Matchday 3 saw a goalfest in the Bundesliga. Bayern Munich's season seems to be improving, and the pressure on manager Jupp Heynckes relenting, after a crushing 5-0 demolition of Hamburg; dark horses Borussia Mönchengladbach continue to set the pace with a 4-1 win over VfLWolfsburg;and SV Werder Bremen came out on top 5-3 over SC Freiburg at the Weser Stadion. Champions Borussia Dortmund returned to winning ways with a comfortable 2-0 win over 1. FC Nürnberg.
Living in Munich, and having shared a 'servus' with the masses of happy Bayern fans enjoying a Maß or two in the sunshine yesterday evening, this piece will focus on FC Hollywood's 5-0 crushing of Hamburg (I know there were lots of other great games this weekend, but in the interests of relative brevity I'm going to focus on this game. I do promise not to feature a Bayern game for at least six weeks though). The question to ask is whether or not that 5-0 result surprises people.
Let's start with Bayern. They began their season two weeks ago today with a home fixture Mönchengladbach. Dortmund, led by the brilliant Mario Götze, had dispatched Hamburg (again) in the season's opening game the previous Friday, and so the expectation was on Bayern. They lost 0-1, losing to a goal which new signing and German no.1 Manuel Neuer won't want to look back on in a hurry. On matchday 2, this time away at Wolfsburg, Heyncke's team scored an injury-time winner through Luis Gustavo to get their first three points on the board. it was nearly 180 minutes of football without a goal. The press here in Munich have a reputation for circling like vultures around a new manager rather quickly. Despite the win, column inches were filled with lamentations about the workmanlike, uninventive and tiresome style which Germany's most successful team was employing. On the European front the ship seems to be steadier. Bayern should, despite the best efforts of Mario Gomez last Tuesday, advance to the group stage of the Champions League after beating FC Zurich 2-0 at home in the first leg of the qualifier. Their slow start, and the criticism levelled at them for their brand of football, did make this result a surprise.
But a brief evaluation of Hamburger SV might tell you that a drubbing was on the cards. What do English people, my loyal readers, really know of Hamburg and its football team? Not much I would wager, suffice it to day that David Haye fought Wladimir Klitschko there a while back and that Kevin Keegan's perm graced the Volksparkstadion thirty odd years ago. It's fair to say that Hamburg's preparation for this season hasn't been the best. In the close-season they lost numerous first team players (Ruud van Nistelrooy, Joris Mathijsen, Piotr Trochowski and Frank Rost among others) and only seemed to have replaced those with youngsters from Chelsea (Michael Mancienne, Jacopo Sala, Jeffrey Bruma and Gökhan Töre), evidencing the strong input from Sporting Director and ex-Bundesliga player Frank Arnesen. Results, and performances, were also poor before the game on Saturday. As aforementioned they were torn apart my Dortmund two weeks ago, and then conceded a last minute goal at home to Hertha Berlin to draw 2-2 last weekend, a point they were actually fortunate to get. While Bayern's form coming into this game wasn't great by any stretch of the imagination, Hamburg were, and now firmly are, in a downturn after only three games. Indeed the 5-0 defeat didn't actually come as a shock to most football fans here. Next week Hamburg face Köln at home, and were I a betting man, Köln getting a first win under new manager Stale Solbakken might be worth a flutter.
Away from this game for a moment, I shouldn't neglect to mention for the legions of Mönchengladbach fans in Germany and around the globe that your team is top of the league! That superb win away at Bayern on day 1 was followed by a decent 1-1 draw at home to VfB Stuttgart last week, and then Friday's 4-1 hammering of Felix Magath's Wolfsburg. You're the only team, apart from Hannover 96, which is still unbeaten. Although the season is still in its infancy and there are a further 31 matches to play, (that still sounds strange to me by the way, only 34 games in a season with one domestic cup - do they actually need a winter break?) things look promising for the Foals. Not many fans in Germany would begrudge Gladbach supporters hoping, rather than expecting, for some domestic success this year. Last season Hannover 96 were the surprise package, having finished in 4th place and continued that good form this season; perhaps this season it's Gladbach's turn to over-achieve. I'll end this piece by saying it's encouraging that two modestly-sized, family-friendly teams (although that goes for most clubs in Germany) currently lead the table, not like England for example where it seems money gets you points.
Results:
M'Gladbach 4-1 Wolfsburg
Ausgburg 0-2 1899 Hoffenheim
Stuttgart 0-1 Leverkusen
FC Bayern 5-0 Hamburg
Dortmund 2-0 Nürnberg
Werder Bremen 5-3 SC Freiburg
Köln 1-1 Kaiserslautern
Mainz 2-4 Schalke
Hannover 1-1 Hertha
Next week I'll be featuring another game (not one that involves Bayern), but for now you can enjoy my goal(s) of the week. In spite of the fact that they're sponsored by Deutsche Bahn, and in spite of Patrick Ebert's hair, I have a bit of a soft spot for Hertha, and this goal in the second half was a really good one. Unbeaten away in 2011 you know:
Bernie
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