Bundesliga roundup: Bayern loses, Leipzig fails to clinch top spot

Ten points separate the top nine teams in the Bundesliga, pointing to a tight race for the title, and there were some surprise results in the Bundesliga last weekend.

First, on Friday, league leaders, Bayern Munich lost 3-2 away to Borussia Monchengladbach, despite taking a two-goal lead.

With the top spot up for grabs because of Bayern’s loss, RB Leipzig lost at home to Borussia Dortmund, 3-1 last Saturday.

Also, Schalke 04 won their first game of the season – a surprising 4-0 home win over Hoffenheim.

Robert Lewandowski continues to blaze the trail of the top scorer, with 20 goals from 14 league appearances. Erling Braut Haaland returned to the Dortmund side with two goals, to take his goal tally for the season to 12 in 10 appearances.

After the weekend’s results, the top four teams – Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, and Borussia Dortmund are separated by five points.

The prime movers of the weekend are Dortmund, who were the only top four team to snag a win as Bayern and Leipzig lost while 15th-placed Werder Bremen forced Leverkusen to a draw.

At the post-match press conference, Bayern’s Manager, Hansi Flick, said though his team showed they wanted all three points in the first 30 minutes of the game, they consequently switched off.

“We unnecessarily lost the ball on three different occasions and our opponents punished us in a brutally, efficient way.”

One of Dortmund’s scorers, Jadon Sancho, who has had an underwhelming season, after a series of transfer rumours to Manchester United last summer, said in his post-match interview that he was determined to start the new year on a better note, which he did by scoring and providing one assist. Sancho ended last season with 17 goals and 16 assists.

Surprise team of the season – Union Berlin – were pegged back by 10-man Wolfsburg but they stay in fifth with 25 points. They have suffered just two defeats all season, same as Bayern Munich.

The 16th match-day kicks off on Friday, when fifth-placed Union Berlin will host third-placed Leverkusen.

Results

Borussia Monchengladbach 3 – 2 Bayern Munich

Bayer Leverkusen 1 – 1 Werder Bremen

Freiburg 5 – 0 Köln

Union Berlin 2 – 2 Wolfsburg

Schalke 04 4 – 0 Hoffenheim

Mainz 05 0 – 2 Eintracht Frankfurt

RB Leipzig 1 – 3 Borussia Dortmund

Augsburg 1 – 4 Stuttgart

Arminia Bielefeld 1 – 0 Hertha BSC