Paderborn 2-3 Bayern Munich: 3 talking points

Bayern Munich got a hard-fought 3-2 victory over newly promoted Paderborn in the Bundesliga, with goals from Philippe Coutinho, Serge Gnabry and Robert Lewandowski giving them all three points.

Niko Kovac's men came into the fixture having won five of their seven games in all competitions this season, and they were expected to make light work of a Paderborn side who are yet to win a game since their return to the top-flight.

Bayern Munich's last two visits to the Benteler-Arena had resulted in two 6-0 victories for the Bavarians, and fans of the home side would have had hopes of another whitewash when Gnabry put the record Bundesliga champions ahead inside the first 15 minutes.

Coutinho doubled the lead in the 55th minute, and despite a late rally from Paderborn, Bayern Munich were good value for the win ahead of their Champions League clash with Tottenham.

Here, we shall be highlighting three talking points from the Bundesliga fixture.

#1 Bayern Munich go top of the standings

With 28 Bundesliga titles including the last seven consecutively, Bayern Munich are record winners of the German top-flight, and fans of the club are accustomed to seeing them win the league title without breaking a sweat.

However, in recent years, the margin between them and other teams has been narrowing, evidenced by the close race for the title they had with Dortmund last season.

This term, two draws with Hertha Berlin and RB Leipzig had the Bavarians already playing catch-up at this early stage, and this is hardly a situation they would have been comfortable with.

Bayern came into the matchday two points behind RB Leipzig, but the 3-1 home loss to Schalke 04 for Julen Nagelsmann's men opened a window of opportunity and it is one that Bayern grabbed with both hands.

The 3-2 win over Paderborn sees Bayern Munich climb to the summit of the table with 14 points, one point above their nearest challengers, and having gotten to the top of the standings, Bayern Munich would be doing all in their power to remain there till the end of the season.

#2 Philippe Coutinho settling in well to life in Munich

Coutinho has impressed since his loan arrival at Bayern Munich

After arriving Barcelona for a club record fee in January 2018, big things were expected of Philippe Coutinho, but his Barcelona career did not go according to plan, as for 18 months, the Brazilian international looked lost and was a shadow of the player who tore defenses to shreds at Liverpool.

A loan transfer to Bayern Munich was completed over the summer, and Coutinho has gone about rediscovering his best form under Niko Kovac's guidance.

Having opened his scoring from the penalty spot in the 4-0 victory over FC Koln last week, Coutinho made it two in consecutive weeks when he scored with a finish into an empty net after he had been teed up by Gnabry in the 55th minute.

Earlier on, the 27-year-old had set the German international up when he lofted a through ball in the 15th minute for Gnabry to finish.

Philippe Coutinho is a player of undoubted quality, but having faced criticism in the last few months, he would be eager to silence his critics and his performances for Bayern Munich has gone some way in doing so.

#3 Robert Lewandowski simply can't stop scoring

Lewandowski has been in fine form this season

Over the last seven years, Robert Lewandowski has distinguished himself as one of the premier strikers in the world, with his displays in front of goal for first Borussia Dortmund and presently Bayern Munich placing him a notch above the rest.

Despite turning 31 in August, the Polish international has shown no signs of slowing down in the goalscoring department, and was rewarded with a new contract in August which would see him remain with the Bavarian giants until 2023.

Lewandowski has gone about repaying the faith shown in him in sublime fashion, and currently leads the scorers' chart in the Bundesliga with 10 goals from just six matches.

Rather incredibly, the former Dortmund striker has scored in every single match so far in the league, while he also got off the mark in the Champions League game against Red Star Belgrade and DFB Pokal against Energie Cottbus, with his only blank game coming in the Super Cup loss to Dortmund.

Bayern Munich have lofty ambitions this season, and if they are to achieve them, Robert Lewandowski's goals would be crucial, and on evidence of his displays so far, he can be counted upon to play his part to perfection.