Bayern Munich

At this point, Bayern Munich have won the DFB Pokal so many times that it seems almost foolish not to bet on the German heavyweights to win the tournament in 2016. The Bavarians have won this event 17 times and finished second thrice. The next most successful football club in the history of the event is Werder Bremen, with six wins and 10 finals appearances. Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, Bayern's toughest opponents in the Bundesliga, have only won the German Cup title three times.

Still, surprises do happen. Last year, Bayern Munich barely made it through the quarterfinals, having to beat Bayer Leverkusen in a penalty shootout after a scoreless 120-minute match. The German champions subsequently lost another penalty shootout to Dortmund in the semifinals, missing out on a chance to win a third consecutive title in the DFB Pokal. Wolfsburg went on to beat Dortmund in the finals and win the cup.

Bayern Munich's Semifinal

The January transfer window is never as eventful as the summer gap. Fewer teams dip into the market to flesh out their ranks or spend big on new stars, and fewer clubs are willing to let go of big stars. In other words, you're never going to see a Cristiano Ronaldo transfer in January, or any transfer fees that land in the top 10 or 20 of all time. Still, this year's January window was bigger than it has been in the past, with Premier League spending topping £1 billion for the first time ever. Read on to find out which clubs made the biggest signings of the month.

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Pep Guardiola: Sure, he's not a player, but the deadline day announcement that Pep Guardiola is indeed on his way to Manchester City handily overshadowed everything that was going on in the

By Greg Lea.

After five weeks off, normal service was resumed. If the 17 other Bundesliga clubs were hoping that Bayern Munich would return from German football's winter break rusty rather than refreshed, they were left disappointed by events at Volksparkstadion on Friday night.

Bayern, in truth, were not particularly impressive against Hamburg, Robert Lewandowski's brace securing a narrow 2-1 win after a rather average at least by the Bavarians' lofty standards all-round performance. Nevertheless, Pep Guardiola's side remain eight points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table with 16 matches remaining, a margin that looks almost impossible for BVB to overhaul given Bayern's supremacy so far this term. It is a matter of when, not if, a fourth consecutive league title is wrapped up by Germany's biggest and richest club.

After characteristically controlling possession in the opening stages, a 37th-minute penalty from Lewandowki opened the scoring

With Pep Guardiola set to leave Bayern Munich at the conclusion of the 2015/16 season, the 45-year-old Spaniard will likely be the top target for clubs seeking new coaches this summer. So far, we're still not sure where Guardiola might end up club-wise, though he has intimated that he wants to work in England. Not surprisingly, the list of clubs that could hire Pep reads like a list of the Premier League's best teams. Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea have all been linked to potential deals with Bayern's championship king.

But is Pep Guardiola really that good? Could he really take a struggling soccer club like Manchester United and turn it back into a football dynasty? Or have his coaching abilities been exaggerated and inflated by the teams he was handed and the leagues in which he's worked?

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Last season, Bayern Munich ended the first half of their Bundesliga seasons with 14 wins, three draws, and zero losses, for a point total of 45. This year, as the German top-flight league heads into winter break, the Bavarians aren't undefeated-having dropped a game at the beginning of December against Borussia Monchengladbach. However, Munich is nevertheless ahead of where they were last year, taking 46 points from a record of 15 wins, one draw, and one defeat. Needless to say, Bayern Munich are dominant once more as the year comes to a close, and seem destined to pick up a fourth consecutive German title come May.

The Season so Far

Indeed, other than their 1-3 loss against Monchengladbach on December 5^th and a 0-2 loss against Arsenal in an October Champions League match, the Bavarians have been nearly perfect all season long. In the Champions League, the heavyweight German football club won their group and

It's official: Pep Guardiola to leave Bayern Munich at the conclusion of the 2015 2016 campaign. The Spanish head coach, who has become a legend thanks to his stints in charge at Barcelona and Bayern, has been managing the Bavarians since 2013, on a three-year contract. That contract expires in summer 2016, something that has caused fans and soccer pundits alike to speculate about Guardiola's future all season long.

Bayern Munich officially confirmed that Guardiola was leaving on Sunday, a day after the football club won their final match of the year, a 1-0 away fixture against Hannover 96. The win leaves the reigning German champions up eight points in the Bundesliga, well on their way to winning a fourth consecutive title-and a third with Guardiola in charge. The wearers or the Bayern Munich home shirt 2015/16 are also in good shape in the Champions League and the DFB Pokal, and could feasibly win a treble in 2016-a fitting way to send their world-class manager on his

By Greg Lea.

When it was announced on Sunday that Pep Guardiola would leave his post as Bayern Munich manager at the end of the season, the Bundesliga champions wasted little time in uncovering his successor. As had been extensively reported in the weeks before, Carlo Ancelotti was unveiled as the next head coach at the Allianz Arena, with the Italian set to take the reins in June 2016.

It is an appointment that suits all parties: Bayern have acquired one of the most sought-after coaches in the game who has vast experience of working at big clubs and with superstar players, while Ancelotti has a terrific opportunity to add to his medal collection at another of Europe's elite outfits.

The major criticism of the 56-year-old is that he has not won the league as often as he should have. As well as Reggiana and a talented Parma side in his early career, Ancelotti has managed Juventus, Milan,

Even despite a loss against Borussia Monchengladbach a few weeks ago, Bayern Munich are still in a fairly comfortable position heading into the German Bundesliga's lengthy winter break. With no domestic fixtures on the schedule until January 22nd and no Champions League games on the horizon until a February 23rd clash with Arsenal, the Bavarians can turn their full attention to a completely different focus: the January transfer window.

By virtually any measure, Bayern Munich are having a great season. As a result, the German heavyweights could probably get away with sitting the transfer window out and waiting until summer to sign any new talent. However, it's likely that the Bavarians will make at least a few moves, and we've got all the biggest Bayern Munich winter 2015 transfer rumors outlined below.

An Arjen Robben Exit?

One of the loudest rumors about Bayern Munich's transfer prospects for January isn't about

Competitive play won't resume in the 2015 2016 UEFA Champions League until well into the New Year, but already, fans are getting excited for the next stage of Europe's most prestigious club football tournament. On Monday, December 14^th, the UEFA announced the draw for the Champions League 2016 round of 16, with the first leg matches to take place on February 16^th, 17^th, 23^rd or 24^th and second leg matches scheduled for early to mid-March. Let's take a look at the match-ups!

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Probably the highest profile draw for the round of 16 is the match-up between Bayern Munich and Juventus. Bayern won five of their six group stage fixtures, only dropping one game (against Arsenal). Juventus, meanwhile, have struggled

It was an exciting weekend for football fans in Germany, as the country's top four soccer clubs did battle in the Bundesliga 2015 week 15. Reigning league champions and perpetual frontrunners Bayern Munich traveled for an away fixture against Borussia Monchengladbach while 2014 2015 runners-up VfL Wolfsburg faced off against this season's revitalized Borussia Dortmund squad.

Bayern Munich Pick Up a Loss

The most fascinating thing about the weekend was that it brought Bayern Munich's incredible undefeated run to a close. The Bavarians have been on fire this season, winning 13 of their first 14 league matches and drawing the other. Their only losses since August were Super Cup defeat against Wolfsburg, a friendly fixture defeat at Jahn Regensburg, and a Champions League loss to Arsenal.

Donning the Bayern Munich