Bundesliga roundup: Leverkusen subdue Leipzig, Bremen's Weiser returns in style, Paderborn shock Hoffenheim

Leverkusen beat Leipzig and pay tribute to Hermann

Peter Hermann was emotionally commemorated at Leverkusen before kick-off on Sunday, having played in their 1979 promotion-winning team and later served as assistant to Klaus Toppmöller at the helm of the celebrated 2002 Champions League finalists. Die Werkself paid fitting tribute on the field too as they beat RB Leipzig 2-0.

The margins were fine, with Christopher Nkunku having an opener ruled out for the visitors before Patrik Schick put the home side ahead from a Miguel Gutiérrez cross. Gutiérrez, Álex Grimaldo's nominal replacement, scored the second himself.

Carles Martínez praised his team for 'good balance between keeping the ball and playing forward', while his opposite number Martín Demichelis has plenty to think about after a fourth straight away defeat.

Gladbach find a ledge beneath the edge

Never before had a team scored three times in successive Bundesliga home games and lost both of them, but Borussia Mönchengladbach are managing to find a ledge beneath the edge. Gladbach made a bright start against Mainz — who are under interim coach Jan-Moritz Lichte — with Florian Neuhaus scoring the opener on his return to the line-up, his first since May 2024, but ended in defeat again, leaving them bottom of the table without a point. Alexander Blessin, a former St Pauli coach famed for his defensive work, is expected to arrive in an attempt to plug the leaks.

Hamburg finally win, Bremen stage a comeback, Paderborn shock

Hamburg had gone into matchday four pointless and goalless but managed to squeeze past a Köln side who dominated them, with Yussuf Poulsen's second goal for the club since arriving in summer 2025 proving decisive. It was an endorsement of their faith in head coach Merlin Polzin, who signed a contract extension this week despite that bad start and successive 5-0 defeats.

There are comebacks, and there are comebacks — and several coincided on the Weser as Werder Bremen continued their surprisingly good start to the season. They trailed 2-0 to Wolfsburg but were level after a Niclas Füllkrug netbuster, and even better was around the corner: Mitchell Weiser rattled in a perfect left-foot winner, deep into stoppage time, in his first home appearance after 16 months out with injury. It brought the former Bayern man to tears, and his coach Daniel Thoune described it as 'a goosebump moment'.

All three promoted teams now have a win after Paderborn's shock victory over Hoffenheim in Sunday's late game, with veteran substitute Steffen Tigges sealing it with a header for his first top-flight goal since 2024. It was a third loss in four for Hoffenheim, who also suffered an embarrassing Europa League reverse at OFI Crete on Thursday.

Matchday four results

Bayern Munich 7-0 Union Berlin, Stuttgart 0-1 Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen 3-2 Augsburg, Hamburg 2-1 Köln, Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2 Freiburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-4 Mainz, Paderborn 3-1 Hoffenheim, Schalke 0-0 Elversberg, Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 RB Leipzig.