The German topflight got to a new start this weekend and there were already plenty of thrilling matches. The Bundesliga schedule started last Friday, with the Champions Bayern Munich hosting Hertha Berlin and dropping two points in the way.
The game started well for Bayern who got the lead in the middle of the second half, with a goal from the usual suspect: Robert Lewandowski. The Polish striker demolished the Berlin wall after 24 minutes, with a timed finished after Serge Gnabry’s perfect run and assist.
However, just a couple minutes later, the Belgian midfielder Lukebakio, who signed with Hertha this season, had a perfect debut, scoring the goal that tied the match. A powerful shot outside the area who deflected on a teammate’s back and betrayed Manuel Neuer.
It got worse for Bayern pretty quickly, with 4 minutes later former Liverpool player Marko Grujic, getting a 1 on 1 situation with Neuer. Bosnian forward Vedad Ibisevic set a curled pass to Grujic to finish and the Serbian had cold blood, leaving Bayern’s keeper on the ground and putting Hertha forward.
End of the first half and Hertha ahead in the Allianz Arena. However, the one that gives, also takes and the referee caught Grujic at the beginning of the second half pushing Lewandowski during an indirect free kick. VAR revision, spot-kick and Lewa doing it again. 2-2 and even though Bayern had 17 attempts, against Hertha’s 6 and 71% of ball possession, the game ended as a draw.
Bayern will hope their new signings Perisic and Phillipe Coutinho, who arrive on loan from Inter and Barcelona, respectively, help to give some flair to their attack. The team is lacking depth and Niko Kovac already said it is expected they add more signings to their roster.
A ‘Brandt’ new start for Dortmund
If the weekend at the Allianz Arena wasn’t perfect, it surely was in Dortmund, where the Yellow wall showed no mercy against Augsburg. They even got a false start, getting a goal in the first minute by Augsburg player Pedersen, but they answered pretty quickly. Two minutes later, Paco Alcacer would reestablish the draw.
However, it would take until the second half for Dortmund to take the lead… and in style. English starlet Jadon Sancho made it 2-1 at the beginning of second half, giving the warning for what would be a goal-fest. Five minutes later, Marco Reus made it 3 and Paco Alcacer scored his second of the day after a Sancho assist.
The last nail in the coffin was made by debutant Julian Brandt, who entered as a substitute in the second half to finish a great assist by Axel Witsel. The German international was signed from Bayer Leverkusen this Summer and he is already proving to be a vital signing.
Bittersweet welcome to the newly promoted Bundesliga teams
Union Berlin was promoted this season to Bundesliga, and they will be playing the first time in the top division of Germany, since the country was unified. They did not have the best start though since RB Leipzig had no pity and won 0-4.
Halstenberg gave the lead to Leipzig at the 16 minutes, with Sabitzer and Werner making it 3 at half time. New signing Nkunku, who arrived from PSG, had a perfect debut coming on as a sub and scoring the final goal.
Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen had to sweat to win against another promoted side: Paderborn. In a thrilling match, Leon Bailey gave the lead to the hosts at 10 minutes, but Paderborn showed resilience and Sven Michel drew the game immediately after.
Four minutes after the equalizer, Kai Havertz put Leverkusen ahead once again, but Paderborn continue to fight back and Streli Mamba made it 2-2 at half time. It took until the 69 minutes of second half for Kevin Volland to establish the win for Leverkusen (3-2) and take 3 points from the opening weekend.
Finally, Koln saw their eagerly expected return to the Bundesliga be outshined by Wolfsburg (2-1). Max Arnold and Weghorst gave the lead to Wolfsburg and Koln could only enjoy a consolation goal in the late minutes, courtesy of Simon Terodde.
Dusseldorf and Freiburg get surprising wins
Tipped as outsiders in their respective matches, Dusseldorf and Freiburg got to excellent starts beating Werder Bremen and Mainz 05. Fortuna Dusseldorf visited Bremen and won 1-3, with goals from Rouwen Hennings, Karaman and Ayhan. Werder Bremen’s only goal came from Johannes Eggestein.
Freiburg took some time to score, but when they did they made it 3 times. Lucas Holer opened the scoreline at the 81 minutes and Jonathan Schmid doubled it two minutes later. A late penalty by Luca Waldschmidt completed the scored: 3-0.
To finish the Bundesliga, round up, mention to Eintracht Frankfurt who took 3 points home due to a very early goal of Hinteregger against Hoffenheim (1-0). In the remaining match of the Bundesliga table, Borussia Monchengladbach drew 0-0 against Schalke 04, with Marcus Thuram making his debut for the black and white team.
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