Bayer Leverkusen got their Bundesliga season off to a bright start with a well-earned 2-0 win at Borussia Dortmund on Sunday, dpa reported.
Tranquillo Barnetta and Renato Augusto scored first-half goals for Leverkusen who welcomed back midfielder Michael Ballack on his return to Bundesliga action following his move from Chelsea.
Earlier in the day, new signings Sami Allagui and Morten Rasmussen scored in each half to give Mainz 05 a 2-0 victory over VfB Stuttgart.
A crowd of 73,300 was in Dortmund's Signal-Iduna-Park ground to see Leverkusen overcome Dortmund in a match between two sides expected to be among the title challengers this season.
Germany coach Joachim Loew was among the spectators as Ballack, 33, who had appeared for the second half in a Europa League qualifying game on Thursday, played the full 90 minutes.
It was a solid if unspectacular performance from Ballack in his his first full competitive game since an ankle ligament injury in May ruled him out of the World Cup.
Others in the Leverkusen side were more influential. Barnetta took a pass from Arturo Vidal to put Jupp Heynckes's side ahead in the 19th minute, and Augusto combined with Eren Derdiyok to add a second three minutes later.
"For us it was important that we began (the season) well," Ballack said. "I was glad to play the whole game. I am not 100 per cent yet."
Heynckes praised an "outstanding game" from his side and said of Ballack: "It's clear he needs match practice but he lasted well after some initial problems. Four weeks ago you would never have thought that he could play 90 minutes."
Dortmund were unfortunate to have a Sebastian Kehl goal disallowed for offside immediately before Leverkusen's second.
But Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said: "You saw the difference between the two sides. We would have needed a bit of luck."
Kehl said: "We put a lot of effort in and tried everything but Leverkusen were very clever and in the end were the better team."
Mainz were meanwhile good value for a 2-0 win over Stuttgart. Tunisian striker Allagui, who joined the club last month from Greuther Fuerth, opened the scoring in the 26th minute when he took a pass from Lewis Holtby and shrugged off defender Khalid Boulahrouz.
Danish striker Rasmussen, who signed on Thursday on loan from Celtic, added a second two minutes after the break when his 16-metre header from a Bo Svensson free-kick beat Sven Ulreich in goal.
Stuttgart had missed an opportunity to take the lead when Ciprian Marica was brought down in the area by Mainz skipper Nikolce Noveski, but Cacau's 19th-minute penalty was saved by Christian Wetklo in goal.
Mainz could have added to their tally, but Ulreich saved a Holtby effort, Allagui twice missed good opportunities and Adam Szalai struck the bar, two minutes after coming on for Rasmussen in the 72nd minute.
The new Bundesliga season began on Friday evening with champions Bayern Munich snatching a last-gasp 2-1 win over VfL Wolfsburg.
On Saturday, Hoffenheim thumped Werder Bremen 4-1, while SV Hamburg edged Schalke 2-1 and Hanover defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1. Both promoted clubs, Kaiserslautern and St Pauli, won 3-1, at Cologne and Freiburg respectively, while Borussia Moenchengladbach and Nuremberg finished 1-1.