It’s back! The Bundesliga began its opening weekend with some thrilling moments to go with plenty of drama. If you’re looking for a unifying thread, the closest we can offer is “goals in bunches.” Momentum swung more than a few times on Saturday.
Friday was opening day, with Bayern Munich needing an absolutely stunning miss from Wolfsburg’s Junior Malanda to settle into a 2-1 win. American ‘starlet’ Julian Green made Pep Guardiola’s 18, but did not feature off the bench.
[ WATCH: Leverkusen scores fastest goal in Bundesliga history ]
And there are matches to play on Sunday, with newly-promoted Paderborn hosting Mainz and Stuttgart dueling with Borussia Monchengladbach.
But let’s dig into the meat of the schedule with Saturday’s matches.
Hannover 96 2-1 Schalke 04
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar opened his account early in the second half, but it was more of a wake-up call to the home team than anything else. Edgar Prib and Joselu scored twice in three minutes to give Hannover the points.
Koln 0-0 Hamburg
Twenty-nine combined shots, just eight on goal, in a snoozer. Koln picks up a point in its first game since promotion.
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 SC Freiburg
Haris Seferovic made a lot of fans at his club with a 15th minute goal that would stand as the winner. American defender Timmy Chandler did not play for the hosts, playing the role of unused substitute.
Hoffenheim 2-0 Augsburg
The goals came just two minutes apart, with Adam Szalai’s 33rd minute tally met by Tarik Elyounoussi’s 35th minute marker, and Hoffenheim cruised to all three points.
Hertha Berlin 2-2 Werder Bremen
Borussia Dortmund misfit striker Julian Schieber netted twice to give new team Hertha a 2-0 lead, but Assani Lukimya and Franco Di Santo scored twice in three minutes for the visitors to salvage a point. USMNT World Cup hero John Anthony Brooks was an unused substitute for Hertha.
Borussia Dortmund 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen
The fastest goal in Bundesliga history, nine seconds from the opening whistle, would’ve been enough for the visitors to walk away with all three points. Karim Bellarabi nutmegged Matthias Ginter and pushed a ball home for the win, and Stefan Kießling added a stoppage time goal to cement the win.
Standings |
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 3 |
| 1899 Hoffenheim | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 3 |
| Bayern Munich | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 3 |
| Hannover 96 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 3 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 3 |
| Werder Bremen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1 |
| Hertha BSC Berlin | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1 |
| 1. FC Köln | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1 |
| Hamburger SV | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1 |
| FSV Mainz 05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| Mönchen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| SC Paderborn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| VfB Stuttgart | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| FC Schalke 04 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0 |
| VfL Wolfsburg | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0 |
| SC Freiburg | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0-0-1 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| FC Augsburg | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0 |
