Outside90’s Ari Papas selects the best performers from the sixth round of German Bundesliga action for our matchday six team of the week.
Ralf Fahrmann – Goalkeeper – FC Schalke
Schalke’s custodian somehow gifted his side a clean sheet for the second match in a row despite a less than impressive defensive showing. The Royal Blues beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 at the Veltins Arena with a great deal of help from their 26-year-old goalkeeper. Fahrmann made five crucial saves, including a point-blank stop following a defensive mix-up after a corner kick. Taking a hit to the face, he needed to have medical attention in order to stop a bloodied nose, but the German soldiered on to see out the victory.
Oscar Wendt – Left-back – Borussia Monchengladbach
Wendt was one of the key members of a resurgent Gladbach, finding their first win of the season in a 4-2 victory against FC Augsburg. The Foals had a brilliant first half, but their second half was filled with defensive errors, causing Augsburg to be awarded two penalties. Wendt, however, did his best to keep Gladbach’s defence in check while also looking to attack. The Swede won 60% of his tackles and had a passing accuracy of 91%.
Jonathan Tah – Central-defender – Bayer Leverkusen
Jonathan Tah was tasked with keeping an in-form Yunus Malli and Yoshinori Muto at bay in Leverkusen’s 1-0 win against FSV Mainz. The 19-year-old kept Die Werkself’s back line in order and restricted Mainz to just two shots on target. This young German also won over 50% of his duels and only committed three fouls without receiving a yellow card. It is a positive sign for Leverkusen’s defence after they had previously collapsed against Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Javi Martinez – Central-defence– Bayern Munich
Martinez was a welcome sight to the Allianz Arena, making his first home appearance since his horror string of injuries last season. The Bavarians were down at the break against Wolfsburg, so Guardiola brought on the Spaniard to hole up their defence and stop the leakage of counter-attacks from the Wolves. Martinez assured Guardiola that his injury was well and truly behind him by maintaining a 93% passing accuracy and winning all his challenges without committing a single foul.
Dennis Diekmeier – Right-back – Hamburg SV
Hamburg had to dig deep and fight for a scrappy win against a very impressive Ingolstadt side. The longest serving club in the Bundesliga narrowly escaped relegation last season and put any fears to rest by taking a valuable three points off fellow relegation candidates Ingolstadt. HSV left Die Schanzer with only a single shot on target due to their 54% possession and defenders such as Dennis Diekmeier. The 25-year-old was willing to move forward and attack with three crosses as much as he helped the back line by winning 75% of his challenges.
Leroy Sane – Left-wing – FC Schalke
It is the second week in a row that Sane has produced a sublime individual effort. At 19, Sane is a real raw talent, which he put to good use to seal three points against Frankfurt in a 2-0 victory. With the scores locked at 0-0, the Schalke youth product was thrown onto the pitch with 20 minutes remaining. It was a decision that paid off, as Sane had a perfect dribbling success rate and played a major part in the win. It was a nervy game until injury time when the young German shimmied his way past the Frankfurt goalkeeper to score and slid the ball over the line.
Xabi Alonso – Central-midfield – Bayern Munich
Alonso was another key in Bayern’s comeback win against Wolfsburg. Guardiola reviewed his system at half time and deployed Alonso further up the pitch in the second half to sit in his natural position of distributing midfielder while accounting for his absence in the defensive half with Javi Martinez. At 33, Alonso is in the twighlight of his career, but he put in an excellent second half display with a 91% pass success rate.
Mahmoud Dahoud – Central-midfield – Borussia Monchengladbach
Dahoud was one of the standout performers in Gladbach’s frantic win against Augsburg. The 19-year-old has had some uninspiring displays this season but proved himself on matchday six by actively contributing to the win. The German had a passing accuracy of 90% which allowed the Foals to dominate the first half. Dahoud even got in on the action by scoring his first professional Bundesliga goal.
Douglas Costa – Right-wing – Bayern Munich
Bayern’s summer signing cost €30 million and his recent performances make that price look like a bargain. The busy winger has an uncanny ability to be Bayern’s best on the pitch even if his team is experiencing a slight slump in form. It seemed as though the Oktoberfest celebrations had created a sluggish atmosphere in Bavaria as the 25-times champions huffed and puffed in front of goal in the first half. Conversely, Costa was explosive on the right-wing, attempting to salvage something out of a poor first half. When the rest of the team pulled themselves together, Costa became crucial to Bayern’s counter-attacking bonanza that saw them score five goals in nine minutes.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Striker – Borussia Dortmund
BVB were far from their best in a frustrating 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim. Various players spurned chances to score and Thomas Tuchel might even see this game as a point earned after Aubameyang broke a Bundesliga record with his goal. The Gabon international scored a simple goal that set his name in the history books as the first Bundesliga player to score in six consecutive games.
Robert Lewandowski – Striker – Bayern Munich
The addition of this man in the team of the week is something that really does not need to be questioned or discussed. The burly Polish striker came off the bench at half time with the intention of helping the team overcome a 1-0 deficit against Wolfsburg. No one could have expected what happened next. Five goals in nine minutes and the game was all over. There is not enough space to write down all the records he broke, so just watch and enjoy his fifth goal of the night which was an absolute cracker.
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