A good match and recognition from all quarters – including the opposition – for Saturday's Super Cup display was followed by a positive result the next day as BVB won 5-2 in the final friendly ahead of the DFB Cup First Round this coming Saturday.

It was an exciting occasion for one player in particular as Alexander Isak bagged his first goals for BVB, scoring four times in a 5-2 victory at Rot-Weiß Erfurt in front of a packed Steigerwaldstation. The 17-year-old forward arrived in Dortmund from AIK Solna in January 2017 but has only amassed four minutes of competitive first-team action – against Lotte in the DFB Cup – since then, alongside one appearance for the U23s and the U19s respectively. The first friendlies under Peter Bosz showed that he needed some more playing time under his belt, but he really announced his arrival in Erfurt.

The coach was extremely satisfied with the performance of his youngest player in particular and the entire team – a mixture of established professionals and talented youngsters – in general. "The line-up was limited to whose had either not played or barely played in the Super Cup – so all things considered it was a good game."

The task for the week ahead will be to blend the teams that featured in the Super Cup and in Erfurt together. Isak was not the only player to have made a good impression in the latter game, with left-back Niclas Beste delivering another good performance and scoring a goal from a free-kick.

The first serious fixture comes on Saturday, when Borussia Dortmund face Baden-Württemberg-based minnows FC Rielasingen-Arlen in the First Round of the DFB Cup at Freiburg's Schwarzwaldstation. The fifth-tier outfit lost their opening game of the campaign 1-0 to FV Lörrach-Brombach, Ottmar Hitzfeld's home club. (br)