The German Bundesliga was kicked off at the weekend and the German champions have recaptured the top spot on the table after their first match. Bayern Munich thrashed last season’s relegation battlers, Hamburg.
The Bavarian giants won 5 – 0 at the Allianz Arena on Friday as the Manchester United target Thomas Muller bagged two goals. Bayern’s new signing Douglas Costa scored on his debut and the Brazilian winger did nothing but impress in his first match in the Bundesliga. Lewandowski and Benatia also netted one goal each.
Prior to the match against Hamburg, Pep Guardiola stressed upon winning the league for the fourth time in a row and reach the last four of the Champions League.
“We start again at 0-0 (against Hamburg). Before every game I look at the opponent, but 80 percent of my focus is on my team,” said the former Barcelona coach.
“The most important thing is what we do.
“Of course, I want to win the (Bundesliga) title. No one has won it four times (in a row) up until now and it would be a big step for the club, but we have some strong opponents.
“Apart from that, I want to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League with all my players fit. Then we’ll see what happens.”
With the departure of Jurgen Klopp from Borussia Dortmund, things have started to look a bit different from last season. Dortmund won 4 – 0 against Borussia Monchengladbach, who finished third on the table last season. Mkhitaryan scored two, while Reus and Aubameyang bagged a goal each.
Thomas Tuchel, club’s new manager was delighted with the victory in his first match in-charge. In the post interview, Tuchel remarked, “We played with discipline and creativity. We played high up the pitch and because of our interceptions we managed to stop Gladbach’s counter attacks before they got going. We defended very well.”
“It was an outstanding and incredible atmosphere,” he added
Last campaign’s runners-up Wolfsburg also picked up three points each. Perisic and Dost got on the score sheet for Wolfsburg in their 2 – 1 victory over Frankfurt.
Schalke got a big 3 – 0 away win at Werder Bremen on Saturday while Bayer Leverkusen won 2 – 1 against Hoffenheim. Stefan Kießling and Brandt scored a goal each for Bayer Leverkusen. Leverkusen will face the Italian club Lazio on August 19 for the Champions League play-off game. Both the teams are equally matched and the game can be a thrilling affair for the neutrals.
FC Mainz lost to the newly promoted Ingolstadt at home. Hinterseer scored in the 66th minute the only goal of the game and thus it proved to be the winner. Augsburg lost 0 – 1 Hertha BSC at home and former Chelsea player Saloman Kalou got on the score sheet after scoring a penalty in the 48th minute. Cologne won 3 – 1 at Stuttgart with the help of goals from Modeste, Zoller and Osako.
Last but not the least, the only stalemate of this game week happened at Darmstadt as the home side held Hannover to a 2 – 2 draw.