Bayern Munich: One Goal, The Ruud Miracle, Transfer Rumours and More

Bayern won their ninth consecutive Bundesliga match against Dortmund and are on their way to tying the record set by Monchengladbach and Wolfsburg of 10 consecutive league wins. They have gone unbeaten in 15 games.

However, 22 is a much bigger number than 15 and that's the number of games that Bayer Leverkusen have gone unbeaten in.

Bayern 3-1 Dortmund

Dormund decided to come and have a real go at Bayern. They started the match as the better team and duly scored through Mohamed Zidan. A ball lobbed from midfield was completely missed by Van Buyten and Zidan took advantage.

About 15 minutes later, Bayern were level. Mark Van Bommel took a shot from distance which took a heavy deflection off Lucas Barrios and went past the Dortmund keeper for 1-1. The second goal for Bayern came in the second half. Thomas Muller passed to Franck Ribery. Ribery's pass was put into the goal by Arjen Robben.

Ribery placed a defence-splitting pass to Mario Gomez who took the ball well and finished from a tough angle for the third. A fourth might have been on the way had Gomez not decided to pass to Ivica Olic unselfishly. I wonder what Miro Klose thought after seeing that.....

The Drama at The Bay Arena

It was the same old story at Leverkusen. They controlled the game, the midfield was brilliant but then, millions of chances went begging. Wolfsburg keeper Andre Lenz had to provide two assists for Bayer's two goals. Wolfsburg pulled one back late on through Dzeko but Leverkusen survived. They are still unbeaten and the difference between them and Bayern at the top is down to one goal.

Mats Hummels

Looking at the currrent central defensive pairing of Van Buyten and Martin Demichelis, Bayern would regret selling this wonderful central defender from the youth academy to Dortmund sooner or later. Hermann Gerland, the current assistant coach is already regretting it:

"I've always known that Mats had the potential to become a class defender. We should never have let him go on a permanent basis," Gerland was quoted as saying by Bild .

"Mats is one of the best stoppers in Germany and that's what I told Germany coach Joachim Loew a while ago. He's not only very strong in his defensive duties, but also has a lot of charisma. He could still make it into Germany's World Cup squad."

Mark van Bommel and Alex

Van Bommel is yet to sign an extension with Bayern and rumours say that he wants to return to PSV as he had promised when he had left the Dutch club for Barcelona. According to the reports though, he will perhaps stick around in Munich for one more year before returning to the Netherlands.

Bayern reportedly want to purchase Alex from Chelsea to bolster the centre of defence. Everyone associated with Bayern will agree that the centre of defence is one of their weaknesses.

Nistelrooy's warning

Ruud van Nistelrooy came on and struck twice for Hamburg in four minutes to give them a 3-1 away win over Stuttgart. Van Gaal said that he didn't enter the market for the Dutchman because he felt that the competition in Bayern would be too tough for him. This is what Ruud had to say:

"Mr Van Gaal is my friend, (he is) a very likeable guy. (He) just wants to irritate me a bit. I'm looking forward to seeing you soon in Munich.''

Surprise behind Braafheid loan move

Van Gaal gave in to the fans' demands and moved Braafheid to Celtic for a short-term loan spell. He personally thinks that the Dutchman is a brilliant defender but he didn't have a choice. It is quite surprising to see such a decision made by the coach.

This is what Van Gaal had to say:

"He was not rated by the fans in Munich. In such a case, it is better to let the player go and leave the club."

"Edson is an excellent defender. He has just been unlucky here. I really hope the fans in Glasgow help him."

Bayern await Fiorentina in the Champions League. If Bayern really want to progress far in Europe, they have to beat the Italians. Leverkusen, meanwhile, can count themselves lucky to still be at the top of the table.