Rejoicing in the west, disappointment in the east. On the first day of the Champions League football season, the German representatives gave a mixed picture. BVB top, RB Leipzig flop. The match reports:
ith the next desolate appearance, RB Leipzig made a false start in the Champions League - coach Domenico Tedesco ran out of arguments. The cup winner lost at the start of the football premier class 1: 4 (0: 1) against the Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk and clearly missed the planned victory. The goals from Marian Schwed (16th minute/59th), Mychajlo Mudryk (76th) and Lassina Traoré (76th) shocked the majority of the 41,591 fans. The interim equalizer by Mohamed Simakan (57th) didn't even last two minutes. The Bundesliga game against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday could be a final for Tedesco.
The professionals of the war-torn Ukrainian club celebrated their emotional victory in Leipzig euphorically, for Shakhtar it was the first international competitive game since the Russian invasion. The domestic league is played without an audience and under the strictest security measures.
Even the Leipzig dress rehearsal at 0: 4 in Frankfurt had failed properly. "The coach can't help it if there is no willingness to run at all and there is a total lack of willingness to fight," club boss Oliver Mintzlaff said shortly before the kick-off at DAZN - and demanded improvement and a "reaction".
In the 4-4-2 system, which is unusual for Tedesco, Leipzig proved to be more stable, at least in the first few minutes, but not significantly better. Playmaker Emil Forsberg surprisingly sat on the bench at the start, with Dominik Szoboszlai replacing the injured Dani Olmo. Newcomer Abdou Diallo made his debut. Christopher Nkunku failed early on to Shakhtar goalkeeper Anatolij Trubin (12th), national player Timo Werner hardly developed any danger on the left side in the first half.
The Ukrainians were difficult to assess for the Bundesliga club. As a result of the attack by Russian forces, almost all foreign professionals left the club, and the new coach Igor Jovicevic arrived in July. In the away block, 700 Donetsk fans celebrated the opening goal after a serious mistake by Peter Gulacsi far in front of his penalty area. Swede took the ball from the goalkeeper and hit the empty goal.
RB found it difficult to process the setback. The Leipzig remained the apparently superior team, but didn't create any compelling chances for too long and were far too easy to defend. At times Tedesco stood stoically on the sidelines, attempts like those made by André Silva in the 29th minute seemed hasty. After all, the Bundesliga club didn't have any trouble with the guest offensive in this phase - the Jovicevic team didn't have to do more either.
In the second half - now with substitute international David Raum - the expected one-goal game developed. RB put pressure on Shakhtar early on, Werner moved more into the center. Simakan rewarded Szoboszlai's charge, but Schwed scored his second almost immediately after the restart. Willi Orban deflected the 25-year-old's shot from unsustainable, the Shakhtar pros ran jubilantly to their coach.
A good twenty minutes before the end, Tedesco made two changes, Forsberg and Benjamin Henrichs came on for Werner and Xaver Schlager. The next goals came from Donetsk again. Mudryk completed a counterattack in an exemplary manner. Traoré finally made the decision.
In the stands, Sébastien Haller was happy about the successful start to the Champions League, while the players from Borussia Dortmund were celebrating from the south stand on the pitch. Thanks to the 3-0 (2-0) win against outsiders FC Copenhagen, BVB created a cushion for the forthcoming away games at Manchester City and FC Sevilla. "First and foremost, I'm happy that we won this must-win game," said captain Marco Reus on Amazon Prime Video. "But we also know that we have to improve against City next week because there's a different quality on the pitch."
Against the impressive backdrop of 70,700 spectators in Signal Iduna Park, where standing room was allowed again for the first time since 1998, the strong Reus (35th), Raphaël Guerreiro (42nd) and Jude Bellingham (83rd) ensured the deserved success. Newcomer Haller, who was sitting in the stands after his tumor operation and who was received with ovations by the fans, was also happy about this. "When we walked in before the game, you saw him on the screen and I got goosebumps," said Reus.
Despite growing concerns about injuries, Dortmund controlled the game. BVB has to replace five offensive players early in the season because Thorgan Hazard also had to go out against the Danes due to thigh problems (23rd). Even first-choice goalkeeper Gregor Kobel is initially out due to a torn muscle fiber, but his representative Alexander Meyer was only really challenged once in his premier class debut. "I think we put in a great performance. That was a great start to our Champions League season," said coach Edin Terzic.
At first, Borussia struggled against the deep guests. Copenhagen often forced the Bundesliga runners-up to move to the flanks, but BVB did not become dangerous from there. Instead, a combination through the center provided the lead. National player Niklas Süle, for whom Mats Hummels had to be on the bench, initiated the attack of the hosts and found Julian Brandt. As in the 1-0 win over Hoffenheim last Friday, Brandt made a brilliant pass to Reus, who completed the shot from close range. And BVB didn't let up. But on the contrary.
Thanks to an aggressive tackle, Guerreiro got the ball just before Copenhagen's penalty area and passed it on to Giovanni Reyna - the 19-year-old in turn put it back on the Portuguese, who only had to push in. "First we have to show that what happened last year in all cup competitions bothered us," Terzic said before the kick-off on Amazon Prime Video.
He actually showed that BVB does not want to be eliminated again in the group phase of the premier class. It only got tricky twice: In the first minute, a shot from the guests grazed the outside of the post, shortly after the half-time break goalkeeper Meyer then fended off Lukas Lerager in dire need. If Dortmund could blame themselves for something, it was only the poor exploitation of chances.
BVB didn't let up in the second round either and created numerous good opportunities - but only took advantage of one. After another mistake by the Danes in the build-up, Dortmund switched quickly and combined into the penalty area. There Reyna crossed again - and this time found Bellingham, who made sure of the final score.
The first day of the Champions League continues this Wednesday. Europa League champions Eintracht Frankfurt will receive Sporting Lisbon (6.45 p.m., live in the stern ticker and on Dazn), Bayer Leverkusen will play in Bruges at 9 p.m. and FC Bayern will have their away game at Inter Milan at the same time.
