MD15: 3 Talking Points

Bayern rampant in Augsburg

It was touted as being one of the toughest domestic tests for Bayern this season. Augsburg would be battle-hardened, robust and aggressive, offering no bone of comfort to the German champions. Markus Weinzierl's men, third-placed, beat Bayern on home patch last season - the last time Bayern had lost away from home in 32 months, ending a formidable 53-game unbeaten run.

In reality, though, the German champions demonstrated the sheer strength at their disposal, even dropping the likes of Mario Götze and Thomas Müller from the starting line-up.

Augsburg might have found a way to get by in the first-half, but in the second, Bayern swept their Bavarian rivals aside through a mixture of great individual quality and some weak defending from Weinzierl's team. The writing was on the wall when Arjen Robben curled in a fine second only two minutes after Mehdi Benatia headed in his first for the club.

Robert Lewandowski charged up the field unmarked before smashing in a superb third, before Robben finished in trademark fashion. The result was as routine an exhibition as they've come for Bayern this season.

The truth is that Augsburg can barely compete with Bayern Munich, or any top German club for that matter. There's simply no 'revolution' of the league, or a team making waves in the top-three. With Dortmund, Schalke and others fumbling around ever-changing league spots, Bayern's supremacy is all the more evident. Augsburg have been nothing short of spectacular this season, but for them to even be considered as a síde that could cause this Bayern team trouble is perhaps a sign of the times.

Dortmund's woes mount

Borussia Dortmund's ninth league defeat of the season was perhaps the worst to date. A struggling, insipid Hertha were good enough to overcome Jürgen Klopp's side courtesy of Julian Schieber's fifth goal of the campaign for his new team.

What can the excuses be now? Players are returning to fitness, the back-four is now steady and consistent, Ilkay Gündogan, among others, is back. Dortmund seem to have fallen into a difficult battle at the bottom of the league, if that hadn't already been apparent for Klopp's confidence-ridden players.

It leaves Dortmund locked on 14 points, level with Werder Bremen and Freiburg. While there's still a widespread feeling that Dortmund will come out clean in the end, the longer the team's troubles continue, the more pressure will begin to build.

And how long before Klopp is criticised? With two games remaining before the winter break, Dortmund are now entering judgement time - and hapless performances against an inferior side, as was the case in Berlin today, won't help anyone involved with the club.

The kids'll do alright …

Since the departure of Thomas Schaaf, Werder Bremen have been a pretty boring team. For years the club was associated with free-flowing football with a cavalier approach to attacking.

Now, the club looks to be rediscovering this philosophy. The six games since Viktor Skripnik took over have seen 24 goals, with Bremen scoring 13 of them. Skripnik has been tasked with guiding this troubled club away from the relegation zone, but he's approached the job with a twist. The former U23 coach has a clear confidence in the club's youth talents.

In the 3-3 draw against Hannover, Davie Selke, a German U19 European Championship winner, and London-born Melvyn Lorenzen were on the scoresheet. Lorenzen's fine individual goal came on his first-team debut, having only played for the reserve team this season.

20-year-old Levant Aycicek has found a role in attack, scoring one goal in five games, while Janek Sternberg has matched up well in the first-team at the back. The likes of 20-year-old Marnon Busch and Ozkan Yildirim have made fleeting glimpses in 2014.

Christian Streich's first six months in charge of Freiburg were similar. The club was cut adrift, having sold Papiss Demba Cisse in January without bringing in a replacement.

But Streich and Freiburg put their faith in youth. Eventually, they did survive after finding momentum in the final few months of the season. Bremen appear to be going down a similar route. The enthusiasm and hunger of the young players are expected to lift everyone at the club.

There's no guarantee it will result in Bremen's survival, but the younger talents will set the club up well for the future regardless of which division they're in.