Borussia Dortmund crush rivals Schalke as Bundesliga makes eagerly-anticipated return - in pictures

Hertha Berlin also comfortable winners on first matchday in two months

Burussia Dortmund forward Erling Braut Haaland celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Schalke at Signal Iduna Park on May 16. AFP

Dortmund's Erling Braut Haaland scores the opening goal against Schalke. AFP

Dortmund's Thorgan Hazard, left, celebrates with Julian Brandt after scoring his side's third goal. AFP

Dortmund's Thomas Delaney challenges Suat Serdar of Schalke. Getty

Dortmund's Erling Haaland, left, celebrates after scoring the opening goal. AP

Schalke manager David Wagner. Reuters

A TV cameraman wears a face mask during the match between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke. AP

Dortmund's Raphael Guerreiro scores his side's second goal. Getty

Dortmund's Thorgan Hazard scores their third goal. Reuters

Fortuna Dusseldorf defender Matthias Zimmermann is tackled by Paderborn's Sebastian Vasiliadis. The match finished 0-0. AFP

Balls are disinfected at the Dusseldorf-Paderborn game. Reuters

Fortuna Dusseldorf's players sit on the bench during the Bundesliga match at home to Paderborn. AFP

Hoffenheim's forward Ihlas Bebou, centre, misses a chance against Hertha Berlin in Sinsheim on Saturday. Hertha Berlin won the match 3-0. AP

Hertha Berlin forward Matheus Cunha celebrates after scoring their third goal against Hoffenheim. AFP

Freiburg's Manuel Gulde celebrates with Christian Gunte after scoring against RB Leipzig on Saturday. The match finished 1-1. Reuters

RB Leipzig's Spanish defender Angelino prepares to take a corner during their home match against Freiburg on Saturday. AFP

Leipzig's Yussuf Poulsen, left, and Nicolas Hoefler of Freiburg. AFP

Wolfsburg defender John Brooks heads into his own net against Augsburg. The match finished 2-1 to Wolfsburg. AFP

Wolfsburg's Daniel Ginczek, left, celebrates his late winner against Augsburg. AP

Augsburg's Tin Jedvaj receives treatment during match. Getty

Borussia Dortmund marked the return of the Bundesliga season in fine style with a 4-0 thrashing of rivals Schalke on Saturday.

Played inside an empty Westfalenstadion as fans are kept away as part of measures to ensure the safe resumption of Germany's top two leagues during the coronavirus pandemic, the match took on an unsurprisingly slow start after the two-month shutdown.

However, once Erling Haaland gave Dortmund the lead after 29 minutes, it was all one-way traffic for the hosts. Raphael Guerreiro doubled Dortmund's advantage just before half-time and Thorgan Hazard made it 3-0 minutes after the restart. Guerreiro then scored his second in the 63rd minute to secure an emphatic win.

The victory moves Dortmund to within one point of leaders Bayern Munich, who will play their first game since the restart at Union Berlin on Sunday.

Hertha Berlin were also convincing winners on Saturday, claiming a 3-0 win at Hoffenheim, while there was a dramatic late winner, first for Wolfsburg at Augsburg to ensure a 2-1 win. Freiburg thought they had followed at RB Leipzig, only for their injury-time goal to be reversed by VAR.

Dusseldorf and Paderbon played out a goalless draw.

There is one more game to come on Saturday, with Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Monchengladbach contesting the late fixture.