Euro Bites - Germany

All the latest from Germany as Bayern survive a tumultuous trip to Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund take their place at the top.

DRAMATIC BAYERN MUNICH IN COMEBACK WIN

A goal conceded after just nine seconds, a defender off injured in the first half and another sent off after 73 minutes and a penalty given against them – yet Bayern Munich still managed to win the first game on their travels this season. The 2-1 win over Hoffenheim was dramatic, well-deserved, and passionate and helped cut the gossip about the team’s mood and the manager’s future. Pep Guardiola later marked it out as one of the best Bundesliga performances from his team in the last three years. David Alaba triggered the deficit with a poor pass but Thomas Müller equalised and Robert Lewandwoski got the winner in the very last minute.

VARGAS WATCHES HOFFENHEIM LOSS FROM THE TERRACE

Chilean midfielder and striker Eduardo Vargas could not get involved as 1899 Hoffenheim lost to Bayern Munich on Saturday, but he could not help watching the game from the terrace either. His appearance in public was a clear sign that Hoffenheim has done all they can to replace Roberto Firmino, who left for Liverpool in the summer. Vargas, who contributed to Chile´s Copa America win last July and played for Queens Park Rangers last season, moves to Southwest Germany for an alleged 6 million Euros.

FOUR THE MAGIC NUMBER FOR DORTMUND

Borussia Dortmund is the new league leader after a win over promoted Ingolstadt that saw them score four goals for the third match in a row. In a one-sided game, Thomas Tuchels team dominated for 55 minutes before finally breaking the deadlock. The first goal came from 21-year-old prospect Matthias Ginter and was followed by a penalty from Marco Reus and goals from Shinji Kagawa and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The side is playing some energetic and exciting football but they seem to be late starters - they also struggled in the early part of their second Europa League qualifying round against Odds BK in midweek, when the Norwegians scored after 14 seconds and took a 3-0 lead before Dortmund came back and won 4-3.

MÖNCHENGLADBACH YET TO GEL

Borussia Mönchengladbach is at the bottom of the table after a surprising 1-2 home loss against Mainz 05 on Sunday. The team created a number of goalscoring chances but manager Lucien Favre said: “some players have not reached 100 percent yet.” Mönchengladbach lost several key players over the summer, despite finishing third last season, and their successors are clearly not yet in sync. They will watch the Champions League draw with interest on Thursday but know they need to quickly clean up the Bundesliga mess before they concentrate on that competition.

DRAXLER & DE BRUYNE KEEP SILENT

The two Bundesliga superstars currently drawing focus from foreign clubs had quite different performances last weekend. Schalke’s 21-year-old Julian Draxler scored an important goal after being behind against promoted Darmstadt at home. After the game, Draxler did not want to talk about his future but Schalke is allegedly awaiting a new offer from Juventus. Kevin de Bruyne, meanwhile, showed another poor performance in a Wolfsburg shirt as they drew 1-1 in Cologne. Latest gossip states that the Belgian national has asked to stay in Wolfsburg and showed no personal interest in an offer from Manchester City - yet he seems to be eager to be transferred to Bayern Munich as soon as possible, something that must be seen in connection with Mario Götzes uncertain future in Munich.

A SWING WIN IN THE NEW, OLD STADIUM?

Superstition seems to be helpful sometimes. At least the suffering Hamburger SV fans might think so now. They have had an embarrassing Bundesliga start, with a 0-5 loss to Munich, a national cup loss against an amateur team, the general manager losing confidential paperwork and the launch of a new T-Shirt showing a Berlin fan terrace instead of their own stadium. So Friday night’s 3-2 home win against VfB Stuttgart gave fans reason to cheer, even though the side fell behind again and played terribly. They gave full voice in what they now hope will be a happy new, old home: the stadium was renamed Volksparkstadion at the beginning of the season after carrying sponsors’ names for 14 years and some older supporters hope that will bring back happier times for the six-time German champions.