Football Mag

Bayern Munich have reacted angrily to Germany coach Joachim Low's decision to rule three of their veteran stars out of further international football. Low has indicated he will not select Thomas Muller, 30, Mats Hummels, 29, and Jerome Boateng, 30 - who have 246 caps between them - for future games, summarily retiring the trio. But the timing of it - ahead of key Bundesliga and Champions League games - and finality of the treatment of the three 2014 World Cup winners on a surprise visit to the training ground, has annoyed their club. In a statement, Bayern said: "National coach Joachim Low has decided not to consider our players Thomas Muller, Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng in the future. "The fact that the players and the public were informed three months later, just ahead of important matches for FC Bayern next Saturday in the fight for the Bundesliga title against VfL Wolfsburg and a few days before the decisive second leg in the round of 16 of the Champions League...

Serge Gnabry has signed a contract extension at Bayern Munich, with his deal at the Bundesliga champions now set to run until 2023. The 23-year-old winger was snapped up by the German giants from Werder Bremen in the summer of 2017. Amid fierce competition for places at the Allianz Arena, he was allowed to spend the 2017-18 campaign on loan at Hoffenheim. Sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has told the club’s official website: “We are happy that we have tied Serge to FC Bayern in the long term. “He has taken a big step forward in his first season with us. “Serge is one of our young guns and an important part of FC Bayern. We are confident that we will have a lot of fun with him.”

Bayern Munich pulled level on points with Borussia Dortmund at the Bundesliga summit after thumping Borussia Monchengladbach 5-1 on Saturday. Long-time leaders Dortmund had opened the door for Niko Kovac's side after suffering a shock 2-1 defeat to Augsburg on Friday and the reigning champions never looked in danger of failing to take advantage as they swatted aside their hosts, who now sit fourth. Javi Martinez gave them a second-minute lead before Thomas Muller's fifth league goal of the campaign extended their lead nine minutes later. Lars Stindl pulled one back for the hosts in the 37th minute, but Robert Lewandowski's glorious finish shortly after the restart extinguished any hopes of a comeback as Bayern – who added two more late on through Serge Gnabry and a Lewandowski penalty – cruised to an 11th win in their last 12 Bundesliga games.

Bayern Munich moved level on points with Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund as they defeated Hertha Berlin 1-0 at the Allianz Arena. With Dortmund not in action against Bayer Leverkusen until Sunday, the champions seized the opportunity to pile pressure onto their rivals despite a largely poor performance against Hertha. The visitors carried the greater threat before Javi Martinez nodded Bayern in front just after the hour, settling nerves among the home supporters. The final 30 minutes were still not wholly convincing, however, and long-suffering Bayern winger Kingsley Coman was dealt another injury blow, disappearing down the tunnel nine minutes after arriving from the bench. A frustrating afternoon for a Hertha side who would have been good value for at least a point ended with Karim Rekik sent off as he lashed out at Robert Lewandowski off the ball.