Euro Bites: Bundesliga - Lucien Favre resigns as Borussia Mönchengladbach boss, Wolfsburg striker ends dispute and marriage brings out the best in free-scoring forward

Round-up of this weekend’s Bundesliga action as Lucien Favre resigns as Borussia Mönchengladbach coach, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund roll on and why marriage is bringing out the best in one striker.

FAVRE’S RESIGNATION A SHOCK TO MÖNCHENGLADBACH

After five straight Bundesliga losses and a clear 3-0 defeats at the hands of FC Sevilla during the week, Borussia Mönchengladbach manager Lucien Favre decided to resign on Sunday, 24 hours after a bitter 1-0 reverse in the prestigious derby against FC Köln. Favre wanted to open the way for new opportunities for the club, who were reluctant to allow the Swiss manager to resign. “We will go through this together,” sports director Max Eberl had said on Saturday. It was revealed later that Eberl was trying to convince Favre to stay after he had offered his resignation. Mönchengladbach, after four years with Favre, is now left without a coach for Wednesday night’s clash with Augsburg.

BAYERN ON THE MARCH

Bayern Munich completed a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Darmstadt 98 despite putting Xabi Alonso, Philipp Lahm, Thomas Müller, Thiago and Javi Martinez on the bench. Arturo Vidal (20.) and 19-year-old Frenchman Kingsley Coman (62.) each scored their first goal for the club, while Darmstadt-born Sebastian Rode scored the last. While the 24-year-old backup player showed one of the most noticeable performances on the pitch, Darmstadt fans found their fun in chanting “you are only substitute players” towards the Bayern bench full of World Champions. After 15 points from five games, Bayern are set to have the first real test of the season on Tuesday night against VfL Wolfsburg.

DORTMUND TITLE CHALLENGE ALSO GATHERING PACE

With the late 2-1 Europa League win over Krasnodar, and an impressive 3-0 vitory over Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday afternoon, Borussia Dortmund seems to be turning into an unbeatable monster. Thomas Tuchel’s team has played 11 games since late July - and has won them all, scoring 39 goals in the process. Leverkusen caused early problems in what was Dortmund’s most vulnerable phase of the season so far, but when goalkeeper Bernd Leno decisively helped Jonas Hofmann to score the first goal of the game after 19 minutes, the black-and-yellow had no problems dominating the game and collecting another win. Marco Reus, who suffered a broken toe three weeks ago, was back in the squad and is expected to return to the pitch on Wednesday night in Hoffenheim, at least as a substitute.

WOLFSBURG’S STRIKER’S TOYS ARE BACK IN THE PRAM AS HE COMES OFF THE BENCH TO SECURE WIN

Dutch striker Bas Dost was very close to being dropped last weekend, but now seems to have found favour with VFL Wolfsburg manager Dieter Hecking. Dost was substituted in Wolfsburg’s Champions League win over CSKA Moscow, and according to Hecking was poor in training. “He acted like his toys were taken away from him. This is some kind of egoism we don´t need here,” Hecking said in a press conference during the week. However, on Saturday, Dost came from the bench and helped his side defeat Hertha BSC Berlin by scoring both goals (76 and 89). On Monday morning, Hecking declared the dispute to be over.

INGOLSTADT BECOMING BUNDESLIGA’S BIGGEST SURPRISE TEAM

FC Ingolstadt set a new record for newly promoted Bundesliga teams by winning the first three away games. On Saturday, Ralph Hasenhüttl’s team stunned Werder Bremen with a penalty in the 92nd minute, converted by Moritz Hartmann. Only one minute earlier homecomer Claudio Pizarro, celebrated by the home crowd, missed one of Werder’s best scoring chances with a header. Ingolstadt has won all three games away from home 1-0 and held Wolfsburg to a scoreless draw at home last weekend. The Audi-sponsored team is now ranked sixth in the table with a peculiar goal difference of 3-4.

GET MARRIED AND SCORE

Many football players and managers believe that women are causing distraction. All those were proved wrong last Friday night when FSV Mainz 05 striker Yunus Malli scored all three goals in a 3-1 home win over Hoffenheim – three days after getting married to his girlfriend Hatice. The German under-23 national player has now scored all of the last five Mainz goals, and has an overall statistic of 11 goals and five assists in 2015 - which is also the year in which he got engaged. Hoffenheim’s manager Markus Gisdol, however, might have to fear a “divorce” from Malli if the team performance do not get any better soon. Hoffenheim is currently ranked 15th and risk losing their star striker.