Bundesliga
2020/21 season so far: 18 clubs, 18 winners
Lucas Hernandez, Angelino, Lucas Alario, Jude Bellingham and more - bundesliga.com takes a look at the players who have impressed the most at each club, seven matches into 2020/21.
Lucas Hernandez (Bayern Munich)
Bayern's record signing officially made the switch from Atletico Madrid in summer 2019, but spent the majority of the ensuing campaign on the sidelines with a serious ankle injury. Alphonso Davies shone in the absence of the France World Cup winner, who was restricted to 12 starts over the course of Bayern's treble-winning season. Roles have been reversed in the early part of 2020/21, though.
Hernandez has started four of his five Bundesliga appearances as Hansi Flick's preferred left-back. In the 422 minutes he has been on the pitch, Bayern have only conceded four goals at a rate of one every 106 minutes, while seven have been scored in just 208 minutes without him - that’s a goal every 29 minutes. With Davies currently out of action with an ankle problem of his own, expect Hernandez to continue his resurgence.
Angelino is another of the 2020/21 Bundesliga season's head-turning lefties. With three goals in the Bundesliga and another two in the Champions League, the Manchester City loanee is Leipzig's top scorer of the post Timo Werner-era. To repeat: he is a left wing-back!
The 23-year-old Spaniard bagged his third league goal of 2020/21 on Matchday 7 - he's never scored more than three single-season league goals in his career - with a direct free-kick against Freiburg. It was his first attempt at one in the Bundesliga, but it surely won’t be his last.
Watch: Angelino's stunning free-kick for Leipzig against Freiburg!
Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
Bellingham would have laughed you out of town had you told him that he would have broken two records, played in six out of seven Bundesliga games and made his international debut for England in the first three months of his Dortmund career.
The 17-year-old midfielder scored on his professional debut for BVB in the DFB Cup, becoming the club’s youngest ever scorer at 17 years and 77 days old. Proceeding to make his Bundesliga bow on Matchday 1 against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bellingham provided the assist for then 17-year-old Gio Reyna, as the duo became the youngest assist-goal combination in German top-flight history. He doesn't turn 18 until 29 June 2021...
Lucas Alario (Bayer Leverkusen)
After seeing both Kai Havertz and Kevin Volland (a combined 22 league goals last season) depart in the summer, Leverkusen fans would have been rightly worried heading into the new campaign. However, in Argentina international Alario, Die Werkself have a new scoring hero they can count on.
The 28-year-old striker has scored seven goals already in the Bundesliga, bagging braces in each of his last three outings - becoming the first Leverkusen player to do so in the process - with only Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski finding the net more often so far this term.
In his first five Bundesliga starts for Union, Kruse has been involved in eight goals - scoring three himself and assisting another five. All this coming after the German had spent 2019/19 with Fenerbahce in Turkey and returned to action at his new club late due to injury.
Now, though, the 32-year-old has shown exactly why Union - currently sitting fifth in their second Bundesliga campaign - snapped up the former Gladbach, Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen forward. Kruse’s goals have helped Die Eisernen go unbeaten in their last six matches - a club record in the Bundesliga.
Watch: No second-season syndrome for Kruse-led Union
Baku has made an instant impact at the Volkswagen Arena, having joined Wolfsburg two games into the new season from Mainz. The versatile defender has started each of their last four games and provided one assist while also scoring his first for the club in a draw at Hertha Berlin.
The 22-year-old’s performances have been so impressive in Wolfsburg’s unbeaten start to the league season that he was called up for Germany’s senior squad in November, and made his debut against the Czech Republic. With EURO 2020 to come next summer, Baku has all the incentives to push on even further in 2020/21.
Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Another player who has seen his output at club level rewarded with a call-up to international duty is Hofmann. The 28-year-old has provided four assists for the Foals already this season - only Kruse and Thomas Müller have more - as well as scoring two himself and providing the most passes to a shot of any Gladbach player.
With Marcus Thuram, Alassane Plea, Breel Embolo and Lars Stindl all in attack, it’s difficult to stand out among the abundance of talent at Borussia-Park. However, Hofmann has become the irreplaceable lynchpin in Marco Rose’s side, even chiming in with a goal in his side’s unbeaten start to the Champions League group stages.
Sasa Kalajdzic (VfB Stuttgart)
Following a nightmare start to life in Stuttgart last season after suffering a near season-ending cruciate ligament injury, 22-year-old Kalajdzic - the tallest player in the Bundesliga – has been making up for lost time in 2020/21.
The 22-year-old Austrian became just the third Stuttgart player to score in each of the first three games of a Bundesliga season, and has also chipped in with two assists so far. It was expected that promoted Stuttgart may have to rely on Nicolas Gonzalez for their goals this season, but Kalajdzic has quickly emerged as another reliable operator in Pellegrino Matarazzo’s entertaining side.
Jean-Manuel Mbom (Werder Bremen)
After surviving relegation by the skin of their teeth in the play-off against Heidenheim at the end of last season, Werder have created new hope in Bremen, and a lot of it stems from Mbom. The 20-year-old has burst onto the Bundesliga scene, playing on the right, left and in the centre of midfield since making his Bundesliga debut on Matchday 2, and starting every game since.
Mbom was even called up to the Germany U21 squad for the first time in November, making his debut against Slovenia. With Mbom in Florian Kohfeldt’s line-up, Bremen have not lost a game in the Bundesliga so far in 2020/21 - so don’t expect to start seeing less of this bright young talent anytime soon.
Having made his move a permanent one following his loan from Wolfsburg last season, Uduokhai has not missed a minute of the action at the heart of the Augsburg defence so far this season.
Winning 59 percent of his duels and heading home against Dortmund in a famous 2-0 win, Uduokhai earned his first-ever call-up to the Germany national team in November as a reward for his start to the campaign. With the incentive of being a part of Joachim Löw’s EURO2020 squad in mind, Uduokhai could be set for a special season.
Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Japan international Kamada has quickly emerged as one of, if not the, most important name on Adi Hütter’s team-sheet at Eintracht Frankfurt. After 48 appearances in his first campaign with the club in 2019/20, Kamada has gone up a level at the start of the new campaign.
The 24-year-old has one goal and a team-high three assists in the Bundesliga, has set-up the most shots on goal of any player league-wide and has the most points of any midfieder in the Bundesliga’s official Fantasy Manager game. He's every coach's dream.
Stark has already started more games than he did in the entirety of last season. The 25-year-old has, in fact, begun every game, with most of those coming in defensive midfield rather than his centre-back spot of seasons gone by.
It’s clear that the Germany international has become a favourite under Bruno Labbadia for the Old Lady, bringing stability to Hertha’s attack-heavy style of play. With Matheus Cunha, Dodi Lukebakio and Jhon Cordoba taking the headlines, Stark has been quietly strong (the English translation of his surname) throughout.
Vogt has returned to Hoffenheim with a bang in 2020/21. The 29-year-old defender gave up the captain’s armband at TSG before joining Werder Bremen on loan last season, playing his part in their survival via the relegation play-offs while Hoffenheim qualified for the UEFA Europa League.
Welcomed back with open arms by new coach Sebastian Hoeneß, Vogt has locked down his old job as the beating heart of a three-man defence that helped Hoffenheim become the first and only team to defeat Bayern in 2020. They've also made a perfect start in Europe, thanks in no small part to their ultra-modern centre-back, who has enjoyed the most touches of any Hoffenheim player.
Baptiste Santamaria (Freiburg)
Following the summer departures of Robin Koch and Luca Waldschmidt, Freiburg got their man in Santamaria for a reported club-record fee. Starting every game since debuting on Matchday 2, he's proving to be worth every penny.
The former Angers forager has covered an average of 7.7 miles per game, making him the hardest-working Freiburg player so far this season. Way to make a first impression, Baptiste.
Ritsu Doan (Arminia Bielefeld)
Continuing a theme of swift-starting summer signings, Doan is the next on the list to have made an immediate impression at his new club. The Japanese forward is on loan from PSV Eindhoven and has become one of the first names on Uwe Neuhaus’ team-sheet in his short time at the SchücoArena.
Doan can line up on either flank, and also played the first three games the season in a central attacking midfield role. The 22-year-old was particularly impressive in his side’s defeat to Bayern, in which the winger opened his Bundesliga account. There’s sure to be more to come from Doan as Bielefeld fight to avoid an immediate return to the second tier.
After making huge gains at Holstein Kiel last season – five goals and six in 28 Bundesliga 2 appearances – Cologne-born Özcan has been one of the bright sparks in an otherwise testing early season start for the Billy Goats.
Cologne have yet to win a game in 2020/21, but came closest in a 2-1 defeat to Bayern and 1-1 draw with Bremen, with Özcan playing all 180 minutes across the pair of games. Markus Gisdol will be looking to his deep-lying playmaker for inspiration to kick-start their campaign.
It’s been one of the more interesting seasons of Rönnow’s young career so far. The Dane joined Schalke on loan from Frankfurt in October, in a swap deal with Markus Schubert. While the man going in the opposite direction has yet to make a first-team appearance, Rönnow has established himself as the No.1 in Manuel Baum’s improving Schalke side.
Only Leipzig’s Peter Gulacsi has repelled more shots on his goal (78 percent) than Rönnow (75 percent). What's more, the Royal Blues conceded 14 goals in their first two-and-a-half games without Rönnow, and have let in just eight since then. The Miners may not be in the bottom two for much longer...
Mainz may sit bottom of the Bundesliga table seven games into the 2020/21 season, but the encouraging performances of young Killian give them cause for optimism.
The 21-year-old, who joined the club from relegated Paderborn in the summer, has gone the distance in Mainz's last four and already has the best pass completion rate of any of his team-mates. A duck-breaking point in the Matchday 7 draw with Schalke could be the first of many...