Der Klassiker, one of the biggest games in the Bundesliga calendar, has been quite one-sided in recent years, with Bayern Munich completely dominating rivals Borussia Dortmund.
But BVB delivered some much-needed drama and excitement to this fixture as they came from two goals down to deny Bayern another win. Anthony Modeste was the star of the show as he played a part in both goals, including the equaliser at the death, to finally make his mark at Dortmund after a slow start to the season.
Speaking of making his mark, Xabi Alonso made a winning start to life as Bayer Leverkusen manager as his side smashed Schalke on his debut. Meanwhile, RB Leipzig’s maddeningly inconsistent season continued as they were held at Mainz, extending their winless drought away from home.
Read on as SBOTOP brings you the three biggest takeaways from the most recent round of Bundesliga fixtures.
Modeste finally makes his mark for Dortmund at Der Klassiker
The Bundesliga 2022 betting odds had Bayern Munich favoured to pick up their eighth straight Der Klassiker win, and they seemed to be well on their way towards another victory. They had a 2-0 lead at Signal Iduna Park thanks to goals from Leon Goretzka and Leroy Sane with just 20 minutes left.
But then Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic brought on Anthony Modeste for Donyell Malen, which completely changed the game. Just four minutes after coming on, Modeste set up teenager Youssoufa Moukoko, who pulled a goal back.
And deep into stoppage time, Modeste got on the end of Nico Schlotterbeck’s cross on the back post and headed in the equalising goal to send the Yellow Wall into delirium.
That was much more like the Modeste Dortmund were hoping to get after signing him from Koln to help make up for Sebastien Haller’s absence. The 34-year-old, who scored 20 goals for the Billy Goats last season, has had a slow start to the season with just one goal in seven starts.
Dortmund will certainly be hoping that this fine display in Der Klassiker will be the morale-booster Modeste needs to push on for the rest of the campaign.
Xabi Alonso makes winning start at Leverkusen
Xabi Alonso made a perfect start to life as Bayer Leverkusen head coach as his side thumped struggling Schalke 4-0 at the BayArena.
The 40-year-old Spaniard, who won three straight Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich in the mid-2010s, was appointed after the sacking of Gerardo Seoane, who led Leverkusen to set of disappointing Bundesliga 2022 results with just one win from their first eight games. But Alonso’s arrival saw the return of the free-scoring Leverkusen side that finished in third last season.
Young wing-back Jeremie Frimpong bagged his second brace of the season as he became the team’s leading scorer with four goals. Meanwhile, Moussa Diaby finally snapped out of his season-long slump with a goal and two assists.
Of course, much tougher tests are set to come for Alonso’s Leverkusen, with Porto and Eintracht Frankfurt coming up next week. But their impressive performance against Schalke could be an indicator that they may enjoy a bit of a new manager bounce under the Spaniard.
RB Leipzig’s away woes continue
Speaking of new manager bounce, RB Leipzig don’t seem to be experiencing it under new boss Marco Rose – at least not away from home.
The Red Bulls were held to a 1-1 draw away to Mainz as they remained without a win away from home this Bundesliga season (two draws, three defeats).
After a strong 3-1 home win against Celtic in the Champions League midweek, Leipzig looked quite mediocre against Mainz. They had just three shots on target from 13 total shots and needed a late Christopher Nkunku equaliser to salvage a point.
There was hope that some impressive Bundesliga home wins against Borussia Dortmund (3-0) and Bochum (4-0) meant Leipzig were finally starting to turn the corner under Rose. But the Mainz setback showed that there is still much work to be done in terms of finding consistency this season.
Even with the brilliance of Nkunku, who has now scored four goals in his last three games, Leipzig need to come together as a team to turn their disappointing season around.
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