Matchday 12 Talking Points

Aside from Bayern Munich, last year's top four Bundesliga teams floundered off the back of a European week. Gladbach's quest for seven straight wins came to a halt at home against Ingolstadt, Leverkusen flattered to deceive in their derby defeat to Cologne and Wolfsburg were left empty handed in Mainz. Twice in a week looks a step too far at the moment.

All three sides had weary legs and weary minds. Gladbach were irritated throughout their second half, and Granit Xhaka's predictable but unnecessary red card epitomized that. The attacking fury that has become a custom under Andre Schubert arrived too late.

Leverkusen deserved to lose to Cologne. Ömer Toprak in defensive midfield continues to be an experiment that doesn't work, and as good as Kevin Kampl and Chicharito have been, they alone could not spare Leverkusen's blushes. More than anything, Leverkusen looked slow to formulate ideas and when they did, they were often not good - see Papadopoulos' red card. Twelve goals conceded in their last five games says it all.

Julian Draxler's red card was unfortunate, but Wolfsburg showed little fight against a side who hadn't won in four. Diego Benaglio is better than the mistake that ultimately cost them game. Both issues are unwelcome for the Wolves.

Warning for Bayern

Bayern have been nothing short of superb recently. They are the most in-form team in Europe and if Dortmund don't win on Sunday, they will have an eight point lead at the top of the table. However, there's an international break ahead and Bayern should be warned. After the break in September, Bayern only overcame Augsburg thanks to a fortuitous penalty. In October, they slid past Werder Bremen and then lost to Arsenal. International breaks might stop Bayern's bullish behavior, which will be music to the ears of Bayern's next Bundesliga opponents - Schalke.

Ingenious Ingolstadt?

Having stopped Gladbach in their pursuit of seven consecutive wins, Ingolstadt deserve recognition. This season, they have managed four of each of the possible results. Astoundingly, they have only scored seven and conceded nine after 12 games, but have more points than fellow newcomers Darmstadt (who they play next in the Bundesliga). The only time they have scored two in the league this season was on matchday eight in a 2-0 win against Frankfurt. There's a long way to go until May, but so far the lack of a goalscorer hasn't hindered Ralph Hasenhüttl and his team.