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BERLIN (Reuters) - Liverpool's Dutch forward Ryan Babel has completed his move to Germany's Hoffenheim on a contract until 2013, the Bundesliga club said on Tuesday.
A bid for the 24-year-old was accepted last week and Babel traveled to Hoffenheim, who lie eighth in the Bundesliga table, to finalise terms. "He has signed a contract for two and a half years until 2013 including an option for one more year," Hoffenheim said on their website (www.achtzehn99.de).
"Ryan was on our wish list for the offence and despite his age he has considerable experience that will strengthen our squad," said Hoffenheim coach Marco Pazzaiuoli.
Babel joined Liverpool for around 10 million pounds ($15.99 million) from Ajax Amsterdam in 2007 weeks after helping the Netherlands win the Under-21 European championship with his pace and direct running.
But despite showing occasional flashes of his ability he was unable to establish a place in the Liverpool first team and was fined by the club for posting on Twitter his frustration at not being selected.
He fell foul of Twitter again when he was fined 10,000 pounds last week after posting a doctored picture of referee Howard Webb wearing a Manchester United shirt following Liverpool's FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford.
"I look forward to my new tasks at Hoffenheim," said Babel. "I hope to get integrated into the team as soon as possible."
Borussia Dortmund ace Shinji Kagawa could miss the rest of the Bundesliga season with a broken foot.
Kagawa, 21, has scored eight goals for his club this season as they continue to take all before them, currently sitting 11 points clear of Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga.
But the Japanese midfielder broke a bone in his foot while playing for his country in an Asian Cup semi-final against South Korea, which they won on penalties after the sides were locked at 2-2 at the end of extra time.
The loss of Kagawa will be a blow to Japan, who face Australia in Saturday's Asian Cup final, but the news will hurt the Bundesliga table-toppers more, with a recovery expected in the final stages of the season at best.
"The news is bad. He was a prominent figure for us in the first half of the season," Dortmund Press Officer Hans-Joachim Watzke told SID.
"The end of the season (in Germany) is three-and-a-half months away and a broken foot needs time to heal. It will be close (whether or not he plays again this season)."
Bayer Leverkusen consolidated second spot in the Bundesliga with an important 2-0 victory over third-placed Hannover 96 on Friday night.
Arturo Vidal and Simon Rolfes struck in the first half to make sure of the victory for the hosts at BayArena, sending Josef Heynckes' Leverkusen five points clear of Hannover and within eight points of leaders Borussia Dortmund.
Leverkusen's Stefan Kiessling had a shot on goal blocked by Christian Schulz, before he teed up Vidal to fire a left-footed strike from outside the 18-yard box into the bottom right corner to give the hosts the advantage on 21 minutes.
Michael Ballack spurned a golden chance to double the lead minutes later when he missed a free header wide. But three minutes before the half-time break, 1-0 became 2-0 when defender Gonzalo Castro's through ball set up Rolfes to curl in a left-foot shot into the far right corner.
Bayern Munich moved to third in the Bundesliga after coming from behind to beat Wolfsburg 3-1 on Saturday. The defending champions reduced the gap on second-placed Bayer Leverkusen to just three points with their triumph, which came thanks to three second-half goals.
After an uneventful first half, Bremen opened the scoring just after the break when Per Mertesacker converted after good build-up work from Sebastian Prodl. But Bayern, undefeated in their last eight games in all competitions, fought back strongly and levelled proceedings when Dutch international Arjen Robben found the back of the net after 65 minutes.
Mertesacker turned from hero to villain when he turned the ball into his own net with 14 minutes remaining and substitute Miroslav Klose added the finishing touches with Bayern's third four minutes from time.
Werder goalkeeper Tim Wiese was given a straight red card in the dying stages which will see him banned, adding further misery to the day for Thomas Schaaf's side, who are only three points above the bottom three.
Borussia Dortmund re-established their 11 point lead at the top of the league with a convincing 3-0 away win at Wolfsburg.
Leverkusen's 2-0 win against Hannover on Friday moved them within eight points of Juergen Klopp's side, but Dortmund answered the challenge on Saturday, making the perfect start when Paraguay international Lucas Barrios scored after just two minutes. Further goals to Nuri Sahin and Mats Hummels wrapped up the victory, with Wolfsburg struggling in 12th after the defeat.
Mainz scored a valuable 1-0 away win at Kaiserslautern in the Bundesliga to leap into fourth place on the league table. German midfielder Lewis Holtby struck for Mainz in the first half at the Fritz Walter Stadion to move them equal on points with the third-placed Bayern Munich, and two ahead of Hannover in fifth.
In other matches, Nuremberg upset an in-form Hamburg 2-0 thanks to second-half strikes from Timmy Simons and Almog Cohen, while Isaac Vorsah's fourth-minute goal gave Hoffenheim a 1-0 away win at Schalke.
In a battle between two of the strugglers in the Bundesliga, St Pauli thrashed Cologne 3-0, thanks largely to a Charles Takyi brace.
Freiburg moved to within one point of a Europa League qualification place in the Bundesliga with a 1-0 win over struggling Stuttgart on Sunday.
Johannes Flum's 24th-minute goal was all that separated the two sides as Freiburg extended their unbeaten streak to six games, leaving Stuttgart entrenched in the relegation zone.
The win moved Robin Dutt's side to sixth place with 33 points and just one behind fifth-placed Hannover, with teams finishing fourth and fifth qualifying for the Europa League.
Elsewhere on Sunday, bottom side Borussia Moenchengladbach enjoyed a rare 1-0 win over ninth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt.
Belgian international striker Igor de Camargo scored the only goal game six minutes from full-time when he found himself on the end of a Karim Matmour cross and powered a low shot past Oka Nikolov in the Frankfurt goal.
The win drew Moenchengladbach level with Stuttgart on 16 points, although they remain bottom on goal difference, with both sides still six points away from being safely outside the drop zone.
Borussia Dortmund increased their lead at the top of the Bundesliga on Friday - but only by a solitary point after being held to a 0-0 draw by Schalke.
Despite creating the bulk of the chances at the Signal-Iduna-Park, Dortmund could not break down a gritty Schalke defence and will be ruing wasted opportunities.
The home side came closest to breaking the deadlock five minutes from full-time, when Polish right-back Lukasz Piszczek played Mario Goetze in with an incisive through ball.
Goetze rounded Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer but fired his shot into the post as defenders flocked back to guard the empty net.
The draw increased Dortmund's buffer on top of the Bundesliga to 12 points over Bayer Leverkusen, who play Nuremberg on Saturday, while Schalke climbed to ninth with the win.
Dortmund take on Kaiserslautern next Saturday, while Schalke are up against Freiburg the same day.
Bayern Munich will be wary of the threat posed by their former striker Lukas Podolski when they face Cologne in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Polish-born striker Podolski spent three years with the reigning champions, from 2006 until 2009, meaning they will be all too familiar with the formidable skills of the German international.
Bayern goalkeeper Thomas Kraft believes Podolski will be the man to watch on Saturday, and thinks his former teammate - who has scored seven Bundesliga goals this season - will be keen to impress his former employers.
"First of all, as is always the case when they play against us, they will stand very deep and try to close us down, but with Poldi (Podoslki) they also have good players in attack," Kraft said.
"That is what makes them dangerous. When we try to attack and don't pay attention for one second they might score through a counter - that is the danger that is coming from a team like Cologne."
"He is a very good player and as far as I can tell he is in a very good form at the moment. So I think he will be the biggest threat."
After a sluggish start to their campaign, Bayern have improved recently to sit third in the table - but with 14 points still between them and league leaders Borussia Dortmund every point is crucial with 14 matches remaining for the season.
Cologne are third from the bottom and three points away from safety , and Bayern are well aware their opponents will be fighting for their survival come Saturday.
"We have always had our problems against Cologne," Bayern defender Holger Badstuber said.
"I have played against them three times now and we drew all three times. I hope that that will change this time and that we can win. It is always hard to play against them but I think we'll have good support from our travelling fans and I think we can do this."
Bundesliga wrap: Bayern lose at Cologne, Mainz held 6 February 2011
Bayern Munich's unbeaten run ended at lowly Cologne, while Mainz were held and Bayer Leverkusen stunned in Bundesliga on Saturday.
Bayern, who had not lost a match in any competition since a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Schalke in early December, went down 3-2 at Cologne despite leading by two goals at the break.
Mario Gomez put the visitors ahead in the 22nd minute, beating Michael Rensing with a clever poke through the Cologne shot-stopper's legs. When Hamit Altintop hammered one in from the right two minutes from first-half injury time it appeared Bayern were well on their way to a sixth straight points result in the German league.
But Cologne came out firing in the second half and drew one back through Christian Clemens 10 minutes after the restart, the 19-year-old midfielder charging down the left flank and scoring on a tight angle.
Slovenia international Milivoje Novakovic levelled the scores in the 62nd minute and then fired the winner 11 minutes later as Cologne recorded just their sixth victory of the season. Bayern drop to fifth on the table and now trail league leaders Borussia Dortmund by 15 points with 13 games left in the season.
Elsewhere, Mainz were held 1-1 at home by Werder Bremen, while Leverkusen fell 1-0 at Nuremberg. Mainz went ahead early through prolific striker Andre Schurrle, who struck his 10th goal of the season in the 19th minute, but Peru international Claudio Pizarro pegged one back for Werder in injury time.
Leverkusen's pursuit of Dortmund took a hit at Nuremberg, the second-placed side falling for just the fourth time this season on the back of Christian Eigler's 60th-minute winner.
In other results, fourth-placed Hannover moved within goal difference of the Champions League places with a 1-0 win over Wolfsburg, with veteran midfielder Sergio Pinto finding the net in the fourth minute.
Hoffenheim saw off a determined Kaiserslautern 3-2 thanks to Edson Braafheid's 79th-minute winner, having earlier seen their two-goal lead erased inside of three second-half minutes by Kaiserslautern pair Erwin Hoffer (58) and Rodnei (60). Glyfi Sigurdhsson (28) and Sebastian Rudy (40) did the damage early for the hosts.
Finally, Stuttgart rallied from two goals down to defeat 10-man Borussia Monchengladbach 3-2 in a battle of the cellar dwellers. Pavel Pogrebnyak (51), Martin Harnik (56) and Timo Gebhart (87) piled on second-half goals for the visitors.
Bundesliga club Wolfsburg have sacked former England manager Steve McClaren, replacing him with Pierre Littbarski. McClaren, 49, was poached from FC Twente in May after he led the Dutch side to the Eredivisie title last season.
But the Englishman had little success in the German top flight and after Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Hannover saw Wolfsburg drop to 12th, just one point above the relegation zone, McClaren was removed from his post having served just nine months of a two-year-deal.
"VfL (Wolfsburg) have parted ways with Steve McClaren. Pierre Littbarski is taking over," a statement from the 2009 Bundesliga champions read. Director of sport Dieter Hoeness said the club no longer had full confidence in McClaren and that the club's slide down the league prompted the change.
"We were no longer sure that we could work with Steve McLaren until the end of the season with some stability," Hoeness said. "We have tried to make things work for as long as possible, but we have lost faith that we can bring success. Following the recent negative results we cannot underestimate our situation in the table."
"Being only one point clear of the relegation places, we are alarmed. Now it's just a question of increasing the gap to the relegation places as soon as possible." Littbarski, previously an assistant at Wolfsburg, takes charge of a Bundesliga club for the first time following coaching stints in Australia, Japan and Liechtenstein.
And Hoeness expressed confidence that the 1990 World Cup winner can improve Wolfsburg's league standing. "We have talked a long time with him (Littbarski) and he has convinced us that he will introduce those measures that are necessary in our situation," he said.
Littbarski's first game in charge will be a home fixture against Hamburg on Saturday.
Bundesliga preview: Dortmund take title charge to Kaiserslautern 11 February 2011
Leaders Borussia Dortmund travel to Kaiserslautern, while Bayer Leverkusen visit Eintracht Frankfurt in this weekend's Bundesliga action.
With 13 games remaining, Juergen Klopp's Dortmund side head to the Fritz-Walter-Stadion 12 points clear of second-placed Leverkusen, seemingly on an unstoppable march towards a seventh Bundesliga title.
Captain Sebastian Kehl, recovering from a hip flexor injury that has kept him sidelined since September, emerged unscathed from a midweek training game and could feature. The experience and defensive nous of the 30-year-old would be welcomed as the title race nears its closing stages.
Leverkusen face a must-win trip to Eintracht Frankfurt if they are to keep alive their dreams of a first German league title.
Bayern Munich, who relinquished a 2-0 lead before losing 3-2 to relegation battlers Cologne on Saturday, welcome Hoffenheim to Allianz Arena. Louis van Gaal will be able to call on the services of prized Dutch winger Arjen Robben, who missed the Cologne game through illness, as his side look to improve on their fifth-place standing.
In other Saturday matches, Schalke host Freiburg while Stuttgart will look to haul themselves out of the relegation zone when they welcome Nuremberg to the Mercedes Benz Arena.
Following this week's sacking of Steve McClaren, caretaker manager Pierre Littbarski takes charge of Wolfsburg for their home clash with Hamburg, while bottom-placed Borussia Monchengladbach visit St Pauli.
On Sunday, Hannover will aim to continue their European ambitions alive when they visit struggling Werder Bremen, who are just one point outside the bottom three.
Sunday's other match sees Cologne, fresh from their stunning comeback win over Bayern, welcome third-placed Mainz to the RheinEnergieStadion.
Bundesliga wrap: Robben inspires Bayern, Dortmund held
13 February 2011
Arjen Robben fired a brace as Bayern Munich jumped back into third place on the Bundesliga table with a 4-0 thrashing of Hoffenheim on Saturday. Bayern went ahead in just the second minute at the Allianz Arena via Mario Gomez, before Thomas Muller doubled their lead on the quarter-hour mark.
Robben's double in the second half - in the 63rd and 81st minutes, the latter of which was an unstoppable curling shot into the top corner - topped off the victory, which takes Louis van Gaal's side into the top three ahead of Mainz and Hannover, who are both in action on Sunday.
Bayern are still 12 points behind league leaders Borussia Dortmund, who were denied another victory by a 90th-minute equaliser to Kaiserslautern at the Fritz Walter Stadion.
The visitors seemingly claimed all three points when Sven Bender scored in the 81st minute, but Jan Moravek piped up to level the scores nine minutes later to give Kaiserslautern a valuable point in their relegation fight.
Bayer Leverkusen consolidated second spot on the table with a 3-0 away win over Eintracht Frankfurt, with Simon Rolfes, Renbato Augusto and Hanno Balitsch all finding the back of the net.
Nurnberg won their third consecutive league affair when they beat relegation-threatened Stuttgart 4-1.
Hamburg climbed back onto the winners' list with a 1-0 triumph over Wolfsburg, courtesy of a Mladen Petric spot kick.
St Pauli moved clear of the drop zone with a 3-1 win over cellar dwellers Borussia Monchengladbach.The bottom side hit the lead after nine minutes through Igor De Camargo, but the game changed when Monchengladbach were reduced to 10 men following De Camargo's dismissal. St Pauli equalised through Max Kruse, before Gerald Asamoah and Matthias Lehmann sealed the result with goals in the second half.
Schalke inflicted Freiburg with their first loss in eight league games with a 1-0 result, courtesy of a Jefferson Farfan goal.
BERLIN, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Lukas Podolski and Milivoje Novakovic scored two apiece as Cologne continued to ease their Bundesliga relegation fears by crushing Mainz 4-2 on Sunday for their third win in four games.
The hosts looked nothing like a team battling relegation for much of the season, scoring at will as Mainz suffered their third loss in five games since the winter break. Cologne moved two points clear of the relegation playoff spot into 13th place on 25 points with Mainz stuck in fifth on 37.
In the only other game on Sunday, Werder Bremen salvaged a 1-1 draw against fourth-placed Hanover 96 to stay just above the danger zone on 24 points in 14th place.
Didier Ya Konan gave the visitors the lead against the run of play with his 11th goal of the season midway through the first half before Bremen, the better side throughout, deservedly levelled with a Per Mertesacker header in what was Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf's 400th game in charge.
Borussia Dortmund lead the standings on 52, 10 ahead of second-placed Bayer Leverkusen.
Cologne's Podolski gave the hosts a fortuitous lead on three minutes when his 35-metre free kick, intended for team mate Martin Lanig, sailed undisturbed into the net.
Mainz levelled on the half hour through Sami Allagui but Slovenian striker Novakovic scored two minutes from the break to put Cologne back in the driving seat. Podolski and Novakovic struck again in a five-minute spell early in the second half before Petar Sliskovic netted a late consolation.
Hoffenheim dealt Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund just their third loss of the season, while Bayern Munich thrashed Hamburg on Saturday.
Ninth-placed Hoffenheim had not won in four games heading into their clash with the runaway league leaders at Rhein Neckar Arena, but Vedad Ibisevic's goal in the 63rd minute was enough to secure a 1-0 victory for the hosts.
Bayern Munich's hopes of reeling in Dortmund are all but over, but they at least snapped a three-game losing streak in all competitions with their 6-0 triumph over Hamburg at the Allianz Arena.
Dutch international winger Arjen Robben scored a hat-trick, netting Bayern's first three goals in the 40th, 47th and 55th minutes.
France midfielder Franck Ribery added the fourth in the 64th minute - assisted by Robben - before Germany attacker Thomas Mueller made it 5-0 15 minutes later.
A Heiko Westermann own-goal topped off a rampant victory for Bayern and moved them above Mainz into fourth spot on the table, though Louis van Gaal's side have played an extra game.
Schalke 04 moved into 10th place with a late 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt at the Veltins Arena.
Spaniard Jurado put the hosts ahead on the stroke of half-time from the penalty spot, but Georgios Tzavellas equalised in the 70th minute for Frankfurt.
Substitute striker Angelos Charisteas took just 60 seconds to have an impact on the game after coming off the bench for Mario Gavranovic, scoring the winner in the 84th minute.
Kaiserslautern upset seventh-placed Freiburg 2-1 with a 90th-minute winner to Erwin Hoffer at the Fritz Walter Stadion.
Freiburg forward Adam Nemec scored at both ends to leave the match poised at 1-1, before Hoffer's heroics helped Kaiserslautern out of the relegation zone.
Nuremburg came from behind to beat Wolfsburg 2-1 at the Volkswagen Arena.
Croatia forward Mario Mandzukic had put the hosts on target for a crucial victory with a 23rd-minute goal, but Nuremburg were level at half-time courtesy of defender Philipp Woolscheid.
Swedish centre back Per Nilsson nabbed the winner for Nuremburg at the death to leave Wolves just one point outside the drop zone.
In the later game, Borussia Monchengladbach stunned Werder Bremen with a 90th-minute equaliser in their 1-1 draw at the Weserstadion.
Bremen led for the majority of the match after Sandro Wagner netted in the 39th minute, but a last-gasp goal from Brazilian Dante ensured the cellar dwellers took a point from the encounter.
The result means Bremen remain just three points from the relegation zone, but the point takes them one ahead of Kaiserslautern, Eintracht Frankfurt and St Pauli into 12th place on the table, while Monchengladbach are just two points behind second-bottom Stuttgart.
Bundesliga wrap: Leverkusen keep pressure on Dortmund
13 March 2011
Bayer Leverkusen reduced Borussia Dortmund's lead on top of the Bundesliga to nine points after a 1-0 away win over Mainz on Sunday.
Renato Augusto's goal eight minutes from the end was enough to hand all three points to Leverkusen, and cut Dortmund's lead to single figures with eight games still to play.
Dortmund suffered a 1-0 loss at Hoffenheim on Saturday.
Mainz dropped to fifth with the loss and are now in a dogfight with Nuremberg for the last remaining Europa League berth.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Stuttgart hauled themselves out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win over fellow battlers St Pauli at the Millerntor-Stadion.
St Pauli took the lead after 19 minutes thanks to a goal from midfielder Fabian Bolle but Stuttgart hit back five minutes later through Zdravko Kuzmanovic.
Sven Schipplock scored the winner with two minutes remaining to lift Stuttgart from 17th place to 13th on goal difference, while St Pauli slipped into the drop zone.
