Nuri Sahin had a successful start as Borussia Dortmund’s coach with a 4-1 victory over Phönix Lübeck in the German Cup first round. The debut also saw new signings Pascal Gross, Waldemar Anton, Yan Couto, and Maximilian Beier making their first appearances, marking a fresh beginning for the club after a disappointing domestic season despite reaching the Champions League final last year. Sahin, a former player for Dortmund, transitioned from being Edin Terzi?’s assistant last season to taking over as head coach as Terzi? sought a new direction for the team.

The match saw a strong start for Dortmund with Anton scoring off a Gross corner in the third minute. Emre Can converted a penalty in the 31st minute, followed by Julian Brandt finding the net off a Gross assist to make it 3-0 before halftime. Despite American defender Obinna Iloka managing to score for Lübeck, Couto assisted Julien Duranville for Dortmund’s fourth goal in the 62nd minute.

Other Bundesliga teams like Union Berlin, Freiburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Leipzig, Kaiserslautern, and Holstein Kiel also progressed in the tournament after defeating lower-league opponents. Bayern Munich cruised to the second round with a 4-0 victory over Ulm from the second division in a match held on Friday. Bayer Leverkusen, the reigning league and cup champion, was set to play against Stuttgart in the German Supercup later on Saturday.