Germany

Norwich City has ventured into the transfer market this month in a bid to boost its chances of Premier League survival. Manager Daniel Farke has brought in Ondrej Duda from Hertha Berlin and Hoffenheim's Lukas Rupp in hopes they will be able to help turn around the fortunes of the struggling Canaries.

Duda arrives on a loan until the end of the season, while Rupp was purchased outright for $570,000. Their signings continue the trend of Farke scouting the German leagues he knows so well; the two represent his 11th and 12th additions from Germany since his 2017 arrival.

It feels good to finally say it: It’s been a good weekend for the USMNT. On Friday, three-time World Cup veteran Brian McBride was appointed General Manager of the USMNT. He’ll use his 17 years of professional playing experience — including 14 with the national team — to help develop and manage the player pool while also shifting the culture within the men’s program.

Throughout the top European leagues, capital cities are home to ambitious clubs that strive for success. London exemplifies this through Chelsea, Arsenal and, to a lesser extent, Spurs. Perennial winners Real Madrid and neighbors Atletico call the Spanish capital home. In Paris, PSG has turned Ligue 1 into a monopoly since its takeover by Qatar Sports Investment. Heated rivals AS Roma and Lazio compete for dominance of Italy's capital in their shared home, Stadio Olimpico. The only league which does not conform to this trend is Germany's Bundesliga. 

Pellegrino Matarazzo, a native of New Jersey, was introduced as the new head coach of VFB Stuttgart on Monday, signing a contract that runs until June 2021. Matarazzo takes over from Tim Walter, who was sacked after the first half of the campaign following a run of inconsistent results and performances. 

Bayern Munich enters the German winter break on the backend of a chaotic start to the season, one which cost manager Niko Kovač his job at the beginning of November. However, despite starting the month of December sitting seventh in the Bundesliga, Bayern has now won three straight by an aggregate scoreline of 11-2 to climb back to third in the table, just four points behind leaders RB Leipzig.

There are great goals, crap goals and meh goals. Then there are the goals that are just mean. Philippe Coutinho scored a meh goal and a great goal on Saturday against Werder Bremen, but the middle strike of his hat trick fell firmly in the category of cruel and unusual punishment.

Bayern Munich fell behind early to Bremen but ran away with an easy 6-1 win, with Coutinho netting three. Robert Lewandowski added two, because of course he did, and Thomas Müller joined in on the fun as well.

Jürgen Klinsmann finally found another coaching job, for now. 

Three years and six days after Klinsmann was fired by U.S. Soccer amidst a disastrous World Cup qualifying campaign (one that would only get more disastrous), the German was hired by Hertha Berlin to coach the Bundesliga side.

After getting hammered 4-0 by Bayern Munich before the international break, Borussia Dortmund manager Lucien Favre was essentially coaching for his job during today’s Bundesliga match against Paderborn. 

What’s more, Paderborn travelled to the intimidating Westfalenstadion in last place with only one win from 11 matches. Dortmund entered the match in fifth but the gap between BVB and surprise leader Mönchengladbach stood at only six points.

One look at the Bundesliga table — with Borussia Mönchengladbach currently on top — tells you that it’s been a wild season so far in Germany. But that adjective doesn’t come close to describing the scenes that unfolded at the end of today’s match between SC Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt at the Schwarzwald-Stadion.

Robert Lewandowski, for all his goal scoring, might be one of the most underrated players in the world right now. And while his clinical finishing is well documented, his all-around footballing is often overlooked. 

Lewandowski scored two more goals to lead Bayern Munich to a 4-0 rout of rival Borussia Dortmund in Saturday’s Der Klassiker at Allianz Arena, extending his run of scoring in every Bundesliga and Champions League match this season.

But we can’t get over the lovely bit of skill he pulled off to set up an opportunity, even if it didn’t result in a goal.