Five things learnt from week 11 in the Bundesliga - Featuring devastating Dortmund

Round 11 of the Bundesliga kicked off in spectacular fashion on Friday with Dortmund’s emphatic win over Stuttgart, and continued its march towards sanctimonious entertainment with big wins for two of the bottom three on Saturday and Sunday.

In between all that, we enjoyed the usual unpredictability of the mid-table dog fights between Hertha Berlin – Schalke, Eintracht Frankfurt – Wolfsburg and Augsburg – Mainz, while Bayern Munich made history once again by equaling Hamburg’s 30 year old record of 36 consecutive matches in the Bundesliga without a single defeat.

Here’s what we took away from this weekend’s Bundesliga action:

Super-Dortmund-Are-Fantastic-Stuttgart-Are-Atrocious

Although it may be Bayern Munich who rest happily on top of the Bundesliga table, it’s Borussia Dortmund and coach Jurgen Klopp who seem to be stealing all the headlines at the moment.

The six goals that Marco Reus & company put past Stuttgart made it 10 in the last three for the title challengers, since that loss to Gladbach last month, and with the win over Arsenal in the Champions League a fortnight ago everyone’s favourite Bundesliga look back to their best and ready for the fight.

Leverkusen Lose In Unfamiliar Surroundings

Very few people expect Bayer Leverkusen to keep pace with Dortmund and Bayern for the duration of the the league campaign. That being said, no one would have forecasted Sami Hyypia’s side dropping such important points away to a side like Eintracht Braunschweig.

Yet, as we can see Braunschweig made a game of it and were certainly worthy of at least a point. With their second win in just four games, there may yet be hope for these minnows in this big, bad league.

Gladbach Claim First Away Win

With a sequence of results to rival both Dortmund and Leverkusen it should come as no surprise that Lucien Favre’s Borussia Monchengladbach have slowly sneaked up the Bundesliga standings and now sit a point ahead Wolfsburg in fourth available Champions League spot.

Travelling to Hamburg in the midst of Bert Van Marwijk’s renaissance is never an easy fixture, yet the foals passed with flying colours and can quite confidently say they are the fourth best side in the division at the moment.

Wolfsburg Lead The Chasing Pack

Just as Gladbach may well be comfortable in their current fourth place spot, Wolfsburg, in fifth, have enjoyed a similar return to fortune following a very encouraging 2-1 win away to Eintracht Frankurt.

The win makes it three out of five for Dieter Hecking’s side in a run that has rekindled the fans’ raucous support. While Frankfurt continue their slump down the table with six games now gone without a single victory.

Bayern Stumble Over The Line

Pep Guardiola’s Bayern side have received plenty of plaudits this season, and rightly so, but the manner in which they have scraped past the line in the recent Bundesliga fixtures should also be noted.

Last week they had to come back from a goal down against Hertha Berlin, and this week was no different when Niklas Sule put Hoffenheim ahead in the 34th minute following an unfortunate fumble in the box from Manuel Neuer.

Although Bayern eventually did come back to claim all three points, Hoffenheim were a constant threat and really should have added to their solitary goal in the second half. Pass marks for Bayern and Pep Guardiola, but only just.