Bayern Munich kicked off the new season like they ended the last won; winning while Laurent Blanc’s first Ligue 1 match in charge of Paris Saint-Germain ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw at Montpellier.
Early goals from Arjen Robben and Mario Mandžukić set Bayern Munich on their to a 3-1 victory against VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach on Pep Guardiola’s Bundesliga debut
For all the preseason chatter about how much Guardiola was changing things at Bayern, his starting line-up included ten of the 11 players who beat Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final in May.
The defending Bundesliga champions made a blistering start when Robben scored the first goal of the Bundesliga season after 12 minutes, applying a cute finish after good work from Franck Ribéry
The same pair carved open another opportunity three minutes later. Goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen saved the Frenchman’s effort but Mandžukić was on hand to tap in.
Bayern twice hit the woodwork, profligacy that continued after Dante found his own net when Müller had a penalty saved by Ter Stegen. Incredibly Domínguez, whose handball led to the first spot kick, then conceded a second for a similar infringement. Alaba stepped up this time, and made no mistake.
In Ligue 1, Montpellier shocked the French champions when the lively Rémy Cabella gave the hosts an early lead. Latching onto a loose ball, Cabella coolly lifted the ball over Salvatore Sirigu from a tight angle to score the first goal of the new season.
As they did last year, PSG struggled break down a resilient home defense. It took until the 60th for the defending champions to get their first goal of the season when left-back Maxwell popped up to drive the ball in.
At that point I expected PSG to go on and win the match., a task that seemed more likely when Montpellier’s Abdel El Kaoutari was sent off 18 minutes from time.
But PSG were unable to find that second goal. Second half substitute Edinson Cavani came closest to a winner on his debut but Joris Marveaux making a vital block to keep out the former Napoli striker’s header.
