German Bundesliga Team of the Week

Bayern on the other hand, recovered brilliantly from the midweek Champions League loss to BATE Borisov with a routine 2-0 win over Hoffenheim to ensure their perfect start to the Bundesliga continued and the Bavarians have now opened up a commanding nine points lead over Dortmund.

Borussia Monchengladbach became the first team to inflict a loss on surprise packages Eintracht Frankfurt as the Europa League participants beat the newly promoted side 2-0.

---

Premier League Team of the Week

---

Felix Magath's return to Veltins-Arena was an unhappy one as his Wolfsburg side slumped to a 3-0 defeat to Schalke, while Hamburg continued to show signs of recovering from their poor early season form with a hard fought 1-0 win over Greuther Furth.

Here, ESPNSTAR.com selects the best players from the Bundesliga this week. The formation chosen is 4-4-2.

GK: Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund)

Already, the knives are coming out for Jurgen Klopp and his men after yet another insipid display saw them fail to pick up three points from their game against Hannover but Dortmund's day could have been a lot worse if not for the heroics of Weidenfeller.

The 32-year-old produced a string of fine saves to deny Hannover from recording a shock victory; his two brilliant first-half saves to deny both Artur Sobiech and Jan Schlaudraff in the first half was worth the admission money itself and he was on hand to spare his teammate Piszczek's blushes in the second half after the Polish defender inadvertently diverted the ball towards his own net.

LB: Paul Verhaegh (Augsburg)

I know Verhaegh normally plays as a right-back but he is equally adept at playing on the opposite flank and that is where he will be placed in this week's German Bundesliga Team of the Week. The Augsburg defender was one of the best attacking outlets for his side in their victory over Werder Bremen and caused the opposition defence no end of troubles with his mazy runs down the flanks and accurate crossing.

It was only a matter of time that the 29-year-old's constant forays forward would bear fruit and it was no surprise that Augsburg's opening goal was borne from the foot of the former Vitesse player, with Verhaegh's pinpoint cross finding the head of Tobias Werner in the box, who had the simple task of diverting the ball into the back of the net.

RB: Lukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund)

Piszczek is the reason why I deployed Verhaegh to the left side of defence instead of in his usual right-back position. The Polish international was fantastic defensively and the fact that Hannover chose not to attack through his flank spoke volumes about the quality of Piszczek's performance. He played his part in keeping Dortmund in the game with a last ditch clearance off the line to deny Didier Ya Konan after his goalkeeper Weidenfeller had already been beaten.

The right-back was also a devastating force for his side when rampaging forward and showed great vision and creativity to set up striker Robert Lewandowski to score in the 26^th minute and came close to adding his name on the scoresheet when he rattled the post in the second-half with a thunderous strike.

CB: Dante (Bayern Munich)

Granted, Hoffenheim hardly proved to be the biggest test for the Bayern defence but Dante looked very impressive when called upon; He was nearly unbeatable in the air and also showed great quick feet to cover his ground well, leaving the Hoffenheim attack frustrated and impotent

Dante was given the license to roam forward and the Brazilian certainly did so with relish, joining the attacks regularly whilst also ensuring that his defence would not be too exposed. The most impressive aspect of Dante's game however, was the clever way he utilized possession when he had it and he barely misplaced a single pass throughout the game.

CB: Nikolce Noveski (FC Mainz)

The veteran centre-back will have the honour of being the person to inflict a first loss of the season for Fortuna Dusseldorf after he raced in at the near post to head in Andreas Ivanschitz's corner in the 85^th minute to give his side a 1-0 win over the newly promoted side.

Apart from his goal, the Mainz captain led his team by example with a fine defensive display which had the home crowd cheering his name in unison by the end of the night. Noveski was a rock at the back for Mainz, using his experience to read the game well and snuffing out the danger before it could materialize. The Fortuna attack just could not find a way past the Macedonian international.

LM: Frank Ribery (Bayern Munich)

Having failed to really light up this season's Bundesliga prior to this game, Ribery suddenly sprung to life and put in a man-of-the-match performance against Hoffenheim to lead the Bavarians a victory. The French international was quickly out of the blocks and scored his first goal 19 minutes into the game, racing into the penalty box to latch onto a through pass and calmly slotted the ball through the legs of Hoffenheim custodian Koen Casteels to score his first goal of the current Bundesliga campaign.

He doubled his goal tally and effectively sealed victory for Die Roten shortly after the interval, dispatching the ball past the hapless Casteels after Toni Kroos had done well to set him up. Apart from his two goals, Ribery tormented the Hoffenheim defence throughout the game and was effectively the main attacking outlet for the Bavarians.

RM: Juan Arango (Borussia Monchengladbach)

Arango is in this week's team for scoring arguably the best goal in this week's Bundesliga action. Picking up the loose ball after Eintracht Frankfurt's Olivier Ocean lost the ball in midfield, Arango drove forward purposefully before unleashing an absolutely stunning 30 yards strike which nestled into the back of the net to set Gladbach on their way.

Apart from the goal, the 32-year-old was a steady presence in midfield for Gladbach and showed some nice touches and was always looking to be involved in the game. His work-rate was also top notch and showed great discipline to track back to help out his defence whenever Frankfurt threatened.

CM: Cedric Makiadi (Freiburg)

The 28-year-old was an energetic presence in midfield for Freiburg as he helped his side to a 3-0 win over Nuremberg. He was tenacious in the tackle and used possession very wisely whenever he had the ball, controlling play in the middle of the park and dictating the pace of the game with ease.

Makiadi's willingness to get into the box to support his side's attack paid dividends in the 36^th minute when he found himself completely unmarked in the box to head Erik Jendrisek's cross into the back of the net from a yard out. Makiadi then turned provider in the last minute of the game, showing great technique to lift the ball over the top of the Nuremberg defence for Erik Terrazzino, who made no mistake and swept the ball into the back of the net to score his Freiburg's third goal.

CM: Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich)

Kroos was one of the best players on the pitch for Die Roten in their game against Hoffenheim. He was involved in everything good the Bavarians did and combined excellently with the livewire Ribery throughout the game to pick apart the Hoffenheim defence.

The 22-year-old He was the creative hub for Bayern and created numerous goalscoring opportunities for his teammates throughout the game. Kroos is also slowly developing a good understanding with Ribery it was no surprise that he was the player to set up Ribery's second goal with an inventive and instinctive pass.

ST: Stefan Kiessling (Bayer Leverkusen)

Kiessling was the focal point of Leverkusen's comeback draw with Stuttgart, scoring two well taken goals to earn his side a point. The 28-year-old's first goal of the game was a demonstration of the predatory instinct he possessed when he pounced on a loose ball in the penalty box after Stuttgart custodian Sven Ulreich had failed to hold on to Karim Bellarabi's stinging effort.

The former Nuremberg striker then doubled his goal tally just before the hour mark, rising highest to head home Michal Kadlec's free-kick to even things up after Stuttgart had taken the lead. Kiessling's physicality upfront made him a tough target to mark and Stuttgart's defence never really got to grips with his powerful play.

ST: Vedad Ibišević (Stuttgart)

The Bosnian international was in imperious form for Stuttgart and scored a brace for his side to ensure that Leverkusen's own two goal hero Kiessling would not run away with the match ball. Given how Stuttgart had not yet managed to score a single league goal at home this season, Ibisevic showed nerves of steel to break that duck in the 13^th minute from the spot after Simon Rolfes had fouled Ibrahima Traore in the box.

Ibisevic then fired Stuttgart into the lead with his second goal, doing well to run and meet Raphael Holzhauser's cross from the left with a firm header which sent the ball rocketing into the back of the net. Like Kiessling, the 28-year-old was an active presence in attack and the Leverkusen defence struggled to shackle him throughout the game.