Dortmund-Hanover draw blanks

BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund twice hit the woodwork but couldn’t find a winner on Friday as they were forced to share the points with Hanover 96 in the first goalless Bundesliga draw of the season.

After an opening 25 minutes largely contested in midfield, Maximilian Philipp had the ball in the net, only for it to be correctly ruled out after Marius Wolf was spotted offside.

Towards the end of an even first half, Dortmund burst into life. Marco Reus saw an effort headed for the far corner pushed wide by Hanover goalkeeper Michael Esser’s outstretched toe, and less than a minute later, Reus rattled the bar after a superb pass by Mahmoud Dahoud.

“I had to score one of them,” Marco Reus told Eurosport afterwards. “I can only apologise to my teammates.”

For Dortmund, the result was in stark contrast to the storming 4-1 win over RB Leipzig on the opening weekend and Lucien Favre’s side will be hoping to fare better when they host Eintracht Frankfurt after the international break.

Meanwhile, World Cup winner Ronaldo has reached a deal to buy 51 per cent of La Liga club Valladolid a regional daily reported yesterday, citing “sources close to the operation.”

El Norte de Castilla, which is based in Valladolid said Ronaldo was paying €30 million (RM143 million) and would complete the deal next week.

“The Brazilian star reached an agreement with Carlos Suarez, owner of more than 60 per cent of the shares of the company, on Thursday evening,” the newspaper wrote.

Ronaldo’s press secretary, David Espinar, told by email that he was not prepared to comment on the story.

The Spanish media have been reporting the former Real Madrid and Barcelona striker’s interest in Valladolid round the time the club won promotion back to the Spanish first division in May.