The top 10 games of the 2022/23 season so far

Of the 135 fixtures played so far in 2022/23, bundesliga.com picks out 10 of the best.

Matchday 1: Eintracht Frankfurt 1-6 Bayern Munich

Fresh from winning the UEFA Europa League, and having bolstered their squad over the summer with the high-profile signings of Mario Götze, Randal Kolo Muani and Lucas Alario, among others, Frankfurt justifiably went into the 2022/23 curtain-raiser at home to defending champions Bayern full of confidence.

Julian Nagelsmann's charges were in no mood to show signs of any chinks in their armour, though, and Joshua Kimmich's fifth-minute free-kick set the tone for a statement victory in which they were 5-0 up by half-time. Bayern's marquee arrival Sadio Mane also marked his Bundesliga debut with a goal, while Jamal Musiala struck twice to serve notice that he was determined to become the team's main man following Robert Lewandowski's departure.

Watch: Highlights of Bayern's win

Matchday 3: Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Werder Bremen

Dortmund, like Bayern, won their first two league games of the season and they looked on course to make it three on the bounce when goals from Julian Brandt and Raphael Guerreiro gave them a 2-0 lead at home to Bremen.

Indeed, Edin Terzic's side still led by that scoreline with just one minute left on the clock, before Bremen staged one of the league's greatest ever comebacks. Three substitutes, Lee Buchanan, Niklas Schmidt and Oliver Burke all struck for the visitors before the final whistle to leave a punch-drunk Dortmund side dumbstruck.

Watch: Highlights of Bremen's mother of all comebacks

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Matchday 6: Leipzig 3-0 Dortmund

Leipzig went into this season with high hopes after winning the DFB Cup in May, as well as handing Christopher Nkunku a contract extension and bringing Timo Werner back to the club. Yet after picking up just five points from their first five league assignments to sit 11th in the table, Domenico Tedesco was dismissed and Marco Rose was appointed in charge of his hometown club.

The timing was perfect in terms of the narrative around his first game; Rose faced Dortmund for the first time, having been relieved of his duties there just a few weeks earlier. His side blew BVB away in an emphatic manner, earning a comfortable 3-0 win thanks to goals from Willi Orban, Dominik Szoboszlai and Amadou Haidara. Moreover, it laid the foundation for Leipzig's revival: they have lost just two of 16 games under Rose this term.

Watch: Highlights of Leipzig's triumph

Matchday 7: Augsburg 1-0 Bayern

What do you do if you are a struggling side with fewer goals than any other team, are yet to win at home this season, and are about to face the mighty Bayern in a Bavarian derby? Well, you beat them fair and square!

Augsburg largely had goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz to thank for the morale-boosting victory: Bayern ended with an expected goals (xG) figure of 2.51, while they had 21 shots compared to Augsburg's nine. Yet the home side dug deep, showed great resilience and took all three points thanks to Mergim Berisha's second-half strike, handing Bayern their only defeat so far this term.

Watch: Highlights of Augsburg shock win

Matchday 7: Dortmund 1-0 Schalke

Coming into this game off the back of the defeat by Leipzig the previous week, the pressure was on Dortmund to get a positive result and avoid going into a tailspin. They dominated their local rivals in the first Revierderby in more than 18 months, denying them even one shot on goal in a one-sided first half.

Yet they were unable to find the net themselves, allowing Schalke to grow in confidence as the match wore on. Always an emotionally charged affair given the proximity and the history between the clubs, the tension grew as the game entered the closing stages - that is until 17-year-old Dortmund wunderkind Youssoufa Moukoko came off the bench to head in the winner from Marius Wolf's cross, becoming the youngest ever goalscorer in Revierderby history.

Watch: Highlights of Dortmund's Revierderby triumph

Matchday 8: Bremen 5-1 Gladbach

Gladbach had looked impressive in the early part of the season, drawing with Bayern and a high-flying Freiburg side as well as beating Leipzig before their trip to Bremen on Matchday 8. As such there was no indication of what was to come against the newly promoted side.

They were caught cold from the outset though, with Niclas Füllkrug opening the scoring after just five minutes and Marvin Ducksch doubling the lead moments later. Füllkrug added another to make it 3-0 with just 13 minutes on the clock. A Ramy Bensebaini own goal put the result beyond all doubt by half-time, and although Marcus Thuram pulled a goal back after the break, Mitchell Weiser added gloss to the scoreline on a memorable night for Bremen. The humiliation has lingered long in the collective Gladbach memory: they are one of only two teams still to win away from home this term.

Watch: Highlights of Bremen's thumping victory

Matchday 9: Dortmund 2-2 Bayern

With the teams level on 17 points from eight games prior to this fixture, there was added spice to an already red-hot Klassiker fixture given the opportunity to land an early blow in the title race.

Dortmund fans could have been forgiven for fearing the worst when goals from Leon Goretzka and Leroy Sane gave Bayern the lead, but then summer signing Anthony Modeste came off the bench to change the game. First he set up Moukoko to pull a goal back and become Dortmund's youngest ever goalscorer in this fixture, before the Frenchman headed in a dramatic late equaliser with the last touch of the game to snatch a point in an instant Klassiker classic.

Watch: Klassiker highlights

Matchday 11: Augsburg 3-3 Leipzig

Augsburg were so close to pulling off another shock result just over a month after conquering Bayern. Berisha's 34th-minute goal put them on course for all three points, and the game seemed to be done and dusted when Ermedin Demirovic and Ruben Vargas put them 3-0 ahead with 64 minutes on the clock.

Yet Leipzig, unbeaten in six straight games in all competitions before kick-off, demonstrated their steely backbone to stage a dramatic fightback. Andre Silva reduced the deficit in the 72nd minute, setting up a thrilling finale that reached boiling point when Nkunku added another in the 89th minute before exploding when teenage substitute Hugo Novoa poked in the rebound just seconds later to grab a share of the points for the visitors.

Watch: Highlights of the six-goal thriller

Matchday 12: Union Berlin 2-1 Gladbach

Union have established themselves as a bona fide Bundesliga side since earning promotion ahead of the 2019/20 season, but even they will have been surprised by their rise this season. Urs Fischer's side are superbly organised and tough to break down, particularly at home, and have spent as long at the top of the table this season as Bayern Munich have. That is no accident - and this match against Gladbach was a demonstration of just why that is.

The visitors took the lead in the first half through Nico Elvedi, and for a long while it looked like Gladbach would not only earn their first away win of the campaign, but inflict a first home defeat on Union too. The Foals did not account for Die Eisernen's iron-clad will to win, though, with Kevin Behrens out-jumping Yann Sommer at the back post to equalise in the 79th minute. That was the cue for a full-blooded finale in which Christopher Trimmel thought he had won it, only to see his header chalked off following a VAR review. Union did eventually take all three points when Danilho Doekhi headed in a 97th-minute winner with the last touch of the game to lift Union back above Bayern in the standings.

Watch: Union's dramatic late win over Gladbach

Matchday 13: Leverkusen 5-0 Union Berlin

Much like Leipzig, Leverkusen started this season off the back of a barnstorming 2021/22, with impressive showings in Europe plus contract extensions for key players Florian Wirtz and Patrik Schick auguring well for the new campaign. Yet the team struggled to click in Gerardo Seoane's second year in charge and he was eventually replaced by Xabi Alonso.

So what does all that have to do with the Matchday 13 meeting with Union? Well, a great deal. After winning his debut game against Schalke 4-0, Die Werkself took just one point from their next three games before heading into the final week ahead of the winter break. A goalless first half at the BayArena paved way for an absolutely barnstorming second period in which Leverkusen struck five times without reply, penning the start of a new chapter under Alonso. They won their subsequent two games as well, setting them up for a big 2023…

Watch: Highlights of Leverkusen's five-star win

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