Borussia Dortmund has made a successful start to the new Champions League season. The man who almost always does that scores the lead against FC Copenhagen, and then BVB follow suit. With the return of standing room in the European Cup, pyrotechnics are the only thing that causes a little discord.
Sebastien Haller cheered in the stands with a BVB scarf, his team celebrated a convincing mandatory victory: When his top striker, who was suffering from cancer, returned to the stadium, runners-up Borussia Dortmund started the Champions League confidently and enthusiastically. In the evening summer heat, BVB defeated the Danish champions FC Copenhagen deservedly 3-0 (2-0) - an absolutely necessary basis for the difficult duels with Manchester City and FC Sevilla. "We didn't allow much. There would have been a little more, but I don't want to be too critical. A win like that at the beginning is good," said Marco Reus on Prime Video.
The 1-0 expert Reus (35th) scored the first goal again against what was probably the weakest opponent in the group. Raphael Guerreiro (42nd) followed up after a dream combination with Gio Reyna in front of 70,700 spectators. Jude Bellingham (83rd) finished the game. However, two further injuries in the already very thin squad clouded the positive picture of intense weeks ago.
Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was out for a short time due to a torn muscle fiber, he will miss a few games. So Alexander Meyer, previously Jahn Regensburg, finally made a very confident BVB debut: "An excellent goalkeeper and a really good guy," as coach Edin Terzic said before kick-off. Thorgan Hazard also had to leave after 20 minutes with thigh pain, Niklas Süle played well for Mats Hummels from the start.
A very special guest also observed the 90-minute playful superiority: Haller sat in the VIP stand with sunglasses and a scarf around his neck in a black shirt. It was his first visit since the devastating testicular cancer diagnosis. "First matchday in the Champions League, first day in the stadium for me," he said in a Twitter message.
Before the long-awaited Champions League premiere of the "Yellow Wall" with 25,000 standing places in the south stand, there was a stink - but on the north side. Pyro flares and flares flew out of the guest sector well before the kick-off, one of which almost hit BVB professionals in the center circle while inspecting the pitch. In the Copenhagen penalty area it "burned" for the first time after ten minutes and it should have been 1-0. However, Anthony Modeste, at 34 the oldest Champions League debut in the club's history, did not hit the ball properly from ten meters away from the goal.
After that, the Danish champions, supported by numerous Hamburger SV fans, organized themselves better at first, only Salih Özcan's long-range shot brought danger again (28'). The through passes were still missing in the front line of attack, until before the 1-0 Julian Brandt staged Reus wonderfully: he hit a hook and scored. On the other hand, Zeca's long-range shot even touched the post of the Dortmund goal in the first minute.
Meyer made an excellent save against Lukas Lerager (47') after the break, so it was a quiet evening. The pressure from Borussia eased a bit, without the visitors finding a lasting influence. Other opponents of BVB in Group G are the probably overpowering Man City with the former Dortmund top star Erling Haaland and Sevilla, which is to be assessed on an equal footing with Borussia. "We have to improve there," said Reus.
