BERLIN: Sadio Mané scored on his league debut and Bayern Munich routed Eintracht Frankfurt 6-1 to start the new Bundesliga on Friday.
Jamal Musiala got two goals and Joshua Kimmich, Benjamin Pavard and Serge Gnabry also scored as Bayern showed no ill effect from Robert Lewandowski’s summer transfer to Barcelona.
The sheer dominance against the team that won the Europa League last season shows why Bayern remain the firm favorite for a record-extending 11th consecutive title.
The Bavarian powerhouse had 17 shots at goal in the first half alone, when the visitors could also shrug off a comical miss from Thomas Müller.
Both the opening ceremony and a passionate performance of the German anthem by pop singer Carolin Niemczyk were whistled by the home fans, who marked the occasion in their own way by setting off banned pyrotechnics behind one of the goals.
It sent a huge cloud of smoke over the Frankfurt goal and may even have aided the visitors as Joshua Kimmich scored through the haze with a free kick in off the right post in the fifth minute. Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who was expecting a cross, was late to react.
Benjamin Pavard made it 2-0 in the 11th on a rebound of Müller’s blocked effort.
Bayern had to wait till the 29th for Mané to get the third with a header to Serge Gnabry’s floated cross. It was the Senegalese forward’s first Bundesliga goal following his transfer from Liverpool.
Müller gave Jamal Musiala a tap-in in the 35th and Gnabry got the fifth just before halftime.
Only the break provided relief for the beleaguered home team.
Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner reacted with three changes in the interval and was rewarded with a far more encouraging performance in the second half.
New signing Kolo Muani forced a mistake from overconfident goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to score on his league debut in the 64th.
But the visitors didn’t panic. Musiala displayed fine footwork before scoring his second in the 83rd.
Mané scores on debut, Bayern starts Bundesliga with 6-1 rout
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Mané scores on debut, Bayern starts Bundesliga with 6-1 rout
- Jamal Musiala got two goals and Joshua Kimmich, Benjamin Pavard and Serge Gnabry also scored
- The Bavarian powerhouse had 17 shots at goal in the first half alone
Alonso fears more pain in China with struggling Aston Martin
- Fernando Alonso said Thursday he expects another difficult weekend wrestling with his new Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to finish the season-opener in Australia
SHANGHAI: Fernando Alonso said Thursday he expects another difficult weekend wrestling with his new Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to finish the season-opener in Australia.
Silverstone-based Aston Martin endured a horror start after serious issues with their Honda power unit and a lack of spare parts.
Two-time world champion Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll had to endure extreme vibration in the chassis caused by the power unit, which was feared could cause the drivers permanent nerve damage.
“The situation unfortunately didn’t change within four or five days since Melbourne, so it will be a difficult weekend,” Alonso told reporters at the Shanghai International Circuit.
“We’ll limit the laps in one or two sessions as we are short on parts. We need laps, to find the window on the chassis side.
“I’ll be happy if we leave China with a more or less normal practice, more or less normal qualifying.”
The Spaniard could not put a timeframe on when improvements might come.
“What can I do within the team? Work harder, help Honda as much as I can,” said Alonso.
“We can allocate resources to help Honda with the power unit. We are one team, it is a bumpy start that I hope won’t last too long.
“We are pushing, we have very talented people in the team, so I hope within a couple of grands prix, we can have a normal weekend.
“To be competitive will take more time. Once we fix the reliability, we will be behind on power and things.”
The 44-year-old veteran has been in Formula One for more than two decades and has driven vastly different iterations of cars from the old V10 petrol engines through to the current complex hybrid configuration.
Despite the issues he said was embracing the challenge of the new cars enthusiastically in what could be his final season on the grid.
His Aston Martin contract expires at the end of 2026.
“Do we enjoy driving these cars? Yes, because we love racing,” Alonso said.
“I do four or five 24-hour races because I love racing and I love driving. So if you jump into an F1 car, you enjoy going fast.
“But it is a challenge, a different challenge.
“I was super lucky to race in (the last) era and I feel lucky to race in both.”
