Christian Pulisic and Mario Götze excelled in a ruthless, full-throttle victory at Wolfsburg which made mincemeat of the predictions after a summer of turmoilEverybody loves a shock result on the opening day of the season. What was so unusual as the Bundesliga got back to business was that Borussia Dortmund’s comprehensive victory at Wolfsburg on Saturday afternoon – last term’s third-placed finishers winning at the team that ended third-bottom, having to win the dreaded relegation-promotion play-off to save themselves – felt as if it was one of them.Given that this summer was supposed to tidy up some loose ends at Westfalen, it’s been far from a smooth ride for Dortmund and their fans over the last two-and-a-bit months. After the...
Bayern Munich wrapped up a fifth successive Bundesliga title sparking scenes of celebration, but the outlook for Wolfsburg is far bleakerIt has been a long couple of weeks for Bayern Munich. Little wonder, then, that Thiago Alcântara’s first words as the players made it back to the dressing room after celebrating with a fifth successive Bundesliga crown with their travelling fans at Wolfsburg were, according to Süddeutsche Zeitung, a throaty cry of “donde está el alcohol?”Long after the season is done, Bayern will pick over the season’s two most costly defeats, each of which defy comprehension for very different reasons – against Real Madrid, in the Champions League and last week, against Borussia Dortmund in the DfB Pokal semi-final. In...
The reality is jarring. Tayfun Korkut’s team are three clear of the relegation play-off spot and two clear of Wolfsburg, who they held to a thrilling 3-3 drawOn a weekend in which 35 goals were scored in the Bundesliga, the BayArena always seemed likely to chip in generously. Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg fixtures, especially on this ground, produce goals, with the most notable occasion having been two years back, when the visitors let 3-0 and 4-2 leads slip before Bas Dost won the game at the death with his fourth goal of the afternoon.The difference then was that both teams were riding the crests of relative waves, finishing the campaign in fourth and second positions in the table respectively. Already,...
The Dutch manager presided over a surprise victory against RB Leipzig to boost relegation-threatened Wolfsburg’s hopes of avoiding the drop If ever there was a weekend to get it right, it was this one. In its afterglow, Wolfsburg’s win at second-placed RB Leipzig looked like a tremendous bonus on Saturday evening. 24 hours later, after Hamburg rolled over the in-form Borussia Mönchengladbach, it looked more like an absolute necessity. Neutrals dismayed at Bayern Munich’s ease towards another Bundesliga title, as much through the inconsistency of their rivals as their own strengths, at least have the promise of the battle at the bottom to keep them going. Everybody is picking up points – even rock-bottom Darmstadt won this weekend, for goodness’...
The departures of Dietmar Beiersdorfer and Klaus Allofs last weekend continue the pattern of extreme upheavals that have gripped the BundesligaA notoriously wonky table and frantic managerial change have long gone together like Blut and Grätsche in the Bundesliga. Each season, half a dozen unexpected overachievers put pressure on the remaining two-thirds of the league. Halfway through the campaign, roughly one half of the clubs will have replaced their coaches in hope of a bounce.This year, however, has produced extreme levels of upheaval. A tidal wave of disruption has cut through the league, sweeping away not just the poor blokes in shellsuits and roll-neck jumpers but many of the formerly bullet-proof powerbrokers. They stuck around for years, sometimes decades, unshiftable,...