Leverkusen defeats illness-hit Dortmund as Bundesliga returns

DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Bayer Leverkusen started the year with a big boost to its hopes of defending the Bundesliga title by beating a depleted Borussia Dortmund 3-2 on Friday.

Nathan Tella scored after just 25 seconds of the first Bundesliga game of 2025 and Leverkusen scored on all of its first three shots against Dortmund, which was missing six ill players and had to field a makeshift defensive line.

Leverkusen moved to one point off league leader Bayern Munich, which has its own injury problems ahead of facing Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday.

Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso was able to celebrate a win over his former Real Madrid teammate Nuri Sahin, whose sixth-placed Dortmund could drop to 10th by the end of this weekend, depending on other teams' results.

“We’re obviously very satisfied, very proud. Winning here is extremely hard,” Alonso told broadcaster DAZN. “We did it with this discipline and with this good fighting mentality to keep going until the last minute.”

Patrik Schick scored twice in the first half to move to 11 goals in his last seven Bundesliga games, ensuring Leverkusen hasn't missed injured striker Victor Boniface.

“We’re seeing a super Patrik with his great will to improve and we need him,” Alonso said.

Dortmund had 70% possession but its threadbare defense struggled to deal with quick counterattacks. Jamie Gittens' early goal kept Dortmund in the contest and when Leverkusen's Edmond Tapsoba gave away a penalty with a careless challenge, Serhou Guirassy converted it in the 79th minute to put Leverkusen under pressure at the finish.

An outbreak of illness meant Dortmund was without players such as midfielder Emre Can and central defenders Nico Schlotterbeck and Waldemar Anton, on top of ongoing injury issues.

Of the back four, Yannik Lührs and Almugera Kabar were starting a Bundesliga game for the first time, Yan Couto was on his fourth league start of the season and Julian Ryerson, normally a right back, was covering an unfamiliar center back role.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer