VIDEO: Bundesliga kicked off in Frankfurt, the defending champion took a shot

Fans of German football have arrived. On Friday night, the opening match of the new Bundesliga season was played in a packed stadium in Frankfurt. The home side Eintracht, motivated by their victory in the Europa League final and their not-so-good final eleventh place in Germany’s top competition, hosted the defending champions from Munich. Sadio Mané, the most high-profile summer signing, also started for Bayern in the starting line-up, forming an attacking duo with Gnabry.

Before the opening whistle, the German national anthem was sung by Carolin Niemczyk at Deutsche Bank Park. After a silent tribute to Hans Weilbacher, the former midfielder of the home club who died on Monday at the age of 88, the match was ready to start.

And it was a very eventful start. Not even five minutes in, Joshua Kimmich opened the scoring. He sent a direct kick from quite a long distance unexpectedly straight at Trapp’s goal, from whose right post the ball bounced into the net.

After another five minutes it was 0:2. Thomas Müller’s shot after a corner hit only the defender, but the unguarded Benjamin Pavard got to the ball in the corner and scored an uncompromising goal.

Despite the bad start, Eintracht managed to create some chances. Tuta had a great opportunity in the 12th minute, but the Brazilian headed just into the crossbar after Kostic’s centre.

Bayern managed to score before half-time

Bayern had the scoring advantage and could have turned their activity into an even bigger lead. For example, when advancing on the lone goalkeeper Kevin Trapp in the 24th minute, Serge Gnabry misplaced a pass to Muller, who was unable to finish properly.

Moments later, on the other side, when Jesper Lindström managed to get through the Munich defence on his own, he directed a shot just wide of the left post just before Manuel Neuer ran out.

Julian Nagelsmann’s men punished, and punished hard. The 29th minute brought a big moment for Sadio Mané, who sent his header into the net. After scoring in Sunday’s German Super Cup match against Leipzig, he scored his first Bundesliga goal.

In the 35th minute, the scoreboard read 0:4 thanks to a cool finish into an empty net by Jamal Musiala after action by Mané and Muller.

Bayern’s offensive show in the first half was further boosted by a goal from Serge Gnabry, who was lucky to get the ball behind Trapp.

Frankfurt could only manage one goal

Home coach Oliver Glasner reacted to the horror by making three half-time substitutions. Lindström, Rode and Borré did not continue in the match, replaced by the trio of Lenz, Jakić, Kolo Muani.

The significant line-up changes brought a much needed calm to the Hessian team’s play. Frankfurt even enjoyed a goal in the 56th minute, but not for long. Substitute Kristijan Jakić did beat Neuer, but before that he was offside on a teammate’s pass behind the defence.

Another new man on the pitch in an Eintracht jersey did achieve the reduction to 1::5. Randal Kolo Mouani robbed Neuer of the ball in front of the penalty area and swiftly directed it into the empty net of the Bavarian club’s unshakable number one goalkeeper, who has stood out for years thanks to his quality footwork.

Mané had one of his few chances in the 73rd minute when he ran in behind the defence but could not finish successfully from an angle. Overall, the second act offered a more balanced and calm spectacle, with both teams creating their scoring opportunities.

Moments after Bayern’s other notable summer signing, stopper Matthijs de Ligt, came on the field, the final adjustment came. Musiala scored for the second time in the match, this time in the 83rd minute after an assist from Sane.

The defending champion thus made a very successful start to the new season. For Frankfurt, on the other hand, the 1-6 defeat is not exactly an encouragement heading into Wednesday’s UEFA Super Cup clash with Real Madrid.

The opening round of the Bundesliga continues this weekend with the remaining nine matches, the most attractive of which is the one between Dortmund and Leverkusen. Frankfurt are away to Hertha Berlin next week, while Bayern play Wolfsburg.

Source: Bundesliga, Nova Sport