The Bundesliga season 2021/22 started this weekend and match day one did not disappoint.
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We were treated to several uprisings, a lot of goals and, as always, some suspicious defenders. The highlight was Borussia Dortmund’s dominant victory over Eintracht Frankfurt, but Bayern Munich slipped a draw on the opening day against Borussia Monchengladbach was also interesting.
With the dust settling now after the initial round of play, here are five things we learned from the Bundesliga’s opening weekend.
Hoffenheim thrived against Augsburg / Daniel Kopatsch / Getty Images
The Bundesliga’s reputation as “no defending, just vibes” – the league is firmly intact after this weekend’s matches.
During the games, we saw lots of high lines, a series of sloppy errors and positioning that was as abstract as some of Picasso’s finest works.
During match day one, Hoffenheim put four past Augsburg, Stuttgart helped to five against Greuther Furth, as well as Dortmund against Frankfurt.
A match, however, broke noticeably with Arminia Bielefeld who made a goalless draw against Freiburg. Sort it out guys.
Stuttgart got the perfect start / Thomas Niedermueller / Getty Images
Stuttgart fans have endured a roller coaster since 2015, witnessing two relegations, two campaigns and more managers than they can count.
But after a solid first season back in the top flight last time, Stuttgart proved that they have enough in mind to surprise some people this semester.
Although they lost Nicolas Gonzalez and Gregor Kobel in the summer, the Bundesliga starters put Greuther Furth in the sword with 5-1. Some of the football they played in the first half was magical. They also looked scary from sets with defender Marc-Oliver Kempf making two headers.
Stuttgart will be among a number of clubs focused on a top seven goal this season. If Union Berlin can do it, so can they.
Haaland was singing / Joosep Martinson / Getty Images
Erling Haaland exhibited an exhibition in front of 25,000 fans at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday.
With just over half an hour away, he had already set up Marco Reus and Thorgan Hazard to give Dortmund a 2-1 lead. Minutes later, he forced a mistake from Stefan Illsanker before running through on goal and finishing in the usual relaxed way.
After the break, Haaland then put one on a plate for Giovanni Reyna to get into the act. He was also not finished there and added his second and Dortmund’s fifth with 20 minutes to play.
This is Haaland’s farewell season in Dortmund and every time he puts on a show like this, the whole of Europe is reminded of why there will be such a damn tug-of-war over his signature next summer.
Gladbach did well to frustrate the champions / Joosep Martinson / Getty Images
This season’s Bundesliga curtain raiser included champions Bayern Munich who competed against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday night.
It was Julian Nagelsmann’s first league match with responsibility for Die Roten and things did not go as planned. Patrick Herrmann had two great chances to open the scoring within five minutes and Alassane Plea eventually punished Bayern’s terrible defense with a fine finish.
As they often do, Nagelsmann’s accusations would eventually come together and get a 1-1 draw but their performance was far from convincing.
Scratching during a frighteningly strong XI in Bavaria and Bayern’s squad is weak in several areas. This, combined with Nagelsmann’s inexperience in the pressure cooker in elite football, could see a real title race develop in Germany this season.
It was a good day for her goat / Lars Baron / Getty Images
Hertha Berlin must be the biggest underachievers in European football. Despite large expenditures in recent years, they have mostly hovered around the relegation zone.
Expenditure has continued this summer with Suat Serdar, Marco Richter, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Stevan Jovetic all arriving in the capital. Add to that the fact that Krzysztof Piatek, Matheus Cunha and Javairo Dilrosun and Hertha have one of the better troops in the league on paper.
But football is not played on paper and once again Die Alte Dame wondered on the opening day and lost 3-1 against Koln – which ended in relegation last season.
Maybe things will improve as the season progresses …
