Robert Lewandowski has started the 2019/20 Bundesliga season with an obligatory bang, but what else is there to learn from the opening three rounds of fixtures of the new campaign? bundesliga.com investigates…
Trend one: Goals, goals, and goals again
An incredible 93 goals were scored through the first three weekends – the highest total for 26 years in the Bundesliga. Fans have been witness to clubs breaking the 30-goal mark on every matchday – a record that was last seen in the Bundesliga 35 years ago.
On only five occasions have two players scored five goals in the opening three games. Bayern Munich’s Lewandowski (six goals) and Timo Werner of RB Leipzig (five) lead the scorers’ chart. The fact that a player has already scored six goals after only three matchdays is a rare occurrence, and last happened 14 years ago. Lewandowski, Werner, and the other Bundesliga strikers are in top form this season: 56 goals scored by forwards is a new best since the database age began in 1992/93.
Trend two: Love playing away
Hard playing away from home? This season it’s been quite the opposite. In 10 of the 27 games so far, the visiting team took home all three points. Twelve games, meanwhile, have been won by the hosts. Only three times in history were there more away wins (always 11). The 46 goals scored by away sides is the second-highest in history: 35 years ago, five more were scored by away teams.
Trend three: Concede penalties at your peril
The referees have awarded five penalties this season – and all have been scored. Last season, there were 10 penalties after three Matchdays, and three of them didn’t find the back of the net. The last time there was a 100 per cent success rate from the spot at this stage of a season was twelve years ago (seven out of seven). Lewandowski and Freiburg’s Luca Waldschmidt have both scored two from two in 2019/20.
Trend four: Bundesliga international
Sixty of the 93 goals so far have been scored by non-German players – more than ever before. Three of the four best foreign scorers in Bundesliga history are still hunting: Bayern’s Lewandowski (208 goals), Werder Bremen’s Claudio Pizarro (197) and Hertha Berlin’s Vedad Ibisevic (120).
Trend five: fair play!
Last season was the fairest in the database age. After three matchdays, there were only 590 fouls in 2018/19. This season, the total has only reached 632 – the second-lowest in history.
Records: Lewandowski doing what Lewandowski does
Bayern’s No.9 not only leads the scorers’ list again, but he has also recorded his own best-ever start to a season in the Bundesliga. With his goal on Matchday 1, the four-time Bundesliga top scorer also became the first player to score in five consecutive seasons on the opening weekend.
Records: Werder the longest standing
On Matchday 1, Bremen replaced arch-rivals Hamburg as the team to have played the most Bundesliga games. Bremen have now played 1869 matches in their Bundesliga history – three more than HSV.
Records: The San Show
The fact that Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho is the Bundesliga’s leading goal provider is no surprise. Last season he had the most assists of any player, and this season he leads the way again. The England international also knows where the goal is himself. On Matchday 2, he scored his 15th Bundesliga goal at the age of 19 and 151 days – the youngest player in history to reach that total.
Records: Leipzig loving life
Leipzig top the table thanks to three wins from three. It’s the best start to a season in the club’s history – and not just in the Bundesliga, but across all leagues. They are the only team to have taken maximum points so far this season, but perhaps the ultimate test will come on Matchday 4 when Julian Nagelsmann’s side host defending champions Bayern.
Records: Unstoppable Timo
The fact that Leipzig are top of the table is largely down to Werner, who may well be in the best shape of his career. For the first time, the Germany international has scored at least one goal in each of the first three games in the season. Five goals after three matches is also a personal record for the former VfB Stuttgart man. The 23-year-old capped off his dream start with a first career hat-trick, becoming Man of the Matchday in Week 3 as a result of those heroics against Borussia Mönchengladbach.