Hamburg Make Mince Meat of Mainz 

Hamburg made it back-to-back home wins as they battered Mainz 05 4-0 on Sunday afternoon. HSV were on top from the first minute and found themselves 2-0 up after just nine minutes thanks to goals from Albert Sambi Lokonga and Rayan Philippe. Philippe would add to his first goal in the second half, bringing his tally for the season to three goals from six games. The forward had a failed move to Mainz in the summer and mocked the situation with his celebration by mimicking a phone call. 

HSV head coach Merlin Polzin opted for a new 3-4-3 formation, and it worked a treat against a side that was so successful last campaign. 

“We’re progressing and one can see that in our play with the ball and against the ball. We’ve more steps to take, but one senses – and this is vitally important – that the team is finding out who they are and the connections are getting better. The players need to feel it on the pitch,” explained Polzin. 

HSV move up to 9th in the Bundesliga, whilst Mainz drop to 16th. 

Bayern Breeze Past Frankfurt

Ahead of this one, it was billed as Bayern’s first big test this season. However, when Bayern went 0-1 up after 17 seconds through Luis Díaz, it was anything but a real test. 

Bayern once again dominated and showed just how powerful their forward line is this season. Vincent Kompany’s side went 0-2 before the break through a Harry Kane curled effort from 20 meters out. If you haven’t seen the goal already, I urge you to take a look. 

Diaz added to his first-half goal late into the second half to make sure that Bayern go six wins from six games in the Bundesliga. 

“I don’t think these games should be used as a yardstick to evaluate the boys right now,” Toppmöller insisted when conducting a post-match interview with Sky Germany after the match. “It’s important for us to know that we still have a little room for improvement in order to compete at this level.”

“No one has been able to keep up with Bayern at their level thus far [this year],” Toppmöller continued, adding special praise for Harry Kane’s distance effort that made it 0-2 in the 27th minute. “That was a typical Bayern goal and Harry Kane’s finish was simply world-class.”

For Frankfurt, it’s now 12 goals conceded in four games in all competitions. There’s no question that Frankfurt have an excellent team, but right now, their defensive displays will be worrying head coach Dino Toppmöller. Bayern stay top as Frankfurt drop out of the European places for the first time this season (7th).  

Dortmund Leipzig Stalemate 

Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig played a rather dull 1-1 draw that was billed as “the battle of the Bayern chasers”. In fact, the final xG stats (Dortmund 0.88, Leipzig 1.05) illustrate that the final scoreline was even a little generous. 

Dortmund remain undefeated this season ahead of their showdown with Bayern after the international break. Leipzig, meanwhile, continue their undefeated run since being battered by Bayern on opening night. 

In truth, both teams will probably be satisfied with the draw as Dortmund and Leipzig stay 2nd and 3rd, respectively. 

Around The Grounds

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, FC Heidenheim still remains bottom following a 1-0 loss to VfB Stuttgart. The Swabians scored the winner just past the hour mark from time to add even more misery on Frank Schmidt’s side. Heidenheim stay bottom, whilst Stuttgart shoot up into 4th. 

Bayer Leverkusen have put their early-season woes behind them as they go 5th with a 2-0 win against Union Berlin. It’s the first time that B04 has registered back-to-back Bundesliga wins this season as new head coach Kasper Hjulmand looks to be making a positive impact on his squad. 

Borussia Mönchengladbach still remain winless going into the international break after a 0-0 draw against SC Freiburg. Despite that and amid all the administrative turmoil at Borussia Mönchengladbach, interim head coach Eugen Polanski has been given the green light to continue his audition on the sidelines.

There were also wins for FC Köln (0-1 vs TSG Hoffenheim), Werder Bremen (1-0 vs St. Pauli), and FC Augsburg (3-1 vs VfL Wolfsburg). 

GGFN | Jamie Allen

Saturday afternoon saw the turn of Augsburg vs Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen hosting Union Berlin, St.Pauli travelling to Werder Bremen, and the standout game of the afternoon being Borussia Dortmund vs RB Leipzig. 

Here are the three things we learnt:

Borussia Dortmund struggle in their first big Bundesliga test:

Dortmund went down early on against RB Leipzig thanks to a Christoph Baumgartner opener, but they were able to rally and equalise through Yan Couto. However, apart from that, die Schwarzgelben struggled to impose themselves on the visitors. 

Via FotMob, Dortmund failed to register a big chance against Leipzig, and it looked as if their attacks struggled to get into the game, compared to the likes of Johan Bakayoko, Yan Diomande and Romulo for Leipzig. This could have potentially been the type of game to bring Carney Chukwuemeka on for, but instead, he remained on the bench. 

Simply put, Leipzig were just the better side on both the defensive and attacking ends. This could be because they did not have a midweek game, while Dortmund played Athletic Club. 

Dortmund can’t afford to get hung up on this result for too long, as after the international break, they face Bayern Munich. Considering that the Bavarians could go four points clear of them following today’s result, it will be a game they have to bring their best. 

However, as things stand, Dortmund will look like the only side that can come close to challenging Bayern this season. 

Bayer Leverkusen’s young attackers shine:

The wealth of attacking quality at Leverkusen’s disposal had failed to make their mark in the opening games of the season, but against Union Berlin, a rather unexpected pair took centre stage. 

Both Ernest Poku and Christian Kofane were the standouts for Leverkusen this afternoon. The former used his pace to help die Werkself counter Union, while Kofane was sharp enough to latch on to a Fredrick Ronnow mistake to score his first Bundesliga goal for the club. 

This was much needed for Levekrusen, as for much of the early stages of the season, they had to rely on Alejandro Grimaldo. The likes of Malik Tillman, Eliesse ben Seghir and Claudio Echeverri will still need to show their quality in the coming weeks. 

Kofane will be especially important in the absence of Patrik Schick, as there is no other recognised striker in the squad. 

The international break has come at the right time for Leverkusen. They currently sit fourth in the Bundesliga, but can now use the next two weeks to adjust to Kasper Hjulmand, as this will be the first extended period the Dane has with the team. After the international break, they face Mainz, and that should present a different-looking Leverkusen. 

Augsburg put some doubts to rest:

Heading into their game against Wolfsburg, Augsburg had not won a Bundesliga game since the opening day against Freiburg. This resulted in doubts starting to surface about head coach Sandro Wagner, but those were laid to rest today. 

Against the Autostadt side, Augsburg put in a commanding display winning 3-1, with Mert Kömur the standout player. The performance was reminiscent of their win against Freiburg in terms of the fact that they were clinical when it came to their finishing. There is still yet to be a clear sign of a style of play, but that will likely come with more time.

On Kömur, the 20-year-old was called up to the Germany under-21 national team. Considering he can also qualify for Turkey, the DFB must make sure they don’t experience the same fate they did with Can Uzun and Kenan Yildiz, and give Turkey their front three for the next generation. 

GGFN | Jack Meenan

It is still early days, but Hamburger SV players and management believe it is a sign of their development.

Penalty hero, Heuer Fernandes could not hide his delight at full-time, telling the media that his defence did well to stifle the strong Union attackers.

“I’m happy that I was able to save the penalty, because it would have been tough to fall behind early on against a team like Union. We were then able to control the game and had a lot of possession, but unfortunately without creating any really big chances, even though you always felt like something was going to happen.”

It feels good to have given so little away, had some opportunities ourselves and picked up a point against a team as strong and physical as Union, especially as we knew that their powerful forwards don’t need many chances to score. We dealt with that well.”

Lacking the clinical touch

Nicolai Remberg put in a disciplined, if not creative, performance in the centre of midfield for Hamburger SV, but felt that something is still missing up front:

“We played really well in the first half and had lots of good attacks where we made promising runs at the defence, but unfortunately we were just lacking that final decisive pass. We’re doing well going forward, but we simply should have scored a goal today. A point here at this stadium is okay in principle, but we could have come away with more today. It’s almost a little bit disappointing that we’ve only got the one point in the end. Still, we’ve picked up five points from five matches and shown that we’re definitely travelling in the right direction.”

“We deserved more”

Swiss midfielder, Miro Muheim was more positive about the performance in defence and attack:

“That was a very good team performance. We gave very little away defensively apart from the penalty kick, and Ferro of course saved that superbly. Other than that, we were very solid and defended compactly. We created some good chances too, but sadly we didn’t take them. That’s why we’re slightly disappointed that we couldn’t get the three points. We would definitely have deserved an away win.”

A Point Gained

HSV Head Coach, Merlin Polzin was equally effusive about his sides performance and saw the trip as a point gained, rather than three points lost:

“We started the game well apart from the penalty incident. We have to thank Ferro for keeping us in the game. He saved the spot kick brilliantly. The reaction to that was also great, with all the players coming together. By that point, we had definitely arrived in the game.

“I saw a very focused first-half performance from us when we had the ball. We managed to exploit the space and made it difficult for the opponents to pick up our players. We could have played out one or two chances better than we did. We knew that, as the game went on, the power of the Alte Försterei could come back and play a part. We dealt with that well, and you could say that we became more and more of a team unit. I’m more than satisfied with the performance and we’ll take the point with us.”

Overall, HSV can be hopeful about their development.

The goalless draw stemmed a tide that had seen them concede 11 goals in their previous four games, but scoring remains an issue.

HSV have managed just two goals so far this season, a Bundesliga low, and they will now look to build on this performance against Mainz 05 next week.

GGFN | Oscar O’Mara

Historic Harry 

Harry Kane scored a brace on Friday evening as Bayern Munich comfortably brushed aside Werder Bremen to truly kick off the Oktoberfest season. While Bayern are enjoying their best start to a Bundesliga campaign since 2016, Harry Kane also wrote his name into history once again. 

The Englishman’s two goals brought his overall Bayern tally to 100 in just 104 games. He is now the quickest player to register 100 goals for a club in Europe’s top five leagues. He surpasses both Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) and Erling Haaland (Manchester City), who both achieved 100 goals in 105 games. With 10 Bundesliga goals already this season, Kane appears to be in the form of his life as Bayern go marching on. 

The game against Bremen also saw Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka make their 300th Bundesliga appearance, whilst youngster Tom Bischof was granted his first start for Bayern. 

Bayern are now eight wins from eight in the Bundesliga and face Eintracht Frankfurt away in matchday 6. 

The 10-Goal Game 

Borussia Mönchengladbach vs Eintracht Frankfurt may just have hosted the most bizarre and entertaining game of the season as they played out a cracking (and at times hilarious) 4-6. 

Gladbach are yet to win this season, have sacked their head coach, and have been woeful at defending so far. When the halftime whistle blew and Frankfurt were 5-0 up, you feared that the Eagles could easily make it double-figures. Frankfurt immediately made it 0-6 within two minutes of the restart, leaving the Gladbach fans who had stayed in the ground possibly regretting that decision. 

Interim Gladbach coach Eugen Polanski looked dumbfounded as he witnessed the lack of defending. For a top-flight side, it was shambolic. 

However, what transpired almost saved Polanski’s blushes and possibly gives him the most credit at full-time. Gladbach and Frankfurt seemingly reserved roles as the home side went on to score four second-half goals whilst the away side took the role of not defending. 

“During the game I was in shock,” Polanski answered when a reporter asked him what words he found for the team at the half. “It was my job at the half to tell the team that things could be different. After that lifeless first half that doesn’t work at Bundesliga level, it got a little loud at the break.” 

“That was a desolate performance by the team,” BMG sporting director Roland Virkus told Sky Germany. “We lacked everything you need in football and were rightly 0-5 down at half-time. It must be said that the team made progress after the break, but one can’t sugarcoat a game like this. [Interim head coach] Eugen [Polanski] retains our support, but we all have to take a look at this together.“

Gladbach remain winless, and bizarrely, Frankfurt have conceded eight goals in two games.

Dortmund Dominance 

Borussia Dortmund continued their unbeaten start to the season with an impressive 0-2 win away at Mainz 05. 

With the win, BVB stay second, are looking like the early contenders to Bayern, and even set a new Bundesliga record. 

Niko Kovač’s side were in the lead at half-time for the 10th league game in a row – a new milestone in Germany’s top flight.

Daniel Svensson opened the scoring for Borussia Dortmund, netting his second Bundesliga goal for his new club after capping off a fine counter-attack after Mainz’ Paul Nebel hit Gregor Kobel’s post at the other end. Karim Adeyemi then doubled Dortmund’s lead in the 40th minute after another superb counter-attack, giving BVB a 0-2 lead.

Speaking after the game, Kovač commended his team’s performance: “The team played very disciplined and organised for 90 minutes. We scored the goals at the right time and were a bit lucky with the shot that hit the post, which led us to score our first goal right afterwards. I saw a team today that finished the game the way we should on the road. We didn’t concede anything else – or at least very little. So I’m very happy and proud of the boys that they rewarded themselves with this performance.”

Around The Grounds

Union Berlin and Hamburg played out a 0-0 draw, but the main story came from the stands. Union fans were protesting the pre-match deployment of the federal police against supporters of the Berlin club. HSV fans were also protesting the late kick-off on Sunday evening, having made the two-hour train journey to the capital. Banners expressed that the late kick-off should only be reserved for those competing in European competitions. Given the notorious Deutsche Bahn delays, the protests seem justified.

FC Heidenheim secured their first win of the season as they beat FC Augsburg 2-1. FCA drop to 16th as the pressure mounts on head coach Sandro Wagner. 

Elsewhere, there were wins for Bayer Leverkusen (1-2 vs St. Pauli), RB Leipzig (0-1 vs VfL Wolfsburg), and VfB Stuttgart (1-2 vs FC Köln). SC Freiburg and TSG Hoffenheim played out a 1-1 draw. 

GGFN | Jamie Allen

The Alte Forsterei is usually a boisterous atmosphere but for the first 15 minutes, the players endured subdued surroundings as Union and HSV Ultras stayed away.

Union fans were protesting the pre-match deployment of the federal police against supporters of the Berlin club.

This week, the Berlin Senate has given the Police additional powers to search fans and they immediately used their new powers.

At the other end of the Alte Forsterei, HSV fans protested against the late kick-off, expressing their frustration in the stands at the lack of consent or consideration given to their travel difficulties.

Banners expressed that the late kick-off should only be reserved for those competing in European competitions.

Given the notorious Deutsche Bahn delays, the protests seem justified.

Nationally, almost 50% of trains are delayed.

HSV fans will be hoping for good fortune to get home tonight.

Either way, the protests seemed to have little effect on the pitch, where both sides played out a tense first half.

A penalty save in the eighth minute was the only action of note, as Serbian forward, Andrej Ilic was denied by HSV goalkeeper, Heuer Fernandes.

In the second half, fans upped their antics.

In the 54th minute, Union Ultras in the Waldseite released a wall of pyrotechnics behind the goal that forced the game to be suspended for five minutes to allow the smoke to clear.

HSV fans were not to be outdone.

In the 78th minute, they released their own fireworks show. Fortunately for casual viewers of the game, the wind was against them and the smoke quickly dissipated away from the pitch.

Union Ultras had one final message for the police in second half added time, as a banner was unfurled with expletives towards their excessive use of powers.

Whilst Berlin hosted protests for a number of causes today, it was not the only place to see confrontation with the police this weekend.

In Hoffenheim, fans also came under police scrutiny.

Allegedly, they insulted and assaulted police officers on their way to the away game against SC Freiburg.

The journey for around 70 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim fans had already ended at a train station in Herbolzheim, Baden.

It likely that this is just the beginning of fan protests.

GGFN | Oscar O’Mara

Baumgart’s ejection from last weekend’s league victory over Eintracht Frankfurt will leave him unable to coach against his former club Hamburger SV this weekend. It was perhaps the desire to minimize any potential further distractions that Bönig was permitted to appear as the face-of-the-team at the Friday pre-match press conference. 

As of yet, there’s no word on what Baumgart will be doing on Sunday. It might be the case that (as was once done in Baumgart’s Köln days) that the club will engage in a publicity stunt filming Baumgart from home. It could also be the case that – like the last time Baumgart was suspended with Union – the 53-year-old will be keeping a low profile. 

In any event, Bönig appeared totally up to the task. Both Bönig and Baumgart are actually former Union players, though their time didn’t overlap. Bönig joined die Eisernen in the summer of 2004, just after Baumgart departed the relegated 2. Bundesliga outfit. Bönig captained and remained with Union during dark years in the third and fourth tiers. 

It was only when Union finally found their way back to the 2. Bundesliga ahead of the 2009/10 season that Bönig was deemed to no longer have a role with the club and his contract not renewed. After taking a little break from football, Bönig finished off his career playing semi-pro ball with Tempelhof’s Viktoria Berlin. Bönig has been working with Union in one administrative/coaching capacity or another since 2014.

Among those who supported FCU during their own semi-pro days Bönig will always maintain cult status. Bönig – who once led the cheers before the Kurve at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei – beamed with excitement at the press conference.

“I’m really happy to be here,” Bönig said on Friday. “I’m here after the coaching team sat together and we had several collective discussions. Obviously, it was head coach Steffen Buamgart’s decision [that I coach the team]. I’m looking forward to the task. It’s my first time in this role.”

“Good question,” Bönig would later answer in response to a question as to how excited he was. “I’m excited about every game equally, but this is the first time that I’m standing front-and-center.

“Of course, the match-day discussions are still led by Steffen,” Bönig continued. “He’ll be with the team until 30 minutes before kickoff and will be there again 30 minutes after full time. 

“Every Union game is still something special for me,” Bönig concluded. “There’s nothing better than Union.“

GGFN | Peter Weis

Since joining die Eisernen in 2021, Rønnow has made 130 appearances for Union across all competitions. Rønnow’s has kept 29 clean sheets in 101 Bundesliga appearances for his current club. Terms of Rønnow’s new contract were not divulged.

Rønnow received some company this summer when his club opted to bring in former Hamburger SV keeper Matheo Raab to facilitate competition in training camp. Raab once featured under current FCU head coach Steffen Baumgart in Hamburg.

The 33-year-old Dane easily brushed aside Raab’s challenge for the starting spot between the sticks and has logged maximum minutes though four Bundesliga matchdays thus far. 

“Union is not just a club for me, but a place where I am seen and appreciated not only as a player and as a person,” Rønnow noted in a statement released on the club’s website. “The closeness to the fans is something very special. One can feel their support in every game and in every moment. Union feels like home to me; like a second family where I feel completely comfortable and at ease.”

“Frederik is an outstanding goalkeeper who – with his quality, experience, and personality – is a key figure in our team,” FCU managing director Horst Heldt added. “We are very pleased that he has committed himself to Union. Together, we want to continue to be successful in the future and we have every confidence in his commitment.”

GGFN | Peter Weis

Neither side have met in German’s top division before but both sides will be brimming with confidence.

Last weekend, the visitors defeated 1. FC Heidenheim 2-1, for their first league win of the season after defeats to city rivals FC St. Pauli (0-2) and FC Bayern Munich (0-5).

The Köpenickers picked up their second league win of the season, with a spectacularly 4-3 win at Eintracht Frankfurt, thanks to a hat-trick from Scotland forward, Oliver Burke.

A win for either side at this early stage of the season will calm any nerves of relegation and have fans dreaming of European qualification.

Union Berlin

Instead, Union Berlin‘s Burke – who is fit for Sunday’s game against Hamburg – trained alone shortly after midday, once his teammates finished team training which started at 11am. The 28-year-old was greeted by defender Tom Rothe, assistant manager Kevin McKenna and head coach Steffen Baumgart.

Kicker notes that Baumgart made fun of the situation, making a flying gesture with his arms before embracing Burke, who scored a hat-trick against Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 4, and was subsequently named in Get German Football News’ Team of the Week.

However, while Burke is fit, Robert Skov – who missed the game against Frankfurt – trained but is unlikely to be available for the Bundesliga game against Hamburg.

GGFN | Daniel Pinder

Every Monday, the Get German Football News team will provide you with our Team of the Week.

GK: Noah Atubolu (Freiburg)

The German youth international was instrumental in helping Freiburg pick up their second win of the campaign. Atubolu pulled out 5 saves but more impressively, denied Romano Schmid from the spot – his fifth successive penalty save. No goalkeeper in the Bundesliga has saved more consecutively.

RB: Julian Ryerson (Borussia Dortmund)

With Nico Schlotterbeck returning after a five month absence, Julian Ryerson was able to switch from his role in a back three to his preferred position at right wing-back against Wolfsburg. The tireless Norwegian created the most chances (4), saw plenty of the ball (96 touches), and assisted Karim Adeyemi for the only goal of the game.

CB: Jeff Chabot (Stuttgart)

A physical presence in defence, very little gets past the Stuttgart defender. Chabot was a rock against St. Pauli, winning 11 duels, the most in Friday night’s fixture. The 27-year-old also completed a high percentage of his passes, 7 of which progressed into the final third. Chabot also recorded 5 interceptions and 5 recoveries.

CB: Luka Vušković (Hamburg)

They say don’t fall in love with a loan player, but Hamburg fans certainly will after 18-year-old defender Luka Vušković – on loan from Tottenham – opened the scoring against Heidenheim. The central defender completed the most passes (54) and won the most duels (8) of any player between the two teams as HSV recorded their first Bundesliga win since May 2018.

LB: David Raum (RB Leipzig)

David Raum came in for some criticism towards the end of last season which saw the left-back lose his place in the German national team to Stuttgart’s Maximilian Mittelstädt. But Raum has responded well and put in an excellent performance against 1. FC Koln, scoring a sublime free-kick, while creating 3 chances. 

CM: Kaishu Sano (Mainz)

The Japan international continues to impress with each passing matchday. Sano was influential in Mainz’ 4-1 win over Augsburg, recording a goal and an assist. The tireless midfielder completed 4 dribbles, the most of any player and his vision combined with his workrate makes him such an important player for Bo Henriksen and his system.

CM: Chema Andrés (Stuttgart)

The Spaniard got the nod ahead of club captain Atakan Karazor alongside Angelo Stiller, and certainly impressed. Registering 76 touches, Andrés created 2 chances and completed 87% of his passes. Out of possession, the youngster made 15 defensive contributions, and as someone who is adapting to a new lifestyle, the 20-year-old is already making waves.

AM: Vincenzo Grifo (Freiburg)

With consecutive wins, Freiburg’s season is back on track, and that’s largely down to Vincenzo Grifo. The 32-year-old created 2 chances and registered a goal and an assist. With just 31 touches, everything that Grifo did against Werder Bremen was positive.

AM: Oliver Burke (Union Berlin)

The Scottish forward’s performance against Eintracht Frankfurt is perhaps his best in professional football. The 28-year-old netted a hat-trick, each goal superbly taken. Burke used his pace to get behind the Eintracht defence for his first, before showcasing his heading ability and then showing composure to chip the onrushing Kaua Santos to complete his hat-trick.

ST: Andrej Ilić (Union Berlin)

While the Serbian didn’t score, he registered three assists, all of whom were for Oliver Burke. The 25-year-old made his teammates’ job far easier as his assists put the ball on a plate for Burke. A clear threat, Ilić was the most fouled player between Eintracht and Union.

ST: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)

The Englishman opened the scoring against Hoffenheim with a superb strike following a corner before netting twice from the spot. It’s Kane’s ninth hat-trick in the Bundesliga since joining Bayern Munich, and he becomes the first player in Germany’s top flight to convert all of his first 17 penalties. 

GGFN | Daniel Pinder