Borussia Dortmund marked the return of the Bundesliga with a thumping 4-0 victory over Ruhr adversaries Schalke 04 at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday afternoon.
Erling Braut Haaland picked up exactly where he left off in March and opened the scoring with a clean finish courtesy of a cross from Thorgan Hazard. The goal marked the Norwegian sensation’s 13th goal in 12 appearances for BVB in all competitions, with his tally likely to increase as the season progresses.
Portuguese midfielder Raphael Guerreiro then doubled BVB’s lead after a costly error from Schalke goalkeeper Markus Schubert shortly before the half-time break. Hazard himself found the back of the net early in the second half before Guerreiro secured all three points for the hosts by completing a brace.
The win takes Die Schwarzgelben within one point of Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich, who are scheduled to face Union Berlin at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei on Sunday evening.
Meanwhile, RB Leipzig, who were believed to be title contenders, were held to a 1-1 draw by Freiburg, paving the way for Borussia Mönchengladbach to leapfrog them to third place in the Bundesliga table after a 3-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.
While the title race is certainly heating up after the first set of fixtures this weekend, the games will most likely be remembered for the unprecedented circumstances in which they were played.
There were, most notably, less than 300 people who were in attendance for the Revierderby at Signal Iduna Park, which is incredibly unusual for a venue that is used to hosting an impassioned audience of 80,000 people. After the final whistle, Dortmund players were also seen walking across to the famed South Bank to celebrate their win in front of the empty stand, which is known as the Yellow Wall.
In accordance with FIFA’s temporary rule change, teams were also permitted to use five substitutes in a game, an option that other leagues will have when they make their return. The Revierderby, therefore, became the first match in Bundesliga history where a single team had made five substitutions as Schalke made two substitutions at half-time before making another three after the break.
The Bundesliga is the first of Europe’s top five leagues to have been given the green light to resume the current season after a three-month suspension of all professional football leagues. While the French authorities have decided to end the Ligue 1 season, the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A are keeping a close eye on the proceedings in Germany with the intention of making similar returns soon.
With all that in mind, we will now take a look at some of the best Twitter reactions to the Dortmund-Schalke game on Saturday:
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