MD6 in the Bundesliga lived up to its expectation with storylines across all nine games. 28 goals were scored, streaks were ended while there were some shock results. Here’s five talking points from the weekend’s action.
1 | FC Köln, Mainz and Bochum remain winless
Heading into the weekend, five Bundesliga teams remained winless after five games, a record. But wins for Borussia Mönchengladbach and Darmstadt mean that now just three teams remain winless: FC Köln, Mainz and Bochum. Mainz finished just four points off a European place last season and the fact that they are now propping up the Bundesliga table perhaps comes as a surprise. Köln’s defeat against Stuttgart places them in the relegation zone while their dismal run could go on a little further with upcoming derbies against Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Mönchengladbach, before a trip to Leipzig. Bochum, occupying the relegation spot, hosting Mainz on MD9 is an early relegation six-pointer.
2 | Union Berlin hit bumpy spell
Union Berlin qualifying for the Champions League was perhaps the storyline of the year last season, and with successive wins against Mainz and Darmstadt to kickstart the current campaign, with eight goals in two games, Die Eisernen got off to another positive start. But their 1-0 defeat against Heidenheim at the weekend is now their fourth consecutive loss in the Bundesliga. With just one goal scored in four games, Union are struggling and with upcoming games against Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart, the Berlin club will have to dig deep to get anything from the games.
3 | High-flying, free-scoring Stuttgart
Stuttgart have won five out of their six Bundesliga games this season and their run continued against FC Köln on Saturday. Serhou Guirassy, who has 10 goals in six Bundesliga games this season, but failed to score against his former club. Stuttgart scored just 45 goals last season, and they already find themselves on 19 for the campaign. The arrival of Deniz Undav from Brighton adds further firepower to VfB’s attack. The German was introduced just after the hour mark on Saturday, and it took Undav just six minutes to open the scoring, before adding a second two minutes from time. There’s a feel good factor around the club at the moment with Sebastian Hoeneß in charge and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Stuttgart, one of Germany’s biggest clubs, challenging for a European place come May.
4 | Borussia Dortmund aren’t playing pretty, but they’re winning
Borussia Dortmund remain one of three unbeaten teams in the Bundesliga this season. An underwhelming 1-0 win against Köln kickstarted their campaign before draws against Bochum and Heidenheim. They responded admirably after going into the break against Freiburg 2-1 down on MD4, with Mats Hummels scoring a brace to secure a 4-2. Marco Reus got a standing ovation from the Yellow Wall following their 1-0 win against Wolfsburg and he again put in an excellent performance on Friday night to put Dortmund back in the lead against Hoffenheim heading into the break. Reus now has three goals in 251 minutes this season and despite relinquishing his captaincy prior to the season kicking off, remains one of Dortmund’s key players in the final third. Just two points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund may not be playing pretty football, but they’re finding a way to win- and that the important thing.
5 | Alex Grimaldo: the free-kick specialist
The signing of Alex Grimaldo on a free transfer has been a stroke of genius from the Bayer Leverkusen recruitment team. The former Benfica left-back is a significant upgrade on Mitchel Bakker and Daley Sinkgraven who shared the role last season. Grimaldo has four goal contributions (2 goals, 2 assists) in six Bundesliga games this season, and he’s missed just five minutes of Bundesliga football this season. Both of his goals have come in the form of free-kicks, almost identical ones at that. His goal against Bayern Munich put Bayer Leverkusen level at the Allianz Arena- the Spaniard showcased great composure and finesse to smash the ball beyond Sven Ulreich. And on Saturday, Grimaldo repeated the feat with a superb free-kick against Mainz to double his side’s lead on the hour mark. The arrival of Grimaldo adds a new dynamic to Leverkusen’s squad.
Bundesliga Results: MD6
- Hoffenheim 1-3 Borussia Dortmund
- Wolfsburg 2-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
- Mainz 0-3 Bayer Leverkusen
- FC Köln 0-2 Stuttgart
- Bochum 1-3 Borussia Mönchengladbach
- Heidenheim 1-0 Union Berlin
- RB Leipzig 2-2 Bayern Munich
- Darmstadt 4-2 Werder Bremen
- Freiburg 2-0 Augsburg
GGFN | Daniel Pinder
