Thank god for Robbery!

Thanks to great performances from Arjen Robben (two goals on PKs) and Franck Ribery (a brace for him, too), we are back where we belong: the top of the table! What did we learn from this week's match?

*Toni Kroos has really stepped up in the absence of Bastian Schweinsteiger (who, btw, may be back to face Cologne later this month, just before the Christmas break!) and is helping to direct the flow of the match, even when he's playing more forward in the number ten spot. With Alaba playing out of position next to Gustavo in DM (you'll remember that Tymo was (unfairly) handed a three-match ban for a challenge and thus had to miss today's match), Kroos has proved he can be both an offensive threat (his shots from distance are really something) and a defensive roadblock. In short, he's apparently learned from Basti the secret to being everywhere on the pitch at once. I'm pretty sure I actually saw him dissolve and re-form on the other side of a couple of defenders today (Leo Messi, you're not the only one with superpowers!).

*Thomas Muller gets fouled an awful lot, but you'd think that teams would realize that fouling Muller in the box is a very bad idea. In the past few years, Bayern has scored more than a few goals off of PKs awarded because of fouls on Thomas. The commentator on ESPN3 commented that he's "enthusiastic" and he always has a "cheeky grin" on his face. To that, I say: If you look up "overenthusiastic" in a German dictionary, there will be a picture of Thomas Muller, grinning like a maniac. But he really does take one for the team more often than most and he had some awesome chances today, too. And his ability to play both on the wing and in the ten spot give us a lot of versatility.

*Why is it that teams get away with certain things against us (really? It's now okay to INTENTIONALLY ELBOW a player from the opposing team, Pizarro?)? I hate chippy football, regardless of who is doing it, but stuff like that is just ridiculous. You don't get to elbow Badstuber in the chest because you feel like it.

*I'm sure there will be all sorts of people talking badly about Mario Gomez because he didn't score today. But he was onside and the call was bad. And he then let Franck take the following shot, giving Franck the brace. Want a German lesson? "Das war nicht Abseits." Now you can all yell "That was not offsides!" at the linesman with me. And I love that, after the match, Mario was talking to the linesman, explaining how he had stayed onside.

We head to England on Wednesday to take on Manchester City. Good news is that we've already qualified for the elimination stage of the Champions League and, if we beat City, they will be out of European competition for the year. Our boys on the German NT got their draw for the European Championships next summer and we're in the "Group of Death" (to give you an idea, Brooks Peck over at Dirty Tackle gave the group four Mario Balotellis, which is a pretty scary idea) with Netherlands, Denmark, and Portugal. The good news is that Germany plays better when challenged (anyone else remember that loss to Serbia in the World Cup?) and it means that we'll get to watch Basti run circles around Cristiano Ronaldo early in the tournament! It also means action from Arjen Robben and former skipper Mark van Bommel in the group stage. Olic and Pranjic will be facing Ireland, Italy, and reigning champs Spain in their group. And Ribery and Tymo will face off when France and Ukraine join England and Sweden in Group D.

We'll see you back here on Wednesday post-Man City!