Bundesliga 2019/20: Top 10 games of the season so far
The likes of Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski, Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland, RB Leipzig's Timo Werner and Bayer Leverkusen's Leon Bailey have contributed to some real humdingers in 2019/20. bundesliga.com picks out the top 10 games of the season so far...
Bayern Munich 4-0 Borussia Dortmund (Matchday 11)
Hansi Flick could not have asked for a more serene debut as Bayern Munich interim coach, though the day belonged to Lewandowski. The Poland striker netted twice against former club Dortmund to become the first player in Bundesliga history to score a goal on each of the first 11 matchdays of a season; the first to find the net in 11 successive top-flight matches; and the first to reach 16 goals after 11 matchdays.
Augsburg 3-5 Borussia Dortmund (Matchday 18)
Flick's debut was good, but Haaland's was other-wordly. The 19-year-old came off the bench to score a 17-minute hat-trick as Dortmund came from behind to outgun Augsburg in a pulsating encounter at the WWK-Arena. Scoring three times from as many efforts on goal, the forward rewrote history as the Bundesliga's second-youngest hat-trick scorer, and the division's first substitute debutant to strike three times in one game.
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Bayer Leverkusen 4-3 Borussia Dortmund (Matchday 21)
There was no shortage of goals at the BayArena on Matchday 21, despite a first Bundesliga blank for Haaland. Former Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Emre Can scored the pick of the bunch as Dortmund hit back from a goal down to lead 2-1 before Kevin Volland completed his brace to bring Bayer level. Raphael Guerreiro looked to have won it, only for the hosts to land a quick, match-winning one-two through Bailey and Lars Bender.
Borussia Dortmund 3-3 RB Leipzig (Matchday 16)
Leverkusen must have studied the tapes of Dortmund's six-goal thriller with Leipzig. BVB took a two-goal lead against the then table-toppers courtesy of Julian Weigl and a quite wonderful Julian Brandt effort, but were pegged back inside six second-half minutes by Werner's double. Jadon Sancho scored his seventh goal in as many games to put the Black-Yellows back in the driving seat, before substitute Patrik Schick rode to Leipzig's rescue.
Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 Bayern Munich (Matchday 10)
If only Bayern's trip to Eintracht Frankfurt had been such a close-run affair, Niko Kovac might still be in a job. Jerome Boateng's ninth-minute sending off opened the door at the Commerzbank-Arena, and Filip Kostic and Co. blew it down with apex-predator conviction. Lewandowski's record-extending 14th goal in 10 matches was a mere footnote as Kovac - who had made a name for himself at the Frankfurt helm - paid for his heaviest defeat as a Bundesliga coach with his job.
Bayern Munich 6-1 Werder Bremen (Matchday 15)
Bayern dished out their own brand of chastening punishment in the run-up to the winter break. Bremen had threatened to upset the applecart when Milot Rashica broke the deadlock before the half-hour mark, but soon found out the defending champions were actually behind the wheel of a steamroller. Barcelona loanee playmaker Philippe Coutinho was the designated driver, scoring three and assisting two across his most prolific 90-minute return to date.
RB Leipzig 1-3 Schalke (Matchday 6)
The highpoint of Amine Harit's season so far fell on Matchday 6. The Morocco international scored one and assisted another as Schalke gave Leipzig a taste of their own turbo-charged medicine in a commanding counter-attacking display. Welsh teenager Rabbi Matondo was also on target at the Red Bull Arena with his maiden Bundesliga goal, with Julian Nagelsmann tasting defeat for the first time in the Bundesliga as Leipzig coach.
Union Berlin 3-1 Borussia Dortmund (Matchday 3)
History of a different kid was made less than a month earlier in the German capital. Few gave Union Berlin a prayer ahead of their meeting with Dortmund, but the Bundesliga abcedarians hadn't read the script. Magderburg loanee Marius Bülter scored either side of a Paco Alcacer riposte before Sebastian Andersson - having opened his and the club's top-flight in the Matchday 2 draw with Augsburg - sealed the east Berlin outfit's first-ever Bundesliga win.
Bayern Munich 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen (Matchday 13)
The shockometer was back in commission in time for Leverkusen's trip to the Allianz Arena. Bayern had made a flawless start under Flick - winning four from four by an aggregate score of 16-0 - but the footballing Gods conspired against them, instead putting their weight behind visiting goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky. The Finland international made a not insignificant 10 saves as Bailey struck a brace in a smash-and-grab win. Die Werkself's No.1 later revealed how he was playing with only "one good eye", having lost one of his contact lenses earlier in the contest.
RB Leipzig 8-0 Mainz (Matchday 10)
Fortune didn't come into Leipzig's eight-goal demolition of Mainz. Nagelsmann's side were 5-0 up at the break were already well on course to setting a new club record for their biggest win in the Bundesliga when Werner popped up with his third of the game late on. He also registered a hat-trick of assists, making him just the third player to have had a hand in six goals in a single game since Bundesliga data collection began in 1992/93.
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