Bundesliga, Week 9: Borussia Mönchengladbach only manage a draw against Bayern Munich

The 54,000-plus at Borussia-Park were rocking from the start in what was one of the biggest matches so far this season. Coming off a sixth place finish, Gladbach showed positive signs last year, but didn’t look like a team that would challenge Bayern for the title.

In the 51st minute, BMG found themselves on a three-on-two break on the counter. Kruse passed to Hahn on the right. His strike across goal was barely palmed away by Neuer. Raffael was ever so close to having a tap in, but Rafinha was there to clear it away, beating the fellow Brazilian to the ball by half a step.

Lucien Favre’s squad has been quite impressive in their own right, and even though he told bundesliga.com earlier this week that the idea his team could legitimately contend for Bayern’s crown was “nonsense,” they should not be disregarded in this match. They’ve only conceded 4 goals through 8 matches themselves, and Favre has effectively coaxed goals from a variety of players, which should give Bayern enough to think about on the defensive side of the pitch.

It’s probably just an academic exercise, however, since FCB has plenty of ways to score, even against a defense as stout as Gladbach’s. The hosts will no doubt be happy with a low-scoring affair, but Bayern is ever capable of an outburst. It’s highly likely that we look back at this weekend as the one when the champs pulled away for good, but this is as good a chance as any that we’ll see an upset.

You could not hit that free kick better than that.

The 20-year-old whacked a free kick over Schalke’s three-man wall in the 53rd minute and curled it out of the reach of Ralf Fährmann. Çalhanoğlu’s fifth goal of the season was as top corner as one could get, and the breakthrough proved to be the difference maker that pushed Leverkusen back into the top four.

Despite having a day less rest at midweek, Leverkusen came out of the gate pressing high and winning the ball in great positions. Schalke manager Roberto Di Matteo kept his setup tight, surrendering the flanks to win the ball in the penalty area. The Königsblauen could not break out of their own end, firing just four shots to Leverkusen’s 24.

The first good chance of the game fell to the visitors in the 5th minute when Marius Stankevicius played an audacious throw-in directly into the BVB box. Leonardo Bittencourt was haphazardly marked, and only his poor volley saved Dortmund from conceding early.

The first half was one-way traffic after the 10th minute as Dortmund incessantly pushed into the Hannover side of the field. Despite that, a disciplined Hannover defensive effort was the theme of the first half. The visitors held their line, putting Dortmund’s crosses and through balls onto the feet and heads of offside players, while Hannover looked to counter. Those counters that Hannover did earn were some of the most dangerous moments of the first half as Hummels had a shocker of a performance; his positional awareness was virtually non-existent at times.