Kevin Volland scored a brace as Bayer Leverkusen returned to winning ways with a comfortable 3-0 Bundesliga victory over Hamburg at BayArena.

Hamburg beat Wolfsburg 2-1 in dramatic fashion to secure their Bundesliga status and plunge the Wolves into a relegation play-off.

Fox Sports is linking up with NextVR to broadcast the Bundesliga opener on Friday between defending league champions Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen in VR. This will be the first time that Bundesliga action will be available in VR.

Bayern Munich will have to wait at least another week before being crowned Bundesliga champions after their advantage at the top of the league was cut to five points by Borussia Dortmund.

Young refugees accompanied Bayern Munich players onto the pitch and took centre stage to the applause of 75,000 fans before a Bundesliga game on Saturday.

Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola says midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger will be given the choice of whether to stay or leave the Bundesliga champions — with Manchester United lying in wait.

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola is determined to honour his contract with the Bundesliga champions.

Three vehicles used by Irish Water were damaged in arson attack, the daughter of an Englishman convicted of murdering four people in the 1990s has branded her father “a monster", the people on the Vote No posters are in favour of marriage equality, and a special report marking the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania. These are some of the latest and most read stories on irishexaminer.com.

While Austria Vienna were beating their opponent in Saturday’s Austrian Bundesliga match, their mascot, Super Leo the lion, was enjoying himself a little too much.

Bayern Munich 6 Porto 1 (Bayern win 7-4 on aggregate): Pep Guardiola’s reputation as the world’s greatest football coach, under threat this week amid rumours could be jettisoned by Bayern Munich in the summer, has been spectacularly and emphatically revived by a breathtaking 6-1 victory over Porto in the Champions League that sends his side into the semi-finals and keeps the Treble dream alive.

Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is set to miss the start of the Bundesliga season and Germany’s next two international fixtures, according to his club’s chairman.

Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp has ruled himself out of contention to become the next manager of Manchester United, and insists he has not been approached for the job either.

David Moyes put his faith in the old legs of Ryan Giggs once more as Manchester United sought to achieve a positive result against holders Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final first leg at Old Trafford.

David Moyes is so sure about his future as Manchester United manager that he boldly predicted that Tuesday’s game against Bayern Munich will be his first of many meetings with Pep Guardiola.

Germany boss Joachim Low has backed Bayern Munich to follow up their startling Bundesliga triumph by ruling Europe again in the Champions League and paving the way for a World Cup triumph.

Some teams have a tendency to make you reach for the catechism of cliché, and perhaps inevitably the word that comes to mind about Bayern Munich is blitzkrieg.

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has admitted to evading taxes through an undeclared Swiss bank account at a trial that could send the German football great to prison.

Franck Ribery claims he deserved to win the FIFA Ballon d’Or ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo because the Real Madrid forward won nothing in 2013.

An emotional Cristiano Ronaldo had to fight back the tears last night after ending four years of Lionel Messi domination to win the Fifa Ballon d’Or and the right to be called the best player on the planet once again.

Cristiano Ronaldo has won the 2013 FIFA Ballon d’Or at an awards ceremony in Zurich, ending Lionel Messi’s four-year reign as holder of the crown.

Arsenal have been handed an unenviable Champions League last 16 tie after being drawn against holders Bayern Munich.

Be patient and this Bayern Munich side will get even better - that was the message from Munich after the German champions started the defence of their Bundesliga title.

Pep Guardiola spoke of his “honour” at joining “one of the biggest clubs in the world” after being officially unveiled as Bayern Munich’s new head coach yesterday.

Pep Guardiola will make his competitive debut as Bayern Munich manager on July 27 as the reigning Bundesliga, Champions League and DFB Pokal holders face Borussia Dortmund in the German Super Cup.

Borussia Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp expects the future of star striker Robert Lewandowski to be resolved in the next few days as rumours persist he is on the verge of following team-mate Mario Gotze to Bayern Munich.

Borussia Dortmund last night confirmed Mario Gotze will miss the Champions League final against Bayern Munich at Wembley on Saturday.

Bayern Munich boss Jupp Heynckes has indicated he will retire from coaching at the end of the season.

Arsene Wenger has called on Arsenal to get the disappointment of a “very bad moment” at Norwich out of their system by taking a big step towards qualifying for the Champions League knockout phase by beating Schalke tonight.

Michael Ballack has ended his playing career at the age of 36 after being released by Bayer Leverkusen in the summer.

St Patrick’s Athletic won’t compromise their approach to counter Hannover 96 at Tallaght Stadium tonight as manager Liam Buckley will send his side out to play their normal game against the Bundesliga giants.

France

Hannover again hope to force the fans who caused disturbances at Europa League matches last season pay for the damages they caused.

Lazio have confirmed the signing of Germany striker Miroslav Klose.

Real Madrid have confirmed the signing of Borussia Dortmund midfielder Nuri Sahin.

JONNY EVANS has apologised to Stuart Holden for the challenge which will rule the Bolton midfielder out for up to six months, emphasising it was not deliberate.

THE three English clubs remaining in the Champions League will be holding their breath when Gary Lineker makes the draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals this morning.

BAYERN MUNICH boss Louis van Gaal insists not even success in the Champions League would reverse last week’s decision for him to leave the club at the end of the season.

Wolfsburg coach Steve McClaren believes that the sale of Edin Dzeko to Manchester City is a blessing in disguise for his team.

Germany captain Michael Ballack will not play again in 2010 after the shin injury he picked up on September 11 emerged to be worse than first thought.