Led by Mario Götze, Borussia Dortmund exploded back onto the Champions League stage with a 6-0 hammering of Polish double winners Legia Warsaw in their opening group game. Dortmund were in control of the game from the very first minute, and German international Götze opened the scoring with his first competitive goal for the club in 1250 days, having returned from Bayern München this summer.
The other goals were scored by Sokratis, Marc Bartra, Raphael Guerreiro, Gonzalo Castro and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Fellow world champion André Schürrle was absent for Thomas Tuchel’s side, having picked up a minor hand injury during the weekend’s match in Leipzig. His starting berth instead went to Christian Pulisic, who is set to turn 18 on Sunday and became the youngest player ever to appear for Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
Gladbach resoundingly beaten
Borussia Mönchengladbach were on the receiving end of a harsh lesson from Pep Guardiola and Manchester City. 24 hours after the originally scheduled game had been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, Borussia lost 4-0 in the Etihad Stadium. For Guardiola, it was a seventh win in his seventh game as City manager.
Sergio Agüero scored a hat-trick for the hosts before Kelechi Iheanacho added a late fourth, converting an assist from Leroy Sané, who had just come on as a substitute. Meanwhile, Ilkay Gündogan featured in City’s starting line-up, making a strong debut and winning the penalty for the second goal when he was felled by Christoph Kramer. World champion Kramer had a less enjoyable evening, as he was replaced soon afterwards, in the 38th minute.
Leverkusen draw despite two-goal lead
Bayer Leverkusen were unable to get their Champions League campaign off to a winning start, surrendering a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Russian champions CSKA Moscow. Early goals from Admir Mehmedi and Hakan Calhanoglu put Leverkusen ahead, but they were pegged back before half-time through Alan Dzagoev and Roman Eremenko strikes.
Olympic silver medallist Julian Brandt was the only change to Roger Schmidt’s starting eleven, replacing fellow German international Karim Bellarabi, who recently underwent surgery. Brandt had a good chance to restore Leverkusen’s lead early in the second half, but could not beat Russian goalkeeper Akinfeev. Shortly afterwards, captain Lars Bender picked up a thigh injury and made way for compatriot Kevin Volland, who had initially had to settle for a place on the bench after recovering from a fractured hand. Missing the creativity of Bender, Leverkusen worked hard but were unable to find a third goal, and have to settle for a point.