Daily Schmankerl: Real Madrid may pursue Jupp Heynckes; a Bayern-Freiburg prediction; German soccer nose biting; and MORE!

Real Madrid is a mess and may consider Jupp to fix things (The Daily Record)

Just when you thought you had seen it all in the first half of this season, Real Madrid may up the ante for craziness:

(Real Madrid president Forentino) Perez has not entirely given up on (Antonio) Conte, who has long dreamed of coaching Madrid. But there is huge risk involved in hiring a coach a fractious dressing room does not want and who won in England with a conservative five-man defense that would not go down well in the Bernabeu.

If it’s too dangerous for Solari to wait for (Jose) Mourinho’s potential dismissal from United, a stop-gap with a more impressive profile – like Jupp Heynckes, who has won Champions League at both Bayern Munich and Madrid is under consideration.

“Grrrrr......” - Cando

Bayern vs. Freiburg - Quick breakdown (Bavarian Football Works)

This should be a game where Bayern can re-assert itself. Both teams, however, have key injuries that could have a trickle down effect on the lineups. For Freiburg, Nils Petersen and Gian-Luca Waldschmidt are both banged up and the status for each is uncertain. We are all familiar with Bayern’s injury woes (Thiago Alcantara, Kinglsey Coman, and Corentin Tolisso have long term ailments, while Arjen Robben and Mats Hummels have a questionable status for today), but Niko Kovač still has a pretty solid arsenal of weapons to choose from. How the coach aligns them will be key.

Christian Streich is a very effective coach, but has limited tools to work with and that could be worse if Petersen and Waldschmidt are out. Die Roten should seize this opportunity and make a statement heading into Der Klassiker.

Prediction: Bayern Munich 4, SC Freiburg 0

German lower league player banned for nose biting (The Independent)

Did not wake up and expect to write this one up, but here we are:

A German sports court has banned a minor league player for seven years after he bit off part of an opponent’s nose during a match. The player, representing SV Preussen Eiberg, sank his teeth into an opponent playing for ESG 99/06 II during a Kreisliga B game. Neither individual can be named because of German privacy laws.

Regional association rules allowed for a ban of anything between six weeks and eight years, but the court’s judgement went with a more severe punishment due to the extreme nature of the incident. Two of the seven years are suspended. The 40-year-old player was also ordered to make a charitable donation of €500 (£441) and cover legal costs of up to €100 (£88) after being charged with actual bodily harm by Essen police.

A call for fan groups (BavarianFootballWorks.com)

We are trying something here at the Daily Schmankerl and need YOUR help. If you read my man Tommy Adams’ piece about his experience with the FCBNYC Fan Club (if you haven’t, SHAME ON YOU!), you could see how great the event was. So we want to highlight some of these wonderful groups that are out there globally and this is what we need from you:

• Name of the group
• Location
• Year founded
• Leadership (if you have people are kind of running the show)
• Meeting place
• Social media handles
• Pictures

We want to be able to feature a different fan group every week this season. Maybe we can do it, maybe not...but only YOU can help decide the fate of this idea. Send your info to: barrelsportsblog@gmail.com