Dortmund, Bayern start with easy German Cup wins
BERLIN (AP) - Borussia Dortmund began its German Cup defense by beating FC Rielasingen-Arlen 4-0 on Saturday, when Bayern Munich also progressed easily.
Dortmund's game began with more attention off the field than on it after the club banned Ousmane Dembele from playing and training with the side on Thursday. The France forward failed to show for training as Barcelona made a bid reported to be worth 105 million euros ($124 million) including add-ons.
Dembele, who has a contract to 2021 with Dortmund, has since refused any contact with the club and new coach Peter Bosz was forced to field questions on the 20-year-old Dembele's future before the first-round game.
"We don't know what's happening," Bosz said, adding that "the club should say early tomorrow (Sunday) what we'll do."
Bosz preferred to speak of the players at his disposal against the sixth-tier side.
Marc Bartra opened the scoring early, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang added another from the penalty spot.
Aubameyang claimed his second in typical fashion after the break, accelerating away from two defenders before finishing with a chip over the goalkeeper. He took advantage of poor defending to complete his hat trick late on.
BIBIANA'S BAYERN DEBUT
It's not often that the referee is the center of attention before a Bayern Munich game.
But Bibiana Steinhaus, who will be the Bundesliga's first female referee, got a taste of things to come when she took charge of Bayern's 5-0 victory at third-division Chemnitzer FC.
Last season, Steinhaus refereed eight second-division games.
Robert Lewandowski scored twice, Franck Ribery scored once and set up Kingsley Coman, and Mats Hummels wrapped it up late.
SON SCORES VS DAD'S TEAM
Nils Petersen opened the scoring for Freiburg in a 2-1 win at his father's team, fourth-tier Germania Halberstadt.
Hoffenheim, which hosts Liverpool for the first leg of its Champions League qualification playoff on Tuesday, edged third-division Rot-Weiss Erfurt 1-0 thanks to Nadiem Amiri's second-half strike.
Also, 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt defeated fourth-tier TuS Erndtebrueck 3-0, Mainz won at fourth-tier Lueneburger SK Hansa 3-1, Cologne beat fifth-tier Leher TS 5-0, Werder Bremen won 3-0 against third-division Wuerzburger Kickers, and there were wins for second-division sides Fortuna Duesseldorf, Heidenheim, Jahn Regensburg and Kaiserslautern.