Best of Bundesliga: Bayern, BVB, Leipzig split by a point
October 22, 2017
Everything you need to know about Matchday 9 in the Bundesliga.
Good week for: Bayern Munich, Comebacks, Hannover, RB Leipzig
Bad week for: Peter Bosz, First-half leads, Sehrou Guirassy, Cologne, Werder Bremen
Best bits
- Appearance milestones were the theme of the weekend. Stuttgart's Andreas Beck (250 Bundesliga games), Mario Götze (100 Bundesliga games for BVB), Daniel Brosinski (100 Bundesliga games for Mainz), Branimir Hrgota (100 Bundesliga games).
- Schalke scored their eighth set-piece goal this season against Mainz - the most of all Bundesliga teams.
- Stuttgart have not won away in the Bundesliga in eight games - the club's longest league drought since 1974.
- RB Leipzig won their fourth Bundesliga game in a row, and are showing signs they can cope with a European schedule. Marcel Sabitzer's curler was worthy of winning any game, but given the weather and the week RB Leipzig have had it was all the more impressive. Ralph Hasenhüttl's side are third, just one point (19) back from Bayern and Dortmund.
- Sunday was the day of the penalty, with five spot kicks in the last two games of the day. First, Janik Haberer converted for Freiburg and Saloman Kalou missed one and scored one for Hertha Berlin. Then in the late game, Wolfsburg's Maxi Arnold blazed over from the spot before Kerem Demirbay gave Hoffenheim a lead they surrendered in injury time.
- Hannover are in the top six thanks to a 2-1 comeback win against Augsburg away from home. Andre Breitenreiter might not have got it right with Schalke, but he is showing that one strike out as a head coach doesn't always have to spell the end.
Best quotes
"I'm like the fire brigade. If you call, I'm there."
Neven Subotic after his first appearance for BVB since March, 2016
"After the 2-1, I looked at the scoreboard and thought: 'Boah, 25 minutes left. Enjoy! This is going to be a wild one.'"
Nuri Sahin after Eintracht Frankfurt's first goal in the 2-2 with Dortmund
"[Mats] Hummels or [Jerome] Boateng wouldn't have seen red for that."
HSV's Dennis Diekmeier about Gideon Jung's foul on Kingsley Coman that saw him sent off
"That was an exceptional Bundesliga game. From the restart to the 65th minute it was played without any midfield and with great vision. I only know that from old boys football."
Frankfurt's Sporting Director Fredi Bobic after the 2-2 with Dortmund
"I wanted to be on those funny videos on Facebook and Instagram."
Hannover's goalkeeper Philipp Tschauner after his goalkick that ended in a corner
"Maybe I'll buy myself a pair of shoes."
Hannover's Niclas Füllkrug when asked about a reward for his brace against Augsburg
"We can't offer a spectacle in this three-day rhythm. That's not asked for in these games - the three points are."
RB Leipzig head coach Ralph Hasenhüttl on the 1-0 against Stuttgart
"I had to make a save every 10 minutes today so I didn't get cold."
Eintracht Frankfurt goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky
"Unbelievable. Now we're clearing the ball away from the opposition's goalline. That really hurts."
Cologne's Dominc Maroh after Sehrou Guirassy's miss late on vs. Werder Bremen
Injury news
- Thomas Müller came off the bench at halftime, set up a goal and then went off with a hamstring/thigh complaint just minutes later.
- Cologne's Claudio Pizarro was due to start for the home side against Werder Bremen but injured his thigh in the warm-up.
- Eintracht Frankfurt's Timothy Chandler hobbled off after no tackle midway through the first half. The US international is believed to have twisted his knee and looked in considerable pain at the time of his substitution.
- Stuttgart's Dennis Aogo was brought off after just 10 minutes into Stuttgart's game with adductor problems. No timescale has been put on his recovery yet.
Bizarre Bundesliga
There were a few contenders on Matchday 9, and although Philipp Tschauner's goakick to a teammate that went so wrong it went out for a corner came close, it was Sehrou Guirassy's miss near the end of Cologne's game against Werder Bremen that takes it.
The game between the two sides yet to win in the Bundesliga showed little quality, but at the end both sides might have won it and Cologne's chance was the best of the bunch. Guirassy found himself in front of goal and with the Werder goalkeeper nowhere, but when the ball arrived he ended up clearing it rather than tapping home a likely winner. It summed up Cologne's season and goes down as one of the most memorable misses in league history.