Euro Bites - Bundesliga

Revelations over United’s ‘indecent’ Muller proposal, Bayern’s controversial penalty, Meier’s masterful comeback and the worst defending in Bundesliga history

BAYERN CELEBRATES CONTROVERSIAL WIN OVER AUGSBURG

It was an expected win for Bayern Munich, but an unexpected struggle against FC Augsburg and it ended with extensive discussion over a controversial 90th minute penalty. Converted by Thomas Müller, the spot kick secured them a 2-1 win but referee Knut Kircher looked at the incident on TV immediately after and saw Douglas Costa had simply run into an opponent who just could not get out of the way in time. Kircher went straight to Augsburg’s locker room and apologized for his decision - but it hit them hard as they’d led until the 77th minute, when Robert Lewandowski equalized a goal by Augsburgs Alexander Esswein. Thanks to the penalty, Munich is still level at the top of the table with Borussia Dortmund, with four wins in four games.

UNFORTUNATE LEVERKUSEN

Promoted Darmstadt 98 are one out four undefeated Bundesliga teams - along with Munich, Dortmund, and Wolfsburg - and they keep leaving established opponents in despair. On Saturday they won 1-0 in Leverkusen thanks to a header by team captain Aytac Sulu - despite Leverkusen having 16 shots on goal and a 73 percent ball possession. New players Kevin Kampl and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez both brought some momentum into the Bayer game but it was not enough. “We have to work on our cleverness”, manager Roger Schmidt said after the game. His team will host another clear underdog on Wednesday when kicking off their Champions League season with a match against Belarus team BATE Barrysau.

MEIER´S SPECTACULAR COMEBACK AFTER INJURY

After his last game in the beginning of April, Frankfurt’s Alexander Meier celebrated a perfect comeback during Bundesliga`s Saturday night game against 1. FC Köln. The 32-year-old who had to undergo a knee surgery, is called “football god” by the local fans, and even more so after three goals in the well-deserved 6-2 win. The 1.96m striker began scoring with a header after only four minutes, and also scored the third and the last goals of the game. Despite his injury after 24 games last season, Meier became Bundesliga`s topscorer of the 2014/15 season – and is now already well on track to defend that title.

MANCHESTER UNITED´S INDECENT MÜLLER PROPOSAL

German football magazine kicker reports that Manchester United was offering a much higher transfer fee for Bayern Munich´s Thomas Müller than previously known. Bayern boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had only confirmed “a very high offer” two weeks ago. Now it is said that it was as high as 120 million Euros (£ 88.1 million). Müller clearly would have become Germany`s most expensive player ever. Müller himself, born and raised 60km outside of Munich, had always mentioned he is not willing to leave his home region. The World Cup winner is currently Bundesliga´s topscorer with six goals in four games.

CELEBRATED AND NOT SO CELEBRATED PREMIERES

Werder Bremen is very pleased with its old, new player. Claudio Pizarro is already 36 years old, and he is only planned to come in to close games for the last minutes. On Sunday, he did exactly that, coming on in the 82nd minute and assisting Bremen’s second goal in the 90th minute thanks to a clever dribbling run. Bremen eventually won 3-1 in Hoffenheim. Two new players in Wolfsburg, however, had a rather mediocre start with their new team. While defender Dante, who was transferred from Bayern Munich, showed no crucial mistakes in a goalless draw at promoted FC Ingolstadt, midfielder Julian Draxler showed a mostly uninspired game, hardly creating any scoring chances. The 21-year-old was transferred for 35 million Euros after failing to meet expectations in Schalke.

AN INCREDIBLY BAD DAY FOR HANNOVER´S FELIPE

Statistically, no defender in Bundesliga history has ever had a worse day than Hannover´s Felipe last Saturday. Against Borussia Dortmund, the 28-year-old, who only made it into the starting eleven due to several absences, was culpable of one own goal in the 67th minute and two Dortmund penalties (in the 35th minute for a foul and the 85th for handball). “Things like that happen. I´d put him in again”, a defiant Hannover Michael Frontzeck said about Felipe - although his kind words were, perhaps, only said because he is depending on him until other players come back from injuries.