Norwegian sensation Erling Braut Haaland stole the limelight Saturday as the German Bundesliga became the first major European football league to return since the coronavirus lockdown, with teams playing in empty, echoing stadiums.
The 19-year-old striker claimed the first goal in Germany's top flight for over two months to set Borussia Dortmund on the way to a 4-0 win over local rivals Schalke.
"There was no noise. You shoot at the goal, make a top pass, score a goal, and nothing happens," said Dortmund coach Lucien Favre.
"That's very, very strange. We really missed our fans.
"It's hard to judge how good the game was, but the players were very focused."
Winger Raphael Guerreiro added two goals for Dortmund either side of a Thorgan Hazard strike.
Second-placed Dortmund moved to within a point of leaders Bayern Munich, who are chasing an eighth straight title and play Union Berlin away on Sunday.
Haaland steered a low Hazard cross into the far corner on 29 minutes to claim his 10th goal in just nine Bundesliga matches.
It was his 41st goal this season in all competitions and his 13th for Dortmund in just 12 games since joining in January from Red Bull Salzburg.
Haaland celebrated by dancing alone -- making no contact with team-mates, who clapped him on -- to comply with the strict hygiene guidelines which allowed the league to return.
All matches are being played behind closed doors, with no more than 300 people permitted inside stadiums.
Normally, Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park would be packed with more than 80,000 fans for the Ruhr derby, one of the biggest fixtures in German football.
After Haaland's opener, an error by Schalke goalkeeper Markus Schubert led to Guerreiro making it 2-0 before half-time.
Haaland then played a role in the build-up to the third goal before Julian Brandt set up Hazard to fire home on 48 minutes.
Guerreiro grabbed his second in style after a one-two with Haaland in the 63rd minute.
Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki felt they had rediscovered the joy of childhood football..
Quoted on Dortmund's website, Burki said: "This was no different from the game we used to play when we were children. Without spectators, just having fun. You could see that was the case for the team."
The home side saluted the Sudtribune after the game in tribute to their absent fans and winger Julian Brandt backed up Burki's assessment.
"I would've obviously preferred it if we had been playing under normal conditions," Brandt said. "We all need to adapt. But in a situation like this, you have to try and have fun. And we did at times.
"And what better way to resume our campaign than with a win? We performed well, even if it wasn't perfect.
"In the second half in particular, we should've tried to keep the level up. But we made it 3-0 relatively quickly; that played into our hands. Towards the end our energy levels dwindled. I thought it was good for the first game after such a long time. We can build on this."
Schalke were clearly second best for the majority of the Revierderby and could have few arguments about the outcome.
It was a chastening return to action for David Wagner's men and the former Huddersfield manager knows they need a strong response when Augsburg visit the Veltins Arena next Sunday.
"It was a poor performance and we conceded goals at bad moments - both before and just after the break," the Schalke head coach said.
