As ever, it was a jam-packed Bundesliga weekend. Round 10 saw the first Der Klassiker of the season, teams securing their first win, and shock results all around! Here are your winners and losers from matchday 10 in the Bundesliga.
Winners
Mainz 05
What a week Mainz and their fanbase have had! Earlier in the week, the club were dumped out of the DFB Pokal by second-tier side Hertha Berlin (0-3), and manager Bo Svensson stepped down from his role. Svensson, a former player of the club, had been in charge since 2021 and has overseen a good amount of progress at the club. However, winless in the league and out of the cup spelt the end of the Dane’s time at Mainz. And wouldn’t you just know it, this weekend saw Mainz’s first win of the season against none other than high-flying RB Leipzig! Mainz left it late, but two quick-fire goals ensured that Mainz were finally up and running in the Bundesliga with a long overdue 3 points. The win leaves Mainz 17th but just one point from safety.
Bayern Munich
Thomas Tuchel silenced his critics with a comfortable Der Klassiker win against Borussia Dortmund last weekend (0-4). Bayern were in complete control from minute one in this match-up. In truth, Edin Terzić’s side didn’t put up much of a fight. Bayern proved that they are the Bundesliga top dogs for a reason. Their beautiful, free-flowing forward play really puts into perspective the gulch in class between Bayern and BVB right now. To top it all off, Harry Kane made it two hat-tricks in two games to become the league’s outright top goalscorer.
Eintracht Frankfurt
Frankfurt’s 0-3 win over Union Berlin last weekend puts them right back up there in terms of the European places this season. After a somewhat slow start with a lot of draws, the Eagles are getting back into the swing of things under Dino Toppmöller. Union Berlin has been a tricky place to go over the past couple of years, and Frankfurt dealt with them with the utmost professionalism. 3 goals, 3 points, job done. What’s more, everyone above Frankfurt (except the top two) lost last weekend, making their win even sweeter. A fantastic weekend for everyone associated with Eintracht Frankfurt. The win leaves them in 7th on 17 points, just four points off 3rd.
Honourable mentions include FC Hidenheim, the Bundesliga’s surprise package this season. Their 2-0 win against in-form Stuttgart leaves them in 13th place with 10 points. A fantastic start to their first-ever season in the top flight!
Losers
Borussia Dortmund
As already alluded to with Bayern’s victory, Dortmund massively came up second best in Der Klassiker. The truth is that we shouldn’t really be calling this Der Klassiker anymore. It’s not much of a contest when BVB haven’t won this fixture since 2018. What’s more, it never was the historic ‘classic fixture’ of German football. Historically, Der Klassiker would have been between Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayern. Even in the present day, Gladbach always give Bayern more of a game than BVB. The draw puts Dormtund in 4th and without a win in their last two Bundesliga games. Up next, a massive game against Stuttgart.
VfB Stuttgart
It can’t be underestimated the amazing start that Stuttgart have made to this campaign. They’ve gone from nearly relegated to one of the country’s top in-form teams in the space of a summer. However, having lost to FC Heidenheim on the weekend, it was a real disappointment. We’ve come to expect more from Sebastian Hoeneß this season. They played out a great spectacle on Sunday and dominated for the majority of the second half. However, they were made to rue their chances as Hidenheim were clinical when they got their chances. A disappointing weekend but not the end of the world.
RB Leipzig
I suppose someone was going to lose to winless Mainz eventually, but not many would have expected RB Leipzig. The Saxons have more than shown their quality this campaign and proved they can go toe-to-toe with the likes of Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern. It’s been a dreadful week for Marco Rose’s men all round. Their two-year defence of the DFB Pokal came to an end at the hands of VfL Wolfsburg, and they’ve dropped points in the Bundesliga to a team which hadn’t won a league fixture since April. The loss leaves them in 5th, whereas a win would have put them all the way up into 5th. A missed opportunity for Leipzig.
GGFN | Jamie Allen
