Five Observations from Matchday 6 in the Bundesliga

Is the Bundesliga going to have a title race this season?

Matchday 6 has come and gone, and Bayern Munich are not in first place. What is going on? Is the Bundesliga title race going to be competitive this season?

The top six teams are divided by three points with Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table with 14 points. Bayern and Hertha Berlin are on 13 points while Borussia Mönchengladbach, Werder Bremen, and RB Leipzig are on 11 points. Yes, it’s early, but this is exciting.

It would be surprising to see these teams keep the pace with Bayern throughout the season, but with the Bavarian club still injury-prone and one year older, maybe they have that shot?

Schalke and Stuttgart finally get wins!

Raise your hand if you thought it would take until Matchday 6 for Schalke and Stuttgart to pick up their first wins of the campaign? Put your hand down, INeedNoName.

Domenico Tedesco and Tayfun Korkut likely needed victories to save their jobs, and both managers pulled it off on Saturday. Both clubs were (and still are, maybe) expected to be competing for Champions League places in this campaign, and it remains to be seen just how much their terrible starts set them back. While Stuttgart do have five points, Schalke only have three.

It’s a long way back up the table, but you have to start somewhere.

Nürnberg bounce back after humiliating defeat.

In their midweek match against Borussia Dortmund, Nürnberg gave up seven goals in a humiliating defeat. A return home for a match against Fortuna Düsseldorf looked like it could be the opportunity to either bounce back or fall on their face again, but Nürnberg took that opportunity and made the best of it.

A 3-0 victory was just what the doctor ordered the ailing club. Michael Köllner’s side pitched in from all over the field in the victory effort, and the manager must get some praise for getting his club to bounce back in such a short amount of time against a feisty opponent.

Borussia Mönchengladbach could make a big statement next week.

We talked earlier about a potential title race in the Bundesliga this season. In Matchday 6, Hertha Berlin used their shot in the capital to take down Bayern Munich. In Matchday 7, that opportunity will shift to Borussia Mönchengladbach who will try to make their own statement when they visit the Allianz Arena.

BFW is never going to be a place where you’ll find a lot of love for Dieter Hecking. He’s that coach that jumps into a side for a few years and seems to take them from the lower half of the table to the top half of the table, but he’s not up for challenging for trophies. Still... you can never say never, right?

Perhaps, this will be the time that Gladbach need a win to boost their title-challenging credentials and they march into Munich and take all three points?

That Leverkusen choke job though...

Listen, I don’t care how good Borussia Dortmund may or may not be this season, if you’re winning 2-0 in the 65th minute, you cannot lose that game 4-2. Especially, if you’re Bayer Leverkusen, and you want other teams in the Bundesliga to take you even moderately seriously.

After two straight victories, it looked like Leverkusen were going to begin their march back up in the table into the European places at the top. However, they ran into the buzzsaw that was BVB. With four goals hitting the back of the net in the final 25 minutes of the match, Dortmund showed that they aren’t going to get down when they go behind this season and can fight back to steal points when a defeat looks certain.

Matchday 5 Results

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