CHICAGO, Illinois -- Borussia Dortmund boss Lucien Favre believes the club have have two very talented teenagers after watching their display in the 1-0 International Champions Cup win over Manchester City on Friday.
In his first match in charge of the club, Favre heaped praise on 19-year-old Christian Pulisic and 18-year-old Jadon Sancho.
Pulisic started the Bundesliga side's first preseason match, and immediately made a nuisance of himself on City's left side.
The U.S. international had drawn a pair of fouls from Oleksandr Zinchenko inside seven minutes, and 20 minutes later, the Ukrainian felled Pulisic in the box to earn BVB the penalty that Mario Gotze duly converted to win the match.
"[Christian Pulisic] played extremely well today," Favre said in his postmatch news conference. "He knows exactly when he has to accelerate, which he showed three or four times today. His dribbling on the right wing was superb. He has a lot of ambition and is still very young -- he's a very good player."
The American's night was done at half-time, however, with the Black and Yellow set to facing a short turnaround as they travel to Charlotte to face Liverpool on Sunday (4:05 p.m. ET, ESPN).
After the interval, it was Sancho's turn to put on a show, showcasing the sort of technical ability that made him one of Manchester City's brightest academy prospects little more than 12 months ago.
Sancho left Manchester for Dortmund last summer after reportedly having concerns over his path from City's youth setup into the first team, and he showed why the Bundesliga giants paid a reported £8 million for his services.
"Jadon [Sancho] is a very good player. I saw that right away in the first training session," Favre said. "He's got enormous potential, but it'll need time for him to improve and there are some corrections to be made about his style."
Sancho said: "I'm happy to hear it. I'm glad he has faith in me. I just want to have a great season. Goals, lots of assists, help the team win and carry the team sometimes. We can reach anything with this squad.
"It was nice to see my old teammates. I'm happy that we won and happy to play against my old club. I had a point to prove and I think I did well in the game. Hopefully, it carries on through the season.
"I'm very motivated for the season, very excited. We have a special team."
Pulisic and Sancho were just two of several positives Favre took from his Dortmund debut. After a disjointed, disappointing 2017-18 under first Peter Bosz and then Peter Stoger, the club showed signs of returning to form against the reigning Premier League champions.
"A lot of things were positive today," Favre said. "We showed a good combination play, we won the ball well and showed courage when going forward.
"The players are making a lot of runs with the ball, which is something I appreciate a lot. Obviously, a lot of small details have to be improved, but I'm focused on the positives for tonight."