Elversberg stun Leverkusen on Bundesliga debut, Dortmund shine

Elversberg enjoyed a dream Bundesliga debut as one of the smallest clubs ever to grace the German top flight humbled 2024 champions Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 at home on Saturday.

Borussia Dortmund also made a good start to the league season with a 2-0 win over visitors SV Hamburg courtesy of Serhou Guirassy's early finish following a fine move and a Bundesliga debut goal for Giannis Konstantelias. 

The Greek later had to go off with a knee injury and Dortmund's Samuele Inácio was sent off for a wild tackle just over 2 minutes after coming off the bench in a separate substitution.

Guinea striker Guirassy, assisted by another lively new Greek in Konstantinos Karetsas, was a transfer candidate in the close season but proved his worth yet again to the Black and Yellows.

There were also victories for RB Leipzig and Cologne.

Saarland-based Elversberg, from a district of just 13,000 people and a village of only 7,000, made an early mockery of pundits who said they would struggle badly in their first season after promotion.

In front of 10,000 fans at the URSAPHARM Arena with just three sides and a slew of temporary structures, Lukas Petkov struck on 8 minutes and ex-Dortmund youth prospect Cole Campbell netted straight after. 

David Mokwa made it 3-0 right at the start of the second half for the side renowned in the second tier for their free-flowing football. Patrik Schick's flick for Leverkusen was their first shot on goal and Christian Kofane's second in injury time set up a nervous finish, but the home side hung on.

"It has been a bumpy ride for me to make it back to the Bundesliga," Bulgaria forward Petkov, who left Augsburg for the lower leagues, told Sky. 

"We want to stay in this league, we want to stay in this league doing it our way. We stayed really concentrated right until the end."

It was an abject Bundesliga start for new Leverkusen coach Carles Martínez, especially as new captain Edmund Tapsoba was at fault for the first two goals, presenting US forward Campbell with the ball for the swift second.

Martínez said: "They play great stuff. I wasn't surprised by it, we expected it. Of course we've got to learn from it, keep our eyes open and do things much, much better."

Dramatic draw at Union, dull draw in Mainz

New RB Leipzig boss Martín Demichelis had a winning start on his return to the Bundesliga as a coach, Ridle Baku, Antonio Nusa and Rocco Reitz netting in a 3-0 home win over Reitz's ex-side Borussia Mönchengladbach. 

Former Bayern Munich defender Demichelis was appointed at Leipzig in the close season after Ole Werner was sacked despite finishing in third.

Younes Ebnoutalib scored a hat-trick but Eintracht Frankfurt's returning coach Adi Hütter, previously in charge 2018-21, had to make do with a 3-3 draw at Union Berlin. 

The hosts, under new boss Mauro Lustrinelli, showed off their dead-ball expertise as Emmanuel Latte Lath headed in an early corner past new Eagles keeper Noah Atubolu.

But Ebnoutalib soon hit a quick double, including a second which was confirmed by goal-line technology, before completing his treble in the second period. 

Leopold Querfeld made up for a mistake for a Frankfurt goal with another header from a corner for Union, and Tim Skarke netted the leveller in stoppage time.

Cologne hit back three times to beat Hoffenheim 3-2 in the cathedral city and newcomers Paderborn drew 0-0 at Mainz.

Champions Bayern Munich kicked off the campaign on Friday with a 5-1 home victory over VfB Stuttgart.

Freiburg, finally hoping to finish in the Champions League positions this season after years of near misses, host Werder Bremen on Sunday when Augsburg also welcome promoted Schalke - with new Germany manager Jürgen Klopp set to attend.