Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
Sport

Soccer - Talking points from the Bundesliga weekend

Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Moenchengladbach v Bayern Munich - Borussia-Park, Moenchengladbach, Germany - March 2, 2019 Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski in action with Borussia Monchengladbach's Matthias Ginter REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen

BERLIN (Reuters) - Champions Bayern Munich joined leaders Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga after a 5-1 victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday. Dortmund suffered their second league loss of the season, a 2-1 defeat at Augsburg.

Here are five talking points:

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Dortmund - Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Germany - February 2, 2019 Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus reacts REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

LEWANDOWSKI RECORD

Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski scored twice in their win over Gladbach to take his Bundesliga goal tally to 195 and join Werder Bremen's Claudio Pizarro at the top of the all-time foreign scorers list.

The Poland forwards, who also became the third best all-time Bundesliga scorer for Bayern Munich, has also played for Borussia Dortmund in the top German league.

Soccer Football - Bundesliga - FC Augsburg v Borussia Dortmund - WWK Arena, Augsburg, Germany - March 1, 2019 Borussia Dortmund's Paco Alcacer celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Michael Dalder DFL regulations prohibit any use of photographs as image sequences and/or quasi-video

DOWNWARD SPIRAL

Dortmund are on a downward spiral despite the return of captain Marco Reus. After losing 2-1 to Augsburg they have now won only one of their last five league games and have seen their seven point-lead over Bayern from a few weeks ago evaporate.

Soccer Football - Bundesliga - FC Augsburg v Borussia Dortmund - WWK Arena, Augsburg, Germany - March 1, 2019 Augsburg's Ji Dong-won celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Michael Dalder DFL regulations prohibit any use of photographs as image sequences and/or quasi-video

Dortmund take on Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday in their Champions League Round of 16 second leg after their 3-0 loss in London last month.

PACO GOALS

For Dortmund striker Paco Alcacer the season is already a personal success and after scoring his 13th goal of the campaign at Augsburg the Spaniard has now managed a record-extending 11 goals as a substitute.

17TH TIME LUCKY

Veteran Bundesliga coach Friedhelm Funkel set a personal record when his team Fortuna Dusseldorf crushed hosts Schalke 04 4-0.

The 65-year-old Funkel, who has also coached Hertha Berlin, Cologne and Eintracht Frankfurt among other, had not won on any of his previous 16 trips to Schalke as a coach.

Promoted Fortuna, considered relegation candidates early in the season, have now earned 22 points from their last 10 league matches, the second-best points haul in the Bundesliga for that period after Bayern Munich.

JI DOUBLE

Augsburg's South Korean striker Ji Dong-won scored twice against his former club Borussia Dortmund on Friday.

Ji, who had signed for Dortmund back in 2014 but could not break into the senior team and left a few months later, has now scored four of his 13 league goals against his former club, more than against any other teams.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.