Best of Bundesliga: Premier League pair make their mark
February 4, 2018
Good week for: Premier League loanees, RB Leipzig, Werder Bremen
Bad week for: Goalkeepers, Cologne, Borussia Mönchengladbach
Best bits:
- Ademola Lookman (top) became the first Englishman to score in the Bundesliga for almost 13 years, with Bayern Munich's Owen Hargreaves the last to achieve the feat - also against Gladbach. The 20-year-old Everton loanee's solo effort saw RB Leipzig past Borussia Mönchengladbach and also helped his club to reach 100 points in their short Bundesliga history.
- Michy Batshuayi made a dream start to his Borussia Dortmund career with two goals and an assist in a 3-2 win over Cologne. Coach Peter Stöger was under added pressure on his return to the club he coached for four years, following the departure of reigning Bundesliga top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He needn't have feared, as the Belgian striker chose the perfect time to show why Chelsea paid Marseille €38m to sign him two summers ago.
- After that loss, it is now mathematically impossible for Cologne to win the league. There's always next year! Well, maybe...
- Werder Bremen's Sebastian Langkamp made one of the shortest debuts in history. The former Hertha Berlin defender came on for nine seconds of his new side's 2-1 win over Schalke. That crucial victory came on Bremen's 119th birthday.
- Thomas Müller brought up his 300th win as a Bayern player, after just 419 games. Their victory and slips ups from Schalke, Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt means they are 18 points clear at the top. The Bavarians are on course to beat their 2014 record for the earliest title victory (Matchday 27) and the largest ever gap between first and second (currently 25 points in 2012/13). The most they'll need is seven wins from the remaining 13 games.
Best Quotes
- "He was lucky I didn't take him off again, he only brought one pair of boots with him from England and he was sliding around all over the pitch." Ralph Hasenhüttl on Leipzig's new boy and matchwinner Ademola Lookman.
"These things happen, it just looks stupid because he is the last man. We all made mistakes on the pitch today." Werder Bremen forward Max Kruse comes to the backing of his goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka after his gaffe (see Bizarre Bundesliga).
"Bremen got back into the game after my mistake and I’m really sorry to the team for that – I can only apologise." - Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann doesn't let himself off quite so easily.
- "It's not so good for us, because we have a home game and can not take advantage of 20 minutes. We need the support of the fans, especially against opponents who are at eye level with us." Borussia Mönchengladbach's Matthias Ginter after Gladbach's fans were largely silent for the first 19 minutes in a protest against Red Bull's involvement with RB Leipzig.
"We were knackered by the end. The pitch played it's part there." Mats Hummels, after returning to the Bayern Munich side after a four game absence.
"Daniel Opare has repeatedly lied to us, consciously and despite being confronted with the facts," Augsburg sporting director Stefan Reuter after the club released first teamer Daniel Opare on Saturday.
Injuries and suspensions
Hoffenheim must do without midfielder Kerem Demirbay for several weeks due to an ankle injury picked up in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Hertha Berlin.
Mario Götze missed Dortmund's Friday night win with a back complaint. It's unclear how long it will keep him out.
Schalke will be without Matija Nastasic for their trip to runaway leaders Bayern Munich next Saturday. The Serbian defender is suspended after seeing red during his side's defeat to Werder Bremen.
Hamburg's Kyriakos Papadopoulos will also miss next week's match away at Borussia Dortmund after he was sent off for a pair of yellow card offences in the 1-1 draw with Hannover.
Bizarre Bundesliga
Werder Bremen's win over Schalke was one to forget for both men between the sticks. First Bremen's Jiri Pavlenka allowed Yevhen Konoplyanka's speculative effort to slip through his fingers. Then Schalke stopper Ralf Fährmann made him feel a little better after fumbling a simple catch in to the path of Max Kruse, before being nutmegged as Bremen grabbed a late winner through Zlatko Junuzovic.