Julian Nagelsmann sealed his first trophy at Bayern Munich after Borussia Dortmund were swept aside the German Super Cup.
Naglesmann, who replaced the hugely successful Hansi Flick as manager of the Bavarian giants, saw his team to a frustrating draw at Borussia Monchengladbach in the opening game of the Bundesliga season on Friday, with Robert Lewandowski, inevitably, finding the net.
Dortmund thumped Eintracht Frankfurt 5-2 in their first match when star striker Erling Braut Haaland scored twice and assisted another two, setting up an intriguing battle between the two rivals at Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday night.
But there was to be no denying Bayern, who are looking to secure a tenth straight Bundesliga title, or the relentless Lewandowski who scored twice in a superb 3-1 victory.
The Polish attacker opened the scoring shortly before half-time, before Thomas Muller added a second just after the restart. Marco Reus pulled a goal back for the hosts but Lewandowski restored his side's two-goal lead 10 minutes later with his 24th strike against his former club.
It meant Bayern retained the trophy they have won five out of the last six years, and, after the win, Nagelsmann joked that he hopes to hoard titles in the way hamsters store food. “You can see that I have such small hamster teeth — I'd like to be a title hamster,” said the 34-year-old. “The title is a reward for our pre-season work. I am still happy, but it belongs more to others than to me.
“It was a fully deserved victory for us. It's important to me that the trophy is seen as a reward for last season. That's why it's also a trophy that Hansi Flick and the team deserve.”
Bayern's sixth straight win over Dortmund was a clear reminder of their status as Germany's top club and capped a frustrating night for Haaland and Co. The Norwegian striker had a goal ruled offside, as did Dortmund 16-year-old striker Youssoufa Moukoko.
Dortmund manager Marco Rose said: “We made too many simple mistakes over the 90 minutes, but still had really good phases, especially after making it 2-1. I saw a lot of good things from my team today. Even so, we got a few things wrong that made us lose. We have to work on that.”
Both teams wore black armbands in honour of legendary Bayern striker Gerd Muller who died on Sunday, aged 75. Before kick-off, Muller held up an old jersey of the Bayern icon.
“He meant so much to the whole world and to the history of football,” said Lewandowski, who broke Muller's record by scoring 41 Bundesliga goals last season and has now found the net in 14 consecutive competitive games.
