Berlin (AFP)
Stuttgart, second in the German Football League last season, suffered a heavy defeat against host Freiburg 1-3 in the first stage.
Stuttgart, who finished last season behind champions Bayer Leverkusen without defeat in a historic season, and ahead of third-placed Bayern Munich, took the lead with a spectacular goal from new signing Serhou Guirassy, who left Guinean Serhou Guirassy to Borussia Dortmund, Bosnian striker Ermedin Demirovic two minutes after the start of the match.
Freiburg, who are coached this season by coach Julian Schuster instead of Christian Streich, responded with three goals scored by defender Lucas Kubler (26 and 61) and Japanese Ritsu Doan (54).
Freiburg topped the standings on goal difference ahead of title holder Bayer Leverkusen, who snatched a last-gasp 3-2 win over host Borussia Mönchengladbach in the opening match of the round, pending the rest of the matches.
Unlike Stuttgart, Leipzig had a successful start with a 1-0 win over visiting Bochum, scored in the 59th minute by Norwegian substitute Antonio Nossa, a new arrival this summer to compensate for the departure of Spaniard Dani Olmo, who won the 2024 European Cup with “La Roja” to Barcelona.
The 19-year-old, who joined from Belgian side Club Brugge for €22 million, scored the three-point goal with his second touch of the ball, four minutes after entering the pitch following a successful change from coach Marco Rose.
Leipzig, who won the German Cup twice in the last three seasons, played the final minutes of the match with ten players after the expulsion of their defender and captain, Hungarian Willi Orban (85).
Leipzig will visit Leverkusen next Saturday, hoping to inflict its first defeat in the Bundesliga, after 35 consecutive matches in which it has not tasted defeat.
Last season, Bochum avoided relegation to the second division by playing a play-off against Fortuna Dusseldorf, which it won on penalties, after losing 0-3 at home and winning the return leg away by the same score.
Union Berlin snatched a valuable point by drawing 1-1 with host Mainz, after Slovakian substitute Laszlo Bencic scored the equaliser with a rocket shot in the 74th minute, in response to Nadim Amiri’s opening goal.
Union Berlin narrowly avoided relegation to the second division last season after competing in the Champions League the season before.
Veteran Croatian striker Andrej Kramaric led his team Hoffenheim to a 3-2 victory over its guest, Holstein Kiel, who was promoted to the elite for the first time in its history.
Kramaric (33 years old) scored his goals in the 6th minute from a penalty kick, the 37th and 87th minutes, and for the loser, the Swedish Alexander Bernhardsson (63) and the Japanese Shoto Mashino (89).
Holstein completed the match with ten players, after Ando Kilati was sent off with a second yellow card in the 82nd minute.
Augsburg tied with its guest Werder Bremen 2-2. Laugsburg scored through Kosovar Elvis Rexbicaj (16) and Frenchman Samuel Essendi (35), while Bremen scored through Felix Agu (12) and substitute Justin Nienmaa (58).
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