Dortmund make a wonderful gesture, preseason roundup and the build up to the Supercup
Bayern have appointed former player Hasan Salihamidzic as the club’s new sporting director following Matthias Sammer asking to be released from his duties following his health scares back in the spring. Bayern followed up their 4-0 drumming by AC Milan with a Müller-ing 3-2 win over Chelsea although slipped up again against a Milan side, this time a 2-0 defeat to Inter.
Borussia Dortmund’s mixed pre-season continued with a 1-0 defeat to Espanyol. Good news for BVB fans is that midfielder Julian Weigl is eyeing a return to full training in September. The young promising midfielder broke his ankle at the end of the season and has been recovering on a rehabilitation programme desperate to get back to first team action.
RB Leipzig took a trip to London, more specifically Arsenal for the Emirates Cup. Following a 1-0 defeat to Sevilla, Leipzig came away with a 2-0 win over Benfica. Leipzig held their own in their debut in the annual tournament, Marcel Halstenberg put RB into the lead after 20 minutes with a thumping effort from inside the area. Veteran Marvin Compper doubled the lead with a perfectly timed and placed header on 53 minutes to confirm the win.
In other news, Leon Goretzka has come out and insists he is going nowhere, putting end to speculation that a deal had been ‘done’ to sign for champions Bayern. However, the 22 year old has one year left on his contract and the club and fans will be hoping that a new deal can be arranged sooner rather than later. Goretzka was instrumental in Schalke’s turn of fortune during the last few months of the season and in this campaign he will be hoping he can remain injury free.
Young loanee Reece Oxford scores for Gladbach in their 1-0 win over Malaga in their preparation for the upcoming season. Gladbach are building a young talented side with many young potential stars, could this be a good mix of old and young to fire the foals back towards Europe?
Jürgen Klopp returned to Germany bringing his Liverpool side to Berlin to take on Hertha. The game finished 3-0 to Liverpool as they showed their class. the goals came from Solanke, Wijnaldum and Salah.
Javier Hernandez made a return back to Germany following his move from Leverkusen to West Ham as the Irons took on Werder Bremen. Luca Caldirola put Bremen ahead on 15 minutes but the scores were level again 10 minutes later thanks to new signing Marko Arnautović. Toni Martinez then put West Ham in front on 75 minutes but it was short lived as Zhang Yuning equalised for Bremen on 81 minutes as the game finished 2-2.
Friday August 5th is the first competitive game of the new season, the Supercup. With Dortmund looking to close the gap on Bayern, fans will be anticipating the debut of Peter Bosz’s new look side. With Bosz bringing a big reputation following his success at Ajax, fans will be hoping for the same attractive football with the focus on blooding in the young players, it could be interesting times for BVB.
Bayern on the other hand have had a mixed pre-season, but with the signings of Tolisso and James Rodriguez coming in to give the champions more fire power and with Sule and Rudy hoping to replace Lahm and Alonso, it should make a fascinating affair.
We end on a very warming tale of good will. Borussia Dortmund have offered to fund the studies of injured youth player Dario Scuderi following his career threatening knee injury he picked up in a UEFA Youth League match with Legia Warsaw last September. With doubts over whether Scuderi will be able to play again, BVB have offered to pay for Sports Management degree for Scuderi so he has another avenue to follow if he is unable to play again. BVB’s good act continues a summer of grand gestures in the Bundesliga. In the last couple of months Bayern Munich replaced a supporter’s broken mug and Darmstadt offered disadvantaged fans free entry to home matches.
