Serhou Guirassy brace helps sink Villarreal in UEFA Champions League opener
Borussia Dortmund kicked off their 2026/27 UEFA Champions League campaign with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Villarreal, in part thanks to Serhou Guirassy's second-half brace.
Borussia Dortmund 3-2 Villarreal
Goals: 1-0 Veiga (own goal) 53', 1-1 Mouriño 66' (assist: Mikautadze), 2-1 Guirassy 80' (assist: Silva), 3-2 Guirassy 85' (pen.)
After back-to-back Bundesliga wins and a DFB Cup first-round triumph, Dortmund had the chance to make it four wins in succession versus a Villarreal side that were yet to win under new head coach Iñigo Pérez. Niko Kovač made two changes to his starting XI, bringing in Joey Veerman and Marcel Sabitzer for Jobe Bellingham and the injured Filippo Mané.
The opening period was tight, with both sides struggling to create clear-cut chances. Pau Navarro headed wide from an early corner for Villarreal, and Maximilian Beier drove narrowly wide for the hosts. Midway through the half, Dortmund suffered a setback when Konstantinos Karetsas went down without any contact and needed treatment before being replaced by Ethan Nwaneri. Following a lull in proceedings, Tajon Buchanan forced the first save of the game from Gregor Kobel shortly before half-time as the sides went into the break all square.
The second period was far more action-packed than the first, and Dortmund struck first when Beier drove to the byline and cut the ball back, with Renato Veiga turning the ball into his own net. Nevertheless, Villarreal responded, and Santiago Mouriño headed in Georges Mikautadze's corner to level the scores. It was ultimately a substitute who helped turn the game in Dortmund's favour, as Fabio Silva set up Serhou Guirassy to tap in from close range.
Mouriño was then penalised for holding Guirassy inside the box, and the Guinea international converted the resulting penalty to give Dortmund extra breathing space. Villarreal were not finished, though, pulling once back in stoppage time, albeit rather fortuitously through Guirassy's own goal. In the end, Dortmund held on to start their latest European adventure in perfect fashion.
