Three games into the new Bundesliga season Bayern Munich remain without a win after goals Saturday from Andreas Ivanschitz and Aristide Bance helped newly-promoted Mainz 05 to a shock 2-1 victory over the German giants.

Meanwhile as a Bayern team missing Franck Ribery and Luca Toni continued to struggle under new coach Louis van Gaal, Bayer Leverkusen maintained their strong start and go to the top on goal difference courtesy of a 5-0 mauling of SC Freiburg.

Leverkusen are the new pacesetters with seven points from three games, level with Schalke 04, who dropped their first points of the season when they were held to a goalless draw on Friday at Hoffenheim.

VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund both lost ground on the top of the table after playing out a 1-1 draw while a surprise victory for Mainz sees them move up to fourth on five points, level with Eintracht Frankfurt, who played out a scoreless draw with Cologne.

Champions VfL Wolfsburg sit third on six points ahead of their visit to SV Hamburg on Sunday while Munich now languishes in 12th on just two points.

Bayern's boss not happy

"That was very disappointing and I am asking myself what we have done incorrectly in our preparations," said a notably disappointed Van Gaal.

Mainz were every bit Bayern's equals in the early stages and took a deserved lead on 25 minutes when Austrian Ivanschitz sent in a shot from 25 metres that slipped in under Bayern goalkeeper Michael Rensing's outstretched arm.

"That was absolutely terrible and a serious wake-up call for us. We shouldn't have lost like that," Rensing said.

Things got even worse for Louis van Gaal's side seven minutes before the break when Bance rose above Daniel van Buyten to head home from 10 metres and make it 2-0 to Thomas Tuchel's side.

With Bayern now looking to pull back from a two-goal deficit, Van Gaal immediately brought on Croatian striker Ivica Olic for midfielder Danijel Pranijic.

"Normally I wouldn't make a substitution so early but I could have taken off a lot more players," said an angry Van Gaal.

Mainz did give Bayern a lifeline on 47 minutes when Nikolce Noveski headed a Thomas Mueller cross into his own net and Mueller subsequently had a glorious opportunity to equalize on the hour-mark but his header of Van Buyten's pinpoint cross was wide.

Van Gaal brought on Jose Sosa for Miroslav Klose with 18 minutes left as Bayern continued to press for an equalizer but the Argentine couldn't make good a free-kick opportunity four minutes later.

Mario Gomez hit the side-netting as Bayern got ever more desperate but Mainz held on for a stunning win.

Elsewhere in the league

While Bayern struggled, Bayer Leverkusen went top of the table after three games when they hammered Freiburg.

"For us it was a very strange game, because Freiburg were clearly the better team during the first 35 minutes," said Bayer coach Jupp Heynckes.

Stefan Kiessling scored his third goal of the season on 35 minutes to open the scoring at Freiburg's Badenova stadium, firing home after being found by Simon Rolfes.

Swiss international Tranquillo Barnetta doubled Leverkusen's lead two minutes after the restart with a nicely-struck shot from the edge of the area, while a further brace from Eren Deriyok, sandwiched by Barnetta's second, completed the rout.

"Being top of the table means nothing to me," said Leverkusen's Jupp Heynckes. "The way we played in the first half was still unacceptable."

Stuttgart lost ground despite coming back from a goal down at Borussia Dortmund to salvage a 1-1 draw.

Nelson Valdez put Dortmund ahead on 27 minutes, Nuri Sahin setting the Paraguayan up to finish clinically, placing the ball beyond the reach of Jens Lehmann.

Julian Schieber could have drawn Stuttgart level on the stroke of half-time after playing a combination with Cacau but Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller saved the 20-year-old's shot well.

Dortmund paid the price almost immediately after the restart as Georg Niedermeier headed in from five metres.

In the day's other game, Jiri Stajner scored twice and could also afford to miss a penalty as Hanover 96 beat Nuremberg 2-0.

In Sunday action, apart from Hamburg's clash with Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen entertain Borussia Moenchengladbach and VfL Bochum face Hertha Berlin.

av/Reuters/AFP/dpa
Editor: Nick Amies