The Bundesliga table continues to deviate from the normal path of years gone by but the two struggling big guns are beginning to find their shooting boots. With the run-in to the World Cup break now underway, can the unlikely leaders keep up the pace?
By Chris Williams, our Bundesliga expert
At last, an actual Klassiker!
Der Klassiker hasn’t really lived up to its billing over the last few seasons, the meeting of Germany’s two giants has frequently been one-sided, but the first iteration of the 2022/23 season got underway with a bang as Borussia Dortmund left it very late to snatch a point against Bayern München.
The Bavarians had taken all three points on offer over the last seven league meetings, a run of results that stretched back to November 2018, with Dortmund’s only victory since then coming in the season’s curtain raiser nine months later in the DFL Super Cup of 2019/20.
If there had been an optimum time to take on the 10-in-a-row league winners then it was now, suffering a loss of form domestically Julian Nagelsmann’s side are seemingly focused on the UEFA Champions League.
But, with the chance of taking top spot by virtue of playing before both Union Berlin and Freiburg, Dortmund did what they’ve done so many times before – they failed to take advantage.
Anthony Modeste’s 90+5 minute goal certainly set the Yellow Wall on fire, but while Dortmund created chances, their cutting edge lacked any type of blade. An xG of 1.62 is a poor return from their 12 opportunities created, with Modeste himself missing what can only be described as a sitter, before nodding on at the back post.
For Bayern’s part in this matchup, they needed two long-range strikes from two ex-Schalke players to inflict a two-goal lead on their hosts, but as we’ve seen consistently this season they created as many big chances as they missed, two, a tale of twos for the 2-2 draw in the Westfalenstadion.
Leroy Sané was the FotMob player of the match, with a score of 8.2. His wonderful strike was matched by his seven ball recoveries, but even this display wasn’t enough to break him into the FotMob Team of the Week – ouch!
Schön Dich Wiederzusehen
Those not familiar with the above phrase will certainly be familiar with who it relates to – Xabi Alonso, which is why ‘nice to see you again’ fits.
The Spaniard was last seen in the Bundesliga pulling the strings in Pep Guardiola’s Bayern midfield, a squad that is up there with the best of the best that has ever played in red and white.
After hanging up his boots at the Allianz, Alonso became a coach, which is the mould the three-time league title winner returns in, as head coach of Bayer Leverkusen.
Gerardo Seoane’s lacklustre season start eventually brought the axe from Simon Rolfes at The Werkself, and the Managing Director of Sport at the club will be especially pleased with himself after he saw what Alonso served up in his first game in charge of on-field matters.
Jeremie Frimpong and Moussa Diaby pulled out two man-of-the-match performances, walking with ease into the FotMob Team of the Week.
Frimpong’s two goals essentially killed the game, and it was Diaby who opened the scoring in this new Alonso era..
The appointment of the 40-year-old comes at a crucial time for Leverkusen, they are currently in what can only be described as a flipped UEFA Champions League group.
Locked in a three-way tie for second the experience of the new head coach could be enough to see them reach the Round of 16, as well as dragging themselves back up to a more familiar placing in the Bundesliga table.
The high flyers?
Union Berlin and SC Freiburg still lead the way at the top of the table, but after Matchday 9 their breakaway leads look a little more unsteady.
Union picked up a much-needed win in Stuttgart after their previous slip-up against Frankfurt, while the Breisgau-Brasilianer could only manage a draw against struggling Hertha Berlin – their third in the last five league games.
Is it the end of the road for the surprise double at the top? Potentially, but their strength had been their consistency, let’s see if they can find that starting pace again as the enforced Winterpause approaches.
The final word this month belongs to Borussia Mönchengladbach, after inexplicably leaking five goals to Weder Bremen at the start of October, they then hit five of their own against local, and fierce rivals, FC Köln.
There’s no better way to recover from an embarrassing result than tanking your derby opponents!
(Images from IMAGO)
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