Germany
It was the opening weekend of the new Bundesliga season and Dortmund look to secure their third consecutive title; this time without the attacking talents of Shinji Kagawa. The champions got off to a bright start with a convincing 2-1 win over Werder Bremen at the Signal Iduna Park. Marco Reus scored before a 75th minute equaliser from Gebre Selassie, who signed following an impressive Euro 2012 tournament. It was left to Mario Gotze to notch a late winner for Dortmund and get the three points. Their time as league leaders lasted until Saturday, when Bayern Munich trashed new boys Greuther Furth 3-0 away from home. The Bavarians suffered a painful finish to the 2011-12 season but they looked comfortable as Thomas Muller and Mario Mandzukic both netted, before Thomas Kleine added to Furths misery with a late own-goal. Borrusia Monchengladbach finished fourth last season but with the sales of Reus to Dortmund and Dante to Munich many are predicting a less successful year this time round. They have added Dutch striker Luuk De Jong from FC Twente and the promising midfielder Xhaka from Basel; both of whom made their league debuts in their 2-1 win over Hoffenheim. The two other Bundesliga new boys, Fortuna Dusseldorf and Eintracht Frankfurt, enjoyed successful starts to the season with wins over Bayer Leverkusen and Augsburg. Meanwhile, Schalke were held to a 2-2 draw against Hannover 96 despite goals from Lewis Holtby and Klaas Jan Huntelaar, who notched an impressive 29 league goals last season.