Five things we learned in the Bundesliga

Berlin, Germany | AFP |

Seven is Frank Ribery’s lucky number, Germany’s Mr Unlucky Marco Reus is out until April and the stats say Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is a more prolific goal-scorer than Robert Lewandowski.

Here are five things we learned from the Bundesliga this weekend:

Ribery’s magnificent ‘7’

Franck Ribery came off the bench to score Bayern’s last goal in their 3-0 win over Cologne and the Frenchman had the number ‘7’ shaved into the hair on the side of his head. Not only is ‘7’ Ribery’s shirt number and the number of points Bayern are clear in the table, but the Frenchman is hoping to win a seventh Bundesliga title in his tenth season with Munich. “I hope the ‘7’ is my lucky number,” Ribery told German daily Bild. “My son Saif had the idea to do it with a razor at the hairdressers. “My second son Mohammed also has a ‘7’ in his hair.”

Better than Lewandowski

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted twice in Borussia Dortmund 6-2 rout of Bayer Leverkusen to make him the league’s top scorer with 21 goals — two more than rival Robert Lewandowski. ‘Auba’, who is in his fourth season with Dortmund, has now scored 75 Bundesliga goals in 117 games for the club — better than the 74 Lewandowski managed in 131 league games in four years with Borussia before moving to Bayern in 2014. Aubameyang has replaced Lewandowski to be ranked fifth in the list of Dortmund’s all-time Bundesliga goal-scorers. Despite his goals, Aubameyang could be in trouble for dying the Nike logo into his hair, when Puma sponsor the club.

Super Bayern, super Bayern, hey, hey! #MiaSanMia #KOEFCB 0-3 pic.twitter.com/UinYPqmdUq

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) March 4, 2017

No treble talk for Ancelotti

Bayern Munich are dominating the Bundesliga, have reached the German Cup’s semi-finals and hold a 5-1 lead over Arsenal for Tuesday’s Champions League, Round of 16, second leg, but coach Carlo Ancelotti dismisses any treble talk. “When I head the word ‘treble’, I touch wood,” said the Italian, hoping any talk of the three titles won’t jinx his team. “In Italy, we say ‘a lot of praise means many problems later’,” he added having won the Champions League with AC Milan and Real Madrid.

Reus injured – again

Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus is Germany’s Mr Unlucky. The 27-year-old missed the 2014 World Cup win in Brazil with torn ankle ligaments and a place in the Euro 2016 squad with a pelvis injury. Reus tore his left hamstring in Saturday’s 6-2 thumping of Bayer Leverkusen and on Sunday, Dortmund confirmed he is out until April. Reus will miss Wednesday’s Champions League last 16, second-leg tie against Benfica with Dortmund looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit and Germany’s friendly against England in Dortmund on March 22, four days before a World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan in Baku. “It’s sad news for us and an enormous loss, which throws a cloud over our win,” admitted Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel.

Sleepless Johnson

US international Fabian Johnson capped an outstanding display by scoring two goals in Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 4-2 win over Schalke — despite only a few hours sleep after becoming a father.

“My wife gave birth to our son Sean on Friday morning. I didn’t get much sleep, luckily it was an evening game,” he said, having managed to catch a few hours sleep before kick-off.

But his Gladbach team-mates are expecting the left winger to put on a decent dressing room party to celebrate.

“He’d better come up with something. Two goals and becoming a dad — that’s going to cost him,” said winger Patrick Herrmann.