The Ballon d’Or will be awarded in Paris on September 22, with data and criteria pointing to Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembélé as frontrunners, though Kylian Mbappé and Viktor Gyökeres also emerge as leading contenders.
Harry Kane scored his second Bundesliga hat-trick of the new season as Bayern Munich downed Hoffenheim 4-1 on Saturday, while Hamburg won in the top flight for the first time in seven years.
Serhou Guirassy scored for the eighth straight league match and Maximilian Beier added another as Borussia Dortmund won 2-0 at 10-man Heidenheim on Saturday.
A bronze statue of Germany football legend Franz Beckenbauer was unveiled outside Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena on Friday, a day after what would have been his 80th birthday.
Alex Grimaldo scored a free-kick in each half as Bayer Leverkusen survived two red cards to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1 at home on Friday in new coach Kasper Hjulmand’s debut.
Newly-promoted Hamburg travel to Bayern Munich on Saturday as the Bundesliga sees the return of one of its most storied clashes — seven years on from the last ‘North-South Summit’.
New Bayern Munich signing Nicolas Jackson said he was happy to be at a club who respects his ability after joining the German giants on a season-long loan.
Bayer Leverkusen will be aiming to bounce back to winning ways when they host an in-form Eintracht Frankfurt in this weekend’s Bundesliga action.
From financial crisis to the electric energy that swept through Signal Iduna Park under Jürgen Klopp, culminating in the surprise Bundesliga title of 2011/12
Bayer Leverkusen on Monday appointed Dane Kasper Hjulmand as coach, replacing Erik ten Hag, who was fired after just two league games in charge.