Let's start at the Signal-Iduna Park, where it was Heung-Min Son once again the bogeyman for Jurgen Klopp and Borussia Dortmund. The South-Korean, who scored twice in a man-of-the-match performance for Hamburg in a 4-1 victory here last season, ultimately stole the headlines once again, slotting home the winner in the 19th minute. Ex-Leverkusen man Manuel Friedrich lost possession to Gonzalo Castro, who played a delightful through-ball to Son, who rounded Roman Weidenfeller to give Sami Hyypia's men a lead they wouldn't relinquish. He should have made it two before the break, one-on-one with Dortmund's shot-stopper, although the latter came out on top this time around. Klopp had to send on Marco Reus, with Sven Bender coming off with a nasty-looking knee injury, which will keep him out of Dortmund's huge clash with manager-less Marseille on Wednesday. However, the hosts lacked their usual attacking flair, with Leverkusen staying defensively resolute. Nuri Sahin was then forced off with an ankle injury, the next name on their long list of absentees. Both sides finished the game with 10-men; Emir Spahic for lashing out, and Sokratis throwing the ball away, earning him a second yellow. The scoreline didn't change though, as the Westphalians fall ten points off the top and most likely out of the title race.
Robert Lewandowski (Dortmund): ''Nobody said much. We were all too disappointed. It's a difficult situation for everybody, not just because of the defeat, but also because of the injuries as well. We can't bury our heads in the sand. We still have a vital Champions League match to come and we're desparate to qualify. We have to get over the defeat to Bayer and focus on our job in Marseille.''
Match winner Heung-Min Son (Leverkusen): ''This was possibly our best display so far this season. Getting the better of Dortmund is difficult enough, and for me to score the decisive goal is of course fantastic. We've shown many times that we can keep up with strong sides, and Dortmund are without doubt one of them. I had a good feeling going into the game, and I'm glad we did so well.''
That win for Leverkusen in the Saturday night game saw them move back within four points of Bayern, who earlier had ran riot at Bremen to make it 40 games unbeaten in the Bundesliga. It wasn't going to be the Northerners' afternoon when Assani Lukimya put through his own net from the returning Franck Ribery's cross. Daniel Van Buyten headed home his first goal in two years, before Ribery added his name to the scoresheet to make it three before the break. By now, Robin Dutt's men had already given up, and they caved into the champions, as Mario Mandzukic tapped home, whilst Thomas Muller finished neatly at the near post. Ribery completed his brace to make it six of the best, and finally, Mario Gotze put Bayern in 7th heaven, condemning their opponents to their worst ever Bundesliga home defeat.
Toni Kroos (Bayern): ''You really can't complain after a 7-0 victory. There's little we could have done better.''
Nils Petersen (Bremen): ''We had the chance to play well, but we were rolled over. The result speaks for itself.''
The big battle between Champions League rivals went Monchengladbach's way, making it eight wins out of eight at home, and securing their 6th consecutive win, something they haven't done in the German top-flight since 1987. They had to come from behind to overcome Schalke, who had taken the lead when in-form Jefferson Farfan slotted home a spot-kick, after Kevin-Prince Boateng was felled by Julian Korb. Yet the Foals quickly found themselves level, when Raffael, who spent the second-half of last season on loan in Gelsenkirchen, accurately put away the equaliser. A second penalty of the game went Gladbach's way, with Benedikt Howedes given his marching orders for a second caution, and Max Kruse ultimately put away the winner, leaving Jens Keller with another defeat, and with his job looking very insecure, ahead of the must-win clash with Basel. Victory for Gladbach saw them go level on points with Dortmund, although Wolfsburg kept the pressure on them in the race for 4th with a comfortable victory at Freiburg on Sunday. The game was effectively over after a quarter of an hour, as Maximilian Arnold and Ivica Olic gave Dieter Hecking's side a comfortable advantage. The hosts fought well in the second-half, and created opportunities, but it wasn't to be their afternoon, as Marcel Schafer made it three and easy in injury-time, leaving Christian Streich and his players still searching for their first home victory of the campaign, and still in the relegation play-off spot.
Raffael (Gladbach): ''It was my first goal and first win against my former side, and because it was such an important game, it's a great feeling to have won.'' Kevin-Prince Boateng (Schalke): ''In the second-half, we played well, really well. I can only praise the boys.''
Daniel Caligiuri (Wolfsburg): ''We didn't train that well this week, but things went in our favour today.'' Matthias Ginter (Freiburg): ''I'm lost for words. There's no explanation for us conceding two goals so early in the game.''
It wasn't a good weekend for the rest of the bottom-four, with Braunschweig losing at home to fellow promoted club Hertha in Matchday 15's final encounter, with goals coming from top goal-scorer Adrian Ramos and Tolga Cigerci; his first in the German top-flight. Nuremberg became the first team in Bundesliga history not to win any of their first 15 games, as they were held to a 9th draw of the campaign by Mainz. The Bavarians had taken the lead through Per Nilsson, only for Shinji Okazaki to rescue a point for the visitors. The dire form of Europa League participants Frankfurt continues, losing at home to neutral's favourites Hoffenheim. All the goals came in a five minute spell just after the break, with Sven Schipplock, Joselu and Roberto Firmino getting the goals, but Markus Gisdol's men taking the spoils.
Marcel Ndjeng (Hertha): ''We got what we came for, and took our chances, unlike last weekend.'' Mirko Boland (Braunschweig): ''We were hoping for a much better result today.''
Per Nilsson (Nuremberg): ''It was a difficult game, and it's a shame, because I thought we could win this.'' Erik Choupo-Moting (Mainz): ''There was more for us in this game, but that's how football goes sometimes.''
The surprise package of the campaign continues to be Augsburg, and they picked up their 6th win of the season, as a solitary Raul Bobadilla goal gave them victory in Hamburg, and putting Markus Weinzierl in the spotlight to potentially replace the under-pressure Jens Keller at Schalke. Meanwhile, Stuttgart took their first home win in three months, going in front through Martin Harnik, falling behind thanks to Artur Sobeich and Salif Sane, equalising with a goal from Vedad Ibisevic, before finally taking the three points as Ibrahima Traore and a strike from ex-Hannover man Konstantin Rausch gave Thomas Schneider a much-needed win.