Bundesliga, Week 12: Bayern Munich and Schalke win while Dortmund lose Reus

Bayern Munich may have been missing more than a few key players, but they still had no trouble against Hoffenheim, despite the visitors’ impressive start to the season. Mario Götze kicked off the scoring and the goals just kept coming, resulting in a 4-0 win for the Bavarians.

Götze opened the scoring 23 minutes in, receiving a ball about 30 yards out with his back facing goal. The Hoffenheim defence allowed him to turn and to have a shot from about 25 yards away The visitors paid for it instantly as the Bayern man smashed a knuckleball of a shot into the top right corner, giving Oliver Baumann no chance.

Wolfsburg left Choupo-Moting in acres of space twice in the first half, and the Cameroonian torched the Wolfe for two goals in 12 minutes. Choupo-Moting’s brace gives him six on the season, tying him for third in the German top-flight.

Wolfsburg’s Swiss goalkeeper might have been able to do better, but neither come close to the worst blunder of the day. Christian Fuchs delivered a free kick that curled right into his hands, and he flubbed the ball behind him and watched it bounce over his own goal-line. All manager Dieter Hecking could do is shake his head in dismay as his Wolfsburg team fell behind 3-0 after just 25 minutes.

Marco Reus just can’t stay on the pitch for Borussia Dortmund. Their star attacker has picked up yet another injury, though the severity of this one is to be determined. He was taken off on a stretcher in the second half of Dortmund’s match against Paderborn Saturday.

The suspected injury is to Reus’ lower right leg, and his ankle turned in a way they’re not supposed to turn before he exited the pitch. He was replaced by Milos Jojic in the 67th minute, with BVB up, 2-1.

Hoffenheim’s attackers have done a good job putting the ball in the net, and four players have scored three goals or more this season. Ádám Szalai and Roberto Firmino have three each, and both Anthony Modeste and Tarik Elyounoussi have four. Both Szalai and Modeste have had success starting as the lone striker in this 4-2-3-1, but Modeste figures to get the start here as Szalai did last time out. Firmino scored two goals in that game, a 4-3 loss for Hoffenheim to promoted FC Köln. The defensive weakness isn’t completely gone, and the attackers again will have their work cut out for them against the top team in the league.

Bayern Munich injuries and suspensions