The 2017-2018 Bundesliga season begins to heat up in September. The first international break is over, the transfer window is closed and now managers have to deal with the squads they currently have at their disposal until January.
With all teams playing five matches between now and October 1, the league table will start to take shape. Going into Matchday 3, four teams still had a 100% record. By the end of it, no team had a perfect start. Hamburger SV and Bayern Munich were beaten, while Hannover 96 and Borussia Dortmund earned draws away from home.
Here's the Matchday 3 round-up, starting off with a shock in Sinsheim for the reigning champions.
Horror in Hoffenheim again for Bayern
There was only one side who didn't suffer defeat to Bayern Munich last season in the Bundesliga and that was TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. They are quickly becoming a bogey side for Carlo Ancelotti and they were at it again in the Saturday evening kick-off.
The star of the show was Mark Uth. The forward has had a brilliant start to the season, scoring in both legs of the UEFA Champions League playoff defeat to Liverpool FC. A summer target for Cologne, Hoffenheim fans are glad he stayed now and signed a new contract. Uth scored both goals in Hoffenheim's fantastic and deserved 2-0 victory.
Bayern might have created more chances and bossed possession but missed the opportunities they carved out with a lot of their star players having a below-par evening. Mats Hummels had a disaster, struggling throughout to deal with the movement and power of Uth and Andrej Kramaric. The champions can have no complaints. Any hopes of an unbeaten season are already vanquished and we're only at the start of September.
Expected title rivals Borussia Dortmund will be feeling even paler after this result.
Damaging day in Freiburg for BVB
Peter Bosz now has a real injury issue ahead of Dortmund's upcoming trip to Wembley Stadium to play Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Champions League in midweek. Although deprived of Raphael Guerreiro, Andre Schurrle, Julian Weigl and Marco Reus, he can add Marc Bartra and Marcel Schmelzer to the casualty list.
Both Bartra and Schmelzer limped out of Saturday's goalless draw away to SC Freiburg. Whilst Bartra only has a slight groin injury and should be fit in around 7-10 days, Schmelzer will now be out of action for six weeks after an ankle break and ligament damage. The Dortmund skipper was on the receiving end of a horrendous tackle by Freiburg's Yoric Ravet, who was making his debut for the home side.
Ravet was given a yellow card but after further consultation with the VAR system, referee Benjamin Cortus upgraded the card to a red card and it was richly deserved. Ravet's tackle was a disgrace and it is the kind of challenge that could do serious damage to a player's career. It wasn't deliberate but horrifically timed and replays made the challenge worse.
Schmelzer is lucky the injury isn't as bad as it could have been.
That incident occurred in the 28th minute and despite dominating possession afterwards, Dortmund couldn't find a way through a resolute backline. The point still keeps them top on goal difference but they will know this was a missed opportunity.
There was also a nasty injury in the VfL Wolfsburg vs. Hannover 96 clash. Wolfsburg skipper and perennial goalscorer Mario Gomez limped off with an ankle injury in the 1-1 draw at the Volkswagen Arena. An MRI scan on Sunday confirmed ankle ligament damage which is likely to keep Gomez on the sidelines for the remainder of the calendar year. This is a massive blow for the Wolves. Had it not been for Gomez's goals, they probably would be playing 2.
Bundesliga football this season. It shoulders more responsibility on Liverpool FC loanee Divock Origi, who made his debut in this match but now needs to show predatory instincts in Gomez's absence. For the record, Martin Harnik preserved Hannover's unbeaten start, cancelling out Daniel Didavi's free-kick.
Hat-trick hero Finnbogason
The Bundesliga has its first hat-trick hero of the season and it isn't one of the usual suspects. Icelandic international Alfred Finnbogason walked away with the match ball as FC Augsburg trounced Cologne 3-0. Finnbogason has already scored four goals in three matches this season and all of his finishes were of a player not only full of confidence but the main focal point of the Augsburg squad.
Cologne is now the only team without a point after three matches. They are badly missing the departed Anthony Modeste.
Another team looking out-of-sorts is Bayer 04 Leverkusen, they took the lead away to 1. FSV Mainz 05, courtesy of Dominik Kohr's first goal since February. However, Mainz showed great determination and came back to win 3-1 and achieve their first win of the season. There were first goals in Mainz colours for defender Abdou Diallo and youngster Suat Serdar. With just one point from three games, it is not the start Heiko Herrlich wanted to his reign in charge at the BayArena.
Like Mainz, Eintracht Frankfurt got off the victory mark with a fine 1-0 win away to Borussia Monchengladbach.
Kevin-Prince Boateng scored the only goal of the match after 13 minutes.
History made in Berlin
Hertha Berlin's 1-1 draw with SV Werder Bremen in the Olympiastadion was not the result the home faithful were hoping for but this match will go down in the history books.
It was the first-ever Bundesliga match to be refereed by a female. Bibiana Steinhaus took control of the game and she put in a polished and controlled display. Neither side caused any issues with just one yellow card and Steinhaus played a great advantage when Vladimir Darida was fouled in the build-up to Hertha's goal, scored by Mathew Leckie.
In Sunday's other match, FC Schalke 04 defeated VfB Stuttgart 3-1. Naldo, Nabil Bentaleb and Guido Burgstaller were on-target for the home side who ensured Bayern Munich finish the weekend in a lowly sixth spot.
Lastly, Hamburg's perfect start to the season was ended by RB Leipzig. Liverpool FC-bound Naby Keita opened the scoring with a powerful effort before Timo Werner wrapped the game up in the closing 15 minutes. The only concern for Leipzig in the 2-0 win was Keita was substituted before the end with an ankle injury which makes him a doubt for their European bow against French champions AS Monaco on Wednesday.
It was a weekend of historical feats, hat-trick heroes and unfortunate injuries. If this weekend is anything to go by, maybe Bayern Munich won't have it all their own way this season.
RESULTS: Hamburger SV 0-2 RB Leipzig, FC Augsburg 3-0 Cologne, SC Freiburg 0-0 Borussia Dortmund, 1. FSV Mainz 05 3-1 Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Borussia Monchengladbach 0-1 Eintracht Frankfurt, VfL Wolfsburg 1-1 Hannover 96, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 2-0 Bayern Munich, Hertha Berlin 1-1 SV Werder Bremen, FC Schalke 04 3-1 VfB Stuttgart
