The first games after the international break didn't fail to disappoint, packed full of goals and controversy, then again, it's just another normal Bundesliga matchday. Then again, there was a nil-nil draw and a moment of madness. FRIDAY: Hoffenheim 1-2 Leverkusen Controversy doesn't do this game justice. Hoffenheim deserved all three points from the game in truth, with Modeste showing why he's one of the league's most feared strikers, as both Wollscheid and Toprak picked up bookings early on while trying to keep him quiet. Sidney Sam, who now has a combined total of ten goals and assists opened the scoring for Leverkusen, who then had to rely on Bernd Leno who seems to have thrown off all his critics, denying Modeste at point blank. Kevin Volland had a goal ruled out, wrongly shortly after, and yes, this was all before half-time. Into the second half, and chaos insued, the home side got a penalty (which wasn't) and Salihovic converted to deservedly bring the home side level, then came the major talking point. Stefan Keissling headed wide from a corner, but the netting was cut and the ball went into the net via the outside, the linesman give it and Hoffenheim were furious. Previously, this happened when Bayern played Nurnberg, when Helmer scored a "phantom goal" and the appeal from Nurnberg was upheld and the game replayed. On a positive for Leverkusen, they sat atop the Bundesliga for the first time in over one thousand days as their fine start continues, while Hoffenheim will be hoping justice is served.
'The Phantom Goal'
SATURDAY: Dortmund 1-0 Hannover Dortmund had the most shots in Europe heading into this one, and with their first of the game, Marco Reus put them one-nil up from the penalty spot. After some nice play from Reus and Durm down the left-hand side, the latter was fouled by Sakai and the preceding converted from the spot. Dortmund continued their dominance through-out the first half, as Hannover found themselves camped almost exclusively in their own half. The second half was much the same, as Dortmund failed to find a way past Zieler and a very resolute Hannover backline, who themselves found Roman Weidenfeller in confident form, dealing with anything that came his way. In truth it was a deserved win for die Schwarz-gelb who keep up the pressure on Bayern and Leverkusen, while Hannover's rotten run away from home continues. Bayern 4-1 Mainz Mainz went into this game after finally ending their barren run of defeats by drawing against Hoffenheim, and this seemed to give them a huge confidence boost. They were organised and very disciplined in the first half against Bayern, not giving them a yard of space as the leaders heading into the match day struggled to create a real chance. They then got the goal their commitment deserved, as Dante had gone off injured moments earlier, Boateng failed to clear a through ball and this let Shawn Parker run free, rounding Neuer to make it one-nil. The lead for Mainz could, and would only last so long, as Goetze played in Robben almost immediately and the Dutchman side footed past Wetklo to restore parity, then straight away Bayern went ahead. Some 'tiki-taka' football around the box from Goetze and Robben found an unmarked Muller who had all the time in the world to pick his spot and score. Mainz went close twice in quick succession, but not long after Gotze then got his third assist of the day, cutting back to find Mandzukic who wrapped his foot round the ball to send it past a despairing Wetklo and end any chances of a Mainz comeback. Bayern began to dominate even more and they added a fourth through a Tomas Muller penalty, Robben angered that he wasn't allowed to take it, as he threw the ball to Muller in disgust. None the less an impressive showing from Goetze and Bayern in the end to send them back to the top of the Bundesliga. Bremen 0-0 Freiburg The Bundesliga's first nil-nil draw, and boy was this a stinker of a game, few to none on the chance register. The best of which fell to Werder early into the second half, when they struck the post and shot over from a corner, more worrying for the team in green was that their main talisman Nils Petersen would be out for six weeks. I did have a bad feeling before the game and unfortunately it materialised after over one hundred games, someone could always have cut the net at this game and give us a few goals! Braunschweig 2-3 Schalke The home side began the game brightest, especially Ademi upfront who was running Howedes ragged, and in the eighteenth minute, he did it again. A long ball fall the aforementioned Ademi and he flicked the ball brilliant round a bamboozled Howedes and he shot at Fahrmann, who made a mess of saving the attempt and it trundled in. The lead didn't last long however, as a Szalai header produced a decent save from Davari, but he parried back into the middle of the goal and young Max Meyer was on hand to tap in for his second in as many games. The home side started the second half as well as they did the first, and were rewarded for their efforts as a magnificent counter saw Karim Bellarabi, who scored last time out against Wolfsburg, leave Santana on the ground and smash past a helpless Fahrmann. Yet again, this lead didn't last long either, as some shocking defending from a Schalke corner found an unmarked Leon Goretzka to tap home his first Bundesliga goal. A fantastic game, in which neither team deserved to lose, Braunschweig will feel hard done by but Schalke will be happy to escape unscaved. Frankfurt 1-1 Nurnberg A largely uneventuful first half that saw barely any attempts on goal was followed up by a much better second. Frankfurt went a goal up shortly after half-time thanks to a lovely flowing move, which resulted in Alex Meier slipping in Vaclev Kadlec to shoot past an on rushing Schafer and give the home side a deserved lead. The game looked dead and done from a Frankfurt point of view, but a late Drmic goal after some great work from the away side's midfield allowed him to round Trapp and slot home to seal an important point for the away side, though they still remain without a win thus far while Frankfurt will be disappointed they couldn't get all three points. Hertha 1-0 Gladbach The Saturday night game that saw brothers Raffael and Ronny go up against each other, and it was the latter that would have the family bragging rights until they meet again as an Adrian Ramos strike proved the difference between the teams. Not the greatest game in truth, as Hertha's defence held fantastically against a creative Gladbach side, who after their great two-nil win against Dortmund, seems like inconsistency may plague them again this season. Despite this, it shows that Hertha are no push-overs this year and could be dark-horses for Europe, Gladbach will be with out Martin Stranzl next time out as the Austrian picked up a second booking late on. SUNDAY: Hamburg 3-3 Stuttgart A cracking encounter at the Imtech Arena saw six goals, a sending off and a great game all round for everyone in the ground. Stuttgart went a goal up just after kick-off as Romanian prodigy and a player who I admire hugely opened the score with a fine finish. Hamburg began to come into the game and got their goal through Lasogga, who has been in fine fettle since returning from that injury. Though they couldn't hold out until the half, as Christian Gentner struck in the thrity-seventh minute to send Stuttgart in, slightly against the balance of play, two-one to the good. Into the second half and just ten minutes in Max Beister foudn the net to level the game up, but that too was short lived as Johann Djourou put through his own net, only to be bailed out by a Rafael Van der Vaart just three minutes later. Hamburg continued to push and in the last ten minutes Stuttgart went down to ten after Rudiger threw a punch into Van der Vaart's stomach and he saw red, but Hamburg couldn't make their man advantage count as it finished all square. Augsburg 1-2 Wolfsburg The final game from Matchday 9 was entertaining for the first half at least, as Tobias Werner had the home side deservedly a goal up after ten minutes and they continued their dominance but were pegged back towards the end of the half as young Max Arnold struck to level matters. Then shortly after Luis Gustavo who had been the villain in recent weeks then put the Wolves a goal to the good just before half-time. That's the way it finished as Augsburg may feel slightly aggrieved they couldn't pick up a point from the game, while Wolfsburg will hope this can be the start of a good run for them.
Which will be affectionately known as ATFF, this will be a small series dedicated to trying to further explain the differences between English and German football, thanks to Phillip for the idea of making this into a series rather than a rather long article! The main reason I've written this is because I feel people misinterpret those of us who enjoy foreign football more than that which is on display in our own country, personally, I prefer to watch the Bundesliga on a Saturday than the Premier League. Myself and a few others have been asked why this is, and often criticised for favouring the foreign game, I hope from my own perspective I can explain a little better as to why I prefer the German game to the English side of things, so before I start rambling even more, let's begin with the 50+1 rule! For those who don't know, the '50+1' rule is, it is a piece of legislation preventing any one person from owning a majority share (over 49%) in a German club, meaning that essentially the fans themselves own 51% of the club, thus meaning no Russian or Middle Eastern business men can come in and bank role a team to the title. Despite opposition from Hannover in 2009, the system has proven extremely successful, while City, PSG and Monaco have been taken over in recent years by money-bag billionaires, German clubs have remained firm and not bowed to the financial pressures that other leagues have by possible tens of millions of euros in investment. This creates a fairly level playing field, apart from last season when Bayern obliterated all in front of them, the Bundesliga is one of the most competitive leagues in the world. Adding to that, should Michel Platini finally decide to properly introduce the Financial Fair Play laws, German clubs will be in by far and away the best position to deal with it, as most are turning over a profit every year thanks to the 50+1 rule, with Freiburg turning over five million euros profit very comfortably this financial year. While the Bundesliga doesn't have as lucrative of a TV deal as the Premier League may have, they just two days ago signed a deal to show it in the Americas and Asia for 5 years, starting in 2014. The likes of Norwich have spent over 25 million, while Bayer Leverkusen spent under 20 million. The rule allows clubs to focus on youth development as they can't spend copious amounts of money on players due to not having the same financial backing, they can produce wonderful youth players with genuine quality, rather than some equally good youth team players English clubs would rather spend millions on foreign imports, without the youngsters even getting a chance. This will lead me onto my next topic which is about the German impenitence on youth academies.
The final weekend before the last few world cup qualifiers failed to disappoint again as there were plenty of incidents and excitement to keep us talking for the weeks to come, so let's begin! FRIDAY: Hannover 1-1 Hertha Berlin Both sides had made promising starts to the campaign and my have sets their sights on Europe since then. Not the greatest Bundesliga game ever, but Christian Schulz gave the home side the lead after twenty three minutes. The game fell into a lull, as Hertha seemed resigned to counter attacks, and Hannover were in no real rush themselves, then Ronny came on. The mercurial Brazilian's first touch was a free-kick, was in turn, nearly ripped the net off the hinges and left Zieler to have a front row view as it slammed into the top corner.
SATURDAY: Gladbach 2-0 Dortmund The main talking point going into the battle of the Borussia's was Marco Reus returning to Gladbach where he properly established himself on the Bundesliga scene. Gladbach keeper Marc Andre ter-Stegen had to be at his best, denying Hummels, Lewandowski and GroBkreutz fantastic early chances and that's all the first half was really, Dortmund dominant but failing to find a cutting edge. Into the second half and Dortmund continued their dominance despite Wendt having a fantastic chance earlier in the half. However, the last ten minutes were where the goals occurred. A moment of Mats madness meant he was sent-off for a poor tackle on Kruse and he converted the penalty to give Gladbach the lead and then after Reus had rattled the bar seconds earlier, Raffael rifled past Weidenfeller to seal the deal and condemn Dortmund to their first defeat this season. Schalke 4-1 Augsburg These two sides went into the game on runs that you wouldn't expect them to have, Schalke were struggling to string together a few wins, while Augsburg couldn't lose and were on a club record run without defeat in the Bundesliga. The game started with the form side on top, as Augsburg took the lead early on through a fantastic Sascha Molders finish past a helpless Hildebrand for his first goal in 894 minutes. However, Schalke were back in it soon after, as Klavan brought down Draxler, picked up a red card for his troubles and Kevin-Prince Boateng smashed home, leaving Manninger no chance. They made their advantage count straight away, and their pressure soon told as Szalai gave the home side the lead for the first time, Neustader found Uchida, who touched down for Szalai to tuck under Manninger for the Royal Blues second goal. The Royal Blues managed to ensure that the second half wouldn't be that boring and that the ending wouldn't be that nervy, as Szalai slid home after good interchange play around the edge of the box. The game had one more goal left though, and that fell to young Max Meyer, getting his first Bundesliga goal just before the end, to cap off a rousing performance from the Gelsenkirchen side. Stuttgart 1-1 Werder Bremen Two sides who found themselves in the upper mid-table realm after contrasting starts, they have both steadied, with Stuttgart hoping to surprise a few and push towards the European places, while Werder under Dutt look a new side and look like they've finally found their shooting boots. It was the home side that took just six minutes to break the deadlock, as a Maxim corner made it's way to the back post and found Martin Harnik who finished well for his third goal of the season. They couldn't get to half time with the lead though, Petersen tapped home for his third goal this season.
The second half was a very dull affair, but Stuttgart probably deserved the win in truth as Vevad Ibisevic had a goal ruled out and further chances to continue new boss Bruno Labaddia's great start, but over the balance of ninety minutes, it was probably a deserved point for both sides. Wolfsburg 0-2 Braunschweig A derby that hasn't been played for years, as two of the league's Northern sides battled for pride on Saturday, anything less than a win for Hecking's men would be a disaster, while Braunschweig were trying to avoid defeat again. Wolfsburg were making all the early ground, but to their shock, it was Braunschweig who took the lead through Bellarabi, who only had to tap in after poor defending from Knoche and Naldo. Wolfsburg started the second half the strongest, the same vein as the first, but couldn't create that guilt edge chance. The commentator described the game as "a good old fashioned English derby" and true to form, it was the underdogs who came out on top. Domi Kubela struck the final blow as Wolfsburg pushed forward and he slotted past Benaglio to send the away fans wild, with their first Bundesliga win in over a quarter of a century, in the derby to boot. Mainz 2-2 Hoffenheim My first thought approaching this match was goals, goals, goals. With FOURTY-THREE GOALS this season in games involving these sides, we should be in for a cracker. It didn't disappoint early on, as one of Hoffenheim's early season stars gave them the lead, as Kevin Volland drifted past five Mainz defenders to smash home from twenty-five yards to Heinz Mueller's left. The away side were dominating, and Firmino double their advantage with the most delicate of chips over the onrushing Mueller, after Schipplock's perfectly weighted through ball. Whatever Tuchel said at half-time worked. Mainz came out all guns blazing, but not until the final ten minutes did they get their reward, as sub Choupo-Moting gave them hope, it looked all false until... in the NINETY-SECOND minute, Heinz Muller, not Nicolai, headed down to Malli to send the fans wild and stop Mainz's rut of defeats. Leverkusen 1-1 Bayern Munich The teams in second and third took on each other at the Bayer Arena, and we weren't disappointed. This game saw Bernd Leno fend off some of his recent criticism as he pulled off a string of fine saves to ensure Leverkusen kept up their title challenge. It was Bayern who took the lead in the first half, through Toni Kroos who let fly a rasping drive into Leno's top right hand corner, nothing he could do that time. However, just two minutes later, the irrepressible Sidney Sam scored to level matters. The second half was also an entertaining affair, at which Leno had to be at his very best to bat away the Bayern chances as they peppered his goal, a game which Bayern had twenty seven shots on goal. This draw meant Bayern went top of the Bundesliga out-right, but also underlined Leverkusen's title challenge was here to stay.
SUNDAY: Nurnberg 0-5 Hamburg One of the least exciting games on paper this weekend, as fifteenth faced off against sixteenth, turned into one of the top scoring games, pretty typical that I typed that first part on Friday night, eh? This was an absolute drubbing in truth. Nurnberg looked uninspired as they took to the field on Sunday, looking to improve on a poor start. The game was tight to begin with, but a brilliant Rafa van der Vaart chopper kick got Hamburg into gear. A poor end to the first half, dull at best was followed by minutes of madness after half time, in which Pierre Michel Lasogga scored an EIGHT minute hat-trick, the last of which was a fantastic hit, to put the game beyond Nurnberg. If that wasn't bad enough, after a poor Schafer clearance, Arslan chipped him from thirty-five yards to complete the rout, leaving Nurnberg without a win this season. Freiburg 1-1 Frankfurt The final game of matchday eight as two sides who impressed greatly last year had made stuttering starts, and the points were shared in a decent game in Southern Germany. We had to wait to the second half to get any goals, and unfortunately for Christian Gunter, it was in the wrong net, but Nicolas Hofler equalised late on for the hosts as they picked up an important point. Just before the final whistle, their were three bookings, which included a second yellow for Johannes Flum, capping off another incident packed Bundesliga matchday!
