Borussia Dortmund just about kept themselves in the race for the Bundesliga title with a 2:1 win over Mainz over the weekend. The win, while not as impressive as Bayern’s triumph over Dusseldorf, still ensured that BVB are just a point behind the Bavarians.

The ratings from Kicker show that England forward Jadon Sancho, who scored both of BVB’s goals, and Swiss goalkeeper Roman Burki, who made an amazing late triple save to deny the visitors, were the best Dortmund players on show. The worst were Diallo and Brun-Larsen, both of whom got 5’s for their showing.

A slightly improved performance from the 5:0 thrashing the week before, but perhaps not at the level that you’d want from a title-winning side at this stage of the season.

Thomas Delaney and Reus the best of the rest- they were also the players who covered the most distance for BVB in this game. Delaney had 13.4 km, while Reus did 12.75

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has said that every team in the Premier League top six are of the same standard as Bayern, and added that playing them home and away was the equivalent of locking horns with the Bavarian giants twelve times in a year!

The Austrian, who has coached in the Bundesliga before taking up his Premier League assignment, added that he “didn’t want that to be misunderstood” but one could “compare it very well regarding the general requirements”

The Saints boss also said his team were the equivalent of Mainz, Freiburg or Augsburg- a level below the top six and a second tier of clubs. Southampton aren’t free from the drop zone at the time of writing, but should survive, with the last axe of relegation most likely to fall on Cardiff.

The Bundesliga as a competition has struggled in recent years- Bayern, Dortmund and Schalke all lost to English opposition in the Round of 16 of the Champions League, and there was no German club in the last eight of the competition, as compared to the four English clubs that did make it.

According to reports from England, Bayern Munich are considering a move for Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey. The Welsh medio is out of contract at the end of the season and the Bundesliga side will apparently attempt to contact his representatives in January- only English clubs are prevented from approaching him till the summer.

Whether Ramsey would get plenty of game time at Bayern, who have a fair number of good medios in their ranks, is another question altogether. Ramsey has also been linked with Manchester United and Liverpool.

Bayern haven’t had the best of seasons under new manager Niko Kovac. For the first time in 7 years, they’re NOT table of the table after Game Week 10, and were held to a draw by Freiburg over the weekend. The visitors produced a smash and grab operation with a late equaliser after Bayern withdrew Serge Gnabry, their goal scorer and of FCB’s better players on the afternoon, for Leon Goretzka. Continue reading Bayern interested in Arsenal’s Ramsey? →