Bayern Munich have restored customary order in the Bundesliga by going to the top of the table for the first time this season. The defending champions now intend to stay there and increase the gap to Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, the two clubs considered to be Bayern’s biggest challengers for the title.
Bayern travel to promoted Cologne, while Dortmund visit Schalke in the often ill-tempered Ruhr derby. Leverkusen are also away, travelling to winless Freiburg.
Here are some things to know about the Bundesliga weekend:
On top
It took Bayern Munich five matches to climb to the top of the table and the summit came against the previous surprise leaders, promoted Paderborn, who were beaten 4-0. Now Bayern can look for their first away win at another promoted team, Cologne, who suffered their first loss to Hannover in the midweek round.
Arjen Robben returned to the starting XI and played a role in two goals. “We wanted to make a statement and to put Dortmund and Leverkusen under pressure,” the winger said of Bayern’s strong performance.
Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said the goal was to grab the league lead “and we achieved it”.
Cologne have had a solid start but lost 1-0 in a close match against Hannover, who are now third.
Dortmund’s rally
Borussia Dortmund fought back from the brink of defeat to rescue a 2-2 draw against Stuttgart. Late goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ciro Immobile earned the draw. Dortmund are now four points behind Bayern and three behind Leverkusen. Jurgen Klopp’s team cannot afford to fall behind even more, but they are struggling to overcome a string of injuries to key players.
“We don’t have many options,” Klopp said. Among the missing are Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marco Reus.
Dortmund need to shore up their defence, which already has conceded nine goals. The return of Mats Hummels will help.
Schalke won some breathing space for under-fire coach Jens Keller by winning 3-0 at winless Werder Bremen but losing at home to their bitter rivals would be a major blow.
A goal, give us a goal
Hamburg fans had been hoping for a revival under new coach Joe Zinnbauer, who got a promising start in a 0-0 draw with Bayern. But the hopes did not last long as Hamburg went down 1-0 at Borussia Monchengladbach.
Not only are Hamburg still without a victory, they also have not scored a goal yet in five matches. Hamburg revamped their squad in the off-season, but the major investment still has not produced any dividends and the only club never to be relegated from the Bundesliga are bottom of the table. Hamburg barely avoided relegation last season and they look headed in the same direction again.
Stuttgart’s woes
Another major club going through a major slump are Stuttgart. They also fought relegation last season, before bringing back coach Armin Veh, who guided the team to the championship in 2007. But the team are still struggling and fired director of sport Fredi Bobic hours before the game in Dortmund. Bobic hired and fired five coaches but Stuttgart have been steadily slipping in the Bundesliga in the past three seasons.
The team had an encouraging performance against Dortmund but still went home with little to show for it and are still without a victory. They next host Hannover.
Hildrebrand is back
Former backup Germany goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand is back in the Bundesliga. The jobless Hildebrand was signed Thursday by Eintracht Frankfurt, who lost Kevin Trapp to an ankle injury until the end of the year. Trapp was injured in the 2-2 draw with Mainz.
Hildebrand did not get a new contract with Schalke at the end of the last season. He won the Bundesliga title with Stuttgart in 2007 and then had unremarkable stints with Valencia, Hoffenheim, Sporting Lisbon and Schalke.
The 35-year-old Hildebrand is expected to be backup for Felix Wiedwald until Trapp returns.
Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE
