Once again, Borussia Dortmund appears the club best positioned to challenge Bayern Munich and end the evil empire’s seven-year reign as Bundesliga champions, if you’re someone who puts stock into the annual tradition of domestic curtain-raisers.
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Jadon Sancho and Paco Alcacer, two players Dortmund will lean upon very heavily to unseat Bayern, each scored a goal en route to a 2-0 victory in a Der Klassiker edition of the German Super Cup inside Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park on Saturday.
Alcacer opened the scoring just after halftime, rewarding Sancho with an assist for his unbelievable, mazy run through midfield and into Bayern’s penalty area. The 19-year-old (he won’t turn 20 until March) appears hellbent on raising his game another level — or two, or three — following a glittering breakout 2018-19 campaign.
Dortmund were quite easily the better side over the whole of 90 minutes, but Lucien Favre’s was more than a little lucky to escape a chaotic goal-mouth scramble without conceding an equalizer just before the hour mark.
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Dortmund made the most of their get-out-of-jail-free card and Sancho put the game away not even 10 minutes later. A helpful (free) tip to teams in the Bundesliga and across Europe: don’t let the kid lead a one-on-three counter-attack from the halfway line. More often that not, it’ll end badly for you.
Bundesliga play is set to begin in just under two weeks’ time, when Bayern host Hertha Berlin on Friday, Aug. 16, followed by Dortmund hosting Augsburg the following day. The two title-chasing sides will renew their rivalry on Nov. 9 and again on April 4.
