BERLIN (AP) — Smoke from grilled bratwurst sausages filled the air and the beer taps were kept flowing as Union Berlin fans celebrated taking a step closer to Bundesliga promotion.

BERLIN (AP) — Bayern Munich will play at Werder Bremen, and Hamburger SV will host Leipzig, in the semifinals of the German Cup.

Sunday's draw dealt Bayern a trip to Bremen just days after...

BERLIN (AP) — Bayern Munich's path to the German Cup final has likely been eased with a home game against second division Heidenheim in the quarterfinals.

Sunday's draw also paired Schalke against Bundesliga rival Werder Bremen in the biggest game of the round, while Augsburg faces Leipzig at home and Paderborn hosts second division rival Hamburger SV.

BERLIN (AP) — Bayern Munich is trying to ensure its future looks even brighter by capturing another rising star.

Bayern has completed the deal it agreed on last offseason by signing 19-year-old Fiete Arp, the Bild newspaper reports. It just remains to be seen whether Arp joins Bayern after this season or in 2020, when his contract with Hamburger SV expires.

BERLIN (AP) — Bayern Munich faces another trip to Hertha Berlin in the third round of the German Cup, while Borussia Dortmund was drawn against Werder Bremen on Sunday.

Bayern lost last season's cup final to Eintracht Frankfurt in Berlin's Olympiastadion in May, and then had its first league defeat of this season at Hertha Berlin in September.

BERLIN (AP) — A fourth-tier team of amateurs held Bayern Munich scoreless for more than 80 minutes before Robert Lewandowski ended chances of an unlikely upset in the first round of the German Cup on Saturday.

SV Drochtersen/Assel, a team from a town of only 11,000 inhabitants in the north of Germany, frustrated the country's top team until Lewandowski's 81st-minute goal finally sent the Bundesliga powerhouse through 1-0.

HANNOVER, Germany (AP) — United States striker Bobby Wood switched to Bundesliga side Hannover from relegated Hamburger SV on Monday.

The 25-year-old Wood joined on loan for one year, with the option to then make the switch permanent, Hannover said in a statement.

The Hawaii-born forward is the club's third loan signing of the summer, after Kevin Wimmer (from Tottenham) and Takuma Asano (Arsenal).

BERLIN (AP) — This time, there was no miraculous escape.

Hamburger SV was finally relegated from the Bundesliga amid chaotic scenes on Saturday.

The only ever-present since the league was founded in 1963, "der Dino" went down fighting after 54 seasons by beating Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1.

BERLIN (AP) — Postponed. Hamburger SV's and Wolfsburg's scrap for Bundesliga survival will be decided on the final day after both fell to heavy defeats in the penultimate round on Saturday.

Hamburg, the only ever-present in the league since its formation in 1963, lost at Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 and would have been demoted for the first time had Wolfsburg not fallen in Leipzig 4-1.

BERLIN (AP) — Hamburger SV has two games to stave off its first relegation from the Bundesliga.

Demotion seemed almost certain two weeks ago, but the team has bounced back with wins over relegation rivals Freiburg and Wolfsburg to cut the gap on a relegation playoff place to only two points.

BERLIN (AP) — Cologne was finally relegated from the Bundesliga on Saturday, and Hamburger SV boosted its chances of an unlikely escape with a 3-1 win at Wolfsburg.

Lucas Hoeler scored in injury time for Freiburg to beat Cologne 3-2 to leave the visitors eight points from safety with two games remaining.

BERLIN (AP) — Bayer Leverkusen underlined its Champions League credentials with a 4-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, while Hamburger SV and Cologne edged closer to Bundesliga relegation on Saturday.

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Relegation-threatened Hamburger SV sacked club chairman Heribert Bruchhagen and sporting director Jens Todt on Thursday.

Hamburg said it was "starting its realignment" as it prepares for life in the second division. The club is second from bottom and seven points from safety in the Bundesliga with nine games remaining,

Club president Bernd Hoffmann, who narrowly defeated the incumbent Jens Meier for the position, informed Bruchhagen of the decision on Thursday.

BERLIN (AP) — Hamburger SV inched another step closer to its first demotion from the Bundesliga after being held by relegation-rival Mainz to 0-0 on Saturday.

Hamburg, which had a host of chances including a penalty from Filip Kostic, remains seven points from safety with nine games remaining after its 12th successive match without a win.

"It was a very important game today," Hamburg coach Bernd Hollerbach, still without a win after six games. "We now have nine finals. It will be difficult."

BERLIN (AP) — The clock is ticking on Hamburger SV's days in the Bundesliga.

Situated high in the stadium, the clock counts the years, days, hours, minutes and seconds that Hamburg has been playing in the league - a proud declaration from the only founding member never relegated since the Bundesliga started in 1963.

WOLFSBURG, Germany (AP) — Relegation-troubled Wolfsburg has hired Bruno Labbadia as coach to replace Martin Schmidt, who quit on Monday.

The Volkswagen-backed club says it agreed on Tuesday to work with the 52-year-old Labbadia until summer 2019, and he is to take charge of his first training session in the afternoon.

BERLIN (AP) — Marco Reus scored his first Bundesliga goal of the season to give Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 win at his former team Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday.

Reus, Andre Schuerrle and Mario Goetze started for the first time together for Dortmund, and the three Germany teammates were all involved in the 32nd-minute goal.

BERLIN (AP) — Marco Reus made his first appearance of the season and Michy Batshuayi scored again as Borussia Dortmund defeated Hamburger SV 2-0 on Saturday for its 500th Bundesliga win at home.

Dortmund moved to third as it stretched its unbeaten run to seven games under Peter Stoeger, who gave defender Manuel Akanji his first start and Reus the captain's armband 259 days after the Germany forward sustained a cruciate ligament injury in the German Cup final.

BERLIN (AP) — Hamburger SV failed to ease its relegation worries after being held to a 1-1 draw by Hannover in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Filip Kostic prevented an even worse outcome for hosts Hamburg when he scored late to salvage the draw, but Hamburg remains in the drop zone with 13 games left after its eighth match without a win.

Hamburg, the only side to have played every Bundesliga season since the league started in 1963, is three points behind Mainz in the relegation play-off place.

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Hamburger SV appointed former player Bernd Hollerbach as the coach on Monday in a bid to save the side from Bundesliga relegation.

Hollerbach signed a deal to take charge through June 2019, taking over from the sacked Markus Gisdol.

The club is placing its faith in an old friend in Hollerbach, who scored 23 goals in 197 Bundesliga appearances for Hamburg from 1996 to 2004, before he turned to coaching.

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Hamburger SV fired Markus Gisdol as coach on Sunday following the team's 2-0 defeat at home to last-place Cologne in the Bundesliga.

Hamburg said its board of directors and sporting director Jens Todt came to the decision to let Gisdol go, along with assistant coaches Frank Froehling and Frank Kaspari, and that they were informed on Sunday morning.

Defeat to Cologne the night before was the side's fourth in succession and it left Hamburg just three points off the bottom.

BERLIN (AP) — Simon Terodde scored twice for last-placed Cologne to boost its hopes of an unlikely escape from Bundesliga relegation with a 2-0 win at Hamburger SV on Saturday.

Terodde, who returned to Cologne from Stuttgart in December, brought his tally to three goals in two games for the team following his dramatic game-winner in the Rhine derby against Borussia Moenchengladbach last weekend.

Goals are keeping the Bundesliga exciting even if the title race has a familiar feel with Bayern Munich racing away at the halfway stage.

Only two games were settled by just one goal in the last round before the winter break, with all but one of the rest featuring four goals or more. Bundesliga defenders are having a hard time defending.

BERLIN (AP) — Hamburger SV is relying on a 17-year-old school kid to avoid being relegated from the Bundesliga for the first time in its history.

Jann-Fiete Arp has played in the last five games - starting the last four - and chipped in two goals as Hamburg earned two wins and a draw to move above the relegation zone.

The first Bundesliga player born this millennium, Arp also became the first to score in the league when he netted against Hertha Berlin in October.

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Cologne appointed former Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt coach Armin Veh as managing director on Wednesday, filling the job left vacant by Joerg Schmadtke's departure in October.

The struggling club said that the 56-year-old Veh, who led Stuttgart to the Bundesliga title in 2007, signed a contract through June 2020.

BERLIN (AP) — Helped by the Bundesliga's 1,000th own-goal, Hamburger SV defeated Hoffenheim 3-0 for its second straight win at home on Sunday.

With five defeats from six away league games so far, Hamburg was banking on points at the Volksparkstadion to stay above the relegation zone following Freiburg's defeat of Mainz on Saturday.

"It's important that we become a force at home again," Hamburg defender Dennis Diekmeier said.

BERLIN (AP) — Guido Burgstaller scored late for Schalke to beat visiting Hamburger SV 2-0 and move second in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Franco di Santo's early penalty got the home side underway as it stretched its unbeaten run in the league to six games.

Hamburg's Gideon Jung gave away the spot kick in the 16th minute with a clumsy challenge on Yevhen Konoplyanka.

BERLIN (AP) — Bayern Munich took advantage of Borussia Dortmund's faltering campaign to move level on points with the Bundesliga leader on Saturday.

Dortmund's mini-slump continued as it wasted a two-goal lead and drew at Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2, before Bayern edged 10-man Hamburger SV 1-0 in the late game.

Dortmund still leads on goal difference after nine rounds but the pressure is building after its fourth game without a win from five matches across all competitions.

BERLIN (AP) — Shinji Kagawa became the highest scoring Japanese player in the Bundesliga by showing a touch of class to give Borussia Dortmund a 2-1 win at Augsburg on Saturday.

Kagawa, who scored 21 league goals in his first stint at Dortmund from 2010-12 before leaving for Manchester United, has 17 in his second stint after rejoining the club in 2014.

BERLIN (AP) — Three days after being cleared to play by FIFA, Argentine striker Lucas Alario scored one goal and set up another on his debut for Bayer Leverkusen to beat Hamburger SV 3-0 in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Alario struck midway through the first half, converting a cross from Leon Bailey, who also set up Kevin Volland's opening goal just three minutes before.

BERLIN (AP) — Christian Pulisic sealed a 3-0 win for Borussia Dortmund at Hamburger SV on Wednesday that maintained the side's record of not conceding a goal in the Bundesliga this season.

Dortmund's win returned the side to the top of the league after five games, one point ahead of Bayern Munich.

BERLIN (AP) — Eurosport is facing criticism in Germany for technical problems during its online broadcast of the season's first two Friday night Bundesliga games.

Coverage of the Hamburger SV-Leipzig match on Friday was again marred by difficulties — two weeks after fans were frustrated by problems with the season's first Friday night game.

The broadcaster says, "We very much regret that there were some technical difficulties."