Best of Bundesliga: A missing penalty spot and Vidal on form

Good weekend for: Peter Stöger, Christoph Kramer, Leon Bailey, Freiburg

Bad weekend for: Jannik Vestergaard, The chasing pack, Peter Bosz, Cologne

Best bits

- The sacking of Peter Bosz, and arrival of Peter Stöger in the Borussia Dortmund hotseat grabbed most of the attention on Sunday but an incredible game between Cologne and Freiburg at least averted the gaze from the Signal Iduna Park crisis for a couple of hours.

Just hours after the man they sacked last week was unveiled, Cologne raced in to a three goal lead on a snow-covered pitch (see Bizarre Bundesliga below). By the end of the match, that fleeting joy was a distant memory as two penalties from Nils Petersen in the dying moments sealed an incredible four-goal comeback from Freiburg. Despite scoring a third of their season's goal tally in half an hour on Sunday Cologne are now 11 and 12 points off Werder Bremen (17th) and Freiburg (18th) respectively. 

- After Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen are the Bundesliga's most in-form side. Following a stuttering start, Heiko Herrlich's men are unbeaten in their last eight and playing an exciting attacking brand of football, with young players like Leon Bailey and Kai Havertz to the fore. Both were heavily involved as they swatted away Stuttgart on Friday night. Things got even better for the Werkself as the weekend progressed, with Bayern the only side in the pre-matchday top 6 to pick up three points.

- Arturo Vidal just can't stop scoring. The Chilean midfielder now has four goals in his last four Bundesliga games and appears to have mastered the art of late runs into the box. His latest effort, from a sublime Joshua Kimmich cross sealed Bayern's latest win. But he was a little fortunate to stay on the pitch after a foul early in the second half that could well have been deemed a second yellow. Jupp Heynckes removed him immediately after.  

- While Bayern Munich extended their lead and ensured they are the Bundesliga's Herbstmeister (champions of the first half of the season) and extended their lead at the top, the rest of the European spots look up for grabs. Just five points separate RB Leipzig in 2nd from Hannover in 10th. 

Best quotes

- "Honestly, this was a complete disgrace from us. I have no explanation how this kind of performance can happen. I'm saying the same things every week. It doesn't help anything." Dortmund captain Marcel Schmelzer after the 2-1 defeat to Bremen but before Peter Bosz' exit was announced.

- "He had the wrong kit on. For the 17 other Bundesliga clubs, that would have been a red card." Frankfurt's sporting director Fredi Bobic on Arturo Vidal's foul on Marius Wolf, which could have resulted in a second bookable offence.

- "He looks like he's 50 years old, but he plays like he's 28." Javi Martinez on 36-year-old Tom Starke coming out of retirement for the 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

"At the beginning it was like watching the wrong movie. But the team then showed tremendous willpower." Christian Streich on Freiburg's comeback.

- "He loves a good swan dive before jumping up quite quickly when the referee has blown his whistle. He gets a knock on the head and goes down clutching his knee." Wolfsburg's Mario Gomez on coming up against Kyriakos Papadopoulos in the 0-0 draw with Hamburg.

Bizarre Bundesliga

- Sunday was snow day in the Bundesliga, particularly at Cologne, where the game was put back half an hour. When it did eventually start, Cologne got off to a flyer. They were already a goal to the good when they were awarded a spotkick. Sehrou Guirassy picked up the orange ball and went to place it on the spot but couldn't locate the pitch marking (see main image). The referee was equally nonplussed and ended up pacing out the 12 yards (or 11 meters in the German parlance) before Guirassy slotted home. The issue was solved at the break with some red paint and Petersen had no such issues in the second half, with his two late spot kicks settling the game. 

Injuries/Suspensions

- Julian Brandt was substituted after suffering a heavy tackle during Leverkusen's Friday night win. He's a doubt for their midweek game against Werder Bremen.

- Bremen are likely to be missing Finn Bartels for some time after he suffered an achilles tendon injury. Teammate Zlatko Junuzovic is also touch and go for the Leverkusen game after being forced off.

- Nico Elvedi picked up his fifth booking of the season for Gladbach and will miss their trip to Freiburg on Tuesday.

- Sven Ulreich's injury in the warm up appears to have been to his groin and it's unclear whether he'll be fit for Bayern's home match with Cologne on Wednesday.