Good week for: Christian Streich, Braces, Javi Martinez, Wolfsburg, Luka Jovic

Bad week for: Christian Heidel, Augsburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Kingsley Coman

The lowdown

- It's as you were at the top, with Bayern's unconvincing 1-0 win over Hertha Berlin tempered by a hamstring injury to Kingsley Coman but taking them level on points with Dortmund on Saturday night. But BVB's first win in nearly a month, a 3-2 victory over Leverkusen, re-asserted the three point gap a day later. Jadon Sancho's volley was the highlight of that while Peter Bosz's Leverkusen side gave a decent account of themselves on their coach's return.

- After a refreshing season of overachievement, Schalke have well and truly re-affirmed their status as the Bundesliga's biggest basket case. A 3-0 loss to Mainz on Saturday preceeded the announcement that Christian Heidel, the once highly-regarded sporting director, would leave at the end of the season. Rumors abound that head coach Domenico Tedesco won't be fair behind. It looks like it's back to the drawing board in Gelsenkirchen. Again.

- Karim Onisiwo was the scorer of two of those goals in a Saturday afternoon packed with braces, or doppelpacks, as they're known in Germany. The Austrian was joined in the double club by Freiburg's Nils Petersen and Wolfsburg's Admir Mehmedi, with only Bayern Munich's game against Hertha Berlin failing to provide a brace in the Saturday 15:30 kickoffs.

- Mehmedi's goals helped Wolfsburg to an impressive 3-0 away win against third place Borussia Mönchengladbach which means the Wolves already have more points than they gained in 2017-18 and 16-17.

- Saturday's late game told the contrasting tale of last season's promoted sides. In November Fortuna Düsseldorf were bottom of the pile but after their 2-1 over Nuremberg, Friedhelm Funkel's side have now won six out of their last nine and appear safe.

Their opponents, on the other hand, are looking increasingly doomed with an early red card and a comical headed own goal contributing to their downfall. They haven't won for 17 league games and having just sacked their coach and sporting director, it's difficult to see where they can turn next. 

- Luka Jovic and Eintracht Frankfurt just keep going. Despite their European exertions, the Eagles brushed aside Hannover on Sunday and Jovic got his 16th of the season, he's now three goals clear of Robert Lewandowski and Marco Reus in the race to be top scorer. 

The quotes

"Maybe (Carlo) Ancelotti, (Jupp) Heynckes, and (Pep) Guardiola have no clue about football, because I always played for them. With Niko, I played in the Hinrunde; now I’m not playing anymore. I don’t know what’s up. I’m really disappointed." Bayern Munich's Rafinha can't understand why Niko Kovac won't pick him anymore.

"We shot ourselves in the foot today. Our performance was awful. I've got to let the result sink in first to be able to say more about it," Domenico Tedesco pulls no punches in his assessment of his side. Not for the first time this season.

“Today was a complete failure from our point of view. I don’t really know where we were today. We certainly didn’t turn up on the pitch. It could’ve easily been 5-0 or 6-0 before half-time." Augsburg goalkeeper Gregor Kobel is equally critical of his team's display.

"Congratulations to the BVB family because at this stage of the season three points are important. I honestly hope that Dortmund continues to play well and hold their lead." Peter Bosz hopes his old club will go on to win the title despite his Leverkusen side losing out to Dortmund on Sunday.

The stats

Freiburg's 5-1 demolition of Augsburg was the first time they've won by a four goal margin in the Bundesliga under Christian Streich, who has been the club's head coach since 2011. 

Florian Niederlechner's strike in that game was the 100th scored from the bench in a Bundesliga match this season, that's the quickest time that figure has been reached in the league's history.

Wolfsburg scored with all three of their shots on target on Saturday.

Matheus Pereira had just one touch of the ball before being sent off as Nuremberg lost to Düsseldorf.

The fans

Fan groups across Germany showed solidarity with Eintracht Frankfurt fans, after a police operation described as "disproportionate" ahead of the Europa League against Shakhtar Donetsk. Bayern Munich, Freiburg, Dynamo Dresden and Union Berlin were among the clubs whose supporters unfurled banners criticizing the German state of Hessen's interior minister Peter Beuth, who had recently suggested sending fans to jail for the use of pyrotechnics at football stadiums.