Borussia Dortmund kicked off the year 2014 with a win. On the third day of their training camp in Spain, the Black n Yellows picked up a 2-0 (1-0) win over Standard Liege thanks to goals from Emerick Aubameyang and Jonas Hofmann.

The match in La Manga drew a crowd of approximately 2.000 to the La Manga stadium. Word had obviously spread at the Costa Cálida that the 2013 Champions League finalists would have their first game of 2014 there as all seats on the stands and the standing areas near the pitch were filled to capacity in cloudy weather with temperatures around a pleasant 15 degrees Celsius.

Borussia started the game against the “Jupiter League” leaders moving the ball down the wings to the bye-line  before crossing it behind their defence. For example in the eighth minute when a perfectly time pass from midfield put Piszczek through on the right wing, who cut the ball back to the edge of the box where Aubameyang volleyed a low shot into the bottom left corner to put BVB in front.

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Tight defending: Julian Schieber [pictures: Simoes]

Borussia’s summer signing was the liveliest player on the pitch. He went close on 30 minutes with a fine free-kick from 28 yards, and a few minutes later Aubameyang found himself in another promising position inside the box but could not get enough power behind the ball, with Standard’s goalkeeper Kawashima having little trouble with the effort.  Japan’s national keeper then needed two attempts to deal with a Schieber shot in the 20th minute.

BVB dominated proceedings in the first half and took a deserved 1-0 lead into the break. They only once looked in danger of conceding after a misunderstanding between Weidenfeller and Schmelzer in the 37th minute, but fortunately Hofmann was on hand to clear the ball away to safety.

Jürgen Klopp did not change the whole team at half-time, but he made changes in goal, in midfield and in attack, with Hofmann dropping back into a holding midfield role. Aubameyang stayed on the left wing, and he continued to be a threat. On 58 minutes, he turned a defender inside out before crossing the ball to Hoffman who connected with an unstoppable volley from 12 yards to make it 2-0. BVB had chances to increase their lead through Ducksch and Lewandowski, with a defender clearing the ball off the line, as well as Reus who went close from a free-kick and a rebound effort.

In the course of the match, all of the squad players were brought on, with the exception of Hummels, Gündogan, (the flu suffering) Durm as well as the other two goalkeepers Focher and Bonmann. There was just one setback: Grosskreutz, who had been brought on at halftime, had to come off again with an ankle injury, though he didn’t look too worried when he limped off the pitch…

BVB: Weidenfeller (46. Langerak) – Piszczek (63. Kirch), Friedrich (46. Sarr), Sokratis (46. Günter), Schmelzer – Sahin (46. Kehl), Bender (46. Mkhitaryan) – Blaszczykowski (46. Großkreutz, 70. Jordanov), Hofmann (63. Reus), Aubameyang (63. Lewandowski) – Schieber (46. Ducksch)
Goals: 1-0 Aubameyang (8.), 2-0 Hofmann (58.).
Attendance: approx. 2,000 in La Manga