Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved Marco Reus’ penalty as Barcelona held Borussia Dortmund to a goalless draw in their Champions League opener.
The Germany international also denied Reus with a smart double save as Dortmund dominated the second half.
Julian Brandt did beat Ter Stegen late on but his effort hit the bar.
Barcelona gave a Champions League debut to 16-year-old Ansu Fati but created little, despite Lionel Messi’s first appearance of the season off the bench.
Signal Iduna Park is one of the most atmospheric stadiums in Europe and the Dortmund fans, complete with their famous ‘Yellow Wall’, gave the players a raucous welcome befitting of a Champions League final rather than a group game.
That noise only increased as the game wore on, as a vibrant and dynamic Dortmund side became increasingly dominant – but they will rue a man-of-the-match display by Barca goalkeeper Ter Stegen.
Jadon Sancho, who scored his first goals for England during the international break, again formed part of a trio alongside Reus and Thorgan Hazard just behind lone striker Paco Alcacer, who has scored in every game for club and country this season.
Hazard created the best chance of the first half when he went on mazy run from the left before playing in Reus, whose low effort was well blocked by the impressive Ter Stegen.
Twelve minutes into the second period, Sancho won Dortmund a penalty when Nelson Semedo trod on his foot as the 19-year-old turned smartly near the byeline.
Reus got a good contact on his spot-kick, but Ter Stegen dived full stretch to his left to palm the ball away before calmly claiming the rebound as the ball bounced near the goalline.
Lucien Favre’s side continued to pour forward, with Reus and Alcacer wasting good opportunities, but they could not find their way past an inspired Ter Stegen.
A draw against the five-time European champions is not normally considered a poor result, but the reaction of the Dortmund players at the final whistle suggests they saw this an opportunity missed.
Much of the focus at kick-off was understandably on Fati, who at 16 years 321 days became the youngest player to feature for Barcelona in the Champions League as well as the third youngest player in the competition as a whole.
No player on either side had more touches than Fati in the first 20 minutes, with Barcelona perhaps consciously giving him plenty of the ball to settle any early nerves.
He was not given such a warm welcome from Dortmund, with defender Mats Hummels unceremoniously barging him off the ball during the opening exchanges.
The forward grew in stature as the game wore on and certainly did not look out of place on this stage, swapping flanks with Antoine Griezmann and linking well with Luis Suarez. But Dortmund’s bright start to the second half saw him withdrawn for Messi.
The Argentine was making his first appearance of the season after recovering from a calf injury. But even his introduction could not alter the flow of the game, with Barcelona managing just one shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.
Instead it was goalkeeper Ter Stegen who came to the fore.
The 27-year-old was involved in a verbal spat with Germany team-mate Manuel Neuer during the international break after playing second fiddle to the Bayern Munich goalkeeper during his international career.
He certainly staked a claim for the Germany number one shirt here, with his stop to keep out Reus’ spot-kick meaning he has now saved four of the six penalties he has faced in the competition.
