Bayern frustrated, Stuttgart bounce back and Elversberg run riot – 5 things we learned from Bundesliga Matchday 8

Eight matches into the Bundesliga season, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund remain unbeaten at the top of the league, locked on 18 points after their showdown at the Allianz Arena. 

Elsewhere, Freiburg gained ground on the top two, Werder Bremen's run continued, and Stuttgart finally showed signs of life on their trip to Leverkusen. 

Looking back at the weekend, here are the five biggest talking points from Matchday 8.

Bayern are left wondering what might have been

On an evening when Harry Kane was honoured for winning the Ballon d’Or, the Englishman endured a rare frustrating night as Bayern Munich were held to a draw by Borussia Dortmund.

Kane struck the crossbar from the penalty spot, as Bayern hit the woodwork four times and twice let their lead slip away.

Dortmund, however, deserve credit for their persistence.

After struggling for attacking creativity in recent weeks, Niko Kovac’s side showed far more ambition in Munich, with goals from Serhou Guirassy and Fabio Silva sealing a point on their travels.

However, Bayern will feel they should have claimed all three points, with the side coached by Aaron Danks producing an xG of 4.48 compared to Dortmund's 0.74 of Dortmund, while Lennart Karl came close to netting a winner in the dying moments as his effort from distance struck the bar. 

Then, there may also be bigger concerns in the treatment room, with Ismael Saibari, Serge Gnabry, and Michael Olise all forced off through injury ahead of Tuesday's trip to Atletico Madrid - a more than difficult place to go with a thin squad.

With boss Vincent Kompany still recovering and Bayern looking increasingly light across the squad, Tuesday's clash could be a real banana skin, but it could also be a real statement as the international break nears.

Stuttgart finally show what they’re capable of

A week ago, Stuttgart were sitting 15th after suffering an embarrassing home defeat to a Gladbach side that had previously lost every Bundesliga match.

Saturday’s emphatic victory at Bayer Leverkusen was quite the response.

Ermedin Demirovic struck twice, with Jamie Leweling and Bilal El Khannouss also on target as Sebastian Hoeneß’s side produced comfortably their best attacking performance of the campaign.

It was a result that VfB had been threatening since the start of the campaign, having created bucketloads of chances in recent defeats, only to end up lacking the edge in the final third. 

However, Hoeneß's side's xG sat at 3.23 on Saturday afternoon, and for once they overperformed rather than underperformed, while skipper Deniz Undav also played an important part, creating Demirovic's second goal, and Dennis Seimen impressed on his return between the posts.

Having lost five of their opening seven matches, Stuttgart desperately needed a result of this magnitude.

They remain in the bottom half, but Saturday offered a glimpse of the side that supporters have become accustomed to watching under Hoeneß.

The challenge now is producing that on a consistent basis, with the midweek trip to Inter Milan coming up next.

Elversberg are making themselves at home

It is becoming increasingly difficult to describe Elversberg’s results as surprises.

The Bundesliga newcomers recorded their fourth victory in eight matches on Friday evening, putting four past Mainz in another thoroughly entertaining performance.

Felix Keidel’s excellent free-kick set Vincent Wagner’s side on their way, before Francis Onyeka and Maurice Krattenmacher established a three-goal advantage before half-time.

Cole Campbell then provided the highlight of the evening with a spectacular acrobatic finish in stoppage time.

With 13 points already collected, the Saarland club are comfortably holding their own in their first Bundesliga season.

Mainz, meanwhile, have now suffered three consecutive defeats in all competitions and were particularly poor during the opening 45 minutes.

Nobody at Elversberg will be getting carried away after eight matches, but their early results suggest they have every reason to believe they belong at this level.

Freiburg’s substitutes are making the difference

After consecutive league defeats to Leverkusen and Bayern, Freiburg looked set for another disappointing afternoon when they trailed Augsburg at half-time on Saturday.

However, Julian Schuster’s substitutions completely changed the contest.

Igor Matanovic levelled the score after being introduced at the break, before fellow substitute Cyriaque Irie completed the comeback five minutes from time.

Remarkably, all four players directly involved in Freiburg’s two goals had started the afternoon on the bench, with Keisuke Goto and Vincenzo Grifo providing the assists.

“We told the lads last night that there was a good chance their moment would come today,” Schuster explained afterwards.

Freiburg were far from their best, with Augsburg enjoying several promising opportunities, but the visitors took theirs when it mattered.

The victory leaves Freiburg third on 16 points, just two behind Bayern and Dortmund.

The goals are not flowing as they were at the start of the season, but the Black Forest club are more than capable of grinding out wins when called upon, as seen in the cup against Wolfsburg last week, and against Augsburg too. 

With a clash against Union Berlin to come next weekend, there is every chance that Freiburg go into the international break sitting in the Champions League spots - fully deserved after an excellent start to the term. 

Werder can't be ignored as unbeaten run continues

Niclas Füllkrug’s goalscoring exploits have dominated the conversation around Werder Bremen in recent weeks, and understandably so.

The 33-year-old continued his remarkable run against Hoffenheim on Saturday, scoring for the seventh consecutive Bundesliga match to take his season tally to nine.

However, Daniel Thioune will have been equally pleased with what happened at the other end.

Werder recorded a clean sheet against a Hoffenheim side that had scored three against Bayer Leverkusen the previous weekend, with Karl Hein impressing between the sticks, before Eren Dinkci sealed the victory with a superb finish late on.

As a result, Bremen's unbeaten Bundesliga run now sits at seven matches, leaving Die Grün-Weißen sitting fifth in the standings just half a year on from battling to stay in the division.

There was some concern surrounding Mitchell Weiser, who departed with an apparent muscular injury just weeks after returning from a lengthy absence, but with Füllkrug scoring regularly and the backline improving, Thioune has plenty to be pleased about.

Bremen have put 15 points on the board in eight outings, and like Freiburg, could well find themselves in the top four over the international break if they seal a strong result in Stuttgart next week.