Following a short break after the terrorist attacks in the United States, the German Bundesliga returned to the playing fields on Saturday, September 15. The European games started up again in mid-week.

Although the mood in the stadiums was somewhat somber, German soccer is doing its utmost to get back to business as usual. And what could be more typical for any pro sport than firing a coach.

Indeed, the job of a professional coach or manager is rarely secure, and comes and goes with the success and failure of a team. And a fickle fan-club can make or break a coach’s career.

Hamburg’s coach Frank Pagelsdorf certainly knows what its like to be on the downside of public favor. On Monday, September 17, Hamburg’s board of directors, who had pledged loyalty and support for Pagelsdorf just hours earlier, sacked the coach, whose team drew 3-3 on the weekend against Mönchengladbach. The Hamburg soccer team has won just one of six games this season. They're ranked 12th in the standings and that simply wasn't good enough for the board of directors.

After sacking Pagelsdorf, the technical director Holger Hieronymus has taken over as coach on an interim basis.

Champions League

There was some brighter news in German soccer this week, but it came out of France. The Bundesliga club Bayer-Leverkusen paid a visit to Olympique Lyon for the Champions League, and came out with a surprising 1-0 win. In the 75th minute, the ageless wonder Ulf Kirsten shot the only goal the German side needed to win the match.

Germany's two other Champions League entrants weren't quite as successful. Dortmund battled to a 0-0 draw against Liverpool at home in the Westfalen Stadium, and their Ruhr district rivals Schalke fell 3-2 to Arsenal at Highbury.

The 7th week of play kicks off on September 22.

Stuttgart returns home after a 2-0 win in Wolfsburg last week. Stuttgart hasn’t scored a goal at home this season, in fact nobody has scored in the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadium in the three games played there in this campaign. With Rostock coming into town, fans can look for a possible goose-egg deadlock in this match as well. But, then again, the odds are that somebody's got to score in Stuttgart sometime.

In a battle of the minnows against the meisters, Energie Cottbus play host to Bayern Munich, who are gradually making their way up the standings, but are still just third. The Cottbus team is one of the surprises of this season so far, checking in at fifth place.

SC Freiburg, who held Bayern to a scoreless draw before conceding a late goal in Munich last week, will have another tough challenge as they face last year's runners up, Schalke.

Dortmund plays at home to Leverkusen in what is probably the best match-up of the weekend. And it will be interesting to see how Holger Hieronymus does in his first game as Hamburg coach, when they take on northern port rivals Werder-Bremen. Bremen is tied with Hamburg on points, but is two places back, in14th, on goal difference.

Cologne takes on Nuremburg in Müngersdorf Stadium. And in an interesting turn of events, Kaiserslautern hosts Hertha Berlin at the Fritz Walter Stadium in Kaiserslautern, or as the locals still affectionately call it "the Betzenberg".

Rounding it up on Sunday, September 23, 1860 Munich takes on Wolfsburg. Now these are a couple of other teams that might wind up firing their coaches soon. Wolfsburg looked absolutely pitiful against Stuttgart last week and they're in 17th in the league, so coach Wolfgang Wolf is gradually coming under pressure. And 1860 is in a respectable 11th, but you get the impression that every game is vital for Werner Lorant.