Looking Around the League: Bayer Leverkusen on the Wrong End of a Bayern Munich Beating

It took eight games for the various potential challengers to fall away, leaving just Bayern Munich away at the top, with Borussia Dortmund making up appearances just behind them. Bayern Munich now have a goal difference of +21 and their expected goal difference isn’t a whole lot worse, at +16.8.

Bayern are already running away with the league, if not in terms of points, at least according to all the underlying numbers. Borussia Dortmund are leading the chasing pack, but the gap between Bayern and BVB is far greater than the gap between BVB and the third and fourth best teams in the league - according to xG - Hoffenheim and Borussia Monchengladbach.

Maybe Freiburg or Union Berlin are the dark horses we need? They’re only three and four points off top, respectively.

Here’s a roundup of the action in the Bundesliga over the weekend.

Results

Hoffenheim 5-0 Cologne

Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Mainz

Frankfurt 1-2 Hertha Berlin

Freiburg 1-1 RB Leipzig

Greuther Furth 0-1 VfL Bochum

Union Berlin 2-0 Wolfsburg

Borussia Monchengladbach 1-1 VfB Stuttgart

Bayer Leverkusen 1-5 Bayern Munich

Augsburg 1-1 Arminia Bielefeld

Standings

Bayer Leverkusen’s Barely Land a Punch on Bayern Munich

We were all a little hopeful that Bayer Leverkusen might be capable of mounting a legitimate challenge for the Bundesliga title this season, but if this weekend’s result is anything to go by, that is unlikely to be the case. Leverkusen hosted Bayern Munich, and were treated to a 5-1 pounding.

Look, Borussia Dortmund fans are in no position to throw stones here, they’ve had hopes of a legitimate title challenge despite regular thumpings by Bayern Munich, but it’s still disappointing to see 2nd in the league unable to muster up much resistance against the top dog. But #BundesligaUnion or something like that, I guess? We’re all supposed to pretend the league is very healthy and normal.

Your Thoughts?

Who can we convince ourselves might be capable of challenging Bayern Munich next?