The Daily Bee: Chelsea are Rich, Bayern are Sabitzer-less, and RB Leipzig are Still Plastic

Happy Friday, folks!

When does the Champions League start? It feels like forever since we saw the best clubs in Europe compete against each other for the top prize in all of club football. As you all know, Borussia Dortmund drew Chelsea in the Round of 16. I struggle to think of a more interesting opponent for the upcoming match. Chelsea have spent the GDP of a small country over the last few weeks on the following transfer targets: Enzo Fernandez, Mykhaylo Mudryk, João Félix, Noni Madueke, and Benoit Badiashile.

Chelsea’s season has been a wild, uncontrollable roller coaster. They’ve plummeted all the way down to 10th in the Bundesliga season. Their lack of success led them to fire Thomas Tuchel and replace him with Graham Potter, under whom Chelsea have continued to limp aimlessly through the Premier League.

All of the above transfers represent one thing: Chelsea are trying to buy their way to success. The coming months will determine if this is a good idea. Their first major test will be against BVB in two weeks’ time. BVB’s entire squad is worth less than the €600 million that Chelsea have spent over the last two transfer windows; it would feel absolutely amazing to watch them play the Blues off the pitch.

Marcel Sabitzer Joins Manchester United

In a shocking turn of events that has everybody in Germany surprised, Marcel Sabitzer’s move to Bayern Munich, where he would have to compete with Leon Goretzka, Joshua Kimmich, and other midfielders, has ended in a loan to another club due to a lack of playing time.

I was informed that this wouldn’t happen by certain Bayern fans in the Fear the Wall discord. You know who you are.

DFB Pokal Results

While Borussia Dortmund did not feature this week, plenty of other German clubs featured in the DFB Pokal.

Paderborn 1-2 VfB Stuttgart

Union Berlin 2-1 VfL Wolfsburg

RB Leipzig 3-1 Hoffenheim

Mainz 0-4 Bayern Munich

These results aren’t too surprising. Union Berlin managed to hold back a surging VfL Wolfsburg despite going a man down in the 87th minute, and RB Leipzig proved that they are the stronger side in the notorious German rivalry known as Der Plastiker. (Side note: Union Berlin absolutely bodied Leipzig on Twitter the other day.)

Meanwhile, seeing as they were not playing at home, Bayern managed to finally win a game, with new signing Joao Cancelo at the heart of things.

Yeah, isn’t it great that Bayern could make a massive signing like that in the middle of the season? Thanks Pep. Enjoy blowing the title with your €1 billion squad.

Marco Reus and Julian Brandt

According to Ruhr Nachrichten, Marco Reus is fully fit and should be ready to play against Freiburg. This raises an interesting question: what should Edin Terzic do with Julian Brandt? Both Reus and Brandt have looked dangerous when healthy, but both players have earned their paychecks playing creatively through the center of the pitch. According to the article, if Reus is healthy, he will play. This means that either he or Brandt will play in the center of the pitch, while the other is posted on either wing.

The Daily Bee

If you had €600 million to spend over two transfer windows, who would you recruit for BVB?