Borussia Dortmund began their German Cup defense on Saturday by beating FC Rielasingen-Arlen 4-0, when Bayern Munich also progressed easily.
Dortmund’s game began with more attention off the field than on it after the club banned Ousmane Dembele from playing and training with the side on Thursday.
The France forward failed to show for training as Barcelona made a bid reported to be worth 105 million euros (US$124 million) including add-ons.
Photo: Reuters
Dembele, who has a contract to 2021 with Dortmund, has since refused any contact with the club and new coach Peter Bosz was forced to field questions on the 20-year-old Dembele’s future before the first-round game.
“We don’t know what’s happening,” Bosz said. “The club should say early tomorrow [yesterday] what we’ll do.”
Bosz preferred to speak of the players at his disposal against the sixth-tier side.
Marc Bartra opened the scoring early and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang added another from the penalty spot.
Aubameyang claimed his second in typical fashion after the break, accelerating away from two defenders before finishing with a chip over the goalkeeper. He took advantage of poor defending to complete his hat trick late on.
It is not often that the referee is the center of attention before a Bayern Munich game, but Bibiana Steinhaus, who will be the Bundesliga’s first female referee, got a taste of things to come when she took charge of Bayern’s 5-0 victory at third-division Chemnitzer FC.
Last season, Steinhaus refereed eight second-division games.
Robert Lewandowski scored twice, Franck Ribery scored once and set up Kingsley Coman, and Mats Hummels wrapped it up late.
Nils Petersen opened the scoring for Freiburg in a 2-1 win at his father’s team, fourth-tier Germania Halberstadt.
Hoffenheim, which host Liverpool for the first leg of their Champions League qualification playoff on Tuesday, edged third-division Rot-Weiss Erfurt 1-0 thanks to Nadiem Amiri’s second-half strike.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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