Borussia Dortmund crushed Augsburg 5-1 in their Bundesliga opener on Saturday, with two goals from Paco Alcacer, to lay down an emphatic marker after champions Bayern Munich slipped up in their season premiere a day earlier in drawing 2-2 with Hertha Berlin.
Augsburg stunned the hosts with Florian Niederlechner’s goal after only 30 seconds but Dortmund quickly recovered to level with Spaniard Alcacer, Dortmund’s top scorer last season, in the third minute.
They turned up the tempo in the second half, scoring three goals in a span of eight minutes.
England international Jadon Sancho fired them ahead in the 51st and the teenager then helped set up goals for Marco Reus and Alcacer. Substitute Julian Brandt volleyed in their fifth in the 82nd.
While they needed some 50 minutes to get started, Dortmund were a class better than their opponents, firing 24 shots to Augsburg’s five and having more than 72% possession throughout the game.
“It was important to get the quick equaliser,” said Dortmund sports director Michael Zorc. “Overall it was a very good start but nothing more. Paco is also in great shape physically.”
Bayer Leverkusen saw promoted Paderborn come back twice from a goal down before Kevin Volland fired in the winner for a 3-2 home victory over the underdogs.
Freiburg struck three times in the last nine minutes to beat Mainz 05 3-0 while Fortuna Düsseldorf earned a 3-1 win at Werder Bremen.
Dortmund 5-1 Augsburg, Freiburg 3-0 Mainz, Leverkusen 3-2 Paderborn, Werder Bremen 1-3 Fortuna Dusseldorf, Wolfsburg 2-1 Cologne, M’gladbach 0-0 Schalke, Bayern 2-2 Hertha Berlin (Friday)
In France, Monaco’s poor start to the new Ligue 1 campaign continued with a 3-0 defeat at Metz. Leonardo Jardim’s side were without Cesc Fàbregas following the Spanish midfielder’s controversial red card in the opening 3-0 loss against Lyon.
Monaco fared no better on their travels, as Habib Diallo scored twice in another comprehensive defeat.
Nice are second, above Metz, with a 100 per cent record after they won 2-1 at Nîmes – where three players were sent off as the hosts finished with nine men after two red cards in stoppage time. Toulouse are fourth after a 1-0 home win over Dijon, secured by a goal from Jean-Victor Makengo in the 54th minute.
Amiens beat 10-man Lille 1-0, with Sehrou Guirassy’s scrambled effort allowed to stand following a lengthy on-field review for an offside call. Bordeaux collected their first point of the new season after coming from behind to draw 1-1 with Montpellier.
The visitors went in front through Andy Delort’s acrobatic volley after 22 minutes, but a fine individual effort from Josh Maja levelled things up with 20 minutes left.
Souleymane Camara thought he had won it for Montpellier late on, but his goal was ruled out after a VAR review for an offside in the build-up.
Saturday’s afternoon kick-off saw Argentine forward Dario Benedetto miss a penalty on his Ligue 1 debut for Marseille as Andre Villas-Boas’ side were held to a goalless draw at Nantes.
Nantes 0-0 Marseille, Amiens 1-0 Lille, Bordeaux 1-1 Montpellier, Metz 3-0 Monaco, Nimes 1-2 Nice, Toulouse 1-0 Dijon, Lyon 6-0 Angers (Friday)
After Real Madrid got their Liga season off to a fine start with a 3-1 win at Celta Vigo, Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty deep into added time salvaged a 1-1 draw for Real Sociedad against Valencia at the Mestalla.
The hosts took a 58th-minute lead through Kevin Gameiro but, in the 100th minute of the game, Francis Coquelin was sent off for a handball and Oyarzabal scored from the spot.
Villarreal and Granada kicked off the season with a thrilling 4-4 draw at Estadio De La Cerámica. Santi Cazorla’s penalty gave the Yellow Submarine the lead before Fede Vico levelled the scores with a spot-kick of his own just before half-time. Moi Gómez restored Villarreal’s lead only for Rubén Peña’s own goal to restore parity once more.
Gerard Moreno gave Javier Calleja’s side the lead for the third time in the match and Samuel Chukwueze looked to have won it when he made it 4-2 with 17 minutes remaining. Roberto Soldado grabbed a goal back for Granada in the 75th minute and Antonio Puertas secured a dramatic point with a third equaliser after 81 minutes.
Paulo Oliveira’s own goal after 75 minutes handed Mallorca a 2-1 victory at home to Eibar, whose centre-back Oliveira had earlier equalised Dani Rodríguez’s fourth-minute opener before putting into his own net.
Elsewhere, Ezequiel Ávila scored the only goal for Osasuna in their 1-0 victory over Leganes, who had Óscar Arnaiz sent off in added time.
Celta Vigo 1-3 Real Madrid, Valencia 1-1 Real Sociedad, Mallorca 2-1 Eibar, Leganes 0-1 Osasuna, Villarreal 4-4 Granada, Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Barcelona (Friday)
