DORTMUND — Borussia Dortmund is bringing back forward Mario Goetze from Bayern Munich.
Goetze left Dortmund for Bayern in 2013 but never settled down and was mostly a bench player under previous coach Pep Guardiola. New Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti had a talk with Goetze before assuming the post and reportedly did not try to keep the forward who scored the winning extra-time goal that gave Germany the World Cup title over Argentina at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
“It’s a good solution for everyone involved,” Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.
Dortmund said Thursday that Goetze will sign a four-year contract once he’s passed the medical examination and is expected to start training in early August.
Goetze still had one season on his contract with Bayern.
Lopetegui new Spain coach
Julen Lopetegui is the new manager of Spain, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said Thursday.
The 49-year-old former goalkeeper and Porto manager succeeds Vicente del Bosque, who retired after Euro 2016.
Lopetegui, a former Spain goalkeeper, is a familiar face at the RFEF after guiding the country’s U19, U20 and U21 teams.
Bayern beats City 1-0
Pep Guardiola’s return to Bayern Munich ended with a 1-0 defeat for his new club Manchester City Wednesday.
Guardiola spent three seasons coaching Bayern and won the Bundesliga title in each season, but failed to earn the Champions League trophy. He declined to extend his contract at the end of last season and was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti.
The two coaches embraced after Wednesday’s match, which was played at a leisurely pace, with both sides missing many regulars.
The only goal came from Erdal Ozturk in the 76th minute when a clearance bounced off the referee and fell kindly to Ozturk, whose shot was deflected by Gael Clichy.
Celtic advances
Celtic progressed to the Champions League third qualifying round with a 3-0 victory over Gibraltar part-timers Lincoln Red Imps that secured a 3-1 aggregate win Wednesday.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg following arguably their worst ever defeat, the Scottish champion turned the tie around thanks to three goals in six first half minutes.
Mikel Lustig fired home a 23rd opener before Leigh Griffiths thumped a second past Raul Navas two minutes later.
Patrick Roberts finished off a fine passing move in the 29th minute to seal the win.
