If last month brought a surprise to the Bundesliga then September comes armed with shocks. We’ve clubs in crisis, dugout dismissals and a clear leader at the top.
By Chris Williams, our Bundesliga expert
Bayern’s bubble burst?
It’s been a long few weeks for Bayern München, with just three victories in their opening seven league matches the question now is one of crisis. The Bavarians find themselves in fifth and on a run of form that is their worst start to a Bundesliga campaign for over a decade.
Saturday saw their first defeat of the season, to Augsburg. If this loss wasn’t shocking enough it follows a run of three draws – winless in four games for the first time since 1990.
Now, before we start heralding the end of an era it’s probably worth remembering that when Hansi Flick took over from Niko Kovac in November 2019, Bayern were also in a mess. They went on to win the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and UEFA Champions League.
But, for as poor as they’ve been this season Bayern still top the charts in a number of areas. Nagelsmann’s side lead the way for goals per match (2,7), possession (60%), expected goals (17,5) and shots on target per match (9,7).
Crucially where their season can be seen in explicit detail is matching big chances created to big chances missed – 20 each.
After the defeat to Augsburg Nagelsmann said “We’re just very, very laissez-faire in the last third,” – there’s a Robert Lewandowski shaped hole in the Bayern attack and Sadio Mané centrally doesn’t seem to be the answer.
Dugout departure
Last month I identified three head-coaches for whom the pressure was mounting and it eventually told for one. RB Leipzig acted swiftly, bringing an end to the nine month tenure of Domenico Tedesco.
Die Roten Bullen wasted no time in hiring Marco Rose, ex-Gladbach and Dortmund – but more importantly ex-RB Salzburg, a company man who knows the expectations that accompany the role and he wasted no time in overseeing a 3-0 win against Borussia Dortmund.
However, his next match against Borussia Mönchengladbach saw a 3-0 defeat, thankfully for Rose Leipzig have no upcoming game against Salzburg to make it a trio of ex-clubs he must face.
Gerardo Seoane saw Bayer Leverkusen climb into 15th with a draw against Werder Bremen, but the Werkself face Bayern next, if it gets messy expect the next departure imminently.
Derbysieger
Nothing lifts the gloom better than a derby day victory and this was witnessed at the Westfalenstadion last weekend for Borussia Dortmund.
The clouds had appeared after their whipping from Leipzig but a good display against Manchester City in the Champions League was followed with victory against Schalke 04.
Teenage sensation Youssoufa Moukoko came off the bench to settle the game with a close range headed finish. With that goal he became the youngest ever scorer in a Revierderby, another record to add to his already impressive tally he’s been collecting since 15 years old.
It wasn’t all smiles Saturday though as Marco Reus left the field with an ankle injury, the timing couldn’t be worse for the Dortmund captain as he once again faces a battle to be fit for a major international tournament.
Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl described Reus as having “no fracture, just a lateral ligament injury at the ankle” – can he make the FIFA World Cup in December? We’ll have to wait and see.
The Best in the League
Last month I remarked how Jordan Pefok and Sheraldo Becker have lit the league up as a partnership, well this hasn’t just continued it’s skyrocketed – so much so, Union Berlin now top the table with daylight behind them.
Die Eisernen sit atop of everyone else in Germany with 17 points, two clear of Dortmund in second and unbelievably five clear of reigning champions Bayern who languish in fifth.
The duo were on the scoresheet again as Union breezed past Wolfsburg to claim first place as their own in the Bundesliga.
It’s Becker who tops the charts as the league’s top scorer with six strikes and he can add to that a further three assists. It’s given the Suriname international an overall FotMob rating of 7.81.
Can Union keep their lofty position? If we next speak and they have then we could be looking at a serious title challenger.
(Images from IMAGO)
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