A troubled Bayern Munich, free-scoring Borussia Dortmund and baffled Mario Gomez all featured heavily in this week's Bundesliga talking points. Here are the main narratives from matchday 3.
Here are Saturday's results.
A number of players stood out in Borussia Dortmund's 6-0 win over Darmstadt on Saturday but the most likely one to steal the headlines will be Christian Pulisic. While goals and assists are expected of senior stars like Gonzalo Castro, Sebastian Rode and Adrian Ramos it's still something of a welcome novelty when the 17-year-old kid from Pennsylvania thrives at this level.
In a similar fashion to his performance against Legia Warsaw in the Champions League on Wednesday, Pulisic not only tapped home Dortmund's third, but was also the man to set up Castro's second and Emre Mor's late finish to cap off a wonderful performance from Thomas Tuchel's side. Although the coach has adopted a squad rotation policy this season, with a huge amount of options at his disposal, he seems happy to let Pulisic keep his spot on the right wing and continue to thrive for the time being.
2. Wolfsburg desperately need Gomez on form
Sitting in sixth place with five points after three games isn't exactly a disaster for Wolfsburg, yet their fans will surely feel they could be even further up the league table if only they could score. Saturday's 0-0 draw with Hoffenheim wasn't too different from the 0-0 against FC Köln the weekend before and again demonstrated that the Wolves were capable of matching teams until the final third.
Such a conundrum comes entirely from new striker Mario Gomez. The former Stuttgart and Bayern Munich goalscorer had no less than three chances on goal against Hoffenheim and really ought to have scored all of them. Yet until he finally opens his account at the Volkswagen Arena his team will continue to struggle to pick up maximum points.
3. Leipzig continue to show their worth
The most hated club in Germany continued to push on with their progress in the Bundesliga on Saturday, regardless of opposition from opposing fans, with a convincing 4-0 win over Hamburg to see them finish the matchday in second place.
Intent on proving that last week's 1-0 win over Dortmund was no fluke, Ralph Hasenhüttl's team – and Tino Werner in particular – dismantled an expensively-assembled Hamburg side in front of their own fans with relative ease. With each passing win, their presence in the top half of the table begins to look less and less bizarre.
4. Porous Bayern reliant on individual skill
Carlo Ancelotti's Bayern Munich held on to top spot with a 3-1 win over Ingolstadt but again the Bavarian champions looked far from their best, despite what the score line may suggest. A world-class chip from Robert Lewandowski and long-range shots from Xabi Alonso and Rafinha put the home fans' nerves at ease in the presence of a notably porous backline.
In the absence of Mats Hummels through injury and Jerome Boateng until the 84th minute, Bayern's backline was routinely overrun by a gallous Ingosltadt offense. Dario Lezcano and Mathew Leckie routinely found space and time in the final third and if not for a wonderful save from Manuel Neuer the game may have finished a draw.
As we saw against Schalke the week before, Bayern had to rely on the skills of individual talents to dig them out of a rather lackadaisical performance against a team they really should have beaten comfortably. Another three points for Ancelotti's side but still very much a work in progress.
5. Leverkusen still stuck in a rut
If one moment could sum up how this new season is currently going for any team it would perhaps be Javier Hernandez's penalty miss against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday afternoon.
With two minutes left on the clock the Mexican striker only had to convert the set-piece to rescue a point for Roger Schmidt's side. Yet, with a swing of his right foot the ball clattered off the post and safely out of harm's way.
The 2-1 defeat now means Leverkusen have only managed to amass three points from their first three games. Partner that with a late capitulation to CSKA Moscow in the Champions League earlier in the week and things don't look too good for a side that had high hopes of challenging Dortmund for second place this season.
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