Euro Bites: Bundesliga - Kevin De Bruyne saga finally over, Borussia Mönchengladbach in crisis and a Phantom referee

The latest news from the Bundesliga as Kevin De Bruyne’s transfer saga finally ends, Borussia Dortmund lead the way, Borussia Mönchengladbach’s crisis deepens and a tale of a phantom refereee.

THE TUG WAR IS OVER: KEVIN DE BRUYNE FINALLY LEAVES WOLFSBURG

Kevin de Bruyne did not play on Friday when VfL Wolfsburg beat Schalke 3-0, and most fans didn´t expect to see him in the green jersey again by then anyway. That was because the Belgian national’s long drawn out transfer saga finally came to an end when VfL succeeded in getting a €75 million price for their star man from Manchester City.

The 24-year-old, on a personal level, was allegedly favouring a move to Bayern Munich. German fans are now concerned that even the richest Bundesliga clubs are not able to compete with Premier League offers anymore – something that even VW chairman Martin Winterkorn confirmed in Bild Sunday night.

A BUSY TRANSFER WINDOW IN GERMANY

Bundesliga clubs losing star players to the Premier League have wasted no time in re-investing their money. Wolfsburg signed Dante on Sunday, a popular defender who fell out with Bayern Munich’s manager Pep Guardiola last season. In addition, Schalke’s Julian Draxler is said to be set to join the now cash-rich Wolfsburg, reportedly accepting a higher offer than the latest one from Juventus, who he was expected to join. 1899 Hoffenheim, which lost Roberto Firminho to Liverpool, have added Eduardo Vargas to their squad from SSC Napoli. The Chile national made a rather underwhelming debut, however, during a goalless draw against promoted Darmstadt.

DORTMUND STILL IN THE LEAD

Borussia Dortmund, forced to go through two Europa League qualifying rounds, has already played eight competitive matches this season – and won all of them.

After beating Norwegian side Odds BK on Thursday 7-2, Thomas Tuchel’s team gave another dominant performance on Sunday against Hertha BSC Berlin.

However, they found themselves in a tight game at the end after squandering several good chances and allowing a Hertha back into the game in the 78th minute (although it was scored from an offside position).

Dortmund fans had to wait for the decisive strike from Sergio Ramos in the third minute of injury time to seal a 3-1 victory. The goal gave Dortmund the outright lead in the Bundesliga table, by one goal more from Bayern Munich.

ARJEN ROBBEN’s TICKING OFF FOR DOUGLAS COSTA’s “CIRCUS SHOW”

During Saturday night’s prime time game, it soon became clear that Bayer Leverkusen, the fourth German qualifier to this year’s UEFA Champions League, had not the slightest chance to win against a focused Bayern Munich team.

Munich dominated through 65 per cent of ball possession and created a host of clear-cut scoring chances in a comfortable 3-0 win.

The mood inside the Munich squad, however, seems to be a little disturbed. After Munich’s new star Douglas Costa showed a spectacular and yet unprofitable trick against a Leverkusen player, Arjen Robben criticised his new team-mate openly: “This is for the circus. One should show respect for the opponent.”

BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH’S CRISIS IS DEEPENING

Borussia Mönchengladbach lost a third game in a row on Sunday in a 2-1 road defeat in Bremen and is locked on the bottom of the table after their worst start to a season ever.

The performance is causing some anxiety, since the loss was well-derserved and the young Mönchengladbach team faces tougher opponents in the coming months having been drawn into a Champions League group together with FC Sevilla, Manchester City and Juventus.

Gladbach’s discontent culminated in sending off of Granit Xhaka for two bookable offences. The Swiss national was especially upset about his first yellow card in the 25. minute when not making contact with the opposing player (who later admitted that fact as well).

Xhaka will miss the next game against Hamburger SV which is already considered a relegation six-pointer.

A PHANTOM REFEREE IN THE DRESSING ROOM?

It almost seems like the Hamburger SV team is having fun in dropping bricks on a weekly basis. This time, former Tottenham player Lewis Holtby made a statement after Saturdays 2-1 loss in Cologne that left journalists and officials dazzled – at least for a while.

1. FC Köln had won the game thanks to a controversial penalty in the 81st minute, which also saw a red card for Hamburg’s Emir Spahic.

Holtby later claimed that the referee came into the Hamburg dressing room after the game, apologising for his decision. But 24 hours later, Holtby apologised himself, stating that he had been “misinformed”.