Borussia Dortmund beat Manchester United 4-1 as the Red Devils kicked off their tour of China in Shanghai. Two goals from Gonzalo Castro, a goal from Ousmane Dembele and a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang penalty did the trick for Dortmund, while ex-Dortmund player Henrikh Mkhitaryan pulled one back for United against his old club.
So, what does this result show us? To be honest, nothing. It was a preseason game, and boy, did it feel like one. The scoreline actually flatters the match, as most of it was played with the approximate intensity of a prolonged session of bird-watching. Dortmund were by far the sharper side, and that proved to be the difference between the two.
One thing we can take away from this game is that Borussia Dortmund have to be considered the definite winners of this year's transfer window. Manchester United have so far dominated the headlines this summer, with the high-profile arrivals of Jose Mourinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the endless saga surrounding Paul Pogba and the arrivals of Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly, and those transfers are certainly worthy of praise.
The transfer of this man meant that a lot of other things flew under the radar. Photo: @DIRECTVSports | Twitter
Yet, underneath the waves of media frenzy that Manchester United has kicked up, it is Dortmund that have been quietly putting together one of the best sides in Europe. It was on full display yesterday.
Dortmund didn't put out a full-strength side, yet the amount of depth available to them was impressive. There was no Marco Reus, no Matthias Ginter, no Julian Weigl, no Erik Durm and no Lukasz Piszczek, not to mention the fact that they lost Mats Hummels, Ilkay Gundogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to other clubs this year.
Scary good. Photo: @Squawka | Twitter
Most people pitied poor Dortmund for once again having their squad ravaged in the offseason, but their performance today suggested that they may have actually strengthened.
Young phenom Ousmane Dembele has hit the ground running at Dortmund, as typified by his magnificent solo goal that probably ended Marcos Rojo's United career. Young Turkish star Emre Mor also made a cameo appearance in the second half, as did Spanish midfielder Mikel Morino and ex-Barcelona centerback Marc Bartra. They all impressed.
Remember now that these are just the backups; bought more for the future than for the present. Dortmund also managed to coax Mario Gotze back to the Westfalenstadion, along with Wolfsburg's Andre Schurrle, Bayern's highly rated midfielder Sebastian Rode and Portugal's star left-back Raphael Guerreiro, who impressed many at Euro 2016.
They're not the perfect side by any means. They could arguably use a new striker to cover Aubameyang and Bartra remains largely unproven in a consistent role. However, you cannot deny that Dortmund have done some of the best business this year.
Yes, it's preseason. Yes, we shouldn't look too much into this result. Rarely does football follow what's written on paper, as we well know. But Dortmund look good. On paper and in practice.
Manchester United may be stealing the headlines, but Borussia Dortmund are setting themselves up to steal the show.
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