Bayern Munich out to make amends in Bundesliga and sure to set another record

BERLIN (AP) — Bayern Munich’s first defeat of the season couldn’t have come at a worse time for St. Pauli.

After losing eight games straight in the Bundesliga, the promoted Hamburg-based team had hoped Bayern might have an off day this Saturday, complacent after another gala performance in the Champions League.

But Bayern slumped to a 3-1 loss at Arsenal on Wednesday after mistakes from goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and defender Dayot Upamecano, and will be looking to make amends in front of its own fans when Alexander Blessin’s team visits.

“Maybe after the Arsenal game, the Champions League is still in their minds, or maybe they underestimate us a bit,” Blessin said after his team’s 1-0 loss at home to Union Berlin. “We just need to keep it scoreless for as long as possible and then turn the game in our favor. That’s the task.”

Regardless of Saturday’s result, Bayern will set a record of 44 consecutive rounds on top of the league, beating its own record from 1973. Leipzig is six points adrift in second place.

The Bavarian powerhouse has already made the best-ever start to the Bundesliga after 11 rounds with 10 wins, one draw and a goal difference of plus 33.

Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund clash in Saturday’s late game, when both will seek to build on positive results in the Champions League.

Leverkusen snatched a 2-0 win at Manchester City while Dortmund crushed Villarreal 4-0. The winner could eventually take over as Bayern’s biggest challenger.

Leipzig visits improving Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday. Gladbach won 3-0 at Heidenheim in its first match since Eugen Polanski was confirmed as head coach. His team has now won four games across all competitions since a 3-0 loss to Bayern.

Eintracht Frankfurt hosts Wolfsburg on Sunday in the latest challenge for a visiting team dropping toward the relegation zone.

Interim coach Daniel Bauer was unable to stop the slide after a 3-1 loss at home to Leverkusen last weekend. That was the first match since Wolfsburg fired its coach and sporting director. Frankfurt lost 3-0 at home to Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday but has won its last two Bundesliga games.

The 17-year-old Lennart Karl scored Bayern’s goal against Arsenal and is fast becoming the most talked about player at the club. He starred in the 6-2 rout of Freiburg last weekend and is generating such excitement that many are calling for him to be included in Germany’s 2026 World Cup squad.

Cologne’s 19-year-old Said El Mala has already been called up for World Cup qualifiers. Born to a German mother and a Lebanese father, the teenager has become a key player in his first season in the Bundesliga with four goals and three assists. His club visits Werder Bremen on Saturday.

Álex Grimaldo is Leverkusen’s latest star following a summer exodus at the club. The Spain left back scored again at City on Tuesday. Despite his role as a defender, he has four goals and four assists already in the Bundesliga.

Leipzig youngsters Assan Ouédraogo and Yan Diomande were injured in the win over Bremen last weekend. The 19-year-old Ouédraogo suffered a tendon problem in his left knee and is out for several weeks, the club said. He had enjoyed a dream debut for Germany the previous week.

Diomande, also 19, broke his nose against Bremen but should be able to play against Gladbach.

Thousands of organized fans have been protesting against possible new German government security measures around stadiums – including personalized tickets, the use of face-recognition software, increased surveillance, and stadium bans – to be discussed at an interior ministry conference from Dec. 3-5.

Most fans in stadiums in the Bundesliga and other divisions stayed quiet for the first 12 minutes of matches last weekend, while many supporters attended a large protest in Leipzig the previous weekend.

The fans have been supported by the clubs, with Bayern chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen speaking up in their favor, and Stuttgart and Freiburg among several teams issuing a statement against the proposed measures on Wednesday.

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Bayern's Harry Kane reacts after Arsenal's Noni Madueke scored his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Arsenal and Bayern Munich in London, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Bayern's Harry Kane leaves the pitch after the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Arsenal and Bayern Munich in London, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Bayern's Harry Kane reacts after the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Arsenal and Bayern Munich in London, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

One U.S. service member was rescued and at least one was missing after two U.S. military planes went down in separate incidents including the first shoot-down since the war began nearly five weeks ago.

It was the first time U.S. aircraft have been downed in the conflict and came just two days after President Donald Trump said in a national address that the U.S. has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”

One fighter jet was shot down in Iran, officials said. A U.S. crew member from that plane was rescued, but a second was missing, and a U.S. military search-and-rescue operation was underway.

Separately, Iranian state media said a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defense forces. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation, said it was not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down.

The war now entering its sixth week is destabilizing economies around the world as Iran responds to the U.S. and Israeli attacks by targeting the Gulf region's energy infrastructure and tightening its grip on oil and natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Here is the latest:

Israel’s rescue services said Saturday the man sustained glass shrapnel wounds after an Iranian missile hit the central city of Bnei Brak.

It wasn't clear if the glass shrapnel was caused by a direct strike or falling debris from an intercepted missile.

Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services said it was taking the man to the hospital.

The Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency said Saturday that the two men who were hanged belonged to the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.

The agency said Abul-Hassan Montazer and Vahid Bani-Amirian were convicted of “being members of a terrorist group.”

This brings to six the total number of MEK members executed since the start of the war.

Activists and rights groups say Iran routinely holds closed-door trials in which defendants are unable to challenge the accusations they face.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that its air force struck ballistic and and anti-aircraft missile storage sites in Tehran.

It said the strikes a day earlier included weapons manufacture sites as well as military research and development facilities in the Iranian capital.

It said the strikes are part of an ongoing phase to increase damage to Iran's “core systems and foundations.”

Authorities in Dubai said the facades of two buildings were damaged by debris from intercepted drones, including one belonging to U.S. tech firm Oracle. No injuries were reported.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has threatened to attack Oracle and 17 other U.S. companies after accusing them of being involved in “terrorist espionage” operations in Iran.

Previous Iranian drone strikes caused damage to three Amazon Web Services facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

As of Friday, 247 of the wounded were Army soldiers, 63 were Navy sailors, 19 were Marines and 36 were Air Force airmen, according to Pentagon data available online.

It is unclear if the data includes any of the service members involved in the downing of two combat aircraft reported Friday.

Most of the wounded — 200 — were also mid to senior enlisted troops, 85 were officers and 80 were junior enlisted service members.

The current death toll remains at 13 service members killed in combat.

Palestinian Muslims attend Friday prayers outside Jerusalem's Old City due to restrictions linked to the Iran war, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Tamara and her sister Amal color pictures on the floor as their parents, Sara and Ahmed, who fled their village of Khiyam in southern Lebanon due to Israeli bombardment, sit inside a tent used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Mohammad Qubaisi, 53, with burn wounds from an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon undergoes surgery by Dr. Mohammed Ziara, left, and his team, at the Sidon Government Hospital in Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A bridge struck by U.S. airstrikes on Thursday is seen in the town of Karaj, west of Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

FILE - An F-15E Strike Eagle turns toward the Panamint range over Death Valley National Park, Calif., on Feb. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)