Borussia Dortmund did it the hard way today in only their second match of the season. Away to Hoffenheim, the Black and Yellows went two goals behind, leaving it all to do with thirty minutes to play. Waldemar Anton took charge, sporting the captain's armband, blasting through the Hoffenheim defense at a lax moment to nick a loose ball and square it for Serhou Guirassy, who got the comeback started. BVB would find two further goals from Fabio Silva, and an own goal created by some intelligent interplay between Silva and Nwaneri.
The defense today was… not exactly sterling. The injury to Mane unsettled the back line, and despite some bright spots specifically from Gadou in progression, there were also some calamitous errors that gave Hoffenheim control of the momentum. Anton has been given the tricky task of leading a young, inexperienced back line. Gadou and Mane are talented, but they are both really in their first seasons of top flight football. Anton needs to keep them in check and handle his defensive duties as well. It's a lot of responsibity for BVB's stand-in captain. Anton's tenacity to win the ball high up the pitch got his team back into the game, and he deserves credit for his efforts across the pitch.
An additional note on Mane. I'm worried about this kid. Two hamstring injuries in only a few professional matches point to either a more serious issue, or insufficient preparation from the physio team. Mane has looked promising in the lead up to the season, but these injuries threaten to derail his career. BVB need to get their well-paid medical staff to figure out what's going on here.
Anyone seen the midfield? I can't seem to find it.
I'm not sure if we blame Kovac here, blame the players, blame the system, but my goodness where is our central spine? Hoffenheim ran down the throat of the BVB defense for the entire first half because there seemed to be no cover in front of it. Maybe we will see more of Veerman in the weeks to come, but it's not like the dutchman is some deep-lying enforcer—he is a creator. If BVB are going to be fielding a juvenile back line for the next few weeks (they are), the midfield needs to provide some better cover.

#line #silva #gadou #today

1 Gregor Kobel 3 Waldemar Anton 4 Nico Schlotterbeck 5 Ramy Bensebaini 7 Jobe Bellingham 8 Felix Nmecha 9 Serhou Guirassy 14 Maximilian Beier 17 Carney Chukwuemeka 19 Konstantinos Karetsas 20 Marcel Sabitzer 21 Fabio Silva 22 Joane Gadou 23 Emre Can 24 Daniel Svensson 25 Joey Veerman 26 Julian Ryerson 28 Justin Lerma 30 Patrick Drewes 31 Silas Ostrzinski 33 Alexander Meyer 36 Kaua Prates 39 Filippo Mane 40 Samuele Inacio 41 Mathis Albert 44 Enzo dos Santos 45 Giannis Konstantelias 48 Mussa Kaba 49 Luca Reggiani

#anton

Borussia Dortmund held to a 2-2 draw at home against AS Roma on Saturday. All four goals were scored inside the first half-hour as Niko Kovac's side came from a two-goal deficit to avoid defeat in front of home fans at Signal Iduna Park (Westfalenstadion).
Paulo Dybala put the visitors ahead before **** isting Bryan Cristante's goal from a corner-kick delivery in the 9th minute. On his first appearance back from an injury he suffered at the World Cup, Julian Ryerson did the same in the next 20 minutes.
The Norwegian scored from close range after fellow World Cup participant Daniel Svensson's cutback in the 12th minute. Serhou Guirassy equalized for Dortmund from Ryerson's typical set-piece delivery.
The hosts had the best chances for the rest of the game, but they were unable to find a winning goal. Konstantinos Karetsas, Joane Gadou, Justin Lerma, Kauã Prates and Takato Yamamoto all made their home debuts as Dortmund introduced the new players to the fans before kickoff.
While FC Bayern will play against Heidenheim in midweek, Dortmund's next game will be against the Rekordmeister in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup.

#scored #first #minute #next

Hope you all had a great weekend! I haven't written in a while, so here's what's going on in BVB land:
Normally, I wouldn't really care about a win in a preseason friendly, but after so much acrimony among the fan base after BVB's lackluster friendly performances in **** an, I'm happy to see a positive result, especially against an **** nal team that had quite a few of its elite players in the lineup.
There are many young players who have a very strong chance of playing big minutes this season. Several of them were in the squad today, and they gave us fans many reasons to be excited. Everyone will speak highly of Konstantinos Karestas and his wonder-goal, but I was even more impressed by Samuele Inacio. He was using his pace very effectively throughout the game, and was positioned perfectly to finish a chance set up by Felix Nmecha. On the defensive end, Joane Gadou had a terrific game, looking right at home defending against players like Viktor Gyökeres and Kai Havertz.
On the negative side, I do not think that this experiment of playing Maximilian Beier at wing-back has legs. It's not that he's a horrible defender, but I just don't like giving one of our more talented attacking players so much defensive responsibility. Beier only had 19 touches in 59 minutes and had essentially no offensive impact. Kauã Prates also came on for a cameo and conceded a pretty sloppy penalty.
The **** nal YouTube channel posted the game's highlights:

#beier #chance

Arsenal were beaten 3-2 by Borussia Dortmund at the Emirates Stadium in their latest pre-season outing.
Two goals in the first half an hour stunned ***** nal, who have won the Emirates Cup trophy for the last four years on the spin but have lost out this year.
Arsenal did get one back through Ethan Nwaneri, before Jaone Gadou fired the German side two goals ahead once more. A Gyokeres penalty reduced the deficit to one again, but it was not enough for ***** nal to take home the trophy.
Arsenal thought they had equalised in the final minute of the match when Gabriel Martinelli fired home, but the flag was up for offside.
Here are five of the main takeaways from the match…

#emirates #goals #home

Arsenal suffered a second consecutive pre-season defeat ahead of the start of their Premier League ***** le defence as clinical Borussia Dortmund won the Emirates Cup with a 3-2 victory in north London.
New signing Bruno Guimaraes was unveiled to the ***** nal fans before kick-off and there was a party atmosphere as the Gunners returned to the Emirates for the first time since lifting the Premier League ***** le in May.
Captain Martin Odegaard returned for the first time since the World Cup and Gabrel Magalhaes started in defence, but sharp finishes from the visitors' Samuele Inacio and Konstantinos Karetsas left ***** nal two goals down before half-time.
Arsenal centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes returned to start the 3-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund (Getty)
Arsenal were beaten 3-1 by Real Betis In Dublin on Wednesday and quickly found themselves trailing by the same scoreline when Joane Gadou bundled in from a corner moments after Ethan Nwaneri had pulled one back.

#borussia #emirates

VfB Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt prevailed against Premier League opponents on Saturday. The Swabians beat David Moyes' Everton 3-1 at MHPArena, while Frankfurt recorded a 2-0 win over newly-promoted Hull City in Dreieich.
There was a great atmosphere in Stuttgart as goals from Nikolas Nartey, Ramon Hendriks and Badredine Bouanani helped them to a convincing win over the club that never got relegated from the Premier League.
However, Dan-Axel Zagadou's early substitution raised concern as the Frenchman has been struggling with injuries for years. Everton scored their goal from Beto's penalty-kick before half-time substitute Bouanani, who ****** isted the second goal for Hendriks, restored Stuttgart's two-goal advantage in injury-time.
Meanwhile, goals from Jonathan Burkardt and Love Arrhov helped Frankfurt to a straightforward win over Hull City. The game was played in four quarters of 30 minutes. Burkardt scored the opening goal in the first-half with the ****** ist coming straight from goalkeeper Kaua Santos.
Swedish youngster Arrhov sealed the win with a well-taken strike in the 71st minute. New signing Raphael Onyedika played for the Eagles.

#hull #hendriks

Borussia Dortmund will play their second pre-season fixture on Saturday afternoon as they face 3. Liga side Fortuna Düsseldorf at Merkur Spiel-Arena. The hosts are well ahead in their preparations for the 2026/27 season since their league campaign will start on August 7th.
World Cup participants Felix Nmecha, Waldemir Anton, Maximilian Beier and Daniel Svensson started their first pre-season steps after their return to the club on Friday. However, Niko Kovac's side will be without those four players, while Ecuadorian Justin Lerma and ****** anese Takato Yamamoto will be in the spotlight.
Fortuna Düsseldorf: Rieß, Heintz, Bouchama, Hendrix ©, Hottmann, Consbruch, Schleusener, Zimmermann, Risch, Arden, E. Egouli
Subs: Lord, Van der Sloot, Eixler, Oberdorf, Benger, Goncalves, Meiser, Paulina, Sauck, Slimani, Mentzel, Amaniampong, N. Egouli, ****** o
Borussia Dortmund: Meyer, Gadou, Mane, Albert, Kabar, Yamamoto, Duarte, Azhil, Riedl, Mirza, Guirassy ©

#season #borussia #dortmund #fortuna

The first water break, which BVB **** istant coach Robert Kovac called after about 45 minutes of training, was gratefully received by the 22 field players. After all, the Black and Yellows were on the training field in Dortmund-Brackel in summery 28-degree weather and bright sunshine.
Two days earlier, the Borussians had already undergone the mandatory performance testing; on Tuesday, they finally took to the field for their first training session.
In addition to injured captain Emre Can, head coach Niko Kovac’s roster was missing the World Cup participants, who are currently still on vacation. Julian Ryerson, who had to be substituted due to injury during Norway’s quarterfinal match against England, has not suffered a more serious injury and is expected to return to Dortmund fully fit after his vacation.
In place of the World Cup players, Kovac called up not only the established players—including Serhou Guirassy, Fabio Silva, Jobe Bellingham, Yan Couto, and others—but also eleven young talents from BVB’s youth teams to the first-team training squad.
Summer signings Joane Gadou and Justin Lerma demonstrated their skills in team training for the first time. The 19-year-old center back and the 18-year-old midfielder showed great motivation and enthusiasm right from the start.

Even before BVB coach Niko Kovac donned his coaching gear, he held his first meeting with Nico Schlotterbeck on Sunday morning. The injured center back (medial ligament injury in his left ankle) wasn't yet part of the group that completed the first phase of performance diagnostics on Sunday. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old showed up in his workout clothes in the BVB first team's fitness area and went through an individual rehab session while his teammates worked up a sweat on the treadmill.
Captain Emre Can, who is also in rehabilitation training following the cruciate ligament tear he suffered in the spring, suddenly appeared in good spirits among his Black and Yellow teammates in the weight room. He greeted new signings Justin Lerma and Joane Gadou, who were meeting their Dortmund teammates for the first time, and was delighted to be reunited with old acquaintances.
The BVB first team—including Serhou Guirassy, Fabio Silva, Jobe Bellingham, and others—got down to business on the training area in the weight room and on the ergometers. Karim Adeyemi and Kjell Wätjen were absent; both players have been granted leave to hold talks with other clubs. The players who were still competing with their national teams at the World Cup until the very end were also not yet in Dortmund-Brackel due to vacation and will make up the performance diagnostics later. Julian Ryerson and Gregor Kobel were the last two Dortmund players to be eliminated from the World Cup in the quarterfinals with their national teams on Saturday night.
Under the guidance of Mathias Kolodziej, Head of Performance and Sports Science at Borussia Dortmund, the professional squad gradually underwent the various health checks and performance tests. As usual, the testing program was supervised by a team of medical professionals, athletic trainers, and sports scientists.
At the BVB training facility, the focus on the first day of performance diagnostics was initially on sports medicine. The first team underwent physical therapy checks and various internal medical examinations one after another. Finally, they completed the grueling stepwise lactate test along with a stress ECG. On Monday, the focus will shift to athletic training.

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (AP) — Burkina Faso's military government severed diplomatic ties with France, its former colonial ruler that had been a key security partner for the West African nation before relations fractured.
The junta said in a statement Friday it broke off relations with France effective immediately, accusing it of "blatant neo-colonial ambitions and active support for subversive networks and terrorists," without providing evidence.
France's Foreign Minsitry spokesman Pascal Confavreux said in a statement that the country regrets the "hostile and unfounded decision, which illustrates the worrying drift of the Burkinabè authorities."
"Necessary reciprocal measures are currently under review," he said. Confavreux added that France is monitoring the safety of French government personnel and citizens in Burkina Faso and urged them to exercise heightened vigilance.
The West African country of 23 million people has been battered by yearslong violence perpetrated by extremist groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, as well as government forces often accused of extrajudicial killings. Its wider Sahel region is the world's deadliest region for extremism.

Reports emerging from BILD are suggesting that an agreement has been reached between Dan-Axel Zagadou and VfB Stuttgart.
It's seemingly inevitable that the central defender will sign a highly performance-based contract until 2027.
For the time being, important details such as additional contract options and bonuses are currently being negotiated.
The popular German tabloid is also aware that the deal for the Frenchman could be finalized by the end of this week.
Zagadou, who originally joined from Borussia Dortmund in 2022, struggled with muscle injuries and only featured 5 times last season.