Crazy Bundesliga: The table looks upside down

The German Bundesliga is only into its second round, but it was once more a crazy match day this Saturday, August 28. With matches to be played later today, the league is currently being jointly led by promoted 1.FC Kaiserslautern and 1899 Hoffenheim on a better goal difference ahead of Mainz 05, Hamburger SV and Hannover 96 all on six points; while on the other side of the table you will find 1.FC Cologne, Eintracht Frankfurt, Schalke 04 and VfL Wolfsburg with no points so far.

The pick of the day surely was the 4-3 win of Mainz 05 against VfL Wolfsburg at the Volkswagen Arena. The North Germans were already leading 3-0 after a double strike from Edin Dzeko and a goal on his debut from Brazilian Diego at the half hour mark, but Mainz went on to score four goals in a rare turnaround for an in the end deserving away win. For Steve McClaren and his team it was the second loss in as many games and the Englishmen will think what he did wrong as his defence once more let him down. Mainz continue were they left off last season as the surprise team of the league as they now have two wins out of two matches.

The upset of Round 2 came on Friday evening as newly promoted 1.FC Kaiserslautern beat defending champions FC Bayern Munich 2-0 infront of a sell-out 50.000 at the legendary Betzenberg. Bayern had over 70% ball possession, chances galore but somehow the Bavarian giants could not score on the night. World Cup hero Thomas Mueller had their best chance in the 24th minute as his shot beat keeper Tobias Sippel, but also missed the goal by a whisker. Lautern won the match with a double strike with a minute. First in the 36th minute Ivo Ilecivic scored a beauty of a goal which beat Butt in the Bayern goal and then only a few seconds later Ilecivic played a square pass to Srdjan Lakic, who just had to tap in.

In other games Schalke 04 lost 1-2 against Hannover 96, Werder Bremen won 4-2 against 1.FC Cologne, Eintracht Frankfurt suffered a 1-3 home defeat against Hamburger SV, 1.FC Nuremberg lost 1-2 against SC Freiburg, while FC St. Pauli lost due to a late goal against 1899 Hoffenheim.

In the final matches of Round 2 later today Bayer 04 Leverkusen face Borussia Moenchengladbach in a Rhine derby, while VfB Stuttgart host Borussia Dortmund in a match-up of Europa League qualifiers.