Borussia Dortmund's fourth summer friendly brought about a first pre-season loss as they were beaten 3-1 (1-0) by Valencia. Marco Reus scored the BVB goal, levelling at 1-1 from the penalty spot. Three new signings made their debuts for the Black & Yellows.

Monday evening saw BVB take on Spanish top-flight outfit Valencia in the first friendly fixture of their training camp. Having commenced pre-season at a later date, the players that had been on international duty made the squad for the first time: Gregor Kobel, Raphael Guerreiro, Thomas Meunier, Jude Bellingham and Thorgan Hazard featured in the starting XI, as did Nico Schlotterbeck and Karim Adeyemi, who were making their debut in Black & Yellow. To the huge delight of all Borussen, Mateu Morey was among the substitutes for the first time since his severe knee injury over a year ago. Sebastian Haller felt ill after the morning training session and did not make the journey to Altach.

Edin Terzic lined his team up in the same 4-2-3-1 formation that he had used for the friendly in Verl last week. It was the Spanish side who registered the first shooting opportunity of the match, with Dortmund goalie Kobel getting down in time to keep out Guedes' effort in the fifth minute. Two minutes later, the Black & Yellows exploited a mistake in Valencia's build-up play: Moukoko sprinted onto a pass and initiated a quick piece of combination play culminating in a Guerreiro shot that was saved by goalkeeper Mamardashvili. Dahoud's subsequent header was also caught by the custodian. After a Valencia free-kick that struck the post (10), the majority of the play took place in midfield.

The Black & Yellows created several good opportunities midway through the first half, and could have taken the lead several times. One such incident saw Reus hit the crossbar, Hazard denied by the goalkeeper and Guerreiro ultimately fire wide of the mark (20). Three minutes later, Moukoko narrowly missed the target from a central position 15 metres out. Following a cooling break – temperatures were over 30 degrees – Guerreiro (27) and Bellingham (37) were kept out by the opposition goalie. The deadlock was eventually broken in the 40th minute, with Guedes scoring to put Valencia 1-0 ahead. The shot went in via a deflection off Meunier.

BVB made six changes ahead of the second half, with Niklas Süle coming off the bench to make his debut in Black & Yellow. Bynoe-Gittens also made a substitute appearance and was in the thick of the action five minutes later, the Englishman drawing a foul that prompted the referee to award a penalty, which captain Reus coolly converted for 1-1. But the Spaniards were soon celebrating again following a quick two-goal salvo: a square ball in the 58th minute teed up Marco André for a simple tap-in, giving Valencia a 2-1 lead. Then, four minutes later, Guedes fired another shot into the corner from 17 metres out to make it 3-1. BVB were then fortunate that another shot by the Spanish side narrowly missed the goal (71). The Black & Yellows could not find a way back into the game in the closing stages and lost 3-1.

BVB have another game in Altach on Friday against Villarreal. Kick-off will again be at 19:00 CET.

BVB: Kobel – Meunier (Passlack, 46), Hummels (Coulibaly, 76), Schlotterbeck (Süle, 46), Guerreiro (Aning, 46) – Bellingham (Brandt, 46), Dahoud – Adeyemi (Wolf, 46), Reus (Kamara, 76), Hazard (Bynoe-Gittens, 46)­ – Moukoko
Goals: 0-1 Guedes (40), 1-1 Reus (51), 1-2 Marco André (58), 1-3 Guedes (62) 
Christina Reinke