Story highlights
Bayern Munich win season opener in Bundesliga title defense
Bayern beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1 in Allianz Arena
Arjen Robben scores opening goal of the German campaign
Paris St Germain held 1-1 at Montpellier in French season opener
European champions Bayern Munich opened their Bundesliga title defense with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Allianz Arena Friday.
It was very much business as usual for Bayern in their first league match under new coach Pep Guardiola once Arjen Robben had given them an early lead.
Just like in May’s Champions League final win over arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund, it was Franck Ribery who set up Robben for the first goal, the Dutchman chipping goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
The 12th minute strike was the first of the German campaign and was quickly followed by a Mario Mandzukic goal.
Tony Kroos hit the woodwork as Bayern looked to move out of sight, but Brazilian defender Dante’s own goal gave the visitors a lifeline just before the break.
Bayern were awarded two penalties in quick succession in the second half, both for handball against Alvaro Dominguez .
Ter Stegen kept out Thomas Muller’s first effort to keep his side a single goal adrift, but when a second spot kick was awarded almost straight away, he could not repeat the trick from David Alaba’s 69th minute effort.
Bayern won the title by a record 25 points last season on the way to a treble as they added the Champions League and German Cup in Jupp Heynckes’ final season in charge.
Fomer Barcelona boss Guardiola took over in the summer and his first competitive match saw defeat to Dortmund in the German Super Cup, but a German Cup victory and three points in their league opener have followed.
In France, the Ligue 1 campaign also began with the champions Paris St Germain in action at Montpellier.
They trailed to a 10th minute goal from French midfielder Remy Cabella, but Maxwell earned them a point with the equalizer on the hour mark.
Under new manager Laurent Blanc after the departure of Carlo Ancelotti to Real Madrid and with icon David Beckham retired, PSG still kept new signing Edinson Cavani on the bench from the start in the Stade de la Mosson.
Cabella scored with a fierce shot after robbing PSG star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic to give the home side the early advantage.
Ibrahimovic nearly made amends but his effort was parried away by Geoffrey Jourdren in the home goal.
Brazilian Maxwell grabbed a share of the points as he netted after an Ibrahimovic assist.
Montpellier’s Moroccan defender Abdelhamid El Kaoutari was red carded with 18 minutes left but the home side held out.
“We expected a better result,” Blanc told AFP.
“But we created too little for my taste and made too many mistakes which allowed Montpellier to score.”
Big spending Monaco open their campaign Saturday at Bordeaux, a former club of Blanc, who led them to the title in 2009.
