Schalke opens season with draw against Hamburg

Gelsenkirchen, Germany – Adam Szalai netted an equalizer 18 minutes from time on Sunday as Schalke opened its Bundesliga season with a thrilling 3-3 draw against Hamburg at the Veltins Arena.

The Royal Blues got their 2013-14 season off to a flying start just two minutes in when Julian Draxler slid a nice ball over to Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who fired a shot from outside the box that beat Hamburg goalkeeper Rene Adler to the bottom left corner of the net for the early advantage.

But just 10 minutes later, Hamburg found an equalizer through Rafael Van der Vaart when he converted a penalty kick.

The visitors then grabbed a 2-1 lead in the 23rd minute when Dennis Diekmeier whipped in a cross that was nodded home by Maximilian Beister. But the lead didn't last long as Huntelaar bagged his second of the match to bring the clubs level at the intermission.

Hamburg grabbed the momentum after the break as the club snagged the lead again in the 49th minute. After scoring once in the opening half Van der Vaart turned provider when he sent a good corner kick into the box that was headed home by Lasse Sobiech.

It appeared that Hamburg would hold on to claim their first win of the season, but it was not to be as Szalai beat Adler to the bottom left corner in the 72nd minute to save a point for Schalke.

Mainz 3, Stuttgart 2

Mainz, Germany - Nicolai Muller scored on either side of the intermission on Sunday as Mainz opened its season with a 3-2 victory over Stuttgart at the Coface Arena.

Mainz, which finished 13th in the Bundesliga last season, got off the mark first as Muller opened his account in the 14th minute when he ripped one into the bottom right corner of the net.

But Stuttgart was quick to respond as Vedad Ibisevic scored just two minutes later to put the clubs back on level terms.

After the break, Mainz seized control of the match as Shinji Okazaki scored in the 65th minute and Muller bagged his second of the day 12 minutes from time to put the home side ahead by two.

Martin Harnik pulled one back for Stuttgart eight minutes from time, but it wasn't enough as Mainz hung on to claim all three points.