Bayern Munich's win over RB Leipzig on Saturday put them top of the Bundesliga again. With less than a third of the season gone, the whole league is shaping up as most imagined, and it's to almost everyone's detriment.
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Image: picture alliance/dpa/S. Hoppe
Bayern's straightforward 2-0 victory over their latest challengers was barely a spectacle, thanks largely to the early sending off of Willi Orban. There's a real danger that the league is going the same way, with other clubs at a competetive disadvantage and the outcome a foregone conclusion long before genuine drama has a chance to emerge.
Bayern's sluggish start means their lead is currently only a point, but this time last year the talk was of a real challenge from Germany's east. Bayern put Leipzig in their place ahead of the winter break and after Saturday's game, Jupp Heynckes' side are overwhelming favorites to win a sixth straight title with the bookmakers.
Dortmund's defensive shortcomings are serious enough to ensure they don't look like a side capable of a title challenge, while Leipzig's performance in the German Cup on Wednesday showed they have the ability, if not neccessarily the nous or squad depth, to compete.
DW's Matt Pearson
Assets stripped
Equally critical is that both of those sides - though more financially powerful than the rest of the league - still operate on a different planet to the champions. Dortmund were forced, seemingly against their initial will, to sell their hottest young prospect in the close season, when Ousmane Dembele forced through a move to Barcelona. Leipzig managed to hold on to Naby Keita for this season before he gets his wish to move to Liverpool.
Further down, Bayern stripped last year's surprise package Hoffenheim of two of their best players, Niklas Süle and Sebastian Rudy, before the season was over. It's hard to remember the last time Bayern sold a key first team player. It just doesn't happen very often.
None of this is particularly new. Bayern have been dominant on, and particularly off the pitch for some time. But they haven't always won. Other clubs have found a way. In the six years before Bayern's current run of five successive titles, there were four different champions - Bayern (twice), Dortmund (twice), Wolfsburg and Stuttgart.
The sense of jeopardy in seasons - and matches - is what makes a league attractive for those without club loyalties - that includes both foreigners and fans of non top-flight clubs in Germany. Another Bayern title win would put that at severe risk. As much as there are misgivings about how Leipzig arrived at the top of the table, a club that can challenge Bayern's dominance is essential from a sporting perspective.
Hamburg boss Markus Gisdol's job is under threatImage: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Heimken
Few shocks further down
With the exception of Hannover, who have been brilliant thus far, the rest of the top half is similarly unsurprising and, as with many of Europe's top leagues, bears a striking resemblance to a table of the league's wage bills.
While many are a little taken aback with Cologne's implosion, the crises surrounding Hamburg and Werder Bremen carry with them an overwhelming sense of deja vu. It would be a great surprise if Alexander Nouri and Markus Gisdol saw out the year.
But it's at the top where the problem is the most pressing. While Saturday's game may not have been one from which to draw too many conclusions, the modern version of Bayern don't often let a lead slip. For the Bundesliga's sake, let's hope this time they do.
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich top Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund stunned by Hannover
Bayern Munich took advantage of a slip-up by Borussia Dortmund. Cologne are still hunting for a win and on Sunday, Werder Bremen suffered at the hands of one man. Here is the Matchday 10 roundup.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/M. Rose
Werder Bremen 0-3 Augsburg
Michael Gregoritsch's brace made it four in three games for the Augsburg man and extended Werder Bremen's winless start to 10 league games. The Austrian scored a powerful header and finished off a smart counterattack either side of a penalty by Icelandic stiker Alfred Finbogasson.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/M. Rose
Stuttgart 3-0 Freiburg
This early handball from Freiburg's Caglar Soyuncu meant his side were always going to be up against it on Sunday. Much to coach Christian Streich's frustration the Turkish defender saw red after just 12 minutes. Goals from Daniel Ginczek, Benjamin Pavard and Simon Terrode lifted Stuttgart to 12th.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/A. Grimm
Bayern Munich 2-0 RB Leipzig
Leipzig's quest to top the defending league champions ended early when the club's captain, Willi Orban, was sent off by referee Jochen Drees after just 13 minutes. Orban had impeded Arjen Robben from getting onto a pass from James Rodriguez on the edge of the box.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/A. Grimm
Hannover 4-2 Borussia Dortmund
Roman Bürki (middle) made another big goalkeeping mistake, fouling Felix Klaus (left) for a penalty after less than 20 minutes. He didn't have the worst error of the day though — Dortmund had to play most of the second half with 10 men after Dan-Axel Zagadou was sent off for denying a goal scoring opportunity.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/C. Jaspersen
Hoffenheim 1-3 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Thorgan Hazard (right) was the hero again for Gladbach for the second straight game. He scored the decisive goal for the Foals against Fortuna Düsseldorf in the German Cup, and followed it up with the go-ahead strike against Hoffenheim.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/S. Hofmann
Leverkusen 2-1 Cologne
Sven Bender (right) helped Leverkusen complete a second-half comeback in their second consecutive game. The Leverkusen defender finished off a header from Jonathan Tah from a corner to give the home side the lead.
Image: Imago/M. Volkmann
Hertha Berlin 2-1 Hamburg
Defenders were the driving force for Hertha on Saturday as they topped Hamburg in the German capital. Karim Rekik (right) doubled Hertha's lead just after the halftime break, a lead Hamburg were not able to recover from.
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/S. Sudheimer
Schalke 1-1 Wolfsburg
Nabil Bentaleb (left) scored his first Bundesliga goal of the season after missing time with injury. He converted a penalty to give Schalke the lead in the first half, but Wolfsburg denied Schalke the three points with a stoppage-time equalizer.
Image: picture-alliance/Citypress 24
Mainz 1-1 Frankfurt
Mainz defender Stefan Bell looks despairingly on as he turns the ball into his own net to give Eintracht Frankfurt the lead in the Rhein-Main derby. His blushes were spared, however, as Suat Serdar grabbed a second-half equalizer.