Bundesliga Review – 14th, 15th & 16th August

The opening fixtures of the Bundesliga season kicked off this weekend as Bayern Munich look to retain the title they won in style last season, whilst teams such as Leverkusen and Dortmund will be hoping to claw back the impetus from Pep Guardiola’s side. 

Here our Bundesliga expert Ethan Gore reviews the opening weekend of the season.

Bayern Munich 5-0 Hamburger SV

Bayern began their defence of the Bundesliga in style as they cruised to an impressive 5-0 victory over Hamburger SV. The home side had no doubts over getting off to the perfect this season and Mehdi Benatia opened the scoring in the 27th minute after a Xabi Alonso free-kick into the box found the Moroccan defender at the back post as he headed the ball past Rene Adler to make it 1-0.

Bayern doubled their lead not long after the second-half had kicked-off. Alonso’s chipped pass to the back post caused problems for Ostrzolek, who headed it down into the path of Robert Lewandowski and the Polish striker made no mistake finishing the error.

Things got even worse for Hamburg come the 69th minute as Thomas Muller made it 3-0. A cross from Douglas Costa found the German international and his powerful header found the back of the net.

Four minutes later, it was Muller once again on the scoresheet as Lewandowski’s pass found Muller who rounded the keeper perfectly and tapped the ball in to make it 4-0.

To rub salt in the wounds, Douglas Costa curled one past the despaired Rene Adler to make it 5-0 with the summer signing having a great start to his Bundesliga campaign.

FSV Mainz 05 0-1 FC Ingolstadt 04

Ingolstadt were victorious on their Bundesliga debut with an impressive away victory over Mainz 05.

The Bavarian based club were formed 11 years ago and controlled possession for the majority of the first-half. Mainz however came close to scoring but an important save from Ingolstadt goalkeeper Ramazan Ozcan proved crucial in the end.

Mainz thought they had taken the lead early in the second-half but Christian Clemens strike was correctly ruled out for offside.

However, it was Ingolstadt who would grab the opening goal as Hinterseer scored the club’s first goal in Bundesliga football. He cut into the box and found the corner brilliantly with a composed finish.

Ingolstadt remained resilient in defence and were too strong for Mainz on the day.

Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Hoffenheim

Champions League outfit Leverkusen got off to a good start to their season with Hoffenheim struggling without star player Roberto Firmino, who joined Liverpool in the summer for £29m.

However it was Hoffenheim who opened proceedings in the 5th minute as Steven Zuber found himself on the end of a pass from Eugen Polanski and fired past Bernd Leno to make it 1-0.

Stefan Kiessling was close to equalising for Leverkusen but a superb block by promising German defender Niklas Sule denied Kiessling from scoring.

Hoffenheim keeper Oliver Baumann was helpless though, when he parried a shot from Wendell right into the path of Kiessling who equalised for Leverkusen on the stroke of half-time.

Leverkusen found themselves in control during the second-half and with 20 minutes remaining an attack started by Admir Mehmedi found Julian Brandt who placed his shot into the bottom corner past the despairing Baumann to give Leverkusen the lead and the home side held on and won their first game of the season at home.

FC Augsburg 0-1 Hertha BSC

Hertha Berlin were victorious in their opening game of the season away from home but two red cards were the highlight of the afternoon.

Augsburg were the surprise package last season after finishing 5th and qualifying for the Europa League however they displayed nowhere near the amount of quality on the opening day as they did last season.

Raul Bobadilla was sent off just before half-time after picking up a second yellow card for a foolish challenge.

And things got even worse after half-time as Ragnar Klavan brought down Salomon Kalou in the box and a penalty was awarded and it was the Ivorian who converted from the spot to make it 1-0.

Hertha Berlin were also reduced to 10 men in the 66th minute after Roy Beerens was sent-off as he collected two yellow-cards in the space of 10 minutes.

Hertha BSC keeper Kraft was the hero in stoppage time as he kept out attempts from Alexander Esswein and Sascha Molders to keep the score at 1-0.

SV Darmstadt 98 2-2 Hannover 96

Darmstadt’s return to the Bundesliga was successful as they claimed a point against last season’s mid-table outfit Hannover.

It was the newly-promoted side that would take the lead as Marcel Heller sprinted past a series of defenders before cutting inside and slotting the ball past Ron-Robert Zieler to make it 1-0.

Only 3 minutes after half-time, Hannover equalised as Charlison Benschop converted from Mevlut Erdinc’s cross. However, it was Darmstadt who would take the lead yet again as Heller got his second of the day as he took the ball past Zieler before tapping it into an empty net.

Hannover had the chance to equalise on the hour mark after Erdinc was tripped inside the box but Erdinc hit his penalty straight at Christian Mathenia.

Aytac Sulu who had conceded the penalty was to be left disappointed even further with his performance as he put the ball into the back of his own net to bring Hannover level.

Both teams pushed for a winner but neither could find the net as Darmstadt claimed a point on their return to the Bundesliga after 33 years away.

SV Werder Bremen 0-3 Schalke 04

Schalke ran riot in their opening game as they demolished Werder Bremen 3-0 away from home to claim three very important points despite being dealt an early blow as Matija Nastasic limped off with an injury.

Schalke piled the pressure on and came close when Leon Goretzka’s shot required a save from Felix Wiedwald. Theodor Gebre Selassie finally got the breakthrough when he managed to lob Wiedwald to make it 1-0 as he attempted to win the ball back on the edge of his own box.

Schalke should have made it 2-0 just after the break as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar found some space in the box but could only hit a tame effort straight at Wiedwald.

Schalke remained in control and finally made it 2-0 as Matip played through Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting who kept his composure and slotted the ball into the back of the net past Wiedwald. Schalke made sure of the victory as Huntelaar converted from close range to make it 3-0.

Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Borussia Monchengladbach

Thomas Tuchel’s first game in charge for Borussia Dortmund ended in an emphatic 4-0 win. Gladbach who had finished 3rd last season failed to impress and Dortmund were too strong for the Champions League side.

Early signs suggested things weren’t going to end well for Gladbach as Dortmund had a goal wrongly ruled offside after Mkhitaryan curled one past Yann Sommer.

Mats Hummels and Shinji Kagawa combined to find Marco Reus who powerfully volleyed the ball into the bottom corner to give Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 lead. The lead was soon doubled, 6 minutes later, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang headed the ball past Yann Sommer after a fine cross from Marcel Schmelzer.

Gladbach were punished even further in the 33rd minute as Aubameyang slotted the ball across the Mkhitaryan who had the simple task of placing the ball into the empty net, which he did with ease to make it 3-0.

Mkhitaryan rounded things off 5 minutes after half-time as Reus pulled the ball back and found the feet of the Armenian international who simply slotted the ball past Yann Sommer to make it 4-0.

VfL Wolfsburg 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt

Last seasons’ runners-up Wolfsburg started off their campaign with a 2-1 win with Ivan Perisic giving Wolfsburg the lead early-on in the 13th minute after heading in a cross from Max Kruse.

Wolfsburg doubled their lead four minutes later after Bas Dost netted his first goal for the club this season by diverting the ball past Lukas Hradecky from close range. Frankfurt pulled one back in the 19th minute as Stefan Reinartz’s power header found the top corner.

Joel Gerezgiher almost equalised for the away side but a good save from Koen Casteels denied the midfielder from bringing the score level but Wolfsburg held on for the victory.

VfB Stuttgart 1-3 FC Koln

A fairly quiet 70 minutes convinced people that this game would turn out as a 0-0 draw but an exciting ending to the game resulted in 4 goals being scored as Koln strolled to a 3-1 victory.

Koln were given a penalty in the 75th minute and Anthony Modeste made no mistake of converting as the away side took a 1-0 lead.

Simon Zoller doubled their lead minutes later as the forward put one past Stuttgart keeper Tyton. The home side grabbed a goal back as Daniel Divadi scored one from the penalty spot but a stoppage time goal from Yuya Osako sealed the win for Koln.