MOTM Poll: Borussia Dortmund Smash Wolfsburg 6-0 to Keep Chase with Bayern Munich

Borussia Dortmund went into today’s game, against Wolfsburg, knowing exactly how the outcome would impact the title race, as a result of playing after Bayern Munich, just as they will in two of their last three games this season (the exception being the final game of the season, with everyone kicking off at the same time on the Saturday). But if anyone felt any pressure today, knowing that they had absolutely no room for error, they certainly didn’t show it, coming away with their biggest win of the season.

BVB gave Wolfsburg, a team fighting for top six right now, an absolute shellacking, winning 6-0. It could easily have been more. Karim Adeyemi and Jude Bellingham both scored twice, though Adeyemi missed the penalty that could have been his hattrick, while Sébastien Haller and Donyell Malen added to BVB’s final tally. It was an excellent performance, helped by Wolfsburg completely capitulating in the second half. Hopefully it will give Dortmund the confidence boost they need to win all their remaining games this season, and do their bit to give themselves a chance of lifting the Meisterschale.

Here are today’s candidates for MOTM:

Karim Adeyemi

The penalty miss was pretty abysmal, but otherwise Adeyemi had an incredible game. He picked up two goals and one assist, and was the driving force for BVB’s strong first half performance that took the game out of Wolfsburg’s reach. He really deserved the hattrick.

Jude Bellingham

While Adeyemi took charge in the first half, it was Bellingham that was leading the charge in the second half. Jude seemed to dial things up a notch in the second half, against a tiring Wolfsburg side, scoring two goals in the process.

If anyone was concerned that Bellingham might look distracted, or phone it in, now that his transfer to Real Madrid this summer is all but confirmed, this second half performance should ease those worries.

Julian Brandt

Since returning from injury a few weeks ago, Julian Brandt has really struggled to find the good form he has been in for the majority of this season. This afternoon he looked a lot more like the Brandt of earlier in the season than of recent weeks. He picked up three assists, and was just generally pulling the strings in the final third.

BVB will probably need to win all their remaining Bundesliga games to have a hope of winning the title. A fit and firing Brandt will be vital to making that happen.

Sébastien Haller

There were a few different players that could have got the nod for this fourth nomination, including Mats Hummels, Donyell Malen, and perhaps even Julian Ryerson, but I decided to go for Haller because he had a hand in the scoreline both directly, through a goal and an assist, and indirectly, by linking up well with everyone around him. He did a good job of creating space for Adeyemi and Malen to play into throughout, and did well with both his goal and assist. He got himself in to a good position to score BVB’s second, and worked well with Adeyemi to force an error that Adeyemi tucked away for Dortmund’s fifth. Solid stuff.

BVB recorded their biggest win of the season, closing the gap between them and Bayern Munich to just a single point. Cast your vote for today’s MOTM below: