Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayer Leverkusen: Winners and Losers from Bundesliga Game

Borussia Dortmund continued their perfect start to the new Bundesliga season with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen at the Westfalenstadion on Sunday evening. 

Billed as the first true test of Thomas Tuchel's reign, the former Mainz manager passed with flying colours as his black and yellow troop of attacking stars tore through a disorganised Leverkusen side that have now gone three league games without a single point. 

Dortmund were expected to struggle without the injured Marco Reus, yet manager Roger Schmidt's side simply couldn't contend with their hosts other attacking talents. Tuchel's team remain at the top of the Bundesliga for the fifth week in a row. 

Here are the winners and losers from Sunday's game. 

Winner: Shinji Kagawa

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If there was one player who seemed intent on overcoming the absence of Reus it was the Japanese playmaker Shinji Kagawa. 

The former Manchester United flop has been in exceptional form this season—with or without Reus—and truly put Leverkusen to the sword with an assist and a goal Sunday evening. 

As Tuchel's first-choice No.10, it seems as though we may be in store for quite a season with the young attacking midfielder, who continues to impress and drive Dortmund on.

Loser: Schmidt's Tactics

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Known for his appreciation for the attacking side of the game, Schmidt quite commendably chose to take his side to the Westfalenstadion with the intent on attacking Dortmund from the start. 

Not only did Kevin Kampl start in a central, midfield position, but the Leverkusen coach also opted to play two strikers in Stefan Kiessling and Javier Hernandez in a 4-4-2 formation. 

Yet at half-time, Schmidt made an odd decision to pull off Christoph Kramer—arguably the only true defensive midfielder in the side—for Admir Mehmedi, leaving Leverkusen's midfield with nobody but attacking talents Kampl and Hakan Calhanoglu to cover the defence. 

This didn't work well, and by the end of the second half, Dortmund had bagged another two goals and could have quite easily had a lot more. Schmidt is a great coach, but he got his tactics all wrong Sunday.  

Winner: Dortmund's Title Challenge

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Dortmund are at the top of the German Bundesliga. It may only be the difference of a goal that puts them there, but so far this season they've outperformed Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg and the rest of the pack. 

Although we'll never quite know if this is indeed a genuine title challenge from the Black and Yellows until they face Bayern next month, there's no denying that, so far, Tuchel and his new-look side have done everything perfectly to ensure they're at least there or thereabouts. 

Dortmund may chose to remain coy on the matter and demand that there is no title challenge, but as things stand, there certainly may be. 

Loser: Leverkusen's Start to the Season

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Leverkusen offered so much promise at the start of the season. Sure, they may have lost Gonzalo Castro to Dortmund and Heung-Min Son to Tottenham Hotspur, but they also brought in a whole troop of young, exciting players. 

However, what has instead come about is a run of troubling form that has seen the old Factory Squad pick up just two wins in their first five games, as well as a run of defeats that now stretch to three consecutive games. 

They may have one of the best squads in the Bundesliga, but Leverkusen certainly aren't playing like it at the moment.