Borussia Dortmund threw down the gauntlet to defending champions Bayern Munich on Saturday with a 4-0 drubbing of Borussia Monchengladbach on the opening weekend of the new Bundesliga season.
After Jurgen Klopp resigned last season, Dortmund’s new coach Thomas Tuchel began his tenure in emphatic style with left winger Henrikh Mkhitaryan scoring twice as Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also netted.
Bayern began their quest for an historic fourth successive title when they routed Hamburg 5-0 at home on Friday.
But 2012 German champions Dortmund suggested Pep Guardiola’s Bavarian club may not have it all their own way this season by hammering Gladbach, who finished third last season.
“The defeat was clearly deserved. Full stop. Dortmund were much better,” admitted Gladbach coach Lucien Favre.
“The tempo was too high for us, I have to say. We couldn’t control the game.”
Dortmund took the lead after just 15 minutes when Germany winger Reus hammered home Shinji Kawaga’s pass, while Aubameyang added their second when he headed home Marcel Schmelzer’s pin-point cross six minutes later.
To the delight of the home supporters in the 81,359-strong crowd, Dortmund made it 3-0 at half-time when Mkhitaryan slotted home on 33 minutes after Aubameyang had torn the Gladbach defence to pieces.
The Armenia international added Dortmund’s fourth and his second on 50 minutes when he drilled home Reus’s final pass with Aubameyang also waiting to score.
It could have been five as Kagawa, who was outstanding in the attacking midfield, hammered his shot wide of the post soon after.
Dortmund have also won their two Europa League games, and a DFB-Pokal (German Cup) match, this season by scoring 12 goals without reply.
“We have won all of our four games so far this season without conceding. We have played very well until now, but any big praise is still too early,” said Dortmund captain Mats Hummels.
Earlier, Bayer Leverkusen warmed up for their Champions League play-off clash at Lazio on Tuesday with a 2-1 comeback win against Hoffenheim.
Leverkusen face Lazio away on Tuesday, with the return on August 26, for a place in the Champions League group stage and 19-year-old Julian Brandt came off the bench to score their winner at home to Hoffenheim.
Newly-promoted Ingolstadt celebrated their debut in Germany’s top flight with a 1-0 win at Mainz as Austria international Lukas Hinterseer scored their second-half winner.
Fellow new boys Darmstadt finished their first game in the Bundesliga for 33 years with a 2-2 draw against Hannover in an action-packed match.
Schalke picked up their first win under new coach Andre Breitenreiter with a 3-0 victory at Werder Bremen.
The hosts conceded an unlucky first-half own goal when Czech defender Theodor Gebre Selassie beat Schalke striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to the ball, but his clearance looped over Werder goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald and into his own net.
Cameroon striker Eric Choupo-Moting converted a pass from his international teammate Joel Matip on 68 minutes before Huntelaar finished off a superb counter-attack on 85 minutes by 19-year-old substitute Leroy Sane, who had just come on.
Meanwhile, Paraguay striker Raul Bobadilla penned a contract extension at Augsburg until 2018 only to be sent off just 45 minutes into the new Bundesliga season on Saturday in his team’s 1-0 defeat at home to Hertha Berlin.
Last season’s runners-up Wolfsburg are at home to Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday, while Stuttgart are at home to Cologne.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Coming 2 America
Directed by: Craig Brewer
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones
3/5 stars
MADAME%20WEB
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20S.J.%20Clarkson%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Dakota%20Johnson%2C%20Tahar%20Rahim%2C%20Sydney%20Sweeney%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The%20Genius%20of%20Their%20Age
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20S%20Frederick%20Starr%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Oxford%20University%20Press%3Cbr%3EPages%3A%20290%3Cbr%3EAvailable%3A%20January%2024%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
BAD%20BOYS%3A%20RIDE%20OR%20DIE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Adil%20El%20Arbi%20and%20Bilall%20Fallah%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EWill%20Smith%2C%20Martin%20Lawrence%2C%20Joe%20Pantoliano%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Directed by Sam Mendes
Starring Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays
4.5/5
Sunday's Super Four matches
Dubai, 3.30pm
India v Pakistan
Abu Dhabi, 3.30pm
Bangladesh v Afghanistan
6 UNDERGROUND
Director: Michael Bay
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Adria Arjona, Dave Franco
2.5 / 5 stars
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
