Pascal Gross believes he has room for improvement despite starting his Borussia Dortmund career with two assists in Saturday's routine DFB-Pokal win over Phonix Lubeck.

Gross teed up first-half goals for fellow new signing Waldemar Anton and Julian Brandt as Dortmund advanced to the competition's second round with a 4-1 win over their fourth-tier hosts.

He is the first player on record (since the 2008-09 season) to record two assists on his first Pokal appearance for BVB.

He also created the joint-most chances of any player on the pitch (three, alongside Brandt), while his 154 accurate passes were only bettered by Niklas Sule (191).

As Nuri Sahin's side prepare for their Bundesliga opener against Eintracht Frankfurt next week, the former Brighton and Hove Albion man believes there is more to come.

"There was no alternative but to win the match. We played a good game in the first period and showed some good ideas, but we can and must improve," he told Sky Sports Germany.

"I also have room for improvement. It was my first match, it was decent. I want to get to know my team-mates better every day. 

"My job is to carry our play from back to front, to give it a certain stability and to set our attacking weapons in motion."

Sahin's first competitive game in charge saw BVB dominate possession with an 85.2% share, with Sule (196) attempting the most passes of any player in a Pokal match on record. 

Sahin himself was the previous record holder, having attempted 184 passes for Dortmund versus 1860 Munich in 2013.

"It's important to play in a dominant way in the first round and not let anything go to waste," the former midfielder said. 

Asked about the defensive lapse that led to Phonix pulling a goal back early in the second half, he added: "We played over 1,000 passes, so concentration can sometimes drop in a game like this."

Day two of Euro 2024 picked up the excitement where it left off, with a historic round of games on Saturday.

Switzerland joined Germany level on points at the top of Group A with an impressive 3-1 win over Hungary before Spain cruised to a 3-0 victory over Croatia in their Group B opener with three first-half goals.

Italy's European Championships title defence got off to a perfect start as they bounced back from conceding the earliest goal in the tournament's history (23 seconds) by beating Albania 2-1.

While the football continued to entertain, there was also plenty of action on social media. Here's a pick of some of the best posts.

What might have been for Wimbledon

AFC Wimbledon's official X account drew plenty of attention as the admin latched onto the hype over Jamal Musiala, following the Germany international's magical display against Scotland.

Musiala grew up in England, and represented AFC Wimbledon, via the Corpus Christi Primary School, in the EFL Utilita Kids Cup.

It's clear from the highlights of that match, in which Musiala scored a hat-trick and left defenders mesmerised - a bit like he did on Friday - that he was a special talent.

Embolo back on the scene

Breel Embolo endured an injury-hit campaign for Monaco, but he is back to fitness in time to feature for Switzerland, for whom he remains a crucial player.

And after coming on as a second-half substitute, Embolo sealed the three points as the Swiss beat Hungary 3-1 in the first game of the day. 

As the official Euro 2042 X account pointed out, Embolo has now netted in successive Euros tournaments for his nation.

Birthday boy

Pascal Gross is a newcomer to Germany's squad, and came on for his major tournament debut during Friday's 5-1 thrashing of Scotland.

The Brighton midfielder then celebrated his 33rd birthday on Saturday, with Germany's official X account sharing the celebrations.

That big win over Scotland, and his Euros bow, was surely a great way to welcome in his 34th year.

UEFA turns 70

Gross was not the only one celebrating a birthday on Saturday.

Indeed, UEFA marked the 70th anniversary of its founding, which came on June 15, 1954.

"It's a story of devotion, dedication and dreams..." shared the governing bodies' official X account.

Barcelona show pride of record-breaking youngster

Spain got off to the perfect start in the so-called 'group of death' with a rampant 3-0 win over Croatia on Saturday.

But, when the team sheets came out before the game, all the headlines quickly turned to Lamine Yamal, who became the youngest-ever player to appear at the Euros at 16 years and 338 days.

After an impressive performance by the youngster, Barcelona were quick to remind fans where he came from with a post on X: "He's very good... and he's ours."

Van Dijk, Simons and De Ligt put to the test

The Netherlands are yet to open their campaign in Euro 2024, but put aside their preparation to take some time to answer questions from young fans.

Xavi Simons was quizzed on which defender scares him the most - fellow Dutchman Virgil van Dijk - while the captain and Matthijs de Ligt rated their chances of winning the tournament.

Final preparations

England open their campaign when they take on Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday, and on Saturday, Gareth Southgate's team ran through their MD-1 training session.

All 26 players were involved in the session, with England allowing their fans to watch on live via a post on X.

Only part of the session was broadcast, however, so any Serbia spies could not garner too much information about Southgate's tactics ahead of the Group C clash.

Julian Nagelsmann said he would "not allow any discussion" surrounding Manuel Neuer following his mistake against Greece in their final game ahead of Euro 2024. 

The Bayern Munich goalkeeper was at fault for the opening goal of their encounter with Nikos Papadopoulos' side in Monchengladbach, spilling Christos Tzolis' shot into the path of Georgios Masouras, who tapped home. 

But the tournament hosts were able to overcome that initial setback, with Kai Havertz levelling 10 minutes into the second half before Pascal Gross secured the victory in the final minute of normal time. 

Neuer's error came shortly after it was announced that Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nubel had been dropped from Nagelsmann's 26-man squad, with Oliver Baumann and Marc-Andre ter Stegen named as the other two within the group. 

The 38-year-old has played in every single major tournament for his nation since 2010 but has not played for his country since 2022 due to injury. 

Speaking shortly after the friendly fixture, the German head coach was quick to defend his number one ahead of their Group A opener against Scotland next week, stating that everything was fine before Die Mannschaft's 14th appearance in the competition. 

"I won’t let any discussion arise, even if everyone tries to start one," Nagelsmann said. 

"When he makes a mistake it's easy to say that it was his fault. But at the end of the day, it was a series of mistakes. He pulled off three class saves during the match - saves that others might not be able to make. Everything is fine."

Pascal Gross scored a fine 89th-minute winner as Germany fought back to beat Greece 2-1 in their final friendly ahead of Euro 2024 at BORUSSIA-PARK on Friday.

Manuel Neuer has beaten off competition from Marc-Andre ter Stegen for Germany's number one shirt, but an uncharacteristic error from the veteran put the hosts on the back foot in the first half, Giorgos Masouras finishing when the goalkeeper failed to hold Christos Tzolis' shot.

Kai Havertz had a goal disallowed for offside shortly before half-time, but he would not be denied after the break as he saw a shot deflect in after being fed by Leroy Sane.

Substitute Benjamin Henrichs rattled the crossbar from distance with 84 minutes gone as Germany's bid for a winner looked like falling flat.

However, Brighton and Hove Albion man Gross gave the home fans something to cheer with one minute of the 90 remaining, firing a half-cleared cross into the top-right corner for his first international goal.

Data Debrief: Germany ride their luck 

Germany fired off 27 shots without finding the breakthrough against Ukraine in a goalless friendly draw on Monday, but it was a very different game on Friday as they rode their luck somewhat.

Julian Nagelsmann's team recorded just 12 shots worth 0.88 expected goals (xG) to Greece's 14 (2.14 xG), with a brilliant finish from Gross bailing them out after the visitors failed to take their chances. 

England Under-19 international Jack Hinshelwood claimed his first Premier League goal to earn Brighton a 2-1 comeback win over Brentford at the Amex Stadium.

The 18-year-old full-back, making only his fifth top-flight appearance, headed home Pascal Gross’ cross early in the second half, having cleared Yoane Wissa’s effort off his own goal-line just a minute earlier.

Stand-in Albion skipper Gross levelled for the hosts in the opening period after they fell behind against the run of play to a Bryan Mbeumo penalty.

Bees forward Mbeumo was later forced off by a nasty-looking ankle injury on a disappointing evening for the visitors, while his replacement Wissa was perhaps fortunate to avoid a second-half red card for swinging a hand into the face of Billy Gilmour.

The match-winning contribution of Sussex-born Hinshelwood, whose father Adam played 100 league games for Brighton between 2002 and 2009, earned his side a first home victory since September 24 following three successive score draws.

Depleted Brighton were once again without a host of key players due to injuries and suspensions as they went in search of only a second win in their last nine top-flight outings.

The Seagulls shaded a forgettable opening period devoid of goalmouth action before Brentford capitalised on sloppy defending to snatch the lead in the 27th minute with their first attack.

Bees captain Vitaly Janelt was pulled down by Jan Paul van Hecke following an impressive burst into the box and Mbeumo coolly sent Jason Steele the wrong way to find the bottom left corner from 12 yards.

Brighton had scored and conceded in each of their previous 18 Premier League fixtures.

Roberto De Zerbi’s hosts swiftly resumed their intricate interplay and ensured that statistic would continue just four minutes later.

Gross, leading the team in place of the banned Lewis Dunk, thumped home the eye-catching equaliser, taking a touch on the edge of the Bees’ 18-yard box after collecting the ball from Kaoru Mitoma before rifling a left-footed drive into the bottom right corner.

Brentford then suffered a major setback when the hobbling Mbeumo was helped from the field by medical staff after going over on his right ankle.

Teenager Hinshelwood took centre stage after the restart with a couple of key contributions in the space of two minutes to decisively turn the game in Brighton’s favour.

The academy graduate, who joined the club at the age of seven, was alert to deny Wissa a certain goal before rising above Bees substitute Keane Lewis-Potter at the other end to nod in Gross’ scooped cross from the left.

Brentford rarely threatened to snatch a point and could have finished the game a man down after Wissa swung his right arm at Gilmour, which resulted in a booking from referee Peter Bankes.

Brighton had chances to make the result comfortable, with Simon Adingra twice going close, before Hinshelwood jubilantly celebrated a night to remember with the home fans.