Aufstieg Podcasts

At last the German second tier has returned from its looooong break - one even longer that the big boys in the top flight. Plenty to talk about after a weekend of action there in the 2. Bundesliga, and plenty more to dissect from the rungs below as well. Nik Wildhagen is back with Jasmine and Maik to take it all in. Learn more about your ad choices…

Could 1. FC Union Berlin be on the verge of something truly magical? They brushed aside their cross-town rivals Hertha for the fifth derby on the trot and are now within one point of FC Bayern München. After the Rekordmeister limped through the English week with nothing but draws, there's a chance their season could end without (gasp!) the usual mu…

Can you believe it's been 10 WEEKS since we've had Bundesliga football to watch? It seems much of the league was more than ready to go, as fans saw 41 goals across the match day, including a 7-1 result, a 6-0, and no fewer than six games with four goals or more. Interestingly, Bayern and Leipzig's Spitzenduell was among the less eventful affairs on…

So you thought all was well up in Hamburg? Think again. Despite rounding out the pre-World Cup part of the season with a big win, a couple of negative stories emerged to rain on their parade. Meanwhile, down in Fürth, helter-skelter football merchant Alexander Zorniger has led the Kleeblätter on a real tear. Listen in as Nik, Jasmine and Maik lead …

After a roller coaster of a first almost-half of the season, we're back to where we started. FC Bayern München are top of the league and in the kind of form that should make the rest of the league quiver. Still, plenty of intrigue just a little below: SC Freiburg proved they are the darkest horse in the title picture, hammering 1. FC Union Berlin, …

A mighty entertaining weekend in the 2. Bundesliga - league leaders SV Darmstadt dropped points to St. Pauli, while Hamburg shook off the poor form of recent weeks to come back and beat SC Paderborn. Nik, Maik and Jasmine talk the chaos over (including a new chaos-bringer on the job ion Fürth), before moving on to stories from the lower leagues and…

Another week, another piece of evidence that 1. FC Union Berlin might well mean business about this title challenge thing. They went down early to an up-for-it Borussia Mönchengladbach side, but showed resilience and adaptability to eke out a win. Will it be enough to hold off the Rekordmeister? FC Bayern München have had an uneven start to the sea…

Red Bull, the energy drink brand that sponsors football clubs across the world, lost its co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz this week, so we felt it might be a good time to look at the company's legacy. Nik calls up Jasmine for a chat about RB's rise over the last 35 years, the brand's big investment in German football, and how the RB coaching tree has…

Bundesliga sides didn't show much restraint or moderation on Match Day 11. We were treated to blowouts as in Dortmund and Mainz, we got top-level sides showing pretenders how it's done as in Sinsheim and Freiburg; we had topsy-turvy see-saw score draws in Leverkusen and Augsburg; hell, we even had Bochum, the team that went into the match day botto…

After a strong start to the season for Hamburger Sport-Verein, it was only a matter of time before they let their fans down. This week HSV got spanked 3-0 at the Millerntor by cross-town rivals FC St. Pauli. Is this sort of thing simply in the club's nature, or do they just love the 2. Bundesliga too much to leave it behind? Nik and Jasmine explore…

Hertha BSC barely escaped relegation last season, and they're still hanging around the lower reaches of the table after nine games. But somehow, the atmosphere around the club is anything but panicked. Coach Sandro Schwarz appears to be forming a decent side in the capital, even if the results haven't quite come around just yet. Listen in as Nik tw…

More of this please! We here at TF love all Bundesliga match days; just some more than others. When one comes along with this many late-game thrills, this many matches packed with goals, and this many eyebrow-raising results, you have to savor it. This week Matt speaks to Marie Schulte-Bockum about Anthony Modeste's big night of redemption, Borussi…

Coaching carousel time! After significant spending in the summer, 1. FC Nürnberg finally lost patience with Robert Klauß and turned to a familiar face. FC St. Pauli didn't dazzle on the weekend (a 0-0 draw with Heidenheim) but they did make waves over the international break by suggesting the DFL get serious about closing the loopholes that exist i…