It's still August, and we're pretty close to pouring one out for Schalke manager Jens Keller. His team fell apart at the end of last season, but he kept his job because they stayed in an automatic Champions League position. But two games into this new season, he's already lost a lead to Hannover and been knocked out of the DFB-Pokal. This week, it gets worse: Bayern Munich comes to Gelsenkirchen. It's going to get ugly.
Bundesliga preview, Week 2: Schalke on life support even before they face Bayern Munich
It’s already been an awful season for Schalke, and it’ll get worse against Bayern Munich in Week 2 of the Bundesliga season.
In other action, Borussia Dortmund are in need of a bounce-back win as well, while the team that beat them last week, Bayer Leverkusen, might establish themselves as the primary challenger to Bayern's throne this season.
Augsburg vs. Borussia Dortmund
Friday, 2:45 p.m. ET
TV: GolTV (US and Canada), BT Sport (UK)
Life without Robert Lewandowski is proving tough so far for Borussia Dortmund. It's very possible that they're a title contender who just ran into a buzzsaw in the form of Bayer Leverkusen last week, but it looks like they're a tad bit disjointed and will need some time to figure out how to best utilize the talents of Ciro Immobile. It doesn't help that Adrian Ramos, the other head of the two-headed monster intended to replace Lewandowski, is currently injured.
The very, very, very good news for Dortmund is that they’re coming up against a very beatable opponent in Week 2. Augsburg were comfortably defeated 2-0 by Hoffeinheim -- also not a great team -- last week. They’re praying that new striker Tim Matavz doesn’t have Eredivisieitis, a strange disease that causes players who score lots of goals in the Netherlands to suck literally everywhere else.
Pick: 2-0, Dortmund
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Hertha Berlin
Saturday, 9:30 a.m. ET
TV: GolTV (US and Canada)
Between their win over Dortmund and their impressive demolition of Copenhagen in the Champions League playoffs, Bayer have announced themselves as one of the big guns this season. Instead of hanging on to a Champions League place for dear life, they might be the best equipped team to give Bayern Munich a run for their money this season. Hakan Calhanoglu looks like an incredible signing and Son Heung-Min might be making a step up from excellent Bundesliga player to true Champions League-level superstar.
If last week is any evidence to go on, Bayer should be pretty heavy favorites to beat Hertha at home. The Berlin side had a solid defense for a lower-table team last season and supposedly strengthened it by adding John Heitinga, but they gave up a two-goal lead at home to Werder Bremen. Also, their central playmaker wears No. 12, which should be illegal.
Pick: 3-0, Bayer.
Schalke 04 vs. Bayern Munich
Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET
TV: GolTV (US and Canada), BT Sport (UK)
Expect goals. Lots and lots of goals. These teams both have extremely potent attacks, poorly constructed defenses and managers who don’t pick teams that anyone would consider to be sensible. It’ll be a shootout.
And, of course, a shootout is going to favor Bayern Munich. Thomas Müller and Philipp Lahm didn't look like they had even the tiniest bit of post-World Cup fatigue, and this team has so much attacking talent and so little defensive talent -- at least available for this match and the last one -- that they're playing Arjen Robben as a wingback. He was dominant in the role against Wolfsburg.
Schalke, meanwhile, did what Schalke does in the first game of the season. They were entertaining and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored, but their hilarious defense gave up two goals in three minutes to gift Hannover a lead and eventually the win. Expect similar things over the weekend, only to a much more extreme degree.
Pick: 4-2, Bayern
The rest
Wolfsburg vs. Eintracht Frankfurt - Saturday, 9:30 a.m. ET
Werder Bremen vs. Hoffenheim - Saturday, 9:30 a.m. ET
Stuttgart vs. Köln - Saturday, 9:30 a.m. ET
HSV vs. Paderborn - Saturday, 9:30 a.m. ET
Mainz vs. Hannover - Sunday, 9:30 a.m. ET
Freiburg vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach - Sunday, 11:30 a.m. ET
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