Bundesliga season off to a flyer

If the opening weekend of the 55th Bundesliga season is anything to go by, we are in for a veritable treat over the next 33 rounds of matches.

Proceedings kicked off in Bavaria, where FC Bayern München got off to the perfect start as they bid for a record sixth consecutive Bundesliga title. Debutants Niklas Süle and Corentin Tolisso no doubt enjoyed their debuts immensely – each found the net in a 3-1 victory for Carlo Ancelotti’s men – while Robert Lewandowski’s bid to regain the top scorer award is up and running after he converted a penalty, the league’s first ever spot-kick decided by the newly-introduced Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

Over to you then, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. At the Volkswagen Arena, Lewandowski’s conqueror in last season’s battle for the Torjägerkanone showed that whatever the Pole could do, he would match it. He notched the third in a 3-0 win over Wolfsburg, and new coach Peter Bosz could hardly have been more pleased after his first league game in charge, especially as a host of Borussia Dortmund players had a day to remember. Mario Götze recorded an assist on his first start since recovering from a career-threatening metabolic disorder, while USA starlet Christian Pulisic scored one goal and assisted another.

Yet perhaps the most significant contribution was made by Spanish defender Marc Bartra. No recent stranger to headlines after he was injured in a bomb attack on the Dortmund bus in April, he dedicated his goal – a stupendous curling shot into the top corner – to the victims of the recent terror attack in Barcelona. “The goal was for my people, the people of Catalonia, the people of Spain. They’re going through some very difficult times right now,” he said emotionally post-game.

Borussia’s local rivals FC Schalke 04 enjoyed arguably an even more impressive start to the season, meanwhile. Their opposition, RB Leipzig, finished last season as runners-up, but an energetic, organised and clinical display saw the Royal Blues run out 2-0 winners, the result sealed by a goal from the resurgent Yevhen Konoplyanka. The Ukrainian international already has three goals in two matches, which should do wonders for his confidence after he made just five appearances in the last three months of 2016/17. Two games in, the jury is still out on new coach Domenico Tedesco, but the early signs are most promising for fans of one of Germany’s best-known clubs.

Down in Mainz, another new coach in Sandro Schwarz now has his first taste of Bundesliga action, but while he endured a tough first day at the office, there was joy in abundance for a familiar face. Martin Harnik was relegated with VfB Stuttgart in 2016, but he has flourished since joining Hannover 96 later that summer. He scored 17 times to help the club achieve promotion back to the top flight last term, and it seemed fitting that he sealed the Lower Saxons’ first three points of the campaign with the winning goal.

As if fans of 1. FC Köln and Borussia Mönchengladbach were not already chomping at the bit to see their team in action, they had the first Rhine derby of the season to get their teeth into on Matchday 1. There was passion aplenty on display at the Borussia-Park, where Nico Elvedi’s solitary strike was enough to give the Foals the early-season bragging rights.

Finally, it seems appropriate to finish in the capital, where Mathew Leckie enjoyed “one of the best weeks of my life”. The Australia international joined Hertha Berlin in the summer and is off to a flying start, his brace enough for a 2-0 win and three welcome points against Stuttgart. Yet that was not the only reason he wore the biggest smile of anyone at the Olympiastadion, as he became a father in the days leading up to the match. A memorable start to the season for all the right reasons.

Not much can be gleaned from the league table at present, but there is plenty to pique the interest from the Matchday 2 fixtures. Köln have the chance to avenge their opening-day loss when they host Hamburger SV - victors over FC Augsburg on Saturday. Bayern head north to face traditional rivals SV Werder Bremen, who lost narrowly at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, while two 100-per-cent records will end when Hertha head to Dortmund and Hannover host Schalke. The Bundesliga is well and truly back!