Bendtner almost officially not a footballer

Parody player Nicklas Bendtner is close to being released by Wolfsburg after being told he should no longer train with the first team.

The 28-year-old has been training on an individual basis in recent weeks and has not been considered for selection by head coach Dieter Hecking since early February.

He still has over a year left to run on his contract, but talks are under way to terminate that agreement prematurely.

“The current situation is unsatisfactory for everybody and it cannot endure,” Wolfsburg’s director of sport Klaus Allofs said on his club’s website.

“For this reason, we sat down again on Wednesday and, together with his agent, we discussed solutions.”

The outcome of those talks saw Bendtner released from all training activities for the Champions League quarter-finalists, with a final decision over the former Arsenal forward’s future expected to be made “imminently”.

Bendtner has scored two goals in 13 league appearances for the Wolves this season, taking his overall tally to nine in 47 matches.

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Klopp derby as Liverpool draw Dortmund

Liverpool have been drawn against Borussia Dortmund, manager Jurgen Klopp’s former club, in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

The Reds drew 1-1 at Manchester United on Thursday night, which was enough to see them progress at the expense of their Premier League rivals, while Dortmund defeated Tottenham 5-1 on aggregate to progress.

Klopp left Dortmund in July 2015, having taken the Bundesliga side to the 2013 Champions League final at Wembley.

The other ties see Braga of Portugal play Shakhtar Donetsk and Villarreal meet Sparta Prague while there will be an all-Spanish clash between Athletic Bilbao and holders Sevilla, who are chasing a third straight tournament success.

The quarter-final ties will be played on April 7 and 14.

Klopp had spoken of the prospect of facing Dortmund after the tie at Old Trafford.

“Dortmund? Of course not. Why should I want the strongest team in the tournament in the next round?” he said.

“I am not so silly, but if we go there then we try to win.”

The issue was again raised at Friday morning’s pre-match press conference ahead of the Barclays Premier League game at Southampton on Sunday.

Klopp reiterated whichever team his men would face in the draw, they should not expect an easy ride.

“When you are in the quarter-final it is possible to get to the final – that’s all,” he said.

“There’s a long way to go. We took all the games very serious, we were very concentrated and did what we had to do.

“If you want to win this competition then you have to beat the best teams, not too important when.”

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Bremen's Claudio Pizarro to miss match at former team Bayern Munich

Werder Bremen striker Claudio Pizarro will miss Saturday's Bundesliga match against Bayern Munich because of a groin injury.

Werder said on Friday that Pizarro will not travel to Munich to face his former team after getting injured in training. The 37-year-old Peru striker's nine goals in his last eight matches have helped Werder escape from the relegation zone. He is one short of tying Marco Bode's club record of 101 goals for Werder.

"It's a bitter piece of news," Bremen coach Viktor Skripnik said. "For one thing, he was looking forward to his return to Munich and we are also missing an important player in this difficult match."

Speaking before it became known that Pizarro will miss the match, Bayern coach Pep Guardiola described him as a "top, top player in the penalty box."

Pizarro spent two successful stints at Bayern, scoring 87 goals and winning the Bundesliga title six times, the German Cup five times and the Champions League.

His contract expired last year and he returned to Werder, his first Bundesliga club, for his third spell there.

Pizarro has the most matches, 405, and the most goals, 187, for a foreigner in the Bundesliga.

Werder will be missing three other players in Munich. Forward Fin Bartels is down with the flu, while captain Clemens Fritz and midfielder Zlatko Junuzovic are suspended.

The two were fined for intentionally picking up yellow cards so they would be suspended for Saturday's match.

The German federation sports tribunal fined both men €20,000 for unsportsmanlike behaviour, following a hearing on Friday.

Werder are fighting against relegation and need points against lower-ranked opposition, while they have slim hopes against Munich no matter what kind of a lineup they field.

Fritz and Junuzovic conceded in interviews after last week's 4-1 win over Hannover that they were aiming to be suspended for the match in Munich so that they could be available for later games.

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Bayer Leverkusen climb above Hertha Berlin into third place

Bayer Leverkusen moved up to third in the Bundesliga for only the second time this season thanks to a 2-1 win at Darmstadt on Saturday.

An Aytac Sulu own goal and Julian Brandt effort cancelled out Sandro Wagner's opener in wet and muddy conditions at the Stadion am Bollenfalltor to get Roger Schmidt's men back on course for a place in the Champions League next season.

They benefited from Hertha Berlin's 2-0 defeat at Stuttgart to move ahead of the capital club on goal difference.

Geoffroy Serey Die and Filip Kostic scored the goals for the league's form team, with Stuttgart chalking up their fifth successive win and breaking into the top 10 for the first time this season.

In view of Schalke's defeat to Mainz on Friday night, Jurgen Kramny's men are now only six points away from a place in the Europa League next season, having been bottom of the table when he took over a few months ago.

The Swabians have now gone seven games unbeaten, which is the same number of games Europa League hopefuls Wolfsburg had gone without a win until Julian Draxler and Robin Knoche earned them a 2-0 victory over Ingolstadt.

On Wednesday, they are away to Gent in their first-ever Champions League knockout round fixture.

Further up the table, Henrik Mkhitaryan's second-half goal gaveBorussia Dortmund a 1-0 win over bottom club Hannover, who have lost their last seven games.

Hoffenheim's 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen in Julian Nagelsmann's first game in charge ensures Hannover are now alone at the foot of the table, whileCologne beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 in the day's late game.

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Robert Lewandowski hits two as Bayern Munich win Bavarian derby

Robert Lewandowski's clinical finishing steered Bayern Munich to a 3-1 win at Bavarian rivals Augsburg that restored the side's eight-point lead in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Lewandowski scored two goals, starting with the visitors' first real chance in the 15th minute when he controlled Thomas Muller's cross with his right foot, turned with a left-foot touch and fired the ball inside the far post with his right.

Lewandowski made it 2-0 - his 21st of the season - with his second in the 62nd minute, picking his spot in the far corner after Thiago Alcantara played a perfect 30-yard pass into his path.

Muller sealed it on 78 minutes with Bayern's third before Raul Bobadilla eluded three defenders to score Augsburg's consolation four minutes from time.

Bayern players took to the pitch wearing T-shirts with Holger Badstuber's name and number on their backs and "We're with you. You'll manage it again" written on their fronts, following the defender's latest serious injury. Badstuber was ruled out for three months after fracturing his ankle in training on Saturday.

Earlier, Ivo Ilicevic came off the bench to secure a 3-2 victory for Hamburgover Borussia Monchengladbach that ended his side's run of six league games without a win.

"We got three points, no more and no less, but it was a very, very important win," said Hamburg coach Bruno Labbadia, whose side moved six points clear of the relegation zone.

United States international Fabian Johnson put visiting Monchengladbach ahead in the 14th minute, converting Thorgan Hazard's cross from close range for his fifth goal of the season.

An own goal from Martin Hinteregger drew the home side level in the 38th minute after Hamburg defender Cleber struck the crossbar and Mahmoud Dahoud cleared Emir Spahic's effort off the line. Gideon Jung fired the rebound back in and the unlucky Hinteregger defected it inside the left post.

Hamburg striker Artjoms Rudnevs then made it 2-1 three minutes later, pouncing on a long kick from goalkeeper Rene Adler.

Ilicevic sealed the win in the 80th minute, heading home from close range after Spahic headed on a corner.

There was still time for Raffael to score 'Gladbach's consolation two minutes from time.

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