Bundesliga

BREMEN, Germany — Bayern Munich cruised to a 3-1 victory at Werder Bremen on Saturday with striker Robert Lewandowski climbing to second place in the Bundesliga's all-time scorers list as the champions opened up a five-point lead at the top.

The 32-year-old Lewandowski, the 2020 FIFA World Player, twice hit the woodwork early in the second half before tapping in for to make it 3-0 and join Klaus Fischer on 268 Bundesliga goals, second on the all-time scorers list only to Gerd Mueller and his astonishing 365-goal record.

On Saturday, ABC broadcast a Bundesliga match for the first time ever. Gone are the days of hoping you can find the Bundesliga on tape delay a day or two later as major broadcasters are giving the beautiful game the attention it deserves in the U.S., and not just for major Premier League matches. Now that the soccer TV ratings are out for the past weekend, we wanted to point out a few interesting facts about the viewership.

RB Leipzig went on top of the Bundesliga on Saturday after beating Freiburg. Borussia Dortmund went on top of Bayern Munich on Saturday after scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes. But as is usually the case in Germany, at the end of the day the Bavarians were on top of both Dortmund and the Bundesliga.

BERLIN — Borussia Dortmund suffered a major blow on Friday when Jadon Sancho, Raphael Guerreiro and Giovanni Reyna were ruled out of Saturday's Bundesliga game at champions Bayern Munich, the club said on Twitter.

Winger Sancho and midfielder Guerreiro had been taken off with minor muscle injuries in their midweek German Cup quarter-final win and have not fully recovered yet.

It was not clear why American teenager Reyna had not joined the squad on the trip to Munich.

Christian Gross arrived at the Veltins-Arena nine weeks ago with one seemingly impossible task: keep Schalke in the Bundesliga.

He became the fourth manager of the season in the midst of a stretch that saw the team go without a league win for over a year. Huub Stevens had taken over before Christmas on an interim basis for a fourth turn at the helm of Schalke after Manuel Baum's three-month tenure brought six defeats and four draws. Before Baum was former USMNT player David Wagner, who spent 15 months in charge and on whose watch the winless streak began. 

Reinier, 18 at the time, arrived in Germany with high hopes. 

The Brazilian attacker signed for Borussia Dortmund on a two-year loan deal from Real Madrid, having joined the Spanish giants from Flamengo in January 2020 on a $36 million deal. He was the latest Brazilian starlet to make the move to the Bernabeu, as Madrid had previously bought Vinícius, also from Flamengo, and Rodrygo Goes from Santos, each for over $50 million.

MUNICH — Bundesliga top scorer Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry both struck twice as Bayern Munich crushed Cologne 5-1 in the Bundesliga on Saturday to earn their first win in three league games and go five points clear at the top.

The champions, who next week face Borussia Dortmund, are on 52 points, with Leipzig, second on 47, taking on Borussia Moenchengladbach later on Saturday.

VfL Wolfsburg remained in third place with a 2-0 victory over Hertha Berlin.