By Rich

​Robin Koch is a 21-year-old defender for SC Freiburg. Koch was born on July 17, 1996 in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and spent his youth career playing football for 1. FC Kaiserslautern from 2001 to 2003, SV Dörbach from 2003 to 2009, and Eintracht Trier from 2009 to 2014. His senior career continued at Trier until 2015 and 1. FC Kaiserslautern until 2017, where he made 27 appearances in the 2. Bundesliga. On August 22, 2017, Koch transferred to Freiburg for a reported 3.5 million Euro transfer fee. Koch is the son of former professional footballer Harry Koch, who also played for 1. FC Kaiserslautern from 1995 to 2003

By Rich

​Borussia Dortmund came from behind on Friday to draw hosts Hertha Berlin, giving each side an important point going into Saturday’s matches. Hertha’s goal came in the 46th minute from Davie Selke, who scored his 5th goal of the season. Dortmund’s goal was a header in the 71st minute from Shinji Kagawa off a pass from Jadon Sancho, and was also the 20,000th away goal in Bundesliga history. The draw means that Hertha are unbeaten in 4 home games against Borussia, while BVB have yet to win this season when playing without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Bayern München full-back Joshua Kimmich has been named Germany’s Player of the Year for 2017 in a poll by the DFB, beating competitors Julian Draxler and Marc-Andre ter Stegen by taking over 20,000 votes from over 52,000 votes cast. Kimmich featured in 24 consecutive matches for Germany, which is 10 shy of the national team’s recordholder Berti Vogts. Bayern have also signed midfielder Leon Goretzka from rivals Schalke. The 22-year-old Goretzka’s current contract with Schalke expires at the end of the current season, and the new contract will bring Goretzka to Bayern in July on a 4-and-a-half-year deal. Goretzka made a name for himself at VfL Bochum before joining Schalke in 2013, where he has scored 14 goals in 101 Bundesliga appearances for Schalke, and also helped the German national team win the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. One of the top contests to watch on Saturday will be the duel between Leverkusen and Hoffenheim, who are separated in the table by just 1 point, and who feature 2 of the league’s top strikers: Leverkusen’s Kevin Volland and Hoffenheim’s Mark Uth. The 2 strikers are themselves separated by just 1 goal in the top scorers table, and are both seeking the attention of German national coach Joachim Löw with the FIFA World Cup just a few months away. Volland once played for Hoffenheim, and the 2 players keep in touch regularly via WhatsApp, spent part of their recent holidays together, and Volland attended Uth’s wedding last summer. The teams played a 2:2 draw back in August, and both contests last season were won by Hoffenheim. Uth will also be looking to make a good impression on Schalke, as he recently agreed to move to Gelsenkirchen at the end of this season

By Rich

​Aaron Hunt is a 31-year-old attacking midfielder who plays for Hamburger SV. Hunt was born on September 4, 1986 in Goslar, West Germany, and spent his youth career playing for VfL Oker from 1993 to 1997, Goslarer SC from 1997 to 2001, and Werder Bremen from 2001 to 2003. His senior career continued at Werder Bremen, and his first Bundesliga appearance came on September 18, 2004 as a substitute against Hannover 96 in a 3:0 win. Hunt’s senior career continued at Werder Bremen until 2014, when he signed for VfL Wolfsburg, where he scored 2 goals in 17 appearances in the 2014-15 season. On August 31, 2015, Hunt joined Hamburg, where he has scored 6 goals in 50 appearances. Hunt has a German father and English mother, making him eligible to play for both the German and English national squads, but has played for Germany’s U16, U17, U21, and national teams since 2002

By Rich

​The Rückrunde of the 2017-2018 Bundesliga season began on Friday with a 3:1 victory of visiting Bayern München over hosts Leverkusen. The visitors scored first with a goal from Javi Martinez on a deflection off Lars Bender in the 32nd minute, and extended their lead in the 59th minute on a goal from Franck Ribery. Leverkusen finally got on the board just over 10 minutes later with a deflected Kevin Volland strike, but finally conceded when James Rodriguez drove in a stunning goal off a free kick in added time. Bayern was playing without an injured Robert Lewandowski, but the win puts them 14 points ahead of their nearest challenger going into the rest of the weekend’s matches. A key match to watch on Saturday will be the contest between 2nd-place Schalke and 5th-place Leipzig, who are separated by only 2 points in the table. Leipzig and Schalke field 2 of the Bundesliga’s most exciting attacking sides, and Saturday’s duels will include Leipzig’s Naby Keita and Schalke’s Max Meyer, and Leipzig’s Timo Werner and Schalke’s Naldo - Naldo in particular has won 75% of his individual duels, which is the best return in the Bundesliga. Leipzig will be without 2 key players on Saturday: Marcel Halstenberg and Emil Forsberg, but Timo Werner has recovered from an illness he had over the holidays. Schalke, for its part, could field new signing Marko Pjaca for his competitive debut, and are unbeaten in 11 Bundesliga matches: their longest streak in 11 years. Looking ahead to Sunday, the weekend’s big derby takes place in Cologne, and Cologne will be desperate to kick off the 2nd half of the season with a victory. Several Cologne players will be making their returns from injuries and other absences, including Jonas Hector, Simon Terodde, Christian Clemens, and Yuya Osako. Gladbach are still contending with injuries to attacking midfielders Fabian Johnson and Ibrahima Traore. Both teams have 2 of the worst defenses in the Bundesliga: Cologne is dead last with 32 goals conceded so far this season, and Gladbach is close behind with 28. In the end, history is on Gladbach’s side on Sunday: they have more than twice as many derby wins (48) than do Cologne (23).