A resumption that passed off without any disasters was greeted with a generally positive reaction by the press, though some fans are still to be convinced
There was, said Thomas Müller, “a tingling sensation because it was starting again”. Not nervousness, he was quick to stress, but an opening day of the season feeling, as the Bundesliga got back out of the blocks. This time, it was with an atmosphere of the ultimate juxtaposition – in echoey stadiums, but with the whole world watching.
“Gedämpfte Freude” – muffled joy – was how the headline on Monday’s edition of Kicker put it, set across a photo of Borussia Dortmund’s players saluting a cavernous, empty Südtribune after their emphatic 4-0 Revierderby win over Schalke on Saturday afternoon. “It was spontaneous,” said midfielder Julian Brandt, and that was key to a weekend which was a string of unusual occasions.
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More protests against the Bundesliga’s restart:
An actual sofa has been placed at FC Köln’s stadium.
Text reads: “Stadium instead of sofa! Against ghost games!”
Posters also seen across Cologne imitating #Effzeh’s adverts: “Money matters more to us than your health!”#KOEM05 pic.twitter.com/kjJrcWoVFq
Related: Fewer dives, a missing coach and subs in stand: inside Bundesliga's return
There was more good news for Bayern after they restored their lead at the top to four points with their win in Berlin. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told Sky he was “cautiously optimistic” that contract talks with Manuel Neuer would reach a positive conclusion, a feeling reciprocated by the goalkeeper weeks after the two sides had been poles apart.
There were some minor musical chairs in the top four, with Borussia Mönchengladbach leapfrogging Leipzig into third with a 3-1 at Frankfurt – Julian Nagelsmann’s team were held by Freiburg. Gladbach scored twice in the first seven minutes and their strike pair of Alassane Pléa and Marcus Thuram must have looked irresistible to at-home Premier League scouts.
“Hitting the woodwork four times – I haven’t seen that in 30 years,” remarked an incredulous Uwe Rösler, with his Fortuna Düsseldorf letting Paderborn escape home with a rare clean sheet. It was even more costly after Mainz came back from two down to draw at Köln on Sunday.
Heiko Herrlich watched his team’s late defeat to Wolfsburg from a private box in the stands, after breaking quarantine earlier in the week to get face cream and toothpaste. More than two months after his appointment, the former Dortmund striker is still waiting for his Augsburg touchline debut.
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