Bayern struggles continue, but Tel sets scoring record

Bayern Munich’s struggles in the Bundesliga continued on Saturday. The Bavarians dropped points in their third-consecutive game with a draw against visitors Stuttgart, 2-2.

The visitors grabbed a late goal in added time with a penalty to level the fixture. New arrival Matthijs de Ligt committed a foul inside the box. Then, Serhou Guirassy made no mistake from the spot.

Bayern’s three draws in its opening six league matches is historically unusual for the club. Currently, the club sits at 12 points at this point in the season. Despite closing the day atop the table based on goal differential, this is Bayern’s lowest point total after six games in the Bundesliga since 2010. That year, Bayern finished third in the table as Bayer Leverkusen finished top ahead of Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern’s pole position in the table is thanks in part to Dortmund dropping points. In fact, Saturday presented an opportunity for Dortmund to extend its lead over its rivals. However, a 3-0 pounding at the hands of RB Leipzig held Dortmund at 12 points, now level with Bayern.

On Sunday, Freiburg can usurp the Munich monopoly atop the table with a result against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

A silver lining in Bayern’s struggles

One bright spot on the day for Bayern was Mathys Tel.  The 17-year-old striker scored the opening goal of the match against Stuttgart. In doing so, he became the youngest ever scorer for the club in Bundesliga play.  Tel, a highly-regarded prospect, transferred to the German champions earlier this summer in a massive $22 million move from French club Rennes.

He has goals in both of his starts this season. Previously, he put his name on the scoresheet in Bayern’s 5-0 win over Viktoria Koln in the DFB-Pokal.

Many fans and pundits were interested to see how Bayern could perform without their superstar striker Robert Lewandowski. The Poland international recently departed the club after eight hugely successful season with Bayern. Lewandowski scored an incredible 344 goals in 375 total games with the German team. Barcelona pried the 34-year-old forward away from Bavaria in a deal worth nearly $50 million.

While Bayern may be off to an unusually slow start, they do, however, possess a strong 14 goal differential in league play. No other Bundesliga team even comes close to this impressive number. The defending champs will hope to steady the ship next weekend, as they will travel to Augsburg for their next Bundesliga game. However, an interesting matchup with Barcelona, and their former star Lewandowski, is set for Tuesday.

PHOTO: Imago