Weekend roundup: Elversberg's party and hockey gold
Elversberg celebrates an outstanding Bundesliga debut, while BVB must absorb a shock injury. In rowing and men’s hockey there was world championship gold. A cycling superstar checks in from the hospital.
Alongside the ever-dominant Bayern, a newcomer caused plenty of talk on the opening weekend of the Bundesliga: SV Elversberg from Saarland began its Bundesliga adventure with a 3-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen. Rower Oliver Zeidler and the German men’s hockey team won world titles. For cycling superstar Tadej Pogacar the Vuelta ended in hospital. These were the main events of the sports weekend:
Cruciate ligament injury for BVB signing Konstantelias
Shock for Borussia Dortmund: newcomer Giannis Konstantelias suffered a cruciate ligament tear in his left knee during the home win against Hamburger SV and will be out for several months. “The whole BVB family stands behind you, Giannis! You will come back stronger!”, the Westphalian club wrote on X. The 23-year-old Greek, who came to Dortmund in the summer, had played well and scored Dortmund’s second goal. Dortmund are now considering a quick transfer before the window closes on Tuesday. “We have to see what might still be possible. Whether we do anything, we don’t know. But at least we will think about it. That’s clear,” said coach Niko Kovac.
Newcomer Elversberg achieves dream debut with record
For their first Bundesliga match, SV Elversberg set a record. The 59th club in the top flight scored its first two Bundesliga goals faster than any other newcomer before them. In the end Elversberg held on for a 3-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen. Opening-day wins also went to Borussia Dortmund (2-0 against HSV), 1. FC Köln (3-2 against Hoffenheim) and RB Leipzig (3-0 against Gladbach).
Eintracht Frankfurt, despite leading 3-1, only managed a 3-3 draw at Union Berlin. Mainz and promoted Paderborn played to a goalless draw. SC Freiburg celebrated a comfortable 4-1 win over Werder Bremen. Promoted FC Schalke 04 lost 0-3 at FC Augsburg. The first table leader is defending champion FC Bayern after their 5-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart in the opening match.
- FC Nürnberg matches season start record
The confident 1. FC Nürnberg matched their own season-start record from 27 years ago in the duel of promotion specialists with Arminia Bielefeld. The very composed team under coach Miroslav Klose celebrated a 4-1 (3-0) win — their third in a row — and underlined their ambitions in the promotion race as leaders. Nürnberg top the table on goal difference ahead of Hertha BSC (both 9 points).
German men’s hockey defend world title
The German men’s hockey team defended their world title and won gold for the fourth time after 2002, 2006 and 2023. The team of national coach André Henning beat Spain 1-0 (0-0) in the final in front of about 10,000 fans at the Hockey Arena in Wavre, Belgium. With their fourth world title Germany have caught up with record winners Pakistan. The celebrated goal came from Michel Struthoff in the 44th minute.
Season over for Pogacar after horror crash
A horror crash likely ended the season for cycling superstar Tadej Pogacar. On stage eight of the Vuelta a España the Slovenian was thrown head over handlebars. Pogacar suffered a displaced fracture of his left collarbone and a stable fracture of the seventh cervical vertebra. He also suffered a concussion and numerous abrasions. The 27-year-old faces about six weeks out and is likely to miss the World Championships in late September in Montréal.
He seems to have kept his sense of humor: underlaid with the Bee Gees classic “Stayin’ Alive” the Tour de France champion posted a picture of himself in a hospital bed on Instagram.
Zeidler rows to fourth world title
Rower Oliver Zeidler extended his impressive run by claiming his fourth world title in the men’s single sculls at the World Championships in Amsterdam. The Olympic champion from Paris dominated the final on the Bosbaan and finished comfortably ahead of Belarusian Yauheni Zalaty, who competed under a neutral flag, and Norway’s Jonas Slettemark Juel. The 30-year-old remains unbeaten this season and celebrated world titles again after 2019, 2022 and 2023. “To hold all the big titles — Olympics, Worlds and Europeans — at the moment is, of course, incredible. It’s a great feeling,” Zeidler said after his triumph.
The German men’s eight narrowly missed out on a world championship medal for the first time since 2019, finishing fourth. In a thrilling photo finish gold went to hosts and defending champions the Netherlands, ahead of Olympic champions Great Britain and Australia.
Basketball: Germans take a big step toward World Cup qualification
The German basketball team made a big step toward qualifying for the 2027 World Championship in Qatar. Coach Alex Mumbrú’s team won in Poland after a largely underwhelming offensive display, edging them in overtime 96-94 (83-83, 41-31). With seven wins from eight games, a win in the next match on November 27 in Latvia could seal their World Cup spot.
