Defeat in Japan: BVB lose to Cerezo Osaka

After two intense days of cultural activities and an open training session, Borussia Dortmund faced Cerezo Osaka. World Cup participants Felix Nmecha, Waldemar Anton, Maximilian Beier, Daniel Svensson, and Carney Chukwuemeka – who had joined preseason training late – were part of the traveling squad but were not included in the game roster due to their delayed arrival. For the hosts, former Borussian player Shinji Kagawa led the team onto the field as captain.

The 25,000 spectators could see right from the start that Cerezo was a step ahead in their preseason preparations. Shortly after kickoff, Filippo Mane slid in to take the ball away from Osaka's Solomon Sakuragawa. Dortmund's defense was kept busy in the opening stages, and goalkeeper Alex Meyer and Almugera Kabar initially kept the score at 0-0. But in the eighth minute, their resistance was broken: Sakuragawa headed in a corner kick that was unstoppable to make it 1-0.