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Reuters
Reuters
Sport

Dortmund crush Augsburg to set title marker in season opener

Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v FC Augsburg - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 17, 2019 Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho in action with FC Augsburg's Ruben Vargas REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler

BERLIN (Reuters) - Title contenders Borussia Dortmund crushed Augsburg 5-1 in their Bundesliga opener on Saturday, with two goals from Paco Alcacer, to lay down an emphatic marker after champions Bayern Munich slipped up in their season premiere a day earlier.

Augsburg stunned the hosts with Florian Niederlechner's goal after only 30 seconds but Dortmund quickly recovered to level with Spaniard Alcacer, Dortmund's top scorer last season, in the third minute.

They turned up the tempo in the second half, scoring three goals in a span of eight minutes with lightning quick combinations that left constantly Augsburg a step behind.

Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v FC Augsburg - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 17, 2019 Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus shoots at goal REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler

England international Jadon Sancho fired them ahead in the 51st and the teenager then helped set up goals for Marco Reus and Alcacer. Substitute Julian Brandt volleyed in their fifth in the 82nd.

Bayern, who have won the last seven consecutive league titles, looked far from ready in their 2-2 draw at home against Hertha Berlin on Friday.

While they needed some 50 minutes to get started, Dortmund were a class better than their opponents, firing 24 shots to Augsburg's five and having more than 72% possession throughout the game.

Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v FC Augsburg - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 17, 2019 Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho reacts after sustaining an injury REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler

"We were surprised by the very early lead by Augsburg," said Dortmund coach Lucien Favre, in his second season in charge.

"But we stayed calm and managed to equalise quickly. We then increased the pace after the break and that was really good.

"It is a clear and well deserved result for us. We still need to work on some things and improve each day."

Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v FC Augsburg - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 17, 2019 Borussia Dortmund's Thorgan Hazard in action REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler

Bayer Leverkusen saw promoted Paderborn come back twice from a goal down before Kevin Volland fired in the winner for a 3-2 home victory over the underdogs.

Borussia Moenchengladbach and Schalke 04 shared the points after their goalless draw.

Freiburg struck three times in the last nine minutes to beat Mainz 05 3-0 while Fortuna Duesseldorf earned a 3-1 win at Werder Bremen.

Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v FC Augsburg - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 17, 2019 FC Augsburg's Mads Valentin in action with Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler

RB Leipzig, who finished in third place last season, kick off their campaign at promoted Union Berlin on Sunday.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Christian Radnedge and Pritha Sarkar)

Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v FC Augsburg - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 17, 2019 Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus in action REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v FC Augsburg - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - August 17, 2019 FC Augsburg's Florian Niederlechner in action with Borussia Dortmund's Axel Witsel REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund v FC Augsburg - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - October 6, 2018 Borussia Dortmund's Paco Alcacer celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Marco Reus and Manuel Akanji REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler
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