Nicolai Müller once again scored on the opening day, but this time he didn't rule himself out for the season. Elsewhere, Bayern Munich were in the middle of VAR chaos, Dortmund shone, and a number of debutants dazzled.
Image: Reuters/M. Dalder
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Good week for: Nicolai Müller, Daniel Ginczek, Augsburg, Hendrik Weydandt, Axel Witsel
Bad week for: The newly promoted sides, Leon Bailey, Domenico Tedesco, RB Leipzig
The lowdown
- For all the new faces in squads and dugouts, the opening weekend featured some familiar themes. Bayern Munich did enough to pick up three points, Dortmund looked better at the front than the back and VAR decisions proved contentious.
New season, old controversies. Bayern Munich got off to a winning start but failed to really convince, much like VAR. Neither newly promoted side started well on Saturday while Schalke also slipped up at Wolfsburg.
Image: Reuters/M. Dalder
Wolfsburg 2 - 1 Schalke
Daniel Ginczek (pictured) followed a goal on his German Cup debut with a last gasp winner on his league debut as Wolfsburg took the points. John Brooks had earlier played hero and villain, powering home a header on his 100th Bundesliga appearance before making a dangerous tackle that allowed Nabil Bentaleb to equalize from the spot. Schalke had Matija Nastasic sent off after a VAR referral.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Schwarz
Fortuna Düsseldorf 1 - 2 FC Augsburg
After five years away from the top table, it took Düsseldorf just 39 minutes to get back among the Bundesliga goals. Benito Raman nodded them in to a half time lead. But Martin Hinteregger pulled one back with his head before Andre Hahn (right) completed a hat trick of headers on his league debut for Augsburg to complete the comeback and secure Augsburg a first ever opening weekend Bundesliga win.
Image: imago/DeFodi
Hertha Berlin 1 - 0 Nuremburg
The other promoted side fared no better as Nuremberg fell to defeat in the capital. Hertha skipper Veded Ibisevic (19) took advantage of some brilliant work from Valentino Lazaro to stroke the hosts in front in the first half. Mikael Ishak wasted the chance to salvage a point for Nuremburg when he put his 85th minute penalty too close to keeper Rune Jarstein.
Image: imago/Zink
Freiburg 0 - 2 Eintracht Frankfurt
Nicolai Müller (left) loves to make an impact on the opening weekend. He scored the winner on his Frankfurt league debut on Saturday after joining from Hamburg, where he also scored on Matchday 1 of 2017-18, before injuring himself while celebrating. That injury kept him out until May and he was a little more careful this time round. Sebastien Haller sealed the Eagles the win late on.
Image: imago/J. Huebner
Werder Bremen 1 - 1 Hanover
It was all even in Bremen as the home team denied Hanover a winning start to the season. The guests had gone in front through debutant Hendrik Weydandt - who was playing amateur football four years ago - in the 76th minute. But with just five minutes to play, defender Theodor Gebre Selassie popped up with the equalizer for Bremen.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Jaspersen
Borussia Mönchengladbach 2 - 0 Bayer Leverkusen
Gladbach got their campaign off to a great start with an entertaining win over fellow European hopefuls Leverkusen. Thorgan Hazard missed a first-half penalty, but Gladbach were given another chance from the spot in the 55th minute, with Jonas Hofmann making no mistake. Just three minute later, Fabian Johnson finished off a slick move to hand Gladbach a 2-0 victory.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/L. Baron
Mainz 1-0 Stuttgart
Mainz opened their season with all three points in what was a tight battle against Stuttgart. Mainz fielded their youngest ever Bundesliga team and the inexperienced side proved themselves more than a match for the Bundesliga. Anthony Ujah proved the difference, finishing off a counter-attack in the 76th minute to hand Mainz a 1-0 victory.
Image: Imago/Nordphoto/Fabisch
Borussia Dortmund 4-1 RB Leipzig
A successful Bundesliga debut for Lucien Favre as BVB coach. Despite Leipzig's Jean-Kevin Augustin scoring the fastest goal in Bundesliga history after just 32 seconds, the home side bounced back. Mahmoud Dahoud equalized with a spectacular header, Marco Reus assisted an own-goal and scored (90'), but Axel Witsel stole the show with a bicycle kick to hand the BVB a 4-1 victory.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Revierp
Bayern Munich 3 - 1 Hoffenheim
Goals from the familiar trio of Thomas Müller, Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben took Bayern Munich to a hard-fought win in Niko Kovac's first league match in charge. But Hoffenheim were aggrieved at the dubious penalty that made it 2-1 just as the men in white threatened an upset. VAR made Bayern take the penalty again before ruling out another Müller goal. A strange way to start the season.
Image: Reuters/M. Dalder
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- The referee-assisting technology made critical interventions in Bayern's 3-1 win (see, The Weird, below) over Hoffenheim on Friday as well as Schalke's late defeat to Wolfsburg on Saturday. The Royal Blues were reduced to 10 men after Matija Nastasic's yellow card was upgraded to a red, before the opposite happened to Wolfsburg's Wout Weghorst. Neither decision was entirely clear cut. But Daniel Ginczek's cool injury-time finish on debut was, and sealed a largely deserved win for the Wolves, who won just one of their first 11 last term.
- There was no such controversy in the biggest game of the weekend on Sunday evening but Jean-Kevin Augustin laid down a strong early marker for quickest goal of the season. The Leipzig front man scored just 31 seconds in to the match but it was to no avail as BVB ran out 4-1 winners in an incredibly open game. Much more on that one here.
- Plenty of new faces were on show over the weekend, as you'd expect on Matchday 1. Some, like Ginczek, impressed but Salif Sane and Suat Serdar both struggled to reach their levels of last season in a Schalke shirt. Leon Goretzka made his Bayern bow from the bench but Hoffenheim's Kasim Adams Nuhu had a shocker in that same game. He commited a string of fouls and would surely have been sent off had Julian Naglemann not substituted him.
- But the feel-good stories of Matchday 1 belonged to Nicolai Müller and Hendrik Weydandt. Müller scored the first in Eintracht Frankfurt's 2-0 win at Freiburg, just as he'd scored Hamburg's opener in their Matchday 1 win last year. But that was to be his only contribution for HSV, as he ruptured his cruciate ligament while celebrating. He didn't re-appear until an 11-minute cameo in the season's penultimate game. Hamburg dropped to the 2. Bundesliga the next week. As for Weydandt...
The stats
- John Brook's opener in Wolfsburg's win over Schalke was his first goal for the Wolves in his 100th Bundesliga appearance.
- Henrik Weydandt (see above) has now scored from each of his first three shots in professional football.
- Axel Witsel now has two goals in two games for Borussia Dortmund. The same amount he got in the whole of last season with Tianjin Quanjian.
The quotes
"I wouldn't have given it." Bayern Munich coach Niko Kovac admits his side got lucky in the award of the penalty that ultimately restored their lead over Hoffenheim.
"Something completely irrational needs to happen for us to let him go, both in terms of the size of the offer and the player's own wish." Stuttgart sporting director Michael Reschke on the potential departure of World Cup-winning defender Benjamin Pavard.
"Finally. I haven’t saved a penalty for a long time. I told myself it was about time that I should stop one." Hertha Berlin's man between the sticks, Rune Jarstein,on his late penalty stop that secured three points against Nuremberg.
"I really missed it, playing in front of the south [stand]. It felt even louder than usual." Dortmund's Roman Bürki feels he's been away too long.
Roman Bürki made several crucial saves in Borussia Dortmund's winImage: Imago/Team 2
"There's five days to go, and I won't be ruling it out that we will do something." Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc hints that the long search for a striker may still be alive.
"The VAR interventions made it no normal Bundesliga game for us today." Schalke keeper Ralf Fährmann chooses his words very carefully.
The weird
Back to VAR we go. Some of the quirks of the controversial system have been ascribed to teething troubles, but after a season and countless revisions to its operation, chaos reigned in the very first match of 2018-19.
Robert Lewandowski's poor second-half penalty was saved by Oliver Baumann before Arjen Robben slammed home the rebound. Bayern began to celebrate and then play stopped. Suddenly, Lewandowski was re-spotting the ball for reasons unclear to those watching. The VAR graphics on the screens of broadcasters showed offside, impossible in this situation. Then there were suggestions that Baumann had come off his line before the kick was taken, which, given that Bayern scored, made no difference to the outcome.
Finally, it was established that Robben had encroached as the penalty was taken. As the penalty was missed, there is some suggestion that Hoffenheim should have been given a free kick for Robben's premature run. But they weren't, and Lewandowski put Bayern 2-1 up. It was as clear as mud to those with the benefit of watching on TV, so spare a thought for the ticket-buying fans in the Allianz Arena.
Bundesliga 2018-19: 10 things to know
In the 56th Bundesliga season, Bayern Munich are favorites for the title again. But there's plenty more to know about Germany's top flight.
Image: picture-alliance/imageBROKER/H. Blossey
Bayern lead the way
Bayern have won the last six titles, 28 overall. The club has one of the biggest profiles in the world, and has the finances to support it. The annual turnover was nearly €600 million and the squad's market value is around €845 million. Those are just some of the numbers. Bayern are the benchmark.
Image: picture-alliance/sampics/C. Pahnke
Promotion specialists in the top flight
Nuremberg's return to the Bundesliga after four years away. It's the clubs eighth promotion, an achievement no other side has managed. Fortuna Düsseldorf are also experts when it comes to going up. Their return to the Bundesliga was their sixth promotion into the big league. The real question is: can they stay there?
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Karmann
Technical revolution: Headsets on the bench
Bundesliga referees have long been using headsets, but now they're in use in the dugout. The assistant head coach and staff are allowed three headsets used for coaching or tactical instructions. Performance data should also be available during the game. Treatment of injured players should also be optimized.
Image: imago/J. Huebner
VAR after World Cup trial
The video assistant referee (VAR) was used last season, but with questionable levels of success. Too slow, too confusing — VAR has quite a few opponents. Now, everything should be better. The use of the technology at the World Cup in Russia was seen as exemplary. The most important change: The TV images and the decision will be shown on screens, so as to increase transparency.
Much of the fascination around the Bundesliga is symbolized by their high attendance numbers. The Dortmund Südtribune is the biggest standing stand in Europe, with 24,454 standing spots. It's always full. Bundesliga stadiums are attendance magnets. An average of 43,878 fans attended stadiums per game last season - a new record and the best in Europe, ahead of England (36,000) and Spain (27,000).
In the Bundesliga, they've still got the good old standing terraces. What used to be a must are all gone in England, Italy and Spain's top flight. In Germany though, cheap tickets and great atmosphere get the football nostalgic heart beating a little faster. Some visiting fans from around the world get lucky enough to experience that special feeling of being able to stand while watching the game.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/C. Gateau
A female ref
The Bundesliga has something none of the other top leagues in Europe have: a female referee. After lots of games in the second and third division, Bibiana Steinhaus officiated Hertha Berlin against Werder Bremen on September 10, 2017. In doing so, she became the first woman to referee a Bundesliga game. The 39-year-old has been in charge of eight games to date.
Image: picture-alliance/augenklick/firo Sportphoto/S. El Saqqa
Corentin Tolisso - the most expensive Bundesliga transfer
In 2017, Bayern Munich purchased French midfielder Corentin Tolisso for €41.5 million. It was a Bundesliga record for a new Bundesliga signing. Tolisso's transfer fee was €1.5 million higher than teammate's Javi Martinez. The most expensive departure from the league was Dortmund's Ousmane Dembele, who joined Barcelona for over €100 million.
Image: picture-alliance/Rauchensteiner/Augenklick
Multicultural football
Unlike France or Spain, the Bundesliga has no restriction on non-EU players. Eintracht Frankfurt had one of the most multicultural squads in the league last year. When they faced Cologne on matchday five, they had 11 players from 11 different countries.
Many fans call their stadiums a temple. In Frankfurt, Berlin and Gelsenkirchen, that's not far from the truth; in all three stadiums there's a chapel. Schalke's stadium is the only in Europe's top leagues that has a roof that can close. "Indoor" football at the top level — only in the Bundesliga.
