Daily Schmankerl: The aftermath of Bayern vs. Mainz; James Rodriguez may or may not want out of Bayern; Timo Werner and Kai Havertz news; and MORE!

I’m back....YOU KNOW IT! Anyway, let’s cure your hankering for Schmankerl-ing:

Die Folgen: Bayern’s 6-0 domination of Mainz (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich destroyed Mainz 05 behind an overwhelming offensive effort. Here are some quick hitters on the match:

• James Rodriguez found his scoring touch in scorching Mainz for a hat trick in what was his most productive day in red. James has been polarizing for a lot of reasons (see below), but if his end goal is to leave at season’s end, he’ll do well for himself to keep up the production so that potential suitors forget about his poor showing against Liverpool. James still has talent and the ability to produce, but his willingness to remain in Munich is what is the biggest question surrounding the Colombian star. It was a superb effort that may have helped both the club and the player get to where they really want to be.
• What an accomplishment for Alphonso Davies! It was great to see the young Canadian enter a game without much pressure on him, play a couple of different roles, and then get the heavy weight of scoring his first goal off of his shoulders.
• I thought David Alaba, Thomas Muller, and Leon Goretzka were excellent and menacing. Thiago Alcantara was just ultra-smooth and Joshua Kimmich was a two-way threat at all-times. It would have been very interesting to see how Bayern would have fared with all of its weapons available last week. Regardless, Liverpool beat the team that was on the field and deserved to move on.
• Kingsley Coman’s cut-in won’t replace Arjen Robben’s, but it was nice, right?
• Robert Lewandowski’s opening goal was pure class.
• It is hard to say that any Bayern player had an off-night. Manuel Neuer was shaky at times and seems to be battling himself with some of his decision-making and confidence.

If you missed our Match Awards or Observations, give them a look:

James reportedly not interested in Bayern future (Marca)

Per a report from Marca, James will be looking for a way out of Munich in the coming weeks.

James Rodriguez does not want to remain at Bayern Munich, despite cementing his place in the starting line-up in recent months. Nearing the end of his two-year loan with the Bavarian club, Bayern are yet to execute their option to purchase the player at the end of the season for 42 million euros, which puts into question their desire to keep the player.

However, since Christmas, James has become a regular starter and the noise coming from the upper echelons of the club is that they want to keep him, particularly the club’s chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. Despite Zinedine Zidane returning to Real Madrid which could signify that there is no place for him back at Los Blancos as he was not wanted in the Frenchman’s first spell on the bench, the Colombian wants to return to speak with Florentino Perez and the coach. From there on, if they do not want him, the Colombian will ask for a transfer elsewhere, and Juventus and Napoli are among those closely following his progress.

Meanwhile, as has been the case nearly every time a rumor comes in hot from Spain, James stated once again that he is “happy” in Bavaria (as told to Sport1 via Goal.com):

Nobody knows what the future brings. The clubs will hold talks. I’m very happy and I feel comfortable here. Kovac is a good coach, I am sure we can still win many titles with him.

I am going to making this the official BFW Daily Schmankerl Drinking Game. Every time we have a James rumor that is immediately followed by statement from James that he is happy, we all must do shots.

Thiago not selected for Spain (The News & Observer)

Spain is also in the process of revamping its squad and has left Thiago out for the upcoming Euro qualifiers.

Francisco “Isco” Alarcon has been left out of the Spain squad, paying the price for not playing often enough for Real Madrid under coach Santiago Solari. Jorge “Koke” Resurreccion, Saul Niguez and Thiago Alcantara also missed out on coach Luis Enrique’s list Friday for this month’s European Championship qualifying matches against Norway and Malta.

Meanwhile in Germany:

Klopp flattered, but not interested in Bayern gig (The Sun)

The Sun speculates that Jurgen Klopp is looking at Liverpool as a lifetime gig.

JURGEN Klopp has described Bayern Munich’s interest in him as “great” but the German manager has insisted that he wants to be Liverpool boss for life. The former Borussia Dortmund coach was hailed as an ideal appointment for the Bundesliga giants before the Reds progressed to the Champions League quarterfinals.

Good news and bad news on Werner and Havertz (@GERFootDaily)

We will be making an effort to obtain the source material for this news:

Vedad Ibisevic sent off with red card of the season

Borussia Dortmund’s narrow victory over Hertha Berlin was not without its share of hijinx. It all culminated, though, in Vedad Ibisevic’s sending off late in the match for pegging BVB goalkeeper Roman Bürki right in the head. It looks as if Ibisevic wanted to hit the second ball in front of Bürki out of the way, but then hit the keeper himself as he stooped in to move it. There’s just no excuse for being so stupid, though.

Funnily enough, the same referee waved off what looked like a clear penalty against BVB early in the game without so much as a glance, but duly checked VAR before rewarded Ibisevic for his dunderheaded dodgeball move.

Mainz’s Twitter account raised some eyebrows over this tweet

Several fans of the club were upset and even some neutral observers questioned the appropriateness of this mocking update on the game by Mainz’s Twitter team after Alphonso Davies scored. Not everything is a joke, after all, for the Carvenal club.

Looking to catch-up on the Bundesliga action from the weekend? I’ve got you covered (The Barrel)

For a capsule-style recap of the Bundesliga’s weekend fixtures, just click here.