Three things we learnt from Bundesliga matchday 9 | Felix Nmecha, RB Leipzig find stability and will there actually be a title race?

Three things we learnt from Bundesliga matchday 9 | Felix Nmecha, RB Leipzig find stability and will there actually be a title race? Bundesliga matchday nine began with a game between two strugglers in Hamburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach, with Merlin Polzin’s side coming out 3-1 winners at the Volksparkstadion . Saturday afternoon saw eight teams in action. After last weekend’s 2-2 draw in ‘Der Klassiker’, Borussia Dortmund hosted high-flyers Elversberg, while Bayern Munich travelled to Mainz. Also, Paderborn played Eintracht Frankfurt, and RB Leipzig faced Augsburg. Here are the three things we learnt: Felix Nmecha is Borussia Dortmund’s best player: It is safe to say Felix Nmecha’s start at Dortmund was a very slow one, so much so that he was venturing into flop territory, but he has been able to turn his career around, and it is safe to say that this season, the 26-year-old is one of Dortmund’s most consistent, and maybe even best, players. Nmecha’s brace against Elversberg helped Niko Kovac’s side maintain their unbeaten Bundesliga record, as well as keep pace with Bayern Munich at the top of the table. This week as a whole can also sum up Nmecha’s season so far, as he put in a strong performance midweek in a tough 2-1 win against Real Betis in the Champions League. Obviously, Nmecha is not the only Dortmund midfielder finding their form this season, with Jobe Bellingham also playing at a much higher level and even earning a call-up to the England senior squad . Summer signing Joey Veerman is slowly establishing himself in the team as Nmecha’s midfield partner. RB Leipzig find some stability: There have been, and continue to be, question marks about Martin Demichelis as a head coach and whether he is fit for the job at RB Leipzig, but in the last few games they have found stability under the Argentine. Heading into this game, in their last four games, they won three and lost once, which was a commendable performance against Manchester City in the Champions League. While today, despite going 1-0 down within the first minute, Leipzig managed to rally and went in at half-time 3-1 up thanks to goals from Ezechiel Banzuzi, Christopher Nkunku and David Raum. Then after the break, Romulo and Christopher Baumgartner also scored, while a late Augsburg goal made it 5-2. Obviously, there are still rumours in the media about Julian Nagelsmann’s name being an option at Leipzig again, but these run of results have more than likely relieved some of the pressure on Demichelis. Especially as after the international break, Leipzig have a tough run of Bundesliga fixtures. Is there a title race in the Bundesliga? We are now just over 25% of the way through this Bundesliga season, and both Dortmund and Bayern are currently neck and neck, with only the reigning champions’ superior goal difference the reason for them leading the table, and today they matched each others results again with Bayern beating Mainz 2-1 while Dortmund beat Elversberg. At this stage last season, Dortmund were seven points behind Bayern in third, while second placed Leipzig were five points behind, so the fact that Dortmund are currently level with the Bundesliga rekordmeister is a good indication of the gap they have closed on Bayern. While this season, something seems off with Vincent Kompany’s side in the league. Even against Mainz, the result wasn’t as comfortable as they would of liked and then there have been draws with Augsburg, Schalke and Dortmund this season too. Granted, Bayern have been very unlucky in front of goal in those games, but they have not been as ruthless as last season, for example. The only potentially stumbling block on whether there will be a Bundesliga title race this season, will be Dortmund, and whether they can maintain their form, despite so many of their games being close affairs. GGFN | Jack Meenan