It was billed as the clash of the titans. This weekend provided two of the biggest matches to kick start the Bundesliga season. Bayern Munich v Wolfsburg and Hamburg v Schalke.
The Allianz Arena was the centre of attention on Friday as champions Bayern Munich got off to a rousing start beating Wolfsburg 2-1. Bayern’s goal came courtesy of World Cup star Thomas Muller and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Wolfsburg’s solitary goal was scored by Edin Dzeko.
I now understand why Dzeko is such a prime target for some of Europe’s best clubs. Wolfsburg’s new coach Steve Mclaren was however disappointed to see his side throw away points in the dying minutes of the game.
“That was the worst possible way to lose and of course for us it is a big disappointment,” he explained to the club’s official website after the defeat.
“We came back in the second-half by putting a lot of passion into the game. In the first-half we gave them too much respect. It’s a good lesson for us, but a painful one.”
The trend continued Saturday with Hamburg beating Schalke by the same margin. Ruud Van Nistelrooy was the hero of the day as his brace gave the home side their first win of the season.
Van Nistelrooy was up against former Real Madrid team mate Raul who was making his Bundesliga debut. The game was heading for a draw until Van Nistelrooy struck the winner 7 minutes from time after some neat work from Ze Roberto.
In the day’s other matches, the most shocking result was Weder Bremen’s 4-1 humiliating loss to Hoffenheim. Of course after beating Sampdoria 3-1 in a mid week Europa League first leg tie, many thought that the post Oezil recovery was off to the right start, however, that was not the case.
Hoffenheim were not a full strength squad either as their star player Carlos Eduardo did not feature. The Brazilian international is reported to have reached an agreement with Russian side Rubin Kazan. Kazan have offered Hoffenheim 20 million Euros for the rising star.
Hoffenheim’s goals were scored by Demba Ba, Peniel Mlapa, Vedad Ibisevic and Sejad Salihovic. Tosten Frigns was Bremen’s goal scorer. other scores: Borussia Mochengladbach 1 Nurenberg 1, Hannover 2 Eintracht Franfurt 1, Koeln 1 Kaiserslauten 3 and Frieburg 1 St Pauli 3.
Photo credit: from ScROs
