German Super Cup: Bayern kick off their season with the title at the expense of rivals Dortmund
Bayern Munich launched their 2026-2027 season by winning the German Super Cup, confirming their superiority over traditional rivals Borussia Dortmund with a 2-1 victory on Saturday, just six days before the start of their title defense campaign in the Bundesliga.
Under Belgian manager Vincent Kompany, the team secured their second consecutive title in the competition and their twelfth overall, extending their lead over second-place Dortmund, whose last title dates back to 2019, by six championships.
Bayern decided the match in the first half, taking the lead through goals from new signing Nathaniel Brown (29th minute) and talented Frenchman Michael Olise (45+2).
The holders of last season’s Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal titles begin their Bundesliga campaign on Friday at their Allianz Arena stadium against Stuttgart.
The Bavarian side has lost only once in their last 17 matches against Dortmund across all competitions, winning 13 times.
Since winning the Super Cup in 2019, Dortmund has faced rivals Bayern three times in this competition without emerging victorious.
Dortmund also finished as runners-up to Bayern in the Bundesliga last season, albeit with a 16-point gap.
Playing at home in the Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund started aggressively and came close to scoring when new Greek signing Konstantinos Karatasos delivered a cross that Guinea striker Serge Gnabry failed to control properly in front of the goal (12th minute).
Alexander Pavlovich responded with an easy first shot on target saved by Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel (13th minute). Harry Kane then attempted to deceive Kobel with a shot exploiting the goalkeeper’s exit from his goal, but it lacked power, and Kobel recovered quickly to make the save (27th minute).
Two minutes later, Olise showcased his best skills by providing an assist to Brown, who scored his official first goal after having scored in two friendly matches (29th minute).
Algerian defender Rami Bensebaini thought he had equalized with a header, but the referee raised his flag to signal an offside (41st minute).
After providing an assist, Olise scored Bayern’s second goal, capitalizing on a misplaced pass, sprinting into the penalty area, and slotting the ball into the net (45+2), further complicating matters for Dortmund before halftime.
In the second half, and within less than 20 minutes, Dortmund’s Croatian manager Niko Kovač introduced four players to change the scoreline, succeeding through Portuguese substitute Fabio Silva, who scored a consolation goal following a well-organized attack and an assist from Swede Daniel Svensson. The play ended with the ball at the left foot of the former Wolverhampton Wanderers striker, who found the back of the net (75th minute).
Moroccan striker Ismail Saiti came on as a substitute in his official debut for Bayern after transferring from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven (81st minute) and made an impact after suffering a harsh foul from Bensebaini, who was shown a direct red card (90th minute).
Despite being down to ten men, Dortmund did not stop trying to equalize in several attempts, most notably through Maximilian Beier, who shot over the bar (90+3rd minute), but to no avail, allowing Bayern to secure the title.
