Bundesliga Bulletin: Bayern bounce back, Schalke toothless

Good week for: Bayern Munich, Maximilian Eggestein, Dortmund, Luka Jovic, English teenagers

Bad week for: Schalke, Markus Weinzierl, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Heiko Herrlich

The lowdown

- After Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeness had launched a scathing attack on the German media off the pitch, Bayern Munich answered a few questions on it with a 3-1 win away at Wolfsburg. 

- Hoffenheim also ended a poor run with a Reiss Nelson-inspired victory over Nuremberg, their first win in almost a month. It couldn't have come at a much better time, with two critical Champions League clashes with Lyon and a trip to RB Leipzig in the German Cup coming up in the next 17 days.

- Borussia Dortmund's scintillating start under Lucien Favre continued with a 4-0 win over Stuttgart, meaning they have scored four goals or more in four consecutive home games for the first time ever and remain unbeaten at the top. Marco Reus, Paco Alcacer and Jadon Sancho started together for the first time in the Bundesliga and all three scored within 25 minutes.

- Paco Alcacer has scored two more goals than BVB's rivals Schalke. The Royal Blues finished above Dortmund last term but despite tightening up their backline (see Stats) they've scored just five goals in eight league games, no player has scored more than once in the league and Domenico Tedesco's men haven't scored two in a Bundesliga game. Troubling times for the league's second-youngest coach.

- Schalke's latest blank came against Werder Bremen, who move up to third on the back of Maximilian Eggestein's impressive brace. Just a few years older than Tedesco at 36, coach Florian Kohfeldt has made a huge impact in a short time with a win percentage of 47 percent at Bremen, who had become accustomed to relegation battles in recent years. It looks to be different this time round, with Eggestein, Davy Klassen and Max Kruse among those thriving in a strong attacking outfit.

- Borussia Mönchengladbach are in similarly good spirits, with their win over Mainz confirming their strongest start to a league season for 30 years. They finished that season in seventh, but the Foals may hope for more this time round.

- After winning their first two games, Wolfsburg are dropping like Volkswagen's share price in the wake of the emissions scandal. Bruno Labaddia's men are bottom of the form table over the last six games, haven't won since September 1 and have kept just one clean sheet in the league. Is Labaddia genuinely just a late season fire fighter after all?

The quotes 

"I think it's a really good sign that the club stands up for its players. It helps engender a sense of togetherness within the team."

- Bayern Munich defender Joshua Kimmich defends that press conference after a tumultuous week on Säbener Straße. 

"Today it wasn't the better team that won, but the more effective. Therefore they are also the better team."

-Schalke striker Guido Burgstaller (pictured, top) makes his point, albeit in a somewhat confusing way. 

"We aiming for Europe because we want to set ourselves targets."
- Kohfeldt says Werder Bremen have big ambitions this season.

"I didn't expect such an outstanding victory. Luka Jovic was incredible - a performance for the history books."

- Eintracht Frankfurt coach Adi Hütter on his team's 7-1 win over Düsseldorf.

"The way we played in the first half was unacceptable. The whole plan went out the window after three minutes. That cannot be allowed to happen."

- New Stuttgart coach Markus Weinzierl had a difficult first day at work

"It's a good start and things are going well at the moment - but the best Reiss is yet to come!"

- Hoffenheim striker Reiss Nelson after scoring twice against Nuremberg.

"We've got too much on our minds. We let little things unsettle us and bring us out of our structure...We need more confidence."

- Bayer Leverkusen's Lars Bender after a disappointing home draw with Hannover that keeps them in the bottom half.

The stats

- Despite losing 4-0 to Borussia Mönchengladbach, Mainz have the joint best defensive record in the league, having conceded just 8 goals. Unfortunately, they've only scored 4 (none in their last five games), giving them the division's worst attack.

- After scoring Borussia Dortmund's second against Stuttgart, Marco Reus has now scored on all 34 Bundesliga matchdays over the course of his career. Matchday 8 was the missing piece.

- Max Philipp became BVB's 14th different goalscorer already this season. His 85th-minute strike was also the 10th goal scored by a Borussia Dortmund substitute this term.

- Schalke hadn't conceded a goal in a competitive match for 308 minutes ahead of kick-off against Werder Bremen. The Royal Blues survived another 43 minutes before Max Eggestein's opening goal.  

- When Arjen Robben was sent off against Wolfsburg, it was the first time that Bayern had been reduced to ten men for 89 games. 

The Fans

Fans of newly-promoted Nuremberg have had to endure two heavy defeats already this season, crashing to 7-0 and 6-0 defeats away at Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig respectively. Ahead of kick-off, the Ultras Nürnberg produced a choreography featuring the stressed face of a fan flanked by the crests both of 1.FC Nürnberg and the city of Nuremberg, and the text: "Even when you drive me mad, I remain true to you!"

But life didn't get any easier for the "Club" fans as Hoffenheim ended Nuremberg's unbeaten home record. 

The weird 

To celebrate the 111th anniversary of their club's first ever match on 20 October 1907, FC Augsburg announced a "retro matchday" for the visit of - coincidentally - RB Leipzig. The Augsburg players wore a retro-style kit with the club's old logo while tickets were priced at €19.07 for a seat and €9.07 for the terrace. Some fans even traveled to the stadium by horse and cart while cars of a certain vintage were allowed free parking and the players' modern team bus was replaced by a more traditional model. 

Augsburg officials insisted that the event was about celebrating their own club's history and had nothing to do with their opponents, Red Bull-backed "RasenBallsport" from Leipzig, created in 2009. But given Augsburg club president Klaus Hofmann's previous comments that "Leipzig should never have been given a license," there were probably a few smirks in Bavaria when the Bundesliga fixture generator spat this particular match-up out. 

And finally... 

After the Bayern Munich bosses' complaints about supposedly negative media reporting about the club, national Tageszeitung printed a version of the current Bundesliga table which they thought would suit Hoeness and Rummenigge better: