Three things we learnt from the Bundesliga Konferenz

Matchday five of the Bundesliga was kick-started by Bayern Munich with a 4-0 win against Werder Bremen on Friday evening. On Saturday, it was the turn of eight more teams. 

Borussia Dortmund travelled to Mainz, Bayer Leverkusen were also away at St.Pauli, Wolfsburg hosted RB Leipzig, and Heidenheim faced Augsburg. 

So here are the three things we learnt:

Borussia Dortmund have Bundesliga champion potential:

That’s right, I have been dragged into the hype once again. The question of whether Dortmund were too reliant on Serhou Guirassy was dispelled today.

Without their star striker, Dortmund were able to somewhat comfortably beat Mainz 2-0, with Julian Brandt providing two assists. The first goal came when, at one end, the hosts were ever so close to taking the lead when Paul Nebel’s effort hit the post, then Dortmund immediately went on the counter to make it 1-0.

Just before half-time, Dortmund would make use of the counter once again to make it 2-0 when Karim Adeyemi was able to lead a two-man counter with Brandt, before the winger finished it off. 

For the second Bundesliga game in a row, Dortmund have won a game with relatively little drama (except for Robin Zentner’s sending off).

There is clearly a switch under Niko Kovac in how Dortmund manage games, and it is paying off. They now look like a team that you can trust to win the difficult games that a champion must do (cliché, I know). Considering how good Dortmund have been under Kovac, they currently look like the only team that will be able to challenge the all-conquering Bayern Munich at the moment. 

Bayer Leverkusen show grit:

In the first handful of games under Kasper Hjulmand, it has not been pretty, as the coach and the squad still get used to everyone, and that was again the case today against a tough St.Pauli side.

The hosts had more chances in front of the goal, the Leverkusen back line was able to hold them to only one big chance (via FotMob), and they could have even stopped them from scoring their only goal if Mark Flekken did not let the ball slip through his hands. 

Die Werkself were clinical where they needed to be and ultimately showed grit to get the job done and come away with the three points. 

B04 still need to show more creativity in their attack. The players they have at their disposal are good enough to be a creative force, but they still lack that spark. While on the defensive end, Jarell Quansah, Loïc Bade and Edmond Tapsoba, on an individual level, are better than the backline of Odilon Kossounou, Jonathan Tah and Tapsoba, who won the league. As a collective, they must win something before they can be considered better. 

The game against Bayern Munich came too early for RB Leipzig:

Leipzig opened their Bundesliga season with a 6-0 loss to Bayern Munich. Now, they have won four Bundesliga games in a row. 

The Red Bull side were made to work for their win against Wolfsburg, with the Autostadt side applying significant pressure in the second half, but Leipzig were able to weather the storm. The win could have been a lot more comfortable if Christopher Baumgartner had converted his late penalty. 

As Ole Werner gets more and more time with this young squad, things are slowly coming together for Leipzig. The front three of Yan Diomande, Romulo and especially Johan Bakayoko have the promise to be exciting. The Belgian already has two Bundesliga goals for Leipzig and looks to be the main player in this new-look attack. 

GGFN | Jack Meenan