Bundesliga clubs Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg all began their preseason friendlies but experienced mixed results in Saturday’s action.
U.S. international Julian Green scored and forced an own goal but Arjen Robben picked up a thigh injury as Bayern Munich beat fifth-tier Lippstadt 4-3 in in Carlo Ancelotti’s first game in charge.
The Italian named a strong side that included Franck Ribery, Javi Martinez, Xabi Alonso and Philipp Lahm for the occasion.
Green tapped in a rebound from close range in the ninth minute to open the scoring before Robben and Ribery within 33 minutes staked the Bundesliga champions into a 3-0 lead.
But Robben was replaced by Mario Crnicki after pulling up injured during the first half.
“He felt something in his muscle,” Ancelotti said after the game. “The doc will examine it. I hope it’s nothing serious.”
Early in the second half, Green forced an own goal from Lippstadt to make the lead even more convincing before Ancellotti put on the reserves and the Oberliga Westfalen side fought back.
Goals from Marcel Rump, Stefan Parensen and Paolo Maiella in the final 38 minutes made for a nervy ending.
Borussia Dortmund, however, lost in their fourth preseason game of the summer, falling 1-0 at 1860 Munich.
Manager Thomas Tuchel named a competitive XI, featuring Matthias Ginter, Marcel Schmelzer, Sokratis Papastathopolous, Shinji Kagawa and summer signings Sebastian Rode and Ousmane Dembele against the second-tier outfit.
Levent Aycicek put 1860 ahead in the first half with a fine finish, latching onto a loose ball in the Dortmund half, running 20 yards towards goal and firing beyond reserve goalkeeper Hendrik Bonmann.
Dortmund created several chances to equalise in the second half but Aycicek’s strike proved to be the only goal of the game.
In Scotland, Wolfsburg lost 2-1 to Celtic in a game that also saw the debut of safe standing at Celtic Park.
A total of 2,600 seats were successfully converted and supporters enjoyed a solid win, just days after Brendan Rodgers’ side lost 1-0 to Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps in Champions League qualifying.
Wolfsburg took an early lead after 11 minutes, with Paul Seguin’s shot deflecting off a defender and wrong-footing goalkeeper Craig Gordon.
Callum McGregor levelled on 24 minutes and substitute Ryan Christie completed the comeback in the 62nd minute.
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