The Bundesliga is back with a bang, folks, and it’s business as usual for the champions as Bayern’s trip to Frankfurt ended in a 6-1 rout for Julian Nagelsmann’s title favourites.
Sadio Mane scored his first goal for the Bavarians as they wiped away any fears that the sale of Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona would make it more difficult for them to score goals. Bayern, in search of a record 11th successive Bundesliga title, simply shared the fun around as they tore into the Eagles’ shell-shocked defence.
Frankfurt face Real Madrid in the Super Cup next week and their own fans will fear the worst after watching their team decimated, as the champions put down a clear and brutal marker in the first 90 minutes of the new season.
Here at SBOTOP we’ve watched Mane’s move to Bayern with interest, and while his former club Liverpool struggled to a 2-2 draw with Premier League new boys Fulham, the Senegalese striker scored Bayern’s third in an explosive opening half. It took just five minutes for them to open their account when Joshua Kimmich struck, his clever free-kick going in off the post.
Five minutes into the season and the teams expected to make up the chasing pack, as one, breathed a heavy sigh!
Benjamin Pavard has been linked with a move away from Munich following the arrival of Matthijs de Ligt, but Nagelsmann wants to keep him and the French utility defender showed just why as he drilled in the second goal. Chelsea, Juventus and Atletico Madrid have all been linked with Pavard, but he started games against Leipzig and Eintracht at right-back it looks like he’s the boss’s number one choice in that position.
Mane got on the score sheet when he headed in a cross from Serge Gnabry on the half hour, before 19-year-old Jamal Musiala tapped in the fourth. Gnabry made it five just before the break when the Eintracht players had a chance to go in and work out what happened while the Bayern stars had a cup of tea.
The second half was much gentler for the hosts and they scored their consolation when French centre-forward Randal Muani struck early in the second half. But, with the clock mercifully ticking down, Musiala scored his second and Bayern’s sixth when he latched on to Leroy Sane’s pass.
With two goals already in the bag the young striker looks ready to play a big part in Bayern’s campaign and sees no reason why he should bulk up, happy to make use of his slender frame and his speed and agility: “For me, it’s important to take another step going forward into next season,” he said. “I don’t think I need a lot of upper body strength. That might slow me down, so I would work on more explosive stuff that will keep me quick and agile.”
Borussia Dortmund grind out a big win over Bayer
BVB boss Edin Terzic is determined to ensure his team is the hardest working in the Bundesliga and they certainly put a shift in to beat title rivals Bayer Leverkusen, thanks to Marco Reus’s winner. Terzic said: “We did not start really well, lost possession a few times but recovered well. They were better after the break but we defended our lead well.”
Leverkusen had 55 per cent possession while Dortmund had four shots on target to their three, and Reus’s early strike turned out to be the only goal of the game. Bayer keeper and skipper, Lukas Hradecky, was sent off in injury time as the game became bad-tempered. But there was bad news too for BVB who saw their new signing Karim Adeyemi limp off with a foot injury with just a quarter of the game gone.
It was a gutsy win for Borussia, but they will need to show more quality and attacking intent if they are to keep pace with Die Bayern.
The loss of Erling Braut Haaland, the cancer diagnosis for new striker Sebastien Haller which will sideline him for a few months, and now the injury to Adeyemi means Die Schwarzgelben are short of numbers up front. So they are closing in on a deal to bring experienced striker Antony Modeste from Koln to Dortmund. The 34-year-old scored 20 goals in 32 appearances for Koln last year but his cash-strapped club would be willing to cash in, and an offer of a fee of around 5m is on the table.
Among the rest of the first weekend Bundesliga 2022 results, FC Union won the Berlin derby with a 3-1 victory over Hertha, while Freiburg started impressively with a 4-0 win away to Augsburg. Borussia Monchengladbach started with a home victory over Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig open their campaign away to Stuttgart on Sunday.
The early-season Bundesliga 2022 betting odds are heavily backing Bayern to lift the title again, and they will sit at the top of the table at the end of Round One, unless Leipzig can hit Stuttgart for six too!
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