Bundesliga roundup-Injury woe for Hanover's Andreasen

Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus Brief news ahead of this weekend's Bundesliga soccer matches: * Hanover 96 midfielder Leon Andreasen will be out for roughly six months after his encouraging comeback from a long layoff was curtailed by torn cruciate ligaments suffered in the midweek 4-1 win over Nuremberg, the club said. The Danish international, who had recently returned from a two-year injury absence, had scored two goals in five league games and another three in the Europa League. "I suspected something was wrong when it happened. It hurt a lot and the diagnosis is no real surprise," Andreasen told the club website (www.hannover96.de) of the injury to his right knee. "This is a bitter blow, but I have to look ahead and I am sure can come back again," the former Fulham player said. Hanover, third in the Bundesliga, travel to Hamburg SV on Saturday. * Borussia Dortmund forward Marco Reus has been passed fit by team doctors to make his first trip to former club Borussia Moenchengladbach since joining the Bundesliga champions, but coach Juergen Klopp will leave it late to decide whether he plays. Reus, who joined for 17 million euros ($21.86 million) in the off-season, twisted his ankle during Wednesday's 3-3 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt and looked set to miss Saturday's encounter. "I will wait and see how his foot holds up in full training on Friday before deciding," Klopp said. Dortmund are sixth in the standings, seven points behind unbeaten leaders Bayern Munich. * Bayer Leverkusen defensive midfielder Stefan Reinartz could miss their match against promoted Greuther Fuerth due to a minor groin injury. Leverkusen are eager to improve their position after their 3-1 win at Augsburg on Wednesday gave them a first victory in three games and lifted the side up to eighth. Reinartz came off injured shortly before halftime.

Fortuna battle back to draw 2-2 against Schalke

Fortuna Duesseldorf's Dani Schahin struck twice in the second half to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga on Friday with the visitors only having themselves to blame for not taking all three points. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Joel Matip gave the Champions League side a 2-0 lead by halftime but Schahin's double, including a powerful 77th minute header, took Fortuna's unbeaten run since the start of the season to six matches. Schalke moved up to third place on 11 points with leaders Bayern Munich, who have 15 after five wins from five games, travelling to Werder Bremen on Saturday when champions Borussia Dortmund, on eight, take on Borussia Moenchengladbach. Promoted Fortuna, still unbeaten along with Bayern and second-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, are fifth on 10 points. Huntelaar, last season's Bundesliga top scorer, drilled in a stunning left-foot shot after slipping the ball past two defenders in the 13th minute. Joel Matip added a second goal seven minutes later and Schalke looked to be cruising to an easy victory. However, Schahin cut the deficit three minutes after the break, connecting with an Andriy Voronin corner. With Fortuna seeking an equaliser, Schalke had space on the break and will be kicking themselves for not finishing off their opponents with Huntelaar and Ibrahim Afellay failing to beat keeper Fabian Giefer from point-blank range on three occasions. The hosts' hard work finally paid off in the 77th minute when 23-year-old Schahin beat marker Kyriakos Papadopoulos to drill in a header from an accurate Tobias Levels cross.

Belhanda and Taarabt left out of Morocco soccer squad

Younes Belhanda of Montpellier Montpellier's Younes Belhanda has been ruled out of Morocco's soccer team for the London Olympics with injury while Queen's Park Rangers midfielder Adel Taarabt was not included in the 18-man squad named on Sunday. Midfielder Belhanda, a leading figure as Montpellier won their first French league title in May, has an ankle injury. Houcine Kharjah of Italian club Fiorentina, who captained Morocco's senior side at the African Nations Cup finals this year, was one of two over-age players included in the under-23 squad by coach Pim Verbeek. The other was forward Nordine Amrabat, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation said. A maximum of three over-age players are allowed in the squad but Verbeek declined to pick another. Defender Abdelhamid El Kaoutari from Montpellier and German-born goalkeeper Mohamed Amsif also competed at January's Nations Cup, where Morocco were disappointingly eliminated in the first round. Morocco's under-23 side will prepare in the Netherlands from next week for the tournament. Squad: Goalkeepers: Mohamed Amsif (FC Augsburg), Yassine Bounou (Atletico Madrid) Defenders: Mohamed Aberhoune (MA Tetouan), Zakarya Bergdich (Racing Lens), Abdelhamid El Kaoutari (Montpellier), Zouhair Feddal (Espanyol), Yacine Jebbour (Stade Rennes), Abdelatif Noussair (FUS Rabat) Midfielders: Abdelaziz Barrada (Getafe), Omar El Kaddouri (Brescia), Driss Fettouhi (Istres), Rayane Frikech (Angers), Houcine Kharja (Fiorentina), Imad Najah (PSV Eindhoven) Forwards: Nordine Amrabat (Kayerispor), Soufiane Bidaoui (Lierse), Soufian El Hassnaoui (De Graafschap), Zakarya Labyad (Sporting Lisbon)

Liverpool agree to sign Assaidi from Heerenveen

Liverpool have agreed to sign Morocco winger Oussama Assaidi from Heerenveen, the Premier League club said on their website (www.liverpoolfc.com) on Thursday.

The 24-year-old winger, who has 22 caps, scored 20 goals in 68 games for the Dutch first division side last season. He will now undergo a medical before the transfer is completed.

Brendan Rodgers, the new Liverpool manager, has already signed Swansea City midfielder Joe Allen and Italy striker Fabio Borini from AS Roma for the new campaign.

Liverpool travel to West Bromwich Albion for their first game on Saturday.

Bayern banish final demons with Valencia win

 Bastian Schweinsteiger and Bayern Munich cast aside the bitter memories of their Champions League final defeat in May to begin the new campaign with a 2-1 Group F victory over Valencia on Wednesday.

Schweinsteiger, whose spot-kick miss in the final shootout on home turf allowed Chelsea to score and be crowned European champions, fired Bayern into the lead with a deflected shot in the 38th minute, much to the delight of the 68,000 sold-out crowd in Munich.

Midfielder Toni Kroos added a second when he scored with a 20-metre drive in the 76th minute.

Defensive-minded Valencia, in their first encounter with Bayern since losing to the Germans in the 2001 Champions League final, cut the deficit with a header from Nelson Valdez in stoppage time.

Bayern should then have made it 3-1 but substitute Mario Mandzukic saw his penalty saved by keeper Diego Alves after Adil Rami was sent off.

 
Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes sprang a surprise with his starting lineup, leaving top scorer Mandzukic on the bench and bringing in the experienced Claudio Pizarro. He also gave 40-million euro-signing Javi Martinez his first competitive start.

The hosts enjoyed the majority of possession but were made to work hard as cautious Valencia defended deeply.

Kroos tried his luck from 20 metres with a powerful drive but Alves was well-placed to save.

Bayern, who are top in the Bundesliga, kept at it and Schweinsteiger broke the deadlock after a well-timed pass by Arjen Robben.

Valencia, with only one win in four league games in Spain so far, posed no real threat, waiting for a chance to break and mainly relying on Algerian Sofiane Feghouli's speed for any offensive spark.

Kroos forced another good Alves save with a 20-metre missile on the hour before finally beating the Brazilian after he was left unmarked outside the box.

Valencia were given a ray of hope when substitute Valdez was caught a sleepy Bayern defence napping and the former Bundesliga player headed past Manuel Neuer.

Nadal recuperation on track, will not rush back

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal  Rafa Nadal's steady recuperation from a knee injury is proceeding according to plan and he is not going to rush back before it has healed properly, the world number four said. In an interview with Reuters in Madrid, the 11-times grand slam singles champion said he was still feeling some pain in his left knee and would only return to the court when that was no longer the case. "I am working as much as I can, I am doing everything they tell me to every day and the truth is that right now things are going well, more or less," the 26-year-old Spaniard said. "The only thing is that I need bit more time," he added. "We'll see how things develop in the next few weeks but my priority is to recover well, not quickly but well. "Obviously as soon as possible but the main thing is to have the certainty that you are fine when you do return. "I will return to the court when I feel that the knee no longer gives me any pain, whether that is in two weeks or in three or four." Majorca-native Nadal has been sidelined several times by knee injuries during his 11-year career and his latest was diagnosed as a partial tear of the patella tendon and an inflammation of the Hoffa's fat pad. The former number one has not played since suffering a shock second-round defeat to Czech Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon in June. He missed the Olympic Games after winning the title in 2008 and was forced to withdraw from the U.S. Open. Nadal is having intense physiotherapy and laser treatment and Spanish tennis federation (RFET) doctor Angel Ruiz-Cotorro said on Sept. 5 he could be back on court training within a month. AGGRESSIVE, DEMANDING "I think tennis is a very aggressive and demanding sport and obviously the knees suffer above all when you are playing on hard courts," Nadal said. "On fast courts the movements are much more aggressive, when you are playing at your maximum you have to push your body to the limit. "I have had problems with my knees, others have other problems. "The reality is that at the age of 26 and after a career of more than 10 years, with very good results, it has been my good fortune that my knees have not prevented me competing at the highest level for many years. "I hope that when I return they don't hinder me." Nadal played some of his best tennis in the first half of the year, losing narrowly to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open and winning a record seventh Roland Garros title on his favoured clay. He said his goal was to get back to a similar level of fitness to allow him to go toe-to-toe with the game's best again. "What I hope for is to be ready to compete again for everything I want to compete for, like I did in the first six months of the year," he said. "That is what I will try to achieve, it's what I will fight for and work every day. "I am 26 years old and I am confident I have plenty of years ahead. What I want is to recover well and to continue enjoying tennis and competition, which is what make me happy right now." EXCLUSIVE CLUB Nadal's Spain are chasing a fourth Davis Cup title in five years and play the Czech Republic in the Nov. 16-18 final. He said he did not know whether he would have recovered in time to feature. He has only lost one of 21 singles rubbers in the competition but 16 of those wins have come on clay and as the home team the Czechs are almost certain to select hard courts. "If things go well and I can make the final and the captain thinks I am the right person to play it then I'll be there," he said. "If not, I'll be supporting the guys from afar." Nadal has dominated the slams in recent years along with world number two Djokovic and number one Roger Federer but he said Andy Murray's U.S. Open win this month meant the Briton had finally joined their exclusive club. Murray's victory against Federer at Wimbledon to win the Olympic gold had given him the extra confidence to see off Djokovic in New York, Nadal added. "What has changed is his mentality," he said. "His game has not changed practically at all but winning the Olympic Games helped him a lot with the victory in New York. "Andy is a player with an impressive talent and I always said he would win a slam, not just one he'll win more than one." Nadal spoke to Reuters at the launch of Rafa Dream Day for sponsors PokerStars (www.pokerstars.com) where fans can win the chance to meet him, play him at tennis and compete against him in a poker game in Majorca. The interview was conducted on Sept. 17.

Chelsea win at Arsenal to extend unbeaten start

Premier League leaders Chelsea beat London rivals Arsenal 2-1 with goals from Spaniards Fernando Torres and Juan Mata on Saturday to maintain their unbeaten start to the season while handing Arsenal their first defeat.

Both Chelsea goals came as a result of Mata free kicks and poor Arsenal defending with Torres out-muscling Laurent Koscielny to volley the European champions ahead at the Emirates Stadium after 20 minutes for his third league goal of the season.

Gervinho equalised for Arsenal three minutes before the break when he turned crisply and fired into the roof of the net for his fourth goal of the campaign.

Chelsea, who started with skipper John Terry as he mulls an appeal over a four-game ban for racist abuse, regained the lead after 53 minutes when Mata's free kick eluded everyone before clipping Koscielny and flying in past keeper Vito Mannone.

The victory lifted Chelsea four points clear at the top, at least until the rest of the programme later on Saturday.

Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo told Sky Sports: "I thought we were excellent today and deservedly won the game. From the start to the end we never defended too deep, we tried to take the initiative and go forward and create chances and the game went for us today."

OTHER CHANCES

Disappointed Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said: "We were a bit nervous at the start ... But we should never have lost this game.

"It is sad because we gave the game away at home, we conceded two soft goals on set pieces. They had three shots on target and scored two goals and you cannot concede goals at home like we did today. We gave a lot and the least we deserved was a draw."

Arsenal, who started the day in fifth place after two wins and three draws in their opening league games, came close to saving a point three times but were denied by a great Petr Cech save, the woodwork and a late rash shot from substitute Olivier Giroud.

Cech made an excellent one-handed diving save to deny Lukas Podolski a headed goal after 59 minutes and Giroud, who replaced Podolski after 66 minutes, shot into the side-netting late in the game after going round Cech - to the despair of Wenger on the sidelines.

Koscielny, who had a miserable afternoon, almost made amends but saw a late header come back off the post.

Terry, who on Thursday was found guilty of using racist language towards Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand last year, was roundly booed by the home fans every time he touched the ball at first, as was former Arsenal defender Ashley Cole.

But as he has done so often in the past, former England skipper Terry appeared unaffected by his off-field troubles and was wildly applauded by the visiting fans and gave two young supporters his boots at the end of the match.