The afternoon couldn’t have gone much better for Dortmund in Wolfsburg Borussia celebrated three points, returnee Erling Haaland grabbing two records – and now wants to do better than the last few years against Bayern.
It was the 72nd minute in Wolfsburg when there was great jubilation in the visitors’ block: Haaland, last in action in mid-October, celebrated his comeback. And as you would expect from the Norwegian goal machine, he scored straight away. He missed a first chance, but in the 81st minute the attacking player scored after a great cross by Julian Brandt for the 3:1 final score.
“He is extremely important for us, you could see that in the last few weeks. We missed him, not only because of his goals, but he is also physically very strong and very fast with his deep runs. He is a weapon,” Brandt praised on Sky after the game. Emre Can added: “He also gives the team confidence, we are very happy that he is back. “
Two records for Haaland
Haaland now stands at 50 goals in 50 Bundesliga games and has set two records: Timo Konietzka (63) previously needed the fewest games to score his 50th Bundesliga goal, followed by Roy Makaay and Uwe Seeler (67), while the youngest players to date with this goal tally were Klaus Fischer (21 years and 293 days) and Dieter Müller (22 years and 9 days) Haaland scored against Wolfsburg at the age of 21 years and 129 days.
As well as the return of their top striker, Dortmund were also delighted with their performance, although it all started in the worst possible way as Wout Weghorst put Wolfsburg ahead in just the second minute. “The early deficit was a blow, but it was important that we kept at it after that and didn’t let ourselves be impressed. We kept going and made it 1-1“, Brandt was pleased with the reaction of the troops.
Reaction after CL exit successful
It was also important for BVB to show a reaction after the 1:3 in Lisbon and the resulting elimination in the top division. “I am satisfied because we won. In the last few days we’ve had a lot of pressure on us. Especially in an English week, you can make up a lot in a few days. We played a good game, of course there was a phase when Wolfsburg came and also had chances. The result stands above everything, which makes us very happy,” said Brandt. And Can, who scored a penalty to make it 1-1 in the meantime, said: “We fought, played as a team and deserved to win in the end.
Top match against Bayern coming up
With this three-goal win, Dortmund have boosted their self-confidence in time for the top match against Bayern. “We have great anticipation for Saturday. We all have to be aware of how important next week’s game is, “ Can made clear. Things have not gone well for BVB against Bayern recently, with the Westphalians losing eight of their last nine Bundesliga games. “After today’s game, we’re going into the game with a broad chest. It’s going to be an exciting game, we’re taking extremely high hopes that things won’t go the way they have in recent years,” said Brandt.
