Three things we learnt from the Bundesliga Konferenz | OneFootball

Bundesliga Matchday 6, and the final one before the international break, began with 1.FC Köln beating Hoffenheim 1-0 in Sinsheim.

Saturday afternoon saw the turn of Augsburg vs Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen hosting Union Berlin, St.Pauli travelling to Werder Bremen, and the standout game of the afternoon being Borussia Dortmund vs RB Leipzig.

Here are the three things we learnt:

Borussia Dortmund struggle in their first big Bundesliga test:

Dortmund went down early on against RB Leipzig thanks to a Christoph Baumgartner opener, but they were able to rally and equalise through Yan Couto. However, apart from that, die Schwarzgelben struggled to impose themselves on the visitors.

Via FotMob, Dortmund failed to register a big chance against Leipzig, and it looked as if their attacks struggled to get into the game, compared to the likes of Johan Bakayoko, Yan Diomande and Romulo for Leipzig. This could have potentially been the type of game to bring Carney Chukwuemeka on for, but instead, he remained on the bench.

Simply put, Leipzig were just the better side on both the defensive and attacking ends. This could be because they did not have a midweek game, while Dortmund played Athletic Club.

Dortmund can’t afford to get hung up on this result for too long, as after the international break, they face Bayern Munich. Considering that the Bavarians could go four points clear of them following today’s result, it will be a game they have to bring their best.

However, as things stand, Dortmund will look like the only side that can come close to challenging Bayern this season.

Bayer Leverkusen’s young attackers shine:

The wealth of attacking quality at Leverkusen’s disposal had failed to make their mark in the opening games of the season, but against Union Berlin, a rather unexpected pair took centre stage.

Both Ernest Poku and Christian Kofane were the standouts for Leverkusen this afternoon. The former used his pace to help die Werkself counter Union, while Kofane was sharp enough to latch on to a Fredrick Ronnow mistake to score his first Bundesliga goal for the club.

This was much needed for Levekrusen, as for much of the early stages of the season, they had to rely on Alejandro Grimaldo. The likes of Malik Tillman, Eliesse ben Seghir and Claudio Echeverri will still need to show their quality in the coming weeks.

Kofane will be especially important in the absence of Patrik Schick, as there is no other recognised striker in the squad.

The international break has come at the right time for Leverkusen. They currently sit fourth in the Bundesliga, but can now use the next two weeks to adjust to Kasper Hjulmand, as this will be the first extended period the Dane has with the team. After the international break, they face Mainz, and that should present a different-looking Leverkusen.

Augsburg put some doubts to rest:

Heading into their game against Wolfsburg, Augsburg had not won a Bundesliga game since the opening day against Freiburg. This resulted in doubts starting to surface about head coach Sandro Wagner, but those were laid to rest today.

Against the Autostadt side, Augsburg put in a commanding display winning 3-1, with Mert Kömur the standout player. The performance was reminiscent of their win against Freiburg in terms of the fact that they were clinical when it came to their finishing. There is still yet to be a clear sign of a style of play, but that will likely come with more time.

On Kömur, the 20-year-old was called up to the Germany under-21 national team. Considering he can also qualify for Turkey, the DFB must make sure they don’t experience the same fate they did with Can Uzun and Kenan Yildiz, and give Turkey their front three for the next generation.

GGFN | Jack Meenan