Bayern Munich opened the defense of its DFB Pokal crown on Thursday against FC Düren. For those keeping track at home, Düren is in Germany’s fifth tier, so the final score of 3-0 Bayern wasn’t unexpected, but honestly slightly flattered the title holders. 

Bayern’s win wasn’t really ever in doubt, but Düren held its own — the players can go home proud of the fact they fared better against the European champions than Barcelona. 

In a way, it can be a bit exhausting following all the young American stars in Europe these days. As soon as we get used to Weston McKennie playing for Italy’s most famous club, Sergiño Dest moves to Barcelona. As soon as we finish gushing over a performance from Tyler Adams, Giovanni Reyna does something like he did on Saturday. It might just be a golden age for Americans abroad, and we’re not going to complain, nor are we going to stop celebrating these Americans, because everyone who grew up in the 90s or earlier can really appreciate just how special this moment in time is.

The biggest matchup in Germany will see its latest edition play out on Tuesday as Bayern Munich will take on Borussia Dortmund with the German Supercup on the line. 

Bring on the Supercup

FC Bayern
Supercup
9/30/20
2:30 PM ET / 19:30 BST / 20:30 CEST
Allianz Arena pic.twitter.com/WpywCSUPYm

— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) September 29, 2020

Daniel Thioune's Hamburg completed a successful comeback late on to secure a 4-3 victory over Paderborn in the 2. Bundesliga on Monday.

After narrowly missing out on promotion back to the top flight last season following a late collapse, Hamburg has won its first two games of the new campaign. It had gone up 2-0 after 24 minutes thanks to goals from Manuel Wintzheimer and Simone Terrode, but Hamburg squandered the lead and found itself down 3-2 all before halftime. 

BERLIN — Quadruple winners Bayern Munich slumped to a shock 4-1 loss at Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Sunday to end their 32-match unbeaten run in all competitions stretching back to last year.

Bayern, winners of the Super Cup against Sevilla after extra time on Thursday, had not lost since Dec. 7, 2019, and had gone 21 consecutive Bundesliga matches without defeat, winning their last 15.

Schalke 04 have sacked head coach David Wagner following their poor start to the season, the German Bundesliga club said in a statement on Sunday.

Schalke were thrashed 8-0 by champions Bayern Munich in their first game last weekend and suffered a 3-1 defeat by Werder Bremen on Saturday.

The Schalke-Werder match has lost a bit of luster from an American perspective since Weston McKennie joined Juventus on loan. Indeed, David Wagner’s side has been miserable since losing his American midfielder to the Italian giants, having opened the season with an eight-goal defeat to Bayern Munich.

But there was still one American featuring in Saturday’s Schalke-Werder match, and he made himself known. 

Josh Sargent, the 20-year-old Missourian striker, set up Werder Bremen’s first goal with his sparkling red head to help his side to a 3-1 victory on Saturday.

BERLIN — Bundesliga title hopefuls Borussia Dortmund suffered a blow in a 2-0 defeat at Augsburg on Saturday, surrendering without a fight as Daniel Caligiuri set up the first goal and scored the second in his 300th league game.

Despite Dortmund having close to 80% possession for much of the first half, it was Augsburg who scored when Felix Uduokhai connected with a Caligiuri free kick in the 40th minute to nod in from three metres with their first chance of the match.

RB Leipzig eased past Mainz 3-1 in their Bundesliga opener on Sunday to enjoy a successful start to league life without striker Timo Werner.

Werner joined Chelsea in the close season and missed their run to their Champions League semifinals in August but Leipzig had little trouble finding the back of the net against Mainz, striking twice in four minutes.

Emil Forsberg converted a 17th-minute penalty for a foul on Dani Olmo and Yussuf Poulsen rose high to drill in a header for the second goal. 

BERLIN — Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland scored twice and teenager Giovanni Reyna added another goal as they cruised past Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-0 in their season opener on Saturday.

The 20-year-old Haaland scored a 54th minute penalty, awarded for a foul on Reyna, and bagged another with a sensationally quick counter-attack and a Jadon Sancho assist as Dortmund utilised their fearsome youthful attacking weapons.