Robben Saves the Day

Bayern Munich opened up the Bundesliga season on Friday against a strong Wolfsburg side, and it was a mostly pedestrian effort. Pep again went with a three man defense, with Lahm on the back line and Alaba in the midfield. While Bayern were the stronger side, it wasn’t the typical level of dominance you would expect from the German giants.

Despite being his squad being a bit underwhelming, Arjen Robben was stellar yet again. The Dutchman was involved in both goals, and continued his recent run of great form. He’s seemingly peaking at 30 years old which only adds to the mystique of Robben.

Leverkusen Presses Dortmund into Defeat

That escalated quickly.

Just because it’s an overused meme, doesn’t mean it wasn’t in many minds when Leverkusen set a Bundesliga record by scoring a goal in 7 seconds.

Then the drought came, there were no goals for 94 minutes of play until Stephen Kiessling put Leverkusen up 2-0 in the 95th minute to secure a victory. Despite the scoring drought, the game was highly entertaining. Dortmund is known for putting on their pace and press show against Bayern Munich, but it was Leverkusen who pressed their opponents into submission. Roger Schmidt is know for his swarming press and high octane football from his days at Salzburg, it will be interested in how it will hold up over the course of an entire Bundesliga season.

Schalke Fold in Three Minutes

Schalke also belongs in the second tier behind Bayern Munich, but they didn’t show it on Saturday. Up 1-0 against Hannover through 67 minutes, the Miners folded like a lawn chair and gave up two goals in a span of three minutes. It’s early, so there is time to reprimand a disappointing result, but it could potentially be a difference maker in the race to be Bundesliga’s runner-up.

Hoffenheim Shows Third Tier Dominance

Below the four squads that look to be legitimate contenders to finish behind Bayern, there’s another four teams fighting for the final two Europa spots. Hoffenheim last year finished with the second best goal differential of the four, despite finishing below Augsburg and Mainz.

As a response, started this season with a bang. Beating Augsburg handily 2-0. Hoffenheim is arguably the most excited squad in Europe, playing a style that both scores and concedes a mass amount of goals. They’re hoping to add a dash of quality to their excitement.