Borussia Dortmund's ambitions of starting their 2026-27 season with a trophy ended in disappointment after Bayern Munich beat them 2-1 to life the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup.
Nathaniel Brown and Michael Olise were on target for the Bavarians in the opening stanza before Fabio Silva reduced the deifict in the 75th minute.
Niko Kovac's side fell short of finding the elusive equalizer, with Maximilian Beier wasting a gilt-edged opportunity to equalize in the 93rd minute.
It was another dagger for the home side, after having seen Ramy Bensebaini get sent off in the 90th minute for a foul on Bayern's Ismael Saibari.
Here are key talking points for Borussia Dortmund from the clash:
1) Defensive errors in first half prove costly
For a side that finished as the most resilient defense in the Bundesliga last season, this sounds quite ironic, but here we are. Both of Bayern's goals in the first half of their Supercup clash with Dortmund on Saturday were a result of glaring individual mistakes.
First off, Ramy Bensebaini's attempted clearance on Michael Olise went straight to Nathaniel Brown, who took a touch and nonchalantly slotted it beyond BVB custodian Gregor Kobel, who remained rooted to his spot.
In the build-up to the second, Olise capitalized on a poor pass from Jobe Bellingham and pranced forward at full pelt to get on it and then bundle an effort beyond Kobel for Bayern's second of the evening.
2) Fabio Silva reaping rewards of a strong preseason
Fabio Silva was amongst the most impressive players for Dortmund during the preseason and now he's showing it's essential to have a few good warmup games before heading into the season proper as the Portuguese forward scored a goal here.
Replacing Serhou Guirassy in the 63rd minute, Silva injected flair and panache into BVB's offensive vanguard as the hosts turned up the heat of their mighty visitors. He then popped up with a goal at the stroke of 75 minutes as Svensson found him unmarked inside the box, and Silva rounded off a wonderful move with a decisive finish for 2-1.
If he can add a ruthless scoring streak to his game, Silva might as well usurp Guirassy as their No.1 striker.
3) Guirassy still goalless in Klassiker
Speaking of Guirassy, the striker remains without a goal in Der Klassiker. This was his fifth appearance against Bayern since joining Dortmund in 2024, but has somehow drawn a blank each time.
Although he's been on target against the Bavarians in the past with Stuttgart, Guirassy hasn't found any luck in the fixture with BVB and couldn't break the jinx in the Supercup last night either.
4) Dortmund's Greek guns impress
Dortmund roped in two young Greek players this summer, 18-year-old Konstantinos Karetsas and 23-year-old Giannis Konstantelias. Both players made their official club debuts here and both were impressive.
As expected, Karetsas started the match - since he was involved in their last two preseason games after completing his transfer - and looked the part, putting four crosses and laying one key pass too whilst mustering one shot on target.
Konstantelias came on for Samuele Inacio after the hour mark and was involved in Silva's strike, laying off a superb pass for Svensson after cutting in from the left. He brought markers towards himself, freeing up space for the Swede inside the box to lay it off for Silva to score.
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