There were two men who stood out for me in the Bundesliga over the weekend – and both were Brits!
Let’s start with the obvious one.
Realistically, there is only one team in the hunt for the league crown this season and they happen to be spearheaded by the captain of England.
Fresh from an impressive 3-1 dissecting of Chelsea in Europe in midweek, it was the same player who led the plaudits as Bayern Munich delivered yet more Bundesliga 2025 highlights, this time against Hoffenheim.
It’s hardly surprising with Harry Kane in the ranks and he helped himself to a hat-trick as the German champions made it four league wins from four.
Two of the goals may have been from the penalty spot but the outcome was never really in doubt.
Kane broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time with a clinical first-time finish from a cleverly worked low corner, and then doubled the Bavarians’ lead from the spot after Albian Hajdari was harshly penalised for a handball.
That broke the home side’s resistance and Kane completed his ninth Bundesliga hat-trick with another penalty, given for a foul on substitute Michael Olise after a VAR check.
The hosts actually had the better of the first half and would have gone in front but were denied by a post and were eventually beaten 4-1.
Kane’s ninth hat-trick in the Bundesliga takes his tally to eight league goals already and he is already looking set to eclipse his tally of 26 from last season – Bundesliga 2025 betting odds have never been so much in one side’s favour.
Pre-season, I said only one team could challenge Bayern’s superiority but that went out the window the minute Bayer Leverkusen recklessly decided to part company with Erik Ten Hag just three games into his tenure.
No wonder the Dutchman was unhappy if club chiefs expected instant results after selling most of their best players this summer.
They appeared to be heading for fifth spot after American playmaker Malik Tillman gave them the lead against Borussia Monchengladbach.
Yet Haris Tabakovic levelled in the second minute of stoppage time with their first goal of the new season to earn the visitors a deserved point and continue Leverkusen’s miserable start.
On Sunday evening, Borussia Dortmund were aiming to keep Wolfsburg at bay.
Niko Kovac’s Borussia Dortmund host the Wolves in a tasty clash at the Signal Iduna Park and took a first half lead through a spectacular strike from Karim Adeyemi.
That was how it stayed and Dortmund are up to second, two points off the top.
Leipzig had climbed up to second on Saturday as two goals late in the first half saw off the spirited challenge of previously unbeaten Cologne, whose start following promotion has surpassed expectations.
After suffering defeat to Bayern on the opening day, Ole Werner’s side have bounced back emphatically, keeping clean sheets in their previous two fixtures against Heidenheim and Mainz.
There was no clean sheet this time but the result was what mattered.
Teenager Assan Ouédraogo marked his first Bundesliga start with a goal, reacting quickly to smash home a rebound for the opener.
Then, after Cologne had equalised, Rômulo tapped in from close range to restore their advantage before skipper David Raum curled a sumptuous free-kick over the wall and into the net to make it 3-1.
This SBOTOP analyst also clocked that Saturday afternoon was welcome for two clubs who gained their first league victories of the season.
For Mainz, there was no doubting the star of the show of their 4-1 victory at Augsburg, with Kaishu Sano scoring once and creating two more, despite Dominik Kohr’s red card eight minutes after the restart giving them a numerical disadvantage.
Likewise, Hamburg secured their first Bundesliga win since returning to Germany’s top flight, holding off a late fightback from Heidenheim at the Volksparkstadion where Luka Vušković and Rayan Philippe were on the scoresheet.
For Heidenheim boss Frank Schmidt, now in his remarkable 18th year as manager – making him the longest-serving coach in world football – the wait goes on for the league’s bottom club to secure their first points of the season.
The final word goes to the star of the weekend.
For just as fine an achievement as Kane’s, if not slightly better, was the hat-trick that Scottish frontman Oliver Burke netted for Union Berlin to win a seven goal thriller at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Ilyas Ansah’s low drive nine minutes in gave Berlin an early lead to pave the way for Burke’s treble.
He calmly slotted in his first just after the half hour mark and then, once Frankfurt had pulled one back on the stroke of half-time, took the game by the throat with a quick fire double in the opening minutes of the second half.
He headed home at the far post and then produced an exquisite chip to make it 4-1.
Union appeared to be cruising to victory at that point, prompting Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller to make a triple substitution, introducing Oscar Höjlund, Ansgar Knauff and Jonathan Burkardt in an attempt to salvage something from the match.
They rallied with two goals in the last 10 minutes but it was not enough to earn a point as a masterclass in clinical finishing ultimately proved the difference between the teams.
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