Match Summaries

Bayern München 2:2 Borussia Dortmund

Having sneaked through to the DFB-Pokal third round, Borussia Dortmund had the tough ask of travelling to Bavaria to face rivals Bayern München in ‘der Klassiker‘. In what ended up being a thrilling Saturday night headliner between the teams occupying first and second place, the spoils were shared, and the status quo was maintained.

Bayern, still suffering from the absence of head coach Vincent Kompany, as well as several key players such as Luis Díaz, had their occasion hampered by confirmed injuries to forwards Serge Gnabry and Ismael Saibari. Michael Olise also hobbled off late on, although he should be ok to play in their midweek Champions League fixture away to Atlético Madrid. Jobe Bellingham scored from a successful press in Bayern’s goalmouth, but it was chalked off for a foul by Carney Chukwuemeka jumping into goalkeeper Jonas Urbig. It was the unlikely figure of Konrad Laimer who officially opened the scoring directly after the match restarted, stealing in when Daniel Svensson slipped and tucking it away at the second time of asking against Gregor Kobel. My confusion at switching on the match with the score 1:0 to BVB, only to come back two minutes later with the score 1:0 to Bayern, is one of the more bizarre feelings I’ve experienced as a fan. A Felix Nmecha handball gave Harry Kane the chance to double the lead from the spot, but his effort crashed against the crossbar. Nico Schlotterbeck’s interception on the halfway line led to a real foray forward for Dortmund, and Serhou Guirassy capitalised on this to tie the game on the hour mark.

This lasted only five minutes, as a corner routine allowed Kane to head across for a Dayot Upamecano tap-in, with the French defender scoring in his second consecutive Bundesliga game. Bayern had chances to seal the three points and pull clear of their opponents, with Kane firing just wide of Kobel’s goal. But ultimately, they were left to rue their lack of ruthlessness in attack when Fábio Silva clinched an 89^th-minute equaliser. Silva arrived at a loose ball 12 yards from goal, trapping it and shooting on the turn low into Urbig’s far corner. Dortmund could hardly believe their luck; Bayern could hardly believe that they were so casual at the back.

Niko Kovač told the press that he believed his team claimed a deserved point, mainly due to maintaining a strong amount of possession (50% - not bad for teams visiting the Allianz Arena) and having the verve to attack directly whenever they went behind. The inquisition continues for Aaron Danks and his fellow coaches in Kompany’s absence, especially with the injury list of players entering the “crisis” level.

Bayer Leverkusen 2:4 Stuttgart

Are the wheels coming off for Bayer Leverkusen under new head coach Carles Martínez Novell? Die Werkself scarcely gave up a goalscoring opportunity at the first few matches of the season at the BayArena, but after last week’s 3:0 loss at Hoffenheim, this performance fell wildly short of anything resembling a bounce back. Stuttgart, on the other hand, took their chances well when they came, and were able to manage the game effectively to claim an important three points for them as they seek to find some consistency in the league.

Stuttgart went into a two-goal lead within the first quarter of the game, firstly through Ermedin Demirović exploiting a defensive mix-up to volley into an empty net in the 14^th minute. Jamie Leweling got the second, although he did not know much about it when Mark Flekken’s save rebounded in from his knee directly in the goalmouth following a corner. Due to injuries at right-back, Leweling had to deputise in an unfamiliar position, but scoring his first of the season should help him feel better. Patrik Schick pulled one back with good movement from a corner allowing a simple header to go in. Opportunities for an equaliser went close from Aleix García and Afonso Moreira, while Deniz Undav hit the crossbar for the visitors before half-time. Shortly following the restart, Bilal El Khannouss made it 3:1 with a low drive from 20 yards; Flekken appeared to be unsighted by all the bodies in front of him. A fast break 15 minutes later allowed Undav to play an inch-perfect pass beyond the last man for Demirović to seal the points, although questions have to be asked of the defending in this situation from the entire backline who seemed caught in two minds. Ibrahim Maza got one back for the home team, showing his striker’s instinct to head in an excellent Miguel Gutíerrez delivery from the left wing. It was obviously too little, too late for a side perplexed by the manner of the goals they conceded more than anything else.

With 63% of the ball and 46 touches inside Stuttgart’s penalty area, Leverkusen will feel that they dominated the game, including in terms of field tilt. Martínez Novell felt that the scoreline was ‘too high for the open game it was‘, and may have to just put the first home defeat of the season behind him. Sebastian Hoeneß was pleased with the first half performance in particular and praised his players for being to maintain the energy level to extend their lead, ultimately seeing out the win successfully. Leverkusen drop to sixth due to results elsewhere, while Stuttgart climb to a reasonable 11^th.

Elversberg 4:1 Mainz

The Friday night clash between Elversberg and Mainz ended up being a more one-sided affair than most had predicted, with the hosts making the best of their opportunities at the Ursapharm-Arena. Despite building an xG of just 0.94 in the game with six shots on target, a disappointing showing from the away team meant that the result made Elversberg’s own performance appear more assured than it probably felt for the players.

Felix Keidel gave Elversberg the lead on seven minutes with a fantastic free kick from a central position on the penalty arc, which forced Mainz to guess which corner of the goal the attempt would be directed towards. Leverkusen loanee Francis Onyeka then doubled the lead with his first Bundesliga goal, with the 19-year-old midfielder holding off a challenge and shooting underneath Robin Zentner, who will feel he should have done better. Elversberg went into half-time at 3:0, with a stoppage time goal from Maurice Krattenmacher, latching on to the loose ball from a corner kick, turning away from two players and slotting it home low past Zentner. Expectedly, the second half was rather sleep-inducing for the neutral, until the clock hit exactly 90 minutes. Substitute Cole Campbell chested a cross into the air, and met the ball mid-air with an acrobatic effort that beat Zentner at his near post while the red pyrotechnics lit up the ultras section behind the goal. Mainz then launched the ball from kickoff, and a Ransford Königsdörffer-Yeboah attempt came back off the post, with Benedict Hollerbach there to convert on the goal line for a consolation goal which also prevented Elversberg from achieving their first clean sheet at home this campaign. A second booking for Stefan Posch later on in stoppage time capped a sad evening for Mainz fans, despite it being inconsequential to the result.

Vincent Wagner was happy with the result, but quickly switched to express his unhappiness with the workload his players are being subjected to, particularly youth international such as Onyeka and Campbell who returned injured from the previous break. Mainz’s Urs Fischer has been blasé about previous defeats this season, however his patience seems to have snapped with his players. He described his player’s approach to duels as ‘not anywhere near the Bundesliga level‘. While Zentner had a poor game, he is an experienced professional and backed up his manager’s damning verdict, saying that ‘we looked like a bunch of schoolboys out there‘. Mainz need to get their act together before hosting Bayern on the weekend. Elversberg, meanwhile, leapfrogged Mainz into seventh place ahead of an equally challenging matchup away to Dortmund.

Eintracht Frankfurt 3:1 Hamburg

After a decent run of results between MD4 and MD6, Hamburg put in such a defensive disasterclass at the Deutsche Bank Park which makes me question how much progress they have truly made. For Adi Hütter’s Eintracht Frankfurt, having beaten Hamburg away in the cup in midweek 3:1, a second consecutive win by that scoreline pleased the Austrian coach as the club tries to climb back up the table and compete for European football.

Merlin Polzin clearly believes that his side have the technical quality to play through a press, but the evidence was missing during this performance. A lack of sharpness both in terms of passing accuracy and reacting to the press allowed die Adler in early on, and Younes Ebnoutalib should have scored. Only a few minutes later, Can Uzun found a gap in Hamburg’s backline, playing an exquisite pass to Farès Chaïbi. Chaïbi then put a pass across the goalmouth that was diverted in by Warmed Omari for an own goal, under pressure from Ebnoutalib. Hamburg quickly found a leveller through Terem Moffi from close range, when Lilian Brassier failed to deal with a cross efficiently. Raphael Onyedika opened his account for the club, capitalising on an error from Daniel Heuer Fernandes who parried a header back into the centre of the goal for a tap-in at the start of the second half. But after Chaïbi had a goal ruled out for offside, Ebnoutalib wrapped up the game with some intelligent movement, being found by Uzun and finishing at the near post. Niko Iličević nearly added one in stoppage time, the winger making his debut just one day after turning 16. This appearance made him the joint-youngest player in Bundesliga history, and the first player born in 2010 to feature in the league. A frightening thought.

Hütter’s public expression of disappointment with Uzun over the Turkish international’s recent performances caused some tension ahead of this match. Uzun’s solid showing allowed him to hit back in his post-match interview, saying ‘did I do well?‘, although he seemed to be joking. Polzin dismissed injuries to key players as a reason for this defeat, saying that his teams needed to be more courageous. Hamburg sink three places to 15^th, while Frankfurt rise to eighth.

Schalke 0:2 RB Leipzig

Where to begin with Schalke? Not only have they failed to score in their last four matches in all competitions, being dumped out of the cup by Dynamo Dresden (who are in danger of relegation to the third tier), but they have only scored in two of eight Bundesliga matches overall. It’s hard for them to even create chances, let alone find the net, and that will be the most worrying aspect for Miron Muslić. As for RB Leipzig, they seem to have found a solution to their atrocious away form, or perhaps they were just grateful for the negative atmosphere around the Veltins-Arena.

A Willi Orbán header in the third minute cannoned in off defender Timo Becker for what would have been a Schalke own goal, but Orbán was offside and the goal was chalked off. But Leipzig did not let up, and some lazy defensive recovery allowed Rômulo to nip in and win a penalty from Satoshi Tanaka. Antonio Nusa converted despite Loris Karius nearly reaching it, to get Leipzig’s first away Bundesliga goal this season. In first-half stoppage time, Rômulo reached a rebound and scored again, but the ball had travelled marginally over the byline in the build-up. Schalke could not contain Leipzig in the second half, and particularly Nusa, who laid it off for Rômulo to get his well-earned goal in the 78^th minute to put the result beyond doubt.

Muslić looked defeated in the press conference and announced that he plans to ditch his defensive tactics in the hope that he can get his side to start scoring some goals. He stated: ‘we cannot be satisfied with 0:0 draws... we must also accept that we may need to give up some defensive stability‘. On the evidence of this game, the defence lacks stability anyway. In the other dugout, Martín Demichelis is well-aware of his low level of job security, telling the media that ‘if we do not achieve [the club’s] goals by the end of the season, I will leave of my own accord‘. Leipzig moved into the top four with this win, while Schalke remain in 17^th.

Augsburg 1:2 Freiburg

The only comeback win of the weekend happened at the WWK Arena in Augsburg, where the home side extended their winless run to six games against a Freiburg team that did well to bounce back from a poor showing against Bayern last week. With both teams having progressed in the cup in midweek, they seemed up for a fight in this one, but Freiburg’s quality won out despite their limited goalscoring opportunities, ultimately scoring from their only two shots on target.

Augsburg hit the front in the 18^th minute when some of Freiburg’s backline went AWOL, allowing Michael Gregoritsch to reach a cross unmarked and in acres of space to net against his former employers. Matthias Ginter was the primary culprit, losing sight of Gregoritsch as they ran towards the box together. Freiburg remained poor throughout the first half, looking more fatigued than their opponents, so it was hardly surprising that their goals ended up coming from substitutes. Igor Matanović had the first, sweeping in from a brilliant passing sequence in the 65^th minute. Cyriaque Irié produced a late winner moments after being introduced, rising to meet one of Vincenzo Grifo’s timeless deliveries from the left wing and heading low past Finn Dahmen.

Julian Schuster was full of praise for his side for their hard-fought win, noting that they ‘struggled for a long time against a very dangerous opponent‘. Manuel Baum, however, has questions to answer after squandering another lead – the fifth time they have gone ahead and failed to maintain it during this six-game winless streak.

Werder Bremen 2:0 Hoffenheim

It may still be early days in the season, with only a quarter of the total matches played, but it seems clear that Werder Bremen are the surprise package of the Bundesliga. Daniel Thioune’s men are unbeaten in seven league games and are increasingly looking like good value for their wins. This streak is no doubt thanks to the dynamic duo of Niclas Füllkrug and Marco Grüll in attack, who both made contributions against Hoffenheim, who themselves are suffering from inconsistency in both performances and results.

Werder struggled to retain possession but could have taken the lead on several occasions during a goalless first half, with chances from Ludovit Reis, Füllkrug and Arthur going begging. Mitchell Weiser was also taken off injured after just 16 minutes, a worrying sign for a player that was sidelined for over a year and only returned recently. For the visitors, Adam Hložek went close with a back post header that was cleared off the line. The opener ultimately came from a route one punt from goalkeeper Karl Hein, while Füllkrug fought off two defenders and displayed a rare burst of pace, thundering the ball into the roof of the net on his left foot. This goal was his 12^th of the season in all competitions after two in midweek against Dortmund, including a brilliant solo effort. He is playing with incredible confidence now, leading the Bundesliga golden boot race with nine, and equalling Rudi Völler’s club record of scoring in seven consecutive league matches. Hoffenheim threatened to equalise, but Werder sealed the win through substitute Eren Dinkçi who was set up nicely by Grüll, a seventh assist of the season for the Austrian.

Christian Ilzer was asked about his side’s personnel crisis after the game, but he responded by saying that you don’t win football matches by whining, which encapsulates his attitude to Hoffenheim’s problems. Thioune, meanwhile, can probably hardly believe how well his team is performing given their pre-season jitters – he labelled the performance “mature” given its even nature before the first goal. Werder climb one position to fifth, only three points from the top, while Hoffenheim languish in 12^th.

Union Berlin 1:1 Köln

Having been battered 5:0 at the RheinEnergieStadion in the midweek cup fixture, Union Berlin were not looking forward to welcoming Köln to their own home in Köpenick. However, in this fairly uninspiring match between two teams that have struggled to find the net, the points were ultimately shared.

Union right-back Janik Haberer scored for the second Bundesliga game in a row to put the home side a goal up in the tenth minute. Livan Burcu found striker Tim Skarke inside the penalty box, who turned around to find Haberer just a few yards from goal. Union held on for the majority of the match, fighting off a Köln side that ended up controlling possession due to the game state, with Said El Mala going closest to an equaliser when he blazed it high over the bar from close range. But El Mala’s older brother Malek, making his debut for the club from the bench, got the all-important goal 11 minutes from time. A low cross from the younger brother was mishit by Alessio Castro-Montes, with Malek meeting the ball at the back post and prodding it in to ensure that Köln travelled home with something to cheer about.

René Wagner told the press that he expected Union’s ultra-defensive approach, having just conceded five to his team a few days prior, and that a draw was probably a fair result. Mauro Lustrinelli, understandably still reeling from the 5:0 defeat, said that ‘it was not the plan‘ to stop attacking after half-time, and therefore his players only have themselves to blame for failing to see out the win.

Borussia Mönchengladbach 0:0 Paderborn

There always has to be one match that lets everyone down, and this week it was arguably the most predictable one on the fixture list. Borussia Mönchengladbach hosted Paderborn in a North-Rhine Westphalia derby at Borussia-Park on Saturday afternoon, and the home team will feel that it was two points dropped.

Gladbach had the better opportunities during the game, such as when Robin Hack attempted to chip Nahuel Noll from distance, but the ball landed just wide of the post. Joe Scally bundled the ball over the line for the hosts as well, but he was quite obviously fouling the goalkeeper while scoring, and VAR overturned the on-field decision. Noll made two more top saves, including in a 1v1 against Scally who should have tried to give it to Wael Mohya. Overall, Gladbach probably should have won this game, but they will have to make do with a point, especially considering they seem to have finally turned a corner since their six straight defeats to open the campaign.

Team of the Week

GK: Karl Hein – Werder Bremen - 9 points

Hein has stepped up from his role as a reserve last season to now being instrumental to Werder’s great start to the season. He impressed again with several saves, and produced a brilliant assist for the opening goal via a long ball from his weak foot.

RB: Jamie Leweling – Stuttgart – 8 points

Having struggled for consistent game time this season, Leweling was asked to play out of position as a full-back against Bayer Leverkusen due to injuries to their two regular options. Leweling adjusted to this fantastically while staying true to his ability as a winger by scoring a goal (fortuitously), also completing three dribbles and completing six passes into the final third.

CB: Tjark Scheller – Paderborn – 3 points

Paderborn’s back three have a thankless task to complete all season, but they have done well to limit opponents to scoring only nine goals against them in eight games. Scheller has missed just five minutes of these games, and at 6ft4 he is an imposing figure in the centre of that back three. He had a strong game against Gladbach, being a key player in building out from the back, able to play short or long, and ultimately keeping a clean sheet again.

CB: Yoane Gadou – Borussia Dortmund – 1 point

The French teenager made his Dortmund debut against Bayern in the Supercup back in August, and it did look like he was overawed at times on the night. I was keen to see how he would handle the importance of this occasion, and he delivered an assured performance to help his side claim an important point. He may not have been their best player, but he was strong in duels, made five tackles and was constantly playing progressive passes through Bayern’s press, and thoroughly deserves a mention this week.

LB: Konrad Laimer – Bayern München - 2 points

Laimer did play in his preferred role as right-back against Dortmund, but for the lack of strong left-back performances on MD8, he makes it into my team in this spot. Laimer opened the scoring on the night and should have scored another, so I was impressed by his ability to find space in attacking moments, as well as his contribution to pressing from the front. He had the most touches in the opponent’s box on the night, with nine, and created several chances for his team.

CM: Felix Keidel – Elversberg – 7 points

Having earned a call-up to Jürgen Klopp’s first international camp, raising eyebrows in the process, Keidel has continued his solid performances and was Elversberg’s standout player in their demolition job over Mainz. His early free kick goal showed off his technical prowess, but he also possesses a great tactical understanding and positional sense. It’s impressive for a player that used to be a full-back, with his role change putting him in the bracket of a Philipp Lahm or a Joshua Kimmich.

CM: Raphael Onyedika – Eintracht Frankfurt – 6 points

Onyedika impressed me in the Champions League last year with Club Brugge when I saw him play, so I was a bit surprised that he seemed to start slowly under Adi Hütter. He is not a flashy player, but he is able to keep the ball extremely well, and can also break up play as needed. Unfortunately, that means his work often goes unnoticed, but a rare goal contribution this weekend helps the Nigerian make his way into my team.

CM: Yannik Engelhardt – Freiburg – 4 points

Freiburg needed someone to take control of the match after a poor first-half showing, and Engelhardt was happy to oblige. He was credited with the assist for the equaliser, although it looked as though it was a dummy on first viewing, but he mainly seemed to be popping up in a different part of the pitch continuously; it made me think he must have a third lung.

AM: Can Uzun – Eintracht Frankfurt - 5 points

Presumably, it’s not nice to be called out by your coach in a public forum, which allows the media to speculate about all aspects of your life. But Can Uzun delivered a strong response to his manager’s criticisms with a standout performance. Although he only got one official assist, he delivered a key pass for the opening (own) goal, took some decent shots from range and showcased his composure in tight spaces to keep the ball.

AM: Antonio Nusa – RB Leipzig – 10 points

I’m running out of superlatives for this guy. Every time he decides he wants to perform, he just does, and Leipzig end up dominating the game. He is much more consistent this season than he has been since signing two years ago, finally seeming as though he can fulfil the promise he showed as a teenager. Still just 21, Leipzig won’t be keeping hold of him for much longer. A penalty goal and an assist in a 2:0 win – job done.

ST: Ermedin Demirović – Stuttgart – 11 points

The only player this weekend to score more than once, Demirović’s brace against Bayer Leverkusen makes him an automatic inclusion in this team. They may not have been his most difficult finishes, but he is an excellent poacher and that was exemplified in this game.

Manager: Daniel Thioune – Werder Bremen

It’s about time I show Thioune some love with these newsletters. Sure, there are a couple of standout individuals that seem to make the difference for his side, and he is not doing anything revolutionary with his setup, but he seems to be getting the most out of a squad that, on paper, seemed destined for a relegation scrap before the season began. He is seizing his first opportunity to coach in the Bundesliga with both hands.

Leaderboards

Player Leaderboard

37 – Antonio Nusa
18 – Miguel Gutiérrez
17 – Marco Grüll
15 – Michael Olise
14 – Harry Kane
12 – Sheraldo Becker, Niclas Füllkrug, Yannik Engelhardt, Karl Hein
11 – Loris Karius, Younes Ebnoutalib, Matthias Ginter, Christopher Nkunku, Anthony Caci, Luis Díaz, Wael Mohya, Ermedin Demirović
10 – Philipp Mwene, Yuito Suzuki, Laurin Curda, Miro Muheim, Ibrahim Maza, Andrej Kramarić
9 – Anton Kade, Adam Hložek, Finn Dahmen, Angelo Stiller, Joe Scally, Can Uzun
8 – Daniel Svensson, Lukas Petkov, Alexander Prass, Rômulo, Jamie Leweling
7 – Fabian Rieder, Michael Gregoritsch, Felix Nmecha, Nicolás Capaldo, Maximilian Eggestein, Dayot Upamecano, Felix Keidel
6 – Ridle Baku, Robin Gosens, Zeno van den Bosch, Edmond Tapsoba, Raphael Onyedika
5 – Four players
4 – Three players
3 – Five players
2 – Four players
1 – Four players

Manager Leaderboard

1 – Urs Fischer, René Wagner, Julian Schuster, Vincent Kompany, Martín Demichelis, Carles Martínez Novell, Alexander Blessin, Daniel Thioune

2. : 3. Recap: 2. Bundesliga MD10, 3. Liga MD12

Fixture Round-up

Hertha Berlin march on towards a return to the top flight by outclassing Kaiserslautern in a 3:0 away win on Sunday in the 2. Bundesliga. Kaiserslautern had kept seven clean sheets in their opening nine games, so despite Hertha’s obvious quality, it was still surprising at how the hosts were dismantled. Nürnberg held on to second place with an away win of their own, wearing down St. Pauli to eventually win 3:1. With ‘Lautern slipping up, Wolfsburg took advantage by overcoming a stubborn Osnabrück, while Magdeburg failed to capitalise in a 1:1 at strugglers Darmstadt, the only draw of MD10. With the bottom six clubs all on eight points after MD9 last week, there were plenty of positions up for grabs. One match between two of that bottom six was Hannover vs. Dynamo Dresden, with the home side coming out on top with a 2:1 win. Bochum won at Energie Cottbus to leapfrog their opponents, while Karlsruher SC achieved an impressive win over Heidenheim, allowing these clubs to draw clear of the relegation zone temporarily. Arminia Bielefeld and Greuther Fürth were the other winners of MD10, achieving home wins against Eintracht Braunschweig and Holstein Kiel, respectively.

We have a new leader in the 3. Liga, as Viktoria Köln’s 1:0 victory at Hoffenheim II sent them above early pacesetters Duisburg. Duisburg squandered a big first-half lead to tie at home to Stuttgart II, after going a man down while up 3:0. The two clubs are now level on 26 points, with Rot-Weiß Essen keeping pace in third just two points behind by beating Sonnenhof Großaspach 1:0. Wehen Wiesbaden continue in a positive run of form with four wins from five, climbing up to sixth with a 4:1 win at SC Verl. Saarbrücken and Alemannia Aachen remain between Wiesbaden and the playoff spot by claiming wins of their own, over Waldhof Mannheim and Preußen Münster, respectively. Jahn Regensburg and Würzburger Kickers were the other winners of MD12, with both clubs climbing out of the relegation zone. Kickers beat fellow relegation candidates Fortuna Köln, while Jahn beat Hansa Rostock, who are now winless in four. Fortuna Düsseldorf were held 0:0 at home to Meppen, despite dominating proceedings.

Players of the Week

My vote for 2. Bundesliga player of the week goes, surprisingly, to a left-back. As mentioned, Kaiserslautern are tough to break down, but Hertha’s Mads Valentin Pedersen delivered with two assists, the first a dangerous low ball across the face of the goal, and the second an improvised chip over the goalkeeper to meet his teammate’s head in the middle.

In the 3. Liga, Meppen faced a tough test away to Fortuna Düsseldorf, and it was because of heroics from goalkeeper Julius Pünt that meant the visitors were able to claim a point. Pünt made eight saves in total for Meppen to extend their unbeaten streak to five matches, three of which have included clean sheets.

Managers of the Week

The 2. Bundesliga manager of the week goes to Karlsruher SC’s Maximilian Senft for the job he did over a Heidenheim side that are slightly out of form, but possess far better individual quality. Senft set his side up defensively, for sure, with a back five, three central midfielders, and a front two that included Tim Civeja, who usually plays as a defensive midfielder if anything. Civeja scored the opener, and talisman Marvin Wanitzek made it two late on – Heidenheim’s even later response was the only negative from this performance.

My choice for 3. Liga manager for MD12 is Jochen Seitz of Wehen Wiesbaden. Partly due to the guilt of not awarding it to him last week despite a 7:1 win, but also because winning 4:1 on the road is always a positive and should be commended. With the game level at half-time Wiesbaden went ahead early in the second half, held on to the lead well, and hit Verl with two stoppage time goals to seal the points.

This Week’s Fixtures

It’s another European fixture round in midweek! On Tuesday, Stuttgart travel to Istanbul to face giants Galatasaray, with Bayern München heading to another cauldron to face Atlético Madrid at the venue of this season’s Champions League final, the Metropolitano Stadium. No travelling required for German clubs on Wednesday, as Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig host Real Betis and Manchester City, respectively. Leipzig have lost three in a row against City by an aggregate scoreline of 13:3, so hopefully this time will be more successful for the hosts. On Thursday evening, Bayer Leverkusen host Olympique Marseille in the Europa League, and Hoffenheim go to London to face Crystal Palace. Also in action in the Conference League are Freiburg, who are up against the mighty Mo Salah in Turkey at Trabzonspor.

As for the last Bundesliga matchday before the international break, the big clash is probably Köln vs. Bayer Leverkusen, one of the many Rheinland derbies, taking place on Sunday afternoon. Friday night’s clash between Hamburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach should be another interesting watch.

In the 2. Bundesliga, the headline fixture is certainly the one on Saturday night at the Olympiastadion between Hertha Berlin and Wolfsburg. The visitors came into this season expecting the second tier to be a cakewalk, but Hertha are already nine points ahead of their upcoming opponent. With those two fighting it out for supremacy, Nürnberg need to do a professional job in their match at home to lowly Darmstadt, or else it would be an opportunity wasted.

The 3. Liga has no big derby or rivalry matches either this week, so my picks are both simply ones relevant to the promotion race: Viktoria Köln vs. Saarbrücken on Friday evening, and Rot-Weiß Essen vs. Alemannia Aachen on Saturday lunchtime.

Bis nächste Woche! Tschüss!

With the excitement of the DFB-Pokal second round coming to a close on Wednesday evening, some of the exciting clashes led me to wonder: would it be possible for the DFB/DFL-Ligapokal to make a comeback in a new format?

On Tuesday night, we saw two Bundesliga sides knocked out by opponents from the 2. Bundesliga, namely Elversberg and Mainz, who lost 2:0 to Darmstadt and Bochum, respectively. On Wednesday night, Schalke suffered the same fate at Dynamo Dresden, while Hoffenheim were knocked out on penalties at Holstein Kiel. Nürnberg even put themselves two goals up at Bayer Leverkusen, although they eventually lost 5:2.

However, none of the remaining 3. Liga sides came close to beating higher-tier opposition, much less Regionalliga Nord side SSV Jeddeloh, who contained Hertha Berlin for nearly an hour, but ultimately lost 2:0.

All this had me thinking about the lost Ligapokal, a competition that ran as a permanent fixture in the German football calendar from 1997 to 2007. While England has the increasingly unpopular League Cup (also known as the Carabao Cup), and the Jersey Mike’s Trophy (still the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in my brain), Germany has never had a true mass-participation alternative to the DFB-Pokal.

I want it to be clear that this is pure conjecture from my side – there have been no recent suggestions of re-introducing the Ligapokal. But with the 3. Liga now nearing its 20^th season in existence, but its teams rarely going deep in the Pokal (save for Saarbrücken, who made the 2023/24 semi-finals), could the competition be set up in a way that provides smaller sides with an advantage?

What was the original Ligapokal, and how did it work?

The Ligapokal was an annual competition between 1997 and 2007 that saw six clubs compete for silverware towards the end of preseason, usually around late July. From 1997 to 2004, the competition was known as the DFB-Ligapokal, before spending three seasons as the DFL-Ligapokal. This is a key distinction, as the DFB oversees nearly all of German football – the national team(s), the Frauen-Bundesliga (women’s Bundesliga), the 3. Liga (men’s third tier), amateur and semi-pro football, and futsal. However, the DFL specifically administers the top two tiers of men’s football – the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga.

If this all sounds confusing, that’s because it is, especially since the DFL changed its registered name to Bundesliga e. V. (e. V. is a status for a registered association) at the start of the 2026/27 season. The Ligapokal was administered by the DFB, then the DFL, but the 3. Liga did not begin until 2008/09, so there was never an opportunity for its teams to ever participate.

For almost every edition of the Ligapokal, the top six from the previous campaign were able to participate, with the sides in 3^rd to 6^th competing in a preliminary round, followed by semi-finals against the top two, and a grand final. The grand final was always held at a neutral venue that would otherwise rarely get to hold a significant fixture in the calendar – be it the Zentralstadion in Leipzig, the Carl-Benz-Stadion in Mannheim, the Ruhrstadion in Bochum or the Bruchwegstadion in Mainz.

If the club that won the DFB-Pokal had not finished in the top two of the Bundesliga, they would get a bye to the semi-final, and the league runners-up would get demoted to playing the preliminary round. If clubs achieved entry to the UEFA Intertoto Cup, they would be replaced by clubs that finished beneath them in the table instead, which allowed teams like Bochum, Hansa Rostock, and even Karlsruher SC as 2. Bundesliga winners to participate in the Ligapokal.

Bayern München predictably ran out winners on six occasions, while Hertha Berlin won it twice, and Hamburg, Schalke and Werder Bremen each lifted the trophy once.

What happened to it, and why would it be brought back now?

In the 2008 summer break, mass unavailability of players caused by the German national team reaching the final of UEFA Euro 2008 meant that the Ligapokal could not be held. Instead, a one-off match was held between the league winners and cup winners – on this occasion, Bayern and Borussia Dortmund. The newly formed DFL-Supercup effectively replaced the Ligapokal from this point onwards and is now named the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup.

Why would it be brought back? Well, nobody said it would, but I think it’s an interesting time to open up the discussion. Since the Ligapokal ended, Bayern have won the Pokal eight times, Dortmund three times, RB Leipzig twice, and Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen, Schalke, Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt and Stuttgart once. So, a decent spread, but on ten occasions the Pokal winner was also the Bundesliga champion that season. Therefore, a different cup competition could see other clubs come to the fore if the traditional ‘big’ clubs cannot compete on an extra front. It would allow new winners to emerge, and perhaps even get a UEFA Conference League entrance.

Lower division sides have occasionally gone deep into the competition. In 2023/24, the semi-final matchups were between 3. Liga Saarbrücken, 2. Bundesliga Kaiserslautern and Fortuna Düsseldorf, and the invincible Bayer Leverkusen. The following season, third-tier Arminia Bielefeld made it all the way to the final where Stuttgart comfortably brushed them aside. Going further back, Schalke beat second-tier Duisburg in the 2011 final, with the runners-up having beaten fellow second-tier Energie Cottbus in the semis. So, it is possible for smaller clubs to compete well and dream big in the Pokal, but a Ligapokal could ultimately be a more fruitful opportunity.

How would a new Ligapokal work?

There are countless potential formats for a new version of the Ligapokal, but I’ve decided to narrow it down to three possible options that I think are the strongest. All of these formats would have to be scattered throughout the season, instead of being a preseason tournament like the original format, but I think there are ways of making it work.

Between the three tiers of German professional football, there are 56 teams, which is a somewhat awkward number to deal with. In the DFB-Pokal, 64 teams compete, but not all 3. Liga teams qualify to participate. Reserve teams, for instance, are barred from competing, which rules out Hoffenheim II and Stuttgart II from this season’s 3. Liga. 21 spots are given to the cup winners of regional associations, which allows a number of teams from the fourth and fifth tiers to compete. The smaller side is always drawn at home for the first round, although due to not having proper stadia, they often play at an effective ‘neutral’ venue, anyway.

My first idea would be to simply enter all 56 teams from the top three tiers, as well as the remaining teams from the Regionalliga that finished strongest the previous season without being promoted. The main issue with this is that the word ‘Ligapokal’ implies that the teams must be from one of the professional divisions, but in the name of simplicity, it could be allowed.

The second idea is more reminiscent of the Jersey Mike’s Trophy. Reserve teams are forbidden from competing in the Ligapokal, but in England, teams from the U-21 Premier League are in the draw and it gives these young players some good experience of men’s football. They often struggle, anyway, so presumably it helps them to learn and grow. My thinking on this is, why not put the reserve teams from the Bundesliga, most of whom play in the Regionalliga anyway, into a cup competition with teams from the 2. Bundesliga and 3. Liga? They could be grouped regionally, just as England separates north vs. south, to help cut costs for clubs to travel. 54 teams (since Hoffenheim and Stuttgart reserves play in the third tier already), split into 18 groups of three, with the winner of each group advancing to a second round with six more groups of three. The eight best-performing teams go on to play quarters, semis, and a final. That means seven extra fixtures for the teams that reach the final, but if they are only playing league football and maybe two DFB-Pokal fixtures, this still leaves them playing 42-46 games per season at most, depending on which league they play in.

My third concept is my favourite one, however. Take out the reserve sides again, leaving 36 teams in the 2. Bundesliga and 3. Liga (would have to be adjusted depending on how many reserve sides are in the 3. Liga in any given season). Split the 36 into nine groups of four, and the 14 best-performing sides progress to a round of 32 which is where the Bundesliga sides enter. Straight knockouts from there until the end. Sounds simple enough. I just want to avoid bringing back a Ligapokal where only the top six sides compete and allow them to continue stocking silverware. Did Bayern really need all those Ligapokal titles to their name, especially when they only had to play two matches to achieve it?

Is there a chance that it will happen?

The short answer is - no. There is not enough appetite to crowd an already busy fixture schedule even further, even amongst the clubs that only compete in the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal. Then there is the question of whether the fans would be particularly bothered. Midweek fixtures are already reasonably unpopular in Germany due to the time it often takes to travel. Sure, if you’re an Arsenal fan travelling to Aston Villa for a Wednesday night match, for example, you can be back in N5 about 90 minutes after leaving Villa Park. But try explaining that to a Wolfsburg fan that travelled to Freiburg for the cup fixture during the week, for which it takes six hours to drive or six hours by train.

Even if it were to get picked up, we would then have the question of whether broadcasters would be willing to take it on. Live TV production incurs costs, and if there is barely any interest from match-going fans, I wouldn’t expect there to be much interest from viewers at home, either. This would just make it a waste of money and time for any broadcaster willing to take on Osnabrück vs. Waldhof Mannheim in a group fixture.

All in all, the idea of a Ligapokal returning, in whatever format, seems a long way off. It doesn’t change the fact that it is fun for me to draw up potential plans for one. For now, we will have to stick to our regularly scheduled programming.

Match Summaries

Stuttgart 2:3 Borussia Mönchengladbach

In the Friday night clash between two of this season’s Bundesliga strugglers, Borussia Mönchengladbach finally got off the board with their first points of the season after a strong performance at the MHP Arena. This halved their deficit to the teams immediately above them, including Stuttgart, who are still on just six points after seven games. In my weekly non-newsletter article, I investigated the reasons as to why Gladbach have been struggling on (and off) the pitch but made it clear that I believe Alexander Blessin is capable of getting the club to climb out of its predicament.

Stuttgart drew first blood in this game under the floodlights when they played long from a goal kick in the 5^th minute. Ermedin Demirović fired the bouncing ball in from a long way out, stinging the palms of Moritz Nicolas who should have been able to keep it out. Wearing the armband on the night, the Stuttgart captain hardly celebrated since he was just as surprised as everyone else. Despite continuing to dominate possession, Stuttgart conceded an equaliser shortly before half-time. Good work from teenage sensation Wael Mohya down the left flank created a crossing opportunity for Gladbach, and although it was headed away, Zento Uno’s returning volley was flicked in by Joe Scally with a backheel. Mohya got the better of his direct opponent again to create the second, laying it off to Shuto Machino for a close-range finish just five minutes after the restart. Mohya then gave Gladbach daylight 15 minutes later – his initial shot was cleared off the line, and some pinball between the goalkeeper and Scally resulted in the American’s lofted pass finding Mohya to head in from directly underneath the crossbar. Demirović had his second with enough time left to keep things interesting, heading in an inviting delivery from Jamie Leweling. Gladbach held on to claim a huge win, and with eight senior players still injured, they deserve a lot of credit for rallying against Champions League opposition.

With an xG of 2.6 to 1.5, and four big chances created to two, few could say that die Fohlenelf did not deserve to take the three points. The inquisition started immediately at Stuttgart, with Sebastian Hoeneß saying that the fans and players were probably too comfortable about securing an easy win, especially after scoring early. Blessin, having won in his home city, said that he was ‘simply happy for the team’ to get the win and avoid becoming the first team in Bundesliga history to lose the first seven matches in a row. But keen to not get ahead of himself, he stressed the importance of backing up the win in Tuesday’s DFB-Pokal fixture at Karlsruher SC.

Freiburg 1:3 Bayern München

Sticking with the Auswärtssieg theme, Bayern München were successful on the road for only the second time in the league this season, beating a strong Freiburg team in the Sunday evening Topspiel. This was Freiburg’s third consecutive defeat in all competitions having been undefeated prior, and they certainly showed signs of fatigue after their 3:0 defeat at Monaco on Thursday night. Bayern, having drawn 2:2 at home to Arsenal, were missing several key figures for this game. Head coach Vincent Kompany remains in hospital fighting a viral infection, while club captain Manuel Neuer is sidelined with injury, alongside Jamal Musiala, Luis Díaz, Kim Min-Jae and Aleksandar Pavlović. Vice-captain Joshua Kimmich also remained unavailable as he is on bereavement leave, allowing Harry Kane to take the armband for this one.

Although Kane led the team to three points, he did not get himself on the scoresheet the day before he potentially claims the Ballon d’Or in his home city, London. It was Dayot Upamecano that raced through for the opener, as Freiburg overcommitted, and the French centre-back showed fantastic composure to stick it beyond Mio Backhaus. Serge Gnabry doubled the visitors’ lead shortly before half-time, outpacing Jan-Niklas Beste to reach Nathaniel Brown’s through pass and finishing from a narrow angle. Freiburg thought they had a route back into the game in the 82^nd minute when a Jordy Makengo pass from the byline inadvertently found its way in from the foot of Tom Bischof. Cyriaque Irié nearly equalised right after and Matthias Ginter had a good header saved. But truthfully, Freiburg were quite toothless in contrast to their usual selves for the first 80 minutes of the game and left it too late to try get a result. Michael Olise sealed the win in the 5^th minute of stoppage time when Backhaus got his feet mixed up 40 yards from goal, Olise stealing it off him and scoring in the empty net.

Bayern put themselves back at the top of the table, putting themselves four points clear of Freiburg, who remain in 3^rd place. Julian Schuster said that ‘you can’t always defend everything’ when questioned about how Upamecano was able to run through clear on goal for the opener, believing that he was right to try to attack Bayern instead of sitting deep. Perhaps a touch naive, but viewers can certainly appreciate the ambition.

RB Leipzig 4:0 Elversberg

RB Leipzig’s topsy-turvy season persists, as they brushed aside Bundesliga newcomers Elversberg at the Red Bull Arena on Saturday afternoon. 41,000 spectators saw the Saxony club struggle to carve out chances in a drab first half, but Leipzig dominated the second period to come through with the win. Removing the 6:0 win against fourth-tier Eintracht Trier in the cup, this MD7 result gives them a total score of 19:0 in five home games, and 19:4 in five away games across the Bundesliga and Champions League.

Antonio Nusa came closest to breaking the deadlock during the first half, curling a shot just over the bar, while a David Mokwa volley from distance troubled Leipzig’s stand-in goalkeeper, Ørjan Nyland. It was young French forward Tidiam Gomis shortly after half-time who got the opener, however, when Nusa found him in acres of space in the middle of the penalty area and he finished first time with a low, left-footed shot. Perhaps sensing that a lack of a traditional striker was harming his side, Martín Demichelis introduced Rômulo at the break, and his decision paid off when a speculative Nusa pass found the Brazilian, who used his strength to hold off the defender and power a shot in between the goalkeeper’s legs. The substitutes then linked up for more, with Christian Baumgartner adding a third in the 84^th minute, heading in a Brajan Gruda cross, and Rômulo getting a second in stoppage time, tapping in a smart backheel pass from Abdoul Koné.

Having made eight changes after Wednesday’s 4:1 defeat at Real Madrid, Demichelis praised his side for being able to match Elversberg’s intensity and the quality in front of goal. Vincent Wagner acknowledged Leipzig’s superiority at the individual level and is surely just hoping to put this one behind him. Leipzig leapfrogged their opponents due to this result, climbing to 5^th, while Elversberg slip to 8^th.

Mainz 2:3 Werder Bremen

Daniel Thioune’s green-and-white army extended their unbeaten streak to six matches with a hard-fought win away to Mainz. The Karnevalsverein have been rather inconsistent to begin this season, although it is still a marked improvement on their shocking form at the outset of the 2025/26 season, but they will feel that they deserved something from this game. Werder Bremen took their opportunities, though, and that proved to be the difference.

Niclas Füllkrug opened the scoring from the penalty spot early on, when right-back Arthur burst down the wing, had a shot saved, and was fouled when he collected the rebound. Füllkrug’s goal extended his scoring streak to six games, now just one game away from tying the club record of the iconic Rudi Völler, and it puts him clear at the top of this season’s golden boot race. A second penalty allowed Füllkrug to extend his lead, bagging his 8^th of the season after Marco Grüll was clumsily taken out by Danny da Costa. Mainz wing-back Anthony Caci scored his third of the season to half the deficit ahead of the pause by heading in Sheraldo Becker’s cross. Summer recruit Ludovit Reis converted a third for Werder on the hour mark with a heavily deflected shot from the edge of the box, his third goal for his new club. The two-goal lead lasted only two minutes, as Lee Jae-Sung flicked a header from Caci’s delivery into the far corner of Karl Hein’s goal. Werder had their backs to the wall from this point on but defended valiantly to the end. Phillip Tietz and Nadiem Amiri missed the home side’s best opportunities to equalise.

Thioune praised his team’s structural cohesiveness in the first part of the game, which allowed them to win the two penalties from fast breaks on either wing. Having set a new record of three consecutive games without losing despite going two goals down, it must have been a nice relief to go two goals up for once. Urs Fischer was critical of his team’s game plan execution, which left them facing an uphill battle for three-quarters of the game. The result sees Mainz drop beneath Leipzig and Werder into 7^th, with die Werderaner reaching an impressive 6^th.

Hoffenheim 3:0 Bayer Leverkusen

Hoffenheim are on a roll! Following a crucial win away to Borussia Mönchengladbach on MD6, die Kraichgauer recorded their first win in the Europa League, seeing off Lyon 3:0 at the SNP Arena, and now backing it up with another 3:0 win over Bayer Leverkusen. The Sunday lunchtime fixture saw the visitors dominate possession but fail to create anything meaningful, allowing Hoffenheim to pick up the pieces with three well-taken goals near the end of the game.

Christian Ilzer’s side looked the more likely to score throughout this one. Adam Hložek hit the woodwork in the first half as he tried to find a gap at Mark Flekken’s near post. Fans had to wait 79 minutes for a goal, though, which occurred when the VAR overturned a call of “no foul” from Edmond Tapsoba on Fisnik Asllani while challenging for an aerial ball. Andrej Kramarić converted with a weak effort down the middle, with Flekken getting a leg to it but not enough to prevent it going through him. Ten minutes later, Alexander Prass controversially doubled the lead when he raced through and fired a shot into the top corner while Leverkusen’s players effectively stopped for a clash of heads on the halfway line. A late second goal should usually put the result beyond doubt, but having already been booked, Prass removed his shirt during his celebration, and referee Daniel Siebert had no choice but to send him off. Kramarić putting his hands on his head in disbelief sums up what Ilzer and the Hoffenheim fans were all thinking. But despite being a man down, Max Moerstedt stepped up and extended the lead in the 95^th minute, tucking away from close range when Kramarić’s chipped effort came back off the bar.

Having been in the relegation zone only a week ago, Hoffenheim climb to 10^th in the table, while Leverkusen remain in 4^th. The less said about the away side’s performance, the better. Despite fielding his best starting XI, Carles Martínez Novell can hardly have any complaints about the result, as his team was way off the levels they’ve set until now. Ilzer was full of praise for Kramarić’s performance, coming off the bench to score the penalty and effectively assist the other two (if you forget about the crossbar).

Paderborn 1:0 Hamburg

Hamburg loanee Rayan Philippe haunted his parent club by stealing the win for Paderborn in a dire match that was ultimately sealed dramatically in the dying moments. Whatever you think about the rule in Germany that loan players are permitted to play against their parent club, it cannot be questioned that it adds to the narrative when they become a deciding factor. Paderborn’s second win of the season comes at the expense of Hamburg’s three-match winning streak, keeping the pack tight in the middle of the table.

Merlin Polzin’s men seemed to lack energy in this game and were unable to press as high as they usually do. Paderborn kept 62% of the ball, which is in stark contrast to their usual game plan so far this season. Santiago Castañeda missed the best opportunity of the match for either side, finding himself five yards from goal as a header dropped at his feet, but his effort was well saved by some quick reflexes from Daniel Heuer Fernandes. The winning goal came in the 88^th minute, as substitutes Felix Götze and Philippe combined, with the Frenchman blasting a low shot into the corner from 20 yards. His celebrations were muted, but there was pandemonium amongst the ultras behind the goal. Philippe could have doubled his goal tally while breaking from a Hamburg corner that the goalkeeper went up for, but his effort from the left touchline trickled into the side netting.

Ralf Kettemann was full of praise for Philippe in his media comments post-match, expressing his delight at the player’s development since moving late in the transfer window. Kettemann revealed that he had given Philippe some critical feedback recently, but he will hopefully be full of confidence after his critical contribution at the Home Deluxe Arena.

Borussia Dortmund 1:0 Eintracht Frankfurt

Having suffered a couple of difficult results in recent weeks, Borussia Dortmund appear to be back to winning ways following their midweek Champions League success over Sabah FK and the Saturday evening result against Eintracht Frankfurt. The Niko Kovač game plan was executed brilliantly – dominate possession, avoid giving up so much as a half-chance, then score late to get the win. As in their previous Bundesliga win against Stuttgart, Jobe Bellingham set up Maximilian Beier for the game’s only goal.

Evidently knowing what he was up against, Adi Hütter set his Frankfurt side up more defensively than usual, in a simple 4-4-2 with two defensive minded midfielders, opting to leave his most creative player, Can Uzun, on the bench. It worked for the most part; Dortmund restricted to just two Serhou Guirassy attempts that Noah Atubolu prevented during the first half. Seconds after being introduced, Bellingham rushed down the left-hand side in the 80^th minute before laying a pass off to fellow substitute Beier, who curled an effort into the far corner from the edge of the box, which Atubolu reached but could not keep out.

Kovač commented that given their busy schedule in recent weeks, having travelled to northern Norway, Berlin and Azerbaijan, his team ‘had to dig deep against a very good Eintracht team’. Hütter, on the other hand, said that his opponents ‘deserved to win’ but was at least pleased with the progress shown since their 6:0 battering at Leipzig two weeks ago. Dortmund remain in 2^nd, behind Bayern on goal difference, while Frankfurt linger down in 14^th.

Augsburg 1:1 Union Berlin

The Bundesliga has its first double red card of the season, as both teams were reduced to ten players in a strange affair at the WWK Arena. Although Augsburg played roughly half of this match with a one-man advantage, they were unable to find a way through until they were given a red card as the game descended into chaos. Having won their first two games, Augsburg are now five without a win, while Union Berlin are showing some signs of improvement after a cumbersome start.

A straight red for Union defender Felix Uduokhai in the 19^th minute changed the course of this game. Following a mix-up between Uduokhai and András Schäfer as they played a one-two, Augsburg striker Michael Gregoritsch found himself bearing down on goal, and he was hauled down during the goalscoring opportunity. Robin Braun did not hesitate to brandish the red card. But 20-year-old defender Juma Bah was dismissed in the 63^rd minute for going over the top of Schäfer in a 50-50 which caused him to step on the Union player’s shin with his studs. Another clumsy incident, another red card. But Han-Noah Massengo spared the home fan’s blushes by scoring the game’s first goal with 20 minutes to play, stooping low to head in a fine Fabian Rieder delivery into the top corner, leaving the goalkeeper stranded. But their lead lasted a mere three minutes, as Jannik Haberer was the beneficiary of a goalmouth scramble and could not miss the opportunity when it fell to him. Gregoritsch had the best chance to win the match, firing a volley skywards from just six yards out, but truthfully, Augsburg did not create enough opportunities when they had the numerical advantage to justify winning this one.

Köln 0:0 Stuttgart

These two clubs are amongst the biggest in Germany when it comes to fanbases and creating an exciting matchday atmosphere, but my word, do they both play some boring football this season. This goalless draw was Schalke’s third of the season already, so it is unsurprising that they have scored the fewest, but they also have the third-strongest defence, only trailing Bayern and Dortmund. Köln, meanwhile, lack players with ingenuity and seem to prefer relying on Said El Mala to produce something out of thin air, but at least they don’t concede too many either.

The main talking point of this game was the double injury for Schalke due to a nasty clash of heads between Robin Gosens and Soufian El-Faouzi. El Mala gave Gosens a nudge as he rose for the header, which led to plenty of fans calling for a retrospective ban online. But I think that, although it was a bit daft, it was more of an unfortunate incident than anything else, and a red card would have been too harsh. Ísak Jóhannesson had the ball in the net for the home side, although he was clearly standing offside when he received the pass, and El Mala missed a couple of decent opportunities. Satoshi Tanaka came close to getting a winner for Schalke, but his shot from a tight angle hit the post and went behind.

This result was René Wagner’s first clean sheet as a head coach, but the fans made their opinion of him well known after the final whistle, with many not feeling that he is up to the task. He merely stated his own feelings in response, namely that it was ‘too little to come away with this result’.

Team of the Week

GK: Gregor Kobel – Borussia Dortmund – 5 points

People that don’t watch the Bundesliga miss out on understanding just how good this guy is. It may not have been an all-action Kobel performance, but he was called upon when needed, comes to collect aerial balls and deal with long passes that opposition strikers are chasing. He commands his defenders well, too. Absolutely the best goalkeeper in the league right now, and amongst the best in Europe.

CB: Joe Scally – Borussia Mönchengladbach - 9 points

Strangely enough, Scally has been one of the bright sparks in Gladbach’s season so far. Obviously, he’s been playing as a right wing-back, not right-sided centre-back, but I need to make the team selection work somehow. Scally was imperious with a goal and assist on the night, before being brought off with the score still at 3:1.

CB: Willi Orbán - RB Leipzig - 2 points

With Orbán losing the official club captaincy (although he was wearing the armband in this game) and Leipzig bringing in an attack-minded manager in, I assumed that the Hungarian would be phased out, especially as he approaches his 34^th birthday next week. But Elversberg’s forwards were no match for his experience on this occasion. He made ten defensive contributions and eight passes into the final third, for good measure.

CB: Dayot Upamecano – Bayern München - 3 points

With all the absentees that Bayern had to cope with, it was up to big names to step up and see off a strong Freiburg team. Upamecano grasped the opportunity with both hands, scoring an excellent opening goal (by a defender’s standards), and defended well throughout, with Bayern ultimately only losing the clean sheet due to an unfortunate own goal.

RM: Michael Olise - Bayern München - 4 points

It wasn’t the best week for wingers in the Bundesliga, but Olise was amongst the best performers in his position. He set up Upamecano’s goal and did well to seal the win in stoppage time when he took advantage of Backhaus’ mishap to score from distance.

CM: Santiago Castañeda - Paderborn – 1 point

This young American holding midfielder is really making a name for himself as a standout performer for a punchy Paderborn side. Castañeda may not have been on the scoresheet but he was metronomic throughout a rare possession-oriented performance for the newly promoted side. He had 79 touches in the game and had two good opportunities to score, racking up an xG of 0.5 from those chances, which at least shows that he is getting into dangerous positions.

CM: Wael Mohya – Borussia Mönchengladbach - 11 points

Mohya is still just 17 years old, turning 18 on New Year’s Eve, but his maturity and creativity are making him a target for all the top Bundesliga clubs already. He operates as the left-sided number ten in Gladbach’s system, but he is comfortable on the wing or in a slightly deeper role too. His goal and assist won him Player of the Match in his team’s first win of the season, and with three successful dribbles and six touches in Stuttgart’s box, he is clearly a threat for even the most experienced opponents. Therefore, he is my choice for Player of the Week.

LM: Antonio Nusa – RB Leipzig - 6 points

Nusa and Leipzig’s form go hand in hand, so he is dominating matches at the Red Bull Arena while struggling to impact the game on the road. But he deserves all the plaudits I give him for his performances at home. He assisted the first two of Leipzig’s four in their win and was tormenting some of the greener members of Elversberg’s defensive unit with his speed, close control and powerful running style.

AM: Andrej Kramarić - Hoffenheim - 10 points

Kramarić may be a certified veteran now, with over 300 Bundesliga games for Hoffenheim and 119 matches for Croatia, but he is still a matchwinner. His introduction with less than 30 minutes to go was critical to allow Hoffenheim to win, scoring the penalty to open the scoring, assisting the second, and (sort of) assisting the third goal. He is a mentor to the younger players and leads by example out on the pitch.

ST: Rômulo - RB Leipzig - 8 points

Another strong substitute performance this weekend was that of Rômulo at Leipzig. The Brazilian striker struggled for goals last season, lagging behind Baumgartner and Yan Diomandé. But he showed his prowess this weekend with two brilliantly taken goals in the second half to ensure another big home win for Leipzig.

ST: Niclas Füllkrug - Werder Bremen - 7 points

Two penalties converted isn’t necessarily the craziest performance by a striker this season, but they did give Werder the platform to see out a well-fought victory over Mainz. He was constantly a handful for defenders, the goalkeeper stood no chance at saving his penalties, and his desire to bag a hattrick was clear in his frustrated reaction to being brought off with ten minutes to play.

Manager: Alexander Blessin – Borussia Mönchengladbach

Blessin has certainly improved his team’s stability since coming in. They may have lost the first two but they are at least conceding fewer goals and not giving them away cheaply. The win this weekend could prove vital come the end of the season, and more importantly, he is getting the best out of a few talented players in the temporary absence of several senior players.

Leaderboards

Player Leaderboard

27 – Antonio Nusa
18 – Miguel Gutiérrez
17 – Marco Grüll

15 – Michael Olise
14 – Harry Kane
12 – Sheraldo Becker, Niclas Füllkrug
11 – Loris Karius, Younes Ebnoutalib, Matthias Ginter, Christopher Nkunku, Anthony Caci, Luis Díaz, Wael Mohya
10 – Philipp Mwene, Yuito Suzuki, Laurin Curda, Miro Muheim, Ibrahim Maza, Andrej Kramarić
9 – Anton Kade, Adam Hložek, Finn Dahmen, Angelo Stiller, Joe Scally
8 – Daniel Svensson, Yannik Engelhardt, Lukas Petkov, Alexander Prass, Rômulo
7 – Fabian Rieder, Michael Gregoritsch, Felix Nmecha, Nicolás Capaldo, Maximilian Eggestein, Dayot Upamecano
6 – Ridle Baku, Robin Gosens, Zeno van den Bosch, Edmond Tapsoba
5 – Josha Vagnoman, Joshua Kimmich, Igor Matanović, Gregor Kobel
4 – Jonathan Tah, Can Uzun, Daniel Heuer Fernandes, Santiago Castañeda
3 – Five players
2 – Three players

1 – Three players

Manager Leaderboard

1 – Urs Fischer, René Wagner, Julian Schuster, Vincent Kompany, Martín Demichelis, Carles Martínez, Alexander Blessin

2:3 Recap: 2. Bundesliga MD9, 3. Liga MD11

Fixture Round-up

Having lost their 100% record on MD8, 2. Bundesliga leaders Hertha Berlin returned with a 1:0 win at home over Arminia Bielefeld, extending their lead to seven points due to results elsewhere, a commanding advantage after just nine games. Kaiserslautern’s trip to Nürnberg was a successful one, with a 1:0 win allowing them to climb to 3rd, level on points with their hosts. A first win of the season for Holstein Kiel, 3:0 over Dynamo Dresden, saw them climb five places off the bottom spot up to 13th, but all six teams near the bottom are level on points with eight each. Magdeburg were the big winners this weekend, smashing Karlsruher SC 6:1 to move up to 5th. Osnabrück and Eintracht Braunschweig were the other winners this week, with Osnabrück beating Greuther Fürth 3:0. Braunschweig, meanwhile, hosted rivals Hannover in the Niedersachsenderby, running out 2:0 winners.

3. Liga leaders Duisburg suffered a shock defeat at a resurgent Ingolstadt, who have won three in a row since changing managers. Duisburg maintain their lead, however, two points clear of Viktoria Köln and four points ahead of Rot-Weiß Essen, with both clubs winning at home. At the other end, Havelse secured an important win, beating Saarbrücken 3:2, although they remain rooted to the bottom as they had been four points adrift. Wehen Wiesbaden were huge winners, beating Sonnenhof Großaspach 7:1 with seven different goalscorers. Meppen pulled out of the relegation zone with a 4:0 win over Würzburger Kickers, making them unbeaten in four now. Other teams to record wins were Alemannia Aachen, Waldhof Mannheim and Preußen Münster.

Players of the Week

For the second time this season, my 2. Bundesliga player of the week is Kaiserslautern’s reliable man between the sticks, Julian Krahl. The 26-year-old made eight saves and 12 ball recoveries against a Nürnberg side that have been free-scoring so far. It was truly the immovable object beating the unstoppable force on this occasion. Krahl has to play in the Bundesliga next season, be it with Kaiserslautern or not.

My choice for 3. Liga player of the week is a throwback for any American readers. Waldhof Mannheim were being held at 1:1 against Hoffenheim II until the late introduction of former USMNT player Terrence Boyd. Now 35, Boyd schooled the young academy products of Hoffenheim with goals in the 78^th, 88^th and 95^th minute to take home the match ball.

Managers of the Week

A tough choice in the 2. Bundesliga, with many good managerial performances, but I have chosen Braunschweig’s Lars Kornetka since everyone wants to win a derby match. It was a debut Niedersachsenderby for both men in the dugout, with Hannover’s new man Sandro Wagner hoping to claim bragging rights. But Kornetka’s side were far better throughout, taking an early lead and then wrapping it up with a second goal in stoppage time. The Braunschweig fans even managed to spoil Hannover’s choreo, so it was a humiliating experience for the travelling folk.

In the 3. Liga, my pick for manager of the week is Havelse’s Samir Ferchichi. Havelse are struggling as a promoted side, and had only one win and one draw from the first eight games. But they are now unbeaten in three and claimed their second win of the season by coming from behind against a promotion-chasing Saarbrücken side that contains many established players at this level. Two penalties helped them on their way, but when you’re stranded at the bottom, you can’t complain about how the goals are being scored.

This Week’s Fixture Preview: DFB-Pokal Returns!

It’s the 2^nd round of the DFB-Pokal in midweek, meaning that we get an extra round of exciting fixtures to mention. On Tuesday evening, Rot-Weiß Essen and Sonnenhof Großaspach both host Bundesliga opposition, in RB Leipzig and Augsburg respectively. Borussia Dortmund host Werder Bremen in the effective Topspiel of this cup round. On Wednesday night, keep an eye out for Hertha Berlin travelling to Oldenburg in Niedersachsen to face SSV Jeddeloh, the only Regionalliga side remaining after round one. Jeddeloh beat Heidenheim 5:2 to reach the second round. Dynamo Dresden vs. Schalke is my other pick for the Wednesday night games.

At the weekend, the Bundesliga Topspiel is undoubtedly der Klassiker. Bayern München will host Borussia Dortmund in a genuine 1^st vs. 2^nd match with the teams level on points, making it an early six-pointer in any potential title race we have this year. Bayern will hope to have some of their key figures returning for that one on Saturday evening, although Vincent Kompany is likely to remain away from the dugout for a couple of weeks. There are two southwest(ish) derbies to watch as well, with Elversberg welcoming Mainz on Friday night, and Freiburg travelling to Augsburg on Saturday.

In the 2. Bundesliga, keep an eye out for Kaiserslautern vs. Hertha Berlin on Saturday, as the home side look to maintain positive momentum near the top, but face an unbeaten opponent. With only four goals conceded from nine games, ‘Lautern are proving incredibly tough to break down this campaign, even for the best teams. Hannover vs. Dynamo Dresden will be an interesting battle on Sunday, as two sides that have been largely underperforming look to get their seasons back on track.

The 3. Liga has plenty of interesting clashes as always, and this week’s Sunday evening Topspiel sees Alemannia Aachen welcoming Preußen Münster - two clubs that had promotion as an aim before a ball was kicked, but have struggled to keep pace with the frontrunners so far. Fortuna Köln vs. Würzburger Kickers may also be worth a watch on Saturday evening, as both find themselves in the relegation zone and three points would help out massively for either team.

Bis nächstes Mal! Tschüss!

A seventh straight defeat would set an outright Bundesliga record for the worst start to a campaign since the league’s inception in 1963. In 1991/92, Fortuna Düsseldorf began with six defeats from six, a record matched by 1. FSV Mainz 05 in 2020/21 and now Gladbach in this campaign. Therefore, losing seven from seven would put them in the history books for the wrong reason.

For readers that may not have been paying attention to the Bundesliga in recent seasons, you may be surprised to hear that the club is on the brink of achieving this ignominious feat. But for avid followers, the writing has been on the wall for the last three or four years. The team that won five Bundesliga titles between 1970 and 1977, along with three DFB-Pokal trophies and two UEFA Cup victories is at risk of being relegated again. Since 1965, the club has only spent three seasons outside the Bundesliga – a two-year stint from 1999 to 2001, and a singular campaign in 2007/08 which saw them instantly climb back up as champions.

But in 2026/27, die Fohlenelf are at major risk of an embarrassing return to the second tier due to a combination of mismanagement on and off the pitch, and poor decisions in the transfer market which are leading them extremely far down a muddy, treacherous path. FPMG, the leading Gladbach fan group, are now openly protesting against the presidency of former player and manager, Rainer Bonhof, demanding his resignation. Can new head coach Alexander Blessin end the doom spiral before it’s too late?

Who’s In Charge Here?

After the club’s first relegation in 1999, local businessman Dr. Adalbert Jordan took on the role of President. It was a critical time for the club, especially as work was underway to move from the old 34,500-capacity Bökelbergstadion to the new build Borussia-Park with a capacity of 54,000 (for club games – only 46,000 for international fixtures) as one of many expansion stadiums created before Germany hosted the FIFA World Cup 2006. Borussia-Park was ironically not selected as a host venue, partly due to its proximity to larger stadia in Gelsenkirchen, Dortmund and Köln.

Dr. Jordan ultimately passed away in March 2004, only a matter of months before Gladbach moved into the new stadium for the 2004/05 season, the start of a new era. Vice-president Rolf Königs inherited the position, and a brand-new era for the club received the seal of approval. Despite the relegation in 2007, Königs presided over some good times – two Champions League qualifications under Lucien Favre, and further top four finishes under André Schubert in 2015/16 and Marco Rose in 2019/20. Reliable goalscorers helped the club hit the front, such as Lars Stindl, Raffael, Alassane Pléa and Marcus Thuram.

But one by one, their glory years all came to an end, and managers went on to better things. Rose left for Borussia Dortmund in 2021, and Adi Hütter took the reins for 2021/22. Having finished 10^th, he quit by mutual consent and was replaced by Daniel Farke, who also lasted one full season only to be sacked after another 10^th-place finish in 2022/23. That takes us to the Gerardo Seoane era, where the Swiss coach limped to 14^th in the league, which resulted in the departure of Königs as President, which is where Rainer Bonhof stepped in.

Despite an improvement to 10^th in 2024/25, Bonhof’s decision to keep Seoane following Königs’ departure is arguably the key factor in the Nordrhein-Westfalen soap opera. When die Fohlenelf suffered a poor start to the 2025/26 season, failing to score in the opening three Bundesliga games and suffering losses in two, Seoane was dismissed by the club hierarchy during the September international break. Roland Virkus, a long-serving academy coach, had become the club’s Sporting Director and Managing Director in 2022, mostly out of a lack of available candidates that were satisfactory to the executives and the fanbase, but he resigned at the end of September. Virkus returned as a scout in July 2026, perhaps showing that he knew his lack of suitability to his former role.

Virkus’ last act was to bring through Eugen Polanski to coach the senior side as an interim, having played at the club between the ages of eight and 24, and then coached the club’s reserves since 2022. New Sporting Director Rouven Schröder liked what he saw and offered Polanski the role permanently. But having steadied the ship through uninspiring football and achieving 12^th with 38 points total, Schröder made the same mistake as Virkus by retaining his head coach for the following campaign without any clear strategy for player recruitment or the financial support to do so.

That leads us to now, where Polanski was fired after just three league games, mirroring the exact situation the club sleepwalked into under Seoane 12 months prior. After one match under the caretaker manager, and two under former St. Pauli boss Alexander Blessin (who suffered relegation last season, despite his best efforts), the club has failed to halt its drab losing streak and now look up perilously at the competition from 18^th place in the 2026/27 Bundesliga table.

Personnel Deficiencies

In their last Champions League campaign in 2020/21, Gladbach reached the knockout stage where they fell 4:0 on aggregate to Manchester City, but the team had many faces familiar to clued in football fans. Lars Stindl was still the captain, and he remained until 2023 when he returned to his boyhood club Karlsruher SC before retiring. Goalkeeper Yann Sommer moved on in 2023 to Bayern München and Inter Milan, and is now at Club Brugge, while Marcus Thuram was lost to Inter as a free agent, also in 2023. Defenders Matthias Ginter and Ramy Bensebaini made domestic moves to Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund respectively, while midfielders Denis Zakaria and Jonas Hofmann were sold to Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen. Stalwarts Christoph Kramer, Patrick Herrmann and Tony Jantschke all retired in 2024 after a combined 40 years of service, with the latter two having been one-club men. The last senior players from 2020/21 to leave before this campaign were Alassane Pléa, sold to PSV Eindhoven in 2025 for a measly sum of €3m, and Stefan Lainer, who returned home to Red Bull Salzburg in the same window.

All this is being brought up to illustrate a severe lack of leadership at the club on the pitch, reflective of the lack of clear leadership in the dugout and the boardroom. Nico Elvedi and Rocco Reitz, two of the club captains from the years since all the other senior figures departed, were both sold this summer. Elvedi left for Leeds United, while Reitz was bought by RB Leipzig to strengthen their midfield options, and even scored against his old club when they met in late August. Manu Koné and Julian Weigl were additional solid midfield options that joined in 2022 and left during Seoane’s tenure, while Florian Neuhaus was once touted as a future star for Germany but has not played for the national team since 2022 and has declined in ability, impact and presence since.

Lots of departures, but who is the club replacing them with? This summer, the club’s highest single outlay was just €3.5m, although they did purchase three players for this sum each. Isac Lidberg scored 17 goals in the 2025/26 2. Bundesliga for Darmstadt but is offering precious little in build-up play and would rather just tussle for headers in the box - he is the son of a wrestling world champion, after all. Left-back David Herold moved from Karlsruher to be a back-up, and Japanese centre-back Ko Itakura returns to Borussia-Park after an unsuccessful year at Ajax. Nicolas Kühn’s loan move from Como was supposed to inspire much-needed creativity, although he has struggled to get into the team so far ahead of teenage sensation Wael Mohya.

The club therefore desperately lacks leaders with significant Bundesliga experience out on the pitch. Other clubs can sometimes make that work, like Elversberg have been doing, but they are adhering to a comprehensive recruitment strategy which Gladbach simply do not seem capable of. Tim Kleindienst is the named club captain, but he missed last season due to injury and is still working his way back to full fitness this season. Kevin Diks is now the vice-captain, often wearing the armband with Kleindienst injured, but he only signed last summer and had never played in Germany before.

Even with an average starting XI age of 25.4, higher than six other clubs, it feels like a lack of Bundesliga knowhow is holding the team back from competing with smarter clubs who are better prepared despite having smaller budgets. Polanski’s inexperience as a coach was always going to prove problematic as the team struggled to achieve results, which is why they hope Blessin can change their fortunes. But defensive errors and a lack of creativity are combining to exacerbate an already treacherous situation. Players age and eventually become surplus to requirements, but clubs need to be ready for that and have a genuine plan of succession in place to mitigate the effects of losing those calming figures who maintain a level of respect from younger players or those new to the league. Schröder’s integrity and ability are both falling plainly into question as a result.

Costly Errors Cause Dropped Points

What is happening on the pitch that causes the club to keep losing beyond the obvious lack of quality and leadership within the available personnel? Teams often go through rough patches, such as when Greuther Fürth took one point from 12 at the start of the 2021/22 season. But it is rare to see a team with an abundance of resources and a fine history to be struggling so badly that they look like newcomers out of their depth, shrinking at the challenge posed by even the most average of Bundesliga sides.

On MD1, Leipzig right-back Ridle Baku was simply not tracked as he played a one-two to get in on goal for the opener. For the final goal (3:0), Reitz pinched it from old teammate Philipp Sander in the centre circle as the Gladbach man was seemingly twiddling his thumbs in possession, and the quick transition allowed Reitz to score underneath goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas. Two mistakes that are easily punished at the top level.

The opening home match on MD2 against Elversberg revealed a different kind of issue: the lack of mentality and composure within the team. Hugo Bolin gave Gladbach the lead, but their horrendous rest defence positioning was punished by the most innocuous of clearances from an Elversberg defender inside his own box. David Mokwa outmuscled Itakura to reach the loose ball first on the halfway line and finished his 1v1 opportunity. Gladbach then went ahead 3:1 by the 56^th minute but allowed the game to get away from them again. Elversberg made it 3:2 with another defensive error, this time Nicolas parrying a Lukas Petkov shot in the opposite direction to what he intended, allowing Maurice Krattenmacher to bundle it in as the defenders reacted slowly. Fatigue caught Gladbach out for the winning goal in the 92^nd minute – Diks stands still and watches Krattenmacher roll it into the far corner while Jan Leszczyński makes half an attempt to close him down. Three points dropped in less than 30 minutes.

MD3 was a disaster from start to finish, losing 5:0 at Freiburg and Kleindienst receiving a red card having criticised his teammates for their lack of maintaining focus in the days leading up to the game. Nicolas failed to reach the corner with his fist for the opening goal, and it spiralled from there. Kleindienst was sent off at only 2:0, which allowed the hosts to rack up the goals.

Back at home for MD4 without Polanski in the dugout, but it was another 3:4 defeat having taken an early lead. For Mainz’s equaliser, Lukas Ullrich heads a throw-in directly to the feet of Mainz forward Sheraldo Becker inside the box to set up a tap-in for Phillip Tietz. Shuto Machino then fails to make a clearance for Mainz’s fourth goal which effectively wins the game as Gladbach’s third came deep into stoppage time.

Gladbach were outdone by two great bits of skill by rivals Köln on MD5, and Hoffenheim worked it well for their two goals to win on MD6, so maybe things are going better under Blessin. But it doesn’t change that mistakes at the back, poor positioning as a team and goalkeeping blunders are happening constantly for this Gladbach side. At some point it just stops being bad luck, and we must accept it for what it is – a deficit in talent obvious enough for other teams to exploit.

Can They End the Spiral?

A subjective question, no doubt, but Blessin is a capable manager. He won the Belgian cup in his only season at Union Saint-Gilloise and was unlucky not to win the league too. For his work that year and at Oostende in 2020/21, he won awards for best manager of the season. His St. Pauli team didn’t win many games but they conceded remarkably few goals.

In 2024/25, they finished 14^th but conceded only 41 goals, fewer than any team except champions Bayern München. Having the second-best defensive record as a newly promoted team is practically unheard of. They regressed largely to the mean last season, finishing 18^th and conceding 60, but it was only defeat at home to Wolfsburg on the final day that settled their fate – had they won, they would have had to compete in the relegation playoff which would have given them half a chance at survival.

Blessin’s ability to shore up the defensive unit has not gone unnoticed in his first two matches. Nicolas is one of the more experienced players available and has made 11 saves across the two games, but he needs defensive stability ahead of him. Switching from a back three to a back four between matches, for example, is unlikely to help him feel assured between the sticks.

A few more goalscoring chances at the other end may be in order too, and they have a reliable goalscorer in Kleindienst alongside the energetic Machino and a bench option in Lidberg. But will that be enough? It’s hard to tell, and realistically we are still in the early throes of what is shaping up to be an exciting Bundesliga season.

Blessin’s defensive record at St. Pauli is a good indicator that his new team will concede less. But one cannot ignore that they had the lowest-scoring attack two seasons running, with only 57 goals in total from 68 matches. That simply won’t cut it if he transfers this philosophy directly to his Borussia Mönchengladbach side. Gladbach need points immediately, else they risk getting cut adrift before we reach the winter break.

A tough test awaits at Stuttgart’s MHP Arena on Friday. The home side missed a great opportunity to claim three points against 10-man Atlético Madrid on Tuesday night, having to settle for a 1:1 draw, and they sit on just six points so far in the Bundesliga, so they could really do with a win. Can Gladbach cut the deficit in half, or will the chaos of their own making lead them to achieve the unwanted distinction of seven straight losses to start the Bundesliga campaign?

Match Summaries

Bayern München 6:1 RB Leipzig

The MD6 Topspiel was indeed a goalfest, but unfortunately an extremely one-sided affair at the Allianz Arena. Bayern München came from two goals down in their midweek Champions League fixture at Viking FK, eventually getting a 3:3 draw with Michael Olise being sent off. RB Leipzig, meanwhile, were buoyed by a 1:0 win over Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday night, but this beating they suffered at Bayern’s hands brought them back down to earth.

Luis Díaz was played onside by Leipzig captain David Raum to race through and open the scoring in the 12^th minute. Aleksandar Pavlović doubled the hosts’ lead when Díaz slipped him in on the left-hand side, before Michael Olise made it three with a low finish from the edge of the box soon after as Bayern ran away with it by half-time. Harry Kane, who had assisted Olise’s goal, got another assist moments after the restart, as Díaz cut inside to his right foot and drove it low to the far corner. Nathaniel Brown then put it across the six-yard box for Kane to tap in five minutes later, and Díaz completed his hattrick, and the rout, in the 69^th minute by finding a gap through a sea of Leipzig bodies with his finish. Andrija Maksimović got Leipzig’s consolation in stoppage time, with the teenager opening his account in the Bundesliga to prevent a clean sheet for Jonas Urbig.

It was a miserable return to the club he played at for seven years for Martín Demichelis, completely outclassed by Vincent Kompany’s side. Leipzig’s inconsistency this season – winning every home match and losing every away match in all competitions – needs to be addressed, and fast, given the rumoured discussions of a Julian Nagelsmann return to Saxony. Roger Schmidt, now Red Bull’s head of global soccer, dismissed these rumours but more far-fetched things have happened. Speaking after the game, Demichelis said that “we owe our fans an apology” and that the result wasn’t “about individual players, but about the team as a whole”. Their plans out of possession did not work whatsoever, which allowed them to be carved through. Results elsewhere (more on that, of course) put Bayern back at the top of the Bundesliga table for the first time since MD1.

Elversberg 4:3 Augsburg

Seven more goals flew in at the Ursapharm-Arena an der Kaiserlinde on Saturday afternoon, as Elversberg claimed a third win of the season to leapfrog Augsburg and climb back into the European qualification places. Such was the craziness, with four penalties awarded amongst the goalfest, Elversberg boss Vincent Wagner told the media that he “forgot half of what happened” but said that despite his side’s gritty display, there was “plenty of room for improvement when it comes to cleverness” in terms of game management and avoiding errors.

Lukas Petkov opened the scoring in the 4^th minute after Chrislain Matsima failed to get away with a well-disguised handball after a VAR check. Petkov’s penalty was saved by Finn Dahmen, but he reached the rebound quickest to put it away. Elversberg launched a counterattack shortly thereafter which ended with left-back Lasse Günther firing home from a Maurice Krattenmacher layoff. The Saarlanders found themselves firmly in the driving seat within the first half-hour when Maximilian Rohr flicked in a header from a Felix Keidel corner which should have put them out of sight. But in first-half stoppage time, Rohr was penalised for handball, and Fabian Rieder converted the penalty to bring Augsburg back into the match.

Augsburg were awarded another penalty in the second half when Elversberg captain Lukas Pinckert fouled Hennes Behrens, and Michael Gregoritsch, one of three half-time substitutes for the visitors, coolly slotted it home. But after Raif Adam had a goal ruled out for offside for the home team and Augsburg had a penalty overturned by VAR, Petkov set up Frederik Schmahl to restore Elversberg’s lead to two. Mert Kömür responded instantly with a low shot through a busy penalty area to set up a nervy period of stoppage time for both sides. But it was the home side that came closest to scoring, when Noel Futkeu’s penalty hit the crossbar in the 8^th minute of an awarded seven minutes added on. A crazy end to a crazy game, and the home side were ultimately the ones relieved to hear the final whistle.

Bayer Leverkusen 2:1 Freiburg

It was die Werkself that came out on top at the BayArena on Sunday afternoon, between two sides that have had strong starts to the season and won their respective European fixtures on Thursday night. Bayer Leverkusen had travelled to Poland, beating Lech Poznań in a routine 4:0 win, while Freiburg hosted Czech outfit FK Jablonec, beating them 3:2. Leverkusen came from behind to win this Bundesliga game in a clash that showed the strengths and shortcomings of both teams this season.

Freiburg started brightly and opened the scoring through Derry Scherhant, who found himself unmarked in the box and tucked it away from a Philipp Treu pass in the 14^th minute. Ibrahim Maza cancelled this out only five minutes later, though, poking it home from near the penalty spot after a deft backheel layoff by Patrik Schick. The two combined again for the deciding goal 15 minutes from time, when Maza displayed incredible close control by the corner flag against two opponents, nutmegging one before finding Schick in space who didn’t disappoint with his effort to convert. The game was otherwise a very even affair by most metrics, with the home side having 49% of the ball, 12 shots to 11 and 85% pass completion each. Maza and Schick played the fine margins well to both convert their opportunities with creative assists to one another; Freiburg were purely outdone by those flashes of skill.

This result draws Leverkusen level on points with Freiburg as the Breisgau-Brasilianer surrendered top spot to Bayern. Only one point separates Bayern with Leverkusen in 4^th, however. Leverkusen head coach Carles Martínez Novell expressed his admiration for Freiburg’s quality and aggression during the game but felt that his side showed their “best version” to come from behind and claim a huge three points against a club that was previously unbeaten in all competitions this season.

Werder Bremen 2:2 Paderborn

I was spoiled for choice on MD5 regarding quality matches of football to talk about, but after the first three I’ve covered in this edition of The Bundesliga Chronicles Newsletter, it’s a struggle to find much entertainment value for MD6. Fans at the Weserstadion on Saturday afternoon were blessed to witness one of the more entertaining matches as Werder Bremen came from behind yet again to claim something, this time against Paderborn. This marks four consecutive matches in which Werder have gone behind and ended up with at least one point, part of a five-match unbeaten Bundesliga streak. For Paderborn, it is certainly two points dropped in what would have been their first away win in the Bundesliga since a 2:0 success at Freiburg in January 2020.

Paderborn hit the front with a rasping shot from Stefano Marino high into Karl Hein’s near post, and they doubled their lead on the half-hour mark with a side-footed finish from Steffen Tigges when Werder failed to clear from a long throw. Werder, who could have been in front earlier when Marco Grüll failed to convert a 1v1, then looked bereft of ideas heading into the break. But it was talisman Niclas Füllkrug who brought the home team back level within 20 minutes of the restart. Wearing an all-white kit to celebrate 100 years of playing at the Weserstadion, Füllkrug fired a bouncing ball into the corner just before the hour mark, and equalised from the penalty spot after Laurin Curda blocked an attempt with his hand. Füllkrug could have completed his hattrick when a Mitchell Weiser steal fell to him inside the box, but he smashed his shot wildly at the onrushing Nahuel Noll. Paderborn could have stolen the three points at the death when a Rayan Philippe volley hit the post, but it wasn’t to be.

Paderborn will naturally be disappointed at giving up a two-goal lead on the road, but Werder will equally feel like they did enough to win the game but were profligate in front of goal, having had 11 attempts on target and building an xG of 3.21 in the game. Paderborn’s Ralf Kettemann and Werder’s Daniel Thioune both expressed a feeling that it was two points dropped for their respective sides. Werder remain steady in 8^th while Paderborn drop one place to 16^th due to results elsewhere.

Borussia Mönchengladbach 1:2 Hoffenheim

This match can be defined by a series of sixes. In an early season relegation six-pointer between the teams in 18^th (Borussia Mönchengladbach) and 17^th (Hoffenheim), Hoffenheim claimed the win that takes them to six points for the season, while giving Gladbach their sixth consecutive defeat to start the season. Alexander Blessin came into the Gladbach head coach role over the international break knowing that an immediate turnaround was needed, but even he will be wondering what he must do to get his team off the mark.

The visitors, who suffered a home defeat to Beşiktaş in Thursday’s Europa League tie, took an early lead through Bambasé Conté, scoring in his second consecutive league match. Conté latched onto a ground pass from the left delivered by Alexander Prass to put away the opener, and Gladbach were lucky not to reach half-time further behind after Hoffenheim created several decent chances, such as when Fisnik Asllani hit the crossbar from a close-range free kick. Gladbach evidently regrouped at half-time because they came back swinging, and 17-year-old creative midfielder scored his first Bundesliga goal this campaign, and third overall, by drifting in from the left and curling a nice effort just inside the far post. One has to assume that he will be on the move if Gladbach fail to drag themselves out of the mire they’ve fallen into. Shortly thereafter, Conté’s ball across the box was flicked on by Adam Hložek to an onrushing Prass, who provided the finish for what ultimately turned out to be the winning goal. Hoffenheim continued to pile the pressure on to extend their lead more than Gladbach had tried to equalise.

Christian Ilzer, who displayed great skill to bring down a loose high ball while stood in the technical area, praised his Hoffenheim side for their mentality during a key fixture against a side low on confidence. Blessin, meanwhile, is left to lick his wounds after he lambasted his team for playing “cowardly” football with a “timid” approach. It sounds like he has now realised the depth of the endemic issues facing him in the role.

Eintracht Frankfurt 1:0 Köln

Eintracht Frankfurt’s sporting director Markus Krösche announced his decision to leave the club on Sunday following five years of service and a respectable three points from the Friday night fixture at the Deutsche Bank Park to a Köln side that remain pointless on the road this season. Krösche, arguably the most respected sporting director currently operating in the Bundesliga, will depart immediately, having been linked with moves away for a long time, previously with Bayern but presently with AC Milan.

The match itself was relatively free of controversy, with Younes Ebnoutalib ghosting behind his marker and finishing low at the near post of Marvin Schwäbe in the 76^th minute for the game’s only goal. Frankfurt were absolutely the stronger team but Köln had some good chances saved by Noah Atubolu to ensure the win, just six days after suffering a 6:0 humiliation in Leipzig.

Adi Hütter was proud of Frankfurt’s reaction to the heavy defeat, although we will have to wait and see what his personal reaction to the Krösche news will be. René Wagner, meanwhile, will be pondering his future in the Köln dugout as he knows his future is contingent on every last result. With seven points thus far, his team sit in 12^th place, one point and one position behind Eintracht Frankfurt heading into MD7, maintaining his safety for now.

Hamburg 1:0 Stuttgart

The HSV revival continues as they recorded a third consecutive win following three losses from the first three Bundesliga matches of the season. Meanwhile, Stuttgart, who travelled to Slovakia to beat Slovan Bratislava 3:0 in their midweek Champions League fixture, suffered their fourth league defeat of the season, already half of their total last campaign. Hamburg’s decision to award Merlin Polzin a new contract after three defeats is reaping fast rewards as they climb up to 9^th in the table, which should allow them to build towards a solid campaign in their second season back in the top tier.

Having scored a winner in stoppage time on MD5, Miro Muheim was the hero once again as he drove a shot from 25 yards, always rising into the far corner past Dennis Seimen in the 88^th minute. It was somewhat unfortunate for the youngster Seimen, who made a couple of saves earlier on to keep Stuttgart in the game. As you might expect, Stuttgart dominated proceedings with 66% possession and 24 shots, but struggled to create clear cut chances, largely relying on set-pieces for their best sights of goal. They need to regroup instantly as they play host to Atlético Madrid and Borussia Mönchengladbach within the next week.

With Hamburg’s captain Nicolai Remberg confirmed to be out for the season with an ACL tear suffered last week, Polzin was full of praise for his players that rallied to get a result at the Volksparkstadion. He said that although his side started slow, they remained compact and fought “bravely” to see out the result. For Sebastian Hoeneß, the defeat felt “bitter” but he insisted that he was fully focused on the upcoming Champions League fixture against the Spanish giants.

Schalke 0:1 Mainz

Whatever RB Leipzig’s poor away form has against their solid home form, Mainz are displaying the opposite. Mainz have now won all three away fixtures in the Bundesliga, while losing twice and drawing once at home. Schalke, on the other hand, are still yet to score in front of their home fans at the Veltins-Arena, with this 1:0 defeat following back-to-back goalless draws in their home fixtures. With the way they set up to defend deep, it could quickly become a long season for Miron Muslić’s men to survive.

Having made several key saves early on, Loris Karius could not prevent Phillip Tietz from scoring the decider midway through the first half, sweeping in an Anthony Caci cross on the bounce. Schalke’s best chance to equalise came from Satoshi Tanaka with 15 minutes remaining, but Alexander Schwolow got down low to his left to keep it out. In truth, Schalke hardly threatened to score, with an xG of just 0.05 from open play, even if they supplemented it with 0.38 xG from set-pieces.

Muslić was very frank in the assessment of his team’s performance after the match, saying that the lack of intensity and combativeness gave them “no chance in the Bundesliga”. Urs Fischer, on the other hand, was happy with the points but admitted that they should have extended their lead when they had the chance before they were pinned back near the end.

Union Berlin 0:0 Borussia Dortmund

Last and by all means least, a goalless draw was played out at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei between two teams that now occupy positions second from top and second from bottom as a result. A Borussia Dortmund victory would have brought them back to top spot given Freiburg’s defeat, and a win for Union Berlin would have taken them up to 13^th, so neither coach was overly pleased with the result.

The match was generally bereft of goalscoring opportunities – the visitors managed just two shots on target while the hosts had none whatsoever. In fact, the most notable moment of the match may have occurred in the first 15 seconds when referee Daniel Schlager accidentally pulled the red card out on Ethan Nwaneri after a late sliding challenge, but the youngster on loan from Arsenal eventually got away with a yellow. The best chance was probably for Union when Tim Skarke raced in but blasted a shot just over the goalkeeper while defender Yoane Gadou also closed him down. Dortmund youngster Mathis Albert, who is expected to extend his contract shortly as his current deal expires in June 2027, missed a close-range header in second-half stoppage time which would have given die Schwarzgelben the three points.

My message to Niko Kovač is that if you want to play boring football, you need to keep winning matches. Giving up a two-goal lead late on at home to Werder Bremen on MD5 and then losing 1:0 in midweek away to Norwegian champions Bodø/Glimt evidently has the team in a negative headspace, and they must get out of it before their Tuesday night trip to Azerbaijan to face Sabah. Kovač lamented his side’s lack of freshness in preparation for the game as well as their lack of precision and sharpness in attacking moments which prevented them from creating better goalscoring opportunities.

Team of the Week

GK: Daniel Heuer Fernandes – Hamburg – 4 points

Hamburg claimed their third Bundesliga win of the season, but it was also the first clean sheet they achieved in the league, and Heuer Fernandes was a big part of it. Stuttgart didn’t have their best game, but they scored three goals in midweek and have plenty of talented attacking players. Heuer Fernandes made five saves in the match as well as five recoveries, showing his readiness to step out of his area to meet a loose ball.

RB: Anthony Caci – Mainz – 7 points

Caci was a top performer last week with two goals despite his side’s defeat on that occasion, but he still made it into my team for MD5. He makes it in again as a key contributor to Mainz as a winning outfit, providing the assist for the only goal and keeping a clean sheet as the right wing-back in Urs Fischer’s system. Having missed the bulk of last season with a hamstring injury, it is now clear what Mainz were missing at both ends of the pitch while he was sat on the sidelines.

CB: Robin Koch – Eintracht Frankfurt – 2 points

There were several centre-back performances this week that I would describe as ‘good, but not great’, especially given that five teams achieved clean sheets. I’ve chosen Robin Koch purely because of how strongly he came back from Frankfurt’s 6:0 battering at RB Leipzig last weekend. The club captain was hooked at half-time last week, a rough moment for any player, but his assured performance at home to Köln deserves credit for the pure resilience shown, if nothing else. His 18 defensive contributions and 56 passes completed were both joint-highest in the match as well.

CB: Edmond Tapsoba – Bayer Leverkusen – 6 points

No clean sheet for the newly anointed Leverkusen captain, but my eyes witnessed a dominant defensive performance from the Burkina Faso international. Tapsoba loves to get on the ball, and 84 touches despite a balanced possession match is not bad at all, but he also just loves to defend, getting in opponents’ faces and frustrating them constantly. Freiburg are a brilliant attacking team and like to swarm defenders with their pressing style, but Tapsoba did not let that disrupt his game on this occasion.

LB: Lasse Günther - Elversberg – 3 points

Elversberg are not the strongest defensive side in the league, but their defenders are well capable of contributing in attack too, and Lasse Günther exemplified that against Augsburg. Günther made it 2:0 in the 7^th minute of the game and also made three passes into the final third to maintain an attacking presence, while completing six tackles and eight clearances to ensure he did his job at the other end.

RM: Lukas Petkov – Elversberg – 1 point

Could I have gone for Michael Olise? Yes, but that spoils the fun when talented players like Lukas Petkov exist. The Elversberg winger may have missed his penalty, but he converted the rebound and provided the assist for the goal that proved to be the winner once all was said and done in the action-packed fixture down in Saarland.

CM: Alexander Prass – Hoffenheim – 8 points

It was about time that a Hoffenheim player stood up to be counted, and it was the versatile Austrian that did so to ensure his side took three points from their visit to Borussia-Park. Prass assisted the opener and scored the winner in the 2:1 victory, but he also had five touches in the Gladbach box and eight progressive passes into their final third, showing that he was constantly looking to make direct attacking contributions instead of freezing up and trying to avoid making mistakes.

CM: Ibrahim Maza – Bayer Leverkusen – 10 points

Carles Martínez Novell has brought Maza into a central number ten role, and while it has taken a bit of adjustment, it is now finally allowing the young Algeria international to thrive. Having scored in the midweek Europa League fixture, Maza made it two from two with the equaliser at home to Freiburg. But it was his assist for Patrik Schick’s winner that was truly mind-boggling. Backed into the corner flag by two Freiburg players, Maza brought the ball down from mid-air, nutmegged Yannik Engelhardt, jinked past Jordy Makengo, and gave Schick a pass that he has fed off for years. Scintillating ability from the Berlin-born man.

LM: Luis Díaz - Bayern München - 11 points

Luis Díaz naturally inherits the 11 points as my player of the week for scoring a beautiful hattrick in the 6:1 demolition of RB Leipzig. Maarten Vandevoordt is hardly a bad goalkeeper, but Díaz made him look borderline inadequate with three excellent finishes low into the corner. Add to that his assist for the Pavlović goal, and you have a complete performance from the Colombian winger.

ST: Harry Kane - Bayern München - 9 points

Kane was at it again with a goal and two assists for Bayern this weekend. I won’t re-hash his direct goal contributions, but please watch the build-up for the Pavlović goal if you have the chance. Kane dropped so deep to collect the ball between his centre-backs, and although it wasn’t his most impressive pass, he found Díaz nicely who carried it on to get the assist for Pavlović. There is not a single number nine in world football that you can find occupying the middle of a back three during build-up and utilising his passing range effectively from that position. He is truly one of a kind.

ST: Niclas Füllkrug - Werder Bremen – 5 points

While Marco Grüll has been gaining plaudits for his goal contributions for Werder, Füllkrug has been a consistent threat alongside in Werder’s attacking line. When he scored the equaliser away to Borussia Dortmund on MD5, he extended his scoring streak to four matches in a row for the first time in his career, now at the age of 33. His two goals against Paderborn extended said streak to five matches, ensuring another valuable point for his team while taking him joint-top of the goalscoring charts. He is truly thriving in his third spell at his boyhood club.

Manager: Carles Martínez Novell – Bayer Leverkusen

I could have easily gone for Kompany again, but I do think Leipzig let themselves down hugely in that game. Instead, I’ve gone with Leverkusen’s Martínez Novell who really seems to be settling in well at the BayArena. To be able to rally his team to come from behind against the team that led the league going into MD6, especially after a European away day that will cause fatigue in the best of teams, was extremely impressive. While I have credited Schick and Maza for their pieces of skill that ultimately won the game, you can also say that Martínez Novell has found a system that gets the best out of them – Schick being on nine goals from nine games in all competitions is testament to that.

Leaderboards

Player Leaderboard

21 – Antonio Nusa
18 – Miguel Gutiérrez
17 – Marco Grüll
14 – Harry Kane
12 – Sheraldo Becker
11 – Loris Karius, Younes Ebnoutalib, Matthias Ginter, Michael Olise, Christopher Nkunku, Anthony Caci, Luis Díaz
10 – Philipp Mwene, Yuito Suzuki, Laurin Curda, Miro Muheim, Ibrahim Maza
9 – Anton Kade, Adam Hložek, Finn Dahmen, Angelo Stiller
8 – Daniel Svensson, Yannik Engelhardt, Lukas Petkov, Alexander Prass
7 – Fabian Rieder, Michael Gregoritsch, Felix Nmecha, Nicolás Capaldo, Maximilian Eggestein
6 – Ridle Baku, Robin Gosens, Zeno van den Bosch, Edmond Tapsoba
5 – Josha Vagnoman, Joshua Kimmich, Igor Matanović, Niclas Füllkrug
4 – Jonathan Tah, Dayot Upamecano, Can Uzun, Daniel Heuer Fernandes
3 – Maurice Krattenmacher, Karl Hein, Santiago Castañeda, Jeff Chabot, Lasse Günther
2 – Nico Schlotterbeck, Robert Andrich, Robin Koch
1 – Facundo Medina, Willi Orbán, Mark Flekken

Manager Leaderboard

1 - Urs Fischer, René Wagner, Julian Schuster, Vincent Kompany, Martín Demichelis, Carles Martínez Novell

2. : 3. Recap: 2. Bundesliga MD8, 3. Liga MD9-10

Fixture Round-Up

Plenty of action as usual in the 2. Bundesliga on MD8, with the Topspiel this weekend being the Elb-Clásico in which Dynamo Dresden ran out 2:0 winners at home to Magdeburg. The division’s top two sides, Hertha Berlin and Nürnberg were both on their travels on Friday evening but encountered stubborn opposition. Nürnberg fought back to a 1:1 draw at Energie Cottbus, while Hertha’s match at Holstein Kiel was goalless. Wolfsburg leapfrogged Heidenheim into 3^rd place with a 3:1 home win, while Kaiserslautern are quietly building a solid campaign as they climb to 4^th with a 2:0 win over Bochum. The big winners this week were Karlsruher, who climbed off the bottom of the table into 13^th by beating Darmstadt 4:0. While the promotion pack run away at the top, just four points now separate Cottbus in 9^th and Kiel in 18^th, the only team without a win but robust enough defensively to claim five draws from their eight matches. Arminia Bielefeld and Greuther Fürth were the other winning sides, beating Osnabrück and Eintracht Braunschwig respectively. For the first time this season, no away wins were recorded during the set of fixtures.

In the 3. Liga, MD9 was carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday which shook up the pack somewhat ahead of the weekend MD10 fixtures. The only two teams to win both fixtures were Stuttgart II and Ingolstadt. Stuttgart II beat Hoffenheim II and Fortuna Köln, while Ingolstadt beat Waldhof Mannheim and Rot-Weiß Essen, and our double matchday winners now sit in 7^th and 9^th respectively, both on 14 points. At the top of the table, Duisburg won 4:2 at Saarbrücken before their 1^st vs. 2^nd clash with Viktoria Köln on Sunday afternoon. Viktoria Köln had been held in midweek at home to lowly Sonnenhof Großaspach, so the 1:1 draw in Duisburg was another missed opportunity to close the five-point gap to the leaders. Hansa Rostock suffered a double defeat as they slip to 6^th, while the aforementioned trio of Essen, Saarbrücken and Hoffenheim II all took one win and one loss as part of the hunting pack just beneath Viktoria Köln. At the other end, bottom two dwellers Meppen hosted Havelse in a Niedersachsen derby on Sunday. Meppen had beaten Hansa 2:0 in midweek while Havelse drew with Würzburger Kickers, but the six-pointer ended all square at 1:1. Meppen climb from 19^th to 17^th with that point, while Havelse are now four points adrift from the nearest opponent.

Players of the Week

For the 2. Bundesliga, there were a few good options – Marvin Wanitzek arguably the best one. But I’ve gone for Greuther Fürth’s Felix Klaus for scoring the all-important two goals in his side’s first home win of the campaign, 2:0 at home to Braunschweig. For his first, he stopped a delivery almost completely dead just by the penalty spot, spinning and finishing on his left foot. The second goal was blasted into the roof of the net above the hopeless goalkeeper. A great day for Fürth fans courtesy of Mr. Klaus.

In the 3. Liga, I will choose one for each matchday. My MD9 pick is Stuttgart II winger Lauri Penna, with the 20-year-old opening the scoring early on against Hoffenheim II and setting up the goal that won the match in the second half. For MD10, the honour goes to Xaver Kiefersauer from Würzburger Kickers for his role in the struggling side’s 2:0 win against Waldhof Mannheim. The 21-year-old central midfielder, on loan from Nürnberg, epitomised his side’s efficiency with the ball by opening the scoring one minute before half-time, and assisting the second goal one minute before full-time. Two brutal times to concede goals.

Managers of the Week

My 2. Bundesliga managerial crown goes to Maximilian Senft at Karlsruher this week. With six goals scored in seven games, Senft’s team had only outscored Bochum and found themselves at the bottom of the table. Darmstadt may be fellow strugglers, but they had won two of the previous three and the points could have gone either way on this occasion. Despite having just 41% of the ball in front of their home fans, Karlsruher advanced unapologetically and raced into a 2:0 lead. They saw it through to half-time and scored another two in the first 20 minutes of the second half to make it an embarrassing result for the visitors and a treasured three points for Senft’s men.

For MD9 in the 3. Liga, Meppen’s Lucas Beniermann gets my vote for doing a job on Hansa Rostock at the Ostseestadion. A tough place for any team to go up in the north-east, fellow northerners Meppen rode their luck for most of the game, pinned back for large parts as they only held 32% possession, before bagging two late goals to steal the points away. My MD10 choice is Sonnenhof Großaspach boss Pascal Reinhardt for masterminding a second-half comeback against Preußen Münster to turn a two-goal deficit into three points for the team that I personally consider to be the smallest in German professional football from the southwestern village of 8,000 inhabitants. Any win for this club, let alone one against a team that was in the 2. Bundesliga last season, is a noteworthy achievement.

This Weekend’s Fixture Preview

Following another round of European fixtures, where Freiburg travel to Monaco and Bayern München host English champions Arsenal, the Bavarian giants will travel to Freiburg for a clash between two of the early pacesetters on Sunday evening in the Bundesliga Topspiel. Friday night’s match between Stuttgart and Borussia Mönchengladbach could see the visitors claim their first point or three of the season, although Stuttgart have had a slow start and certainly need the points themselves if they can maintain consistency after they host Atlético Madrid on Tuesday. On Saturday evening, Borussia Dortmund host Eintracht Frankfurt with the home side needing a win after two lacklustre Bundesliga draws and a Champions League defeat – but first, the trip to face Sabah in the Azerbaijani town of Masazir.

In the 2. Bundesliga, Nürnberg will host Kaiserslautern on Saturday night in a battle of 2^nd vs. 4^th. The hosts are free scoring with 21 goals, but Kaiserslautern look impenetrable with just four goals conceded, joint-lowest with Dortmund in the professional leagues this campaign. Heidenheim await the visit of Energie Cottbus on Saturday lunchtime, in a match that will see two entertaining teams in a mixed vein of form competing with one another. The 3. Liga match to look out for is definitely Hansa Rostock vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf on Saturday afternoon – they are the two biggest clubs in the division in terms of fanbases and historical achievements, so the atmosphere will be better than most Bundesliga matches. Ingolstadt away is a potential banana peel for a Duisburg side that have largely been marching on at the top of the table, as the hosts have been in good form since replacing Sabrina Wittmann during the international break with former Köln and Mainz boss, Achim Beierlorzer.

On Thursday night’s Europa League matchday, Hoffenheim are hosting Turkish giants Beşiktaş, while Bayer Leverkusen are also traversing the old Iron Curtain as they head to Poland to play Lech Poznań. Freiburg’s Thursday night Conference League tie will be at the Europa-Park Stadion against the visiting Czech outfit FK Jablonec.

But prior to the big reform of UEFA competitions in 1992, it was commonplace for Bundesliga sides to be drawn against the top sides from the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (East Germany/DDR), who played in the DDR-Oberliga, a 14-team league that operated from 1949 to 1991. The Oberliga sent four teams per season to European club competitions: the league champions would gain access to the European Cup, the winners of the FDGB-Pokal (the DDR’s cup competition) would go to the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, and the 2^nd and 3^rd place teams (or 3^rd and 4^th if one of the top two teams in the league also won the cup) would go to the UEFA Cup. As the UEFA Cup only started in 1971, many of the matchups only occurred in the latter half of the Oberliga’s existence.

In this article, I will take you through six of the most important and consequential cup ties in the history of Cold War-era Germany.

Bayern München vs. Dynamo Dresden – 1973/74 European Cup

In the season that Bayern won their first European Cup (spoilers!), which they would go on to retain in 1975 and 1976, they had to overcome an opponent from the DDR in the first East vs. West clash in the history of European football. Dynamo Dresden were frequent competitors in Europe in the 1970s and 1980s as they won the Oberliga eight times and the FDGB-Pokal seven times.

The Soviet-controlled DDR government only stopped allowing citizens to travel to the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (West Germany/BRD) from around 1961, so it had been a considerable amount of time before this first flashpoint occurred. It was a second-round clash, with the first leg taking place at Bayern’s old home ground, the Olympiastadion, in late October. Away fans, as you may expect, were not allowed to attend, but 48,000 Bayern fans crowded the stadium hoping for their stars of the day – goalkeeper Sepp Maier, captain Franz Beckenbauer and attacking duo Gerd Müller and Uli Hoeneß - to embarrass their opponents.

But for all of Bayern’s success in the 21^st century, it is worth remembering that at this point in 1973, they had only just begun to emerge as a regular contender in the Bundesliga and in Europe. Indeed, they would concede the opening goal when Johnny Hansen diverted into his own net, and with 20 minutes left to play they trailed 3:2. But an equaliser from Frank Roth and an 83^rd minute winner from Gerd Müller allowed Bayern to travel across the Iron Curtain with a lead to protect.

The second leg atmosphere would be best described as ‘fever pitch’. The Stasi, the DDR’s secret police, deployed a full-scale operation called Aktion Vorstoß (Operation Advance) to ensure that the BRD would not interfere with proceedings at the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion. As many as 300,000 fans tried to get tickets, but with a strict 35,000 capacity at the ground, and distributed directly to Stasi-approved citizens. A small group of Bayern fans and West German journalists were chaperoned by the Stasi to and from the match, and agents closely monitored them with hidden cameras throughout.

The match itself was another entertaining clash, and you can even see a large chunk of the original broadcast through ARD-Mediathek here. Uli Hoeneß gave Bayern an early two-goal lead, making it 6:3 on aggregate. Dynamo Dresden pushed back strongly, though, taking a 3:2 lead just as they had done in the first leg by the 56^th minute. But Müller was again the hero for the Bundesliga champions immediately after, scoring the goal that settled the tie at 7:6 in the 58^th minute to advance to the quarter-finals. There, they dispatched CSKA Sofia 5:3, before beating Hungarian side Újpest 4:1 to reach the final, where they won 4:0 against Atlético Madrid in the replay, having escaped with a 1:1 draw in the first match after a 120^th minute equaliser.

Because of Dynamo Dresden having close ties with the state (as did all the successful East German sides), the defeat was viewed as a failure of the DDR, not just the club. Players were put under increased surveillance, and the result ultimately led Berlin-born Erich Mielke, the chief of the Stasi from 1957 to 1989, to pivot state support towards Berliner FC Dynamo instead.

1. FC Magdeburg vs. Schalke 04 – 1977/78 UEFA Cup

Despite the disappointment of the Stasi with how the Bayern vs. Dynamo Dresden match went, there was some success at the end of the 1973/74 from a DDR perspective as 1. FC Magdeburg won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, beating AC Milan 2:0 in the final in Rotterdam. Milan had coincidentally beaten Borussia Mönchengladbach 3:1 in the semi-finals, which was the closest we ever got to an East vs. West match in any European competition final.

That summer, the 1974 FIFA World Cup was played in West Germany, and the host nation was drawn alongside their eastern neighbours in the first group stage. With the West winning their first two games, and the East with one win and a draw, the hosts were in the driving seat for the final group match, played in Hamburg at the Volksparkstadion. But in one of the greatest World Cup upsets of all-time, Magdeburg striker Jürgen Sparwasser netted the game’s only goal, with the national embarrassment in the BRD creating political tension. West Germany, having finished 2^nd in the group, ended up with the easier draw in the next round anyway and would go on to lift the World Cup two weeks later.

A few years later, Magdeburg were drawn against Schalke in the second round of the UEFA Cup. The first leg of this tie was to be played in the DDR, at Magdeburg’s former home, the Ernst-Grube-Stadion, exceeding its 25,000 capacity on the day as 36,000 spectators attended – the Stasi had significantly less influence over Magdeburg than the two ‘Dynamo’ clubs. The atmosphere was just as charged, though, as Magdeburg ran out 4:2 winners that night with a hattrick from Sparwasser himself.

The return fixture was played in horrendous conditions at Schalke’s Parkstadion, with the 70,000-strong home crowd expecting that their players would be able to use it to their advantage. In the end, Magdeburg’s players were the ones able to glide through the muddy field, taking a 3:0 lead on the night, with only a consolation goal for Schalke. The 7:3 aggregate result was the biggest margin of victory for any DDR team over a BRD team, and the only time the DDR team won both legs of a tie against a BRD opponent. Magdeburg also faced Bayern in the European Cup in 1974/75 and Borussia Mönchengladbach in the UEFA Cup in 1981/82, but they suffered defeat on both occasions.

1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig vs. Werder Bremen – 1983/84 UEFA Cup

Casting our minds back to 1973/74 again, Lokomotive Leipzig became the first DDR team to beat a BRD team in any capacity when they were drawn in the UEFA Cup third round against Fortuna Düsseldorf only a few weeks after the Bayern vs. Dynamo Dresden clash. On that occasion, Lok Leipzig took the lead in Düsseldorf with a penalty but ultimately lost 2:1 on the night, but comfortably saw off their opponents in front of 71,000 fans at the Zentralstadion, winning 3:0. Lok then beat Ipswich Town on penalties to reach the semi-finals, where they were sunk 4:1 by Tottenham Hotspur. In the other semi-final tie, Stuttgart fell 4:3 to Feyenoord, another near miss for an East vs. West final.

Ten years on from that and Lok Leipzig were given a second-round draw against Werder Bremen, managed by the great Otto Rehhagel who cast Rudi Völler in the team’s starring role. The previous season, Werder had faced DDR side Vorwärts Frankfurt in the UEFA Cup first round, controversially advancing due to the away goals rule as they had scored three in Frankfurt (Oder) - not to be confused with Frankfurt am Main in the west. Playing in front of only 25,500 Lok fans this time at the Bruno-Plache-Stadion, the home side were on top form as Hans Richter scored the only goal of the afternoon.

This result created immense tension ahead of the return leg under the Weserstadion floodlights. By this time, a small number of East Germans had begun defecting to the West, and there was a fear within the Stasi that some of Lok’s players would use the occasion to try defect by remaining in Bremen after the match. They opened investigations into Richter and René Müller but were unable to substantiate their own fears; such was the paranoia within large parts of the DDR state machine at the time. An early goal from visiting number nine, Peter Schöne, gave Werder a mountain to climb. Völler equalised on the night in the second half, but it was not enough for the home side to advance. Lok, therefore, became the first and only DDR side to beat a Bundesliga team on two occasions during the separation of East and West. Although they play in the fourth tier now, they can at least have that claim to fame.

Dynamo Dresden vs. Bayer 05 Uerdingen – 1985/86 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup

This matchup was the only instance of East vs. West in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, mainly due to the fact that only one club from each country was able to compete per season, by definition. The context of this tie, however, was a microcosm of the clash of worldviews that defined the parameters for the Cold War: Dynamo Dresden still had significant state backing from the Communist regime, while Bayer Uerdingen were a representation of corporatism creeping into German football due to their financial backing from pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG (the same as Leverkusen), in the days before the 50+1 rule existed.

The two teams faced off in the quarter-finals, and the first leg was at the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion, with the Stasi deploying tactics similar to those of Aktion Vorstoß against Bayern 13 years earlier. A tiny contingent of Uerdingen fans and media personnel were closely guarded throughout, while there was heavy state control regarding attendees from the Dynamo Dresden fanbase. On the pitch, the match was a success for the DDR giants as they scored twice without response in the second half, putting them in good stead for the return leg.

Two weeks later, 16,000 fans filed into the Grotenburg-Stadion in Krefeld (where Uerdingen are based) to witness what has since become known as The Miracle of Grotenburg. A goal in the opening minute from Ralf Minge set Dynamo Dresden on their way to securing their place in the semi-finals, and despite conceding an equaliser, they scored twice more to carry a 5:1 aggregate lead into the half-time break. But what occurred in the second half remains one of the most bizarre, remarkable, and tragic episodes in the sporting history of the DDR.

Wolfgang Funkel, who had scored Uerdingen’s first goal in the tie, converted a penalty in the 58^th minute, and Lárus Guðmundsson scored to equalise on the night five minutes later. Panic set in, and the Dresden players began to freeze up as the Uerdingen fans roared increasingly louder to propel their team on. Goals from Wolfgang Schäfer and Dietmar Klinger then levelled the aggregate score at 5:5 with 12 minutes of regulation time still to play. Another penalty went Uerdingen’s way, allowed Funkel to complete his hattrick, and Schäfer added insult to injury in the 86^th minute to make it 7:3 during the match and 7:5 on aggregate, thus bringing the nightmare 45 minutes to a conclusion for Dynamo Dresden.

Immediately following the final whistle, fans swarmed the pitch, which became a nightmare scenario for the Stasi to navigate without causing a scene. Frank Lippmann, who scored one of Dresden’s goals in the first half, managed to escape the chaos and defect to the BRD, motivated by heavy close personal monitoring he experienced following a drink-driving incident several months prior. Klaus Sammer, father of future Ballon D’Or winner Matthias Sammer, was sacked from the club he spent ten years playing at and three years managing once they returned across the border. Club captain and stalwart defender Hans-Jürgen Dörner was held personally responsible for the on-pitch collapse and was forced into immediate retirement by the powers that be.

Berliner FC Dynamo vs. Werder Bremen – 1988/89 European Cup

By the end of the 1980s, BFC Dynamo had risen to be the dominant team in the DDR-Oberliga, mostly thanks to Erich Mielke’s position as head of the Stasi. They had won ten straight league titles from 1979 to 1988 heading into the 1988/89 European Cup first round tie against Werder Bremen. This had caused significant resentment from fans of other teams that knew there was no chance of overcoming the Berlin powerhouse while Mielke was involved, although his Stasi reign ending in 1987 had allowed hope of true competition to return.

In front of 24,000 fans at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in Prenzlauer Berg, BFC brushed aside the reigning Bundesliga champions 3:0. Police and security presence at the game was immense due to the stadium’s proximity to the Berlin Wall, a situation only rivalled by BFC’s clash with Hamburger SV in the 1982/83 European Cup.

On the day of the second leg, Werder’s general manager, Willi Lemke, organised a shopping event within the hotel that BFC were staying at. It was incredibly distracting for the players and delegation that did not have access to this abundance of luxury items back in East Berlin. Werder’s veteran striker Manfred Bürgsmuller doubled down on the psychological antics by booting the door of the BFC dressing room just minutes before kickoff and yelling taunts at the players.

Much to the Stasi’s disappointment, the fate that Dynamo Dresden suffered repeated itself for BFC Dynamo, as Werder launched a famous comeback by scoring five without reply in a complete drubbing. Bürgsmuller scored the fourth goal which put Werder ahead on aggregate, and at 38 years and 293 days old he became the oldest goalscorer in European Cup history until it was broken in 2023 by Portuguese hardman Pepe.

The humiliating result incensed Mielke, who was still club chairman, and prompted the Stasi to investigate the shopping event and monitor players for potential defectors. They had lost a player called Lutz Eigendorf to the BRD back in 1979 during a visit to 1. FC Kaiserslautern to play a friendly. Eigendorf passed away in 1983 under mysterious circumstances after a traffic collision and was buried before an autopsy could be performed, deterring BFC players from defecting for several years, but the potential for it to happen again had increased by the time of the match in Bremen. There was an attempt to suppress news of the defeat back in the DDR, but fans of other clubs revelled in the public embarrassment that Mielke suffered. Several key players from BFC fled to play in the West at the first opportunity following reunification less than two years later.

Stuttgart vs. Dynamo Dresden – 1988/89 UEFA Cup

Later that same season, the Stasi faced another tough ask as the other Dynamo team were drawn against Stuttgart in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. The other semi-final tie was between Napoli and Bayern, creating a tantalising opportunity for Stuttgart as a direct rival to Bayern and for Dynamo Dresden to potentially exact revenge for the narrow defeat in 1973/74.

The first leg took place in Stuttgart at the Neckarstadion, and 55,000 fans cheered the home team on as Klaus Allgöwer scored the game’s only goal and proved impossible for Dresden to break down, despite having their own talented players like Matthias Sammer and Hans-Uwe Pilz.

The second leg was, as we have seen at all the European ties in the DDR, heavily monitored by Stasi agents and incredibly tense in terms of atmosphere amongst the spectators. Allgöwer got on the scoresheet again to effectively settle the tie in the 64^th minute. Having to overcome a two-goal deficit including an away goal was incredibly unlikely, and although Frank Lieberam tied the score on the night late on, there was no sign of overturning the result. Mielke, now under increasing pressure as the Soviet Union was collapsing further east, reported directly to the Politburo for this match who wanted to ensure that no political statements would be made during the match as morale in the DDR reached an all-time low.

Post-reunification

There would only be one further instance of East Germany vs. West Germany in European competition after that night – Borussia Dortmund eased past FC Karl-Marx-Stadt (now named Chemnitzer FC) in the 1990/91 UEFA Cup first round, winning 2:0 home and away. The second leg was played in Chemnitz just one day before Germany was officially reunified, but the writing was obviously on the wall long before.

As the DDR-Oberliga folded and the German football league structure was thrown up in the air, some teams based in the east continued to compete in Europe based on results secured in the Oberliga. Hansa Rostock won the double in 1991, but had a tough first-round draw in the European Cup against Barcelona. Hansa lost 3:0 at the Camp Nou but secured a famous 1:0 win at the Ostseestadion in the return leg on a famous night for the club. Barcelona went on to win the competition that year.

Dynamo Dresden were banned from the European Cup in 1991/92 due to fan unrest that had caused their 1990/91 European Cup quarter-final second leg to be abandoned. Perhaps having been used to heavy scrutiny by security services for several decades, Dresden fans were let loose for the home fixture against Crvena zvezda, and began pelting West German-born Robert Prosinečki with objects in the 78^th minute. Dresden were 5:1 down on aggregate at the time, but UEFA awarded the Serbian team with a 3:0 walkover, and having won the first leg 3:0 already, Crvena zvezda advanced 6:0 on aggregate. They went on to beat Bayern in the semi-finals and Marseille in the final to lift the trophy.

Hallescher FC also competed in the 1991/92 UEFA Cup, taking the place that Dynamo Dresden vacated due to their ban. Hallescher were drawn against Torpedo Moscow, one of the top Russian clubs of the Cold War era, and the Saxony-Anhalt side won the first leg 2:1 in front of a tiny crowd of 3,700 at the Kurt-Wabbel-Stadion. Sadly, the trip to Moscow was too much for them, losing 3:0 at the Torpedo Stadium in their only ever European away day – as Chemie Halle, they withdrew from their only previous UEFA Cup campaign in 1971/72 when a hotel fire in Eindhoven before their second leg fixture against PSV claimed the life of midfielder Wolfgang Hoffmann and injured several other players.

Rot-Weiß Erfurt also competed in the 1991/92 UEFA Cup, beating Dutch team Groningen 1:0 in both legs of the first round, before meeting their match against an even bigger Dutch side named Ajax in the second round. Ajax had to play their ‘home’ leg in Düsseldorf due to sanctions for hooliganism but won 3:0 in that match anyway to secure a 5:1 aggregate win. This was the final European match played in western Germany by an eastern German team based on results achieved during the Cold War era.

Germany almost claimed three points in Amsterdam but allowed a late Cody Gakpo equaliser to tie things up. A 1:0 defeat at home to Greece followed, although Klopp’s men redeemed themselves by winning 2:0 at home to Serbia through goals from Tom Bischof and Florian Wirtz. But Klopp’s men drew a blank against Greece again, hardly threatening during a goalless draw that leaves them needing wins next month to reach the Nations League finals next summer.

(Said El Mala celebrates his winning goal in the Rheinisches Derby.)

Match Summaries

Augsburg 2:2 Bayern München

We’ll start yet again with the reigning champions, since any result for them that doesn’t end with a victory is worth dissecting. Vincent Kompany’s men went behind on two occasions away to fellow Bavarian outfit Augsburg, but fought valiantly to the final whistle, managing to find equalisers on both occasions and really ought to have won it with some of the gilt-edged chances late on. Augsburg, while they would have hardly been expecting to win this one, have now dropped points from a winning position three games in a row, which is a worrying sign for any manager.

Bayern München got off to the worst possible start when veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer gifted Robin Fellhauer the ball from kickoff and he just rolled it into the empty net. Fellhauer now holds the Bundesliga record of fastest ever goal, with an official time of 8.4 seconds. Scoring too early against Bayern is certainly a real phenomenon, however, and it proved true eventually. After Luis Díaz had a spectacular acrobatic effort controversially ruled out for an offside in the build-up (one of an incredible four disallowed Bayern goals), Ismael Saibari got the leveller moments later when Harry Kane found him in space by the penalty spot, and he poked it low into the corner. But the state of equilibrium lasted less than ten minutes, when Augsburg took advantage of some poor defensive organisation that allowed Calvin Brackelmann to get a shot away which Neuer parried directly to Rodrigo Ribeiro, an easy finish for the young Portuguese forward. Kane was the provider once again for the game’s final goal, flashing a pass across the six-yard box for Nathaniel Brown to tap in with ten minutes left to play. Serge Gnabry hit the post shortly after the game restarted, which was Bayern’s best chance to claim a winner, with several other attempts going close as they racked up an xG of 4.19.

Speaking after the game, Kompany defended his captain’s errors saying that his players are “normal people who don’t always get everything right”, but questions are going to be asked constantly regarding Neuer’s status as the number one given that he is now 40 years old. Augsburg boss Manuel Baum let out a bit of a laugh during his press conference regarding Bayern’s four offside goals, acknowledging his team’s luck but still praising their disciplined defensive performance.

Borussia Dortmund 2:2 Werder Bremen

They say that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes – though Borussia Dortmund’s Friday night clash with Werder Bremen was incredibly close to an exact repetition of this fixture from the 2022/23. On that day, goals in the 89^th, 93^rd and 95^th minute gave Werder a 3:2 win having been two goals behind, and this weekend, Werder goals in the 88^th and 92^nd minute set up the most nerve-wracking ending at the Signal Iduna Park for an incredibly long time.

The first 85 minutes of this game went exactly to plan for BVB, mirroring the execution of the first four league games for Niko Kovač’s side by dominating the ball, shutting down any signs of a sustained attack from their opponents, and then scoring to settle the game. Visiting goalkeeper Karl Hein, who would win Player of the Match, made a good save from Maximilian Beier and a couple of other routine stops to keep it at 0:0 for 80 minutes. Serhou Guirassy would then break down the right wing chasing a long ball, beating Marco Friedl and playing it across the box for Swedish wing-back Daniel Svensson to bury following a miskick from teammate Fábio Silva. Nico Schlotterbeck looked to have wrapped things up five minutes later when he headed in from a corner while protests of a foul on Hein fell on deaf ears. Werder, just as they had done in that famous comeback four years ago, used that setback to their advantage as Dortmund got complacent. Ludovit Reis jinked past two opponents and fired it low from 20 yards for his first ever Bundesliga goal to keep things interesting. Sporting a salmon-coloured away kit, Niclas Füllkrug then leaped upstream to meet a Marco Grüll freekick in stoppage time to score in his fourth consecutive game. The defending must be strongly questioned, to put it politely. Grüll’s assist puts him alone at the top of the official Bundesliga leaderboard with four, although some websites have him on five assists for a deflected pass in his previous game.

Kovač will be left scratching his head at this one as on one hand, Bayern’s result keeps the gap at the top the same, but on the other hand it is absolutely two points dropped unnecessarily. Kovač told the media that “we have to blame ourselves” and expressed disappointment in both the result and the end of the team’s six-match winning streak in all competitions to start the season. His opposite number, Daniel Thioune, was comparatively delighted and said that “we can proudly talk about resilience and our ability to fight back”, having reversed a 2:0 deficit to win against Augsburg just before the international break.

Köln 2:1 Borussia Mönchengladbach

In what was effectively this week’s Topspiel, a clash of two heavyweights from North-Rhine Westphalia who have seen better days ended with the home side claiming three points at the RheinEnergieStadion. Alexander Blessin was in the Borussia Mönchengladbach dugout for the first time since taking over as head coach during the international break, but René Wagner’s side will happily claim bragging rights on this occasion.

Köln took the lead midway through the first half when Ísak Jóhannesson reached a cleared header from a corner first and powered a volley beyond Moritz Nicolas. Quite how he got so much power behind the shot, I do not know, but it was one of three such goals this weekend. Gladbach tied things up six minutes before half-time, however, as USMNT wing-back Joe Scally found himself unmarked to turn in a header at the back post. But the home side’s young talismanic forward Said El Mala became the derby hero as he brought the ball inside from the left wing and curled one in at the far post from outside the box. The visitors struggled to create anything meaningful as they tried to get their first point of the season, another alarming concern for Blessin to get to grips with.

Wagner insisted his job was not at risk in his pre-match press conference, so he will be delighted to have backed that talk up with a result. Gladbach fans were surely hoping for a new manager bounce to come but perhaps it is just being deferred to their next fixture, which will be at home to Hoffenheim.

Union Berlin 1:0 Elversberg

Die Eisernen recovered from a 7:0 drumming at Bayern München on MD4 by recording their first league win of the campaign, which is also a first ever Bundesliga win for manager Mauro Lustrinelli. Elversberg, on the other hand, are now three games without a win after creating a feelgood story when they won their opening two fixtures, and it feels as though they have been firmly brought back down to earth. Union Berlin only climb to 16^th due to their goal difference taking a big hit last time out, but they will feel glad to have banished any negative talk for a few days nonetheless.

The game’s only goal came from substitute Livan Burcu in the 81^st minute, when the clearing header from a corner fell nicely for him and his volley fortuitously found its way through the packed crowd, hitting defender Felix Keidel which wrongfooted the goalkeeper. It was the 22-year-old’s first goal of the season and only his second for the club. Union had the better chances throughout the game and forced several good saves from Nicolas Kristof. Elversberg ended the game with 57% possession but truthfully struggled to create any meaningful chances, and were caught offside seven times, leaving much for Vincent Wagner to think about.

Lustrinelli reiterated the importance of incremental progress in his comments to the press after the match, and once again used his metaphor of a child learning to ride a bicycle. Fans at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei will just be hoping that the wheels don’t come off immediately.

RB Leipzig 6:0 Eintracht Frankfurt

If RB Leipzig could fix their away form, they would be right up there in the title fight. Martín Demichelis’ side tore apart an Eintracht Frankfurt team that has had an incredibly slow start to the season with just one win from five Bundesliga games. Leipzig, meanwhile, have won all three home matches, scoring 14 goals without conceding, but have lost both league fixtures on the road as well as their Champions League tie away to Como.

Leipzig flew out of the gates in this one and never looked back. Ezechiel Banzuzi opened the scoring in just 44 seconds, sweeping in from a cross while completely unmarked at the back post. Norwegian international Antonio Nusa then displayed his physical dominance by outsprinting Nnamdi Collins, who is no slouch, and then shoulder barging him to the ground and putting it on a plate for Christopher Nkunku to finish with less than five minutes of the match played. Die Adler then had their best spell of the game between minutes 25 and 40 but found Maarten Vandevoordt tough to beat between the sticks. But in the 41^st minute, Nkunku got his second when he put in a rebound from a backheel flick by Rômulo that was saved, and got his hattrick before the break with another rebound from Noah Atubolu spilling an attempt from Banzuzi. A hattrick of left-footed goals from a right-footed player... I’m not sure the last time I saw that happen. With the three points settled, Nusa decided to turn on the style, embarrassing Collins again by nutmegging him at speed and firing low beneath Atubolu. Substitute Tidiam Gomis arguably saved the best for last, driving with the ball from his own half as Frankfurt defenders stood off, allowing him to finish low into the far corner in the 89^th minute. The only worry for Leipzig is Banzuzi’s apparent injury that forced him off in the second half.

This was firmly a day to forget for Adi Hütter and his players, particularly Atubolu and captain Robin Koch who were at fault for goals in the first half, with Koch being hooked at half-time. Hütter said his side conceded several soft goals, adding that “when you defend like that and leave yourselves so exposed to counterattacks in Leipzig, it’s simply not good enough for the Bundesliga”. Back to the drawing board at the training ground this week, then.

Mainz 3:4 Bayer Leverkusen

Now from one of the most one-sided matches you will see all season, to one of the best ding-dong battles. Bayer Leverkusen came away with the three points, but it could have easily gone the other way as hosts Mainz had the better opportunities at the Mewa Arena on Saturday afternoon and let themselves down with some mistakes at the back. Indeed, Mainz’s Urs Fischer echoed Kompany’s words when discussing defensive errors by saying “they’re humans, it would be nice if we humans could function like robots. But if that were the case, you guys wouldn’t have anything to write about”. So, I’m thanking my lucky stars for having something to write about.

Leverkusen got the better of Mainz at the outset, with Robert Andrich scoring a thunderous volley from the edge of the box in the fifth minute of his first Bundesliga start under Carles Martínez Novell, giving the Spaniard some food for thought about leaving the former club captain on the sidelines. Just four minutes later, Patrik Schick doubled the lead when a fantastic dummy from Ibrahim Maza allowed him to get through 1v1 and dispatch the ball past Alexander Schwolow, with the Czech man now holding top spot in the goalscoring charts with five for the season. Mainz wing-back Anthony Caci single-handedly clawed his team level before half-time, showing his poacher’s instinct to convert a rebound at the goalkeeper’s feet in the 33^rd minute and finishing excellently on his left foot nine minutes later by finding a gap in between two defenders. But after the break, Leverkusen restored their lead, Jarell Quansah bagging his first goal of the season when his saved attempt returned to him and he looped a header beyond Schwolow who seemed to be struggling in the sun. Moussa Diaby then extended the lead with his first goal since returning to Leverkusen, with a placed shot that went in off the bar from the penalty arc. Benedict Hollerbach reduced the deficit in stoppage time when a double deflection landed kindly for him to volley underneath Mark Flekken.

The result sees the visitors climb into the top four having recovered from an opening day defeat to Elversberg. The attacking productivity of their new look back four continued with Quansah’s goal in this game, and I recently covered how their conversion from their previously successful back three is making them dangerous at both ends of the pitch.

Hoffenheim 2:3 Hamburg

It is a testament to how entertaining the Bundesliga consistently is that this match couldn’t make it higher on this list. Following horrendous showings during their first three matches, including consecutive 5:0 defeats, Hamburger SV are on the up with two wins from two now following this result at the SNP Arena. The club’s decision to give Merlin Polzin a new contract while sitting on zero points may have seemed ridicule-worthy at the time, but he is a talented coach, and in my opinion, it was a matter of time before they would find their feet again. For Hoffenheim and Christian Ilzer, the sirens are blaring, with one win and four defeats from the first five league matches.

Yussuf Poulsen opened the scoring in the 12^th minute for the visitors, when an attempt from Nicolás Capaldo came back off the post perfectly for him to blast it in. Hoffenheim’s Bambasé Conté, who was singled out by Jürgen Klopp for his efforts with the national team recently, thought he had his first Bundesliga goal when he unleashed a shot which crept under Daniel Heuer Fernandes, but a foul in the build-up spoiled the party. The home fans were able to go into half-time more relaxed, though, when Sebastiaan Bornauw inadvertently turned it into his own net from a corner while battling for the ball with Fisnik Asllani. Conté then got his moment early in the second half when he sat down Albert Sambi Lokonga and took aim with a low shot that hit the inside of the post and nestled in the opposite corner, impossible to stop and much more rewarding than his disallowed goal. But the match took a different turn in the 65^th minute when Hoffenheim left-back Bernardo received a second yellow card for a late tackle into David Møller Wolfe’s knee. Hamburg had the incentive to go and get a result from this point, and referee Harm Osmers ruled out an Otto Stange equaliser with ten minutes remaining for handling the ball before shooting. But shortly after, Miro Muheim, who had been brought on in the first half due to a potential ACL injury to captain Nicolai Remberg, delivered a brilliant clipped cross which Terem Moffi rose to attack, heading low into the corner. Muheim then went one better by sealing the result in the 94^th minute. From a corner, Hoffenheim headed it away to Muheim who was positioned perfectly 20 yards out and volleyed it in to send the visiting fans into ecstasy, a strangely common way to score on MD5.

Polzin said that the game was “everything an HSV fan could wish for. It was a fantastic and incredible display of energy from my team after going behind.” For Ilzer, some soul-searching is necessary - he expressed his delight at his team’s ability to turn the game around initially before the red card killed their momentum with 25 minutes still to play. Hoffenheim desperately need a result in their next Bundesliga game but face a stern challenge at home to Beşiktaş on Thursday first.

Paderborn 0:2 Stuttgart

I promise that I am not actively trying to keep Paderborn at the bottom of my match summary list, but they unfortunately provide so little entertainment that it makes it difficult to justify bringing them any higher. Both teams have had slow starts this season, but Stuttgart are a Champions League side and they made the gulf in class known on Saturday at the Home Deluxe Arena.

Stuttgart surprisingly had less possession (48%) and fewer shots (18 to 24) during this game, but took advantage of Paderborn’s desperation as the game went on to ensure victory. Some pinball action following a free kick led to Angelo Stiller having time to pick out a pass, finding Jeff Chabot at the back post to head in the opener midway through the first half. Paderborn did their best to find an equaliser, their best chance coming through Raphael Obermair, who was denied by goalkeeper Dennis Seimen, making his debut for Stuttgart having been on loan at Paderborn during their promotion last season but was then sidelined with an injury during pre-season. Chris Führich wrapped up proceedings in the 83^rd minute with a fierce effort at the near post to put the game beyond doubt (untrue for Dortmund), with Stiller providing the assist again as he finally gets into his stride.

Ralf Kettemann changed his usual upbeat demeanour following the game, saying that he had “a right to be pissed off” at the manner of the defeat given that they missed several good opportunities, but acknowledged the ability that Stuttgart possess. Sebastian Hoeneß was full of praise for Seimen as he achieved a clean sheet on debut against his former club but also pointed at areas for improvement during spells where Paderborn had more control in the game. Seimen admitted that there were tears after the final whistle, telling DAZN that the occasion was “the most emotional thing I’ve experienced in my career”. At just 20 years old but displaying top potential, I’m sure that he has plenty more emotional experiences ahead of him.

Freiburg 2:1 Schalke

Forgive me for leaving my coverage of the new league leaders to last, as Freiburg’s 2:1 success over Schalke sent them above Dortmund on goal difference in the Sunday evening fixture. The better team certainly won on this occasion, but it leaves Miron Muslić with some thinking to do as Freiburg received a red card with the score level at 1:1, which should have given the visitors the impetus to go and win the match. Freiburg, meanwhile, will be working hard to retain head coach Julian Schuster at this rate.

Freiburg captain Maximilian Eggestein pounced early from a corner when Schalke goalkeeper Loris Karius could only parry a header into his own goalmouth, which Eggestein duly smashed in to give his team the lead. But Adrian Gantenbein turned that situation around in the 30^th minute by firing one past Mio Backhaus under similar circumstances, although more accuracy was required as he was shooting from the edge of the box. Yuito Suzuki then received what I would describe as a brutally harsh red card when he went in slightly late and stepped on X’s planted foot, but there was no malice in it. Luckily for Suzuki, two substitutes linked up for the winner when fellow countryman Keisuke Goto rose to meet a Vincenzo Grifo cross and glanced a header low into the corner as the game approached its conclusion.

Team of the Week

GK: Finn Dahmen – Augsburg – 7 points

Having been the only player to spend the full international break with the German national team, Dahmen returned to action for his club in top form with some heroic saves to prevent Bayern from taking three points home from the WWK Arena. Dahmen made a total of eight saves, ultimately preventing 2.19 xG which is pretty significant.

RB: Anthony Caci – Mainz – 4 points

I believe this is my first player featured in my Bundesliga Team of the Week despite being on the losing side, and granted, conceding four goals as a wing-back is not ideal. But with two goals scored to bring his side back into the game, Caci was by far the outstanding player for Mainz this weekend and did still win the Bundesliga Player of the Match. Only four points is a reflection on his team’s result rather than his individual performance.

CB: Zeno van den Bosch – Union Berlin – 6 points

There weren’t too many top defensive performances this week from an individual perspective, but van den Bosch stood out to me for his performance in Union’s first win of the season. With 11 defensive contributions, and 89% of ground duels won, the new signing from Royal Antwerp showed his class for the East Berliners and hopefully the momentum continues.

CB: Jeff Chabot - Stuttgart – 3 points

Chabot has bounced around the clubs during his career but seems to have finally found a home in Stuttgart and is now revelling as a starter under Sebastian Hoeneß. The 28-year-old opened the scoring for his side and kept a clean sheet, which is basically as good as it gets for a defender, so this was an easier pick. He did pick up a thigh injury which forced him off, but the club has said there is no serious damage, although he may not be available for the midweek Champions League fixture.

LB: Miro Muheim – Hamburg – 10 points

Although he was a substitute, Muheim was vital in Hamburg’s late turnaround against ten-man Hoffenheim. His cross for Moffi’s equaliser was a pinpoint one, and his volleyed winner wasn’t half-bad either. In terms of influence over a result, he was possibly the most impressive performer of the weekend and thus deserves his ten points here.

CM: Maximilian Eggestein – Freiburg – 5 points

Captains earn their status for a reason, and Eggestein is no different. The midfielder arguably has the best engine in the league, covering incredible distance consistently during his career, and he has the footballing IQ to make a difference in both boxes. Having given his team the lead, he did a great job of marshaling his comrades while playing with ten men to ensure they could go on to win the game. Another brilliant performance from an often overlooked player.

CM: Robert Andrich – Bayer Leverkusen – 2 points

Although he played mostly as a centre-back last season, Andrich returned to Leverkusen’s midfield and delivered a top performance that shows he can still contribute to his team’s success in his old role. Despite scoring a wondrous volley to set Leverkusen on their way to victory, it was his defensive prowess that was the most impressive part of his performance as he came in to replace Equi Fernández. With five tackles and three interceptions, he was constantly disrupting Mainz’s attacking opportunities and has truly given his boss something to think about having been cast aside so far this season.

CM: Angelo Stiller – Stuttgart – 9 points

Stiller is a player that thrives when he has a rigid defence to break down in front of him, and he showed his quality in spades at Paderborn this weekend. He assisted both goals in the 2:0 win, with a beautiful, floated cross for Jeff Chabot and an incisive pass for Chris Führich to score the second. You can hardly ask for more than that.

RW: Christopher Nkunku – RB Leipzig – 11 points

Nkunku was the designated number ten in this match, so I’ve taken a bit of a liberty with my formation for this team, but he gets my vote for Player of the Week. He was constantly popping up in the right position to claim his three goals against Eintracht Frankfurt, and although you can question the defending, you still need to have the ability to execute the finishes. Nkunku has struggled for form since leaving Leipzig for Chelsea in 2023, but with this performance he is firmly back as a player to watch out for this season.

ST: Harry Kane – Bayern München - 1 point

With a lack of goalscoring performances beyond Nkunku and Caci, I’ve opted to keep Kane in my team for the second matchday running. His two assists for Saibari and Brown showcased why he is so much more than a goalscorer, and the bookies’ favourite to win this year’s Ballon D’Or. The movement and technique he possesses is exceptional, and the fact I’m only giving him one point is a reflection of the fact that Bayern didn’t win and he didn’t score – but his overall play was the reason why Bayern came away with a point.

LW: Antonio Nusa – RB Leipzig – 8 points

Nusa makes my team for the third time in the first five matchdays, and given his technical ability, it shouldn’t be a surprise. But his physicality was what impressed me even more in the 6:0 rout, as he had Nnamdi Collins on toast for the 90 minutes as mentioned in my match summary. His inclusion puts him firmly top of my performance leaderboard for the season.

Manager: Martín Demichelis – RB Leipzig

Similar to my choice of Vincent Kompany for MD4 Manager of the Week, I’ve chosen to give it to the manager that oversaw a thrashing. The hiring of Demichelis has been criticised by some, myself included, given that he was in charge of a relegated Mallorca side last campaign and has never managed in the Bundesliga before (although some would argue that Mallorca is a German exclave anyway). But his team’s home performances have been flawless and a 6:0 trouncing of a team with Eintracht Frankfurt’s quality both on the field and in the dugout cannot be ignored.

Leaderboards

Player Leaderboard

21 – Antonio Nusa
18 - Miguel Gutiérrez
17 - Marco Grüll
12 – Sheraldo Becker
11 – Loris Karius, Younes Ebnoutalib, Matthias Ginter, Michael Olise, Christopher Nkunku
10 – Philipp Mwene, Yuito Suzuki, Laurin Curda, Miro Muheim
9 – Anton Kade, Adam Hložek, Finn Dahmen, Angelo Stiller
8 – Daniel Svensson, Yannik Engelhardt
7 – Fabian Rieder, Lukas Petkov, Michael Gregoritsch, Felix Nmecha, Nicolás Capaldo, Maximilian Eggestein
6 – Ridle Baku, Robin Gosens, Zeno van den Bosch
5 – Josha Vagnoman, Joshua Kimmich, Igor Matanović, Harry Kane
4 – Jonathan Tah, Dayot Upamecano, Can Uzun, Anthony Caci
3 – Maurice Krattenmacher, Karl Hein, Santiago Castañeda, Jeff Chabot
2 – Nico Schlotterbeck, Robert Andrich
1 – Facundo Medina, Willi Orbán, Mark Flekken

Manager Leaderboard

1 - Urs Fischer, René Wagner, Julian Schuster, Vincent Kompany, Martín Demichelis

2. : 3. Recap – 2. Bundesliga MD7, 3. Liga MD8

Fixture Round-Up

The 2. Bundesliga Topspiel this week did not disappoint at all, as Nürnberg and Wolfsburg played out a 4:4 draw on Saturday night with all the trimmings – open goals missed, players and managers fighting, and three goals in second-half stoppage time. Wolfsburg led 2:0 at the break but it could have easily been 5:2, and Nürnberg recovered to lead 3:2 before conceding an equaliser, scoring a “should’ve-been” winner and conceding another equaliser immediately after. Hertha Berlin got their seventh consecutive win to now be the only club in German professional football with a 100% record in 2026/27, beating Greuther Fürth 2:1 at the Olympiastadion. Magdeburg won 3:0 at home to Hannover to climb up to 4^th, while Darmstadt climbed from last place to 14^th with a 3:1 win over Energie Cottbus. The other teams to pick up wins were Eintracht Braunschweig, St. Pauli and Arminia Bielefeld.

In the 3. Liga, Duisburg retained their lead after a scare at home to Hoffenheim II, coming back from two goals down to win 3:2. Viktoria Köln hold steady in second place with their fourth consecutive win, beating Alemannia Aachen 5:2 and becoming the highest scoring team in Germany this season. Ingolstadt, having sacked Sabrina Wittmann over the international break, lost again, this time to Wehen Wiesbaden by a scoreline of 4:2. Jahn Regensburg and Waldhof Mannheim both won while scoring five, and Hansa Rostock were the only other team to secure a win.

Players of the Week

My choice for 2. Bundesliga player this weekend is Hertha winger Josip Brekalo. Despite my personal reservations about him, his two assists in a 2:1 win were enough for me to certify this award. He is a Bundesliga calibre player, as exemplified in his earlier days at Wolfsburg, and the way things are going at Hertha, he could be back in the top flight soon enough.

The 3. Liga player of the week was between two hattrick scorers – Nassim Boujellab of Regensburg or Peter Remmert of Duisburg. I’ve gone for Remmert since his hattrick overturned a 2:0 deficit into a 3:2 win, compared to Boujellab’s goals which sealed a comfortable 5:0 win against Havelse’s ten men. Remmert only entered the pitch at half-time, so the on loan Schalke forward deserves extra credit for his performance.

Managers of the Week

The 2. Bundesliga manager award goes to Oliver Kirch of Arminia Bielefeld. His side have struggled for points so far this season, but a crucial 2:1 win at Bochum allowed them to climb away from the relegation places into 9^th with the only away win of the matchday. Kirch only became a head coach for the first time over the summer period, so his second victory will feel just as sweet as the first, I’m sure.

Amongst 3. Liga candidates, Marian Wilhelm of Viktoria Köln stood out again to me as his side breezed past an Alemannia Aachen side that are talented albeit inconsistent. Wilhelm’s men are in red hot form and had the game out of sight before half-time as they went into the dressing room with a 4:1 lead. They scored again to put the result beyond any lingering doubt before conceding a consolation goal at the end, ultimately running out 5:2 winners.

This Week’s Fixture Preview

The leading Bundesliga teams face a variety of challenges in Europe during the midweek fixtures, but as this is a Bundesliga newsletter I will skip beyond that for today. Bayern vs. RB Leipzig in Saturday’s evening fixture will hopefully he a good watch, while the Sunday evening fixture between Gladbach and Hoffenheim is fast becoming a must-win for both sides. Elversberg vs. Augsburg is one of the Saturday afternoon fixtures worth keeping an eye on, as both teams had strong starts to the season by winning their opening two fixtures, but are now without a win since. MD6 could provide a springboard for one of these teams to build from for the remainder of the season if they can grasp the occasion.

In the second tier, keep an eye out for Wolfsburg vs. Heidenheim on Saturday lunchtime, as only two points separate the recently relegated sides that are hoping to mount promotion challenges. Meanwhile, the third tier will have another double gameweek, so I have two Topspiel picks: Preußen Münster vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf on Wednesday evening, and an almost guaranteed 1^st vs. 2^nd clash by the time we reach MD10 as Duisburg host Viktoria Köln on Sunday.

Bis nächstes Mal! Tschüss!

But what about producing elite managers? We all know that Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique and Xavi Hernández have gone on to achieve great things in the dugout after managing in the academy, although they had the benefit of being elite level players in their own right for Barcelona and the Spanish national team. Carles Martínez Novell is now making a case for being the first elite manager produced by La Masia, having never played professionally but exporting the academy’s philosophy across Europe, first with Toulouse and now at Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

In this article, we will look at how Martínez Novell’s decision to revert Bayer 04 to playing with a back four is paying dividends already, and whether it could allow them to compete at the very top having finally secured their first Bundesliga title back in 2023/24 under the guidance of Xabi Alonso.

The Personnel

Kasper Hjulmand was dismissed at the end of the 2025/26 campaign having limped to a 6^th place finish in the league, despite inheriting a mess of a situation in September 2025 when Erik Ten Hag was sacked after just two league matches. As harsh as it may have seemed at the time, the board evidently had a plan in place by moving quickly to bring in Martínez Novell from Toulouse, where he had managed since 2023. Toulouse had only been promoted to Ligue 1 in 2022, but they won the Coupe de France and finished 13^th with Carles Martínez Novell as the assistant head coach in 2022/23, and he would consistently improve upon their league position by finishing 11^th, 10^th and 9^th in the last three campaigns.

Die Werkself were slow to complete key business over the summer, which bled into the start of the season. They swooped early for 17-year-old midfielder Kennet Eichhorn from Hertha Berlin, but then waited for key sales to go through before starting to spend. Piero Hincapié’s loan to Arsenal was made permanent for €40m, while starters Alejandro Grimaldo and Exequiel Palacios left for Atlético Madrid and Ipswich Town for a combined €37.5m. Talented teenage winger Kerim Alajbegović was also sold to Juventus for €32m after Leverkusen exercised his €8m buy-back clause from Red Bull Salzburg. He was not in Martínez Novell’s plans, but the €24m profit was too good to turn down.

In total, that collectively brought in €101.5m, and Leverkusen’s outlay of €108.5m on four new players is helping to allow Martínez Novell set up his side the way he wants. Miguel Gutiérrez is a direct replacement for his countryman Grimaldo, Facundo Medina comes in as a left-footed centre-back to effectively replace Hincapié, while the 21-year-old Afonso Moreira provides solid width on the left wing and Guéla Doué, older brother of PSG’s Désiré Doué, joins as an option at right-back. Another €28m was spent to bring Moussa Diaby back to the club after spells with Aston Villa and Al-Ittihad, to mirror Moreira’s role on the right-wing, bringing the total outlay to €136.5m, which should be affordable given the combination of player sales and competition earnings.

This allows Martínez Novell to set up in his preferred 4-2-3-1, far different from the 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 that the club had stuck to for at least four years dating back to the days when Gerardo Seoane was in charge.

Standard 3-4-2-1 towards the end of 2025/26:

Standard 4-2-3-1 in 2026/27:

In Possession

Across the six games played so far this season in all competitions, Bayer Leverkusen have averaged 62% possession. Even if you take out the routine 4:0 win away to 3. Liga strugglers Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, their average would be very strong at 60.2%. While keeping possession is arguably not as critical as it used to be for winning league titles, it is still an indication of a coach’s intent and the quality of players he has at his disposal. Martínez Novell therefore has interesting ideas of how he instructs his players to operate while in possession, given that he knows they will have a lot more of the ball than their opponents on most occasions.

In the 4:0 win against Union Berlin, die Werkself opened the scoring within the first minute and it came from a very clear positional set-up by the head coach. Leverkusen won a throw in by launching it directly from kickoff, before utilising the space in the back half of the pitch to stretch play from side to side. Look at the positioning of the full-backs as Aleix García drops back from midfield to receive the ball from the throw-in.

Jarell Quansah is holding width at the touchline, while Miguel Gutiérrez is at least ten yards from the nearest defender shuffling wide to allow his teammates to play it across to him while dragging the Union players to the other side.

Within ten seconds, García has stepped back up into midfield to play a bounce pass from Gutiérrez to Equi Fernández, taking four players out of the game that are all rushing to García at once. Quansah also now has 20 yards of space free on the opposite side with nobody aware of his presence.

Moving on to “phase two” of the play: Within the following ten seconds, Fernández finds Malik Tillman while Quansah advances to the right-wing position, offering for Tillman to play a one-two before sending it into the penalty area.

Gutiérrez, having also followed his instruction to get as high as possible on the left-wing to mirror Quansah, ends up unmarked at the back post to play a pass into the six-yard box, which Fernández followed in to convert.

From Quansah’s throw-in, only ten passes were needed in 30 seconds to drag Union forward, to the right, to the left, and then ended up scrambling to defend a dangerous situation that they had sleepwalked into, all within the first minute of the match. What’s more notable is that the striker and two of the three attacking midfielders did not receive the ball at any point, meanwhile the holding midfielders and full-backs were playing vital roles both in the first phase and the second phase of the move.

This decisive choice to replace captain Robert Andrich as a centre-back with an additional attacker is allowing Leverkusen’s full-backs to push on without being tracked. García’s ability on the ball allows him to drop in, making Andrich’s former role in the middle of the back three obsolete in possession, and his direct opponents in midfield are unwilling to step up and follow him into that area until it’s too late – he’s already seen the pass that will cut through. This makes phase two a lot more difficult to defend because the midfielders that should be close to Tillman and Quansah are now nowhere to be seen, and the defenders transition across to close the space while Gutiérrez and Fernández advance to make the most of what was actually a poor delivery from Tillman.

Let’s look at a second example, this time from their most recent fixture at home to RB Leipzig. Already leading 2:0 and having provided an assist and scored a goal, Gutiérrez finds himself in a pickle being counter-pressed and plays a long pass back to goalkeeper Mark Flekken.

The distance that the Leipzig players have to cover to close him down gives him time to pick his pass, which he plays to Edmond Tapsoba with time to turn out and play it on to Quansah.

So within ten seconds, Leverkusen have gone from Gutiérrez to Quansah in three passes while stretching six Leipzig players (the attacking trio and midfield trio) up the pitch to allow space for Leverkusen’s own attackers to exploit. Quansah plays it directly down the line, and Ibrahim Maza is able to outfox his opponent to receive the ball in behind him and attack in what is at best a three-v-one situation, or at worst a three-v-three depending on your opinion of it.

It was fatigue that let Maza down in the end, sending a lazy shot towards goal which was well blocked. But the fact that the team managed to cycle the ball around the back by using the full-backs extremely wide but a touch deeper than a traditional wing-back type (like Grimaldo was) in phase one allows for sudden chance creation within a matter of seconds. Martínez Novell’s side give themselves the opportunity for more defensive players to ghost behind the chasing defenders or free up space for the most talented attackers to have time on the ball in dangerous areas.

Out of Possession

Martínez Novell had his Toulouse team become one of the best pressing outfits in French football over the course of his tenure there, and in 2025/26 was in the 86^th percentile for passes per defensive action (PPDA) amongst teams in the top five European leagues according to DataMB. Leverkusen’s press is led by lone striker Patrik Schick (or Christian Kofane when he starts), as the team press often is, but the intensity with which the full-backs come up to join the press allows Martínez Novell’s team to overload the player on the ball and force mistakes.

Here’s an example from the Europa League fixture against Celje, where Lucas Vázquez got the nod over Quansah, and Medina shuffled across to left-back to replace Gutiérrez. I’m using an example from this game to show that although personnel is important, the system is even more important to Martínez Novell and any combination of full-backs at his disposal must know how to press in his way.

Celje have chased a long ball back towards their corner flag and are now trying to play out with four players close together against three Leverkusen players advancing. Vázquez, wearing black in the bottom right, has already pushed up to close the opposing left-back as he cleared to his teammate who is now on the ball, and Vázquez is well-positioned to press again.

This forces the Celje defender to play a clipped ball forward as his other passing options are all being covered, and Loïc Badé steps up to fight to win the ball aerially, forcing a heavy touch which lands at the feet of Vázquez. Leverkusen then have their sights on goal within two passes, with Vázquez finding Schick who then has two teammates rushing in with only the goalkeeper to beat. It was only a poor attempt from García, toe-poking it directly at the goalkeeper, which prevented Leverkusen from doubling their lead here.

It was the full-back jumping up and pressing in the corner, and then recovering the ball from a loose touch, that created this goalscoring opportunity. Without Vázquez there, Leverkusen would not have had the numbers to force Celje into those errors.

But there are still some teething problems with this incredibly aggressive pressing tactic. Against better opposition, it can come undone (or even against Elversberg, although I am largely putting the defeat in that game to one side as Leverkusen were still getting signings through the door and settled in at that point), and RB Leipzig managed to play through the high and wide full-backs on a few occasions. In this example, Leipzig start the second half playing along the back, and the left centre-back is playing a sideways pass to his partner, which is the cue for Afonso Moreira (bottom-left) and Gutiérrez (bottom-right) to jump while their teammates shuffle sideways.

Moreira and Gutiérrez jumping in tandem means that they are vacating their shadow cover duties, meaning that Fernández and Medina have to step up to meet those Leipzig players as they drop in to show for the ball. Ridle Baku receives the ball from the right centre-back and is able to play forward to Tidiam Gomis as Medina is too far behind him to force an error.

As Baku shapes up to pass down the line, you can see Ezechiel Banzuzi slowing down and preparing to turn as Fernández approaches him. Banzuzi knows he can get away with this as none of the Leverkusen players are close enough to their opposite numbers, except for Fernández who is now too close and Banzuzi can steal a march on him to receive a bounce pass from Gomis and attack directly.

Now Leipzig have three of their front four rushing directly towards the Leverkusen backline, meanwhile Medina and Gutiérrez have to get back having just sprinted forwards in their pressing attempt. García now has to come across to cover the vacated area, while Tapsoba has to stay with his man. Gomis is good enough that he can play that pass first time, as are almost all wingers at top Bundesliga clubs, so Leverkusen may have gotten away with this against Celje, but it will not always work against Leipzig. Fortunately, Gomis’ next pass lacked quality and García was able to get a touch to it and Tapsoba cleared. Nevertheless, you can see from the screenshot that Leipzig were in an incredibly dangerous four-v-three situation that they would usually reach a shooting position from at least.

Concluding Thoughts

For all the talk of inverted full-backs, Martínez Novell is showing that having full-backs that create width is still possible with a back four, instead of relying on wing-backs ahead of three centre-backs to provide better insurance defensively. Martínez Novell is unapologetically getting on the front foot, and having someone like Gutiérrez that has a fantastic delivery certainly helps as an additional attacking option. Gutiérrez has one goal and three assists already in six games, and the team has four clean sheets across those matches too, showing that they are still hard to break down. Quansah, Tapsoba and Medina have also provided goal contributions already, something that wingers Moreira and Diaby have failed to do.

Leverkusen are second behind only Bayern München in several leading metrics this season – big chances created (17), accurate passes per match (492.3), and touches in opposition box (174). They are joint-first with Mainz for crosses per 90 with 8.0, and second for corners with 37 to Bayern’s 38. This has also helped them to achieve a high set-piece xG of 2.8 in just four Bundesliga games – they scored only twice from these, but they also scored both goals against Celje from corners. Their defensive metrics are towards the middle of the 18 Bundesliga clubs, but naturally it’s harder to rack up a high number of tackles per 90 when you have the ball more than 60% of the time. The one metric that I was surprised by was having only 3.3 possession gains per 90 in the opponent’s final third, which puts them 11^th. I suspect this will increase as Leverkusen get more effective in their pressing – it will take time to perfect.

Essentially, Martínez Novell is working to create a system that can retain the incredible output that Leverkusen’s wing-backs managed under Xabi Alonso, but sacrificing the club captain at centre-back, deemed not mobile enough, for an additional winger that can contribute to high-intensity pressing. Risky for sure, but I’ve been convinced already that it will be well worth the reward.

Bayern München 7:0 Union Berlin

After consecutive away games in the Bundesliga where they struggled to create goalscoring opportunities, Bayern München were back on song in front of their home supporters on Friday night as they battered a Union Berlin side in complete disarray. Michael Olise netted a hattrick, with Harry Kane getting two for himself alongside strikes from Jamal Musiala and Ismael Saibari, for whom it was a first Bayern goal.

Sporting a special kit for Oktoberfest which I genuinely find revolting, Musiala opened the scoring in the 18^th minute with a well-placed shot from 20 yards out that dipped and nestled in the far corner. Luis Díaz had a goal disallowed for offside before Olise was tripped in the box by Tom Rothe, with Kane converting from the spot. Olise then bagged his first with a shot from the edge of the box that caught Frederik Rønnow flat-footed at his near post, and Bayern were out of sight before half-time. The second half was more of the same, with Olise finding Kane with a deft cross that the Englishman got his head to and diverted it in. Saibari broke through with a nice turn to receive the ball on his back foot before placing it past Rønnow with a left-footed shot. Tom Bischof then played a fantastic aerial pass which put Olise through 1v1, and he bamboozled the goalkeeper by bringing it down and rounding him rather than lifting it over him, allowing him to fire in his second. The Michael Olise Show was complete three minutes later when he played a one-two with Bischof and pinged it into the far corner from 25 yards out for the final goal. Scintillating stuff from the reigning champions who showed once more why they are the clear favourites under Vincent Kompany.

With all the talk of Kane being a Ballon D’Or frontrunner, you have to say that Olise is not far behind. The irony of him having created so many chances for Kane, and for compatriot Kylian Mbappé at the World Cup, only to watch one of them (probably) pick up the coveted award seems a touch unfair, but that’s life. He doesn’t seem like a man that’s bothered about awards anyway.

For Union, the wait for a first win of the season goes on. While they would not have been expected to get anything from this game, the manner in which they unravelled after Musiala’s opener is incredibly worrying. Captain Christopher Trimmel is now 39 and was so far off the pace in this game, and some of Rønnow’s goalkeeping looked sluggish and essentially not good enough for a Bundesliga number one. You worry for what a defeat of this nature does for club morale heading into a three-week international break.

Hamburg 2:1 Köln

We have lift off for Merlin Polzin’s HSV both in terms of goals and wins as they battled hard to beat Köln at the Volksparkstadion. In the week that he signed a new contract despite reeling from back-to-back 5:0 defeats, Polzin was full of praise for his players for how they stuck together and remained focussed before and during this match: ‘Our guys stuck to the plan and found good solutions, especially when we had possession’.

Hamburg took a 2:0 lead after soaking up pressure in the first-half, with Nicolás Capaldo heading in an Albert Grønbæk corner just before half-time, and Yussuf Poulsen converting a Grønbæk cross four minutes after the restart having just been brought on. They continued to defend resolutely, and Fábio Vieira came close to adding a third from a direct free-kick that took a deflection and brought a fingertip save from Marvin Schwäbe. Hamburg’s clean sheet was thwarted in the final minute of regulation time when Ragnar Ache headed in a cross, but it was too late for a comeback as only three minutes of stoppage time were given.

There is still a long way to go for Hamburg as they only climb to 16^th, meanwhile Köln missed a big opportunity to distance themselves from the relegation pack. Picking up only one point from the last three games since the opening day win means that restlessness will set in with the fanbase, and if they fail to win their next game against a pointless Borussia Mönchengladbach, they are right back to square one under René Wagner.

Paderborn 3:1 Hoffenheim

Aside from Hamburg, Paderborn were the only team not to have scored a goal in the league, but that finally changed as they put three past a Hoffenheim side that have started calamitously to claim their first Bundesliga win of the season. Ralf Kettemann’s team maximised their opportunities in the Sunday evening fixture, scoring three goals from 13 shots (five on target), a total of 0.68 xG (according to Fotmob) and 34% possession, compared to 23 shots and 60 touches in the box for Hoffenheim. Having lost in their midweek Europa League fixture 2:0 at OFI Crete, Christian Ilzer heavily rotated his Hoffenheim team that have now suffered four defeats in six games in all competitions, winning only against Stuttgart in the Bundesliga and against Erzgebirge Aue in the DFB-Pokal.

21-year-old American midfielder Santiago Castañeda opened the scoring with a strike that deflected heavily off Leon Avdullahu. A few minutes before half-time, Laurin Curda broke down the right-hand side and put it on a plate for Stefano Marino, who could not miss. Max Moerstedt, making his first start of the season for Hoffenheim, laid it off nicely to Adam Daghim to reduce the deficit five minutes into the second half. But the points were settled at the Home Deluxe Arena when Steffen Tigges beat his marker to a header which was so neatly placed into the corner out of Oliver Baumann’s reach.

Paderborn leapfrog their opponents up to 12^th with four points, with Kettemann saying that ‘it may not have been our best game in terms of quality, but we secured the win’. Ilzer was diplomatic, congratulating his opponents but expressed disappointment in the manner of Hoffenheim’s defeat, saying that ‘we’re undoing ourselves with the goals conceding’.

Werder Bremen 3:2 Augsburg

While you would be forgiven for not having this fixture down as a thriller, if you didn’t watch the second half then you missed a truly brilliant 45 minutes of football between two sides that now sit on seven points from the first four games. Werder’s Daniel Thioune told media that the win ‘stirred an unfathomable amount of emotion in us’, particularly since the winner was scored by Mitchell Weiser who was playing his first home game since suffering an ACL injury during pre-season in July 2025.

Despite being unbeaten going into this game, Augsburg set up incredibly deep, which worked when Robin Fellhauer raced clear to score in the 11^th minute, remaining onside by the virtue of being in his own half as Werder’s defenders camped over the halfway line. Augsburg were then able to double down on their approach, and it made Manuel Baum look as though he had perfected his tactics when Calvin Brackelmann flicked in a header from a corner to make it 2:0 after half-time. But Werder’s Marco Grüll led the charge back by wrong-footing defender Noahkai Banks to allow himself the space to finish past Finn Dahmen. Niclas Füllkrug and Weiser then missed gilt-edged chances to draw level within the next two minutes, but they became the heroes late on anyway with two brilliant goals which were both thundered into the top corner from layoffs by Grüll.

Augsburg will be lamenting the manner in which they tasted defeat at the Weserstadion, although they remain in 4^th, which is where they would have been even if they saw out the win at 2:0. Werder climb to 8^th which they will be delighted with over the break, especially as they face a tough trip to Borussia Dortmund next, as they have given themselves enough distance from the relegation pack for now even if they lose that one.

Stuttgart 0:1 Borussia Dortmund

I’m finding it hard to watch Borussia Dortmund’s league games this season, as they are consistently boring, albeit very effective. With a 1:0 win at the MHPArena, they have claimed top spot and are now the only team with four wins from four. Stuttgart, meanwhile, are struggling with three defeats so far, although they will be happy to have gotten Bayern and BVB out of the way and can now focus on “easier” fixtures.

Niko Kovač’s men were happy to allow Stuttgart to have the ball for large periods of the game, with the home team ending the game with 56% possession. Stuttgart did, however, give up chances too easily as Dortmund played incredibly effectively in transition, although they struggled to get those efforts on target. Breakthrough occurred in the 70^th minute when Maximilian Beier ghosted in past his man, gambling on Jobe Bellingham’s pass ending up just in front of goal and touching it past Fabian Bredlow. The home side fought valiantly and had a couple of good opportunities to get the equaliser, but they could not get the better of Gregor Kobel.

Sebastian Hoeneß said that he didn’t believe his Stuttgart side ‘left everything out on the pitch’, but I think they were just outdone by a team in great form who are well drilled and hardly give up any chances. Deniz Undav is definitely struggling for form which is the biggest worry for Hoeneß. BVB, meanwhile, should take pride in their consistency – it’s been the main thing letting them down whenever they think they can bring the fight to Bayern.

Borussia Mönchengladbach 3:4 Mainz

In our state-mandated weekly goalfest, Urs Fischer’s men grabbed their second win, and the second away from home, beating a managerless Borussia Mönchengladbach side in a seven-goal thriller. Gladbach, who are now the only club on zero points, are reportedly close to appointing Alexander Blessin, the man who spent the last two years as head coach of St. Pauli. For their fans, it can’t come soon enough, as they desperately need to regroup over the break, and they need someone in charge to provide a launchpad for that process.

Gladbach took the lead early on when Florian Neuhaus diverted a goalbound Lukas Ullrich shot out of reach. Phillip Tietz equalised by doing the same thing to a Sheraldo Becker shot which was certainly not goalbound but arrived perfectly at Tietz’s feet nonetheless. Becker then put Mainz ahead on the stroke of half-time with a powerful header, his second Bundesliga goal of the season. Kevin Diks missed the chance to equalise from the spot when Tietz was penalised for handball, his attempt cannoning back off the post. But just two minutes later, Isac Lidberg put Gladbach on level terms, volleying in an Ullrich cross from close range for his first Bundesliga goal since signing from second-tier Darmstadt in the summer. Eric Martel, making his Mainz debut from the bench, rose at the back post to head in a Kaishu Sano delivery and restore the lead for the visitors. Mainz then effectively sealed the win in the 89^th minute after Danny da Costa scrambled one in off Ullrich from a corner. A second Gladbach penalty was awarded for handball, this time with Martel the culprit, and captain Diks allowed Shuto Machino to step up and roll it past Alexander Schwolow for the game’s final goal.

Fischer said following the game that it was important to show an answer given their poor performance at home to Eintracht Frankfurt, and he was pleased with what his players showed. They sit in 6^th place now, and will be hoping for a first home win of the season in the next game against Bayer Leverkusen. For Gladbach, a proper plan is needed to get out of this immediately, although it feels like they haven’t had a plan in place for several years now.

Eintracht Frankfurt 2:2 Freiburg

The spoils were shared at Deutsche Bank Park on Saturday afternoon between Eintracht Frankfurt and Freiburg, a result that the visitors will be reasonably happy with even though it brings their winning streak to an end. Die Adler had the lead twice, but Freiburg responded strongly on both occasions and could have easily won this game. Julian Schuster described the match as ‘thrilling’ and said that he was satisfied with the result given the strength of Frankfurt’s attack.

Two days on from receiving his first call-up for Germany under new head coach Jürgen Klopp, Younes Ebnoutalib opened the scoring into an empty net after good work by Jonathan Burkardt and Ritsu Doan to create the opportunity. Frankfurt were then caught out while defending high up, as another of Klopp’s new look team, Derry Scherhant, was allowed to carry the ball into the area, cut onto his right foot and equalise. Burkardt restored Frankfurt’s lead immediately from a corner, when a melée ended with the ball dropping at his feet, which he lashed home. But refusing to let that settle the game, Freiburg fought hard to equalise and forced an incredible fingertip save just before the break from Noah Atubolu, who is on loan at Frankfurt from Freiburg with an obligation to buy. The equaliser ultimately came soon after the restart, with Yuito Suzuki arriving at the back post and smashing a volley into the roof of the net from Scherhant’s cross.

Suzuki and Ebnoutalib, who both scored hattricks on the opening weekend, move joint-top of the scoring charts with four goals, alongside Michael Olise, Phillip Tietz, and Patrik Schick. Freiburg drop to 3^rd in the table, with Frankfurt lagging behind in 10^th, although their performances have been largely good so far and I am confident that Adi Hütter will pick up more wins soon.

Bayer Leverkusen 2:0 RB Leipzig

In a battle of two head coaches that are new to the league, Bayer 04’s Carles Martínez Novell gave Martín Demichelis a lesson as his side delivered a measured team performance during a 2:0 win. RB Leipzig’s Brajan Gruda suffered an abdominal injury and unfortunately will have to miss the international break, which would have been his first with Germany’s senior team. For Leverkusen, a third straight “Heim-zu-Null” win (i.e. a home win and clean sheet) in all competitions represents a strong start under their new head coach, despite a draw and defeat in their away matches.

Leipzig started brightly and even had the opening goal when Christopher Nkunku slotted home from a Rômulo square pass, but the Brazilian had been ever so slightly offside when he made the run to receive it. Leverkusen then punished their opponents when an exceptional ball from Miguel Gutiérrez found Patrik Schick who slid to meet it on his right foot. Gutíerrez then got on the scoresheet himself when Ridle Baku’s clearance went straight to him, and he struck low underneath Maarten Vandevoordt to put the home side out of sight.

Demichelis has now suffered three defeats as Leipzig manager, all away from home, despite winning his other three games in all competitions. There are good signs and bad signs during Leipzig’s matches, with Demichelis lamenting the ‘small details’ that are making them lose games: ‘The whole group feels that we are only losing because of small details. We have to be honest with each other and fight.’ He will certainly have to ensure his team is more consistent than they have been if he wants to stay with Leipzig for the long run.

Schalke 0:0 Elversberg

Like their fiercest rivals Borussia Dortmund, I am finding Schalke very difficult to watch under Miron Muslić due to a complete lack of entertainment. They have made themselves very tough to beat, so he deserves credit for that, but another 0:0 draw at home means that they now have five points, with just three goals scored and four conceded from the first four matches. Whatever it takes to get them to stay in the Bundesliga this time.

Nikola Katić and Hasan Kuruçay were like brick walls against Elversberg at the Veltins-Arena, allowing the visitors to dominate the ball but only muster one shot on target. Call Schalke what you want but you can’t say that they are not well drilled. Katić had the best chance of the match in the first half, as he arrived at a set-piece delivery right as the ball bounced, and his effort flew slightly over the bar. Lukas Petkov had the best opportunity for Elversberg late in the game, but his first-time effort from close range cannoned off towards the moon.

Muslić said that he considered a draw a fair result, adding that ‘our final few passes weren’t quite sharp enough … I’m not disappointed, though, because games like this are never straightforward’. Elversberg’s Vincent Wagner explained that the result showed his team’s improvement since last season, ‘when we came away from our games against Schalke without a point’.

Team of the Week

GK: Mark Flekken – Bayer Leverkusen – 1 point

There weren’t any standout performances from goalkeepers this week in terms of making lots of saves, but I was impressed by Flekken in terms of what he offers Bayer Leverkusen in possession, which is a big part of what Martínez Novell wants from him. Flekken was composed throughout the 90 minutes and found a teammate with 39 of his 41 passes in total, with the two failed passes being long balls which he rarely needs to play anyway.

RB: Laurin Curda – Paderborn – 9 points

In my Paderborn preview, I pinpointed Curda as their key player for what he offers in attack as well as defence, and he showed exactly why on Sunday evening. He nipped in to knock the ball past the defender into space when he assisted Marino’s goal, and he had six passes into the final third during the match. Add that to his three tackles and three interceptions, and at this rate you’d put money on him being in Klopp’s next squad.

CB: Nicolás Capaldo – Hamburg – 7 points

It was finally a day for HSV fans to enjoy, and Capaldo was arguably the biggest reason why. I could’ve equally gone with Grønbæk for his two assists, but he had more competition in his position than at centre-back for my TOTW. Capaldo scored the first goal of the game, and for Hamburg in the Bundesliga this season, and he made four tackles while the other two in Polzin’s back three only made one tackle between them.

CB: Nico Schlotterbeck – Borussia Dortmund – 2 points

If you check the numbers on this Schlotterbeck performance, you might not get the sense that he played exceptionally, but I watched most of this game and I know what my eyes saw. He makes everything look effortless, from his passing to his 1v1 defending to the way he covers ground. He is so comfortable on the ball while also being unbeatable in the air (he won every aerial duel against Stuttgart) and is quickly making the case for being the best defender in the Bundesliga this campaign.

LB: Miguel Gutiérrez – Bayer Leverkusen – 10 points

What an incredible signing this guy has been. I truly thought that Leverkusen would not be able to replace Álex Grimaldo’s output on the left flank, but this guy is already doing it and he’s supposed to be the left-back in a flat back four instead of being allowed to bomb on like Grimaldo was. Truly a travesty that he isn’t in Luis de la Fuente’s Spain squad, although Grimaldo and Marc Cucurella are obviously great players in their own right.

He scored his first goal in German football against Leipzig while his assist takes him to three for the season already. Man of the match performance, without a doubt.

RM: Michael Olise – Bayern München – 11 points

Where do I even begin with this man? He gets a lot of stick for his “nonchalant vibes”, which I can understand, but I prefer to focus on his unrivaled ability on the ball in this league. A truly world class talent that deserves all the plaudits he has been getting for the last year or 18 months.

He scored twice from range against Union, with his other goal showcasing his deftness to bring down a long ball, fooling the goalkeeper by feinting to shoot as he rounded him to score. I’ve rarely played as a goalkeeper, but the embarrassment you feel when something like that happens is a different kind of feeling. When factoring in his assist for Kane, it was undoubtedly the most complete performance of the season so far.

CM: Santiago Castañeda – Paderborn – 3 points

Unlike last week, there was a lack of goalscoring performances from central midfield during MD4, allowing Castañeda’s impact to get him into my team. Duisburg’s scouting network deserves credit for finding an 18-year-old kid in the USL Championship and bringing him over to Germany, and Paderborn are now the beneficiaries.

Castañeda’s goal may have been deflected, but he offers a lot as a mobile holding midfielder that protects the backline and gets out quickly to close down defenders. Against Hoffenheim he made five headed clearances and nine clearances in total, for which he earns his place here.

CM: Felix Nmecha – Borussia Dortmund – 5 points

Similar to my Schlotterbeck inclusion, Nmecha earns his place for what he does to meet the eye test. He was in my team last week for scoring twice as a substitute, but against Stuttgart he ran the game from the left side of central midfield and thus showed a different facet of his game. He didn’t get on the ball as much as his midfield partner, Joey Veerman, but he still managed 93% pass completion and won eight out of ten ground duels.

LM: Marco Grüll – Werder Bremen – 8 points

Werder got their second Bundesliga win of the campaign, and it was Grüll again who dragged his teammates to the three points and occupied the vacancy left by Romano Schmid (sold) and Jens Stage (injured).

The Austrian international began the comeback for the Grün-Weiß with his goal, before providing two assists (depending on who you believe – Fotmob has given him two but the Bundesliga website only gave him one - but if you watch the highlights he clearly assisted both) for the goals that ultimately won the game. He is really thriving under Daniel Thioune after being messed around by previous coach Horst Steffen, being asked to play as a lone striker which doesn’t suit his game.

ST: Harry Kane – Bayern München – 4 points

Kane is back with a vengeance as he claimed his second and third Bundesliga goals of the campaign against Union. His first came from a penalty but the movement for his second goal was delightful and epitomised what his aerial game is all about. I wouldn’t go as far to say it was “vintage Kane” but it was definitely his best performance so far in 2026/27 and with nobody else bagging a brace (except Olise’s hattrick) this gameweek, he earns his place comfortably.

ST: Sheraldo Becker – Mainz – 6 points

I don’t know quite how Urs Fischer is able to turn Becker into a machine, but whatever connection they had at Union is working perfectly once again for Mainz. Phillip Tietz has been missing out on my TOTW despite stellar performances, but he wouldn’t have so many goals if it wasn’t for the astounding hard work that Becker puts in.

The Surinamese man was at it again against Gladbach, assisting Mainz’s fortuitous equaliser before scoring an excellent header himself to put them ahead. He was taken off with the score at 2:2 because he had run himself into the ground. His pressing ability is remarkable, and he has even comfortably recorded the fastest speed so far this season at 36.58km/h, 0.53 ahead of the next quickest datapoint. Not bad for a 31-year-old.

Manager: Vincent Kompany – Bayern München

Bayern’s performance at home to Union was complete, and Kompany deserves full credit for that given how they fared in their previous two league games. Ralf Kettemann was the closest competitor but genuinely, if I’m not giving the Manager of the Week award to the Bayern coach when they score seven brilliant goals, then what’s the point? Union may have started the season poorly, but you still have to score the goals, and I think we still haven’t seen Bayern’s forwards in their final form. It’s a frightening thought.

Leaderboards

Player Leaderboard

18 - Miguel Gutiérrez
17 - Marco Grüll
13 – Antonio Nusa
12 – Sheraldo Becker
11 – Loris Karius, Younes Ebnoutalib, Matthias Ginter, Michael Olise
10 – Philipp Mwene, Yuito Suzuki, Laurin Curda
9 – Anton Kade, Adam Hložek
8 – Daniel Svensson, Yannik Engelhardt
7 – Fabian Rieder, Lukas Petkov, Michael Gregoritsch, Felix Nmecha, Nicolás Capaldo
6 – Ridle Baku, Robin Gosens
5 – Josha Vagnoman, Joshua Kimmich, Igor Matanović,
4 – Jonathan Tah, Dayot Upamecano, Can Uzun, Harry Kane
3 – Maurice Krattenmacher, Karl Hein, Santiago Castañeda
2 – Maximilian Eggestein, Finn Dahmen, Nico Schlotterbeck
1 – Facundo Medina, Willi Orbán, Mark Flekken

Manager Leaderboard

1 - Urs Fischer, René Wagner, Julian Schuster, Vincent Kompany

2. : 3. Recap – 2. Bundesliga MD6, 3. Liga MD6 and MD7

Fixture Round-Up

The 2. Bundesliga had its first lull of the season right before the big lull that the international break brings. The only team to score more than two was Wolfsburg, who returned to winning ways as they smashed 18^th-placed Darmstadt 5:1, with Robert Glatzel and Alexander Bernhardsson scoring braces. Hertha Berlin march on at the top of the table, claiming their sixth win from six games in a 2:1 comeback win at Dynamo Dresden, with Jón Thorsteinsson netting both goals. Nürnberg remain hot on Hertha’s tail after Mohamed Alì Zoma secured a 1:0 win at Karlsruher. Hannover claimed a 2:1 win at home to Bochum, led by an interim head coach on the weekend they announced Sandro Wagner as the new boss, while Kaiserslautern were the only other winning team, beating Eintracht Braunschweig 1:0. The remaining four matches ended level.

It was a double gameweek in the 20-team 3. Liga, and the top two of MSV Duisburg and Viktoria Köln were two of only three teams to win both of their fixtures. Duisburg left it late to see off 10-man TSV Havelse 2:1 in midweek, before brushing aside Wehen Wiesbaden 4:1. Wiesbaden deserve some credit as they became the last team in the division to claim a win, which they did in midweek by beating Fortuna Köln 2:0. Viktoria, meanwhile, beat Meppen 3:1 away and Ingolstadt 3:0 at home, seemingly making light work of both contests. Hoffenheim II were the third team to win both fixtures of MD6-7 (6-7! 6-7!), as they faced Viktoria’s opponents in reverse order, beating Ingolstadt 2:1 away and Meppen 1:0 at home. Conversely, this made Ingolstadt and Meppen the only two teams to suffer consecutive losses on this double gameweek. My only other highlight to mention is Saarbrücken’s comeback against southwestern rivals Sonnenhof Großaspach on the weekend, with centre-back Siemen Voet burying a half-volley in the 97^th minute to win the game 2:1 and send the 11,000 strong crowd into raptures.

Players of the Week

In solidarity with players that are not named Fabian Reese that are dishing out goals and assists left and right, I have opted to give my 2. Bundesliga Player of the Week award to Kaiserslautern goalkeeper Julian Krahl. Kaiserslautern currently boast the strongest defensive record with only four goals conceded (Nürnberg and Bochum are next best with six), and a fourth clean sheet of the season for Krahl should not go unnoticed. But his major contribution this week was when he provided an assist for the only goal of the game, when he claimed the ball from a corner and launched it downfield. The ball bounced four times without being touched, which I genuinely cannot recall seeing before, and Erencan Yardımcı lifted it over the Braunschweig goalkeeper first time to settle the match.

For the 3. Liga, I need to pick two players. For MD6, I’m going with 19-year-old Wehen Wiesbaden right-back Ben Nink. Wiesbaden needed a result desperately, and the teenager popped up with both assists in their 2:0 win at Fortuna Köln. The first goal may have been from individual brilliance by his teammate, and the second assist was a fortuitous takedown, but since Wiesbaden had to defend for the last 30 minutes a man down, I think it’s fair that the defender gets the plaudits. For MD7, Duisburg’s Dominik Kother gets the nod from me as Wiesbaden were on the losing end this time. Kother bagged the first two and assisted the third as the league leaders dominated proceedings throughout.

Managers of the Week

For the 2. Bundesliga, this was actually hard to pick as I don’t think there were any standout managerial performances. I nearly gave it to Hannover’s interim coach, Lars Barlemann, although I think their win was largely down to a positive player reaction to the sacking of Christian Titz. Amongst the other four teams who won, none were unexpected, but I’m giving my prize to Tobias Strobl at Wolfsburg for continuing to play attacking football, comfortably dispatching Darmstadt 5:1 and allowing his attacking trio to surge forward.

The 3. Liga manager of the week for MD6 goes to Würzburger Kickers’ Ralf Santelli, who masterminded a 1:0 win over Alemannia Aachen for a team that barely touched the ball. For MD7, the same award goes to Dietmar Hirsch of Duisburg for that 4:1 win in Wiesbaden. The match could have easily been a banana peel for his side away to a team that should be competing much higher up the league, but Hirsch’s men were out of sight by half-time, and the red card for Wiesbaden in the 59^th minute allowed his team to play keepball for the remainder.

International Break

With the leagues all paused until Friday 9^th October (except for Havelse vs. Fortuna Köln this Friday for some reason), the Bundesliga Chronicles newsletter will be on hiatus until professional club football across Germany returns. I am, however, still planning on publishing a couple of articles during the break, although I have not fully decided on what they will be yet. But if you are not already subscribed, please take a moment to join the community – it’s all available for free!

Jürgen Klopp laid down a marker with the German media in his debut press conference after being unveiled as the new manager of the national team. He said that personal attacks and media leaks will not be tolerated, and decided to put this to the test with his first squad announcement on Thursday morning.

Klopp named two separate squads - one for the first two Nations League games away to the Netherlands and at home to Greece, and a second squad for the games at home to Serbia and away in Greece. These two squads contained 44 players in total, and named an unprecedented 16 uncapped players who will be seeking to impress the boss. Notable exclusions included aging squad players like Oliver Baumann, Leroy Sané, Leon Goretzka, Deniz Undav, opting instead to feature a plethora of under-25 players (with a couple of older exceptions) that have the potential to establish themselves in his plans. Let’s run through those 16 players and explain how they’ve managed to reach this point in their careers.

Noah Atubolu

Club: Eintracht Frankfurt (on loan from Freiburg)

Position: Goalkeeper

Age: 24

While this is not Noah Atubolu’s first call-up to the senior team, he is yet to make an appearance and thus earns his place on this list. Atubolu has been touted as a potential successor to Manuel Neuer in the national team, but missed out on a place in Julian Nagelsmann’s World Cup squad despite an impressive season with SC Freiburg.

Atubolu was born and raised in Freiburg, signing for SC aged 13 and making his senior debut aged 20 in a cup tie against St. Pauli. With Mark Flekken leaving to Brentford for 2023/24, Atubolu became the first-choice goalkeeper under Christian Streich and played every Bundesliga match that season. He kept his place under Julian Schuster, helping the club finish 5^th and 7^th in the last two seasons and reaching the Europa League final in May. Having requested a transfer over the summer, and the Baden-Württemberg side already planning around successor Mio Backhaus, it looked like Atubolu’s wish would not become reality until incredibly late on in the window when Eintracht Frankfurt agreed a loan with obligation to buy.

He has featured for several of the youth national teams, including 22 appearances with the U-21s. That it has taken so long for him to get a debut with the senior team is a travesty but is finally looking likely this time.

Mika Baur

Club: Celtic

Position: Central Midfielder

Age: 22

This call-up is one of the ones that I’m most surprised about. Like Atubolu, Mika Baur began his professional career with Freiburg, and they played together regularly in the 3. Liga for the reserve team. Baur never made it into the senior team, and left to SC Paderborn at the start of 2024/25.

Struggling for minutes, Paderborn loaned him to Dynamo Dresden in January, and Baur flourished as the Saxony-based side won promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. Baur then achieved a second successive promotion in 2025/26, featuring 33 times and scoring four goals for Paderborn as they reached the Bundesliga for just the third time in their history. Paderborn jumped at the chance to cash in, selling him to Celtic for around €5m.

Baur featured for Germany up to U-20 level, but only recently made his debut for the U-21s in March against Northern Ireland, his only appearance at that level thus far. He is a versatile midfield player that covers significant ground, constantly looks to play progressive passes and is an excellent set-piece taker.

Hennes Behrens

Club: Augsburg

Position: Left-Back

Age: 21

On the face of it, this is an incredibly random inclusion from Jürgen Klopp, but with a dearth of quality left-backs among German players, I’m inclined to give him a chance. Behrens only has a handful of senior appearances to his name, but he stood out in an otherwise poor Heidenheim team while on loan there in the second half of 2025/26.

Born in Frankfurt-am-Main, Behrens joined the academy of nearby Darmstadt before moving to Hoffenheim, where he turned professional for the 2024/25 season at the age of 19. Struggling for first-team opportunities, Hoffenheim loaned him to Heidenheim in January and he featured as a starter, earning him a €3.5m move to Augsburg in July.

Behrens is a formidable crosser of the ball and plays as a wing-back at club level which enables him to bomb forward and occupy attacking areas. He still needs to improve at defending 1v1 situations if he is to have a future with the national team, as he has never featured at youth level and now must battle with Nathaniel Brown of Bayern München for the position.

Bambasé Conté

Club: Hoffenheim

Position: Attacking Midfielder

Age: 23

No doubt a talented player, Conté could be forgiven for having made holiday plans over this international break as he was miles off the radar of the average fan.

Another player to have grown up in the southwest of Germany, Conté began in Saarbrücken’s academy before moving to Kaiserslautern and eventually Hoffenheim, where he is now featuring regularly in the first team. Conté has played two full seasons of 2. Bundesliga football, first for Karlsruher and last season for the Elversberg side that won promotion, where he was constantly pulling the strings from midfield – his tally of four goals and five assists not fully reflective of his contributions on the pitch.

Conté could have played for Guinea instead, although he played sparingly at youth level for Germany with two U-16 and two U-20 appearances, so it was on the cards for him to play for the senior team. He is one of many on this list that will be desperate to make a positive impression in the camp.

Finn Dahmen

Club: Augsburg

Position: Goalkeeper

Age: 28

Dahmen is a player that has been picked on form, as he has started incredibly brightly with Augsburg this season. Like Atubolu, he has been called up before but only as a reserve option behind the more obvious candidates in his position.

Starting his professional career with Mainz, Dahmen is something of a late bloomer and only made 13 Bundesliga appearances with the club before leaving in search of playing time aged 25. Now in his fourth season between the sticks for Augsburg, Dahmen is proving that hard work pays off and should finally get his chance with the national team, since he is the only player to be featuring in both of the squads Klopp has named.

Younes Ebnoutalib

Club: Eintracht Frankfurt

Position: Striker

Age: 23

This call-up was one I was somewhat expecting, given how meteoric the rise of Ebnoutalib has been, as well as how strongly he’s started the season. Less than two years ago, he was playing in the Regionalliga Südwest, scoring six goals in 19 games for a team that went on to be relegated after he left in January of that season.

In one year (two half-season) at Elversberg, he scored 12 goals in 21 games in the 2. Bundesliga and earned himself another move, this time returning to his hometown of Frankfurt. The €8m fee was a sign of how highly he was rated back in January, and despite injury hampering his first few months at the club, he has started the new campaign in fine form with four goals in four games in all competitions. A well-deserved call-up for a genuine competitor for Germany’s number nine shirt, alongside his club teammate Jonathan Burkardt.

It won’t surprise you to know that Ebnoutalib has never been called up to the Germany youth teams given his strange career path, although he did play briefly for Morocco at U-15 level.

Said El Mala

Club: 1. FC Köln

Position: Left-Winger

Age: 20

El Mala is undoubtedly one of the hottest prospects in German football, and the fact he was snubbed by Julian Nagelsmann for the World Cup squad surprised many pundits and writers in Germany. Big money moves (fees of €40-50m were discussed) to Brentford and Borussia Dortmund fell through during the summer, as El Mala seems to have a fairly headstrong and demanding mother for an agent. But there is no doubt about his raw ability, and translating his 13 goals in the 3. Liga with Viktoria Köln in 2024/25 seamlessly to 13 goals in the Bundesliga with Effzeh last campaign clearly could not be ignored by Klopp.

I wrote more about El Mala’s story and what I thought he could bring to the national team just before the World Cup, which you can read here.

Yannik Engelhardt

Club: Freiburg

Position: Central Midfielder

Age: 25

An efficient mover of the ball and a hard worker off it, Engelhardt has struggled to call anywhere home in his career, but that could change as he settles (back) in at Freiburg. Having spent time in the reserves at Werder Bremen and Freiburg, he left his nest aged 22 in search of regular minutes, and the last three years have propelled him into consideration for Klopp’s team.

His first move was to Fortuna Düsseldorf, where he only missed out on winning promotion to the Bundesliga when the team lost on penalties in the playoff round. An €8m move to Serie A newcomers Como beckoned, although he was mostly being brought on as a substitute under Cesc Fàbregas and would be loaned out to Borussia Mönchengladbach for 2025/26, where he played far more minutes (2,491 compared to 1,153 the previous year).

He returned to Freiburg for €7m this summer as an undisputed starter, and with the team winning six of six in all competitions, with 22 goals scored to just four conceded, his contributions in the engine room have not gone unnoticed. It’ll be interesting to see how much further Engelhardt can develop.

Brajan Gruda

Club: RB Leipzig (on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion)

Position: Attacking Midfielder/Right-Winger

Age: 22

Gruda will be known to Premier League viewers as he spent 18 months in England with Brighton before moving to Leipzig on loan in January, which was then extended in the summer.

Gruda began at Mainz as a teenager and was picked up by Brighton’s scouting team nice and early, as they always manage to do, with the Seagulls shelling out £25m for him after just one season of professional football. It hasn’t quite worked out as planned for him under compatriot Fabian Hürzeler, and there is a lot of competition in the positions he likes to play in, so a loan back to Germany makes sense.

Although he is eligible to play for Albania, his heart seems set on Germany as I assume Albania have already tried to bring him on board. Gruda has 20 appearances for the Germany U-21s and was runner up in last year’s Euros with that team.

Vitaly Janelt

Club: Brentford

Position: Defensive Midfielder

Age: 28

I won’t waste too much time on Janelt’s profile since he is very well-known, especially to Premier League fans. He has featured as one of the first names on Brentford’s team sheet for several years now and has often gone underappreciated in his endeavours.

Janelt started at Leipzig but never made a senior appearance, being loaned out to Bochum who he then signed for permanently in the 2. Bundesliga. Janelt moved to Brentford in 2020, helping to get the team promoted and having now played in the Premier League 164 times, I hope he earns a deserved first cap.

He has a total of 31 appearances for Germany’s youth teams, including ten at U-21 level. He is also a lot bigger in real life than he looks on TV!

Finn Jeltsch

Club: Stuttgart

Position: Centre-Back

Age: 20

Finn Jeltsch is a player that has been destined to reach the senior team for a while now, and having the confidence of Klopp at just 20, as a defender, is surely something to brag about. Jeltsch began at 1. FC Nürnberg and earned himself the move to Stuttgart midway through 2024/25 for a reported €8m, which looks a bargain now.

Stuttgart finished a disappointing 9^th that season, but they picked up the DFB-Pokal and Jeltsch featured as a substitute during the final. Last season, he began featuring more regularly, playing 37 times in all competitions, as the team qualified for the Champions League. He has begun the current season as a certified starter for Sebastian Hoeneß, and Klopp is definitely planning for a future that includes Jeltsch.

Jeltsch played extensively for the U-17s, making 24 appearances, and has become a key player for the U-21s more recently.

Felix Keidel

Club: Elversberg

Position: Full-Back/Defensive Midfielder

Age: 23

Arguably the least known player on this list, even many Bundesliga fans and possibly journalists were scrambling to figure out who Felix Keidel was when Klopp called him up. Keidel has the fewest Bundesliga games played of anyone in the squad (with the exception of Janelt, who never played in the Bundesliga but his Premier League experience is a good substitute), having only played three, all at the start of this season with Elversberg.

Keidel’s father Ralf played for Germany at the 1998 Olympics while on the books at Newcastle United, although he never played for the first team up on Tyneside. Keidel Sr. had a reasonable lower league career with Duisburg and Ingolstadt, becoming a youth coach and reserve team manager at the latter. Keidel Jr. came through the ranks at Ingolstadt, and although this is pure speculation, it is possible that his father wanted to keep him away from bigger academies to develop Felix personally.

After two and a half seasons in the 3. Liga with Ingolstadt’s first team, Keidel was snapped up by Elversberg last season for just €400,000 and gradually worked his way into the team, playing 25 times in the 2. Bundesliga but only starting on 13 occasions. He has featured as a right-back, left-back and as a defensive midfielder, so it is possible that Klopp sees Keidel as a good utility option that can rotate positionally during games and keep opponents guessing. It will be the first time in his career that he will represent his nation at any level.

Max Rosenfelder

Club: Freiburg

Position: Centre-Back

Age: 23

One of the more obscure call-ups, and not just because his name is quite generic, I am confused about exactly what Klopp is seeing in Rosenfelder to include him in the squad. Rosenfelder is a Freiburg academy graduate who now features as a backup option behind Matthias Ginter, who is more deserving of the call-up but now aged 32, and Philipp Lienhart, who is an Austrian international.

Rosenfelder started both legs of the Conference League playoff against Motherwell, playing capably alongside Ginter, but has not started any Bundesliga games this season and only featured in 12 league games last season, although this was partly due to injuries. I can only assume that the justification for his inclusion is due to having good recovery speed (he said so himself after being called up), especially as Klopp is likely to play a high line and seek to dominate the ball.

Derry Scherhant

Club: Freiburg

Position: Left-Winger

Age: 23

A tricky left-winger, Scherhant is an intriguing inclusion and like teammate Engelhardt, has been in strong form at the start of this season. Scherhant is a Berliner (not the jam doughnuts) and started out at Hertha, becoming a regular in 2023/24 after they had been relegated to the 2. Bundesliga.

He earned his move to the Bundesliga last summer for just €2m, and has been somewhat the heir to Vincenzo Grifo out on the left-wing, as he is much more energetic than the aging Italian international and therefore works in Schuster’s pressing system. He has a reasonable eye for goal, too, with seven in all competitions last season. With only two appearances for the U-20s and two for the U-21s, time has run out on his international youth career, so let’s hope he can impress amongst the seniors.

Philipp Treu

Club: Freiburg

Position: Full-Back

Age: 25

A native of the idyllic Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg, Treu ultimately ended up in Freiburg’s academy from the age of 16, graduating to the reserve team alongside the likes of Atubolu, and played two seasons in the 3. Liga, but with settled options in both full-back spots, he could not break into the first team. He moved to St. Pauli in 2023 for €500k, and they managed to increase his value tenfold in two years as he returned to Freiburg for €5m last season with one year of Bundesliga experience now under his belt.

Treu is a right-footed player but is adept on either side of a back four and even as a wing-back if needed. With the full-backs he couldn’t dislodge three years ago, Lukas Kübler and Christian Günter, well into their 30s, Treu is looking to confirm himself as a starter at Freiburg and potentially with the national team. Having not played outside of Freiburg’s reserve squad until he was already 22, Treu had never made it to a youth team camp with Germany until now.

Jonas Urbig

Club: Bayern München

Position: Goalkeeper

Age: 23

Vincent Kompany clearly sees Urbig as the heir to the legendary Manuel Neuer in goal for Bayern, and now Klopp is giving him the opportunity to do the same for the national team.

Having grown up in North-Rhine Westphalia, Urbig was an Effzeh player since childhood, gaining his first experience as a professional on loan at Jahn Regensburg in the 2. Bundesliga in 2022/23, and then at Greuther Fürth 2023/24. Köln were relegated that year, and so Urbig became the number one, but was evidently doing too well at his job because Bayern snapped him up in January for €7m, rising to €15m if certain conditions are met.

Urbig has featured 34 times for Bayern since, which is very respectable given that Neuer is refusing to hang up the gloves. Urbig is now primed to become the starter for club and country, unless Atubolu has something to say about it.

Match Summaries

Union Berlin 1:3 Schalke

Schalke secured their first win in the Bundesliga since returning to the league after a three-year absence, taking the three points at Union Berlin on Friday night. For Union, warning signs are starting to appear after picking up just one point so far under Mauro Lustrinelli.

Robin Gosens, playing for the club he supported growing up against one of his former employers, opened the scoring for Schalke in the first half with a volley that snuck in off the far post. Adil Aouchiche added the second immediately after half-time with a thunderous close-range strike that came in off the crossbar – the woodwork being kind to Schalke on the night. Tim Skarke brought Union a goal back six minutes into stoppage time, but defender Max Wöber popped up in the box in the 13^th minute of what was meant to be an additional 12, to restore Schalke’s two goal advantage and seal the victory.

Miron Muslić will be delighted to claim his debut Bundesliga win, while Lustrinelli has some soul-searching to do as he continues to look for his first success. Speaking after the game, Muslić summarised it perfectly by saying: ‘We’ve arrived‘.

Hoffenheim 2:1 Stuttgart

Another first win of the season was achieved by a Hoffenheim side that was still reeling from losing their opening two fixtures from winning positions away at Köln and home to Borussia Dortmund. Hoffenheim coach Christian Ilzer has Adam Hložek to thank, as it was his two goals that ensured the points at the SNP Arena.

A versatile player, Hložek was operating as a right-sided number 10 in this game, and ghosted in behind his marker on both occasions before firing underneath Stuttgart goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow, who will be disappointed with his work on the first goal. Maximilian Middelstädt equalised a couple of minutes after half-time, with some questionable goalkeeping from Oliver Baumann this time, but Hložek’s winner gave Hoffenheim a big boost as they go into their Europa League opener against OFI Crete on Thursday. Stuttgart on the other hand have more work to do after a second defeat of the season, following a good result in the Champions League last Wednesday when they beat Viking FK 3:1.

Mainz 1:3 Eintracht Frankfurt

Eintracht Frankfurt were the third and final team to claim their first win of the league campaign on the weekend, securing a comfortable victory away to Mainz where the visitors switched to a back three for the game. A standout performance by Can Uzun helped them on their way, with the attacking midfielder getting into gear at the Mewa Arena after underwhelming in the first two games.

The 20-year-old Turkish international found himself in acres of space for an easy finish in the ninth minute, before Mainz captain Nadiem Amiri squandered the chance to equalise from the penalty spot with a poor effort that Noah Atubolu saved. Jonathan Burkardt raced in to finish from close range just moments later, from a freakishly long header by teammate Jeremiaha Maluze in his own half, which appeared to bamboozle the Mainz defence. Uzun added the third on the hour mark from a Mario Götze cutback to make sure there was no way back for the home team. Phillip Tietz scored for the second game running, but it was only a consolation for Mainz.

Adi Hütter told DAZN in his post-match interview that he was happy to have avoided an ‘absolute false start’ in his second spell at Frankfurt, while his opposite number Urs Fischer put the defeat down to defensive errors.

RB Leipzig 5:0 Hamburg

We have at least two “crisis clubs” already this season, and Hamburg are certainly one of them with back-to-back 5:0 defeats, no goals scored, and a backline that seems incapable of playing a passing game. Meanwhile, a convincing victory for Martin Demíchelis following a difficult week losing away to Werder Bremen and Como will do him a world of good with the RB Leipzig executives.

Makeshift striker Tidiam Gomis tucked away the first goal as the Hamburg defenders dropped too deep and left him in space less than ten yards from goal. Teenager Shafiq Nandja was caught on the ball by Antonio Nusa ten minutes later, and the Norwegian’s shot seemed to go through keeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes, who has been having a torrid time recently. Willi Orbán was left unmarked to turn in the third goal from Nusa’s free kick, and it was Nusa again setting up the fourth for Christopher Nkunku to score his first goal on his return to the club. It was Warmed Omari’s turn to be caught on the ball for the final goal, with substitute Rômulo rounding the goalkeeper to make it five. The downside for Leipzig will certainly be Assan Ouédraogo’s injury, with the midfielder dislocating his shoulder again and now due to miss a call-up for Jürgen Klopp’s first squad as Germany head coach.

Merlin Polzin told the media that he does not ‘sense any unrest around HSV’, and he is even due to sign a new contract in a show of faith from the club’s management. Results need to come soon though, starting at home to Köln on Saturday.

Elversberg 1:2 Bayern München

Elversberg’s dream start to their first Bundesliga campaign is over, as Bayern München hit them with a minor reality check in Sunday’s “Topspiel“, i.e. headline fixture. In a battle of the Vincents, Elversberg’s coach Vincent Wagner was suspended for the game and watched from the stands as Vincent Kompany’s men laboured to an important three points.

Lennart Karl scored the opener from a low Ismael Saibari cross which somehow evaded everyone before reaching the teenager at the back post; the defenders seemingly flat-footed momentarily having started the game so resolutely. Bayern academy graduate Maurice Krattenmacher scored his third of the season after Josip Stanišić was derelict in his duties to allow Krattenmacher the space to fire in the top corner past Jonas Urbig, who was given the nod over club captain Manuel Neuer to play his first league game of the season. But after Michael Olise was denied by the crossbar, Harry Kane nabbed his first league goal in 2026/27 moments later by squeezing in a shot at the near post.

With German media beginning to get on his back about not scoring in the first two games (an incredibly long drought by his standards), Kane brushed it off after the game and chose to talk about his teammates, saying that ‘we probably haven’t reached our top level yet’, which I am absolutely inclined to agree with. But seven points from three games is all well and fine for Bayern as their squad eases into the new season following a busy summer where almost every first-team player featured extensively at the World Cup.

Borussia Dortmund 3:0 Paderborn

BVB continue marching on as one of two teams to have won all three games at this stage. A routine 3:0 win over a struggling Paderborn will do for Niko Kovač as they seek to bed in lots of young players signed in the summer. Felix Nmecha stole the headlines with two late goals to make the scoreline more comfortable, but it was a good team performance overall.

Fábio Silva took advantage of Paderborn overcommitting in attack early on to pounce on a loose ball crossing the halfway line, creating an angle by going halfway around the goalkeeper and slotting home. Serhou Guirassy scored a neat chip and a header before half-time, but he was found to be just offside on both occasions and so it remained 1:0 at the break. Nmecha’s introduction in the 65^th minute was the catalyst for Dortmund to go on and seal the win, driving into the box to add the second goal before putting away an incredible overhead kick in the 89^th minute to put the game beyond any lingering doubt.

Following a difficult match against Villarreal in midweek, which they ended up winning 3:2, Dortmund boss Kovač praised his players for how they managed themselves in terms of energy levels, especially as Paderborn did well to reach 45% possession after having to chase the game due to the early goal, and Dortmund had to press to retrieve it more often than usual. For Paderborn, the wait goes on for their first goal, although at least with the goalless draw at Mainz on MD1, they are just outside of the relegation zone for now.

Freiburg 5:0 Borussia Mönchengladbach

Pipping Dortmund to top spot in the live league table, Freiburg put in another fantastic performance to sweep aside Borussia Mönchengladbach, who opted to dismiss coach Eugen Polanski immediately following the game. In my previews, I did mention that I was surprised at the club’s choice to retain him for this season, and a lot of Gladbach fans will have felt the same way, especially as the club made the same mistake last season with Gerardo Seoane.

Yannik Engelhardt opened the scoring after goalkeeper Moritz Nicolas failed to reach the ball from a Freiburg corner. Engelhardt held his hands up to the Gladbach fans as he had been on loan at the club from Como last season, before signing permanently with Freiburg. A low first-time shot from Igor Matanović took Nicolas by surprise as the home side went into half-time with a commanding lead. An early second half red card from Tim Kleindienst killed off any hope of a comeback, as the striker received a second yellow card for a heavy collision. Matanović nodded in for number three, and Engelhardt scored the fourth just two minutes later. Captain Johannes Eggestein, who scored the winner against Paderborn last week, scrambled in a late fifth goal as Julian Schuster’s team continued to wreak havoc against ten men.

For Freiburg, they will continue to enjoy the winning while it lasts, although from these early fixtures, it does look like another run at the top four is on the cards. They have been fortunate to have played three sides that were tipped to finish near the bottom, but they have made light work of it and should be commended anyway. Gladbach will now hunt for a new manager, with BILD reporting that Ole Werner and Christian Eichner are amongst the top candidates, although I think these coaches would see the chaos at the club and prefer to stay well away.

Augsburg 2:2 Bayer Leverkusen

Prior to the start of the season, I would have told you that Bayer Leverkusen would be disappointed with a 2:2 draw at Augsburg, but with the Swabians having won their opening two matches, a point is not bad at all. Patrik Schick rescued the point for the away side in the 89^th minute, but the visitors may have felt like they did enough to ultimately win the game.

Leverkusen took the lead as Christian Kofane calmly rolled it in past a flat-footed Finn Dahmen, but a quickfire double from Austrian international Michael Gregoritsch turned the game on its head. Gregoritsch poked it between Mark Flekken’s legs for the equaliser, before putting a free header in from a corner five minutes later. Ibrahim Maza thought he had equalised, but it was ruled out for a foul in the build-up. It was up to Schick to turn in a gorgeous backheel flick from a Malik Tillman shot that was going wide to send the away supporters into a frenzy.

Köln 1:1 Werder Bremen

In a game that had “draw” written all over it, Köln and Werder Bremen did not disappoint as they played out an unimaginative 1:1 at the RheinEnergieStadion.

Werder goalkeeper Karl Hein saved a penalty early on from Thijs Dallinga after a handball incident, although Linton Maina did give the hosts the lead a few minutes later with a low strike from the right of the box. Köln could have had a bigger lead at the break, and they will be ruing some missed opportunities as the Werderaner turned it up a notch for the second half. In the 69^th minute, a corner dropped at the feet of Niclas Füllkrug who buried it and ran straight to the away supporters that are loving seeing him in green again. Köln knocked on Werder’s door again towards the end of the match, but Hein stood firm and secured the draw for his side. Spare a moment for Mitchell Weiser, too, who returned from the bench for Werder after more than a year out battling an ACL injury.

Maina and teammate Tom Krauß were critical of their team’s performance following the game, saying that ‘nobody really knew exactly what we were supposed to do’. Coach René Wagner responded to Maina’s comments by saying he understood why the players would feel frustrated but insisted that it was not a bad result overall. Despite their excellent win on MD1, it feels like wounds are re-opening for Köln.

Team of the Week

Ignore the formation – no coach would ever play this XI together!

GK: Karl Hein – Werder Bremen – 3 points

Having played second fiddle to Mio Backhaus last season, Hein is doing well at seizing his opportunity as Werder’s number one. Hein got low to his right to save Dallinga’s penalty that was heading directly into the bottom corner and made a few other key saves to keep his team in the game at 1:0 down and again when Werder had equalised. At just €3m from Arsenal, Hein is beginning to look like a bit of a coup.

CB: Willi Orbán - RB Leipzig – 1 point

Being a mainstay in the Bundesliga for Leipzig over a ten-year period means that Orbán can get forgotten and does not always get the plaudits he deserves. Although he is no longer the captain, he did put in something of a captain’s performance with a clean sheet and goal against Hamburg, while also having the most touches of the ball in the game with 102, and completing 92% of his passes.

CB: Matthias Ginter – SC Freiburg – 11 points

Ginter’s resurgence in his 30s needs to be spoken about more. Having left Freiburg for Dortmund at just 20, things never quite worked out for Ginter and after five years at Gladbach, he returned to Freiburg in 2022. Now aged 32, Ginter is playing some of his best football and is contributing hugely in both boxes.

He provided two assists alongside his clean sheet against his former club, which now puts him on two goals and three assists in all competitions so far this season. He also made five clearances and blocked two shots, and effectively only had to defend for 52 minutes, as it was all out attack once Gladbach were down to ten. I wouldn’t put it past Klopp to recall Ginter to the national team at this rate.

LB: Robin Gosens – Schalke – 6 points

I’ve been a Robin Gosens fan for years now since I first saw him in the Champions League with Atalanta, and he is perfect for Muslić-ball on that left side, getting up and down the pitch. He arrived nicely in the box to set Schalke on their way to victory, and constantly provided width to prevent Union’s players from playing their congested pressing game.

CM: Felix Nmecha – Borussia Dortmund - 2 points

I could have picked several Dortmund players, but Nmecha’s cameo appearance was memorable due to the incredible acrobatic goal he scored, which is definitely my pick for goal of the week. His drive into the box for his first goal was reminiscent of Michael Ballack, who was one of my favourite players to watch. It was a much-improved Nmecha performance from his showing at Hoffenheim last week, which helps him to make it into this team.

CM: Yannik Engelhardt – Freiburg – 8 points

Another Freiburg pick, and it’s another player who tormented his former club Gladbach, scoring two goals and providing creativity and incision in abundance. Yannik Engelhardt is now 25 and quickly making a name for himself in only his second season in the Bundesliga. Sterner tests will await him against the big sides, but I think his decision-making and technique are both excellent, which should stand him in good stead in those games and in the eyes of Klopp.

RM: Adam Hložek - Hoffenheim – 9 points

Injuries and form have hampered Hložek since his arrival in Germany, having been highly sought after across Europe while still a young prodigy in his native Czechia. Having moved slightly back down the pitch, from a striker to an attacking midfielder, Hložek showed what he was all about against Stuttgart as ran from deep to score twice and earn Ilzer’s side their first win of the league campaign.

LM: Antonio Nusa – RB Leipzig – 10 points

Nusa, like Hložek, has struggled with injuries and form since leaving Club Brugge for Leipzig two years ago. But he has started this season well after spending much of last season in the shadow of Yan Diomandé. Nusa could be the next big money sale from Leipzig if he continues like this, and with a goal and two assists he was tormenting Hamburg throughout.

AM: Can Uzun – Eintracht Frankfurt – 4 points

Uzun ran cold in the opening two fixtures, but he was in red hot form against Mainz, occupying dangerous areas and finding himself unmarked in even more dangerous areas. His two goals came about by just finding himself in the perfect spot inside the box to tap home. Having scored twice in the DFB-Pokal first round win over amateurs St. Tönis, he now has four goals in four games, and is making a name for himself as one of the best goalscoring midfielders in the country.

ST: Igor Matanović - Freiburg - 5 points

I had a few options for this one, but having left Matanović out of my MD1 team despite a goal and two assists, I thought I’d do him justice by including him this time. Matanović can score all types of goals, and if he wasn’t already playing for Croatia then I think he would be making a case for himself as an option for Klopp, considering he is born and raised in Germany. The technique to pull off his first goal is so impressive, as the ball was fizzed into him near the penalty arc (or “the D” as it’s called in England), and he just guides it first time into the bottom corner, going in off the post. Exceptional player.

ST: Michael Gregoritsch – Augsburg - 7 points

Michael Gregoritsch is back at his spiritual home, and things are going well for him. He scored his second and third goals of the season in the draw against Leverkusen, and is perfect for what Manuel Baum is doing tactically. Gregoritsch is 6ft4, wins aerial duels, and is generally a nuisance for defenders. Having never been a quick player, I can see Gregoritsch continuing in the Bundesliga for a couple of years despite now being 32.

Manager: Julian Schuster - Freiburg

With three players in the Team of the Week, it’s only right that the Manager of the Week award goes to Julian Schuster. He set up his side to attack, and they were relentless before the red card, let alone after it. Freiburg are happy to just stay out of the limelight, and Schuster is quietly going about his work, but it is beginning to get to a point where it is difficult for bigger clubs to ignore him.

Leaderboards

Player Leaderboard

13 – Antonio Nusa
11 – Loris Karius, Younes Ebnoutalib, Matthias Ginter
10 – Philipp Mwene, Yuito Suzuki
9 – Marco Grüll, Anton Kade, Adam Hložek
8 – Miguel Gutiérrez, Daniel Svensson, Yannik Engelhardt
7 – Fabian Rieder, Lukas Petkov, Michael Gregoritsch
6 – Sheraldo Becker, Ridle Baku, Robin Gosens
5 – Josha Vagnoman, Joshua Kimmich, Igor Matanović
4 – Jonathan Tah, Dayot Upamecano, Can Uzun
3 – Maurice Krattenmacher, Karl Hein
2 – Maximilian Eggestein, Finn Dahmen, Felix Nmecha
1 – Facundo Medina, Laurin Curda, Willi Orbán

Manager Leaderboard

1 - Urs Fischer, René Wagner, Julian Schuster

2. : 3. Recap - MD5

Fixture Round-Up

In the 2. Bundesliga headline fixture on Friday night, Nürnberg got back to winning ways by beating Hannover 2:1. Hannover would fire coach Christian Titz after the game with just one win and one draw from the first five games in a season where promotion is the aim. Hertha Berlin continued their 100% winning record, seeing off Osnabrück 3:1 away from home. Wolfsburg suffered their first defeat of the campaign, after falling 1:0 to a late St. Pauli goal, with the Hamburg-based side claiming their first victory since relegation. Darmstadt were the other side to claim their first win of 2026/27, beating Arminia Bielefeld 2:1 at home with a penalty four minutes from time. They move off the bottom of the table, leaving Holstein Kiel in their place. Also winning were Heidenheim, who stay in 3^rd, Magdeburg who move up to 4^th, and Energie Cottbus.

The 3. Liga was shaken up this week with Fortuna Düsseldorf beating Duisburg 2:1 to end the visitors’ 100% record. There are no more undefeated sides in the division after this result, and the three-game suspension for Duisburg striker Lex-Tyger Lobinger was really felt. On Friday night, Viktoria Köln smashed Hansa Rostock 4:0 to help mix things up near the top of the table. Rot-Weiß Essen were on song as they beat Würzburger Kickers 6:2, and there were wins elsewhere for Ingolstadt, Verl, Preußen Münster and Waldhof Mannheim. Mannheim’s win was away to Wehen Wiesbaden, who remain the only club in the 3. without a win.

Players of the Week

My Player of the Week for the 2. Bundesliga is St. Pauli midfielder Joel Chima Fujita. The abundance of talent in Wolfsburg’s midfield was shown up by a maestro’s performance by the Japanese international, who should really still be in the Bundesliga. He can play anywhere across the midfield but was utilised in this game as a left-sided number eight, and his winner in the 88^th minute was absolutely deserved, both personally and for his side.

In the 3. Liga, my pick is striker David Otto from Viktoria Köln. The 6ft1, 27-year-old is a typical lower league forward so when he’s on form, he can be decisive. His two goals in the 4:0 win were part of a great team performance, but his contributions still stood out.

Managers of the Week

Energie Cottbus head coach Claus-Dieter Wollitz got his second win of the 2. Bundesliga campaign, and his first away from home. They brushed Karlsruher aside with a 3:0 win to move them into the top half of the table in 7^th. Karlsruher may not be the toughest opponent, but they are the teams that Cottbus have to beat to stabilise their position in the league as a promoted side. His side managed only 43% possession, but had 25 shots and maximised their efficiency with the ball.

Sabrina Wittmann coached Ingolstadt to an impressive result, winning 1:0 at Saarbrücken who have started the season strongly in the 3. Liga. Similar to Cottbus, Wittmann’s side lacked possession but they scored with one of their only chances of the game midway through the first half and defended solidly to steal the three points from under Saarbrücken’s nose. The result moves Ingolstadt into the top half, one point behind their opponents.

This Weekend’s Fixtures

With only one more round of Bundesliga fixtures before the new extended three-week international break (yawn), plenty of sides need to claim a win to feel some sense of satisfaction moving forwards. Paderborn, Hamburg and Gladbach are all winless but play at home: Paderborn against Hoffenheim, Hamburg against Köln, and Gladbach against Mainz. They will all feel like these are winnable games, although the only other winless side, Union, face a trip to the Allianz Arena to face Bayern, which is less promising.

The “big” fixture this week is probably Stuttgart vs. Dortmund in the Saturday evening prime time slot, and certainly one I do not want to miss. Keep an eye out for the first faceoff between two promoted sides as well, as Schalke host Elversberg on Sunday.

With no obvious headline fixtures in the 2. Bundesliga this week, I’m personally going to keep an eye out for Hannover given that they are managerless. They face Bochum at home on Sunday lunchtime in a game that could go either way. Another fixture to look out for is Dynamo Dresden vs. Hertha Berlin – Hertha are obviously the better team, but Dynamo’s atmosphere is notorious and they desperately need a result.

In the 3. Liga, MD6 is happening over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday, so plenty could have changed by the time we get to the weekend MD7 fixtures. Alemannia Aachen vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf is an important fixture for both teams on Saturday afternoon, as a win for either side would put them on the tail of Duisburg. Rot-Weiß Essen will host Hansa Rostock on Sunday for the lunchtime kickoff, in a battle between two of the biggest sides in the division, with both clubs having fanbases that could kick off at any moment.

Part One covered TSV 1860 München, SSV Ulm, SG Wattenscheid, SC Tasmania Berlin and Rot-Weiß Oberhausen.

Part Two covered VfB/Lokomotive Leipzig, Bayer/KFC Uerdingen, Tennis Borussia Berlin, Stuttgarter Kickers and Borussia Neunkirchen.

In this final article, I will be running through the glory eras of five clubs for whom the Bundesliga is a distant memory.

Wuppertaler SV

Let’s start with the team in the article thumbnail – Wuppertaler SV. Based in Wuppertal, Nordrhein-Westfalen, the club was founded in its current state out of a merger of smaller clubs in 1954, although the club’s origins can be traced back to 1880 as a gymnastics club.

The comparatively late foundational merger is due to Wuppertal’s complicated creation out of several smaller towns in the heavily industrialised Rhein-Ruhr area, home to Schalke 04, Borussia Dortmund, VfL Bochum, Rot-Weiß Essen, MSV Duisburg, 1. FC Köln and Fortuna Düsseldorf. The name Wuppertal was only given to the city when it was officially created in 1929, and now has approximately 355,000 inhabitants, making it the largest city in Germany not represented in the three professional football leagues.

Wuppertaler SV spent just three seasons in the Bundesliga, all in one stint in the 1970s (hence the Franz Beckenbauer handshake). When the club became Wuppertaler SV in 1954, it was competing in the Oberliga, Germany’s top tier split across its various regions. Since they were a mid-table team in the Oberliga West, they were only good enough to qualify for the Regionalliga West when the Bundesliga formed in 1963, and they competed sincerely for promotion, finishing 2^nd in the first campaign and only finishing below 7^th once over the next eight years.

It was the arrival in 1968 of manager Horst Buhtz, who went on to have a solid career with Beşiktaş, Borussia Dortmund and 1. FC Nürnberg, was the catalyst for the success of Die Löwen (The Lions). Buhtz’s side stormed the division in 1971/72, scoring 111 goals in just 34 games. In the promotion round, they won all eight of their games against the other regional champions to seal an historic promotion. But the best was yet to come for the fans at Stadion am Zoo (literally Stadium at the Zoo, as it is located near the Wuppertal Zoo).

Wuppertaler’s debut Bundesliga season saw them finish an incredible 4^th, a distant 14 points from champions Bayern München but within three points of regional rivals Köln and Düsseldorf immediately above them. Star man Günter Pröpper scored 21 times that season, behind only two of the Bundesliga’s all-time greats, Jupp Heynckes and Gerd Müller. The top-four finish qualified Buhtz’s men for the UEFA Cup the following campaign, although a 4:1 defeat at Polish opponents Ruch Chorzów in the first leg of the opening round left them a mountain to climb. A 5:4 win in the return fixture was to be the only European night at the Stadion am Zoo.

After escaping relegation with a draw on the final day of 1973/74, and a famous win over Bayern being the only victory in the first ten games of 1974/75, the Buhtz era came to an end. His replacement, János Bédl, couldn’t turn the tide. Wuppertal were relegated with just two wins, a joint-worst season record alongside Tasmania Berlin in 1965/66 (you can see Part One for that remarkable story).

Wuppertaler SV spent just two seasons in the 2. Bundesliga during the 1990s and were close to declaring bankruptcy in 1998. When the 3. Liga was formed in 2008, the club had done enough in the Regionalliga to qualify for it, but the costs of professionalised football proved too much for the club again, and they were relegated in 2010 to the Regionalliga West. A 16^th-placed finish in the 2025/26 season sees them plying their trade for the current season in the fifth-tier Oberliga Niederrhein.

SpVgg Unterhaching

For the uninitiated, Unterhaching is not a mysterious small provincial town that somehow made it to the Bundesliga, but actually a prominent suburb of Munich that briefly arrived to provide some good-natured rivalry games with Bayern and 1860 München at the turn of the century.

Founded in 1925, Sportvereinigung Unterhaching, or just Haching for short, had a complicated history during the 20^th century which they did well to overcome by the time of Y2K. In the 1930s, the Nazi Party (NSDAP) targeted sporting organisations as part of the Gleichschaltung process of creating a cultural hegemony that was subservient to the party’s interests. At the time of the creation of the Gauliga system in 1933 to replace the regional football championships, Haching competed in the A-Klasse, effectively the local second-tier system that fed into the regional championship for teams in the south of Germany.

While the likes of Bayern, 1860, Nürnberg and Fürth caved to the NSDAP’s demands in order to continue competing. Unterhaching were affiliated with socialist and communist groups, and prominent figures at the club refused to comply, leading the NSDAP to shut down operations at the club entirely. It was not until 1945 that the club was able to restart, while its regional rivals spent ten years continuing to compete with one another and build their statuses.

All this rambling is necessary for me to illustrate the obstacles that Unterhaching had to overcome to reach the Bundesliga. For the first half of the 1970s, the club was in the amateur B-Klasse, competing in what was essentially Sunday League-style pub football (Kreisliga). Back-to-back promotions to the A-Klasse and Bezirksliga saw them develop into a slightly more serious club by the end of the decade, and they reached the fourth-tier Landesliga Bayern-Süd in 1979. They eventually reached the third-tier Oberliga Bayern in 1981, allowing them to begin competing for a spot in the professional 2. Bundesliga. Between 1989 and 1995, Unterhaching became a yo-yo club with three promotions and two relegations, before finally consolidating its professional status beginning in 1995/96 under Lorenz-Günther Köstner. Their improvement in financial status allowed them to construct the 15,000-capacity Sportpark Unterhaching in 1992, where the club still plays today despite the ownership being taken over by Bayern München for its women’s team ahead of the 2026/27 season.

Köstner was poached by Köln for the 1997/98 Bundesliga season, but after suffering relegation, he was back in the Unterhaching dugout before summer was over. Being a rather conservative manager, Köstner achieved the final promotion in Unterhaching’s unlikely rise to the top with just 47 goals in 34 games, finishing 2^nd to Arminia Bielefeld and well clear of his former employers Köln in 10^th.

Köstner led Unterhaching to an incredible 10^th in their debut Bundesliga campaign in 1999/2000, remaining undefeated in their first nine home fixtures until city rivals Bayern came to town and did a job on them, winning 2:0. But Unterhaching kept the fifth-best defensive record and the season was certainly a success. However, their stay amongst the big boys became known for their role in ruining Bayer Leverkusen’s inaugural Bundesliga title.

Going into the final matchday, Leverkusen were three points clear of Bayern and were the visiting team at Sportpark Unterhaching, facing Köstner’s men that had nothing to play for. Anticipating their long-awaited Meisterschaft, Leverkusen fans were in good voice, especially knowing that just across town at the Munich Olympiastadion, Bayern needed to win to stand any chance of capturing the title. But Köstner had other ideas, and pulled off a brilliant 2:0 win to crush Leverkusen’s dreams and allow their city rivals to walk through and claim the crown as they beat Werder Bremen 3:1. It was the moment that Leverkusen became Vizekusen (Vice-kusen or second-kusen), a moniker that stuck for 24 painful years when Leverkusen romped to the title unbeaten.

The following season proved too much for Köstner’s side as they were relegated in 16^th, just three points from safety after the final matchday. They would be relegated again the following season but bounced back immediately in 2002/03. Their last 2. Bundesliga campaign was in 2006/07, and they have lived between the 3. Liga and Regionalliga Bayern ever since. Despite star power in the dugout in recent years such as Ralph Hasenhüttl, Klaus Augenthaler, Heiko Herrlich, Sandro Wagner and Sven Bender, their days of having star power on the pitch are long gone. The 2026/27 marks their second season back in the Regionalliga Bayern after finishing in last place during the 2024/25 3. Liga season. But the club always has those two years to look back on fondly, and should be proud of that achievement.

Kickers Offenbach

On the banks of the River Main lies the city of Offenbach, part of the Frankfurt-am-Main urban area with 135,000 residents, many of whom commute across daily to Germany’s financial capital. Offenbacher Fußball-Club Kickers was founded in the city in 1901, and rose to prominence in the state of Hesse, winning the Kreisliga championship on three occasions in the 1920s.

By the 1950s, the club was regularly competing at the top of the Oberliga Süd, but a 7^th placed finish in the final season before the creation of the Bundesliga left Kickers having to compete in the second tier initially. Five consecutive top-three finishes eventually resulted in promotion to the Bundesliga in 1968, although the club spent the next four campaigns being immediately relegated and re-promoted between the top two divisions. It was the 1970/71 Bundesliga campaign that stained the club’s reputation most, which I touched upon greatly in Part One due to the effect it also had on Rot-Weiß Oberhausen.

The president of Kickers Offenbach, Horst-Gregorio Canellas (great name), presented an audio recording to DFB officials and journalists that he had invited to his 50^th birthday party. The recording featured Bundesliga players, including contemporary West Germany internationals, offering themselves up to Canellas for bribes to help Offenbach survive relegation. Since Offenbach had been relegated on goal difference anyway, Canellas must have thought he was being smart, but he ended up being punished alongside 52 players and two managers. At the time, the average salary for a Bundesliga player was around 12,000 Deutschmarks according to a 2008 study at Paderborn University, or US$3,280, which equates to around US$28,200 in 2026 money. So, you can see how Canellas was able to manipulate players with financial incentives given the wages that were being offered at the time.

The bulk of the Kickers Offenbach Bundesliga era crosses over with our friends from the Stadion am Zoo, as they featured consecutively from 1972 to 1976, just one campaign longer than Wuppertal. They ended in 7^th in their first campaign back, followed by finishes of 10^th and 8^th under a young Otto Rehhagel, who would leave in 1975 and win nine domestic trophies, a European Cup Winners’ Cup, and UEFA Euro 2004 in charge of Greece. In 1975/76, Kickers finished in 17^th, and had just one more shot at glory in 1983/84 when they finished 17^th again, conceding a ridiculous 106 goals and never returning to the Bundesliga since.

Since 2013, Kickers have featured steadily in the Regionalliga Südwest, and despite winning the 2014/15 edition, they were defeated in the playoff round by 1. FC Magdeburg. They have lost out narrowly on promotion to teams such as SV Elversberg, Waldhof Mannheim, 1. FC Saarbrücken, Sonnenhof Großaspach, and even the reserve teams of Stuttgart and Hoffenheim that all currently occupy places in the top three leagues of the German football pyramid. Will they finally scratch the 14-year itch this season?

Blau-Weiß 1890 Berlin

Arguably the least well-known club to have competed in the Bundesliga, Blau-Weiß Berlin’s history traces back to 1890, when its predecessor side Berliner FC Vorwärts was founded, and would eventually merge with Union 1892 in 1927. Both sides were founding members of the DFB in 1900, and Union won the German national championship in 1905.

Blau-Weiß settled in Mariendorf, in the south of Berlin, close to Tempelhof Airport. Despite being relegated on multiple occasions, Blau-Weiß also managed to capture two Gauliga Berlin-Brandenburg titles in 1939 and 1942. When the Allies took control of Berlin and dissolved all institutions, the club had to start over as SG Mariendorf, which eventually splintered into three, with SpVgg Blau-Weiß 1890 Berlin forming in 1949 and effectively becoming the successor club.

The new Blau-Weiß competed in the second-tier Regionalliga Berlin from 1963 to 1974 against the likes of SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin and Tennis Borussia Berlin, which I wrote about in the two previous editions of The Fall From Grace, as well as Hertha BSC, Wacker 04 Berlin and Hertha Zehlendorf. The Regionalliga Berlin was the smallest of the five Regionalliga divisions in this period and thus lacked serious financial and competitive strength. Hertha BSC were able to get promoted in the playoff rounds against the top Regionalliga teams from other parts of West Germany in 1968 at the third attempt, but none the other Berlin clubs were not so lucky. Blau-Weiß claimed their only Regionalliga Berlin title in 1972/73, and faced off home and away against Fortuna Köln, Karlsruher SV, Mainz 05 and St. Pauli, winning on just one occasion and losing the other seven fixtures, conceding 35 goals.

In 1974, the Regionalliga system was overhauled to create the 2. Bundesliga, split into only North and South divisions. Only the top two Regionalliga Berlin clubs survived this administrative change, with Blau-Weiß being shuffled into the third-tier Oberliga Berlin. After four years in this league, Blau-Weiß were relegated and spent time down in the Landesliga Berlin, bouncing between the two divisions for a few years. In 1983/84, Blau-Weiß succeeded in winning promotion to the 2. Bundesliga, which by now was a fully national league, and just two years later, the team finished in 2^nd place to finally win promotion to the top tier. Hertha BSC and Tennis Borussia Berlin were relegated at the same time, which made success even sweeter for Blau-Weiß.

The 3,000-capacity Platz an der Rathausstraße, which scarcely resembled more than a Sunday league pitch with standing rails around the perimeter, was rightfully deemed unfit for the Bundesliga, and Blau-Weiß moved to the Olympiastadion for this season. With the squad also unfit to compete with the elite teams of the era, veteran manager Bernd Hoss, who had managed countless lower-tier clubs, worked some magic to attract some good players for the only season that he and Blau-Weiß would have at the top table.

A young Karl-Heinz Riedle signed from Augsburg for 33,000 Deutschmarks (about US$15,000 at the time) and would go on to score 10 goals that season before moving on to Werder Bremen. René Vandereycken, who won 50 caps for Belgium and went on to manage his national side, joined as a veteran reinforcement in midfield, having played for Club Brugge, Genoa and Anderlecht prior. Turkish international Selçuk Yula also featured for Blau-Weiß, albeit only 11 times, with the forward signing after a seven-year spell at Fenerbahçe where he won the Golden Boot and the league title twice each.

All this was not enough of course, and the club were relegated by finishing rock bottom, with just three wins and 12 draws. They beat Waldhof Mannheim and Borussia Mönchengladbach at the Olympiastadion, while securing just one victory on the road at Eintracht Frankfurt. Bernd Hoss stayed on but would leave in 1989 to join SC Freiburg. The club experienced severe financial difficulties soon after and tragically ended up dissolving in 1992. Blau-Weiß fans established a phoenix club which reached the dizzying heights of the fifth-tier NOFV-Oberliga Nord in 2018, although currently plays in the Berlin-Liga, one tier below. To this day, they still play at the Platz an der Rathausstraße.

FC 08 Homburg

You may have been wondering which team could have possibly beaten the great Blau-Weiß Berlin to the 2. Bundesliga title in 1985/86. The answer is FC 08 Homburg, of course.

Founded in 1908, FC Homburg is one of the few Bundesliga sides in history that has represented Saarland, alongside Borussia Neunkirchen (see Part Two), 1. FC Saarbrücken, and now the mighty SV Elversberg. The 1905 census recorded Homburg’s population as just 9,400, although the town has around 40,000 inhabitants today. Sporting a green kit, befitting of the evergreen trees that comprise the Black Forest engulfing the Saarland, Homburg remained an amateur club for many decades before they got their big break in the 1970s.

Despite being a mid-table club in the Regionalliga Südwest, a 3^rd-placed finish in the 193/74 season allowed them to claw their way into the 2. Bundesliga Süd during the 1974 pyramid re-shuffle that I mentioned in the Blau-Weiß Berlin section. They initially competed strongly, but when the 2. Bundesliga became fully national in 1981, Homburg were demoted to the third-tier Oberliga Südwest. Not letting that setback affect them, they returned to the 2. Bundesliga in 1984, although they only narrowly avoided relegation by one point, finishing 16^th out of 20.

The following season under new manager Fritz Fuchs was much more successful. Led by captain and club icon Manfred Lenz, backed up by veteran Gerd Schwickert, striker Uwe Freiler and midfielder Thomas Dooley who would go on to play for the USMNT, Fuchs’ men won the title in an extremely close race, even for 2. Bundesliga standards. Fuchs remained in the 2. Bundesliga with Arminia Bielefeld, who had finished 4^th, and Udo Klug entered the dugout, who had two years of Bundesliga experience managing Nürnberg.

Aged 38 and 36 respectively, Lenz and Schwickert decided to retire, but the cavalry stuck around. Polish internationals Andrzej Buncol and Roman Wójcicki arrived at the Waldstadion Homburg, which had to be renovated to meet Bundesliga standards, but regularly attracted attendances of 8,000 during the 1980s. Klug’s men achieved six wins and nine draws, with Freiler, Buncol and Wójcicki getting enough goals between them to finish in 16^th and faced the relegation playoff. Klug left just before the end of the season, leaving Schwickert in charge, and he kept the club up against St. Pauli, winning 4:3 on aggregate.

Uwe Klimaschefski, who had managed Homburg for most of the 1970s, returned over the summer for his fourth of five spells in charge, but he’d had enough by November with the side struggling for results. Schwickert became caretaker again until February, until Slobodan Čendić, who seemingly managed every lower-tier German side under the sun, was hired to try and rescue the club’s fortunes. Although they achieved a higher points total than the prevous season (24 to 21), and seven wins in total, it was only good enough for 17^th. Čendić won promotion back to the Bundesliga on the club’s first try, although it was Schwickert again who got his team over the line.

But there was to be no satisfaction of a Klassenerhalt in 1989/90. Despite signing a future Argentina international in Rodolfo Cardoso, and the experienced Bundesliga midfielder Klaus Theiss, Homburg finished in last place under manager Josef Stabel. Even though they improved their win tally again, achieving eight of them, they were still five points away from the comfort of the relegation playoff place.

Since 1990, Homburg slipped further and further away from their finest era, dropping as low as the fifth tier on two occasions. Since 2018, they have consistently competed for promotion in the Regionalliga Südwest alongside Kickers Offenbach, with a best finish of 3^rd while never finishing below 8^th. But it’s a far cry from where they could have been if one or two results had gone their way back in the late 1980s.

Match Summaries

Borussia Mönchengladbach 3:4 Elversberg

My highlight of the week has to be Elversberg’s turnaround at Borussia-Park, overcoming a two-goal deficit in the second half and scoring a winner through Maurice Krattenmacher in the 92^nd minute. Two wins from two is a dream start for coach Vincent Wagner, who was sent off at the end of the first half and will have to watch his side from the stands next time out.

Gladbach showed up at the beginning, with attacking midfielder Hugo Bolin scoring two as the home side entered the break 2:1 up. Joe Scally’s goal put them 3:1 up with half an hour to play, but Krattenmacher’s entrance from the bench changed the complexion, and he was occupying dangerous areas as the game got stretched. He found himself in acres of space for the winning goal, which he put through the defender’s legs as Gladbach’s tired players struggled to close attackers down. Elversberg rode their luck at times but were good value for the win in the end.

Schalke 0:0 Bayern München

After a 3:0 defeat and a red card at Augsburg on MD1, Schalke needed to improve in front of their baying fans at the Veltins-Arena. Bayern have seemed impossible to stop over the last two seasons, but with Harry Kane not starting, Bayern struggled to create open sights of goal. Schalke set up in a very flat 5-4-1 defensive shape, and although they rarely threatened Bayern’s goal, they did well to limit opportunities for their opponents. It was just what Miron Muslić needed to show that he is up to the task in the Bundesliga.

Loris Karius produced several quality saves to help his side gain their first point of the season, including a flying fingertip save from a late Harry Kane strike from distance – the Englishman being brought on at half-time for Nathaniel Brown who seems to be struggling to adjust to his role as a number 10 after initially impressing in the DFL-Supercup.

Hamburg 0:5 Mainz

Mainz cut a frustrating figure last week when they were held to a goalless draw at home by newcomers Paderborn. They unleashed said frustration out on a Hamburg side that failed to show up entirely in front of their home fans.

Sheraldo Becker and Phillip Tietz impressed me hugely in their link-up play and finishing. There were questions for Urs Fischer regarding his choice to reunite with Becker, who he coached at Union Berlin, with the aging striker struggling for goals since his move to Spain two years ago, first with Real Sociedad and then with Osasuna. But he looked comfortable again at this level. Another clean sheet is a big bonus for Fischer too.

A lot of introspection is needed at Hamburg after two losses without scoring to open the season. I believe Merlin Polzin will be able to turn it around eventually, but if they put in another two or three performances like this, questions about whether he should be allowed the time will be asked. Goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes deserves some criticism for the fourth and fifth goals as the game just got away from Hamburg at the end.

I must also mention Ransford-Yeboah Königsdorffer cupping his ears to the fans by scoring Mainz’s fifth, after leaving Hamburg for Mainz over the summer. Please watch it if you want a laugh – it’s my pick for funny moment of the week.

Werder Bremen 3:1 RB Leipzig

Perhaps the most surprising result of the week, as Werder comprehensively beat an RB Leipzig side that looked bereft of ideas for large spells in the game. Eren Dinkçi and Niclas Füllkrug, who both returned to Werder on loan for this season after becoming unfavoured at their parent clubs, got their first Bundesliga goals of the season. Marco Grüll added a third goal ten minutes from time to kill off any hopes of a comeback, although Leipzig did get their consolation goal deep into stoppage time through Ridle Baku.

Daniel Thioune will be delighted, as many are expecting Werder to land themselves in a relegation battle this season, but to get the three points in the first game at the Weserstadion will help to inspire a bit of optimism at the club. Thioune singled out Grüll’s performance, calling him ‘outstanding’ and praising his work off the ball in his post-match interview.

For Martín Demichelis, this was a real “Welcome to the Bundesliga” moment and he will have to just try shake it off. Why Werder’s leading aerial threat, Füllkrug, was left unmarked at a corner to power a header in, we may never know.

Eintracht Frankfurt 1:4 Augsburg

Noah Atubolu secured the transfer he was angling for right at the end of the window, but conceding seven goals in the opening two games has left me wondering if he’s in the right headspace. He was completely at fault for Augsburg’s second goal, and Frankfurt lost their footing in the game from that point onwards.

Full credit goes to Augsburg who really struggled in the first half, but come away with a scoreline that reads as a dominant win. Augsburg scored four from 1.13 xG, and comparing that with Frankfurt’s 2.22 xG, you can see that the scoreline doesn’t exactly tell the story. Finn Dahmen had a great afternoon in the Augsburg goal to keep them in the game after conceding an early goal from a Jonathan Burkardt header. Adi Hütter persisted with his 4-4-2 that just did not seem to work once Augsburg had settled into the game, as their midfielders got massively overrun.

For Manuel Baum, two wins from two is the dream start, and his side looks very dangerous going forwards which has rarely been the norm for Augsburg during their time in the Bundesliga. A big test against Leverkusen awaits this weekend.

Bayer Leverkusen 4:0 Union Berlin

Having lost their first game under Carles Martínez Novell, Bayer 04 bounced back with a scoreline that lives up to their name, beating Union four goals to nil. Watching the highlights back, I could not believe how poorly Union were defending crosses – the first three goals all came from simple balls played from wide areas, both in the air and along the ground. Mauro Lustrinelli has some very basic work to do on the training ground for the coming weeks.

Leverkusen defended resolutely throughout, which will be a great relief for fans, because they were looking absolutely flustered at Elversberg last week, especially after conceding a quickfire double in the opening ten minutes. Martínez Novell played a simple 4-2-3-1, allowing Ibrahim Maza to drift in from the left to occupy dangerous areas and allow left-back Miguel Gutiérrez to bomb on. Gutiérrez claimed two assists, so this worked perfectly.

Union’s diamond midfield lacked the mobility to get out and press in the wide areas which really played into Leverkusen’s hands – Union only had 36% possession as they had to expend a lot of energy to recover the ball and then couldn’t play progressively once they had it. Lustrinelli defended his team’s performance by speaking of ‘growing pains’ and explaining that defensive errors are normal as his side transitions to a back four, having played in a five for several seasons prior.

VfB Stuttgart 4:1 Köln

Stuttgart have liftoff with a home win against Köln on Friday night. They scored some excellent goals, including a volley from outside the box by Josha Vagnoman and a solo effort from Bilal El Khannouss which included an audacious Tunnel (the German word for a nutmeg or panna). Being given the opening fixture that nobody wants - away to Bayern – is always a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, in that nobody expects you to do well, so you don’t believe you can win, and then you end up getting hammered 5:1. But this performance showed exactly what Dieter Hoeneß and Stuttgart are about.

Köln will feel slightly hard done by with the scoreline, as they had plenty of chances to get back into the game at 1:0 and 2:0 down, but this was not the sort of fixture that their fans are expecting to win, and they are smart enough to move on from it. It should be noted that Said El Mala was absent with an illness, so he should be back soon, but it was a big miss for the away side.

Hoffenheim 2:3 Borussia Dortmund

Hoffenheim will be devastated as they have now seen a victory turn to defeat twice in a row to open the season. This time, they had a two-goal advantage but just couldn’t stop Dortmund from getting back into the game. The finishes from Serhou Guirassy and Fábio Silva were seriously impressive, and against weaker sides Hoffenheim would probably not have conceded the two goals that allowed Dortmund to equalise. But the winning goal was a moment to forget for Hoffenheim defender Albian Hajdari, who turned the ball into his own net when it looked like his goalkeeper had it covered behind him.

Christian Ilzer was melancholic after the game, saying that it ‘feels bad to be on zero points’ and that his side ‘didn’t make enough of our scoring chances’. Niko Kovač admitted that his Dortmund side were lucky, especially with the own goal.

I thought Joey Veerman’s performance was superb, having been brought on at half-time for Felix Nmecha, who had a rare off day. Dortmund picked up another injury with Filippo Mane, which will be disappointing as the youngster has looked promising, although he is reportedly only out for a few weeks.

Paderborn 0:1 Freiburg

Last, and by all means least, Freiburg laboured to a narrow win at Paderborn to continue their winning start, sitting alongside Augsburg, Elversberg and Dortmund as the only teams to win two from two. Maximilian Eggestein scored the game’s only goal, which came about from a bit of pinball in the Paderborn area, with blocked shot after blocked shot eventually landing nicely for him to finish.

Paderborn saw a lot of the ball, having 59% of it, but it rather looked as though they weren’t sure what to do with it. Freiburg scored in the 26^th minute, so they seemed happy to let Paderborn try and attack them, but the home team failed to muster any believable opportunities. They look like being a stronger team defensively than I had given them credit for before a ball had been kicked, but there needs to be some soul-searching in terms of how this team is going to score goals. Marvin Pieringer lacks serious mobility, and his strike partner for this game was Hamburg loanee Rayan Philippe that can’t seem to trap a ball and was taken off at half-time.

Freiburg will be pleased with the result, and although it wasn’t the most convincing performance, I’m not sure that it had to be. They came to get a win, they defended comfortably throughout, and it’s another three points on the board.

Team of the Week

In my MD1 review, I had a section for Player of the Week, but I think it makes more sense to write a Team of the Week section and discuss my Player of the Week pick within that. I will be giving out points to players that feature in my top XI, with 11 for the best performance, ten for the second-best, all the way down to one point for the 11^th best. I will keep track of the points in a leaderboard which will help me for later reviews and hopefully will be of interest to those of you that read The Bundesliga Chronicles! I’m starting the leaderboard this week, and I am including my TOTW for MD1 in the standings. It will look clustered after a while but bear with me as I try to figure out the best way to present it.

GK: Loris Karius – Schalke – 11 points

It’s time for me to give Karius his flowers. He barely played any professional football from 2020 to 2025, when he signed with Schalke and his career has been revived, now aged 33. He only had to make five saves, but without them, Schalke would not have any points on the board. He deserves a second chance at this level and so far, he is seizing it. He wins my Player of the Week award.

RB: Josha Vagnoman – Stuttgart – 5 points

Despite almost being moved on in the summer, Vagnoman is showing that he still has a role to play for Stuttgart. Although he missed a great chance in the first half, he scored a worldie, “set up” El Khannouss for his mazy solo goal, and generally provided a constant threat on the right.

CB: Jonathan Tah – Bayern München - 4 points

Tah impressed me with his progressive passing this weekend. He has always been great at pure defending but I think he has improved hugely in his distribution since joining Bayern and deserves credit. With Schalke setting up in such a flat shape, he did his job well to find forward passes that broke the lines, and ultimately it’s not on him that Bayern couldn’t find a winning goal.

CB: Facundo Medina – Bayer Leverkusen – 1 point

I wasn’t sure how well Medina would adjust to Bundesliga football initally, but he delivered an assured performance in B04’s win over Union. He got his goal, a powerful header, to put die Werkself two goals ahead, and was great in possession at just keeping the attack ticking over as Union were pinned back.

LB: Miguel Gutiérrez - Bayer Leverkusen – 8 points

The second of my two Leverkusen picks, Gutiérrez set up two goals and was generally providing a great passing option on the left for his team. The Spaniard created three chances overall, and recovered the ball five times, which I think sums up his performance well.

CM: Maximilian Eggestein – Freiburg – 2 points

The Freiburg skipper truly put in a captain’s performance, scoring the only goal and using his ridiculous engine to cover ground for his side. He covered just shy of 12km and made four interceptions to help the team to another three points.

CM: Fabian Rieder – Augsburg – 7 points

There were a few options for Augsburg that I could have gone for, but Rieder was instrumental and scored a wonderful free kick, so I’ve opted for him. Playing next to the more defensive Han-Noah Massengo in a double pivot allows Rieder to advance well up the pitch and orchestrate quick passing sequences. With aging club captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw likely to continue on the bench, Rieder is stepping up and delivering performances worthy of the armband he has been trusted with.

CM: Philipp Mwene – Mainz – 10 points

I do know that Mwene is a left wing-back or left-sided midfielder, but I have to put him in this team somewhere as he was just brilliant against Hamburg. Although the 32-year-old Austrian has not been known for his attacking contributions throughout his career, he was definitely a threat in this game and comes away with a goal, an assist, and is my second-best player of MD2.

RW: Maurice Krattenmacher – Elversberg – 3 points

The signing of Krattenmacher from Bayern could prove to be one of Elversberg’s smartest deals this summer. Despite entering the pitch in the 64^th minute, Krattenmacher was decisive as he scored within two minutes to bring Elversberg back into the game at 3:2, and didn’t panic when he found himself in space inside the box to score the winning goal. Having only scored one league goal on loan at Hertha BSC last campaign, he’ll be delighted.

ST: Sheraldo Becker – Mainz – 6 points

Although Phillip Tietz scored twice for Mainz, I’ve gone for Sheraldo Becker as my choice for scoring the opener and providing two assists – one for Mwene and one for Tietz. The Surinamese man always works incredibly hard off the ball, which is why Urs Fischer rates him so highly, and in this match it was no different.

LW: Marco Grüll - Werder Bremen – 9 points

Grüll was singled out by his manager for his performance, and deservedly so. He provided a great delivery from the corner that Füllkrug buried, and finished nicely on the half-volley to put the game to bed. His defensive work has earned him his spot in the line-up over Samuel Mbangula, who has left on loan to Bologna now. With Jens Stage out until 2027, Werder need Grüll to step up and fill in the void in terms of goals and assists.

Manager: Urs Fischer – Mainz

Fischer showed Polzin the levels this time, as the oldhead completely outclassed the younger, upcoming manager. Mainz took the lead in the 19^th minute and never looked under any trouble after that. It’s the type of performance that every manager hopes his players put in: assured, confident, clinical.

Leaderboards

Player Leaderboard

11 – Loris Karius, Younes Ebnoutalib
10 – Philipp Mwene, Yuito Suzuki
9 – Marco Grüll, Anton Kade
8 – Miguel Gutiérrez, Daniel Svensson
7 – Fabian Rieder, Lukas Petkov
6 – Sheraldo Becker, Ridle Baku
5 – Josha Vagnoman, Joshua Kimmich
4 – Jonathan Tah, Dayot Upamecano
3 – Maurice Krattenmacher, Antonio Nusa
2 – Maximilian Eggestein, Finn Dahmen
1 – Facundo Medina, Laurin Curda

Manager Leaderboard

1 - Urs Fischer, René Wagner

2. : 3. Recap - MD4

Fixture Round-Up

Only one team with a 100% record in the 2. Bundesliga remains, and that is somewhat surprisingly Hertha Berlin. Now that I’ve figured out how to get the 2. Bundesliga YouTube streams working here in the USA, I got up bright and early on Sunday morning to watch their game. Hertha survived nervously to beat Magdeburg 2:1 at the Olympiastadion, with both teams receiving a red card to set up an exciting finish. Nürnberg lost their 100% record but remain in 2^nd place after a 2:2 draw at Holstein Kiel. Kaiserslautern and Wolfsburg also remain unbeaten, with ‘Lautern winning 3:0 against last-placed Darmstadt, and Wolfsburg seeing a three-goal lead evaporate as Energie Cottbus fought back in an entertaining 4:4 draw. Bochum, Osnabrück and Heidenheim were the other clubs to claim wins, beating Dynamo Dresden, Eintracht Braunschweig and Greuther Fürth respectively.

In the 3. Liga, the headline fixture was Sunday evening’s Fortuna-Derby between Fortuna Köln and Fortuna Düsseldorf, which ended in a disappointing goalless draw. In the other Nordrhein-Westfalen Derby, Rot-Weiß Essen ran out 1:0 winners against Viktoria Köln. MSV Duisburg continued their perfect record although had to compete without star striker Lex-Tyger Lobinger, who was sent off after 25 minutes away to Jahn Regensburg. Regensburg opened the scoring in the second half, but Duisburg fought back to win 2:1. Alemannia Aachen and Saarbrücken returned to winning ways after poor defeats last week. SC Verl claimed their first points of the season with a 1:0 win at Waldhof Mannheim, leaving Wehen Wiesbaden scrambling at the bottom as the only winless side in the division.

Players of the Week

Semih Şahin from Kaiserslautern is my pick for the 2. Bundesliga. Kaiserslautern kicked off the season with two goalless draws, but have since claimed back-to-back wins, with midfielder Semih Şahin being instrumental as they coasted past Darmstadt with a 3:0 win. Şahin provided two assists and created several further goalscoring opportunities which his teammates should have buried. Another clean sheet is a nice bonus.

In the 3. Liga, Saarbrücken’s Florian Pick showed why he is one of the top players in the division with a stellar performance in a huge 6:1 win at Meppen. Pick didn’t make the scoresheet but provided three assists as the Meppen defenders struggled to contain him. At this level, having a playmaker with his ability is an incredible advantage, and Saarbrücken need to continue making it count if they are serious about promotion.

Managers of the Week

Osnabrück boss Timo Schultz deserves a lot of credit for how he has been setting up his team to grind out results so far. After competing closely with Heidenheim in a 4:3 loss on the opening day, they were poor against Magdeburg in their first home game on MD2. But they have since beat Bochum away 1:0 and now Eintracht Braunschweig 3:1 at home, and they fully deserved both wins for how well they defended. The Braunschweig goal was a late consolation, as Osnabrück were in control during the second half and were clinical with finishing their chances.

I’m giving my 3. Liga Manager of the Week to Verl’s Orest Shala for claiming his first win. Shala is a young coach at just 34, and Verl had been overachieving under Tobias Strobl over the last couple of seasons. Shala needs to simply ensure that the club continues in this division, and if they defend as resolutely as they did in their 1:0 win away to Waldhof Mannheim, he won’t go far wrong.

This Weekend’s Fixtures

Augsburg and Elversberg will both be hoping to continue their winning starts to the season, but they each face tough tests as they host Leverkusen and Bayern, respectively. Hoffenheim vs. Stuttgart will be an interesting watch as well, since Hoffenheim will be disappointed by losing their opening two games, and Stuttgart will want to continue their positive momentum after a good win on MD2. Elsewhere, Köln host Werder for the Saturday evening kickoff in a game that both sides will feel is winnable, so it should be a good watch.

In the 2. Bundesliga, St. Pauli host Wolfsburg on Saturday evening in a repeat of the winner-takes-all fixture from the final matchday of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. Wolfsburg won to secure a temporary reprieve in the relegation playoff, although both clubs were ultimately relegated. Too early for a six-pointer? Braunschweig host Dynamo Dresden, with both clubs desperate to win.

The 3. Liga headline fixture is undoubtedly Fortuna Düsseldorf vs. Duisburg. Fortuna fans will feel as though anything less than promotion this year is a failure, while a Duisburg win would see them continue to pull away at the top at the envy of their opposition. Viktoria Köln host Hansa Rostock on Friday night, which I’m also excited for - a win for the home side would see them leapfrog Hansa, so plenty to play for even this early in the season.

Bundesliga MD1 Recap

Starting with our title protagonists – Bayern and Dortmund both strolled to fairly simple wins in their respective opening fixtures. Bayern humbled fellow Champions League outfit Stuttgart 5:1, while BVB saw off Hamburg 2:0, despite a red card towards the end for Die Schwarzgelben from teenager Samuele Inácio.

Bayern are coping without Jamal Musiala for another couple of weeks as he recovers from two seizures he suffered in pre-season, so new signing Nathaniel Brown made his league debut in the number 10 role, although he struggled to impose himself in the final third. I expect him to eventually return to playing as a left-back, but I understand Vincent Kompany’s reasoning for putting Brown there – many elite clubs invert their fullbacks these days to get the ball to them in half-spaces, Kompany is just choosing to keep Brown in that area of the field permanently. Ismael Saibari was Bayern’s other debutant, more of a natural number 10, and he replaced Brown after 61 minutes and assisted the last two goals. For his first assist, he burst down the right-hand side, performed a backheel chop to shake off the defender, before putting it on a plate for Aleksandar Pavlović to score, clinical all-round attacking play.

Dortmund handed league debuts to three new signings: centre-half Yoane Gadou, and the Greek duo of attacking midfielders Giannis Konstantelias and Konstantinos Karetsas (say that five times fast), with Karetsas setting up the opener and Konstantelias scoring the second. Sadly, Konstantelias sustained an ACL injury early in the second half and will likely be out until January, if not longer. Incredibly disappointing news given how strongly he started. Karetsas was taken off for Inácio who was red carded for a reckless challenge only three minutes later, and will miss the next two games. Inácio will stake a claim as Konstantelias’ replacement upon his return if he can behave himself.

There were mixed fortunes amongst the three promoted clubs. Elversberg impressed greatly as they beat Bayer Leverkusen at home, leading comfortably for most of the game but having to nervously see out a 3:2 win once Leverkusen grabbed two late goals back to keep things interesting. New signing Cole Campbell claimed one of the goals for Elversberg, although it was Lukas Petkov on the opposite wing that stood out for me, scoring the opener and providing a constant threat.

Paderborn did well on the road to frustrate Mainz, achieving the first goalless draw of the new Bundesliga season. Debutant goalkeeper Nahuel Noll made an incredible save from a Dominik Kohr volley early on that’s worth checking out. Paderborn failed to get any shots on target which will be an issue for them this season, but if they can achieve more clean sheets during away fixtures, they may give themselves a chance at survival.

The last remaining promoted club, Schalke, disappointed hugely in their 3:0 loss at Augsburg. They were already struggling to contain Augsburg at only 1:0 down, but a red card for Ron Schallenberg sealed their fate as the home side found two more goals later on.

Player of the Week

Two hattricks were scored which gives me two obvious standout options, and I’m going for Eintracht Frankfurt striker Younes Ebnoutalib. The 22-year-old achieved his personal ambition by signing for his hometown club in January, and scoring on his debut, but an injury kept him out for the majority of the remainder of the season, managing only four more goalless appearances. Bagging three goals in a 3:3 draw away to Union Berlin, all well-taken finishes, will be incredible for his confidence, especially if he has personal plans to make it into the national team of either Germany or Morocco.

Yuito Suzuki was the other hattrick scorer, and certainly deserves a mention, scoring his three in a comfortable 4:1 win at home to Werder Bremen.

Manager of the Week

I must show my respect to Köln’s René Wagner. His only win in the seven games he coached at the end of last season was against a 10-man Werder Bremen, and I still have my reservations about him in his first managerial appointment. But he definitely put out a statement on the weekend, as Köln played some incredible stuff in their 3:2 win at home to Hoffenheim.

Said El Mala was amongst the goals again, of course, but new striker Thijs Dallinga looked promising and scored the other two to turn a defeat into victory. Köln struggled to keep hold of the ball for large portions of the game, but they were extremely efficient when they got hold of it.

Deadline Day - Incomings

I waited a few days to complete this recap as I wanted to cover some late transfers.

Konstantelias’ ACL injury allowed Dortmund to seize upon a market opportunity to bring in Arsenal’s 19-year-old prodigy Ethan Nwaneri on loan. Nwaneri had a great breakthrough season in 2024/25, but struggled for game time last campaign and moved to Marseille on loan. Arsenal have a recall option in January if Nwaneri isn’t featuring enough for their liking, but I think that the youngster will start more often than not.

Köln have secured the services of Crystal Palace and Croatia left-back Borna Sosa on loan for the season, without an option to buy. Gideon Mensah impressed on his debut as Köln’s left-back at the weekend, but Sosa is a solid reinforcement to have.

Continuing with left-backs, Hamburg have acquired David Møller Wolfe on loan from Wolves following their relegation from the Premier League. He is an immediate upgrade in that position for Hamburg, in my opinion. Wolves forward Hwang Hee-Chan also moves to Germany, joining Schalke on loan, a solid signing for them as he can play in any role along the front three.

Werder had a busy last two days of the transfer window, bringing in three players on loan. Brazilian right-back Arthur comes in from Bayer Leverkusen who had just acquired Guéla Doué previously, defensive midfielder Youri Regeer joins from Ajax with a buy option included, and left-back Moussa Ndiaye makes the move from Anderlecht.

20-year-old forward Louey Ben Farhat will be stepping up from second-tier Karlsruher SC, signing with Freiburg for a fee in the region of €7m. He will stay on loan for the 2026/27 season, however, which I think is a smart move for all parties.

Deadline Day - Outgoings

Jean-Mattéo Bahoya has left Eintracht Frankfurt, signing for Leeds United for €30m. The move will be initially on loan, but the buy option is mandatory. The Frenchman is still only 21, so has plenty of time to develop, but his end product was always frustrating during his time in the Bundesliga. He is lightning quick and will suit Leeds when they have to play against bigger teams that leave space behind but will likely struggle against low blocks.

Eintracht have also sold central midfielder Hugo Larsson to Fulham for €25m, which I think is a complete steal. I know that he struggled last campaign, but aged 22 he also has a lot of room to develop, and it will suit him having Sander Berge alongside him in a double pivot. Eintracht also needed to offload another midfielder as they had too many options in that area.

Another midfielder moving to the Premier League is Stuttgart’s Chema Andrés, who signs for Brighton for €22m. The 6ft3 defensive midfielder is 21 and lacks some senior experience, and quite a bit of mobility, so we will see how he copes in the Premier League. As a Real Madrid academy graduate, there is no doubt about his technical ability, but I don’t see him as an immediate improvement on Brighton’s current options.

Additional Transfers

Rayan Philippe – Hamburg to Paderborn – Loan with option to buy

Arijon Ibrahimović - Bayern to Augsburg – Loan with €8m option to buy

Nicolas Kühn - Como to Gladbach – Loan

Mikey Moore – Spurs to Köln - Loan

Juma Bah – Manchester City to Augsburg – Loan with option to buy

El Chadaille Bitshiabu – RB Leipzig to Galatasaray – Loan with option to buy

2. 3. Recap – MD3

Now into the third matchday for the lower divisions, the league may not be fully taking shape, but there are certainly some teams that are impressing more than others.

In the 2. Bundesliga, the goals were absolutely flying in, with 42 goals in the nine fixtures. Cottbus, Dresden and Braunschweig all lost despite scoring three goals. Braunschweig’s loss was to Hertha Berlin, who continue their 100% record, while Nürnberg dispatched Arminia Bielefeld 4:1 to continue their own 100% record, and maintain a slender lead on goal difference at the top. Heidenheim became the first team to reach 10 goals scored and 10 goals conceded (perhaps the quickest ever in the division? I need a data checker) after their 5:3 win over Dresden, so keep an eye out for their games if you want to see lots of goals.

In the 3. Liga, MSV Duisburg are the only team to maintain a 100% record now, after they saw off Würzburger Kickers 3:0, including two early goals that helped them to cruise to victory. SC Verl remain the only team without a point on the board in either the 2. or the 3., losing 2:1 at home to Fortuna Köln despite having a man advantage going into halftime at 0:0. Not a good sign for things to come. Hansa Rostock claimed a 4:2 win away at Saarbrücken in an early clash of two of the promotion favourites, with Saarbrücken the only team alongside Duisburg trying to maintain their 100% record during MD3.

2. 3. Players of the Week

Fabian Reese gets my vote as the 2. Bundesliga player of the week, as boring as it may be. He puts up numbers at an incredible rate, and really has to make the step back up into the Bundesliga following this campaign. He scored twice for Wolfsburg as they came back to beat Karlsruher SC 5:2 - the shackles seem to finally be off this team’s attack.

Newly promoted SV Meppen put in a strong showing away to Alemannia Aachen, winning 3:0. Central midfielder Niclas Nadj stamped his authority on the game, covering blades of grass you didn’t even know existed, and claiming the third goal which he richly deserved. Aachen simply couldn’t handle him.

2. 3. Managers of the Week

Magdeburg’s co-managers Pascal Ibold and Petrik Sander deserve some credit for how they’ve bounced back from the 6:1 defeat in their opening game. The 2:0 win over Holstein Kiel means they’ve won twice in a row without conceding now (three when including their 4:0 win in the DFB-Pokal against fifth-tier opposition), and they’re getting things back on track.

In the 3. Liga, Marian Wilhelm at Viktoria Köln deserves a shout (particularly since I actually watched this match in full). Preußen Münster were threatening for large parts of the game, but Viktoria soaked up that pressure and eventually saw out a 4:1 win which was hard-earned. I was very impressed with Wilhelm’s in-game management, especially against strong opposition on paper.

The Big Fixtures this Weekend

It’s my first season having to watch German football over here in the USA, so it’s been a big adjustment. I have access to all Bundesliga games, thankfully, but there is no broadcaster that offers 2. Bundesliga matches, and I truly believe that the league is more entertaining than the Bundesliga even if the quality is lacking, so I’m left feeling a bit disappointed. Luckily, select 3. Liga matches are broadcast on ESPN, so it’s nice to at least have some access to the lower leagues in live form (YouTube highlights and Wyscout never hit the same).

In the Bundesliga:

Schalke vs. Bayern - Saturday 5 September - 18:30 local time
Finally back in the Bundesliga, Schalke’s first home game has been long anticipated by their fans, but also viewers at home. I’m keen to see how Miron Muslić sets up his team for the occasion, but I fully expect him to deploy his defensive tactics again.

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Union Berlin - Saturday 5 September - 15:30 local time
Leverkusen lost their opener and Union battled valiantly for a draw at home, but neither will be happy with those outcomes. This game is suddenly a must-win for both to properly kickstart their respective seasons, although I fully expect Leverkusen to have the edge as the home side.

The 2. 3. Fixtures:

Hannover vs. Karlsruhe - Friday 4 September - 18:30 local time
After two defeats in their first two games, promotion hopefuls Hannover 96 got points on the board with a win at Darmstadt on MD3. Karlsruher SC are a likely mid-table candidate, and Hannover need to claim their first home win to keep the momentum going and challenge near the top now.

Hertha Berlin vs. Magdeburg - Sunday 6 September - 13:30 local time
While Hertha want to continue their 100% record, I think Magdeburg will provide tough opposition, as well as being able to bring support in numbers for a short trip to the Olympiastadion. I had Magdeburg down to struggle this campaign purely due to employing co-managers, which is a rare move, but who knows if this combination can be the magic touch needed?

Waldhof Mannheim vs. SC Verl - Saturday 5 September - 14:00 local time
Verl simply need to get points on the board. They pushed for promotion over the last two years under Tobias Strobl, who is now in charge at Wolfsburg, but are currently on a bad losing streak. Verl haven’t struggled to score, but just need better defensive organisation, and Waldhof Mannheim are shaky at the back. A win here would do the NRW side a world of good.

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Such is the continuous success of the German giants, they have always been able to attract the best talent from around the world. The most talented players tend to have the biggest egos, though, which is by no means a coincidence. Successive iterations of the club’s employees, including captains, managers, and executives, have been marred by personality clashes, leaks to the press, and even full-on physical fights, leading to the press nicknaming the club FC Hollywood from the mid-1990s onwards. The name has stuck for 30 years now, and not without good reason.

In this article, I’ll be exploring ten high profile FC Hollywood incidents centred around key individuals. But believe me, I am skipping over an abundance of other flashpoints that could all be their own articles, such is the depth of the iceberg that Bayern are never far away from hitting.

Come with me as we discuss relationships (public and private), loudmouths, spying and backstabbing, all seasoned with a lovely spice native to Bavaria, named karma.

From Milan, With Hate: Lothar Matthäus vs. Jürgen Klinsmann

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... two of Germany’s leading hotheads played for Inter Milan together for three seasons, before reuniting at Bayern in the mid-90s. During the late 1980s, Jürgen Klinsmann was one of West Germany’s most promising strikers, putting away 20 goals a year for a mediocre VfB Stuttgart, while Lothar Matthäus was scoring similar numbers as an all-action midfielder for Bayern. Matthäus moved to Inter in 1988 alongside Bayern teammate Andreas Brehme, with Klinsmann becoming the third foreign player (at a time of three foreign players per team) from the start of 1989/90. Matthäus outscored Klinsmann across their three seasons together in Milan – 41 goals to 40 – which must hurt for any striker.

Matthäus returned to Bayern in 1992, while Klinsmann moved on to Monaco and Tottenham Hotspur before his move to Bayern in 1995. Der Panzer (The Tank) Matthäus, now in his mid-30s, had been named club captain by this time, the obvious choice as he had been the World Cup (and Ballon D’Or) winning captain in 1990 with Klinsmann and deciding scorer Brehme in tow.

Bayern had finished 6^th under Giovanni Trapattoni in 1994/95, with the Italian manager’s style never truly taking hold, and Klinsmann’s arrival was sure to help Bayern back into title contention. Otto Rehhagel had been hired as manager off the back of a successful 14-year stint with Werder Bremen, and things were looking promising. Disappointingly, the arrival of Klinsmann did not suit Matthäus at all off the pitch. Rehhagel was a great motivator at Werder, pitching his side as underdogs, but this attitude was unwelcome by the elite players at Bayern that felt like they were the top dogs. This led to the alienation of several key players, particularly Klinsmann, but Matthäus got on well with Rehhagel and stuck by him while Bayern battled closely for the title with Borussia Dortmund.

While recovering from an Achilles injury midway through the season, Matthäus heard that Klinsmann was talking with national team manager Berti Vogts about keeping Matthäus out of the side for the upcoming UEFA Euro 1996 tournament in England. Matthäus gave an interview to Sport Bild (the sporting publication of Germany’s leading tabloid publication, Bild) challenging Klinsmann to a showdown on TV to tell the German public the truth. Klinsmann declined the polite invitation, but flashpoint number one of FC Hollywood was official.

Klinsmann was then offered a new contract towards the end of the season, but was unhappy with the terms it contained. Somehow, the details of the contract offer found their way to the media, with Bild getting the scoop as always. Klinsmann suspected his old friend “Loddar” Matthäus, accusing him of being a mole, and publicly criticising Rehhagel for his old-school tactics and approach. Bayern ended up finishing 2^nd and Rehhagel was replaced before the season ended by Bayern’s most legendary player, Franz Beckenbauer, who captured the UEFA Cup in May against Bordeaux. Trapattoni was brought back in over the summer of 1996 to try and tame the two men he had managed back at Inter.

Berti Vogts ultimately left Matthäus out of the Euro 1996 squad and gave Klinsmann the captaincy. Germany went on to win the tournament, giving credence to Klinsmann’s ability as a captain. Having watched at home, Matthäus went to Bayern’s general manager, Uli Hoeneß, and placed a wager of around £5,000 that Klinsmann would not score 15 league goals in the 1996/97 season.

When Klinsmann found out, he went apoplectic and launched a campaign internally to get Matthäus removed from his role as captain. Klinsmann scored exactly 15 Bundesliga goals anyway, which probably helped to shut Matthäus up.

Despite winning the Bundesliga, Klinsmann left Bayern at the end of the season, although the two would not reconcile until much later. Klinsmann revealed recently on The Overlap that him and Loddar have a good relationship these days, and they exchange messages regularly.

Eine Flasche Leer: Trapattoni Quits… ‘Indefinitely’

With Klinsmann out of the picture, Trapattoni tried to retain the title in 1997/98 by replacing his goals in the aggregate. Giovane Élber was signed from Stuttgart to be the main striker, and Carsten Jancker stepped up alongside him. The squad was generally lacking some quality, however, beyond a few key players like goalkeeper Oliver Kahn and midfield duo Mehmet Scholl and Mario Basler. Matthäus was now 36 years old and playing as a sweeper as he had lost a lot of mobility.

1. FC Kaiserslautern, who had just been promoted back to the Bundesliga with Otto Rehhagel in charge, shocked everybody by beating the reigning champions in Munich’s Olympiastadion on the opening day. They secured two wins from the next three games and sat happily at the top of the table at the end of August. But this was just a fluke, as there was no way that a promoted side would seriously challenge for the title, right? In a script too far-fetched even for Hollywood executives, Kaiserslautern stayed perched at the top of the table for the rest of the season, claiming an incredible second Bundesliga crown, and the only side to ever win the Bundesliga as a promoted club. The karmic nature of Rehhagel’s victory was not lost on Bayern’s fans.

Trapattoni’s Bayern followed closely throughout, but three consecutive losses from February into March led to one of the most bizarre and memorable moments in German football history.

Two days after the 1:0 loss away to Schalke, “Trap”, as he was affectionately known, gave a three-and-a-half-minute rant to the media instead of taking questions during a scheduled press conference. He complained about leaks from players (Matthäus being a suspect yet again, alongside Mario Basler and Thomas Strunz) and essentially yelled at the media for criticising his tactics and player selection for not being dynamic or offensive enough.

What the rant, or ‘Wutrede’ (angry speech) as it became known, was instantly famous for was the strange turns of phrase Trapattoni used as he delivered his impassioned tirade in broken German. He described his players as being ‘schwach wie eine Flasche leer’, literally ‘weak like a bottle empty’, and took aim at Strunz: ‘was erlauben Strunz?’ which transliterates as ‘what allows Strunz?’ before finishing by saying ‘ich habe fertig’ i.e. ‘I have finished’ and walking away (NB: while ‘I have finished’ makes sense in English, it does not make sense in German, and it should have been ‘I am finished’).

This incident fed into the media’s narrative of Trapattoni’s lack of competency, and he would ultimately close out his second stint managing Bayern at the end of the season, having lost the title to the man he replaced in the role. Perhaps he should have shut his Trap.

Effenberg - He’s At It Again!

I mentioned that Bayern have employed countless players with big egos in the introduction to this article, but this man had an ego the size of Jupiter and he chose to let everyone know it.

Stefan Effenberg played for Bayern from 1990 to 1992 after coming through the ranks at Borussia Mönchengladbach, just as Matthäus had done. To continue the comparisons to Matthäus, Effenberg was an all-rounder in midfield and went off to play in Italy, although Effenberg joined Fiorentina for two years from 1992 to 1994. Effenberg’s banishment from the German national team preceded Matthäus’ own, however, as Berti Vogts dropped him midway through the 1994 World Cup for showing the middle finger to Germany fans after being substituted during a 3:2 win over South Korea. Effenberg never played competitively for Germany again.

Effenberg returned to Gladbach that summer, before re-joining Bayern in 1998, where Matthäus had relinquished the captaincy to Thomas Helmer and Ottmar Hitzfeld had become Trapattoni’s managerial replacement. After winning the 1998/99 Bundesliga title, Effenberg became the captain himself, and he chose to rule with an iron fist.

Known for his temperament on and off the pitch (did I mention the middle finger to his own fans?), Der Tiger never gave the impression of someone with low blood pressure. Following a drink-driving conviction in 1999 where he was more than double over the limit, he was allowed to keep the captaincy and got his affairs in order... at least with the alcohol use.

Around the same time, news broke that Effenberg was having an affair with Claudia Strunz, the wife of a certain Thomas Strunz, Effenberg’s teammate. Effenberg was also married at this time, the scandal rocked Bayern to its very core, and the story was top billing in German media for days. Strunz (Thomas) retired in 2000 and Effenberg married Strunz (Claudia) in 2004, and they are still together today.

Fully revelling in his role as the ‘bad boy’, Effenberg continued to push, kick and generally fight his opponents (and sometimes teammates) on the pitch, as Bayern went on to win three Bundesliga titles in a row and the 2000/01 Champions League. Effenberg left Bayern in 2002 and finally retired in 2004 after stints with Wolfsburg and Qatari side Al-Arabi.

Undoubtedly a complete player and excellent leader on the pitch, Effenberg couldn’t resist insulting his teammates when he wrote his autobiography in 2003. In the midst of his brash, vulgar and boastful tales of success, he reserved a chapter for our old friend Matthäus, which he titled ‘What Lothar Matthäus knows about football’.

The chapter was one page long. The page was blank.

I’m Not The Two Popes

With a vacancy in the role of captain in 2002, you’d be forgiven for thinking Hitzfeld might want someone a bit more relaxed and friendly to take over. Unfortunately, Hitzfeld opted for the only player in Bayern’s history that was more temperamental than Effenberg.

Oliver Kahn is one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, but he is widely known for being a complete madman as well. On the pitch, he struck Miroslav Klose in the face, bit Heiko Herrlich, throttled his own teammate Thomas Brdarić, and was given a second yellow card once for punching the ball into the opponent’s net. Off the pitch, Der Titan garnered plenty of media attention for his antics, with two particular incidents standing out.

In October 2002, just months after being named club captain, Kahn was granted time off to recuperate at home from an injury but was instead pictured leaving a nightclub in his hometown of Karlsruhe at 5:30am. Hitzfeld was fuming and issued a fine to his captain, while Kahn responded to questioning from Kicker magazine by saying ‘I’m not the Pope’.

In 2003, he was back in the tabloids for his nightclub antics again. This time, however, it was a personal issue. With his wife Simone only a matter of days away from giving birth to their second child, Kahn, 34 at the time, decided to leave her for a 21-year-old nightclub waitress named Verena, who essentially became a celebrity overnight. Certainly not a papal act.

The media circus followed Kahn around for some time, and the relationship lasted for several years afterwards. Kahn retired in 2008 and remarried in 2011, while ‘Lady Verena’, as the press dubbed her, became a contestant on Germany’s Big Brother in 2024.

The Not-So-Silence of the Lahm

When Hitzfeld left Bayern in 2004, the Stern des Südens poached Stuttgart manager Felix Magath to take over after impressing with consecutive top four finishes in the previous two seasons. Magath was a good fit initially, winning back-to-back Bundesliga titles, but poor results in 2006/07 caused Bayern to bring Hitzfeld back to save the league campaign. Magath’s old club, Stuttgart, would go on to win the league that year with Bayern finishing 4^th, and he would start the next campaign in charge at Wolfsburg.

By this point, Klinsmann had taken charge of the national team and achieved 3^rd place in the 2006 World Cup, with Germany as the host country. He declined to renew his contract, taking some time off before being hired by Bayern for the 2008/09 season. Dutch midfielder Mark van Bommel was the new captain, with academy boy Philipp Lahm becoming the vice-captain after being one of the standouts of that World Cup campaign.

Despite newly promoted side TSG Hoffenheim entering the Christmas break as surprise league leaders, Bayern wrestled the position away from them by February and were still competing in the DFB-Pokal and Champions League. By the end of April, everything had unravelled, with Bayern now trailing Magath’s Wolfsburg as well as Stuttgart in the league and being knocked out in the quarter-final of both cup competitions by Bayer Leverkusen and Barcelona, respectively. Klinsmann was fired with the club in turmoil, Germany’s most promising managerial prospect having failed in the job everyone wants, and Magath having sealed his revenge on the club that spurned him.

Philipp Lahm was not best pleased at the whole situation. Later in 2009, he gave a scathing interview to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, which shocked club executives as Lahm was seen as a sensible figure, nothing like the volatility of Effenberg or Kahn. Lahm criticised the club for lacking any sort of philosophy, including its transfer policy as he didn’t think Bayern had any world class players. Although large sections of the fanbase were behind him, as they were equally dissatisfied, chairman Franz Beckenbauer and general manager Uli Hoeneß were outraged and fined Lahm €50,000, a record fine at the club. Effenberg and Kahn weren’t even fined half of that for their drunken antics.

Still not satisfied with causing friction at his club, Lahm turned his attention to his national team captain, Michael Ballack. I could have written about several FC Hollywood moments from Ballack’s four years with Bayern, so I had to include him somehow. Coming to the end of his career, and playing for Chelsea in the Premier League, Ballack sustained an injury that ruled him out of the 2010 World Cup, and Lahm inherited the armband.

After finishing the tournament in 3^rd place again, Lahm told the German media that he had enjoyed being the captain and wanted to continue. Having never discussed it with Ballack or the manager, Joachim Löw, Ballack was incensed and Löw was simply hoping that Ballack would choose to retire. On 98 caps, the DFB tried to persuade him to participate in two upcoming friendlies to reach a century, but Ballack took this as an insult and refused again. Meanwhile, Lahm refused to apologise and even doubled down on his claim to the captaincy, which had gained credence when he became Bayern’s captain in January 2011 when van Bommel was sold to Milan.

Seemingly unable to stop running his mouth, Lahm was just about to launch his autobiography in 2011 when Bild got hold of some excerpts which they promptly published. Lahm had lambasted every manager he’d played for. He said that players only did fitness training under Klinsmann, with little tactical planning, claimed that Magath was a ruthless authoritarian, and Bayern’s manager from 2009 to 2011, Louis van Gaal, for lacking adaptability and introspection.

With it being too late in the publishing phase for changes, Lahm was sent to the slaughter. He had included a section in the book providing some ill-informed advice for gay footballers, arguing that they should not come out due to likely retaliation against them. This advice was not at all in line with the DFB’s policy. For Lahm to retain his captaincy, Löw, amongst other DFB executives, ordered him to apologise for these statements. Lahm did as he was asked and went on to captain Germany to their famous World Cup victory in 2014.

In the Red Corner: Robbery’s Rocky Relationship

Following on from Lahm’s eventful 2010/11 campaign, and with Bayern having lost the league title to Borussia Dortmund, the club was looking to get back to winning ways. With the Champions League final due to be held at the Allianz Arena, seven years after the stadium’s grand opening, Bayern sensed a huge opportunity.

Having reached the semi-final, Jupp Heynckes’ team faced off against a Real Madrid side desperately chasing La Décima - a 10^th Champions League title.

Star players Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry had struck up a lovely partnership on either wing, and had become known by the portmanteau ‘Robbery’. Having put Bayern a goal up in the first leg, Ribéry was stood over a free-kick hoping to consolidate the lead in front of the home fans. Robben instructed Ribéry to let Toni Kroos take it, and the Frenchman was insulted.

Entering the dressing room at half-time, the two clearly didn’t see eye to eye, but Robben certainly saw fist to eye. Ribéry punched the Robben in the face, with the Dutchman returning for the second half with an increasingly swelling bruise under his right eye.

Bayern won the first leg 2:1 with a last-minute winner from Mario Gómez, assisted by Lahm who was revelling in the captaincy now. Bayern eventually progressed with a famous penalty shootout win in the Bernabéu where Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká and Sergio Ramos all missed. Having lost the Bundesliga title to Dortmund again, this was Bayern’s chance to save their season.

But what goes around, comes around, and it was Bayern’s turn in the final to lose on penalties on their home turf. Despite the match nominally being played at a neutral venue, Bayern fans naturally packed the city on matchday expecting to lift the trophy against Chelsea.

Arjen Robben - now without the bruise – missed a penalty in extra time that would have likely won Bayern the game. Ivica Olić and Bastian Schweinsteiger missed their spot kicks in the shootout to allow Chelsea to win their first Champions League title.

Oh well, you can always go on to win the treble next year.

Legally Grey: Uli Hoeneß is Sent Down

30 years as general manager of any football club is impressive, but especially at one of the biggest and most successful clubs on the planet. Uli Hoeneß was a successful foil for Bayern’s record goalscorer, the great Gerd Müller, during the 1970s, winning three Bundesliga titles and three consecutive European Cups and scoring 115 goals himself. Although his playing career was curtailed prematurely at age 27 due to persistent injuries, Hoeneß went straight into being general manager upon retirement in 1979 and presiding over all the FC Hollywood business mentioned so far.

He was eventually elected as President in 2009, and the club enjoyed the aforementioned treble winning 2012/13 season with him in the role. But only weeks before the end of the season, Hoeneß found himself in deep trouble.

Journalists began reporting that Hoeneß was under investigation for tax evasion, owing €28.5million in taxes to the German state from money that he was holding in a Swiss bank account. Hoeneß was eventually prosecuted with his trial due to begin in March 2014. The club’s supervisory board stood by him throughout the trial, which was controversial amongst fans and scrutinised heavily by the media.

In the real world, the likes of Hoeneß tend to get away with these things, as many in Hollywood have done. But in this movie, the villain got his comeuppance, as Hoeneß was found guilty on seven counts of tax evasion and sentenced to three and a half years in prison. He served his sentence in Landsberg Prison, perhaps best known for being the location where a certain Adolf Hitler wrote/dictated Mein Kampf.

Hoeneß naturally had to resign from his roles as Bayern’s President and Chairman of the holding company. After six months in Landsberg, Hoeneß was granted day release and returned to prison every evening. Hoeneß was released in February 2016 having served half of his sentence, and reprised his role in November 2016, completely unopposed. With the soap opera now over, the media relaxed their coverage of Hoeneß for the most part. Hoeneß finally retired in November 2019, just over 40 years after retiring as a player.

We’re Talking About Practice!

After three years in charge at Bayern, the enigmatic Pep Guardiola chose to leave the club, and Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti was appointed to be his replacement. Don Carlo has won everywhere he’s been, and he promptly became the first (and still only) manager to win the title in each of the top five European leagues, finishing 15 points clear of RB Leipzig in the 2016/17 season.

But Ancelotti had won two Champions League titles with Milan, as well as one with Real Madrid, and everyone knew that he was brought in to win the trophy that Guardiola couldn’t. Bayern fell at the quarter-final stage to Real Madrid in 2016/17, with a final aggregate score of 6:3 as Real struck three times in extra-time of the second leg against 10 men.

Philipp Lahm retired that year, and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer took over the captaincy, with Thomas Müller being named as vice-captain. Bayern started the following season in decent form, going 4-1-1 in the first six league games and beating Anderlecht 3:0 in the opening Champions League fixture.

But unfortunately for Ancelotti, there were murmurings. Most of the core senior players felt that Ancelotti was not working them hard enough during training, as he preferred a lighter workload for his players during the week compared to the likes of Guardiola and Heynckes. Having tried and failed to explain their dissatisfaction to Ancelotti, in a completely unheard-of situation at an elite European club the core players organised secret high-intensity sessions on their own. The aging Ribéry and Robben were chief amongst them, but also Neuer, Müller, and Germany’s starting centre-back pairing Mats Hummels and Jérôme Boateng were part of the mutinous group. They also went over Ancelotti’s head to complain to Hoeneß and Bayern’s CEO, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, trying to engineer the Italian’s dismissal.

Having caught wind of his players’ stunt, Ancelotti rang the changes for a group stage clash with his former employers, Paris St-Germain. Robben, Ribéry and Hummels were benched, and Boateng was left out of the matchday squad. PSG walked all over Bayern, winning 3:0 on the night, completely humiliating Ancelotti.

Don Carlo was sacked almost immediately after the final whistle, and none of the players stood up for him in their post-match interviews when questioned. Heynckes was brought back for a second bite at the cherry, but it was Real Madrid standing in the way again when it got to the semi-final stage. Bayern fought valiantly at the Bernabéu but ultimately lost 4:3 on aggregate.

Nagelsmann Frozen Out: A Bad Advert for Skiing

Over the next few years, things were going swimmingly for FC Hollywood. Minor plotlines reared their heads, but nothing that created significant shockwaves in the media and amongst the fanbase. Hansi Flick coached the team to another treble win during the 2019/20 season which was significantly interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is certainly movie material in itself.

But if you take the wrong turn in Fröttmaning, you will end up in Tinseltown, and in the 2022/23 season, Bayern wandered down a dark alley.

Manuel Neuer, having copied predecessor Oliver Kahn’s move of leaving his wife at age 34 for a woman far too young for him, was enjoying Christmas time in the Alps after Germany’s disastrous 2022 World Cup campaign. Out on the slopes, he suffered a broken leg which would keep him out for the remainder of the season. Bayern’s head coach, Julian Nagelsmann, took the opportunity to relieve the club’s goalkeeping coach of his duties.

You see, Toni Tapalović was not just Bayern’s goalkeeping coach since Neuer arrived at the club in 2011, he was also the best man at Neuer’s wedding(s). Tapalović had been accused of leaking private conversations between coaches to the Bayern players, or gossiping, to give it its real name. Nagelsmann understandably didn’t take kindly to that, and Neuer’s long-term injury gave Nagelsmann the opportunity to make a change he was clearly angling for.

Neuer was blindsided by the decision and gave an interview to the Süddeutsche Zeitung and The Athletic where he criticised the board for their handling of the situation, calling it ‘the most brutal situation in my career’. Let’s do the maths quickly – we’ve had Matthäus, Effenberg, Kahn, Lahm and now Neuer taking aim at either the board or the manager, although usually both. That’s five of the seven captains since the inception of FC Hollywood, although Thomas Helmer and Mark van Bommel have certainly been critical of Bayern executives after leaving the club too.

With Neuer still out, Nagelsmann was focused on battling Dortmund to claim Bayern’s 11^th consecutive Bundesliga title when he decided to take a little trip to the Alps himself. Bayern had just lost top spot in the league away at Bayer Leverkusen, but there was a break for international fixtures and Nagelsmann wanted a few days off. Oliver Kahn, now the CEO, decided with President Herbert Hainer that this was the right time to remove Nagelsmann from the role he began less than two years prior.

In an act of espionage, the decision was announced to the media before Nagelsmann was ever contacted by the club. Nagelsmann innocently picked up a phone call from a journalist while standing on a ski slope in Austria who asked him if the news was true, which his personal management later said he believed was a practical joke. It’s not so fun to be blindsided by your own sacking when you’re just trying to enjoy a skiing trip, is it?

Nagelsmann’s team rang Bayern’s sporting director Hasan ‘Brazzo’ Salihamidžić, who played for Bayern from 1998 to 2007 and knows the club’s propensity for drama all too well. Brazzo and Kahn were acutely aware that former Dortmund, PSG and Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel was being courted by Real Madrid, and they couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to bring him in. They also had the backing of Uli Hoeneß, who said that Nagelsmann’s holiday ‘sent out the wrong message’.

Tuchel was announced the same day, and Bayern were eliminated from the Champions League and DFB-Pokal to kill their hopes of another treble. Dortmund’s capitulation on the final matchday allowed Bayern to sneak through and retain the title, so Kahn and Brazzo came away with something to show for their choice to play kingmaker. Jamal Musiala scored an 89^th-minute winner at Köln to overtake Dortmund by one point, while Dortmund’s 96^th-minute equaliser at home to Mainz was only enough to draw level on points while remaining behind on goal difference.

Kahn and Brazzo clearly thought that they were calling the shots, but their celebration of Musiala’s winner was cut short by Bayern’s supervisory board informing them that they were both being fired effective immediately only moments after the final whistle. The betrayal at Bayern seemingly never ends.

Red Rocky II: Another Champions League Bust-Up

Let’s row back slightly to the Champions League exit that Tuchel presided over.

Having won his first two games in charge in the Bundesliga, Tuchel faced a stern test away to Guardiola’s Manchester City in the quarter-final first leg. Towards the end of a 3:0 humbling, the new duo of star wingers, Leroy Sané and Sadio Mané, did their best to emulate the Robbery boxing match of 2012.

Beginning their altercation on the pitch, Mané remonstrated with his teammate after Sané played a bad pass. The argument continued into the dressing room, where Mané threw a punch that left Sané bleeding from his lip, and other players had to physically intervene. The alleged Mark Twain quote springs to mind: ‘history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme’.

Mané, despite being the senior player of the two, was essentially ostracised from the squad after this incident, having massively disappointed since signing from Liverpool at the beginning of the season. Bayern signed Harry Kane to take over as the chief goalscorer for 2023/24, but the Mané-Kane-Sané trio be damned, Sadio was sold on to Al-Nassr in the same transfer window. Leroy Sané stayed with Bayern for two more years before being sold to Galatasaray at the start of the 2025/26 season, while Kane now leads the line and is the third-choice captain for the club.

Are We Following the Red Brick Road?

Since Tuchel’s sacking after a disastrous 3^rd-place finish in 2023/24 - which could be yet another article in itself – and a frantic managerial search which led to the appointment of Vincent Kompany, things have largely cooled off at Bayern.

High-profile storylines such as the unceremonious departure of Thomas Müller after 16 years of service, or pressure from Hoeneß scrutinising Max Eberl’s record as sporting director, continue to hover in the Bavarian night sky.

Neuer is now entering his tenth season as Bayern captain and will turn 41 in January. Someone will have to inherit that armband, and the responsibility and chaos that comes with it. Will it land on another player with an ego as noticeable as their leadership qualities? Or will Bayern be able to finally establish a rare period of calm for a few years?

What we do know is that there are already enough flashpoints in the history of FC Hollywood to create a litany of Saipans.

With Stuttgart kicking off the 2026/27 Bundesliga tomorrow (Friday 28^th) away at Bayern München, this series of articles comes to a close as we assess the fortunes of southwest Germany’s biggest team. Thank you all for your support for these articles whether you are liking, commenting, reposting or just reading them - it all helps to push The Bundesliga Chronicles out to a larger audience. Enjoy the final part!

Club Name: VfB Stuttgart

Founded: 1893

Stadium: MHPArena - 60,058 capacity

Nickname: Die Schwaben (The Swabians), Die Roten (The Reds)

Titles: Bundesliga x3, DFB-Pokal x5, DFL-Supercup x1

Head Coach: Sebastian Hoeneß

Captain: Deniz Undav

Mascot: Fritzle the Crocodile

Goal Song: Pennywise – Bro Hymn

2025/26 Season: 4^th

Opening Fixture: Bayern (A)

Head Coach:

The Hoeneβ name is gigantic in the world of German football. The brothers Uli and Dieter Hoeneβ, despite never actually playing together, are both legends for their time as strikers for Bayern München, with Uli going on to serve as President of the club. Meanwhile, Dieter would serve in various executive roles at 1. FC Nürnberg, VfL Wolfsburg and Stuttgart. It would be the last of these three that eventually appointed Dieter’s son Sebastian as the first-team Head Coach in 2023.

Sebastian’s playing career lacked the prestige of his father and uncle, but his managerial ability is unquestionable, and aged just 44, he still has plenty to give to Stuttgart and potentially elite European sides in the future. After retiring as a player aged just 28, while playing for Hertha Berlin’s reserve team, Hoeneß jumped into youth team management with semi-pro club Hertha Zehlendorf, before moving to RB Leipzig and Bayern in similar roles.

His first senior managerial appointment came in July 2019, becoming Head Coach of Bayern’s reserve side following promotion from the Regionalliga Bayern to the 3. Liga in 2018/19. Hoeneβ did the unthinkable, and unrewardable, by winning the 3. Liga title with his Bayern reserve side that featured some notable names such as Crystal Palace’s Chris Richards, Manchester United’s Joshua Zirkzee, and Stuttgart’s current midfield technician, Angelo Stiller. I use the word “unrewardable” since the German league system does not allow reserve sides to play within two tiers of their respective senior sides, effectively barring any reserve team from playing in the 2. Bundesliga permanently.

Hoeneβ was immediately poached by TSG Hoffenheim, and after Bundesliga finishes of 11^th and 9^th, he left by mutual consent, having 11 months out before Stuttgart gave him the call. His debut season (2023/24) with Die Schwaben saw the club finish 2^nd, above Bayern, their best finish since winning the Bundesliga in 2006/07, and qualifying for the club for the Champions League. The following season, Hoeneβ picked up his first major piece of silverware by beating Arminia Bielefeld in the DFB-Pokal final, coming close to retaining it in 2025/26 when they reached the final again but lost to Bayern.

Hoeneβ deploys an incredibly fluid style of play, nominally setting his team up in a 4-2-3-1 but instructing his players to move freely while in possession, often leading to building up in a 3-2-5 that creates overloads in attacking areas. However, out of possession, Stuttgart go straight to pressing in a 4-4-2 shape, with the number 10 moving up to the front line to cut off the passing lanes of the opponent’s centre-backs. This has worked to force mistakes and create quick turnovers, with Stuttgart averaging 56% possession last term, the third-highest in the league.

Transfers:

With a strong first-team squad that is now well-settled at the club, Hoeneβ prioritised purchasing good squad options that would provide competition and depth to his starters. Stuttgart dropped €25m on German youth international Dženan Pejčinović, who scored 12 times for a relegated Wolfsburg last season. The 21-year-old striker opened his account for his new club in the DFB-Pokal first round over the weekend, bagging a hattrick away at Hansa Rostock.

Also signed to provide competition are the €15m Slovakian winger Leo Sauer, who impressed at Feyenoord last term, while 31-year-old midfielder Grischa Prömel reunites with Hoeneβ by joining for free from Hoffenheim. Lastly, Bilal El Khannouss’ loan from Leicester City was made permanent for another €15m after proving his worth as a rotational option.

The key departure to consider here is Alexander Nübel, the goalkeeper that spent the last three seasons on loan from Bayern. It has become increasingly clear that Nübel would not be able to dislodge Manuel Neuer or the new protégé, Jonas Urbig, and Bayern made the decision to ship him off to Beşiktaş and promote 20-year-old Dennis Seimen. Seimen played every game for Paderborn as a loanee last season, achieving promotion to the Bundesliga, although it remains to be seen if he is ready to cope with playing for a team competing near the top and in the Champions League.

The only major sale was young Serbian striker Jovan Milošević to SC Braga for €8m. Milošević had made a decent impact on loan at Werder Bremen in the second half of 2025/26, but with the signing of Pejčinović, there was no place for him in Hoeneß’ plans. I highlighted the loan moves of Noah Darvich to Elversberg and Laurin Ulrich to Paderborn in those clubs’ respective previews, with both players being potential starters for Hoeneß next season.

A final change to be aware of amongst the personnel is in the captaincy. Midfielder Atakan Karazor has worn the armband for several seasons, but is relinquishing his duties due to his limited playing role in the squad. Deniz Undav was the named captain in the DFB-Pokal game, and it is believed that he will continue in the role throughout the season.

Key Player:

There is little doubt about this one, as Deniz Undav is inextricably critical to Hoeneß’ team, and they lack so much bite without him. Angelo Stiller is a close second due to his incredible tactical nous and passing range, but he is less impactful than Undav for me.

In his three seasons at Stuttgart, 30-year-old Undav has scored 57 goals despite spending a lot of time as a withdrawn striker behind Serhou Guirassy initially, and now Ermedin Demirović. It is no coincidence that his time at Stuttgart, dramatic improvement in form, increase in output, breakthrough as a German international etc. has all occurred under Hoeneß. The coach improves his players and knows how to relate to them off the pitch in a way that will reap rewards once they cross that white line.

Of Undav’s 25 goals in all competitions last season, not one was a penalty – he just knows how to find the net. Add 14 assists into the mix and Stuttgart have got themselves quite the talent on their Swabian hands.

Predicted Line-up:

My only real question mark is around who will accompany Angelo Stiller in midfield. With Karazor now playing a limited role, and Prömel being brought in as reinforcement, it could be a scrap between Prömel, Chema Andrés, and even Nikolas Nartey for that spot.

Predicted Finish:

I know that this will seem harsh but I’ve gone for 6^th. Not many managers last four, five, six years in elite football these days, and I just have the feeling that Hoeneß has taken this squad about as far as it can go, and that the Champions League campaign will interfere with their domestic schedule. But I’m happy to be proven wrong, as this team is fascinating to watch when they’re on form, with plenty of goals flying in – only Bayern outscored them last season.

Final Prediction Table!

1 - Bayern München
2 - Borussia Dortmund
3 - Bayer Leverkusen
4 - Eintracht Frankfurt
5 - RB Leipzig
6 - Stuttgart
7 - Hoffenheim
8 - Union Berlin
9 - Freiburg
10 - Schalke
11 - Mainz
12 - Werder Bremen
13 - Hamburg
14 - Augsburg
15 - Borussia Mönchengladbach
16 - Elversberg
17 - Köln
18 - Paderborn

Club Name: TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

Founded: 1899

Stadium: Rhein-Neckar-Arena – 30,150 capacity

Nickname: Die Kraichgauer (The Kraichgauers)

Titles: No major titles

Head Coach: Christian Ilzer

Captain: Oliver Baumann

Mascot: Hoffi the Moose

Goal Song: Rhein-Neckar-Helden – Wir Sind Hoffe

2025/26 Season: 5^th

Opening Fixture: Köln (A)

Head Coach:

Appointed in November 2024, Austrian coach Christian Ilzer has managed to work wonders with this Hoffenheim team.

After being unable to make it as a senior professional player due to several ligament injuries, Ilzer began as an assistant at various clubs in his home country, before taking charge briefly at TSV Hartberg in 2015. Ilzer returned to Hartberg in 2017 and achieved promotion to the Austrian Bundesliga, before moving on to Wolfsberger AC and FK Austria Wien.

His biggest success, however, came at Sturm Graz. After leaving Vienna for Graz in the summer of 2020, Ilzer slowly progressed his team as they challenged perennial champions Red Bull Salzburg in 2021/22 and 2022/23. In 2023/24, they clinched the title on the final matchday and Ilzer, who was already being tracked by several German clubs at the time, was now one of the hottest properties in the German-speaking football world.

Hoffenheim dismissed Pellegrino Matarazzo early in the 2024/25 to bring in Ilzer with the club struggling in 15^th. The Austrian managed to turn their fortunes around to keep them up in, er, 15^th. But it was what he did last season that was incredible.

Ilzer found a system that would get the best out of his attacking options, and Hoffenheim quietly went about achieving some fantastic results, including five wins in a row after the winter break. By the final matchday of the season, they were level on points with Stuttgart for the final Champions League spot, although behind by five on goal difference. Inexplicably, Hoffenheim were battered 4:0 at Borussia Mönchengladbach, meaning that they couldn’t capitalise on Stuttgart’s slip-up at Eintracht Frankfurt, where they gave up a two-goal lead in a game that ended level. But to even be near Champions League qualification was a wild success in the eyes of Ilzer, the players, the fans, and the board, and Europa League football presents a huge opportunity for the club this season.

Transfers:

I’ll kick off with the expensive sale, as it changed a lot about the purchasing power of the club. 20-year-old Ivorian left-winger Bazoumana Touré was flying under the radar of a lot of big clubs, who were perhaps too concerned with chasing his compatriot Yan Diomandé. Newcastle United took advantage, presenting Hoffenheim with €50m that they would have been silly to turn down for the player’s signature.

That money allowed the club to reinvest in key positions that lacked depth. By far the biggest coup was the signing of Nathan de Cat, a 6ft4 midfielder hailing from Belgium that starred for Anderlecht last campaign at the tender age of 17, and only just turned 18 in July. With plenty of Europe’s elite courting the teenager, he made a smart career move by heading to Hoffenheim where he knows Ilzer will allow him to continue his development and avoid the attention circus that signing for Premier League or La Liga giants would bring. I expect him to do big things in the future and I know I’m not the only one that thinks so.

Other purchases include right-wingers Adam Daghim (€13.5m) and Patrick Wimmer (€10m), signing from Red Bull Salzburg and Wolfsburg, respectively. Dutch left-back Mats Rots, aged 20, has moved for €12m from FC Twente to provide competition for Bernardo.

Some cheaper outgoings are worth noting too – midfielder Muhammed Damar to Wolfsburg for €5.5m, striker Haris Tabaković to Red Bull Salzburg for €5m after a decent loan spell with Gladbach, and left-back Hennes Behrens to Augsburg for €3.5m. Others have left on loan – Gift Orban (Amed SK), Umut Tohumcu (Red Bull Salzburg), Nahuel Noll and Deniz Zeitler (both Elversberg).

First-teamers leaving for free are Grischa Prömel (to Stuttgart), Attila Szalai (to Pogoń Szczecin), Kevin Akpoguma (Frosinone), and Ihlas Bebou (unattached).

Key Player:

Do keep a watchful eye on Nathan de Cat, as he could easily break into the starting XI, but the main player to be looking out for is Fisnik Asllani.

The Berlin-born Kosovan international is now 24 and entering only his second Bundesliga season, but you don’t get linked with Barcelona if you’re no good. Asllani is 6ft3 but possesses impressive technical ability and has been somewhat converted from a striker to a number 10 role under Ilzer because of it. Having bagged 18 goals on loan at Elversberg in 2024/25, he was clearly ready for Hoffenheim’s first team and has truly seized his opportunity with both hands, scoring 10 Bundesliga goals and providing seven assists in his new withdrawn role.

A recent move to RB Leipzig looked all done and dusted, but Leipzig called it off due to some concerns raised during his medical, which Hoffenheim disputed. So, of course there is a caveat to my choice of him as a key player, because there could be some fitness or injury issues on the horizon. But for now, he undoubtedly remains my pick.

Predicted Line-up:

This line-up is reasonably straightforward to predict, as Ilzer avoids tinkering with his player selection, formation and tactical plan. It mostly just hinges on whether some of the younger players recently signed (Rots, de Cat, Daghim) are able to stake their claim to be a starter under Ilzer, and I think they will make a real fist of it.

Predicted Finish:

I’ve got Hoffenheim in 7^th this campaign. Although that does sound like a step backwards, I think it just comes down to how well the squad handles playing Europa League football alongside the usual Bundesliga campaign. Although plenty of players have come through the door, roughly the same number, if not more, have exited which means that the squad depth is not as strong as some of the other top clubs. But the talent level is still higher than it was perceived 12 months ago, which is why I think they should be able to fight for European positions again.

Prediction Table (almost there...)

1 - Bayern München
2 - Borussia Dortmund
3 - Bayer Leverkusen
4 - Eintracht Frankfurt
5 - RB Leipzig
6 -
7 - Hoffenheim
8 - Union Berlin
9 - Freiburg
10 - Schalke
11 - Mainz
12 - Werder Bremen
13 - Hamburg
14 - Augsburg
15 - Borussia Mönchengladbach
16 - Elversberg
17 - Köln
18 - Paderborn

Club Name: SV Werder Bremen

Founded: 1899

Stadium: Weserstadion – 42,100 capacity

Nickname: Die Grün-Weißen (The Green-Whites), Die Werderaner (The River Islanders)

Titles: Bundesliga x4, DFB-Pokal x6, DFL-Ligapokal x3, UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup x1

Head Coach: Daniel Thioune

Captain: Marco Friedl

Mascot: Toni the Seagull

Goal Song: The Proclaimers - I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)

2025/26 Season: 15^th

Opening Fixture: Freiburg (A)

Yes, it’s me!

Head Coach:

Entering his first full season as a Bundesliga coach, Daniel Thioune has taken the progressive route through the divisions and fully deserves his shot at the highest level. Thioune replaced Horst Steffen in February 2026 with the club having won just four of 20 league games and being knocked out in the DFB-Pokal first round.

After mostly representing VfL Osnabrück during his playing career, he moved into coaching with their academy upon retirement. He worked his way up to become the club’s Head Coach in 2017, and in doing so, became the first black professional manager in German football history, owing to being half-Senegalese through his father. He achieved promotion to the 2. Bundesliga and succeeded in maintaining their status in the league. In 2020, he moved to Hamburger SV, although he was sacked near the end of his first season. He then lasted 3.5 years at Fortuna Düsseldorf, reaching the Bundesliga promotion playoff in 2023/24, but a poor start last season resulted in his dismissal in October 2025, and the club would go on to be relegated.

Thioune made a reasonable start to life at Werder. The squad was greatly overhauled last summer and Thioune just had to get the team over the line, and they were fairly safe from relegation with a few games remaining. Setting the team up in a simple 4-2-3-1 which transitions in and out of a 4-3-3, he has been able to get the best out of a few key players, and as long as that continues, Werder should be alright going into this season.

Transfers:

Strap in, because this section is going to be the longest of any club so far. Let’s start with the first of three big departures, although this one is ironically a very small man. Austrian international Romano Schmid is leaving Werder after six years at the club, in which he helped the club return to the top flight and played a key part in keeping them there. Despite fees of €20m being touted back in January amongst interest from Premier League clubs, Werder accepted a fee of just €8.5m from Serie A newcomers Frosinone, since Schmid was entering the last year of his contract and did not want to sign a new deal. The 26-year-old midfielder scored Austria’s first World Cup goal of this century over the summer, with the country having last appeared at France ‘98.

Another significant loss for die Werderaner is the 19-year-old defender Karim Coulibaly, who has gone the way of BlueCo, moving to RC Strasbourg for an initial €20m, but with €5m in add-ons and a 10% sell-on fee agreed. Coulibaly moved to Werder’s academy from arch-rivals Hamburger SV in 2024, and only made his senior debut at the start of 2025/26. Coulibaly established himself quickly as the team’s left-sided centre-back, featuring 27 times and even debuting for the Germany U-21s.

Lastly, starting goalkeeper Mio Backhaus made the move to Freiburg for an undisclosed fee, reportedly €12m, rising to €15m with add-ons. The final permanent outgoing so far is Leonardo Bittencourt, with the long-serving midfielder departing for free to Energie Cottbus in the second tier. Winger Justin Njinmah, who has also featured as a central striker, is heavily linked with a move to Marseille at the moment and could be on his way, but this situation remains unclear.

Significant recruitment has been in order, partly due to those departures but also since the majority of loan signings were not kept permanently. Cameron Puertas, Victor Boniface, Isaac Schmidt, Maximilian Wöber, Yukinari Sugawara and Jovan Milošević all returned to their parent clubs, but Karl Hein was retained from Arsenal at a cost of €3m. German media had reported that Werder sought to retain Puertas and Milošević, but no deals ever materialised. Puertas is still fancied by the Werder hierarchy, although Milošević has since moved to SC Braga in Portugal.

Karl Hein will compete for the number 1 spot with Alexander Schlager, who started in net for Austria at the World Cup, and leaves Red Bull Salzburg on a free transfer. The only outlays besides Hein are a Polish duo, 22-year-old centre-back Oskar Wójcik from KS Cracovia for €3m, and Dariusz Stalmach, a 20-year-old holding midfielder from Magdeburg for €700k. Four other free transfers have been completed - strikers Cedric Itten from Fortuna Düsseldorf and Kenny Quetant from Le Havre, alongside midfielders Chuki from Real Valladolid and Ludovit Reis from Club Brugge.

Two loan signings were completed last week, and ironically both are academy graduates returning to where it all started, albeit at very different stages of their respective careers. Niclas Füllkrug may have 14 goals for Germany and 49 for Werder Bremen across two previous spells, but has hugely struggled with just three goals in the Premier League since leaving Borussia Dortmund for West Ham two summers ago. The 33-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at AC Milan, where he stuck out like a sore thumb and only bagged one goal in 20 appearances. The other loanee is Eren Dinkçi, now 24, with the right-winger not in Julian Schuster’s plans at SC Freiburg.

Huge concerns remain around Werder’s striker options, and frankly the squad planning in this area has been terrible. Keke Topp is in his third season back at the club that let him leave as a youth team player but has only scored three times in 39 Bundesliga appearances since returning from Schalke two years ago. Salim Musah and Kenny Quetant, both 20, have two senior career goals between them so far and shouldn’t be expected to carry this team’s attack. Cedric Itten has scored reliably in his career, including 16 last season for the Fortuna Düsseldorf side that were relegated to the third tier, but that’s hardly a ringing endorsement of his quality as a Bundesliga player.

What’s worse is that these five strikers (including Füllkrug) are all bulky target men, ranging from 6ft2 to 6ft6, leaving no option for Thioune to bring a different profile from the bench when the attack needs a bit of pace and mobility. Dawid Kownacki is the final remaining option, although zero goals from 42 appearances in his last two Bundesliga seasons means I expect him to either be loaned out or just warm the bench.

Key Player:

So, where are the goals coming from? Jens Stage was rumoured to be moving to Hoffenheim earlier in the summer, but that’s now cooled off. The 29-year-old midfielder, who is box-to-box by trade, has taken on a more significant attacking role, with 10 goals in each of the last two seasons. Having developed an ability as a box-crasher that times his arrival to perfection, and who is also excellent in the air, the Danish international will take on a lot of responsibility vacated by Romano Schmid as both a creator and finisher. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him deployed as a proper number 10, especially with Reis and Stalmach being brought in as more defensive-minded options in midfield.

A huge season also lies ahead for 19-year-old Patrice Čović, who made 15 appearances as a number 8 and number 10 last season, meaning that there is certainly a place for him to continue making an impact.

Predicted Line-up:

With Mitchell Weiser finally back after recovering from tearing his ACL, and left-backs Olivier Deman and Felix Agu returning from loan and injury, respectively, the full-back positions will look different this term. It’s complete guesswork regarding who Thioune will start up top, but there are huge questions marks in the left-wing spot too. Samuel Mbangula cost the club €10m from Juventus last summer, the second most expensive signing in Werder’s history, but fell out of favour once Steffen was replaced by Thioune. He showed his ability in short flashes, but was poor in the DFB-Pokal first-round match against 5^th tier Hansa Lüneburg, and that won’t cut it. Marco Grüll is far more consistent in that role and Thioune may well prefer that, even just for his job security.

Predicted Finish:

I won’t lie, my prediction table was settled before the first of this series of articles was published, and plenty has changed at clubs in the last two weeks. Originally, I had them finishing in 12^th which I have to stick with for continuity purposes, but it’s looking like they could easily end up lower than this. I do think there’s a decent spine of this team, with two solid midfielders in Stage and Senne Lynen, a decent goalkeeper and quite a strong centre-back pairing of Amos Pieper (if he can stay fit) and Friedl. At the same time, a relegation scrap is not beyond this club at all, and it could be looking dicey if they fail to pick up points early on.

Prediction Table (so far...)

1 - Bayern München
2 - Borussia Dortmund
3 - Bayer Leverkusen
4 - Eintracht Frankfurt
5 - RB Leipzig
6 -
7 -
8 - Union Berlin
9 - Freiburg
10 - Schalke
11 - Mainz
12 - Werder Bremen
13 - Hamburg
14 - Augsburg
15 - Borussia Mönchengladbach
16 - Elversberg
17 - Köln
18 - Paderborn

Club Name: SV 07 Elversberg

Founded: 1907

Stadium: Ursapharm-Arena – 14,221 capacity

Nickname: Die Schwarz und Weiß (The Black and Whites), Die Elv

Titles: No major titles

Head Coach: Vincent Wagner

Captain: Lukas Pinckert

Mascot: Paul the Panda

Goal Song: Gala – Freed from Desire

2025/26 Season: 2^nd in 2. Bundesliga (promoted)

Opening Fixture: Leverkusen (H)

Head Coach:

Another one on the long production line of coaches with limited playing backgrounds that now coach in the Bundesliga, Vincent Wagner enters the top flight having earned his stripes through youth team coaching in North-Rhine Westphalia. Starting at VfL Bochum, Wagner went on to coach at MSV Duisburg and Rot-Weiß Essen, before being given his berth as Head Coach of Hoffenheim’s reserve side in 2022. Following two consecutive 3^rd-place finishes, Wagner brought Hoffenheim II into the 3. Liga by winning the 2024/25 Regionalliga Südwest with an 11-point gap to second place.

Less than two hours away in the Saarland, SV Elversberg were ruing a missed opportunity at achieving Bundesliga status. Based in the town of Spiesen-Elversberg, population 13,000 (and thus you can fit the entire town in the stadium), this unknown entity played in the aforementioned Regionalliga Südwest as recently as 2022, and they have achieved three promotions in just five seasons to reach the top tier. The consecutive promotions from fourth to second tier were achieved under Horst Steffen, who last managed the club in the promotion playoff that they lost in devastating fashion to their “road to glory” rivals 1. FC Heidenheim in May 2025.

Steffen departed Elversberg for Werder Bremen last summer, although he only lasted until February in that job. Wagner took Steffen’s place at Elversberg and continued the incredible project by sealing the final possible promotion.

With his lovely long hair and close, personal communication with his players, Wagner has carved out his own niche in management, and there is no reason for him to change his ways now. Given his background in youth coaching, Wagner backs himself to improve young talent, and Elversberg’s transfer policy reflects this strongly. Whether it will be enough to ensure survival, however, is another question entirely.

Transfers:

Elversberg have developed a reputation for their shrewd business in recent years, and remain profitable from a player transfer perspective. While they haven’t sold any players for cash this summer, they sit on strong reserves from previous seasons and are choosing to invest wisely in players that Wagner feels will have an immediate impact, but with room still to grow.

The most expensive acquisition is that of Borussia Dortmund right-winger Cole Campbell for €6m, who spent last season on loan at Hoffenheim but featured sparingly. I’d imagine coaching staff at Hoffenheim slid a scouting report under the desk for Wagner to see. For the opposite wing, Elversberg spent €2m on Maurice Krattenmacher from Bayern München, who is just 20 years old, the same as Campbell. Loan deals for attacking midfielders Noah Darvich (Stuttgart) and Francis Onyeka (Leverkusen), both 19, should reinforce Wagner’s side creatively, with both players held in very high regard at their parent clubs.

Hamburg’s Łukasz Poręba joins permanently for €1.6m following a successful loan spell last campaign, the 26-year-old defensive midfielder staying well out of Merlin Polzin’s plans at the Volksparkstadion.

Last season’s top scorer in the 2. Bundesliga, Noel Futkeu, joins as an additional option up front to compete with David Mokwa. Futkeu scored 19 goals for 16^th placed Greuther Fürth, which is not to be sniffed at, and has since moved to Eintracht Frankfurt – Futkeu joins Elversberg on loan from Die Adler.

Holding midfielder Carlo Sickinger departs for free in Darmstadt’s direction, having been reduced to a rotational role last season. Attacking midfielder Bambasé Conté, crucial in achieving promotion, has returned to Hoffenheim after his loan deal concluded, and there is no sign of a return to Elversberg for the 23-year-old.

Key Player:

Right-wing technician Lukas Petkov is a huge player for Wagner’s side, and the Bulgarian international needs to hit the ground running with some early goals in order to build up momentum for Elversberg. The 25-year-old joined from his boyhood club Augsburg two years ago, and was one of the elite players in last year’s 2. Bundesliga with 13 goals and four assists. Although predominantly right-footed, Petkov is comfortable cutting inside to shoot when the situation suits him, and he is equally dangerous when dribbling or crossing the ball.

He will face tough competition from Cole Campbell in his position, but I have no doubt that he is the superior player, and he is versatile enough to do a job in the number 10 role if needed.

Predicted Line-up:

The back line from last season is quite settled, as well as the holding midfielders. David Mokwa has been the first choice as number 9 but could rotate with Futkeu, and the three players behind the named striker will fight to be starting options (I still expect Petkov to be starting almost every game, but he has solid competition as mentioned).

Predicted Finish:

16^th. Something is telling me that Elversberg will win just enough games, especially in their home fixtures, to stave off relegation by the barest of margins. Even if it’s staying ahead of 17^th place on goal difference and winning the relegation playoff on penalties, I think that they have the team spirit to get over the line.

Prediction Table (so far...)

1 - Bayern München
2 - Borussia Dortmund
3 - Bayer Leverkusen
4 - Eintracht Frankfurt
5 - RB Leipzig
6 -
7 -
8 - Union Berlin
9 - Freiburg
10 - Schalke
11 - Mainz
12 -
13 - Hamburg
14 - Augsburg
15 - Borussia Mönchengladbach
16 - Elversberg
17 - Köln
18 - Paderborn

Club Name: SC Paderborn 07

Founded: 1907

Stadium: Home Deluxe Arena – 15,000 capacity

Nickname: None, SC Paderborn was founded in its current iteration through a 1985faggot merger, and no nickname was ever created

Titles: No major titles

Head Coach: Ralf Kettemann

Captain: Felix Götze

Mascot: Holli the Mouse

Goal Song: Scheunenrocker - Hermann Löns, die Heide brennt

2025/26 Season: 3^rd in 2. Bundesliga (promoted via playoff)

Opening Fixture: Mainz (A)

Head Coach:

Paderborn head coach Ralf Kettemann is a man of great mystery at this stage. Having played for various clubs in the Regionalliga, Kettemann retired in 2011 at the tender age of 24 and began managing amateur side TSV Ilshofen.

Kettemann moved into an assistant coach role with Hoffenheim’s reserve team in 2019, and eventually moved into the Karlsruher SC youth team management set-up in 2021. The leap from that role to being a head coach in the second tier was a huge one, but Kettemann reveled in the situation he inherited. Developing a possession-focused style of play, Kettemann has superseded his mandate by securing promotion to the Bundesliga for only the third time in Paderborn’s history.

Historically an amateur team, Paderborn’s fortunes turned around with the 1985 merger between two smaller clubs in the area, TuS Schloβ Neuhaus and FC Paderborn. Having climbed into the professional system in the 2000s, Paderborn first reached the pinnacle of the Bundesliga in 2014/15, but three successive 18^th placed finishes had them preparing for life in the fourth tier come July 2017. 1860 München’s financial issues spared their blushes, and two successive promotions allowed them a second try at Bundesliga survival in 2019/20. After just four wins and 20 points, the 2. Bundesliga called again, but this time the club has been able to stabilise its position. Never finishing below 9^th, Paderborn have consistently mounted promotion pushes in recent years, and Kettemann has been the one to get them over the line. Will this season be third time lucky for Paderborn to achieve their first ever Bundesliga Klassenerhalt?

Transfers:

Light on liquid funds, Paderborn have gone to Hoffenheim with arms outstretched and returned with three first-team players. Luka Đurić is a 23-year-old midfielder that Paderborn were willing to splash a mighty €250k on, although he has played exclusively for Hoffenheim’s reserves until now, with no loan moves for experience and just one appearance for the senior side. Goalkeeper Nahuel Noll and teenage winger Deniz Zeitler have joined on loan from Hoffenheim, and the former will walk straight into the starting XI to replace Dennis Seimen who returned to Stuttgart after his loan. Speaking of loans from Stuttgart, Laurin Ulrich is another one coming in that will be a strong contender for the starting XI as a central midfielder.

Two attacking midfielders that graduated from Bayern München’s academy have joined: Oliver Batista Meier from Preußen Münster for €400k, and Gabriel Vidović from Dinamo Zagreb for €3m, the latter being a big splash for Paderborn. While Batista Meier is undoubtedly a creative talent – Bayern academy products usually are – securing the services of a player that was relegated to the third tier just a few months ago is hardly inspiring the case for survival. Vidović, however, looks like a very capable option and can also play on the wing. He scored seven goals in 26 games in the Croatian league in 2025/26.

Losing two of the club’s best players for nil cost only damages the club’s fortunes further. Filip Bilbija, the midfielder that contributed 15 goals in the league last campaign, ran down his contract to join Derby County instead of attempting to compete in the Bundesliga for the first time in his career. Defender Calvin Brackelmann has done the same, moving to Augsburg after breaking into the starting XI in the second half of last season. Neither player has been sufficiently replaced thus far, so it could be a long year for Kettemann’s side.

The only significant sale is that of central midfielder Mika Baur, who joins Celtic in a deal worth a reported €8m when including add-ons. The 22-year-old stood out last campaign, but evidently too much as it was clear for months that Baur was not going to stay at Paderborn amidst widespread interest.

Key Player:

Kettemann needs his team to combine to more than the sum of its parts to stand any chance of survival come May 2027.

The hero of the promotion playoff second leg, dispatching Wolfsburg with an acute volley in extra time, was right wing-back Laurin Curda and he bears great responsibility for Paderborn this season. Having provided seven assists and eight goals, including the playoff strike, Curda had a hand in 25% of Paderborn’s goals in 2025/26, which is not bad at all for a wing-back.

Equally adept in attack as he is defensively, Curda led in many attacking metrics such as xG, shots, and successful crosses amongst his positional peers in the 2. Bundesliga. Defensively, he remained in the upper echelons statistically (95^th percentile and above) for duels won, interceptions, and clearances, showing that he has outgrown the second tier and is absolutely prepared for a fight to survive the Bundesliga.

Predicted Line-up:

Yet another manager that prefers a 3-4-2-1 formation with two number 10s behind a nominal striker, Kettemann has to integrate his new signings into his style of play. But beyond the personnel changes, there is nothing notable about Paderborn’s chosen XI.

Predicted Finish:

18^th. At the end of the day, this squad is nowhere near competitive for Bundesliga standards. Ever the underdog, Paderborn need to seriously consider their ability to attract Bundesliga-level talent prior to achieving promotion if they ever want to maintain top flight status in the future. As things stand, they are miles off the levels required to compete.

Prediction Table (so far...)

1 - Bayern München
2 - Borussia Dortmund
3 - Bayer Leverkusen
4 - Eintracht Frankfurt
5 - RB Leipzig
6 -
7 -
8 - Union Berlin
9 - Freiburg
10 - Schalke
11 - Mainz
12 -
13 - Hamburg
14 - Augsburg
15 - Borussia Mönchengladbach
16 -
17 - Köln
18 - Paderborn