Borussia Dortmund maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a hard-fought home win over Athletic Club in the Champions League.
2025/2026 UEFA Champions League
4-1
Match Report
Niko Kovac's side took a deserved lead in the 28th minute when Daniel Svensson was able to convert at the back post after Karim Adeyemi had shown his pace to get to the byeline and deliver the cross.
Athletic boss Ernesto Valverde made a triple substitution at half-time in an attempt to get back into the match, only for the hosts to double their advantage within five minutes of the restart.
Former Aston Villa and Chelsea winger Carney Chukwuemeka, who has represented England at under-20 level, made it 2-0 with his first European goal, as his low shot took a slight deflection and beat Unai Simon at his near post.
Jobe Bellingham, the younger brother of England midfielder Jude, almost added a third for Dortmund only to see his deflected shot loop over the crossbar.
But Athletic pulled one back in the 61st minute with their first goal in this season's Champions League.
It came after an error in the Dortmund defence as Niklas Sule's clearance bounced off team-mate Waldemar Anton and Athletic substitute Gorka Guruzeta swept home the loose ball.
Dortmund made sure of the three points in the 82nd minute as Marcel Sabitzer's 20-yard shot bounced in off Serhou Guirassy for the hosts' third goal.
Substitute Julian Brandt added a fourth for Dortmund to give the scoreline a flattering feel with a powerful low strike from just inside the penalty area in injury time.
Dortmund, second in the German Bundesliga and two points behind leaders Bayern Munich, have now won six and drawn two of their eight games in all competitions in 2025-26, although one of their draws came in their Champions League opener.
On that occasion they let a 4-2 lead slip to concede twice in second-half injury-time and draw 4-4 with Juventus in a thrilling match.
Athletic have now begun their Champions League campaign with two defeats.
Match Events
28' GOAL! Dortmund 1-0 Athletic Club (Daniel Svensson)
50' GOAL! Dortmund 2-0 Athletic Club (Carney Chukwuemeka)
61' GOAL! Dortmund 2-1 Athletic Club (Gorka Guruzeta)
83' GOAL! Dortmund 3-1 Athletic Club (Marcel Sabitzer)
Line-ups
Dortmund XI: Sabitzer, Sule, Guirassy, Anton, Kobel, Bensebaini, Ryerson, Adeyemi, Chukwuemeka, Daniel Svensson, Jobe Bellingham
Subs: Gross, Meyer, Brandt, Schlotterbeck, Fábio Silva, Beier, Nmecha, Yan Couto
Athletic Club XI: Lekue, I.Williams, Gorosabel, Unai Simón, Dani Vivian, Robert Navarro, Aitor Paredes, Alejandro Rego, Unai Gómez, Maroan Sannadi, Mikel Jauregizar
Subs: Berchiche, Laporte, Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta, Gorka Guruzeta, Jesús Areso, Oihan Sancet, Nico Serrano, Álex Padilla, Adama Boiro, Ibon Sánchez, Adrián Pérez, Mikel Santos