Dr Jürgen and Mr Klopp

Jürgen Klopp is back and ready to take on the biggest challenge of his career as new Germany manager. So why is he already threatening to leave?

Who do we think we are kidding, Mr Tuchel?

On a German manager, a World Cup semi-final defeat and an orgy of self-defeating English exceptionalism.

It is happening again.

Germany's third World Cup humiliation in a row has exposed the strange, fearful complacency at the heart of the national game.

They loved Big Brother.

Vincent Kompany is the least Bavarian coach Bayern have had since Ottmar Hitzfeld. And the rest of Germany loves him for it.

Football's rules-based order is crumbling

Could something like the AFCON debacle happen in Germany? Recent examples from Munich and Berlin suggest the country is not immune to the toxic moral logic of the VAR era.

Hitler at the Poststadion and Berlin's Olympic dilemma

Ninety years on from Adolf Hitler's first and only visit to a football match, Berlin is once again hoping to host the Olympic Games.

The winter that changed East German football forever

Reform, realpolitik and Cold War rivalry: Why almost every major club from the former GDR celebrated its 60th anniversary in the last few weeks.

Is this the best Bayern side in a decade?

Bayern Munich are once again ruling the Bundesliga with an iron fist. But are Vincent Kompany's side good enough to win the treble?

The story of Union Berlin's Christmas carol service

In 2003, a group of 89 Union Berlin fans broke into the Alte Försterei stadium to sing Christmas carols together. Two decades on, the Weihnachtssingen is a major event with 30.000 attendees every year

Fans vs politicians: The battle for German football’s soul

After weeks of fan protests and furious debate, German state ministers meet this week to discuss controversial new stadium security proposals. For some, the future of the national game is at stake.