Bayern Munich will head into the new Bundesliga season on a high after beating Borussia Dortmund 2-1 to win the DFL-Supercup.
Vincent Kompany’s men are once again the heavy favourites for the title, and a victory over their Klassiker rivals at Signal Iduna Park will only serve to give further rise to the notion they are set for another procession in the league
Nathaniel Brown scored his first Bayern goal since joining from Eintracht Frankfurt to put them ahead in the 28th minute.
Left-back Brown was deployed behind Harry Kane as a number 10, and he vindicated that surprise decision with a clinical finish into the bottom-right corner.
A more predictable goalscorer made it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time, Michael Olise scoring a wonderful individual effort as he capped a stunning run with an improvised left-footed finish to leave Dortmund with a mountain to climb.
Fabio Silva converted from Daniel Svenssson’s pull back 15 minutes from the end of normal time to give Dortmund hope, but they could not complete the comeback, with Ramy Bensebaini sent off late on for a rash foul on Ismael Saibari.
In LaLiga, Real Madrid left it late to claim a dramatic 2-1 win over Espanyol in Jose Mourinho’s first game of his second spell in charge.
Sevilla won 3-1 at Athletic Bilbao, who had Yuri Berchiche sent off in the 11th minute, while Valencia and Celta Vigo drew 0-0.
Inter and Napoli make winning starts
Serie A defending champions Inter picked up where they left off last season with a 4-1 win over Monza.
Hakan Calhanoglu gave the Nerazzurri the lead with a rasping long-range strike, only for that effort to be cancelled out when Gustavo Varela fired into the bottom-left corner on his Serie A debut.
Piotr Zieliński pounced on a goalkeeping error to restore Inter’s lead, which was doubled when Pio Esposito flicked home a sublime third.
Yann Aurel Bisseck then gave the scoreline a more emphatic look as he thrashed home in the 63rd minute.
Meanwhile, Kevin De Bruyne scored the first goal and set up the second as Inter’s Scudetto rivals Napoli claimed a 2-0 win at Genoa.
Elsewhere, Como were held to a 1-1 draw at Udinese, and Cagliari won 1-0 at Parma.
Five-star Lens claim easy win
After beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Trophee des Champions, last season’s Ligue 1 runners-up Lens maintained the feel-good factor as they began the new season with a 5-2 thumping of Auxerre.
Florian Thauvin scored twice for Lens, whose task was made easier by a first-half red card for Auxerre’s Christ Makosso.
Lyon claimed a 2-0 win at Toulouse thanks to goals from Noah Nartey and Malick Fofana.
New boys Le Mans drew 2-2 with Brest, while there were goalless draws between Nice and Lorient and Troyes and Paris FC.
