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On the 24th of August 1963, the first match of the inaugural season of the Bundesliga was played at Westerstadion between Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund. Timo Konietzka opened the scoring after 58 seconds (35 depending on who you ask) but it wasn’t enough as the much fancied northerners went on to win. The Bundesliga 2012-13 season, its 50th, begins the 24th of August 2012 and it was only fitting for these two clubs to usher in this milestone.
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Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Werder Bremen
For the current Bundesliga champions there were two questions that needed to be answered on Matchday 1- Would the departure of Shinji Kagawa leave them lacking creativity in midfield? And could Marco Reus (German Player of the Year 2011-12) replace the mercurial Japanese? Reus for his part was absolutely brilliant on Friday. The 23-year opened the scoring in the 11th minute, sliding the ball into the bottom left corner after Aleksandar Ignjovski tripped, and was a constant menace linking up with his teammates well, especially with Kuba.
Despite the loss, Werder Bremen gave a good account of themselves and will walk away with a lot of positives from this game. After the early goal, Schaaf’s side created a few chances of their own. Elia fired straight at the keeper in a one-on-one and Arnautovic hit Dortmund’s left post during a scramble in front of the net before Selassie, excellent for Czech Republic in this year’s Euros, headed in from a delightful short chip by Arnautovic, tying the scores with fifteen minutes to go. Three minutes later Klopp brought on Mario Götze for the ineffectual Grosskreutz. A further three minutes later the decision proved to be inspired as the youngster beat the Bremen defence to a clever ball by Robert Lewandowski and slotted it past the keeper to restore their lead. Peterson, on loan from Bayern, had a chance to equalize in the 85th minute but let the ball bounce off his hip and go out.
The high-energy pressing game of last season is still there and Kagawa’s departure doesn’t seem to have had much of an impact on the team’s style. The champions defence, considered the best in the country, was not upto its usual standard and let the Bremen attack get behind them a little too much. And though improvements need to be made Klopp’s boys walk away with three points having been the better side on the day.
SpVgg Greuther Fürth 0-3 FC Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich beat a spirited SpVgg Greuther Fürth 3-0 away from home to start their season on a high note. The result sees Bayern topping the table at the end of the week. Franck Ribery was sidelined due to a flu, which resulted in Xherdan Shaqiri starting at the left wing. Bastian Schweinsteiger, being ever so gently eased into full fitness, was on the bench and played for the closing eighteen minutes.
Bayern kicked the game off at Greuther Fürth’s Trolli Arena in front of 18,000 supporters. The first half was simply put, a dry affair. Greuther Fürth showed little attacking ambition but held their shape admirably and allowed little space to Bayern in the attacking third. Consequentially Bayern had the lions share of the possession though little of Bayern’s four attacking players was seen. Boateng and Dante passed the ball as astonishing 139 times between them. If there ever was a game in need of a goal, which finally came in the 43rd minute. Dante had a header blocked off the line in the 43rd minute off a Shaqiri corner and Mavraj unluckily deflected the ball into Müller’s path for an easy tap in. It wasn’t pretty but it did the job and Bayern went down the tunnel at the end of the first half with something to show for it.
In the second half, as so often happens with smaller teams conceding, the defensive discipline of Greuther Fürth was a shadow of itself from the first half. Space opened up in the final third and the attacking quartet of Robben, Shaqiri, Muller and Mandzukic started to show its influence. Shaqiri’s movement in the second half, with an increased frequency of runs out wide, further unsettled the Fürth defence. In the 59th minute, after being played on through on the left by the Swiss youngster, Arjen Robben saw his right footed shot parried by the keeper but only into the path of an oncoming Mario Mandzukic who headed in the rebound easily. Viewers who were still tuned in were delighted by the rare sight of Arjen Robben doing some great defensive work in his own box. And three minutes later the winger was played through on the left side and his cross for Mandzukic was deflected into the goal by Thomas Kleine.
Apart from Shaqiri’s impressive start to life in Bavaria, Robben’s recent resurgence and Dante looking pretty comfortable and reliable as a centre back there is not much to take away from this game. Robben is the man of the match for me, though he does get points for helping out in the defense. Bayern got the start they wanted and next up is Stuttgart.
Elsewhere:
- Borussia Monchengladbach got used to life without Marco Reus in a 2-1 win over Hoffenheim. Juan Arango got a goal and an assist for The Foals, both of which came from a set piece.
- Lewis Holtby also made a great start to the season with a goal and an assist for Schalke in their 2-2 draw with Hannover 96.
- A goal on each end saw Thomas Tuchel’s Mainz 05 draw their opener 1-1 against SC Freiburg. Andreas Ivanschitz equalized from the spot in 65th minute after Max Kruse’s 49th minute strike.
- Horrible defending was the reason for Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of the newly promoted Eintracht Frankfurt. Stefan Kiessling opened the scoring in the 30th minute but it was not enough as Stefan Aigner and Martin Lanig scored for the eagles in the 57th and 82nd minutes to give Frankfurt all three points.
- Ukrainian born substitute Dani Schahin came on in the 60th minute and went to the top of the scoring charts with a well-timed brace to give Fortuna Düsseldorf in a 2-0 win over FC Augsburg.
- FC. Nuremburg beat Hamburg 1-0. A goal from midfielder Hanno Balitsch in the 68th minute settling the tie in Der Club’s favour.
- In the last game of the weekend, Felix Magath’s VfL Wolfsburg got a 1-0 victory over VfB Stuttgart in one of the dullest games I have ever seen. Bas Doot scored a goal in the after what will hopefully be remembered as the most boring ninety minutes of the season. Believe me when I say nothing to report here.
