The Bundesliga returned after a month-long break and boy, did it do much to make fans of German football wonder how they survived those four weeks without the league.
While Bayern Munich impressed by barely allowing third-placed Gladbach a look at the ball in Friday night’s marquee matchup, the true fun this weekend came from the sides down at the bottom. Nurnberg, Freiburg and Frankfurt all grabbed three points — and beat some tough competition when doing so.
Friday
Borussia Mönchengladbach 0-2 Bayern Munich
It took just seven minutes for the visitors to assert their dominance. Just one minute after he hit the post, Gladbach allowed Mario Götze space to breathe once more, and the forward put Bayern Munich ahead. The visitors continued to control the game, dominating possession and generally reminding the world why they managed the quadruple last season. Early in the second half, a handball from Granit Xhaka gave Bayern a penalty, duly converted by Thomas Müller. With 24 shots, 64% possession and near-total dominance for the visitors, the scoreline actually flatters Gladbach a bit.
Saturday
Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Augsburg
Dortmund are falling further and further away from first, with this latest stumble keeping them 13 points behind Bayern Munich. Things got off to a lovely start when Sven Bender scored in the fifth minute – but then he had to go and score on the other end, too, leveling the scoreline in the 56th. Nuri Sahin put Dortmund back in front ten minutes later, but Dong-Won Ji grabbed a point for Augsburg with his header in the 72nd. To add to Dortmund’s misery, Jakub Blaszczykowski came off with injury early in the match, and it’s suspected the Pole has torn his ACL.
Freiburg 3-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Freiburg have pulled themselves out of the bottom three with a very surprising victory over second-place Leverkusen. Lars Bender went one better than his brother at Dortmund, putting his side ahead in the fourth minute (and not scoring an own goal, either). Admir Mehmedi put the hosts level, but Simon Rolfes gave Leverkusen the lead going into the interval. A free kick from Jonathan Schmid put Freiburg back in it, but it was his ball to Felix Klaus in the 90th minute that set up the hosts’ ultimate winning goal.
Nurnberg 4-0 Hoffenheim
Nurnberg pick up their first – yes, first – win of the season in a dramatic fashion, putting four goals past Hoffenheim. Timothy Chandler got the opener and Josip Drmic scored a brace around a goal from Daniel Ginczek. Hoffenheim are now just two points above the danger zone, but the win wasn’t enough to lift Nurnberg out of the bottom three. They’ll need to take a few more chances, rather than adding to their collection of eleven draws, for that to happen.
Stuttgart 1-2 Mainz
These two sides started the day off in 10th and 9th, respectively, but Mainz’s road win puts them up into 8th, while Stuttgart fall into 11th. The hosts very nearly managed to come away with a draw, holding on even after Shinji Okazaki canceled out Mohammed Abdellaoue’s opener. Then came an impressive goal from Benedikt Saller in the 87th minute to see Mainz trot out the victors.
Wolfsburg 1-3 Hannover
Wolfsburg really shouldn’t have dropped points at home to Hannover, but then again, this was a very strange weekend in the Bundesliga. The visitors got things started with a goal from Artjoms Rudnevs, but Ivica Olic had Wolfsburg level by the break. Shortly after the restart, Leonardo Bittencourt had Hannover in front once more, and his second goal put the game out of reach. Wolfsburg are now in danger of sliding into sixth, while Hannover leapfrog Stuttgart to reach 10th.
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 Hertha Berlin
Saturday’s games ended in a rather boring fashion, with Alexander Meier scoring the only goal in a match that featured just 12 shots from both sides combined. Frankfurt move to two points above the relegation places, while Hertha are now in danger of falling out of the European positions.
Sunday
Werder Bremen vs. Braunschweig
With the way this weekend is going, Braunschweig just might get another away win – although even three points won’t be enough to do more than put them even with Nurnberg. The hosts, however, would quite like those three points as well, seeing as they’re just three points above the relegation places at the moment.
Hamburg vs. Schalke
The weekend closes with yet another relegation battle, as Hamburg find themselves in the bottom three after Freiburg’s win. But if Schalke want to keep alive the hope of another year of Champions League play, they’re going to need a win, as they’re currently five points away from fourth.
