“Twelve points from five games, that’s impressive,” said Nuri Sahin, coach of Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, after Wednesday’s 3-0 away win against Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb. Jamie Gittens (41st minute), Ramy Bensebaini (56th) and Serhou Guirassy (90th) scored for BVB, who can now go into the prestigious Bundesliga duel against record champions FC Bayern Munich with increased self-confidence.
“We can talk about the Bundesliga when the time comes. That will be the case on Saturday,” said Sahin. “Now I’m happy that we’ve established ourselves up there in the Champions League.” In the table of 36 teams, Dortmund are in fourth place after five of eight match days. A small downer: National player Julian Brandt suffered a muscle injury during the game in Zagreb. His use against Bayern is questionable.
Defeats for Stuttgart and Leipzig
VfB Stuttgart had a pitch-black day against Serbian champions Red Star Belgrade. Coach Sebastian Hoeneß’s team lost 1:5. After the early lead by Ermedin Demirovic (5th), the Stuttgart team came under the wheels. “We were imprecise with the ball, never had control and never picked up any rhythm,” Hoeneß complained afterwards. “The assertiveness was missing.” In the table, VfB is in 27th place after just one win in five games.
Things are looking even worse for RB Leipzig. With the 0-1 defeat at the Italian champions Inter Milan, coach Marco Rose’s team suffered their fifth defeat on Tuesday and are now 34th among 36 teams. “The situation is simple,” said Rose: “We need three wins from three games.”
Gala performance by Florian Wirtz
The German champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen (sixth in the table) and FC Bayern (13th) can take a more relaxed approach after their performances on Tuesday. The Leverkusen team dispatched the Austrian runner-up RB Salzburg 5-0. The outstanding national player Florian Wirtz with a brace (8th/hand penalty, 30th), Alejandro Grimaldo (11th), Patrik Schick (61st) and Aleix García (72nd) scored the goals. “We showed a very good performance,” said Bayer 04 coach Xabi Alonso. “We got into the game well from the first minute, were dominant and defended well against the ball. We created a lot of chances and scored goals.”
One goal was enough for Munich to earn a deserved 1-0 home win against Paris St. Germain. Defender Min-Jae Kim was Bayern’s match winner with his goal (38th). Ex-Dortmunder Ousmane Dembélé saw a yellow-red card on PSG’s side for repeated foul play (57′). It was Bayern’s seventh game in a row without conceding a goal. “The discipline was there,” said coach Vincent Kompany after the game. However, he was not completely satisfied. “We can maybe score one or two more goals when we have the advantage, then the game will be calmer.”
The fifth matchday of the Champions League at a glance:
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Sturm Graz – FC Girona 1:0 (0:0)
Red Star Belgrade – VfB Stuttgart 5:1 (2:1)
FC Liverpool – Real Madrid 2:0 (0:0)
FC Bologna – OSC Lille 1:2 (0:1)
Aston Villa – Juventus Turin 0:0
AS Monaco – Benfica Lisbon 2:3 (1:0)
PSV Eindhoven – Shakhtar Donetsk 3:2 (0:2)
Dinamo Zagreb – Borussia Dortmund 0:3 (0:1)
Celtic Glasgow – FC Brugge 1:1 (0:1)
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Sparta Prag – Atletico Madrid 0:6 (0:2)
Slovan Bratislava – AC Milan 2:3 (1:1)
FC Bayern Munich – Paris Saint-Germain 1:0 (1:0)
FC Barcelona – Stade Brest 3:0 (1:0)
Inter Milan – RB Leipzig 1:0 (1:0)
Manchester City – Feyenoord Rotterdam 3:3 (1:0)
Young Boys Bern – Atalanta Bergamo 1:6 (1:4)
Sporting Lissabon – FC Arsenal 1:5 (0:3)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen – Red Bull Salzburg 5:0 (3:0)
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