Berlin (AFP) – After defending champions Bayern Munich thrashed Werder Bremen 6-0 to kick-off the 2016/17 Bundesliga season on Friday, AFP sports looks at five things we learnt from the opening weekend:

Have Bayern made the Bundesliga boring?

Bayern’s drubbing of Bremen delighted the Bavarian giants’ fans — but left Bundesliga bosses wondering if the product they want to export is too boring compared to other top European leagues.

Despite Lewandowski’s hat-trick and an equally outstanding display from Thomas Mueller, in creating three of their goals, the result was predictable.

Germany coach Joachim Loew dubbed it a ‘training match’ for Bayern.

Christian Seifert, CEO of the German Football League (DFL) said there could ‘be consequences’ to international viewing figures if Bayern keep posting heavy wins, as one-sided results ‘damage’ the league’s credibility.  

The Bundesliga opener was shown live in 210 countries, but the German league has effectively been a one-horse race since Dortmund last won the title in 2012.

Bayern won last season’s league title, their fourth in a row, by finishing ten points clear of second-placed Dortmund, who in turn were 18 ahead of the rest.

The situation leaves league bosses hoping another serious contender will emerge this season from clubs like Wolfsburg, Schalke, Mainz, Leverkusen or Moenchengladbach.

Germany’s hot-shots resume battle

“Wow and the race is started [sic]. Hat-trick” tweeted Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on Friday after watching his rival and last season’s top-scorer Robert Lewandowski hit three goals against Bremen.

Lewandowski was last season’s top-scorer with 30 league goals to Aubameyang’s 25 in second.

Less than 24 hours after Bayern blitzed Bremen, Aubameyang opened his tally for 2016/17 with both goals – a crisp header followed up by a late penalty – in Dortmund’s 2-1 home win against Mainz.

“The race has begun! I missed three big changes in our cup game last week, now I have scored twice. It’s a great feeling!,” said Aubameyang after Saturday’s brace against Mainz.

Lewandowski simple tweeted “Lewandowski v Aubameyang 3:2 ;)” in reply.

Champagne Ancelotti 

Bayern’s new coach Carlo Ancelotti has wasted no time in launching a charm offensive on his star-studded squad.

Winger Franck Ribery has praised the Italian’s warm manner and Thomas Mueller says Ancelotti is ‘closer to the players’ than predecessor Pep Guardiola.

Now Philipp Lahm is set to profit in champagne after scoring only his 14 goal in his 360th Bundesliga match on Friday.

The 32-year-old right-back finished off a superb move after taking a return pass from Mueller against Bremen.

“I told Philipp Lahm, after his superb goal, that he’ll get a bottle of champagne from me,” said Ancelotti.

Lahm wasted no time in getting his order in, “I expect a bottle of champagne in my locker next week,” he quipped.

Ancelotti has picked up where Guardiola left off, before leaving to coach Manchester City.

As was so typical last season, Bayern enjoyed 70 percent possession against Bremen.

The only noticeable difference under Ancelotti is that Bayern’s defenders stood much deeper than they had under Guardiola, who liked to defend high up the pitch.

Sweltering conditions

Blues skies over Germany meant sweltering conditions and several games temporarily halted for water breaks.

Temperatures out on the pitch reportedly went as high as 45 degrees Celsius for Dortmund’s win over Mainz, which kicked-off at 1530 local time (1330 GMT) and referee Robert Hartmann twice stopped the match for drinks.

Dortmund’s Gonzalo Castro bemoaned the afternoon kick-off time “I don’t understand why the DFL (German Football League) didn’t move the game to the evening” while winger Andre Schuerrle said conditions were “extreme and brutal”.

Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen — which kicked off at 1830 local time (1630 GMT) — was also affected.

“Normally at home (in Sweden), it’s more often 35 below (freezing) than 35 above,” quipped Gladbach winger Oscar Wendt after the unusually high temperatures.

Hertha Berlin’s dramatic 2-1 win over Freiburg, which kicked off at 1530, saw the match reduced to a walking pace for long periods due to the unusual heat before substitute Julian Schieber netted the 95th-minute winner.

Spluttering Dortmund

Having lost stars Mats Hummels, Ilkay Gundogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the off-season, Dortmund splashed out on eight new signings, four of which started the win over Mainz, so it was no surprise Borussia’s display was far from polished.

“We were a bit nervous and not too tidy in our structure and the way we found space,” admitted coach Thomas Tuchel.

Marc Bartra, signed from Barcelona, looked solid at centre-back, was strong in the tackle and nearly 90 percent of his passes found their target.

On the right-wing, French teenager Ousmane Dembele again showed off his audacious talent.

Midfielder Sebastian Rode did everything asked of him in the defensive midfield, but it was left-wing Andre Schuerrle who really shone, creating Aubameyang’s first goal and winning the late penalty.

With Marco Reus and Mario Goetze also set to return from injury, Dortmund certainly have the talent — if not yet the cohesion — to threaten Bayern.