EURO BITES: Bundesliga - Weekend of remembrance marred by riots, Dortmund suffer surprise loss, and Stuttgart are in crisis

Chris Leischwitz bring the latest news from the Bundesliga as violence mars what should have been a peaceful weekend.

VIOLENCE MARS A WEEKEND OF REMEMBRANCE

The weekend’s Bundesliga games all began with a minute of silence in remembrance of the victims of the Paris terrorist attacks – and also saw heightened security at grounds across the country. The match between Stuttgart and Mainz, for example, had to start 15 minutes late because of delays at security checkpoints. But sadly many fans ignored appeals for peace and remembrance. Severe riots took place before the Schalke-Bayern match on Saturday night, mainly caused by fans from Munich, and led to 196 arrests and several people injured. A mass brawl was also reported at the Mönchengladbach-Hannover match, while many fans of Werder Bremen rioted on the way to Wolfsburg and were also taken into custody. In addition, several incidents that took place during third division matches also drew a dark picture of German football fans.

MORE BAYERN MUNICH EFFORT NEEDED IN CLOSE WIN AGAINST SCHALKE

FC Schalke’s players were celebrated on the pitch after their performance against Bayern Munich on Saturday night, although they unexpectedly lost the match 3-1. That was because Bayern’s performance was not as dominant as usual. David Alaba scored the opener with a luckily deflected shot, but it was answered by Max Meyer after a spectacular solo assist by 19-year-old German prospect Leroy Sané. Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, standing in front of the Schalke terrace he regularly visited himself as a boy and player, looked vulnerable when conceding and gave the host optimism of an upset. The win, however, was brought up by Javier Martinez and Thomas Müller goals in the second half with the former profiting from the only grave defensive mistake when scoring a header.

DORTMUND EIGHT POINTS BEHIND BAYERN AFTER SURPRISING LOSS

Borussia Dortmund unexpectedly lost ground in their pursuit of Bayern Munich when losing to Hamburger SV on Friday night. Hamburg took advantage of several defensive mistakes, taking the lead through a Pierre-Michel Lasogga penalty before Lewis Holtby profited from a mistake by young Matthias Ginter when scoring before halftime. The third HSV goal came when Mats Hummels put a corner into his own goal. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did get one back four minutes from time, but it was undoubtedly Dortmund’s poorest performance of the season so far. The black and yellow trail Munich by eight points now.

BREMEN CRISIS AFTER EMBARRASSING LOSS IN WOLFSBURG

A highly-motivated Wolfsburg squad engulfed Werder Bremen into a severe crisis when winning 6-0. Even the often criticised André Schürrle received compliments afterwards for his three assists within 25 minutes in the pitch. However, Schürrle and his team-mates missed the chance to win by a two digit scoreline after missing several other opportunities. Werder manager Viktor Sripnik praised goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald despite the defeat and said: “Our performance against Leverkusen was worse,” referring to the 3-0 loss two months ago.

STUTTGART IN CRISIS AFTER LOSING TO BOTTOM CLUB AT HOME

VfB Stuttgart fans finally lost their patience with their team after a 4-0 home loss to bottom club FC Augsburg. Stuttgart’s offensive style of playing was punished by several fast counter-attacks as they fell 3-0 behind by halftime. Things got no better after the break either. “I am asking myself what I oversaw during preparation,” Stuttgart manager Alexander Zorniger stated after the match. His general manager, Robin Dutt, left no doubt that Zorniger will remain in the job. “Many players should follow his example and act a little more self-critical,” he said. Stuttgart has already conceded 31 goals after 13 games, by far the most in the Bundesliga.

COLOGNE NOT IN CARNIVAL MOOD

FC Köln and FSV Mainz 05 consider themselves “carnival clubs”, both of their cities being a stronghold for the German so-called “fifth season”, and also for the party atmosphere during football matches. The Cologne club, however, decided not to introduce the planned carnival team jerseys last Saturday (November 11 is the beginning of carnival season) during the match against Mainz because of the Paris attacks and the cancelled exhibition match due to an imminent threat. The game itself did not produce any joyful mood either – it was the only scoreless draw in Germany’s top leagues this weekend.